Simon Rackham (born 1964) is an English composer and artist. He is probably best known for his work;‘Which ever way your nose bends’ the first commission by the six piano ensemble Piano Circus, composed as a companion piece to

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

’s ‘

Six Pianos ''Six Pianos'' is a minimalist piece for six pianos by the American composer Steve Reich. It was completed in March 1973. He also composed a variation for six marimbas, called ''Six Marimbas'', in 1986. The world première performance of ''Six Pi ...

’ & released on their eponymous album by Argo Records (UK) in 1992.

Early life

From 1983-1988, he studied composition and French horn at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire 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 first Duke of ...

(London).

Career

In the late eighties he co-founded the group ‘3 or 4 composers’ (with

Laurence Crane Laurence Crane (born 1961 in Oxford) is a composer of contemporary classical music. Career Laurence Crane is closely associated with the ensemble Apartment House, who have given over 40 performances of his works. Some performances they have g ...

, Helen Ottaway, Melanie Pappenheim and Jocelyn Pook). He has released over seventy albums (mainly music for piano) through

CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is an online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. The CD Baby music store was shut down in March 2020 with a statement that "C ...

, recorded using Finale (software) to write the score and then 'Pianissimo' virtual piano software for the performance. In 2012 his authorized arrangement for solo piano of Steve Reich's ‘ Clapping Music’ was released on the album ''Which way is up?''.

Musical work

His music is broadly described as postminimalist or minimalist, influenced by Terry Riley,

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

et al. Another important influence was the work of the so-called English experimental composers such as

Howard Skempton Howard While Skempton (born 31 October 1947) is an English composer, pianist, and accordionist. Since the late 1960s, when he helped to organise the Scratch Orchestra, he has been associated with the English school of experimental music. Skempt ...

Michael Parsons Michael Parsons may refer to: *Michael Parsons (composer) (born 1938), British composer *Michael Parsons (cricketer) (born 1984), English cricketer *Michael Parsons (engineer) (1928–2021), designer of major suspension bridges *Michael Parsons (A ...

and Christopher Hobbs and his association with

and Graham Fitkin. Many of his works have a conceptual basis, or work through various processes as in

Systems music Systems music is music with sound continua which evolve gradually, often over very long periods of time. Historically, the American minimalists Steve Reich, La Monte Young and Philip Glass are considered the principal proponents of this composit ...

. Rackham's works are mainly composed within a

Diatonic scale In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, ...

. Tempo and

dynamics (music) In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependin ...

generally remain constant throughout the entirety of a piece. Various albums containing longer pieces ('Harmonium Music', 'Man Made Music', 'Slow Motion Music', 'Audiophilia', 'Triadic Variations' etc.) could be described as

Ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

. A series of works dealing with fundamental aspects of music; 'Tune', 'Harmony', 'Rhythm' & 'Sixty Minutes' (which is primarily concerned with time) were released in the 2010s. His music has been used by dance companies and he has composed incidental music for plays including the first British production of '' The Man Outside'' by

Wolfgang Borchert Wolfgang Borchert (; 20 May 1921 – 20 November 1947) was a German author and playwright whose work was strongly influenced by his experience of dictatorship and his service in the ''Wehrmacht'' during the Second World War. His work is among t ...

. He performed in the original production of Tony Harrison's '' The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus'' in Greece and at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

London.

Visual art

Rackham's work has been exhibited in the UK, the Netherlands and Italy. He has produced a large and diverse body of work, switching between more conventional painting and sculpture (including ceramics) and more conceptual art including Artist's books. Some of his text-based work was exhibited through Tanya Peixoto's bookartbookshop (London) in 2002, in an exhibition called In Black and White. He has produced photographic and video works.

External links

Official website

info on 'The Holy Brook' performance in Reading

binbinFactory dance company video

'Music for Nothing' Free Download

References

* The Independent, Thursday 11 June 1998, Phil Johnson * ''The Independent'', Monday 5 May 1997, Phil Johnson * * * University of the West of England, Artist's Book Yearbook 2003-2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rackham, Simon 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers English classical composers Experimental composers Minimalist composers 1964 births Living people English male classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians