Richard Causton (born 1971) is an English

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 teacher.

Biography

Born in London, Richard Causton attended

Quintin Kynaston School Harris Academy St John's Wood (formerly Quintin Kynaston) is a secondary school in St John's Wood, north London, that was re-named in 2017. It is a 7 form-entry (210 students) non-selective coeducation, co-educational academy. Its predecessor Qui ...

and William Ellis Schools. His early musical education took place at the ILEA Centre for Young Musicians, specialising in

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

(though also playing

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and singing in choirs). Causton began his formal composition training in India under the direction of

Param Vir Param Vir is a British composer originally from India. Born in Delhi into a family life permeated with Indian classical music, Param Vir's strong interest in music developed as a teenager when attending a Catholic school, Roman Catholic secon ...

, before studying for a bachelor's degree 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 ...

under Roger Marsh between 1990 and 1993. Having graduated with first-class honours, he took an M.A in composition the following year. He also undertook a Foundation Scholarship at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

, studying composition under

Jeremy Dale Roberts Jeremy Dale Roberts (16 May 1934 – 11 July 2017) was an English composer and teacher. After early contact with Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gerald Finzi, Dale Roberts studied with William Alwyn and Priaulx Rainier at the Royal Academy of Music, L ...

and conducting under

Edwin Roxburgh __NOTOC__ Edwin Roxburgh (born 6 November, 1937) is an England, English composer, Conducting, conductor and oboist. Roxburgh was born in Liverpool. After playing oboe in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, National Youth Orchestra, he ...

. In 1997, receipt of the

Mendelssohn Scholarship The Mendelssohn Scholarship () refers to two scholarships awarded in Germany and in the United Kingdom. Both commemorate the composer Felix Mendelssohn, and are awarded to promising young musicians to enable them to continue their development. Hi ...

enabled him to study electro-acoustic composition at the Scuola Civica di Musica. He has subsequently gone on to forge a consistent and productive career as a freelance composer and arranger. As well as composing, Causton has taught at the

Birmingham Conservatoire Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly research and doct ...

(alongside his former teacher

Wells Cathedral School Wells Cathedral School is an independent co-educational boarding and day school for 2–18 year olds located in Wells, Somerset, Wells, Somerset, England, which provides an all-round education alongside specialist music and chorister training. T ...

, and the

, and was Fellow Commoner in the 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 ...

. He is currently Professor in Composition at Cambridge and a Fellow of King's College. Causton founded the

Gamelan Gamelan (; ; , ; ) is the traditional musical ensemble, ensemble music of the Javanese people, Javanese, Sundanese people, Sundanese, and Balinese people, Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussion instrument, per ...

Programme. He is also a founding member of Ensemble Corrente and has been a panel judge for the

SPNM The Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM), originally named The Committee for the Promotion of New Music, was founded in January 1943 in London by the émigré composer Francis Chagrin, to promote the creation and performance of new music in ...

(Society for the Promotion of New Music) composers shortlist. He occasionally writes feature articles on contemporary music for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.

Work as composer

Causton is best known for his work in acoustic

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

. He first came to attention with ''The Persistence of Memory'', which drew significant attention when premiered at the London Sinfonietta's 1995 'State of the Nation' Festival. He has been hailed as "a beguilingly gifted young composer" creating "moments of exquisite timbral sensitivity" (Robin Holloway in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

''), "nothing if not distinctive in his approach to composition" (www.classicalsource.com) and as "one of the finest of the new generation of British composers" (''

''). Causton's contemporary

Julian Anderson Julian Anderson (born 6 April 1967) is a British composer and teacher of composition. Biography Anderson was born in London. He studied at Westminster School, then with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music, with Alexander Goehr at Cambr ...

(former Head of Composition at the

) has described him as being one of "the most original of his generation" and of possessing "exceptionally high standards of invention and imagination." Causton's compositions are widely played and have been performed by 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 ...

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional rad ...

Basel Symphony Orchestra The Sinfonieorchester Basel (Symphony Orchestra Basel; Swiss abbreviation SOB) is a symphony orchestra based in Basel, Switzerland. Its principal concert venue is the ''Musiksaal'' of the Stadtcasino. In addition, the orchestra accompanies balle ...

CBSO The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall, Birmingham in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its adminis ...

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber music, chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert ...

Nash Ensemble The Nash Ensemble of London is an English chamber ensemble. It was founded by Artistic Director Amelia Freedman and Rodney Slatford in 1964, while they were students at the Royal Academy of Music, and was named after the Nash Terraces around t ...

, Sinfonia 21,

Jane Manning Jane Marian Manning OBE (20 September 193831 March 2021) was an English concert and opera soprano, writer on music, and visiting professor at Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal College of Music. A specialist in contemporary classi ...

Barrie Webb Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

, and the

Composers Ensemble 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 defi ...

. In the United Kingdom, his work has featured at the

Spitalfields Festival Spitalfields Music (previously known as Spitalfields Festival, officially registered as Spitalfields Festival Ltd) is a music charity based in the Bethnal Green area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Through musical events, the charity aim ...

, the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Race ...

, the Park Lane Group evenings, and the York Early Music Festival (the latter in association with the Accessible Arts Club as part of a theatrical project with disabled people). In December 2010, it was announced that Causton had been selected as one of twenty composers to participate in the New Music 20x12 project as part of the

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Cultural Olympiad Cultural programmes of the Olympic Games have taken various forms over the years. From 1912 until shortly after the Second World War in 1948, art competitions were held to accompany the Summer Olympics. Since 1952 a series of cultural events has ...

. Causton will compose a new work for the

European Union Youth Orchestra The European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) is a youth orchestra with members drawn from the 27 members states of the European Union. Since its foundation in 1976, it has connected music colleges and the professional music world for generations ...

to be premiered in 2012. Although the majority of his compositions are written for standard orchestral instruments and ensembles, some of Causton's material has featured unusual instrumentation not commonly used in Western classical music (such as gamelan ensembles or homemade instruments). He has also experimented with compositions utilising unusually placed sound sources - his radical 2001 arrangement of the Sanctus from

Guillaume de Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...

's ''Messe de Nostre Dame'' featured two instrumental groups separated as far as possible (a strategy which anecdotally once broke up a Sinfonia 21 rehearsal when a "burly, tattooed Fire Officer" took exception to one of the groups blocking a fire exit). Causton has cited

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

Sir Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten as o ...

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 ...

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental music, experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia (Berio), Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Seque ...

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer who was one of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century. He combined elements of European modernism and American " ...

Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor, and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he d ...

, and

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

as particular musical inspirations. He has also commented "as far as musicians and other composers are concerned, I find the music of the post-war period, the 1950s and 1960s, really exciting because it seems as if the rate of change in music was incredible. New techniques were being invented all the time, electronic music was just appearing and there were huge advances in all kinds of technical ways. I think it was a hotspot in musical history and perhaps things have slowed down a bit now." In 2015, Causton was commissioned to compose a new carol to be premièred at the King's College service of

Nine Lessons and Carols Nine Lessons and Carols, also known as the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, is a service of Christian worship traditionally celebrated on or near Christmas Eve in Anglican churches. The story of the f ...

: ''The Flight'' was set to a poem by

George Szirtes George Szirtes (; born 29 November 1948) is a British poet and translator from the Hungarian language into English. Originally from Hungary, he has lived in the United Kingdom for most of his life after coming to the country as a refugee at the ...

; Causton explained that he 'had a growing sense that at this precise moment it is perverse to be writing a piece about a child born in poverty, away from home and forced to flee with his parents, without in any way paying reference to the appalling refugee crisis that is unfolding. I phoned my friend, the poet George Szirtes to ask if he might be prepared to write me a poem which could encompass some of these ideas.'

Scholarships and awards

Causton is a former holder of the prestigious

(previous holders include

Sir Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', ''The Pirates of Penzance' ...

, Sir Malcolm Arnold,

Mark-Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage (born 10 June 1960) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Life and career Mark-Anthony Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex on 10 June 1960. Turnage was the eldest of three children. His parents were lov ...

, David Blake,

Steve Martland Steve Martland (10 October 1954 – 7 May 2013) was an English composer. He helped to curate the Factory Classical label of Factory Records, featuring contemporary British composers. Life and music Martland was born in Liverpool, and studied co ...

, Martin Butler, and

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...

). Causton has been the recipient of a growing list of awards. During his time at the Royal College of Music, he won two composition prizes - the Kit and Constant Lambert Prize and the Herbert Howells Prize. His 1993 solo piano work ''Non mi comporto male'' won the

George Butterworth Award, and two years later in 1995, he was the winner of the first-ever Fast Forward composition award for ''Two Pieces for two clarinets''. His second award of 1995 was from the 3rd International ‘Nuove Sincronie’ Competition for ''The Persistence of Memory''. His impressionistic violin-and-piano duet ''Seven States of Rain'' won in the Best Instrumental Work category at the 2004 British Composer Awards. Most recently, Causton won the 2006

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

Award for Chamber-Scale Composition for his ensemble piece ''Phoenix''.

Comments on compositional process

In a 2006 interview, Causton revealed "I started composing quite early on - at the age of 8 or 9. I was already having flute lessons by then and I couldn't get over the fact that having learnt how to play the notes, you could put them together in any way you wanted to - not just play tunes written by other people." Regarding his own approach to composition, Causton has remarked (in 2004) that "for me composition feels like a process of getting to know the new piece as I write it - a bit like feeling my way around a room with my eyes shut. As work progresses, the features of the piece become more and more apparent and towards the end, there's usually a phase of paring down/tightening up the piece... It's very unusual for a piece to reach its final shape in a single draft." He reiterated this in a 2009 interview, saying "It's really difficult starting a new piece. It feels a bit like being blindfolded and put in an unfamiliar room and feeling your way around. I’ve got absolutely no tricks or techniques which always work. An analogy would be an animal following a scent. You are trying to find something to hang on to; something that will pull you in a certain direction, and then the whole thing gathers momentum. So it's quite agonising and slow at the beginning and then it accelerates." Causton has, however, referred to certain recurring compositional techniques that he uses: "There are sometimes specific techniques - such as accelerations/tempo relationships that I work out mathematically or little pieces using only 6 of the 12 semitones - but they tend to be solutions to localised problems rather than things I'd use again and again. I certainly have favourite types of harmony and habits of voice-leading, part-writing, and instrumentation, but that's not really the same thing...it's usually more intuitive and I work hard trying to 'feel my way' into a piece - and often towards the end find myself paring material away so that what remains feels quite tightly written." Regarding his inspirations for individual compositions, Causton has said "I suppose in one sense they come from whatever I feel I need to do in a particular piece - currently, for example, I'm really letting my hair down and doing some things that not long ago I would have considered in bad taste. Sometimes my music draws on my own experiences - often physical things such as the feeling of touching down in an aeroplane, or having a high temperature and being delirious. But it could also be politics, visual art, poetry, photography, or even the weather. Ideally, there's a spontaneous coming together of musical and poetic ideas (and possibly a compositional technique) so that it's not forced; one thing invites the other."

Works by Causton

*''Threnody'' (for soprano, piano and two clarinets), 1991 *''Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines'' (for soprano and ensemble), 1992 (revised 1994) *''Non mi comporto male'' (for solo piano - variations on " Ain't Misbehavin'" by

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star ...

) - premiered by Stephen Wolff at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, York, 27 May 1993 (winner:

George Butterworth George Sainton Kaye Butterworth, MC (12 July 18855 August 1916) was an English composer who was best known for the orchestral idyll '' The Banks of Green Willow'' and his song settings of A. E. Housman's poems from '' A Shropshire Lad''. He wa ...

Award) *''Two Pieces'' for two clarinets - premiered 1995 (winner: Fast Forward composition award) *''Soliloquy'' (for solo bassoon), 1995 *''The Persistence of Memory'' (for chamber ensemble) - premiered by

Oliver Knussen Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British composer of contemporary classical music and conductor. Among the most influential British composers of his generation, his relatively few compositions are "rooted in 20th-cen ...

and the

at the South Bank Centre, 1995 (winner: 3rd International ‘Nuove Sincronie’ Competition) *''Notturno'', premiered 1998 (revised 2001) *''Millennium Scenes'' (for large orchestra) - premiered by BBC Symphony Orchestra, 1999 (revised 2001) *''Rituals Of Hunting And Blooding'' (for septet ensemble) - premiered by the Nash Ensemble at the Purcell Rooms, 2000 *''The Flea'' (for solo male voice - setting of the poem by

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

) - premiered 2003 *''Inventions in One Part'' (for piano) - premiered by Karl Lutchmayer at The Warehouse, London, 15 June 2001 *''Concerto for Solo Percussion and Gamelan'' - premiered by

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 i ...

at the

, 2001 *''Kyrie and Sanctus'' (arrangement of two movements from

's ''Messe de Nostre Dame'') - premiered 2001 *''Seven States of Rain'' (for violin and treated piano) - composed for Darragh Morgan (violin) and Mary Dullea (piano) - premiered 2003 (winner: 2004 British Composer Awards - Best Instrumental Work category) *''Between Two Waves of the Sea'' (for orchestra and tape/sampler), premiered by the CBSO under Mike Seal at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 2004 *''Poems Almost of This World'' (for solo voice - settings of poetry from the Late T'ang) - premiered by Jessica Summers, 2005 *''Jesu, Sweete Sone Dear'' (for choir and three soloists) - premiered by Caius College Choir, Cambridge, 2006 *''Three Riddles'' (for three-part upper voice choir) - premiered by the New London Children's Choir, 2006 *''Saraband/The Way the World Ends'' - premiered 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 ...

, 2006 * ''Phoenix'' (for quintet ensemble) - premiered by the

, 2006 (winner: 2006

Award - Chamber-Scale Composition category) *''Sleep'' (for solo flute) - premiered by Sebastian Bell (

), 2006 *''As Kingfishers Catch Fire'' (for septet) - premiered by the

Britten Sinfonia Britten Sinfonia is a chamber orchestra ensemble based in Cambridge, UK. It was created in 1992, following an initiative from Eastern Arts and a number of key figures including Nicholas Cleobury, who recognised the need for an orchestra in the ...

, 2007, revised 2008 *''Chorales'' (for 2 gamelan instruments) - premiered at

Kettle's Yard Kettle's Yard is an art gallery and house in Cambridge, England. The director of the art gallery is Andrew Nairne. Both the house and gallery reopened in February 2018 after an expansion of the facilities. History and overview Kettle's Yar ...

, Cambridge, May 2008 *'' Snatch'' (for chamber ensemble) - premiered by

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) is a British chamber ensemble based in Birmingham, England specialising in the performance of Contemporary classical music, new and contemporary music. BCMG performs regularly at the CBSO Centre and Symph ...

, May 2008 *''English Encouragement of Art'' (for soprano, mezzo-soprano & percussion - setting of a poem by

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

) - commissioned for

NMC Recordings NMC Recordings is a British recording label and a charity which specialises in recording works by living composers from the British Isles. History The composer Colin Matthews founded NMC in 1989, with financial assistance from the Gustav Hols ...

's ''NMC Songbook''; concert premiere by Claire Booth,

Susan Bickley Susan Bickley is a British mezzo-soprano singer who performs in opera, Baroque and contemporary classical music. Personal life and education Susan Rochford Bickley was born into a Welsh family in Liverpool, England. Her father was a primary sch ...

and Owen Gunnell at Kings Place, London, 1 April 2009 *''Chamber Symphony'' - large ensemble piece commissioned by

, premiered 16 October 2009 *''21 Piano Nocturne'' - piano ensemble piece (inspired by

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

's ''Nocturnes'') performed by 21 pianists on 21 upright pianos, commissioned by The City of London Festival and the Polish Cultural Institute, London, premiered at the Guildhall Yard, London, on 21 June 2010 (incorporated with ''Play Me, I'm Yours'' public artwork program by Luke Jerram) *''Dark Processional'' - five-minute chamber orchestral piece based on ''

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to the Virgin Mary that portrays her suffering as mother during the crucifixion of her son Jesus Christ. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Saba ...

'' by

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), usually referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist, leading exponent of the Baroque; he is considered one of the g ...

, premiered at

Kings Place Kings Place is a building in London's King's Cross area, providing music and visual arts venues combined with seven floors of office space. It has housed the editorial offices of ''The Guardian'' newspaper since December 2008 and is the form ...

, London by

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera Artistic Associate at Kings Place, and ...

, 16 October 2010 *''Twenty-Seven Heavens'' - orchestral piece commissioned by the European Union Youth Orchestra. Premiered under the direction of Giananadrea Noseda at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, 20 August 2012 *''De Profundis'' - solo cello, premiered by Anssi Karttunen, 8 November 2014 *''Night Piece'' - solo piano, premiered by Tim Horton, 18 January 2015 *''The Flight'' - for SATB choir, premiered by King's College Choir/Stephen Cleobury as part of the ''Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols'', 24 December 2015 *''Between God & the Wall'' - for SATB choir, premiered by St Catharine's College Choir/Edward Wickham as part of the ''Music, Healing and Human Rights'' project, 14 March 2025

Discography

*''Millennium Scenes'' NMC D192, featuring ''Millennium Scenes'' (Nicholas Collon/Halle), ''Chamber Symphony'' (Ryan Wigglesworth/BCMG), ''As Kingfishers Catch Fire'', ''The Persistence of Memory'' and ''Notturno'' (Gerry Cornelius/BCMG) *''A Land So Luminous'' Prima Facie PFCD051, featuring ''Threnody'' (Mary Bevan, soprano/Continuum Ensemble/Philip Headlam), ''Non mi comporto male'', ''Night Piece'' (Douglas Finch, piano), ''Rituals of Hunting and Blooding'' (Continuum Ensemble/Philip Headlam) and ''Sleep'' (Lisa Nelsen, flute) *Kate Romano, ''Contours'', Metier, 92074 (2005) - ''Two Pieces for two clarinets'' (both parts performed by Romano) *Darragh Morgan and Mary Dullea, ''Opera'', NMC D108 (2006) - features ''Seven States of Rain'' * London Sinfonietta, ''Jerwood Series Volume 4'', London Sinfonietta label, SINF CD1-2008 (2008) - features ''Sleep'' and ''Phoenix'' *Various Artists, ''NMC Songbook: Songs commissioned for the 20th Anniversary of NMC'' NMC D150 (2009) - features ''English Encouragement of Art'' *''Cradle Song'' recorded on Delphian DCD34075 (Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge/Geoffrey Webber), Regent REGCD413 (Choir of Guildford Cathedral/Katherine Dienes-Williams), Regent REGCD464 (Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge/Sarah MacDonald) and Orchid Classics ORC100062 (Vocal Group Concert Clemens/Carsten Seyer-Hansen)

References

External links

Richard Causton's websiteRichard Causton profile at Oxford University Press USAReview of ''Millennium Scenes'' NMC D192 (No.1, ''100 Best Records of the Year'', Contemporary Composers section, Paul Driver, Sunday Times)Interview with Richard Causton at Composition:TodayBCMG interview with Richard Causton
discussing his work and a recent commission for BCMG (2009)
Richard Causton's notes on a programme of his own music
(Oxford University Press)
'Music of the Spheres'
- article by Richard Causton in ''The Guardian'', 29 June 2001 (dealing with his ''Concerto for Solo Percussion and Gamelan'' and its inspirations from gamelan music and astronomy)
'The God of Small Things'
- article by Richard Causton in ''The Guardian'', 28 May 2004 (dealing with the music of Jeremy Dale Roberts)
Review of 2002 performance of ''The Persistence Of Memory''
in ''The Guardian'' (12 November 2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:Causton, Richard 1971 births Living people English classical composers 20th-century British classical composers 21st-century British classical composers Alumni of the Royal College of Music Alumni of the University of York Fellows of King's College, Cambridge People educated at Quintin Kynaston School People educated at William Ellis School 2012 Cultural Olympiad English male classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians Academics of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire