Bernard Roberts (23 July 1933 – 3 November 2013) was an English pianist. He was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. His treatment of the cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas has been highly acclaimed. He is also noted for his recordings of the music of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

. Roberts' recording of the ''

Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time ''clavier'' referred to a variety of keyboard instruments, ...

,'' Books 1 and 2, performed on piano, was released in 1999 by

Nimbus Records Nimbus Records is a British record company based at Wyastone Leys, Ganarew, Herefordshire. It specialises in classical music recordings and was the first company in the UK to produce compact discs. Description Nimbus was founded in 1972 by C ...

and was well received. Roberts also has recorded Bach's Six Partitas,

BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in ...

825–30, and his

French Suites The ''French Suites'', BWV 812–817, are six suites which Johann Sebastian Bach wrote for the clavier (harpsichord or clavichord) between the years of 1722 and 1725.Bach. ''The French Suites: Embellished version''. Bärenreiter Urtext Altho ...

, BWV 812–17. In collaboration with other performers, Roberts released discs of music for one and two pianos by

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...

and of trios by

Frank Bridge Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Life Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845–1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a ...

. According to Roberts' official home page, he has been the subject of a 40-minute

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

documentary, and he "particularly enjoys performing the

piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in European classical music, classical chamber music. The term can also ...

repertoire with his sons Andrew and Nicholas". Roberts commented that although he enjoyed making the Beethoven recordings, he feels his playing was somewhat restrained in the first "direct cut" recording.

References

External links

Bernard Roberts' official page, courtesy of his representative
* ttp://www.bach-cantatas.com/NonVocal/Klavier-Partitas-Roberts.htm Review of Roberts' recording of Bach's Partitas at bach-cantatas.com English male classical pianists 1933 births 2013 deaths Musicians from Manchester 20th-century English classical pianists 20th-century English musicians 20th-century English male musicians {{UK-classical-pianist-stub