Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was 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 Def ...

and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

and

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

serialism In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were al ...

, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences,

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

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 stead ...

, who was briefly his teacher. As a writer on music, Searle published texts on numerous topics; he was an authority on the music of Franz Liszt, and created the initial cataloguing system for his works.

Biography

Searle was the son of Humphrey and Charlotte Searle and, through his mother, a grandson of Sir William Schlich. He was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

where he was a classics scholar before studying—somewhat hesitantly—with

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including perform ...

in London, after which he went to Vienna on a six-month scholarship to become a private pupil of

, which became decisive in his composition career. Searle was one of the foremost pioneers of serial music in the United Kingdom, and used his role as a producer at the BBC from 1946 to 1948 to promote it. He was General Secretary of the International Society for Contemporary Music from 1947 to 1949. He accepted this post with the encouragement of the new president, Edward Clark. For Clark, he composed the Quartet for Clarinet, Bassoon, Violin and Viola, Op. 12, a musical

palindrome A palindrome is a word, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as the words ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date and time ''11/11/11 11:11,'' and the sentence: "A man, a plan, a canal – Pana ...

. Searle wrote his Piano Sonata, Op. 21 for a recital at the

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...

on 22 October 1951, given by the Australian pianist Gordon Watson to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the birth of

. (Watson also performed the complete ''

Transcendental Études The ''Transcendental Études'' (french: Études d'exécution transcendante, links=no), S.139, are a set of twelve compositions for piano by Franz Liszt. They were published in 1852 as a revision of an 1837 set (which had not borne the title "d ...

'' on that occasion.Music Web International, ''Quadrille With a Raven: Memoirs by Humphrey Searle'', Chapter 11, "Lesley and Rosie's Pub"
/ref>) The Sonata was loosely based on Liszt's Sonata in B minor and has been described as "probably, both the finest and most original piano work ever produced by a British composer".David C F Wright, "Humphrey Searle"
/ref> Other works of note include a ''Poem for 22 Strings'' (1950), premiered at

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse ...

, a

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

opera, ''The Diary of a Madman'' (1958, awarded the first prize at UNESCO's International Rostrum of Composers in 1960), and five symphonies (the first of which was commercially recorded by the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symp ...

conducted by

Sir Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...

). He also composed

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

s, including music for ''

The Baby and the Battleship ''The Baby and the Battleship'' is a colour 1956 British comedy film directed by Jay Lewis and starring John Mills, Richard Attenborough and André Morell. It is based on the 1956 novel by Anthony Thorne with a screenplay by Richard De Roy, ...

'' (1956), ''

Beyond Mombasa ''Beyond Mombasa'' is a 1956 British/American Technicolor adventure film starring Cornel Wilde and Donna Reed. It was directed by George Marshall, set in Kenya and filmed there and at a London studio. Plot Matt Campbell (Cornel Wilde) arrives i ...

'' (1956), ''

Action of the Tiger ''Action of the Tiger'' is a 1957 British CinemaScope action film directed by Terence Young and starring Van Johnson and Martine Carol. It was distributed by MGM. The plot is about the rescue of a political prisoner held in Albania. Carson, pla ...

'' (1957), '' The Abominable Snowman'' (1957), '' Law and Disorder'' (1958), ''

Left Right and Centre ''Left Right and Centre'' is a 1959 British satirical comedy film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Ian Carmichael, Patricia Bredin, Richard Wattis, Eric Barker and Alastair Sim. It was produced by Frank Launder. A political comedy, it fo ...

'' (1959), ''

October Moth ''October Moth'' is a 1960 British drama film directed by John Kruse and starring Lana Morris and Lee Patterson. It was made at Beaconsfield Studios as a second feature for distribution by Rank. Plot In an isolated Yorkshire farm house, a der ...

'' (1960) and '' The Haunting'' (1963), as well the 1965 ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'' serial ''

The Myth Makers ''The Myth Makers'' is the third serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Donald Cotton and directed by Michael Leeston-Smith, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly part ...

''. Searle also contributed humorous compositions to some of the Hoffnung Music Festivals, including a setting of ''

Young Lochinvar ''Young Lochinvar'' is a 1923 British silent historical drama film directed by W. P. Kellino and starring Owen Nares, Gladys Jennings, and Dick Webb. The screenplay was based on J. E. Muddock’s 1896 novel ''Young Lochinvar, A Tale of the Bo ...

'' and a parody of

, ''Punkt Kontrapunkt''. Searle taught throughout his life; his notable students included Hugh Davidson,

Brian Elias Brian Elias (born 30 August 1948) is a British composer. Biography Brian Elias was born in Bombay, India, and has lived in the U.K. since he was thirteen years old. After studying at the Royal College of Music he undertook private studies with ...

Michael Finnissy Michael Peter Finnissy (born 17 March 1946) is an English composer, pianist, and pedagogue. An immensely prolific composer, his music is "notable for its dramatic urgency and expressive immediacy". Although he rejects the label, he is often r ...

Jonathan Elias Jonathan Elias (born 1956) is an American composer best known for his film soundtracks. Background Elias was born in New York City in 1956. He is of Jewish-Hungarian background. Elias started playing piano at the age of six, and was composin ...

, Nicola LeFanu, Alistair Hinton, Geoffrey King, and

Graham Newcater Graham Newcater (born September 3, 1941) is a South African composer of serial music ( twelve tone music). Career Newcater was born September 3, 1941, in Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa. Newcater began composing at age twelve. So ...

and

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Sa ...

. Searle wrote the monographs ''Twentieth Century Counterpoint'' and ''The Music of Franz Liszt''. He also developed the most authoritative catalogue of Liszt's works, which are frequently identified using Searle's numbering system, abbreviated as "S.". Searle married Fiona Nicholson in 1960. He died in London in 1982, aged 66.

List of works

Source

Operas

* '' The Diary of a Madman'' (1958) * ''The Photo of the Colonel'' (1963–64) * ''Hamlet'' (1964–68)

Ballets

* '' Noctambules'' (1956) * ''The Great Peacock'' (1957–58) * ''Dualities'' (1963)

Orchestral

* ''

Variations on an Elizabethan Theme ''Variations on an Elizabethan Theme'' (also seen as ''Variations on Sellinger's Round'') is a set of variations for string orchestra, written collaboratively in 1952 by six English composers: Lennox Berkeley, Benjamin Britten, Arthur Oldham, ...

'', jointly composed with

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 Cha ...

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 ...

, Arthur Oldham,

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 ...

and

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

(1953) * Symphony No. 1 (1953) * Symphony No. 2 (1956–58) * Symphony No. 3 (1959–60) * Symphony No. 4 (1961–62) * Symphony No. 5 (1964) * Sinfonietta (1968–69) * ''Labyrinth'' (1971) * ''Three Ages'' (1982)

Piano concertos

* Piano Concerto No. 1 (1944) * Piano Concerto No. 2 (1955)

Suites

* Suite No. 1 for Strings (1942) * Suite No. 2 (1943) * ''Night Music'' (1943) * ''Poem for 22 Strings'' (1950) * ''Concertante for Piano, Strings and Percussion'' (1954) * ''Scherzi'' (1964) * ''Hamlet Suite'' (1968) * ''Zodiac Variations'' (1970) * ''Tamesis'' (1979)

Chorus and instruments

* ''Gold Coast Customs'' (1947–49) for speakers, male chorus and orchestra * ''The Riverrun'' (Joyce) (1951) for speakers and orchestra * ''The Shadow of Cain'' (1952) for speakers, male chorus and orchestra * ''Jerusalem'' (1970) for speakers, tenor, chorus and orchestra * ''My Beloved Spake'' (1976) for chorus and organ * ''Dr Faustus'' (1977) for solo woman, chorus and orchestra

Voice and orchestra

* ''3 Songs of Jocelyn Brooke'' (1954) for high voice and ensemble * ''Oxus'' (1967) for tenor and orchestra * ''Contemplations'' (1975) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra * ''Kubla Khan'' (1973) for tenor and orchestra

Unaccompanied chorus

* ''The Canticle of the Rose'' (Sitwell, 1965) * ''Rhyme Rude to My Pride'' (1974) for male chorus

Chamber music

* Bassoon Quintet (1945) * ''Intermezzo for 11 Instruments'' (1946) * Quartet for Clarinet, Bassoon, Violin and Viola, Op. 12 (1948; a musical palindrome)classical composers/org classical-composers.org
* ''Passacaglietta in nomine Arnold Schoenberg'' (1949) for string quartet * ''Gondoliera'' (1950) for celesta and piano * ''3 Cat Poems'' (1951/53): "

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat "The Owl and the Pussy-cat" is a nonsense poem by Edward Lear, first published in 1870 in the American magazine '' Our Young Folks: an Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls'' and again the following year in Lear's own book ''Nonsense Songs, S ...

" for speaker, flute, cello and guitar and "Two Practical Cats" for speaker, flute/piccolo, cello and guitar * Suite for Clarinet and Piano (1956) * ''Three Movements for String Quartet'' (1959) * ''Cello Fantasia'' (1972) * ''Il Penseroso e L'Allegro'' (1975) for cello and piano

Song cycle

* ''Les fleurs du mal'' (1972) for tenor, horn and piano

Songs

* Two Songs of A.E. Housman, op. 9 (1946): ''March Past (On the idle hill of summer)'' and ''The Stinging-Nettle'', for voice and piano * ''Counting the Beats'' (1963) for high voice and piano

Piano

* Sonata (1951) * Suite (1955) * ''Prelude on a Theme by Rawsthorne'' (1965)

Guitar

* ''Five'' Op.61 (1974)

Selected bibliography

Source * * *

References

Sources

* *

External links

Humphrey Searle: British Composer (1915–1982)

Humphrey Searle
profile by Robert Clements, Classical Net *
Images of Humphrey Searle
on the National Portrait Gallery website {{DEFAULTSORT:Searle, Humphrey 1915 births 1982 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century English musicians Alumni of the Royal College of Music British ballet composers English classical composers English musicologists English opera composers Male opera composers English male classical composers Franz Liszt International Rostrum of Composers prize-winners People from Oxford Twelve-tone and serial composers 20th-century British composers 20th-century British musicologists 20th-century British male musicians Liszt scholars Classical musicians associated with the BBC