Sibelius Molto moderato â“ Scherzo string quartet

Sibelius Molto moderato â“ Scherzo string quartet archive#

In the 1970s he was one of those – Hans Keller and Deryck Cooke were others – who started the (unsuccessful) revolt against the report Broadcasting in the Seventies and its plan for 'generic broadcasting' (i.e. In the latter part of his career as a BBC producer Simpson frequently clashed with the management of the organisation. These included the mammoth 'Gothic' Symphony in 1966 under Sir Adrian Boult, and in 1973 the 28th Symphony under Leopold Stokowski who, at the age of 91, was premiering a work written by a 91-year-old composer. Simpson was a great champion of Havergal Brian's music, and under the BBC's auspices he produced many broadcasts featuring Brian's works. After the war Simpson lectured extensively and founded the Exploratory Concerts Society in 1951 he joined the music staff of the BBC and became one of its best-known and most respected music producers, remaining with the corporation for nearly three decades. Howells persuaded him to take the Durham University Bachelor of Music degree, and in 1952 he gained the further degree of Doctor of Music from that university, the submitted work being his First Symphony. A conscientious objector in World War II, he served with an ARP mobile surgical unit during the London Blitz, while taking lessons from Herbert Howells. He was intended for a medical career and studied in London for two years before his determination to be a musician gained the upper hand. His father, Robert Warren Simpson, was a descendant of Sir James Young Simpson, the Scottish pioneer of anaesthetics his mother, Helena Hendrika Govaars, was the daughter of Gerrit Govaars, founder of the Leger des Heils, the Dutch arm of the Salvation Army.

Simpson was born in Leamington, Warwickshire. In 2021, he was featured as Composer of the Week on BBC Radio 3.

Sibelius Molto moderato â“ Scherzo string quartet archive#

The society aims to bring Simpson's music to a wider public by sponsoring recordings and live performances of his work, by issuing a journal and other publications, and by maintaining an archive of material relating to the composer. Remarkably for a living contemporary composer, a Robert Simpson Society was formed in 1980 by individuals concerned that Simpson's music had been unfairly neglected. He studied composition under Herbert Howells. He is best known for his orchestral and chamber music (particularly those in the key classical forms: 11 symphonies and 15 string quartets), and for his writings on the music of Beethoven, Bruckner, Nielsen and Sibelius. Robert Wilfred Levick Simpson (2 March 1921 – 21 November 1997) was an English composer, as well as a long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster.

JSTOR ( May 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).

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