John William Duarte (2 October 1919 – 23 December 2004) was a British

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 ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and writer. Duarte was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, but lived in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

from the age of six months.

Career

Duarte was educated at

Manchester Central High School Manchester High School Central is the oldest public high school in the state of New Hampshire. Located in the heart of Manchester, New Hampshire, approximately 1,200 students attend from communities such as Hooksett and Manchester, and it for ...

(1931–35) and Manchester University Faculty of Technology (1936–40). He worked as a professional chemist until 1969, then abandoned chemistry in favour of full-time dedication to

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, after having been persuaded by Len Williams, father of

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

. His only formal musical education consisted in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

guitar lessons with Terence "Terry" Usher (1934–6); the rest he learned by self-instruction. He also worked professionally as a player of the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

, performing music of many kinds, and regularly worked as a

musician until 1953, among others in the company of

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

and

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

.John W. Duarte obituary
in: '' ondonTimes'', 31 December 2004. No cause of death in this obituary (accessed 2 October 2011). Duarte taught at the London-based Spanish Guitar Centre, which Williams senior had founded and where the young John Williams studied with him for a period of three years before entering the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

. Williams acknowledged the early influence of Duarte by including his transcriptions of cello suites by Bach in his first recordings, along with ''Variations on a Catalan Folk Song'', Op. 25, one of the most enduring and most recorded of Duarte's compositions. He sustained several lasting friendships with great musicians, including a 39-year-long relationship with

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987) was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were students of Segovia or their students. Segovia's contribution to the m ...

and another with

Ida Presti Ida Presti (31 May 1924 – 24 April 1967) was a French classical guitarist and composer. She first came to prominence as a child prodigy, before maturing into what Alice Artzt has called "the greatest guitarist of the 20th century, and possibly o ...

, who died prematurely at the age of 42. Duarte also wrote a memoir of his relationship with Andres Segovia, ''Andrés Segovia, As I Knew Him'' (1998). For Presti and her husband Alexandre Lagoya, Duarte wrote ''Variations on a French Nursery Song'', Op. 32 ("J'ai du bon tabac"), a difficult work that tested even that legendary duo's abilities. As late as 1985, Duarte wrote a piece in Ida Presti's memory, ''Idylle pour Ida'', Op. 93, for guitar solo.Published by Universal Edition (Australia), plate no. UE 29176 A. John W. Duarte died on 23 December 2004. He was survived by his wife, Dorothy, whom he married in 1943, and by two sons and a daughter.

Music

Duarte was the

of over 150 works for the guitar and lute (many commissioned with funds provided by the

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

and other sources). Most have been published and many have been commercially recorded, some several times. He also made many arrangements (several also recorded), and wrote a number of didactic works, including an introduction to harmony for guitarists. His music shows an exceptionally wide range of styles. Duarte's ''English Suite'', Op. 31, a three-movement work for guitar, reflects the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

style of court

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

nists such as

John Dowland John Dowland (c. 1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", "Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", ...

and John Johnson. ''Dreams'', Op. 91, written for the

Amsterdam Guitar Trio Amsterdam Guitar Trio is a classical guitar ensemble consisting of Johan Dorrestein, Olga Franssen and Helenus de Rijke, who met while they were students at the Sweelinck Conservatory ( Sweelinck Conservatorium). Their discography includes transcrip ...

alternates in style between

aleatory Aleatoricism or aleatorism, the noun associated with the adjectival aleatory and aleatoric, is a term popularised by the musical composer Pierre Boulez, but also Witold Lutosławski and Franco Evangelisti, for compositions resulting from "actio ...

atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a s ...

and graphic, contained within a conventionally notated framework and allowing spontaneous reaction between the performers. In many other works he employs a tonal language, often coloured by the folk music traditions of various nations, and romantic in mood. "This versatility puzzled some commentators, who found difficulty in perceiving the true Duarte. But this was, in fact, the true Duarte, never easy to categorise, always unpredictable, his agile and fertile mind able and willing to leap without apparent effort from one area of music to another." (Colin Cooper in Duarte's obituary in ''The Independent''; see 'External links'). His works have appeared on three

GRAMMY The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

award-winning albums, by

Sharon Isbin Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

and

Berta Rojas Berta Rojas (born 23 September 1966) is a Paraguayan classical guitarist that won two Latin Grammy Awards on 2022 in its 23rd edition with her latest album entitled "Legado", the first in the "Best Classical Music Album" category, becoming the f ...

Articles and publications

Duarte was a regular contributor to the magazine ''Soundboard'', an interviewer, and a reviewer of books, music, concerts and recordings of many kinds (specializing in

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

music) with '' Gramophone'', ''Music Teacher'' and ''Classical Guitar'', and the author of numerous concert programme notes and about 250 liner notes for records of various kinds, including those for the complete reissue of

Julian Bream Julian Alexander Bream (15 July 193314 August 2020) was an English classical guitarist and lutenist. Regarded as one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century, he played a significant role in improving the public per ...

's recordings for RCA (28 compact discs). He received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for his annotation to the reissue of Segovia's recordings of 1927–39. He contributed regularly to ''Music in Education'', ''Guitar Review'', ''Guitar International'', ''Music & Musicians'', ''Records and Recording'', and ''Performance'', and contributed to the revised edition of ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (London: Macmillan, 2001).

References

External links

Website
with biography in English, Italian and Spanish, list of compositions, discography, photo gallery and news etc.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duarte, John W. 1919 births 2004 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century British guitarists Alumni of the University of Manchester British music critics Composers for the classical guitar Deaths from cancer in England English classical composers English classical guitarists English male guitarists English male classical composers Musicians from Manchester 20th-century British male musicians