Bayan Peter Northcott (24 April 1940 – 13 December 2022) was an English music critic and composer.Northcott (1940–2022)'', Stainer & Bell
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Biography

Born in

Harrow on the Hill Harrow on the Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of Harrow in Greater London, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) and is located some half a mile south of the mod ...

(London), Northcott read English at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

and received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from Oxford in 1962. He then taught English from 1964 to 1970. Northcott developed an interest in composition and was encouraged by Alexander Goehr and

Hans Keller Hans (Heinrich) Keller (11 March 19196 November 1985) was an Austrian-born British musician and writer, who made significant contributions to musicology and music criticism, as well as being a commentator on such disparate fields as psychoana ...

.Don Michael Randel (editor) (1999). ''The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. Belknap Press (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA). . p 454. Subsequently he read music at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

, where his instructors included Goehr and Jonathan Harvey. Northcott earned a

BMus Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of presc ...

degree from Southampton in 1971. He mentored other composers such as

Robin Holloway Robin Greville Holloway (born 19 October 1943) is an English composer, academic and writer. Early life Holloway was born in Leamington Spa. From 1953 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral and was educated at King's College School, ...

and

Julian Anderson Julian Anderson (born 6 April 1967) is a British composer and teacher of composition. Biography Anderson was born in London. He studied at Westminster School, then with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music, with Alexander Goehr at Cambri ...

. Northcott served as a music critic for the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'', for the '' Sunday Telegraph'' from 1976 to 1986, and he was chief music critic of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' from 1986 to 2009, where he worked alongside

Anthony Payne Anthony Edward Payne (2 August 1936 – 30 April 2021) was an English composer, music critic and musicologist. He is best known for his acclaimed completion of Edward Elgar's third symphony, which subsequently gained wide acceptance into Elga ...

and Tess Knighton.Julian Andreson, Programme note to Prom 62, ''BBC Proms'', 31 August 2016, pp 6-7. He also wrote on music for ''

Tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

'' and '' BBC Music Magazine''. He was a director of the independent recording company NMC.> He died in London in December 2022, aged 82.

Compositions

As a composer, Northcott's output was modest and mainly scored for small forces. Notable chamber works include the Oboe Sonata (1978), Guitar Fantasia (1982) and the Piano Sextet (1985, premiered by the

Fires of London The Fires of London, founded as the Pierrot Players, was a British chamber music ensemble which was active from 1965 to 1987. The Pierrot Players was founded by Harrison Birtwistle, Alan Hacker, and Stephen Pruslin.''Who’s Who 1975'', page 13 ...

). Choral pieces include ''Hymn to Cybele'' (1983), the ''Four Votive Antiphons'', Op. 7 (2003, a cumulative cycle), and ''Canticle: The Doubting of Thomas'' (2007). The Horn Concerto, which took eight years to complete, was first performed in 1998 by Speculum Musicae in New York, and subsequently by the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—givi ...

. His Concerto for Orchestra was performed at

the Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in 2016.

List of compositions

* Sonata for Solo Oboe, Op. 1 (1977–78) * ''Six Japanese Lyrics'', Op. 2, for Sop, cl, vn (1971/79) (texts translated by the composer) * Fantasia for Guitar, Op. 3 (1981–82) * ''Hymn to Cybele'', Op. 4, for Mezz, Ten, Bar, chor, 2 perc, db (1983) (text – Catullus, translated by the composer) * Sextet, Op. 5, for fl/picc, cl/b cl, pno, perc, vn, vc (1984–85) * ''Carillon'' (after Machaut), for 14 players (1987) * ''Three English Lyrics'', Op. 6, for Sop, cl, va, db (1988) (texts – Anon, 15th-16th century) * ''Of All the Instruments'' (after Purcell), for fl, ob, cl, glock, vn, vc, db (1994) * Concerto for Horn and Ensemble, for 11 players, Op. 8 (1990–98) * ''Memento'', for Sop, fl (1999) (text – Hilda Morley) * ''Four Votive Antiphons'' Op. 7, for Alt, 3 Ten, Bar, or chor (1997-2003) ** "Salve Regina", Op. 7, No. 1 (1999) (text - Anon Latin) ** "Alma Redemptoris Mater", Op. 7, No. 2 (2000) (text – Anon Latin) ** "Ave Regina Celorum" / "Alleluia", Op. 7, No. 3 (1997) (text – Anon Latin) ** "Regina Celi", Op. 7, No. 4 (2003) (text – Anon Latin) * Fandango, Op. 9, for Harpsichord (2006) * ''Canticle: The Doubting of Thomas'', for Mezz, Ten, Bar, chor, org (2007) (text - Bible, Authorized Version) * ''Poet and Star'', for Sop, Ten, pno (2008) (text – Thomas Hardy) * ''Doubles All Round'', for fl/picc, cl/b cl, hn, pno, vn, vc (2009) * Elegy for Solo Viola (2013) * Concerto for Orchestra (2014–16) * Sonata for Flute and Clarinet (2018)

Filmography

* 2006 – ''In Search of Mozart'' (contributor) * 2009 – ''In Search of Beethoven'' (contributor) * 2012 – ''In Search of Haydn'' (contributor)

Writing

Books

* 1980 –
The Music of Alexander Goehr : Interviews and Articles
* 2009 –
The Way we Listen Now and Other Writings on Music
', ed. Christopher Wintle

Journalism

* *

, in ''The Independent'', 11 December 1993 *

, in ''The Independent'', 17 November 2001

References

External links

Saturday Chorale blog, 'Bayan Northcott: Salve Regina', 19 January 2016
* *
Fantasia for Guitar, Op. 3, played by Antonis Hatzinikolaou
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northcott, Bayan 1940 births 2022 deaths 20th-century classical composers English classical composers English music critics Musicians from London Journalists from London The Independent people Alumni of the University of Oxford English male classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians