__NOTOC__ David Godfrey Gow (6 April 1924 - 23 February 1993) was an English composer (of Scottish descent) and teacher.
/ref>

Life

Gow was born in London. His ancestors included the 18th Century Scottish fiddler

Niel Gow Niel Gow (1727 – 1 March 1807) was the most famous Scottish fiddler of the eighteenth century. Early life Gow was born in Strathbraan, Perthshire, in 1727, as the son of John Gow and Catherine McEwan. The family moved to Inver in Perthsh ...

and his son

Nathaniel , nickname = {{Plainlist, * Nat * Nate , footnotes = Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Greek name Nathanael. People with the name Nathaniel * Nathaniel Archibald (1952–2018), American basketball player * N ...

(a connection he acknowledged in his ''Six Diversions on an Ancestral Theme''). He studied at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

with

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...

and

Frank Merrick Frank Merrick CBE (1886–1981) was an English pianist and composer in the early 20th century.Obituary, ''The Times'', 21 February 1981, p. 14 Life Merrick was born in Clifton, now part of Bristol, the son of musical parents.Methuen-Campbell, ...

, where he gained his first recognition as a composer, winning the Clements Prize with his Clarinet Quintet (1945). He then took further composition lessons with

Alan Bush Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed prol ...

and took an M Mus degree at Durham University. He began regular composition in the 1950s, but later disowned many of his early works. After a period teaching further education evening classes in London, Gow was appointed music lecturer at Swindon Technical College in 1962. He stayed on there until retirement. He also lectured at

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...

, and from 1969 was closely involved with music courses for the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

, and a regular at the University's Summer School music courses at Warwick and Cardiff. Gow lived with his wife Margaret in Axford, Wiltshire, later moving to

Aldbourne Aldbourne (pronounced "awld·bawn") is a village and civil parish about north-east of Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, in a valley on the south slope of the Lambourn Downs – part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. ...

. He died in 1993 at the age of 68 after eight years of poor health, through which he continued to compose.Obituary, ''The Guardian'', 27 February 1993
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Music

Gow described the style of his music as "serialism tempered by tonality", but he was always careful not to make unreasonable demands on performers.David Gow. British Music Collection
/ref> He composed nine string quartets (spanning the years 1946 to 1990) and from 1984 (starting at the String Quartet No 4) established a close association with the

Maggini Quartet The Maggini Quartet is a British string quartet. Its members are Julian Leaper (Violin 1), Ciaran McCabe (Violin 2), Martin Outram (Viola) and Michal Kaznowski (Cello). Formed in 1988, the Quartet is known for championing the British repertoire ...

. His Quartet for flute, oboe, violoncello and harpsichord, Op. 28, won the Hans Oppenheimer Prize of the

Saltire Society The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland. Founded in 1936, the society was "set up to promote and celebrate the uniqueness of Scottish culture and Scotland’s ...

in 1967. He wrote many concertos, including the Piano Concerto for Philip Martin in 1980, the Cello Concerto for Timothy Hugh, and a Marimba Concerto for

Evelyn Glennie Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, (born 19 July 1965) is a Scottish percussionist. She was selected as one of the two laureates for the Polar Music Prize of 2015. Early life Glennie was born in Methlick, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. The indig ...

, completed just before his death. His solo piano works include ''Twelve Preludes and a Postlude'' (1979) and two piano sonatas (1984 for Philip Martin and 1990 for

Eric Parkin Eric Parkin (24 March 1924 – 3 February 2020) was an English pianist. Parkin was born in Stevenage and attended Alleynes Grammar School there. He studied at Trinity College of Music with the Anglo-French pianist Frank Laffitte and with George ...

). There are also songs and song cycles (such as ''Fifteen Faces of Love'', 1982) and choral works such as ''Ave Maris Stella'', which has been recorded. Gow worked closely with the BBC Northern Singers and their conductor

Stephen Wilkinson Stephen Austin Wilkinson (29 April 1919 – 10 August 2021

, who gave the first performances and broadcasts of his cantatas ''The Wreck of the Deutschland'' (1971, setting Gerald Manley Hopkins), ''Little Cantata to the Stars'' (1974), ''Walden'' (1984), and ''Star Gazers'' (1990). Orchestral works include a nine minute long ''Mini Symphony'' written for the Hounslow Youth Orchestra in 1968, the ''Overture One-Two-Five'' (1978) commissioned by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

and used as the soundtrack for a short documentary film produced by

British Transport Films British Transport Films was an organisation set up in 1949 to make documentary films on the general subject of British transport. Its work included internal training films, travelogues (extolling the virtues of places that could be visited via th ...

, and the Symphony No 3 ''Wessex Heights'', written in 1990 to commemorate 150 years since the birth of

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wo ...

.''The Hardy Review'', Volume XVI-i, Spring 2014, pp. 29-45
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References

External links

''Overture One-Two-Five'' (1978), British Film Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gow, David 1924 births 1993 deaths 20th-century classical composers Alumni of the Royal College of Music 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century English composers English classical composers English male classical composers Academics of the Open University Alumni of Durham University