Jonathan Harvey

A major figure in British music for more than forty years, Harvey began his musical life as a chorister, and has retained in his work a sense of the sacred, of music as giving shape and sound to spiritual forces. That sense has led him to strive constantly for new sounds and forms, often through extended instrumental techniques or the use of electronics, sometimes through improvising with chosen colleagues. Ever widening his outlook, he began somewhere in the neighbourhood of Britten and went on to learn from Karlheinz Stockhausen, from Milton Babbitt, from work in electronic studios and, all the time, from the literature and meditative practices of Buddhism.

While pursuing a teaching career at the universities of Southampton, Sussex and Stanford, he has produced a large output that now includes numerous orchestral pieces (notably Madonna of Winter and Spring), four string quartets, three full-length operas and many choral settings. A frequent visitor to IRCAM, he enjoys close ties with many performing organizations in continental Europe. His association with the Sinfonietta goes back to 1977, when his Inner Light 2 had its first performance, at the Cheltenham Festival. The ensemble also recorded his Song Offerings, conducted by George Benjamin.

Image © Rosa Harvey