Thea Musgrave CBE (born 27 May 1928) is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music. She has lived in the United States since 1972.

Biography

Born in Barnton, Edinburgh, Musgrave was educated at Moreton Hall School, a boarding independent school for girls near the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

in Shropshire, followed by 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 ...

, and in Paris as a pupil of

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

from 1950 to 1954. In 1958 she attended the

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 ...

Festival and studied with

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

. In 1970 she became guest professor at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

, a position which confirmed her increasing involvement with the musical life of the United States. She married American violist and opera conductor Peter Mark in 1971. From 1987 to 2002 she was distinguished professor at

Queens College, City University of New York Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

. Among Musgrave's earlier orchestral works, the Concerto for Orchestra of 1967 and the Concerto for Horn of 1971 display the composer's ongoing fascination with 'dramatic-abstract' musical ideas. More recent works continue the idea though sometimes in a more programmatic way: such as the oboe concerto ''Helios'' of 1994, in which the soloist represents the Sun God. Another frequent source of inspiration is the visual arts – ''The Seasons'' took its initial inspiration from a visit to New York's

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, while ''Turbulent Landscapes'' (commissioned by the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...

and premiered by them in 2003) depicts a series of paintings by J. M. W. Turner. She has written more than a dozen operas and other music theatre works, many taking a historical figure as their central character, among them ''

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

'' (1977),

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. After escaping slavery, Tubman made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends, us ...

('' Harriet, the Woman called Moses'', 1984),

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

(1993; premiere 1995 at the

Virginia Opera Virginia Opera is an opera company based in the Commonwealth of Virginia which was first organized in 1974 by a group of Norfolk, Virginia community volunteers. In September 1974, Thomas A. Lipton was engaged to produce a fully professional pro ...

) and '' Pontalba'' (2003). In 2008, her 80th birthday was marked by premieres of ''Points of View'', ''Green'', ''Cantilena'', ''Taking Turns'' and other performances. In 2018, coinciding with Musgrave's 90th birthday, her compositions were performed at the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

and the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

. The opera ''Mary Queen of Scots'' made its ENO premiere in London on 15 February 2025, in a co-production with San Francisco Opera. In 2018, her East Coast premiere of ''Aurora'', (1999), was performed at the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series.

Reflections on a musical career

In response to a question presented by

Tom Service Tom Service (born 8 March 1976) is a Scottish writer, music journalist, and television and radio presenter. He has written regularly for ''The Guardian'' since 1999 and presented on BBC Radio 3 since 2001. He is a regular presenter of the Proms ...

for the BBC about Musgrave's view of being a 'woman composer' she replied, "Yes I am a woman, and I am a composer. But rarely at the same time". She admits that pursuing music can be a difficult career. When asked by the BBC to offer advice to young composers, she replied, "Don't do it, unless you have to. And if you do, enjoy every minute of it."

Honours and awards

* Musgrave has received the Koussevitzky Award (1974) as well as two

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

s (1974/5 and 1982/3). * She holds honorary degrees from

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

(Virginia),

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

in Boston, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. * In 2002 she was appointed a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the Queen's New Year Honours List. * She was awarded the Queen's Medal for Music, 2017.

Works

Orchestral

*Chamber Concerto No. 2 (1966; chamber ensemble) *''Night Music'' (1968; for chamber orchestra – J. W. Chester/Edition Wilhelm Hansen London Ltd.) * Concerto for Orchestra (1967; orchestra) * Clarinet Concerto (1969; clarinet, orchestra) * ''Night Music'' (1969; horns, orchestra) * ''Memento Vitae'' (1969–70; orchestra)''Musgrave: Orchestral Works'', NMC CD D074 (2003)
/ref> * Concerto for Horn (1971; horn, orchestra) * Viola Concerto (1973; viola, orchestra) * ''The Seasons'' (1988; orchestra) * ''Song of the Enchanter'' (1990; orchestra) ( commissioned to honour the 125th anniversary of the birth of

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

)Song of the Enchanter – Thea Musgrave, composer
* ''Helios'' (1994; oboe, orchestra) *''Songs for a Winter's Evening'' (1995; soprano, orchestra) *''Phoenix Rising'' (1997, orchestra) * ''Aurora'' (1999; string orchestra) * ''The Mocking-Bird'' (2000; baritone, orchestra) * ''Turbulent Landscapes'' (2003; orchestra) * '' Wood, Metal and Skin'' (2004; percussion, orchestra) * ''Two's Company'' (2005; oboe, percussion, orchestra) * ''Points of View'' (2007; orchestra) * ''Green'' (2008; string chamber orchestra – 2014; string orchestra) * ''Towards the Blue'' (2010; clarinet, orchestra) * ''Loch Ness – A postcard from Scotland'' (2012; orchestra) * ''From Darkness into the Light'' (2017; cello, orchestra) * Trumpet Concerto (2019; trumpet, orchestra)

Choral

* ''The Five Ages of Man'' (1963; chorus and orchestra) *'' Rorate Coeli'' (1973) * ''The Last Twilight'' (1980; choir and brass ensemble) * ''Wild Winter 1: Lamentations'' (1993; voices and viols) * ''On the Underground'', sets one, two and three (1994) * ''Wild Winter 2'' (1996; voices and viols) * ''Going North'' (2004; children's choir) * ''Voices of Power and Protest'' (2006) * ''Ithaca'' (2010) * ''The Voices of Our Ancestors'' (2014; choir, brass, organ) * ''Missa Brevis'' (2017; choir, organ) * ''By the River'' (2019)

Chamber

* Trio for flute, oboe and piano (1960) * ''Orfeo'' (1975; solo flute & tape or strings) * ''Pierrot'' (1985; clarinet) * ''Journey through a Japanese landscape'' (1994; marimba, winds, harp, piano, percussion), violin and piano) * ''Ring Out Wild Bells'' (2000; clarinet, violin, cello, piano) * ''Night Windows'' (2007; oboe, piano – 2016; oboe, strings) * ''Cantilena'' (2008; oboe quartet) * ''Poets in Love'' (2009; tenor, baritone,

piano four hands Piano four hands (, , ) is a type of piano duet involving two players playing the same piano simultaneously. A duet with the players playing separate instruments is generally referred to as a ''piano duet, piano duo''.Bellingham, Jane"piano du ...

) * ''Sunrise'' (2010; flute, viola and harp) * ''Five Songs for Spring'' (2011; baritone & piano, also orchestrated) * ''La vida es Sueño'' (2016; baritone, piano)

Opera

*''The Abbot of Drimock'' (1955) *''Marko the Miser'' (1962) *''The Decision'' (1965) *''The Voice of Ariadne'' (1973) *''

'' (1977) – also chamber version (2016) *''A Christmas Carol'' (1979) *'' An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'' (1981) *'' Harriet, the Woman Called Moses'' (1985) – also version for small orchestra re-titled ''The Story of Harriet Tubman (1990)'' *''

'' (1995) – also chamber version (2013) *'' Pontalba'' (2003)

References

External links

*
Thea Musgrave profile
chesternovello.com; accessed 5 February 2017

21 March 1988; accessed 5 February 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Musgrave, Thea 20th-century Scottish classical composers 21st-century British classical composers Scottish opera composers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music Scottish expatriates in the United States Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People educated at Moreton Hall School Musicians from Edinburgh 1928 births Living people Pupils of Aaron Copland Scottish women in electronic music 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century American women musicians Scottish women classical composers 20th-century British women composers 21st-century Scottish women composers British women opera composers Scottish women composers