Reginald Smith Brindle (5 January 1917 – 9 September 2003) was a British composer and writer.

Early life

Smith Brindle was born in Cuerdon, Lancashire, to Robert and Jane Smith Brindle. He began learning the piano at the age of six, and later took up the clarinet, saxophone and guitar (and won a ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' prize for his guitar-playing). Under pressure from his parents, he began to study architecture. At the time, he was interested in jazz, and played saxophone professionally for a while alongside his studies. On attending an organ recital at Chester Cathedral in 1937, however, he was inspired to take up both the organ and composition. He spent most of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

serving in Africa and Italy as a captain in the

Corps of Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. It was during this period that he rekindled his interest in the guitar, an instrument for which he wrote an enormous amount of music.

Career

After the war, Smith Brindle returned to composition. He submitted a ''Fantasia Passacaglia'' (1946) for an Italian composition competition, and won first prize. From 1946 to 1949 he studied music at the

University College of North Wales , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

in Bangor. He went to Italy in 1949 to continue his studies. There his teachers included Ildebrando Pizzetti and

Luigi Dallapiccola Luigi Dallapiccola (February 3, 1904 – February 19, 1975) was an Italian composer known for his lyrical serialism, twelve-tone compositions. Biography Dallapiccola was born in Pisino d'Istria (at the time part of Austria-Hungary, current ...

for composition and

Fernando Germani Fernando Germani (5 April 1906 – 10 June 1998) was an organist of the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome during the reign of Pope Pius XII. Early life Germani was born in 1906 and played the piano and violin in public at four years of age. At ag ...

for organ. His compositional activity comprised three main phases: tonal until 1951; serial/"dodecaphonic" until c1970; and finally a freer third phase where many compositions were for his own instruments, guitar and organ. Brindle is presently best known for his solo guitar music (which was highly regarded by players such as

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and

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 perce ...

, especially ''El Polifemo de Oro'' (1956), written for Bream, as well as five sonatas (1948, 1976, 1978, 1979), ''Variants on two themes of J. S. Bach'' (1970), ''Memento in two movements'' (1973), ''Do not go gentle...'' (1974), ''November Memories'' (1974), ''Four Poems of Garcia Lorca'' (1975), "Guitarcosmos" (3 volumes) and ''The Prince of Venosa'' (1994). His one chamber opera, ''The Death of Antigone'', was premiered at

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 ...

in 1971. Smith Brindle taught from 1957 to 1970 at the

in Bangor, and from 1970 to 1981 at the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institu ...

. During his time at Surrey, he founded the prestigious Tonmeister course in Music and Sound Recording.} He continued to compose until 1998, being involved with the Chameleon group of composers in 1990s Croydon. Smith Brindle was an expert on the music of 20th-century Italian composers such as Luigi Dallapiccola, Ildebrando Pizzetti and

Bruno Bartolozzi Bruno Bartolozzi (8 June 1911 – 12 December 1980) was an Italian composer and pioneer in the development of extended techniques for wind instruments. He was born in Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and th ...

(he studied with all three). He also wrote the technical book ''Serial Composition'' (1966). He played many instruments, but was particularly fond of the guitar, organ and saxophone.

Personal life

Smith Brindle met Giulia Borsi in Italy during the war, and they were married in Britain in 1947. Together they had one son and three daughters.

Legacy

Smith Brindle's papers are preserved in the University Library Special Collections and Archives at

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

Books

* * * Second edition 1987. (cloth); (pbk). *

References

External links

*Reginald Smith Brindl
official website
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith Brindle, Reginald 1917 births 2003 deaths 20th-century classical composers Composers for the classical guitar English classical composers English opera composers Male opera composers English male classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians