John Roger Smalley (26 July 1943 – 18 August 2015) was an Anglo-Australian composer, pianist and conductor. Professor Smalley was a senior honorary research fellow at the

School of Music A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and honorary research associate at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

Biography

Smalley was born in Swinton,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. He studied at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

in London with Antony Hopkins (piano), Peter Racine Fricker and John White (both composition). In addition, he studied with

Alexander Goehr Peter Alexander Goehr (; born 10 August 1932) is an English composer and academic. Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and composer Walter Goehr, a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. In his early twenties he emerged as a centra ...

at Morley College, and attended

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

's Cologne Course for New Music in 1965–66, as well as

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

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

summer course in 1965. As a young composer, he was awarded the 1965 Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for his orchestral work ''Gloria Tibi Trinitas''. Smalley was appointed in 1967 as the first Composer in Residence at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

. In 1969 Smalley and his successor at King's,

Tim Souster Tim Souster (29 January 1943 – 1 March 1994) was a British composer and writer on music, best known for his electronic music output. Biography Education Born Timothy Andrew James Souster in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, Souster was educated ...

, formed the live-electronic group Intermodulation. Over the next six years Intermodulation toured widely in the UK, West Germany, Poland, France and Iran, with a repertoire which included not only works by Souster and Smalley, but also music by Cornelius Cardew,

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for it ...

Frederic Rzewski Frederic Anthony Rzewski ( ; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. His major compositions, which often incorporate social an ...

, Christian Wolff and others. Intermodulation also appeared on the occasions at the

BBC Promenade Concerts The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...

, where among other works it performed Smalley's ''Beat Music'' for electronic ensemble and orchestra, and his ''Monody'' for piano and electronics (1974). In 1974 Smalley was invited to take up a three-month residency at the

. He returned two years later to take up a permanent position at the university's music school. Basing himself in Australia, he took Australian citizenship in 1990. On his retirement in 2007, Smalley was named Emeritus Professor at UWA. Roger Smalley was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

in 2001 and 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 ...

in the

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

Honours of 2011. Smalley died at the age of 72 on 18 August 2015, after a long struggle with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

; at its onset he regretted that he could no longer play the piano, noting that "I know what I have to play, but my fingers won't let me do it". Smalley was married to Sarah Roe, from whom he was later divorced; they had two children.

Music

Smalley's compositions have been performed and broadcast worldwide. He received commissions from many organisations including the BBC,

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

West German Radio Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

Perth International Arts Festival Perth Festival, named Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) between 2000 and 2017, and sometimes referred to as the Festival of Perth, is Australia's longest-running cultural festival, held annually in Western Australia. The program features ...

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—givi ...

, Australian Chamber Orchestra,

Australian String Quartet The Australian String Quartet (ASQ) is a chamber music group founded in 1985 and based at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. It delivers an artistic program of performances, workshops, commissions, digital content and education projects ...

, Grainger Quartet, Fires of London,

Flederman Flederman was an Australian contemporary music ensemble co-founded by Carl Vine and Simone de Haan in 1978. Both were teaching at Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Brisbane. It later became an ensemble with a fluctuating line-up and up to si ...

, Nova Ensemble, Seymour Group and Australia Ensemble. His works and performances feature on over 20 commercially released CDs, among them

ABC Classics ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, Tall Poppies and Melba Recordings. His first Piano Concerto, a

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

commission for European Music Year (1985), was the recommended work in the annual

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

International Rostrum of Composers The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music. It is funded by c ...

in 1987, the first time an Australian entry succeeded to first place. In his later works, Smalley often incorporated fragments of music by

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

composers into his works. Examples include Chopin in the Oboe Concerto, Schumann in the Cello Concerto, and Brahms in the Piano Quartet ''Crepuscule''. The String Quartet No. 2 (2000) and the Piano Quintet (2003) incorporate melodies from

mazurka The mazurka (Polish: ''mazur'' Polish ball dance, one of the five Polish national dances and ''mazurek'' Polish folk dance') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character de ...

s by Chopin. Smalley's orchestral piece ''Birthday Tango'' (later retitled ''Footwork'') received the APRA Classical Music Award 2007 in the category "Best Composition by an Australian Composer". These awards are presented annually by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

(APRA) and Australian Music Centre (AMC). In addition to his work as a composer, Smalley was recognised as a distinguished pianist, especially noted for his performance of contemporary as well as 18th and 19th century music. Early in his career he was a prizewinner in the Gaudeamus Competition for interpreters of contemporary music (1966) and won the

Harriet Cohen Harriet(t) may refer to: * Harriet (name), a female name ''(includes list of people with the name)'' Places *Harriet, Queensland, rural locality in Australia * Harriet, Arkansas, unincorporated community in the United States * Harriett, Texas, ...

Award for contemporary music performance in 1968. His recordings include a CD of piano music by Australian composers, a selection of the sonatas of John White, and another of

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

s by Schumann.

Works

Works by Roger Smalley include: * ''Echo II'' for cello and digital delays (1978) * ''Pulses'' for 5x4 players * Symphony (1979–81) * Piano Concerto No. 1 (1984–85) * ''Variations on a Theme of Chopin'' for piano (1988–89) * Piano Trio (1990–91) * ''Poles Apart'' (1992) * Trio for

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

and piano (1992–99) * Oboe Concerto (1995–96) * ''Crepuscule'', for piano quartet (1998–99) * String Quartet No. 2 (1999–2000) * Horn Trio (2000–2002) * Piano Quintet (2003) * Piano Concerto No. 2 (2004) * Contrabassoon Concerto * Suite for two violins (2007)

Awards

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 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, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board. , - , 1994 , Roger Smalley , Don Banks Music Award , , -

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Footnotes

External links

Official website
*
Smalley's scores and recordings in the Australian Music Centre databaseAn interview with Roger Smalley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smalley, Roger 1943 births 2015 deaths APRA Award winners Australian musicologists British emigrants to Australia Naturalised citizens of Australia 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Twelve-tone and serial composers University of Western Australia alumni British classical composers British male classical composers Australian classical pianists Male classical pianists British classical pianists People from Swinton, Greater Manchester Alumni of the Royal College of Music International Rostrum of Composers prize-winners Recipients of the Centenary Medal Members of the Order of Australia Pupils of Karlheinz Stockhausen Australian classical composers Australian male classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century British composers People with Parkinson's disease British male pianists 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians