Richard John Campbell (21 February 1956 – 8 March 2011) was an English classical musician, best known as a founder member of the early music ensemble

Fretwork Fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background, or cut out with a fretsaw, coping saw, jigsaw or scroll saw. Most fretwork patterns are geometric in design. The materials most commonly use ...

and for his newer association with the Feinstein Ensemble, specialising in historically accurate performance of 18th-century music.

Early life and education

Campbell was born in Hammersmith, London, where his parents were teachers, and was educated at Marlborough College and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he studied Classics. After rejecting a career as a Latin teacher as having 'dubious prospects', he went to study at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Nether ...

and the

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

Career

With Fretwork, he recorded 31 albums, and also performed on film soundtracks including ''

Coffee and Cigarettes ''Coffee and Cigarettes'' is the title of three short films and a 2003 feature-length anthology film by independent film director Jim Jarmusch. The feature film consists of 11 short stories which share coffee and cigarettes as a common thread ...

'' and ''

The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Lang ...

''. Fretwork is known for its global touring and, as well as performances of early music, commissioning new compositions for viol consort. Campbell was Professor of

viola da gamba The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch ...

and

violone The term violone (; literally "large viol" in Italian, " -one" being the augmentative suffix) can refer to several distinct large, bowed musical instruments which belong to either the viol or violin family. The violone is sometimes a fretted ...

at the Royal Academy of Music. As a gamba soloist he has been associated since 1981 with Sir

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Life and career Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Ga ...

's English Baroque Soloists and their performances and recordings of

J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

and François Couperin. He has performed as gamba-soloist or principal cellist with ensembles including

Northern Sinfonia Royal Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, founded in Newcastle upon Tyne and currently based in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history, the orchestra gave most of its concerts at the Newcastle City Hall. Since 2004, the ...

, the orchestra of

The Sixteen The Sixteen are a United Kingdom-based choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers, they started as an unnamed group of sixteen friends in 1977, giving their first billed concert in 1979. The group performs early Engl ...

, Ex Cathedra of Birmingham, the City of London Sinfonia, the St James's Baroque Players,

Florilegium In medieval Latin, a ' (plural ') was a compilation of excerpts or sententia from other writings and is an offshoot of the commonplacing tradition. The word is from the Latin ''flos'' (flower) and '' legere'' (to gather): literally a gathering of ...

, and

Paul McCreesh Paul McCreesh (born 24 May 1960) is an English conductor. Paul McCreesh is the founder and artistic director of the Gabrieli Consort & Players. With them he has performed in major concert halls and festivals across the world. He has been the ...

's Gabrieli Players. He was a founding member of Jakob Lindberg's Dowland Consort, Philip Picket's Musicians of the Globe and,

Charles Humphries Charles Humphries is an English countertenor, noted for performances of Baroque and Renaissance music. He is the director of Baroque music at the SIMF. He has performed at the Barbican Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw in Am ...

's ensemble Kontrabande.

References

External links

* Fretwor
home page
* The Feinstein Ensembl
home page
English classical cellists English viol players 1956 births 2011 deaths Musicians from Hammersmith People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century cellists {{UK-musician-stub