FAREWELL TO…
Charles Wuorinen Born 1938 Composer
It was very much a case of ‘the shock of the new’ when Charles Wuorinen premiered his Concerto for Amplified Violin and Orchestra at Tanglewood in 1972. Reports from the time say some members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra even booed during rehearsals of what was a difficult nut to crack. The American composer was well known for standing his ground in defence of his art, but such notoriety didn’t stop him becoming one of the most lauded voices in contemporary classical music. Impressing from a young age, Wuorinen won the New York Phil’s ‘Young Composer Award’ aged 16 and, having co-founded the popular ‘Group for Contemporary Music’ in 1962, was the youngest composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize in 1970, aged 32. He composed over 260 works across all genres, including operas based on books by Annie Proulx (Brokeback Mountain) and Salman Rushdie (Haroun and the Sea of Stories). As a teacher and lecturer, Wuorinen was a regular at Columbia, Yale and Princeton universities, plus the Manhattan School of Music. His book Simple Composition remains a go-to for students. Jennifer Bate Born 1944 Organist
Although Jennifer Bate’s repertoire spanned the entire breadth of the organ repertoire, it’s for her interpretations of Messiaen’s music that she will be best remembered. Bate studied extensively with the French composer, and between 1980 and ’82 recorded his then complete works at Beauvais Cathedral. In 1986, she made the first recording of his final masterpiece, the Livre du Saint-sacrement, at Messiaen’s Paris church, Sainte Trinité. Among other studio work, Bate recorded the complete organ works of Franck and Mendelssohn as well as music by Samuel Wesley. She was an inspirational teacher, and the Jennifer Bate Organ Academy at St Catherine’s School, Bramley has been inspiring young female organists since 2005. Bate was awarded an OBE in 2008. Elinor Ross Born 1926 Soprano
Born in Florida, Elinor Ross studied in New York and made her debut in Cincinnati Opera’s 1958 production of Verdi’s Il trovatore. Despite establishing her career on stages in the US and Europe, it wasn’t until 1970 that she made her New York Met debut – standing in for Birgit Nilsson at short notice. Her dramatic instinct and true-to-life performances won her many fans, so it was a huge blow when her career was cut short by a diagnosis of Bell’s palsy in 1979. Surgery in the 1990s did, however, allow her to return to the concert stage.
Also remembered…
Sir John Tooley (born 1924) was general director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 1970-88. A campaigner for arts funding during the Thatcher era, he introduced collaborative cost-saving initiatives between opera houses and advocated affordable tickets.