Nigel Henry Cockburn Butterley (13 May 1935 – 19 February 2022) was an Australian composer and pianist.

Life and career

Butterley was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and learned to play the piano at the age of five. He attended Sydney Grammar School, but music was not taught at the school at that time, so he sought training from the

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the old ...

. He then travelled abroad and spent a year in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, where he studied with

Priaulx Rainier Ivy Priaulx Rainier (3 February 190310 October 1986) was a South African-British composer. Although she lived most of her life in England and died in France, her compositional style was strongly influenced by the African music remembered from he ...

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 ...

. After returning to Australia, Butterley composed his work ''Laudes'' in 1963. He won the ''

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international Television, Radio-broadcasting and Web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with the ...

'' award for his work ''In the Head the Fire'' in 1966. In 1967 he was the inaugural winner of the Albert H. Maggs Composition Award. He continued to compose throughout the following decades, composing works for the Sydney Proms concerts such as ''Interaction for Artist and Orchestra'', music performed while artist John Peart painted and ''First Day Covers'', a collaboration with

Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (born 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film prod ...

' character

Dame Edna Everage Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, t ...

. Butterley went on to win the Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize in 2001. Butterley lectured at the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Conservatorium from 1973 to 1991, and later at the Sydney Conservatorium. He also broadcast programs on ABC Classic FM. On 10 June 1991, Butterley was appointed a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AM) "in recognition of services to music". Butterley died at his nursing home on 19 February 2022 aged 86.

Compositions

Butterley's compositions were strongly influenced by poetry and are sometimes accompanied by recitation when performed. He composed a series of pieces inspired by the poetry of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

, and in later life was inspired by the work of

Kathleen Raine Kathleen Jessie Raine CBE (14 June 1908 – 6 July 2003) was a British poet, critic, and scholar, writing in particular on William Blake, W. B. Yeats and Thomas Taylor. Known for her interest in various forms of spirituality, most prominently ...

. His other compositions included ''There Came a Wind Like a Bugle'', ''The White-throated Warbler'' (written for

Carl Dolmetsch Carl Frederick Dolmetsch (1911–1997) CBE was a French instrumentalist who specialised in the recorder. Life The son of Arnold Dolmetsch, he was born in Fontenay-sous-Bois on 23 August 1911 but lived in England from 1914. After three years in ...

in 1966), ''Child in Nature'', ''The Wind Stirs Gently'', ''Frogs'' and ''Uttering Joyous Leaves''. In 2007 the Sydney Chamber Choir commissioned a new work, ''Beni Avshalom'', which was completed almost 50 years after Butterley's frequently performed landmark choral work ''The True Samaritan''.

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, ''John Cage'' ,

Best Classical Album The Grammy Award for Best Classical Album was awarded from 1962 to 2011. The award had several minor name changes: *From 1962 to 1963, 1965 to 1972 and 1974 to 1976 the award was known as Album of the Year – Classical *In 1964 and 1977 it wa ...

, , ARIA Award previous winners. , -

Don Banks Music Award

The

Don Banks Music Award The Don Banks Music Award was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia. It was founded by the Australia Council in honour of Don Banks, ...

was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia. It was founded by the

Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

in honour of

Don Banks Donald Oscar Banks (25 October 19235 September 1980) was an Australian composer of concert, jazz, and commercial music. Early life and education Jazz was Banks' earliest and strongest musical influence. He learned the saxophone as a boy in Aust ...

, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board. , - , 1985 , Nigel Butterley , Don Banks Music Award , , -

References

External links

* Listen to excerpts o
'In the Head the Fire'
o
australianscreen online
* 'In the Head the Fire' was added to the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film and Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings which are deemed to have cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance for Australi ...

registry in 2009 * http://www.nigelbutterley.info/ * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Butterley, Nigel 1935 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Australian male musicians 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century classical composers 21st-century Australian male musicians 21st-century Australian musicians 21st-century classical composers APRA Award winners Sydney Conservatorium of Music alumni Australian classical pianists Male classical pianists People educated at Sydney Grammar School Australian male classical composers Australian classical composers Prix Italia winners Winners of the Albert H. Maggs Composition Award Members of the Order of Australia