Clarence Albertson Barlow
(also Klarenz; 27 December 1945 – 29 June 2023) was a British composer of
classical and
electroacoustic works. He was an academic teacher internationally, at the
Royal Conservatory of The Hague
The Royal Conservatoire (, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherlands. Since September 2021, t ...
from 1990 and at the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...
, from 2006, among others. He taught at the
Darmstädter Ferienkurse
Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Co ...
from 1982 to 1994.
Life
Early life and education
Barlow was born on 27 December 1945 in
Calcutta
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
, British India.
[Clarence Barlow](_blank)
Classical Music Daily Of English, Portuguese, and French colonial descent, he wrote his first compositions in 1957. He studied piano, music theory and natural sciences. In 1965 he received a science degree from
Calcutta University
The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...
, as well as a Licentiate Diploma in piano from
Trinity College of Music
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...
in London. From 1966 to 1968 he taught music theory and worked as a conductor at the
Calcutta School of Music.
In 1968 Barlow relocated to
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, where he studied electronic music and composition at the
Hochschule für Musik Köln
' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right t ...
with
Herbert Eimert
Herbert Eimert (8 April 1897 – 15 December 1972) was a German music theorist, musicologist, journalist, music critic, editor, radio producer, and composer.
Education
Herbert Eimert was born in Bad Kreuznach. He studied music theory and composi ...
,
Vinko Globokar
Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French-Slovenian avant-garde composer and trombonist.
Globokar's music uses unconventional and extended techniques, places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and often relies on improvisation. H ...
,
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918 – 10 August 1970) was a German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera ''Die Soldaten'', which is regarded as one of the most important German operas of the 20th century, after those of Berg. Hi ...
(1968 to 1970) and
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...
(1971 to 1973). From 1971 to 1972 he also studied at the
Institute of Sonology The Institute of Sonology is an education and research center for electronic and computer music based at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague in the Netherlands.
Background
The institute was founded at Utrecht University in 1960 as the Studio fo ...
of
Utrecht University
Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...
, where he began to use computers as an aid for compositions.
Career
Barlow was one of the founders of Initiative Musik und Informatik Köln in 1986. He taught at the
Darmstädter Ferienkurse
Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Co ...
from 1982 to 1994. In 1988 he was the director of music at the
International Computer Music Conference
The International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) is a yearly international conference for computer music researchers and composers. It is the annual conference of the International Computer Music Association (ICMA).
History
In 1986, the Ins ...
in Cologne. From 1990 to 1994, Barlow was the artistic director of the
Institute of Sonology The Institute of Sonology is an education and research center for electronic and computer music based at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague in the Netherlands.
Background
The institute was founded at Utrecht University in 1960 as the Studio fo ...
, at the
Royal Conservatory of The Hague
The Royal Conservatoire (, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherlands. Since September 2021, t ...
, where he also taught in the composition department, continuing until 2006. He was a visiting professor of composition at the
Folkwang Hochschule
The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in ...
Essen in 1990 and 1991. He was a member of the Académie Internationale de Musique Electroacoustique in Bourges from 1994 to 2010, and visiting professor of composition at the School of Music and Performing Arts ESMAE in Porto in 2005 and 2006.
Barlow was the Corwin Endowed Chair and head of composition at
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...
's Music Department from 2006 to 2019. He was visiting professor at the
Catalonia College of Music in Barcelona from 2018 to 2020. Among his students were
Dennis Báthory-Kitsz,
Marko Ciciliani
Marko Ciciliani (born February 23, 1970) is a composer, audiovisual artist and performer.
Life
Marko Ciciliani (born 1970 in Zagreb, Croatia) is a composer and sound artist. His family emigrated to Germany in 1971, where he grew up primarily in ...
,
Georg Hajdu,
Rozalie Hirs,
Gabriel Pareyon and
Kristoffer Zegers.
Personal life
Barlow was married to the artist Birgit Faustmann. He was severely injured in a fall in April 2023. He died in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
on 29 June 2023 aged 77.
familiebericht
NRC 1 juli 2023
Compositions
Barlow became known as a pioneer of electronic and computer music, with advancements in interdisciplinary works including mathematics and computer science, visual arts and literature. His music incorporated tradition and elements inherited from the past. His works were mostly written for traditional instruments, including elements also from other cultures. Barlow preferred traditional timbres to synthesized ones because "they sound so much more alive and exciting". He frequently used computers to generate the structures of his works. His comprehensive theory of tonality and metrics was first tested in the piano work ''Çoǧluotobüsişletmesi'' (1975–79). Spectral analysis and instrumental resynthesis of human speech also played an important role in his compositions.
Between 1959 and 2020 Barlow composed more than 100 works, including orchestral works such as two piano concerto
A piano concerto, a type of concerto, is a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advance ...
s, 40 pieces of chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
including two string quartets
The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists, a ...
, works for music theater, choral and vocal compositions, 30 piano pieces, five film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
s and 20 electroacoustic works.
Notes
References
Cited sources
*
*
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Further reading
Clarence Barlow
International Artist Database
* Clements, Dominy. 2009.
. MusicWeb International (9 February) (Accessed 22 January 2010).
* Manion, M chael 2004.
Gimik: Initiative Musik und Informatik Köln r. V.
. Cologne: Gimik e. V. (Accessed 22 January 2010).
* Toop, Richard
Richard Toop (1 August 1945 – 19 June 2017) was a British-Australian musicologist.
Toop was born in Chichester, England, in 1945. He studied at Hull University, where his teachers included Denis Arnold.
In 1973 he became Karlheinz Stockhause ...
. 2008. "Kulturelle Dissidenten: Die Stockhausen-Klasse der Jahre 1973 und 1974". ''MusikTexte: Zeitschrift für neue Musik'', no. 116 (February): 46–49.
External links
*
*
Interview with Clarence Barlow
by Bob Gilmore
Bob Gilmore (6 June 1961 – 2 January 2015) was a musicologist, educator and keyboard player.
Born in Larne, Northern Ireland, he spent his early years in Carrickfergus. He studied music at the University of York, England, then at Queen's Un ...
(2007) in ''Paris Transatlantic Magazine''
"Klarenz Barlow"
feedback studio verlag (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlow, Clarence
1945 births
2023 deaths
20th-century British male musicians
20th-century British musicians
20th-century British classical composers
21st-century British male musicians
21st-century British classical composers
Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague
Anglo-Indian people
British male classical composers
British music educators
Deaths from falls
Musicians from Kolkata
Pupils of Karlheinz Stockhausen
University of Calcutta alumni
University of California, Santa Barbara faculty
Utrecht University alumni
Academic staff of the Catalonia College of Music