Diana Elizabeth Jane Burrell (born 25 October 1948) is 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 Defi ...

and

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

player.

Life and career

Burrell was born on 25 October 1948 in

Norwich, England Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. Her parents were Bernard Burrell, a schoolteacher by profession who served as an assistant organist at the cathedral, and Audrey Burrell (''née'' Coleman). She attended

Norwich High School for Girls Norwich High School for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18 in Norwich, England. The school was founded in 1875 by the Girls’ Public Day School Company (now the Girls' Day School Trust), which aimed to establish schools ...

before receiving her bachelor's of arts degree in music at

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status ...

. She began her career as a

player, but soon became well known for her

compositions Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature * Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

and became a full-time composer. One of her first compositions was for the 1980 St Endellion Music Festival. She used to attend as a viola player, but festival organizer

Richard Hickox Richard Sidney Hickox (5 March 1948 – 23 November 2008) was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music. Early life Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family. After attending the Royal Gram ...

told her she "ought to write something for the festival. The result, ''Missa Sancte Endeliente'', was a large-scale mass using Cornish and Latin texts. Her first major

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

l piece was titled ''Landscape'' (1988). It describes the wild, windswept countryside. It was one of the winners of the "Encore" awards organised by the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

and

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. Another notable orchestral work was ''Das Meer, das so groß und weit ist, da wimmelt's ohne Zahl, große und kleine Tiere'' ("The Sea is so big and wide and swarming with numerous little animals"). It describes the sounds and the atmosphere of the sea. Burrell has written other orchestral works including concertos for viola,

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

and

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

, an opera ''The Albatross'' (1997), many

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

works and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

. She likes modern

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

and her music sometimes shows this in the way it is shaped. She has also written music for young people, such as ''Lights and Shadows'' (1989) which includes a children's

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

, a

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

group and much

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

. She teaches at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

and became the Artistic Director of

Spitalfields Festival Spitalfields Music (previously known as Spitalfields Festival, officially registered as Spitalfields Festival Ltd) is a music charity based in the Bethnal Green area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Through musical events, the charity hop ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 2006, taking over from

Jonathan Dove Jonathan Dove (born 18 July 1959) is an English composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (now Birmin ...

. In 2006, she was awarded a fellowship from the

Arts and Humanities Research Council The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), formerly Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), is a British research council, established in 1998, supporting research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities. History The Arts an ...

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 ...

, to compose a major series of ensemble organ works over five years. She lives in Harwich, Essex.

Selected works

Orchestra

*''Concerto'' *''Gate'' (string orchestra) *''Landscape'' (1988) *''Das Meer, das so gross und weit ist, da wimmelt's ohne Zahl grosse und kleine Tiere'' *''Symphonies of Flocks, Herds, and Shoals''

Concertante

*Clarinet Concerto (1996) *Flute Concerto (1997) *Viola Concerto “...''calling, leaping, crying, dancing''...” (1994)

Opera

*''The Albatross'' (1987; premiered at

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

, 1997)

Choir

*''Alleluia'' (SATB choir) *''Ave Verum Corpus'' (SATB choir) *''Benedicam Dominum'' (SSATB and organ) *''Come and See/Christ Child'' (piano and unison voice) *''Creator/Stars of Night'' (SATB choir, English Horn, Organ Pedals) *''Hymn to Wisdom'' (SATB choir) *''Magnificat/Nunc'' (for treble voices and piano) *''Michael's Mass'' (for unison voice and piano) *''Missa Sancte Endeliente'' (1980) *''Heil’ger Geist in’s Himmels Throne'' (1993, SATB choir, organ and percussion)

Other

*''Arched Forms with Bells'' (for organ) *''Aria'' (for violin) *''Barrow'' *''Festival'' (for organ) *''Gold'' (for piano and brass, also for piano solo) *''Gulls and Angels'' (1983, string quartet) *''Heron'' (for cello and piano) *''King Shall Bright'' (for soprano, oboe, French horn, violin, and harp) *''North Star'' (for trumpet and organ) *''Songs for Harvey'' (for violin solo or viola solo) (1988)

References

External links

United Music Publishers official website for Diana Burrell
at the Royal Academy of Music * https://www.presencecompositrices.com/compositrice/burrell-diana/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Burrell, Diana English composers 1948 births Living people Musicians from Norwich English violists Women violists Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Academics of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama People educated at Norwich High School for Girls 20th-century British composers 21st-century British composers 20th-century English women musicians 21st-century English women musicians 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers 20th-century violists 21st-century violists