Silvina Milstein (born 12 February 1956, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

) is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines ...

composer and scholar of twentieth-century music, living in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and teaching at King's College London. Her music has been described as "turbulent and hesitantly ecstatic",Ivan Hewett, BBC Music Magazine
/ref> as well as "highly poetic", "rich and dense".
/ref> In 2018 her piece ''shan shui'' was nominated for the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Chamber-Scale Composition.

Background and education

Milstein emigrated to Britain after the Argentinian military coup of 1976.Composer profile at Sound and Music website
/ref> Her early musical education had taken place at the

Collegium Musicum The Collegium Musicum was one of several types of musical societies that arose in German and German-Swiss cities and towns during the Reformation and thrived into the mid-18th century. Generally, while societies such as the (chorale) cultivate ...

and the Escuela de Bellas Artes of the

University of La Plata The La Plata National University ( es, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, UNLP) is one of the most important Argentina, Argentine national universities and the biggest one situated in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province. It h ...

. At

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

her main composition teachers were

Judith Weir Judith Weir (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office. Biography Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish paren ...

and Lyell Cresswell. She was awarded a prize as the most distinguished female graduate in the Faculty of Arts. Later she studied under

Alexander Goehr Peter Alexander Goehr (; born 10 August 1932) is an English composer and academic. Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and composer Walter Goehr, a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. In his early twenties he emerged as a centra ...

, with whom she has also carried out extensive research into the music of

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

.Departmental staff page at King's College London website
/ref> In the late 1980s she held a Research Fellowship at

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

College followed by a combined research and teaching Fellowship at

King's Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh' ...

College, Cambridge. She is now a Professor of Music at King's College London. In addition to her own compositional work her interests concern the musical and intellectual environment of the

Second Viennese School The Second Viennese School (german: Zweite Wiener Schule, Neue Wiener Schule) was the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils, particularly Alban Berg and Anton Webern, and close associates in early 20th-century Vienna ...

, and of Schoenberg in particular. The main core of her teaching is in composition, twentieth-century music history, and analysis of contemporary music.

Work as a composer

Over the past fifteen to twenty years she has explored musical forms arising from heightened states of awareness, borrowing from a wealth of artistic media and spiritual traditions. These preoccupations are evident in two works written for the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary 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 in 1968—gi ...

– ''tigres azules'', in which by her own account Milstein sought to investigate "the compositional potential of treating the 'present moment as an infinite dream'", and ''surrounded by distance …'', an exploration of "the indefinable, yet seemingly precise manner in which musical shapes and configurations arise spontaneously as evocative appearances and illusory continuities, as described in the Lankavatara Sutra." An important strand in Milstein's music is the use of evocative gestures that draw on the vernacular music of Buenos Aires, a procedure which she evolved in ''musica ciudadana'' (1995) and ''a media luz'' (2000) as a means of furnishing a composition with a sense of modality. These pieces are like kaleidoscopic collages made out of evocative fragments of characteristic rhythms, turns of phrase and sonorities from Argentinian popular music (tango, milonga, bolero), embodied in textures inspired by the music of the Second Viennese School. The writer and musicologist John Fallas has pointed out a shift in her work around 1992, from works that carry genre titles – often Schoenbergian ones – to a concern with colour and fantasy. Her music has been played by some of the leading orchestras, ensembles and performers in Britain and abroad, such as

Ensemble Modern Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of modern composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countries. Hi ...

(Frankfurt), the

, Lontano, the

BBC Singers The BBC Singers are a British chamber choir, and the professional chamber choir of the BBC. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British c ...

, the

Endellion String Quartet The Endellion String Quartet was a British string quartet, named after St Endellion in Cornwall. History The quartet was formed in 1979 with the following original members: * Andrew Watkinson, violin * Louise Williams, violin * Garfield Jackson, v ...

and

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 the Royal College of Music. A specialist in contemporary classical music, she was described by one cri ...

. Her compositions have been championed by the conductors

Oliver Knussen Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British composer and conductor. Early life Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra, and a ...

and

Odaline de la Martinez Odaline de la Martinez (born 31 October 1949) is a Cuban-American composer and conductor, currently residing in the UK. She is the artistic director of Lontano, a London-based contemporary music ensemble which she co-founded in 1976 with New Zeala ...

, who have been instrumental in the commissioning of many of them.

Research interests

In her book ''

: notes, sets, forms'', Milstein proposes a hypothetical reconstruction of Schoenberg's conception of compositional process in his

twelve-tone music The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

. The core of the book consists of detailed analytical studies, which rely heavily on factors outside the score (such as the sketch material, the composer's theoretical and philosophical writings, his musical development and cultural milieu). In this sense her work extends beyond the boundaries of textual analysis into the field of the history of musical ideas. Although the main focus of Milstein's work for the last two decades has been in composition, there is much overlap between her analytical work and compositional thinking. For instance, her article on the first movement of

's ''Schlussgesang'' (2003) is an attempt to provide a hypothetical reconstruction of the compositional process, from an embryonic sketch (displaying many technical annotations) to its fully fledged realization. This is the first study to offer a comprehensive technical discussion of Goehr's post-serial harmonic practice in its aesthetic context, and explores Goehr's synthesis of French and Austro-German approaches to tonality and modality and their relation to his understanding of Schoenbergian dodecaphony. Milstein has recently addressed the role of cross-cultural memory in her work, commenting that "Having written a book on the nature of compositional process in Schoenberg's music in the eighties, I have reflected extensively on the implications of using traditional Western means for achieving musical continuity when dealing with symbolic spaces drawn from non-European traditions."

Selected compositions

and .">he following information is taken from fuller lists at and . *''Janus'' for clarinet and electronic tape (1984, premiered b
Lontano
*''Sombras'' (1985; co-winner of the

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

Trust/

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 ...

Orchestral Award) *String Quartet (1989, premiered by the Bingham String Quartet) *''Piano Phantasy after Mozart K. 475'' for solo piano (1992, revised in 2017) *''Music of the City'' - ''Musica Ciudadana'' (1993; premiered by

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 ra ...

) *''A love song for Psyche and Cupid*'' for mezzo-soprano, violin, cello and piano (1994; premiered by

Darragh Morgan Darragh Morgan (Belfast, 1974) is an Irish violinist. Darragh has established himself as a soloist of new music giving numerous recitals aSonorities Festival, as well as in Prague, Malta, Nicosia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Italy, Switzerla ...

, Kim Mackrell and Robert Keeley) *''Nova Polska'' for chamber chorus, solo tenor and chamber orchestra (1995; premiered by the

and the London Chamber Symphony) *''Book of Shadows'' for string quartet and narrator (1998; commissioned by the

) *''of lavender light'' for chamber ensemble (1999; commissioned b
Lontano
*''a media luz'' (2000; premiered by

) *''The Unending Rose'' for solo violin (2001, commissioned by

) *''So light upon the wind … (Dante, Inferno, Canto V): aria for twelve instruments'' (2002, commissioned by
Lontano
*''fire dressed in black'' (2002, commissioned by Vanitas) *''tigres azules'' (2004; commissioned by

) *''cristales y susurros – whispering crystals'' (2005; commissioned b
Lontano
*''surrounded by distance ...'' (2008; second

commission) *''a thousand golden bells in the breeze'' for double-manual harpsichord (2009, commissioned by Chau-Yee Lo; separate trio version for harp and 2 double basses, 2012) *''de oro y sombra ...'' (2011; commissioned by

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

, world premiere 25 September 2011) *''ochre, umber and burnt sienna'' (2012; written fo
Lontano
*''in a bowl of grey-blue leaves'' for two pianos (2014) *''ushnarasmou / untimely spring'' for mixed choir a cappella (2015), a setting of extracts from the

Kum%C4%81rasambhava ''Kumārasaṃbhavam'' ( sa, कुमारसम्भवम् "The Birth of Kumāra") is an epic poem by Kālidāsa. It is widely regarded as the finest work of Kālidāsa as well as the greatest kāvya poem in Classical Sanskrit. The style ...

commissioned by The Choir of King's College London *''fretted sounding-boards'' for mezzo-soprano and piano (2015), a setting of John Fuller's 'A Short History of the Piano' *''while your sound lingered on in lions and rocks'' for 2 trumpets and harp (2016), after a poem by

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recog ...

*''shan shui (mountain – water)'' for mixed nonet (2017); nominated for the 2018

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 mem ...

Award for Chamber-Scale Composition *''y la eternidad golpeteando por siempre en relojes de piedra (and eternity forever striking on clocks of stone)'' for piano and string quartet (2018), after a poem by

Osip Mandelstam Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam ( rus, Осип Эмильевич Мандельштам, p=ˈosʲɪp ɨˈmʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mənʲdʲɪlʲˈʂtam; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the A ...

Discography

*''fire dressed in black'': chamber works performed b
Lontano
cond.

*''In Memoriam'' (includes Milstein's ''ushnarasmou / untimely spring''),

Choir of King's College London The Choir of King's College London is a mixed-voice choir whose primary function is to lead services in the Renaissance Revival chapel of King's College London. Since its revival in 1945, the choir has gained an international reputation as one ...

cond. Gareth Wilson, Delphian DCD34146 *''of gold and shadows'' Volume 1, Lorelt LNT 141 *''of gold and shadows'' Volume 2, Lorelt LNT 142Lorelt CD/download page for ''of gold and shadows'' Vol 2
/ref>

References

External links

King's College London, Department of Music: staff pages

Official Website, Silvina Milstein

Composers Edition, Silvina Milstein

Sound and Music composer profile

Video interview with Silvina Milstein before premiere of ''de oro y sombra''

Rehearsal footage of Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
preparing the premiere of ''de oro y sombra''">Birmingham Contemporary Music Group">Rehearsal footage of Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
preparing the premiere of ''de oro y sombra''
Inaugural lecture as Professor of Music, King's College London
- 'Musings and reminiscences on the mysteries of composing music: forewords and postscripts', 19 October 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Milstein, Silvina Academics of King's College London Argentine composers Argentine women composers 1956 births Living people People from Buenos Aires