Raymond Henry Charles Warren (born 7 November 1928) is a British composer and university teacher. He studied at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, and taught at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, where he was the first person in the UK to be given a personal chair in composition in 1966, before becoming

Hamilton Harty Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty (4 December 1879 – 19 February 1941) was an Irish composer, conductor, pianist and organist. After an early career as a church organist in his native Ireland, Harty moved to London at about age 20, soon becoming a w ...

Professor of Music in 1969. He was

Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music The Stanley Hugh Badock Professorship of Music was established in 1946 at the University of Bristol, and named after Sir Stanley Badock (died 1945), who had been Pro-Chancellor of the University. List of Stanley Hugh Badock Professors * 1947–1 ...

at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

from 1972 until his retirement in 1994. His works include a choral Passion, a Violin Concerto, three Symphonies, a Requiem, the oratorio ''Continuing Cities'' and an extensive amount of music for children, young people and community music making. He has also written six operas. He currently lives at

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

in Bristol.

Biography

Raymond Warren was born in 1928 and studied at Cambridge University (1949–52) reading mathematics at first and then changing to music under

Boris Ord Boris Ord (born Bernhard Ord), (9 July 1897 – 30 December 1961) was a British organist and Director of music, choirmaster of Choir of King's College, Cambridge, King's College, Cambridge (1929-1957). During World War II he served in the Royal ...

and

Robin Orr Robert Kemsley (Robin) Orr (2 June 1909 – 9 April 2006) was a Scottish organist and composer. Life Born in Brechin, and educated at Loretto School, he studied the organ at the Royal College of Music in London under Walter Galpin Alcock, and pi ...

. Later he studied privately with

Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten ...

(1952–60),

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 ...

(1958) and

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

(1961). From 1955 to 1972 he taught at

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, where from 1966 he held a personal Chair in composition. While in Belfast, an association with the Lyric Players theatre company involved writing music for many of the plays of

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

. For the years 1966–72 he was Resident Composer to the

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra, based in Belfast, is the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United Ki ...

, writing for them a number of orchestral works and also conducting the Orchestra in a series of Sunday afternoon concerts of contemporary music. In 1972 he was appointed Professor of Music at the

, a post from which he retired in 1994. Since then he has composed to commission for a wide variety of performers notably the Brunel Ensemble (Symphony No.3, ''In My Childhood'') and the

London Children's Ballet The London Children's Ballet (LCB) is a registered charitable trust created in 1994. LCB was formed to give children the experience of performing as part of a company, in a professionally produced, full length ballet at a professional theatre. ...

(''Ballet Shoes'', 2001). He has collaborated with many other artists of note including the poets John Reed,

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Michael Longley Michael Longley, (born 27 July 1939, Belfast, Northern Ireland), is an Anglo-Irish poet. Life and career One of twin boys, Michael Longley was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to English parents, Longley was educated at the Royal Belfast A ...

and Charles Tomlinson, the choreographer Helen Lewis and the founders of the Lyric Theatre, Belfast and written for performers including

Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career started ...

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, Eric Gruenberg,

Cecil Aronowitz Cecil Aronowitz (4 March 19167 September 1978) was a British viola player, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. C ...

Janet Price Janet Price (born 1938) is a Welsh soprano particularly associated with the 19th-century Italian bel canto repertory. She has been married to composer Adrian Beaumont since 1963. Born in Pontypool, Wales, she studied piano and singing at the Car ...

Christopher Austin Christopher Austin (born 14 November 1968) is a British conductor, and an arranger and orchestrator of film and television scores. Austin originally intended to become a composer. He studied at the University of Bristol with Adrian Beaumont ...

Jeremy Huw Williams Jeremy Huw Williams (born 3 April 1969) is a Welsh baritone opera singer, known for his work in contemporary classical music. Early life and education Williams was born in Cardiff. He studied at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, Cardiff, St John's C ...

, David Ogden and the Dartington String Quartet. As a teacher, Warren's students include a number of composers and musicians who have gone on to have significant careers including:

Eibhlis Farrell Eibhlis Farrell (born 27 July 1953) is a Northern Irish composer. Life Eibhlis Farrell was born in Rostrevor in County Down, Northern Ireland. She began writing music at an early age and studied at Queen's University, Belfast, where she graduat ...

Philip Hammond Philip Hammond, Baron Hammond of Runnymede (born 4 December 1955) is a British politician and life peer who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019, Foreign Secretary from 2014 to 2016, and Defence Secretary from 2011 to 2014. ...

, David Byers and

Will Todd Will Todd (b 14 January 1970) is an English musician and composer. He is a pianist, who performs regularly with others in his own works. Biography and work Todd was born in County Durham, attended Durham School and joined the choir of St Oswald ...

Music

Major works include the oratorio ''The Passion'' (1962), Symphony No.1 (1964) the Violin Concerto (1966), ''Songs of Old Age'' (1968), Symphony No.2 (1969), the oratorio ''Continuing Cities'' (1989), Symphony No.3 (1995), ''In My Childhood'' (1998) and ''Cello Requiem'' (2018) as well as his six operas. Chamber music includes two Piano sonatas, a Violin sonata, three String quartets and the Piano trio ''

Burnt Norton ''Burnt Norton'' is the first poem of T. S. Eliot's ''Four Quartets''. He created it while working on his play '' Murder in the Cathedral'', and it was first published in his ''Collected Poems 1909–1935'' (1936). The poem's title refers to ...

Sketches'' (1985), which were later orchestrated by

(1999). Peter Jacobs has recorded the ''Monody'' movement from Warren's Second Piano Sonata (1977), which consists of a single line of melody with decoration. Song cycles include ''Spring 1948'' (1956), ''The Pity of Love'' (1966), ''Songs of Old Age'' (1968), the orchestral song cycle ''In My Childhood'' (1998), ''Another Spring'' (2008) and ''The Coming'' (2010). Music for children and young people includes the opera ''Finn and the Black Hag'' (1959), ''Songs of Unity'' (1968) written for Methodist College, Belfast and several pieces written for youth orchestras including ''Ring of Light'' (2005), ''A Star Danced'' (2009) and ''Variations on a Gloucester Chime'' (2012). His shorter choral works include the cantata ''The Death of Orpheus'' (1953 revised 2009), the motet ''Salvator Mundi'' (1976), ''The Starlight Night'' (1990), the evening canticles written for Bristol Cathedral: ''The Bristol Service'' (1991) and ''Celtic Blessings'' (1996). Music for dance includes two notable collaborations with Helen Lewis, ''There is a Time'' (1970) and the

, ''Ballet Shoes'' (2001). Warren has worked closely with several poets, providing instrumental music to complement spoken words, including ''Lares'' (1972) with

and ''The Sound of Time'' (1984) with Charles Tomlinson. The first of these was with his contemporary

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

, ''A Lough Neagh Sequence'' (1970). Warren wrote: Heaney made a recording of this version of his poetry with Warren's music in 2011. Many of his shorter works are among his most powerful including the solo cantata for flute, piano and mezzo soprano, ''Drop, Drop Slow Tears'' (1960) and the ''Song for St. Cecilia’s Day'' (1967) scored for tenor, flute, viola, guitar and first performed by

Richard Adeney Richard Gilford Adeney (25 January 1920 – 16 December 2010) was a British flautist who played principal flute with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra, was a soloist and a founding member of the Melos Ensemble. ...

and

. His best selling work as a recording is the orchestral suite ''Wexford Bells'' (1970).

Selected works

''(Impulse Music has a complete list)''List of Compositions by Raymond Warren, Impulse Music
/ref>

Discography

*
Bristol Service
', Bristol Cathedral Choir, Priory PRCD 528 * ''In My Childhood'', ''A Lough Neagh Sequence'', ''Piano Sonata No 2'', on
The Next Ocean
. Raymond Warren and Seamus Heaney (reader), Philip Mead (piano), Olivia Robinson (soloist), University of Hertfordshire Chamber Orchestra conducted by Robin Browning. UH Recordings (2011) * ''Golden Rings'', ''Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis'' and ''Salvator Mundi''
uncredited recordings

Symphony No 3, ''Pictures with Angels''
The Brunel Ensemble conducted by Christopher Austin (1996) * ''Monody; Chaconne''. Peter Jacobs (piano)
Severnside Composers' Alliance Inaugural Piano Recital
Dunelm Records (2005) *
Wexford Bells
', Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Gavin Sutherland, on

, ASV CD WHL 2126 (2000)

Publications

* Warren, Raymond: ''The Composer and Opera Performance'' in Thomas, W. (ed.), ''Composition – Performance – Reception: Studies in the Creative Process in Music'', Ashgate, 1998, * Davies, Edward. ''Raymond Warren: A Study of His Music''. Work in preparation.

References

External links

Composer's Website

'Shepherds' Dance', from ''Wexford Bells'', Royal Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Gavin Sutherland

Impulse Music Consultants, listening page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Raymond 1928 births 20th-century classical composers Academics of Queen's University Belfast Academics of the University of Bristol British classical composers British male classical composers Living people British opera composers Male opera composers Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians