Richard Wolfson (25 April 1955 – 1 February 2005) was a British musician, performance artist, cameraman, and journalist. He is best known for his work on the concept album ''

Kaddish The Kaddish (, 'holy' or 'sanctification'), also transliterated as Qaddish, is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the lit ...

'' created with Andy Saunders using the band name Towering Inferno.

Early life

Wolfson was born to an orthodox Jewish family in

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

, United Kingdom, and was educated at

Solihull School Solihull School is a coeducational private day school in Solihull, West Midlands, England. Founded in 1560, it is the oldest school in the town and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History In 1560 the revenu ...

. In his early years, he learned piano and guitar.

Music career

At the age of 14, Wolfson formed Solstice, a folk band with Mark Chapman, heavily influenced by the work of the Incredible String Band. At 17, he formed the first of a succession of bands with Andy Saunders. Towering Inferno was conceived as a large-scale multimedia stage project, involving film and electronics. Wolfson and Saunders were impressed by the Hungarian poet Endre Szkárosi, and his cryptic poetry was a stimulus for their major work, the stage show and album ''Kaddish''.

''Kaddish'' concept album

''Kaddish'' was created over five years and is an extended reflection on the Jewish prayer of the same name, including references to the history and folklore of Central and Eastern Europe and to the Shoah (Holocaust). The music includes adaptations of Hungarian folk-songs, some of them sung by

Márta Sebestyén Márta Sebestyén (; born 19 August 1957) is a Hungarian folk vocalist, composer and actress. Early life Sebestyén was born in Budapest, Hungary. Her mother is a composer, and was a music student of Zoltán Kodály. Her father was an economi ...

and Szkárosi, Jewish chant, and the sound of the

shofar A shofar ( ; from , ) is an ancient musical horn, typically a ram's horn, used for Jewish ritual purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the player's embouchure. The ...

, along with dramatic electronic sound-effects. The album was originally released in 1993 and received critical acclaim.

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

called it 'the most frightening record I have ever heard'.

Journalism career

In addition to his work in music and performance art, Wolfson had a successful career as a journalist, writing on music and film for publications such as the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' and the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

''.

Death

Richard Wolfson died from an

aortic aneurysm An aortic aneurysm is an enlargement (dilatation) of the aorta to greater than 1.5 times normal size. Typically, there are no symptoms except when the aneurysm dissects or ruptures, which causes sudden, severe pain in the abdomen and lower back ...

on 1 February 2005.

Discography

* ''

'' by Towering Inferno, released by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

(1993).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfson, Richard 1955 births 2005 deaths English pop musicians Jewish English musicians People from Solihull English male journalists