David Blake (composer)
David Blake is an English composer and founder member of the Department of Music at the University of York.
Early life and education
Blake was born in London. Following national service, he learnt Mandarin Chinese and spent one year in Hong Kong. He went on to read music at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where his teachers were Patrick Hadley, Peter Tranchell and Raymond Leppard. He was awarded the Mendelssohn Scholarship for Composition in 1960, and, uniquely for a British composer of his generation, he went to East Berlin to study with Arnold Schoenberg's pupil, the Marxist composer Hanns Eisler, as a Meisterschüler of the GDR Akademie der Künste. During this time, he composed the first of his acknowledged compositions – the Variations for Piano and the String Quartet No. 1.Career
In 1963, he was awarded the Granada Arts Fellowship at the newly opened University of York, and the following year, with Wilfrid Mellers and Peter Aston, he founded the Department of Music there. He was Lecturer in Music in the Department until 1976 and then succeeded Wilfrid Mellers as Professor. His first important commission came in 1966, from the York Festival, for his Chamber Symphony. Subsequent commissions included Lumina for the 1970 Leeds Festival; the Violin Concerto for the 1976 BBC Proms; Toussaint, an opera in three acts for the English National Opera, first produced in 1977 ; Rise Dove for the BBC; The Plumber's Gift, an opera in two acts for the English National Opera, first produced in 1989 with libretto by John Birtwhistle; and the Cello Concerto, commissioned by the BBC for the 1993 Cheltenham Festival.He also went on to found the University of York Music Press – known as UYMP – in 1995 with Bill Colleran, with a purpose to promote new and established composers with a range of aesthetic backgrounds. He retired from the University of York in 2001, but remains on the board of UYMP.
Selected list of works
His extensive output, which includes operas and orchestral works, is published by Chester Novello and by UYMP.Operas and stage works
It's a Small War, musical for schools Toussaint, opera in 3 acts The Plumber's Gift, opera in 2 acts.Scoring A Century First Performance 4 March 2010 in BirminghamChorus and orchestra
Lumina for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra Three Ritsos Choruses for chorus and orchestra without violins The Fabulous Adventures of Alexander the Great for soloists, young people's choir and orchestraUnaccompanied chorus
Three Choruses on Poems of Robert Frost Four Songs of Ben Jonson- ''What is the Cause?''
Orchestra and chamber orchestra
- Chamber Symphony Metamorphoses
- Violin Concerto Sonata alla marcia for chamber orchestra Scherzi ed intermezzi Pastoral Paraphrase for bassoon and small orchestra
- Cello Concerto Nocturne for string orchestra
Brass band
Mill Music Winelands for symphonic wind ensembleVoice with orchestra or chamber accompaniment
The Bones of Chuang Tzu, cantata for baritone and small orchestra )In Praise of Krishna for soprano and 9 instruments From the Mattress Grave for high voice and 11 instruments Change is Going to Come, cantata for mezzo, baritone, chorus and 4 players Rise Dove for bass and orchestra The Griffin's Tale, legend for baritone and small orchestra The Shades of Love for bass baritone and small orchestra Rings of Jade for medium voice and orchestraVoice and piano
Beata l'Alma, cantata for soprano and pianoChamber music
- String Quartet No. 1
- Nonet for wind instruments
- String Quartet No. 2 Cassation for wind octet
- Clarinet Quintet Capriccio for 7 players
- String Quartet No. 3 Seasonal Variants for 7 players Diversions on themes of Hanns Eisler for saxophone and piano Four Intermezzi for violin and piano
- String Quartet No. 4