British composers with significant birthdays
Four living British composer birthdays are celebrated in 2012: Oliver Knussen and Simon Bainbridge at 60 and Hugh Wood and Alexander Goehr at 80.
Hugh Wood’s Piano Concerto is performed by Joanna MacGregor and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (pictured) conducted by Thierry Fischer (26 July), while his String Quartet No. 4 is performed by the Escher Quartet in a Proms Chamber Music concert at Cadogan Hall (20 August).
Knussen, Goehr and Bainbridge are jointly celebrated in a Proms Saturday Matinee featuring Knussen’s Ophelia Dances and Ophelia’s Last Dance, Goehr’s … a musical offering (J. S. B. 1985) … and the world premiere of Simon Bainbridge’s BBC commission, The Garden of Earthly Delights, all performed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and London Sinfonietta Voices, conducted by Nicholas Collon (18 August).
Oliver Knussen’s Symphony No. 2 is performed by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, with soprano Gillian Keith (30 July), while Knussen himself takes the podium to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a performance of his own Symphony No. 3 as well as Goehr’s Metamorphosis/ Dance (25 August).
