Stephen Michael Harding Oliver (10 March 1950 – 29 April 1992) was 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 ...

, best known for his

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

Early life and education

Oliver was born on 10 March 1950 in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, a son of Charlotte Hester (née Girdlestone; born 1911), a religious education adviser, and Osborne George Oliver (b. 1903), an electricity board official. His maternal great-grandfather was

William Boyd Carpenter William Boyd Carpenter (26 March 1841 – 26 October 1918) was an English cleric in the Church of England who became Bishop of Ripon (modern diocese), Bishop of Ripon and Honorary Chaplain to the Queen, Royal Chaplain to Victoria of the Unite ...

, a Bishop of Ripon and a court chaplain to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. Oliver was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School,

Ardingly College Ardingly College () is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located near Ardingly, West Sussex, England. The school ...

and at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

, where he read music under Kenneth Leighton and Robert Sherlaw Johnson. His first opera, ''

The Duchess of Malfi ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theat ...

'' (1971), was staged while he was still at Oxford.

Career

Later works include incidental music for the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

(including '' The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby''), a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

, '' Blondel'' (1983; with

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ''Jesus C ...

), and over forty operas, including ''Tom Jones'' (1975), ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1984) and ''

Timon of Athens ''The Life of Tymon of Athens'', often shortened to ''Timon of Athens'', is a play written by William Shakespeare and likely also Thomas Middleton in about 1606. It was published in the ''First Folio'' in 1623. Timon of Athens (person), Timon ...

'' (1991). Oliver also wrote music for television, including several of the BBC's Shakespeare productions (''Timon'' among those), the soundtrack to the 1986 film '' Lady Jane'', and some chamber and instrumental music. He was a good friend of

Simon Callow Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English actor. Known as a character actor on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including an Olivier Award and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for two BAFT ...

who commissioned the piece '' Ricercare No. 4'' for vocal quartet

Cantabile Cantabile is a term in music meaning to perform in a singing style. The word is taken from the Italian language and literally means "singable" or "songlike". In instrumental music, it is a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human ...

. He also composed the score for the thirteen-hour radio dramatisation of Tolkien's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'', first broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

in 1981. The work combined a main theme with many sub-themes, all composed within the English pastoral tradition. In Tony Palmer's film ''

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

'' (1982–83), Oliver can be seen playing the part of conductor Hans Richter and conducting in the pit of Richard Wagner's theatre at

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

Other activities

Oliver was a frequent guest on BBC Radio 4's light discussion programme '' Stop the Week''.

Death and legacy

He died in London on 29 April 1992, aged 42, of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

-related complications. In 2006, Oliver's archive of original scores and papers was presented to the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

by his family. His nephew is comedian and TV host

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British and American comedian who hosts ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' on HBO. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work ...

Stephen Oliver Trust

Oliver left most of his estate in trust, to further the work he had already been doing during his life, helping to fund small-scale opera companies and young composers of opera. In March 1993 the Stephen Oliver Trust was established, which was enlarged by several large donations and covenants. Trustees include conductor Jane Glover and composer Jonathan Dove. The stated aims of the trust are: *to encourage the creation, promotion and performance of contemporary opera; and *to encourage young people working in contemporary opera. The trust established the Stephen Oliver Prize, a biennial award of £10,000 launched in 1994, awarded to given to a young composer for a new work of

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

. Launched in 1994, there were two prizes awarded, with the first awarded to David Horne for ''Travellers'', and the second in 1996 to Tim Benjamin, for ''The Bridge''. The trust worked with other organisations to bring the two composers' operas to the stage in June 1998, as part of the 1998 Covent Garden Festival. After the competitions, the trust turned its attention to supporting compositions and occasional performances by contemporary opera companies. In 2006, the trustees decided to lodge the capital funds within the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, which administers the Stephen Oliver Award, as well as other funding to young musicians.

Work list

Opera and music theatre

The following operatic or musical theatre works were performed, according to Grove. Libretto is by the composer unless otherwise given: * ''All the Tea in China'' (1969) one act, libretto by L. du Garde Peach * ''Slippery Soules'' (1969, revised 1976) 50 minutes * ''A Phoenix too frequent'' (1970) one act, libretto

Christopher Fry Christopher Fry (18 December 1907 – 30 June 2005) was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, especially '' The Lady's Not for Burning'', which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. Biograp ...

* ''

'' (1971, revised 1978) three acts, based on the play by John Webster * ''The Dissolute Punished'' (1972) four one-act operas * ''The Donkey'' (1973) one act, libretto David Pountney * ''Three Instant Operas'' (1973) * ''Past Tense'' (1974) two one-act operas * ''Bad Times'' (1975) 8 minutes * ''Tom Jones'' (1975) three acts, after the novel by

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' was a seminal work in the genre. Along wi ...

* ''The Great McPorridge Disaster'' (1976) one act * ''The Waiter's Revenge'' (1976) 20 minutes * ''The Garden'' (1977) one act * ''Jacko's Play'' (1980) one-act operetta * ''A Man of Feeling'' (1980) 20 minutes, based on short story by

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

* ''Sasha'' (1982) three acts, based on play by Alexander Ostrovsky * '' Blondel'' (1983) two-act musical, libretto

* ''Britannia Preserv'd'' (1983) one act, libretto A. N. Wilson * ''The Ring'' (1984) one act, after ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' * ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1984) two acts, after Madame Le Prince de Beaumont * ''The Exposition of a Picture'' (1986) 35 minutes * ''Waiting'' (1987) one act * ''Mario And The Magician'' (1988) one act, after

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

* ''Timon of Athens'' (1990) two acts, after Shakespeare * ''Commuting'', a wordless opera premiered 1996Jeal, Erica. Stephen Oliver Trilogy Cantabile at the Covent Garden Festival. May 30. ''Opera'', August 1996, p.978-979.

References

External links

Official Stephen Oliver website
* * Composer page a
ChesterNovello.com
* BBC Shakespeare

* 1950 births 1992 deaths People educated at Ardingly College Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford 20th-century English classical composers English agnostics Musicians from Chester AIDS-related deaths in England People educated at St. Paul's Cathedral School English male classical composers 20th-century English male musicians {{UK-composer-stub