Philip Grange (born 17 November 1956) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and academic.

Career

Grange was born in London. He attended

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

’s classes at Dartington, and then took further, private, lessons with Davies while at

The University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

, where he also studied composition with David Blake. He was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

(1985–7), and Northern Arts Fellow in Composition at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

(1988–9) before joining the music department at

Exeter University The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School o ...

as lecturer (1989), reader (1995) and professor (1999) in composition. In 2000 he moved to the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, where he is Professor of Music.

Works

Grange's first published pieces date from the late 1970s, and include ''Cimmerian Nocturne'' (1979), which was commissioned by

The Fires of London The Fires of London, founded as the Pierrot Players, was a British chamber orchestra, chamber music ensemble which was active from 1965 to 1987. The Pierrot Players was founded by Harrison Birtwistle, Alan Hacker, and Stephen Pruslin.''Who’s Wh ...

, and included a performance under director Peter Maxwell Davies at the 1983

Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

as well as performances in Britain and abroad. Other early works include ''The Kingdom of Bones'' for

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

and

chamber orchestra 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 ...

, (1983), ''Variations'' (1988) and ''Concerto for Orchestra: Labyrinthine Images'' (1988) During the early 1990s Grange completed two

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

commissions, ''Focus and Fade'' for the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

, which performed the premiere at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

in 1992 conducted by Andrew Davis, and ''Lowry Dreamscape'', which was premiered at the 1993 BBC Festival of Brass by the Sun Life Brass Band conducted by Roy Newsome. Other works from this period include ''Piano Polyptich'' (premiered by

Stephen Pruslin Stephen Lawrence Pruslin (16 April 1940 – 25 September 2022) was an American pianist and librettist who relocated to London in the 1970s to work with Peter Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle. Early life and career Born in New York, Pruslin ...

on 26 June 1993 at the

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

) and ''Bacchus Bagatelles'' for wind quintet. Grange has written works for the National Youth Wind Ensemble of Great Britain, Ensemble Gemini and the

Psappha New Music Ensemble Psappha was an ensemble of contemporary classical musicians based in Manchester in the North West of England, specialised in the performance of works by living composers. Founded in 1991 by artistic director Tim Williams, the ensemble moved into a ...

. On 12 July 2009, the National Youth Wind Ensemble performed the world premiere of ''Cloud Atlas'', a large-scale work based on the 2004 novel by David Mitchell, at the

Cheltenham Music Festival The Cheltenham Music Festival is a British music festival, held annually in Cheltenham in the summer months (June, July) since 1945. The festival is renowned for premieres of contemporary music, hosting over 250 music premieres as of July 2004. ...

, conducted by Philip Scott. Ensemble Gemini's CD ''Homage'', including the works ''Tiers of Time'' (piano, violin, viola and cello, 2007), ''Elegy'' (cello solo, 2009), Piano Trio: ''Homage to Chagall'' (1995), and ''Shifting Thresholds'' (flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, cello, 2016), was issued by Metier in 2019. The Psappha Ensemble first performed ''Cimmerian Nocturne'' at the 1980

St Magnus Festival The St Magnus International Festival is an annual, week-long arts festival which takes place at midsummer on the islands of Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland. History and management The festival was founded in 1977 by a group inc ...

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

. Grange's music is published by

Maecenas Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( 13 April 68 BC – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. ...

and

Edition Peters Edition Peters is a classical music publisher founded in Leipzig, Germany in 1800. History The company came into being on 1 December 1800 when the Viennese composer Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754–1812) and the local organist Ambrosius Kühn ...

.Worklist, Edition Peters, 2014
/ref>

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grange, Philip English composers Academics of Durham University Academics of the University of Exeter Academics of the University of Manchester Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of York 1957 births Living people 21st-century English composers Pupils of Peter Maxwell Davies