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David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both
popular
Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group.
Popular may also refer to:
In sociology
* Popular culture
* Popular fiction
* Popular music
* Popular science
* Populace, the total ...
and
classical music. He was the brother of the conductor
Steuart Bedford
Steuart John Rudolf Bedford (31 July 1939 – 15 February 2021) was an English orchestral and opera conductor and pianist.
He was the brother of composer David Bedford and of singer Peter Lehmann Bedford and a grandson of Liza Lehmann and Her ...
, the grandson of the composer, painter and author
Herbert Bedford
Herbert Bedford (23 January 1867 – 13 March 1945) was a composer, author, miniature painter and inventor. He was married to the soprano and composer Liza Lehmann from 1894 until her death in 1918. His grandsons were the conductor Steuart Bedfo ...
and the composer
Liza Lehmann
Liza Lehmann (11 July 1862 – 19 September 1918) was an English soprano and composer, known for her vocal compositions.Banfield, Stephen. Grove Music Online'
After vocal studies with Alberto Randegger and Jenny Lind, and composition studies ...
, and the son of Leslie Bedford, an inventor, and Lesley Duff, a
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
opera singer.
From 1969 to 1981, Bedford was Composer in Residence at
Queen's College, London
Queen's College is an independent school for girls aged 11–18 with an adjoining prep school for girls aged 4–11 located in the City of Westminster, London. Founded in 1848 by theologian and social reformer Frederick Denison Maurice along wit ...
. From 1968 to 1980, he taught music in a number of London secondary schools. In 1996 he was appointed Composer in Association with the
English Sinfonia. In 2001 he was appointed Chairman of the
Performing Right Society
PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertake ...
, having previously been Deputy chairman.
Early life and career
Bedford was born in
Hendon, London to Leslie Bedford, the director of engineering for the guided weapons division of the British Aircraft Corporation, and Lesley Duff, a soprano singer who worked with the English Opera Group.
[
]
[
]
He was educated at
Lancing College
Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...
in West Sussex.
When he was 19, he acted as a conscientious objector in lieu of performing national service, which was still mandatory in Britain at the time.
[
]
During this time he worked as a porter at
Guy's Hospital, London.
Bedford studied music 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 ...
under
Lennox Berkeley
Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley (12 May 190326 December 1989) was an English composer.
Biography
Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in Oxford, England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of Sir James Char ...
, and later in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
under
Luigi Nono
Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music.
Biography
Early years
Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...
. His studies and early influences included the work of Nono,
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...
,
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
and
Anton Webern
Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stea ...
.
Decca Decca may refer to:
Music
* Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label
* Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group
* Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label
* Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...
(1970) LP notes by Anthony Payne from ''Music for Albion Moonlight'' LP ZRG 638
In the mid-60s, he was a music teacher at Whitefield school in Hendon, before
joining
Queen’s College in London as composer in residence in 1969.
[
]
Bedford was a former president of the
Severnside Composers' Alliance
Severnside Composers Alliance is an organization founded in 2003 by composer Sulyen Caradon with a number of other composers based in the Bristol, Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for wat ...
and a founding Trustee of the PRS for Music Foundation, which supports the composition of new pieces.
[
]
Recording and arranging
In 1969, Bedford was engaged to
orchestrate Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely assoc ...
' album ''
Joy of a Toy
''Joy of a Toy'' is the debut solo album of Kevin Ayers, a founding member of Soft Machine. He is accompanied on the LP by pianist and arranger David Bedford as well as his erstwhile Soft Machine colleagues Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge, an ...
'', on which he also played keyboards. This led to his role as keyboard player for Ayers' band, Kevin Ayers and the Whole World, who recorded one album, ''
Shooting at the Moon'' (1970). On that album, in addition to organ and piano, Bedford plays
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
,
marimbaphone The marimbaphone (not to be confused with the similarly named marimba) is an obsolete tuned percussion instrument, developed by the J.C. Deagan Company of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. in the early 20th century.
The marimbaphone had either shallow steel ...
and guitar. Bedford also contributed to later Kevin Ayers albums as keyboard player and orchestral arranger.
Bedford's work with The Whole World led to collaborations with the group's saxophonist
Lol Coxhill
George Lowen Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012) known professionally as Lol Coxhill, was an English free improvising saxophonist. He played soprano and sopranino saxophone.
Biography
Coxhill was born to George Compton Coxhill ...
, with whom he formed the Coxhill-Bedford Duo. The Duo released several singles of old
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
and British
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
songs featuring Bedford on piano and lead vocal, and Coxhill on saxophone and second vocal, for
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
's
Dandelion Records label in the early 1970s. One of these singles was released under the pseudonym, Will Dandy and the Dandylettes (covering a medley of
Al Jolson
Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-bi ...
songs), with the B-side credited to the Coxhill-Bedford Duo. More tracks by the Duo appear on Coxhill's solo album, ''Ear of Beholder'' (1971) on which they play three songs, including an early version of "
Don Alfonso" which Bedford would record again later. Still more Coxhill-Bedford Duo songs can be found on ''Banana Follies'', a 1972
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
concert radio broadcast featuring Kevin Ayers, released on CD in 1998. In that broadcast, Bedford and Coxhill also perform a short radio play titled "Murder in the Air". Coxhill later re-recorded the play without Bedford and released it as a 12-inch single, stating in the liner notes that he would have preferred to record it with Bedford, who was unavailable.
The first album to consist entirely of David Bedford compositions was ''
Nurses Song with Elephants
''Nurses Song with Elephants'' is the debut solo album of David Bedford. It was released in 1972 by Dandelion Records. It features Mike Oldfield, Kevin Ayers and composer Gilbert Biberian.
Track listing
All tracks composed by David Bedford.
#"It' ...
'', recorded at the Marquee Studios, and released in 1972 on John Peel's Dandelion label. On this album, Bedford mixed classical ensemble with poems and voices. ''Some Bright Stars for Queen's College'' uses twenty-seven plastic pipe twirlers, John Peel himself being among the pipe twirler players. There are five tracks on the album: ''It's Easier Than It Looks'', ''Nurses Song With Elephants'', ''Some Bright Stars for Queen's College'', ''Trona'' (1967), and ''Sad and Lonely Faces''. Bass guitar on the title song is played by
Mike Oldfield
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...
and the final track features a poem by
Kenneth Patchen
Kenneth Patchen (December 13, 1911January 8, 1972) was an American poet and novelist. He experimented with different forms of writing and incorporated painting, drawing, and jazz music into his works, which have been compared with those of Will ...
that is sung by Kevin Ayers.
Bedford collaborated even more extensively with
Mike Oldfield
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...
, The Whole World's bass guitarist. He orchestrated and conducted Oldfield's ''
The Orchestral Tubular Bells
''The Orchestral Tubular Bells'' is an orchestral version of Mike Oldfield's album ''Tubular Bells'', arranged by David Bedford and recorded in 1974 by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Oldfield himself playing the guitar. Excerpts fr ...
'' album (1975),
an adaptation of ''
Tubular Bells
Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...
'', the record that had given the
Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
record label its first major success in 1973. Bedford also orchestrated Oldfield's follow-up album-length composition, ''
Hergest Ridge
Hergest Ridge is a large elongated hill which traverses the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom, between the town of Kington in Herefordshire and the village of Gladestry in Powys. Its highest point, which is in England, ...
'' (1974) as ''The Orchestral Hergest Ridge'', which was performed live and recorded for radio broadcast from concert performances twice, once in 1974 by the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works.
The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
with
Steve Hillage
Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...
on guitar, and once in 1976 by the
Scottish National Orchestra
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the Or ...
, again with Hillage on guitar, although
Andy Summers
Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942), is an English guitarist who was a member of the rock band The Police. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a band member in 2003. Summers has recorded solo albums, collaborated w ...
had played on other performances that year. The latter recording was acquired by Virgin, but not released as an album, although portions of it were used in ''The Space Movie'' (1979), which featured Oldfield's music.
Bedford provided vocals and piano for Oldfield's cover versions of more old music hall numbers (in the manner of the now-defunct Coxhill-Bedford Duo), ''Don Alfonso'' (1974) and ''Speak (Tho' You Only Say Farewell)'' (1976), collaborated with Oldfield on a piece titled "First Excursion" for Oldfield's box set compilation ''
Boxed'', and orchestrated Oldfield's soundtrack for ''
The Killing Fields
A killing field is a concept in military science.
Killing field may also refer to:
* Killing Fields, a number of sites in Cambodia where collectively more than a million people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of ...
'' (1984). In 1983, Oldfield created a short-lived record label called Oldfield Music whose sole release was a David Bedford album, ''Star Clusters, Nebulae and Places in Devon / The Song of the White Horse''.
Bedford's association with Oldfield led to a record contract to make a number of albums for Virgin, some using orchestral players, others featuring Bedford's keyboards, and some include Oldfield as a featured performer. Album titles from this period include ''Star's End'' (1974), ''The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' (1975, a musical setting of
the poem by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...
), ''The Odyssey'' (1976, a musical setting of
the poem by
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
), and ''Instructions for Angels'' (1977), the latter including an appearance by
Mike Ratledge
Michael Roland Ratledge (born 6 May 1943) is a British musician. A part of the Canterbury scene, he was a founding member of Soft Machine. He was the last founding member to leave the group, doing so in 1976.
Biography and career
Ratledge was ...
.
Bedford contributed to records by the
Edgar Broughton Band
The Edgar Broughton Band, founded in Warwick in 1968, were an English rock band.
Career
The band started their career as a blues group under the name of The Edgar Broughton Blues Band, playing to a small following in the region around t ...
, including a single titled ''Up Yours!'', a
polemic
Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...
on the
1970 UK general election
The 1970 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 18 June 1970. It resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, which defeated the governing Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The Liberal Party ...
declaring their intention to
drop out. The single features a
string arrangement by Bedford.
Bedford worked on several
Roy Harper projects, including the 1971 four-song album ''
Stormcock'' which also featured
Jimmy Page
James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...
on guitar (credited as ''S. Flavius Mercurius'' for contractual reasons), and the 1974 album ''
Valentine''. Bedford also conducted an orchestra during Harper's live concerts, including the Valentine's Day launch of the album, the concert later released as
Flashes from the Archives of Oblivion and featuring, among others,
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Moon grew ...
. In 2001 he was reunited with Harper when the latter celebrated his 60th birthday with a concert at London's
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...
, joined by numerous guest artists, including
Jeff Martin and
John Renbourn
John Renbourn (8 August 1944 – 26 March 2015) was an English guitarist and songwriter. He was best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo care ...
. A recording of the concert ''
Royal Festival Hall Live – June 10th 2001'' was released as a double CD shortly afterwards.
He also worked with a wide variety of other artists, including
A-ha
A-ha (usually stylised as ''a-''h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ...
,
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...
,
Camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
,
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
,
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (singer), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (FGTH drummer), Peter ...
,
Madness, Andy Summers,
Alan White (drummer for
Yes) and
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...
.
Avant-garde classical compositions
Bedford was also known for his
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
classical works.
His 1963 ''Piece for Mo'' was described as "his first work of standing",
[ although it was never recorded for release. In 1965 he composed a chamber work for soprano and septet called ''Music For Albion Moonlight'',] based on poems by Kenneth Patchen
Kenneth Patchen (December 13, 1911January 8, 1972) was an American poet and novelist. He experimented with different forms of writing and incorporated painting, drawing, and jazz music into his works, which have been compared with those of Will ...
. He continued to set music to Patchen's poems throughout his career, including ''O Now the Drenched Land Wakes'' and ''The Great Birds'', released by Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
on one of their ''Avant Garde'' series of albums in 1968,[
] and ''Instructions For Angels'', released by Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
in 1977.[
]
He also composed a number of works for wind orchestra
A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...
, beginning with ''Sun Paints Rainbows on the Vast Waves'' in 1982, commissioned by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (also known by the acronym HCMF, stylised since 2006 as the lowercase hcmf//) is a new music festival held annually in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since its foundation in 1978, it has featured ...
. Many of these works have recorded by the wind orchestra of the Royal Northern College of Music, conducted by Clark Rundell, released by Doyen Records UK in 1998.[
]
Bedford is noted for the large amount of educational music he wrote for children. The musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation fo ...
he used was often unconventional, frequently making use of graphics
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...
, thus letting his works be performed by children and others who cannot read conventional notation. In the liner notes to the album ''Viola Today'' (1974) by Karen Phillips, it is stated that in the score of Bedford's ''Spillihpnerak'' (1972) there is "(a) page consisting of a drawing of a lysozyme
Lysozyme (EC 3.2.1.17, muramidase, ''N''-acetylmuramide glycanhydrolase; systematic name peptidoglycan ''N''-acetylmuramoylhydrolase) is an antimicrobial enzyme produced by animals that forms part of the innate immune system. It is a glycoside ...
molecule
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioch ...
which the performer is asked to interpret".[ Finnadar Records (1974) LP notes by Karen Phillips from ''Viola Today'' LP by Karen Phillips, SR 9007]
Bedford took a similar approach for his 1972 work, '' With 100 Kazoos'', in which an instrumental ensemble
Ensemble may refer to:
Art
* Architectural ensemble
* Ensemble (album), ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album
* Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary
* Ensemble cast (drama, comedy)
* Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the ...
is joined by the audience who are invited to play kazoo
The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifi ...
s. The audience members were presented with various space-themed illustrations, and asked to interpret them using their kazoos. The piece was intended to be conducted by Pierre Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music.
Born in Mont ...
, but he rejected it, with Bedford stating "He rejected my piece on the grounds that audiences would be stupid and would fool about with their kazoos in the other pieces too".
Bedford composed a 35-minute choral suite, commissioned by the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, "Twelve Hours of Sunset", based on