Simon Bainbridge (30 August 1952 – 2 April 2021) was a British composer. He was also a professor and head of

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

, London, and visiting professor at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, in the United States.

Biography

Bainbridge was born in London. He had his first major break with ''Spirogyra'', written in 1970 while he was still a student. This work displays a passion for intricate and sensuous textures that remained the hallmark of Bainbridge's style. He was educated at

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is a co-educational, fee-charging, private day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate Pre-Preparato ...

and 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 ...

. After graduating from the Royal College of Music, he studied with

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

; his fondness for American culture was occasionally portrayed in works such as ''Concerto in Moto Perpetuo'' (1983), which contains echoes of American minimalism, and the be-bop inspired ''For Miles'' (1994). In the 1990s, his work took on a new expressive dimension such as in ''Ad Ora Incerta'' (1994) which earned him the

Grawemeyer Award The Grawemeyer Awards () are five awards given annually by the University of Louisville. The prizes are presented to individuals in the fields of education, ideas improving world order, music composition, religion, and psychology. The religion awa ...

in 1997. Bainbridge was head of composition at the

from 1999 to 2007, and was one of the first four professors to be appointed in 2000 with the Academy's status as a constituent college of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Bainbridge died on 2 April 2021, aged 68, after four years of pain following unsuccessful back surgery. Bainbridge was married with one daughter. His ashes are interred on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

with the ashes of his brother Martyn Bainbridge, a stage set designer.

Career highlights

* 1969–1974 – Studied at

, London, then at Tanglewood with Gunther Schuller * 1976–1978 – Forman Fellow in Composition at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

* 1983–1985 – Composer-in-residence at Southern Arts * 1997 –

Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition The Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition () is an annual prize instituted by Henry Charles Grawemeyer, industrialist and entrepreneur, at the University of Louisville in 1984. The award was first given in 1985. Subsequently, the Grawemeyer Awar ...

for ''Ad Ora Incerta'' * 2001 – Appointed head of composition at the

* 2002 – Fiftieth birthday events in Cheltenham, Huddersfield and London

Key works

* ''String Quartet no.1'' (1972) * ''Viola Concerto'' (1976) * ''Fantasia for Double Orchestra'' (1984) * ''Clarinet Quintet'' (1993) * ''For Miles'' for trumpet and chamber ensemble (1994) * ''Ad Ora Incerta'', Four Orchestral Songs from Primo Levi for mezzo-soprano, bassoon and orchestra (1994); poems by

Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was a Jewish Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor and writer. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works i ...

* ''Four Primo Levi Settings'' for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, viola and piano (1996); poems by

* ''Guitar Concerto'' for guitar and chamber ensemble (1998) * ''Chant'' for amplified chorus and large ensemble (1999) * ''Voiles'' for bassoon and string ensemble (2001)

Selected recordings

* ''Ad Ora Incerta; Four Primo Levi Settings'' – NMC D059 * ''Herbsttag'' – USK 1224CD

References

External links

Simon Bainbridge homepage at Wise Music ClassicalSimon Bainbridge page at UYMP
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bainbridge, Simon 1952 births 2021 deaths 20th-century British classical composers 21st-century British classical composers English classical composers People educated at Highgate School Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Composers from London Alumni of the Royal College of Music Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music University of Louisville faculty English male classical composers 20th-century English composers British string quartet composers 21st-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century British musicians 21st-century British male musicians Burials at Highgate Cemetery