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Alexander  Goehr

Born: August 10th, 1932
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Upcoming :
Vision of the Soldier Er
2019-06-07 | Grinton, North Yorkshire (United Kingdom), St Andrew’s Church | World Premiere
Nonomiya
2019-06-08 | Oxford (United Kingdom), Jacqueline du Pré Music Building — 1315
"The combination of mystery and transparent musical language compels attention—as did the edgy, controlled performance—even as the core meaning remained a puzzle. This was one of the best kind of musical experiences, where one wants to hear the music repeated and get closer to the mystery at the center." 
- George Grella, New York Classical Review on Verschwindendes Wort (Vanishing Word)

Alexander Goehr, composer and teacher, was born in Berlin on 10 August 1932, son of the conductor Walter Goehr, and was brought to England in 1933. He studied with Richard Hall at the Royal Manchester College of Music (where together with Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies and John Ogdon he formed the New Music Manchester Group) and with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod in Paris. In the early 1960's he worked for the BBC and formed the Music Theatre Ensemble, the first ensemble devoted to what has become an established musical form. From the late 1960’s onwards he taught at the New England Conservatory Boston, Yale, Leeds and in 1975 was appointed to the chair of the University of Cambridge, where he remains Emeritus Professor. He has also taught in China and has twice been Composer-in-residence at Tanglewood.

Goehr has written five operas: Arden Must Die, Hamburg 1967; Behold the Sun, Deutsche Oper 1985; Arianna, lost opera by Monteverdi, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1995; Kantan & Damask Drum, Theater Dortmund September 1999; Promised End, derived from King Lear, London 2010; and a music theatre Triptych (1968-70).

His orchestral works include four symphonies, concerti for piano, violin, viola and cello and other orchestral compositions, which have been commissioned and performed by major organisations and leading conductors. He has a particularly close working relationship with Oliver Knussen, who has premiered and recorded several works. Many of his works have been commissioned by the BBC and have frequently been featured at the Proms.

The year of Goehr's appointment at Cambridge coincided with a turning point in his output, with the composition of a white-note setting of Psalm IV. The simple, bright modal sonority of this piece marked a final departure from post-war serialiasm and a commitment to a more transparent soundworld. Goehr found a way of controlling harmonic pace by fusing his own modal harmonic idiom with the long abandoned practice of figured bass—thus achieving a highly idiosyncratic fusion of past and present.

The output of the ensuing twenty years testifies to Goehr's desire to use this new idiom to explore ideas and genres that were already constant features of his work, such as the exploration of symphonic form (Sinfonia (1979), Symphony with Chaconne (1985-86), Eve Dreams in Paradise (1987-88), Colossos or Panic (1991-92)). However, these years' output is also characterised by a number of ambitious vocal scores. A common feature of many of the vocal compositions of these years is the choice of subjects that function as allegories for reflection upon socio-political themes: The Death of Moses (1992); the cantata Babylon the Great is Fallen (1979) and the opera Behold the Sun (1985). There are also non-political works: the cantata Sing, Ariel (1989-90), that recalls Messiaen’s stylized birdsong and sets a kaleidoscope of English poetry, and the opera Arianna (1995), written on a Rinuccini libretto for a lost opera by Monteverdi, is an exploration of the soundworld of Italian Renaissance.

After productions of his opera Kantan & Damask Drum (1997-98) in Dortmund and London, Goehr devoted himself almost exclusively to chamber music. Through the chamber music medium Goehr gains an unprecedented rhythmic and harmonic immediacy, while his music remains ever permeable by the music and imagery of other times and places. A series of quintets for different combinations began with Five Objects Darkly (1996) and grew with a Piano Quintet (2000); …around Stravinsky for violin and wind (2002); a Clarinet Quintet (2007); and most recently, from 2008, Since Brass nor Stone… for string quartet and percussion (2008), a memorial to Pavel Haas which won a British Composer Award. The set of piano pieces Symmetries Disorder Reach (2007) is a barely disguised baroque suite; Marching to Carcassonne (2003) flirts with neoclassicism and Stravinsky. Further works for ensemble include ...between the lines(2013) premiered by the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin in 2014, Verschwindendes Wort(2014-15) which has been performed by Ensemble Modern. In recent years Goehr's quintet after "The Waking" commissioned by London's Wigmore Hall and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival has been premiered by the Nash Ensemble, and the trio Largo Siciliano (2012) for violin, horn and piano has been notably performed with pianist Daniel Barenboim.

Goehr returned to the operatic medium with the opera Promised End (2008-09), based on Shakespeare's King Lear, performed in 2010 by English Touring Opera. His piece for baritone and ensemble,TurmMusik (2009-10), was premiered with Nigel Robson and the BBC Philharmonic conducted by HK Gruber. When Adam Fell (2011-12), commissioned by the BBC to celebrate his 80th birthday, was premiered by the BBC Symphony with Oliver Knussen.

Alexander Goehr is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a former Churchill Fellow, and in 1997 gave the BBC Reith Lecturer. He is an Emeritus Professor at Cambridge University, and his manuscript archive is curated by the Berlin Akademie der Künste. Much of Goehr’s music is available on the NMC label, including Colossos or Panic, Little Symphony and The Deluge, and a portrait disc of his orchestral music has been released by Naxos. Collections of his writings can be found in ‘Finding the Key’ (Faber & Faber 1998), and in ‘Fings ain’t wot they used t’be’ (Berlin Akademie der Künste and Wolke-Archive 2012).


1932
Born 10 August in Berlin, the son of the conductor Walter Goehr
1933
Brought to England and educated at Berkhamsted School
1951-52
First acknowledged compositions: "Songs of Babel", "Sonata for piano"
1952-55
Studies composition with Richard Hall at the Royal Manchester College of Music
1952-55
Founds the New Music Manchester Group with his fellow students Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies, Elgar Howarth and John Ogdon
1955-56
Attends Olivier Messiaen's master class at the Paris Conservatoire and studies strict counterpoint with Yvonne Loriod
1955-60
Works in London as a freelance editor and translator
1955-60
"Cappriccio" for piano, op.6; "Variations" for flute and piano, op.8; "Four Songs from the Japanese", op.9; "Sutters Gold", op.10
1956-57
String Quartet No. 1
1960-68
Producer, orchestral concerts at the BBC
1961
"Suite", op.11 premiered by Melos Ensemble at Aldeburgh Festival

BBC Symphony Orchestra premiere "Hecuba's Lament", op.12
1962
Premiere of "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra", op.13 at Cheltenham Festival by Manoug Parikian and LSO

Premiere of "2 Choruses", op.14 in London
1963
London Symphony Orchestra premiere "Little Symhpony", op.15

"Little Music for Strings", op.16 commissioned by  Lucerne Festival and premiered by Lucerne Festival Strings
1964-65
Organises Wardour Castle Summer School of Music with Birtwistle and Maxwell Davies
1964-65
"Five Poems and an Epigram of William Blake", op.17 premiered by John Alldis Choir at City of London Festival

Wrote "Three Pieces for Piano" op.18 and "Pastorals", op.19
1966
World premiere of "Piano Trio" op.20, at Bath Festival (Yehudi and Hephzibah Menuhin and Maurice Genron)
1967
World premiere of "Arden Must Die" (Arden muss sterben) at the Hamburg State Opera
1967
"String Quartet No. 2", op.23 premiered by Allegri Quartet
1967-72
Musical director of the Music Theatre Ensemble
1968
In Tokyo on a Churchill Scholarship
1968
Wrote "Romanza" for cello and orchestra, op.24, "Naboth's Vineyard", op.25, "Konzertstück", op.26, "Nonomiya", op.27, "Paraphrase" for clarinet, op.28
1968-69
Associate Professor of Music at the New England Conservatory, Boston
1969-70
Associate Professor of Music at Yale University

"Symphony in One Movement", op.29 premiered by the New Philharmonia Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall, London
1970-71
Visiting lecturer at Southampton University
1970-71
"Shadowplay", op.30 premiered in London

"Sonata about Jerusalem", op.31 premiered by Israel Chamber Orchestra

Radio-Télévision Belge Chamber Orchestra perform premiere of "Concerto for Eleven", op.32
1971-76
West Riding Professor and Head of Music Department, University of Leeds
1972
"Concerto for piano and orchestra", op.33 premiered by Daniel Barenboim and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Brighton
1973
Awarded Hon. DMus (Southampton)
1974
UK premiere of "Arden Must Die" (Arden muss sterben), New Opera Company, London
1974
"Chaconne for Wind", op.34 commissioned by the University of Leeds in celebration of their centenary; performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra

"Lyric Pieces", op.35 premiered by London Sinfonietta

First performance of "Metamorphosis/Dance", op.36 by London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall, London
1975-76
"String Quartet No. 3", op.37 premiered by Lindsay Quartet at St. John's Smith Square, London
1976
Artistic Director of the Leeds Musical Festival
1976
Awarded Hon. ARCM
1976
Premiere of "Psalm IV", op.38a and "Fugue on the notes of the Fourth Psalm", op.38b at City of London Festival
1976-99
Professor of Music, University of Cambridge
1977
"Romanza on the Notes of Psalm IV", op.38c
1979
Gives 4 lectures for BBC Radio 3 'Modern Music and Society'
1979
Wrote "Babylon the Great is Fallen", op.20

"Das Gesetz der Quadrille" (The Law of the Quardille), op.41 premiere at Norwich Triennial Festival

 "Sinfonia", op.42 premiered by the English Chamber Orchestra, London
1980
Awarded Hon. FRNCM
1981
Featured composer, Musica Nova, Glasgow
1981
Awarded Hon. FRCM
1981
"Deux Etudes", op. 43 premiered by Scottish National Orchestra

"Behold the Sun" (dramatic scena), op. 44a commissioned and performed by London Sinfonietta at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
1982
Awarded Hon. Mem. American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
1985
World premiere of "Behold the Sun" (Die Wiedertäufer), op. 44 at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein
1985
Premiere of "...a musical offering (J.S.B. 1985)...", op. 46 at Edinburgh International Festival, performed by Scottish Chamber Orchestra

BBC Singers premiere "Two Imitations of Baudelaire", op. 47 at St John's Smith Square, London
1986
Premiere of "Symphony with Chaconne", op.48 by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchestra
1987
UK première of "Behold the Sun", BBC studio production
1987
Gives the BBC Reith Lectures on 'The Survival of the Symphony'.
1988
Feature Composer, King's Lynn Festival
1988
Wrote "Eve dreams in Paradise", op.49 and "... in real time", op.50
1990
Featured Composer, Aldeburgh Festival
1990
"Sing, Ariel", op.51 premiered at Aldeburgh Festival

First performance of "String Quartet No. 4", op.52 by Arditti String Quartet
1992
"The Death of Moses", op.53 premiered in Seville

Wrote "Colossos or Panic", op.55
1993
Composer-in-Residence, Tanglewood Festival
1994
Awarded Hon. DMus (Manchester, Nottingham)
1995
World premiere of "Arianna", Royal Opera House, London
1996
Staging and recording of "Arianna" in the Guildhall, University of Cambridge
1996
"Schlussgesang" op.61 premiered at Aldeburgh Festival, performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra

Quintet "Five objects Darkly", op.62 premiered in Los Angeles
1997
BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week
1997
London Sinfonietta premiere "Idées Fixes", op. 63 at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Wrote "Sur terre, en l'air", op. 64
1998
Gives the Prince of Hesse Memorial Lecture at the Aldeburgh Festival on 'The Songs we Love to Sing (Variations on a Theme of Benjamin Britten)'.
1999
World premiere of "Kantan and Damask Drum", Theater Dortmund
1999
Professor Emertius, University of Cambridge
1999
Awarded Hon. DMus (Sienna)
2000
Wrote "Piano Quintet", op.69 and "Suite", op.70
2000
Awarded Dr hc (Cambridge)
2001
UK premiere of "Kantan and Damask Drum", Aldeburgh and Almeida Festivals and French premiere, Paris
2001
Awarded Hon. Prof. Beijing University
2002
"...a second musical offering", op.71premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival by Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Wrote "...around Stravinsky", op.72
2003
Wrote "Marching to Carcassonne", op.74

"Adagio" (Autoportät), op.75 premiered by Nationaltheater-Orchester Mannheim
2004
Wrote "Dark Days", op.76
2005
Premiere of "Fantasie", op.77 by Paul Watkins and Huw Watkins in Lincoln
2006
Wrote "Broken Lute", op.78
2007
75th birthday marked with CD release of "Symmetry Disorders Reach" and portrait concert at the Wigmore Hall, London
2009
"Since Brass, nor Stone..." wins a British Composer Award for chamber music
2010
World premiere of "Promised End" by English Touring Opera at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London
2011
Composer portait concert at Festival Ultraschall 2011 in Berlin
2012
Publication of "Fings ain't wot they used t'be" by the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.
2012
"To These Dark Steps/ The Fathers are Watching" is premiered by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group conducted by Oliver Knussen in Birmingham
2012
World premiere of "When Adam Fell" by BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Oliver Knussen to mark 80th birthday
2013
Featured composer at Festival Messiaen au Pays de la Meije 2013, Meije, France
2013
Release of Naxos orchestral disc and NMC chamber music collection
RSS | ATOM
Vision of the Soldier Er
2019-06-07 | Grinton, North Yorkshire (United Kingdom), St Andrew’s Church | World Premiere
Nonomiya
2019-06-08 | Oxford (United Kingdom), Jacqueline du Pré Music Building — 1315
...in real time
2019-06-08 | Oxford (United Kingdom), Jacqueline du Pré Music Building — 1315
Quintet for clarinet and strings
2019-06-08 | Oxford (United Kingdom), Jacqueline du Pré Music Building — 1930
Vision of the Soldier Er
2019-06-08 | Oxford (United Kingdom), Jacqueline du Pré Music Building — 1930
Since Brass, nor Stone...
2019-06-27 | Putney,VT (United States of America), Big Barn — 20:00
Three Sonnets and Two Fantasias
Orchestra: Sit Fast
2020-02-16 | Paris (France), Auditorium de Radio France — 16.00

Gallery

per page
  1. Symmetry Disorders Reach

    Symmetry Disorders Reach

    15 pieces
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 73
    Instrumentation : piano
    Order No. : ED 12838 Q6252
    €20.99  *
  2. Fantasie

    Fantasie

    for cello and piano
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 77
    Instrumentation : cello and piano
    Edition : score and part
    Order No. : ED 12869 Q6378
    €23.99  *
  3. Broken Lute

    Broken Lute

    six pieces for solo violin
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 78
    Instrumentation : violin
    Order No. : ED 13050 Q6578
    €11.99  *
  4. manere

    manere

    duo for clarinet and violin
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 81
    Instrumentation : clarinet in B flat and violin
    Edition : Double score edition (parts for both clarinet and violin)
    Order No. : ED 13278 Q7025
    €19.99  *
  5. Broken Psalm

    Broken Psalm

    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 84
    Instrumentation : mixed choir (SATB) and organ
    Edition : choral score
    Language : English
    Order No. : ED 13289 Q7100
    €7.99  *
  6. Warngedichte

    Warngedichte

    eight songs on poems by Erich Fried
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 22
    Instrumentation : mezzo-soprano and piano
    Language : German
    Order No. : ED 11169 Q11731
    €16.99  *
  7. Dark Days

    Dark Days

    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 76
    Instrumentation : low voice and piano
    Language : English
    Order No. : ED 13074 Q12105
    €20.99  *
  8. Suite

    Suite

    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 70
    Instrumentation : violin and piano
    Order No. : VLB 1001 Q16460
    €23.99  *
  9. Ariel, Sing

    Ariel, Sing

    for solo flute
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    Instrumentation : alto-flute
    Order No. : ED 13308 Q19059
    €5.99  *
  10. Largo Siciliano

    Largo Siciliano

    Trio for violin, horn and piano
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 91
    Instrumentation : violin, horn and piano
    Edition : score and parts
    Order No. : ED 13509 Q19133
    €27.99  *

per page
Profile
"The combination of mystery and transparent musical language compels attention—as did the edgy, controlled performance—even as the core meaning remained a puzzle. This was one of the best kind of musical experiences, where one wants to hear the music repeated and get closer to the mystery at the center." 
- George Grella, New York Classical Review on Verschwindendes Wort (Vanishing Word)

Alexander Goehr, composer and teacher, was born in Berlin on 10 August 1932, son of the conductor Walter Goehr, and was brought to England in 1933. He studied with Richard Hall at the Royal Manchester College of Music (where together with Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies and John Ogdon he formed the New Music Manchester Group) and with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod in Paris. In the early 1960's he worked for the BBC and formed the Music Theatre Ensemble, the first ensemble devoted to what has become an established musical form. From the late 1960’s onwards he taught at the New England Conservatory Boston, Yale, Leeds and in 1975 was appointed to the chair of the University of Cambridge, where he remains Emeritus Professor. He has also taught in China and has twice been Composer-in-residence at Tanglewood.

Goehr has written five operas: Arden Must Die, Hamburg 1967; Behold the Sun, Deutsche Oper 1985; Arianna, lost opera by Monteverdi, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1995; Kantan & Damask Drum, Theater Dortmund September 1999; Promised End, derived from King Lear, London 2010; and a music theatre Triptych (1968-70).

His orchestral works include four symphonies, concerti for piano, violin, viola and cello and other orchestral compositions, which have been commissioned and performed by major organisations and leading conductors. He has a particularly close working relationship with Oliver Knussen, who has premiered and recorded several works. Many of his works have been commissioned by the BBC and have frequently been featured at the Proms.

The year of Goehr's appointment at Cambridge coincided with a turning point in his output, with the composition of a white-note setting of Psalm IV. The simple, bright modal sonority of this piece marked a final departure from post-war serialiasm and a commitment to a more transparent soundworld. Goehr found a way of controlling harmonic pace by fusing his own modal harmonic idiom with the long abandoned practice of figured bass—thus achieving a highly idiosyncratic fusion of past and present.

The output of the ensuing twenty years testifies to Goehr's desire to use this new idiom to explore ideas and genres that were already constant features of his work, such as the exploration of symphonic form (Sinfonia (1979), Symphony with Chaconne (1985-86), Eve Dreams in Paradise (1987-88), Colossos or Panic (1991-92)). However, these years' output is also characterised by a number of ambitious vocal scores. A common feature of many of the vocal compositions of these years is the choice of subjects that function as allegories for reflection upon socio-political themes: The Death of Moses (1992); the cantata Babylon the Great is Fallen (1979) and the opera Behold the Sun (1985). There are also non-political works: the cantata Sing, Ariel (1989-90), that recalls Messiaen’s stylized birdsong and sets a kaleidoscope of English poetry, and the opera Arianna (1995), written on a Rinuccini libretto for a lost opera by Monteverdi, is an exploration of the soundworld of Italian Renaissance.

After productions of his opera Kantan & Damask Drum (1997-98) in Dortmund and London, Goehr devoted himself almost exclusively to chamber music. Through the chamber music medium Goehr gains an unprecedented rhythmic and harmonic immediacy, while his music remains ever permeable by the music and imagery of other times and places. A series of quintets for different combinations began with Five Objects Darkly (1996) and grew with a Piano Quintet (2000); …around Stravinsky for violin and wind (2002); a Clarinet Quintet (2007); and most recently, from 2008, Since Brass nor Stone… for string quartet and percussion (2008), a memorial to Pavel Haas which won a British Composer Award. The set of piano pieces Symmetries Disorder Reach (2007) is a barely disguised baroque suite; Marching to Carcassonne (2003) flirts with neoclassicism and Stravinsky. Further works for ensemble include ...between the lines(2013) premiered by the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin in 2014, Verschwindendes Wort(2014-15) which has been performed by Ensemble Modern. In recent years Goehr's quintet after "The Waking" commissioned by London's Wigmore Hall and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival has been premiered by the Nash Ensemble, and the trio Largo Siciliano (2012) for violin, horn and piano has been notably performed with pianist Daniel Barenboim.

Goehr returned to the operatic medium with the opera Promised End (2008-09), based on Shakespeare's King Lear, performed in 2010 by English Touring Opera. His piece for baritone and ensemble,TurmMusik (2009-10), was premiered with Nigel Robson and the BBC Philharmonic conducted by HK Gruber. When Adam Fell (2011-12), commissioned by the BBC to celebrate his 80th birthday, was premiered by the BBC Symphony with Oliver Knussen.

Alexander Goehr is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a former Churchill Fellow, and in 1997 gave the BBC Reith Lecturer. He is an Emeritus Professor at Cambridge University, and his manuscript archive is curated by the Berlin Akademie der Künste. Much of Goehr’s music is available on the NMC label, including Colossos or Panic, Little Symphony and The Deluge, and a portrait disc of his orchestral music has been released by Naxos. Collections of his writings can be found in ‘Finding the Key’ (Faber & Faber 1998), and in ‘Fings ain’t wot they used t’be’ (Berlin Akademie der Künste and Wolke-Archive 2012).


Works
Chronology
1932
Born 10 August in Berlin, the son of the conductor Walter Goehr
1933
Brought to England and educated at Berkhamsted School
1951-52
First acknowledged compositions: "Songs of Babel", "Sonata for piano"
1952-55
Studies composition with Richard Hall at the Royal Manchester College of Music
1952-55
Founds the New Music Manchester Group with his fellow students Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies, Elgar Howarth and John Ogdon
1955-56
Attends Olivier Messiaen's master class at the Paris Conservatoire and studies strict counterpoint with Yvonne Loriod
1955-60
Works in London as a freelance editor and translator
1955-60
"Cappriccio" for piano, op.6; "Variations" for flute and piano, op.8; "Four Songs from the Japanese", op.9; "Sutters Gold", op.10
1956-57
String Quartet No. 1
1960-68
Producer, orchestral concerts at the BBC
1961
"Suite", op.11 premiered by Melos Ensemble at Aldeburgh Festival

BBC Symphony Orchestra premiere "Hecuba's Lament", op.12
1962
Premiere of "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra", op.13 at Cheltenham Festival by Manoug Parikian and LSO

Premiere of "2 Choruses", op.14 in London
1963
London Symphony Orchestra premiere "Little Symhpony", op.15

"Little Music for Strings", op.16 commissioned by  Lucerne Festival and premiered by Lucerne Festival Strings
1964-65
Organises Wardour Castle Summer School of Music with Birtwistle and Maxwell Davies
1964-65
"Five Poems and an Epigram of William Blake", op.17 premiered by John Alldis Choir at City of London Festival

Wrote "Three Pieces for Piano" op.18 and "Pastorals", op.19
1966
World premiere of "Piano Trio" op.20, at Bath Festival (Yehudi and Hephzibah Menuhin and Maurice Genron)
1967
World premiere of "Arden Must Die" (Arden muss sterben) at the Hamburg State Opera
1967
"String Quartet No. 2", op.23 premiered by Allegri Quartet
1967-72
Musical director of the Music Theatre Ensemble
1968
In Tokyo on a Churchill Scholarship
1968
Wrote "Romanza" for cello and orchestra, op.24, "Naboth's Vineyard", op.25, "Konzertstück", op.26, "Nonomiya", op.27, "Paraphrase" for clarinet, op.28
1968-69
Associate Professor of Music at the New England Conservatory, Boston
1969-70
Associate Professor of Music at Yale University

"Symphony in One Movement", op.29 premiered by the New Philharmonia Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall, London
1970-71
Visiting lecturer at Southampton University
1970-71
"Shadowplay", op.30 premiered in London

"Sonata about Jerusalem", op.31 premiered by Israel Chamber Orchestra

Radio-Télévision Belge Chamber Orchestra perform premiere of "Concerto for Eleven", op.32
1971-76
West Riding Professor and Head of Music Department, University of Leeds
1972
"Concerto for piano and orchestra", op.33 premiered by Daniel Barenboim and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Brighton
1973
Awarded Hon. DMus (Southampton)
1974
UK premiere of "Arden Must Die" (Arden muss sterben), New Opera Company, London
1974
"Chaconne for Wind", op.34 commissioned by the University of Leeds in celebration of their centenary; performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra

"Lyric Pieces", op.35 premiered by London Sinfonietta

First performance of "Metamorphosis/Dance", op.36 by London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall, London
1975-76
"String Quartet No. 3", op.37 premiered by Lindsay Quartet at St. John's Smith Square, London
1976
Artistic Director of the Leeds Musical Festival
1976
Awarded Hon. ARCM
1976
Premiere of "Psalm IV", op.38a and "Fugue on the notes of the Fourth Psalm", op.38b at City of London Festival
1976-99
Professor of Music, University of Cambridge
1977
"Romanza on the Notes of Psalm IV", op.38c
1979
Gives 4 lectures for BBC Radio 3 'Modern Music and Society'
1979
Wrote "Babylon the Great is Fallen", op.20

"Das Gesetz der Quadrille" (The Law of the Quardille), op.41 premiere at Norwich Triennial Festival

 "Sinfonia", op.42 premiered by the English Chamber Orchestra, London
1980
Awarded Hon. FRNCM
1981
Featured composer, Musica Nova, Glasgow
1981
Awarded Hon. FRCM
1981
"Deux Etudes", op. 43 premiered by Scottish National Orchestra

"Behold the Sun" (dramatic scena), op. 44a commissioned and performed by London Sinfonietta at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
1982
Awarded Hon. Mem. American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
1985
World premiere of "Behold the Sun" (Die Wiedertäufer), op. 44 at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein
1985
Premiere of "...a musical offering (J.S.B. 1985)...", op. 46 at Edinburgh International Festival, performed by Scottish Chamber Orchestra

BBC Singers premiere "Two Imitations of Baudelaire", op. 47 at St John's Smith Square, London
1986
Premiere of "Symphony with Chaconne", op.48 by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchestra
1987
UK première of "Behold the Sun", BBC studio production
1987
Gives the BBC Reith Lectures on 'The Survival of the Symphony'.
1988
Feature Composer, King's Lynn Festival
1988
Wrote "Eve dreams in Paradise", op.49 and "... in real time", op.50
1990
Featured Composer, Aldeburgh Festival
1990
"Sing, Ariel", op.51 premiered at Aldeburgh Festival

First performance of "String Quartet No. 4", op.52 by Arditti String Quartet
1992
"The Death of Moses", op.53 premiered in Seville

Wrote "Colossos or Panic", op.55
1993
Composer-in-Residence, Tanglewood Festival
1994
Awarded Hon. DMus (Manchester, Nottingham)
1995
World premiere of "Arianna", Royal Opera House, London
1996
Staging and recording of "Arianna" in the Guildhall, University of Cambridge
1996
"Schlussgesang" op.61 premiered at Aldeburgh Festival, performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra

Quintet "Five objects Darkly", op.62 premiered in Los Angeles
1997
BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week
1997
London Sinfonietta premiere "Idées Fixes", op. 63 at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Wrote "Sur terre, en l'air", op. 64
1998
Gives the Prince of Hesse Memorial Lecture at the Aldeburgh Festival on 'The Songs we Love to Sing (Variations on a Theme of Benjamin Britten)'.
1999
World premiere of "Kantan and Damask Drum", Theater Dortmund
1999
Professor Emertius, University of Cambridge
1999
Awarded Hon. DMus (Sienna)
2000
Wrote "Piano Quintet", op.69 and "Suite", op.70
2000
Awarded Dr hc (Cambridge)
2001
UK premiere of "Kantan and Damask Drum", Aldeburgh and Almeida Festivals and French premiere, Paris
2001
Awarded Hon. Prof. Beijing University
2002
"...a second musical offering", op.71premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival by Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Wrote "...around Stravinsky", op.72
2003
Wrote "Marching to Carcassonne", op.74

"Adagio" (Autoportät), op.75 premiered by Nationaltheater-Orchester Mannheim
2004
Wrote "Dark Days", op.76
2005
Premiere of "Fantasie", op.77 by Paul Watkins and Huw Watkins in Lincoln
2006
Wrote "Broken Lute", op.78
2007
75th birthday marked with CD release of "Symmetry Disorders Reach" and portrait concert at the Wigmore Hall, London
2009
"Since Brass, nor Stone..." wins a British Composer Award for chamber music
2010
World premiere of "Promised End" by English Touring Opera at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London
2011
Composer portait concert at Festival Ultraschall 2011 in Berlin
2012
Publication of "Fings ain't wot they used t'be" by the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.
2012
"To These Dark Steps/ The Fathers are Watching" is premiered by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group conducted by Oliver Knussen in Birmingham
2012
World premiere of "When Adam Fell" by BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Oliver Knussen to mark 80th birthday
2013
Featured composer at Festival Messiaen au Pays de la Meije 2013, Meije, France
2013
Release of Naxos orchestral disc and NMC chamber music collection
Performances
Vision of the Soldier Er
2019-06-07 | Grinton, North Yorkshire (United Kingdom), St Andrew’s Church | World Premiere
Nonomiya
2019-06-08 | Oxford (United Kingdom), Jacqueline du Pré Music Building — 1315
...in real time
2019-06-08 | Oxford (United Kingdom), Jacqueline du Pré Music Building — 1315
Quintet for clarinet and strings
2019-06-08 | Oxford (United Kingdom), Jacqueline du Pré Music Building — 1930
Vision of the Soldier Er
2019-06-08 | Oxford (United Kingdom), Jacqueline du Pré Music Building — 1930
Since Brass, nor Stone...
2019-06-27 | Putney,VT (United States of America), Big Barn — 20:00
Three Sonnets and Two Fantasias
Orchestra: Sit Fast
2020-02-16 | Paris (France), Auditorium de Radio France — 16.00
Gallery

Gallery

Products

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  1. Symmetry Disorders Reach

    Symmetry Disorders Reach

    15 pieces
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 73
    Instrumentation : piano
    Order No. : ED 12838 Q6252
    €20.99  *
  2. Fantasie

    Fantasie

    for cello and piano
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 77
    Instrumentation : cello and piano
    Edition : score and part
    Order No. : ED 12869 Q6378
    €23.99  *
  3. Broken Lute

    Broken Lute

    six pieces for solo violin
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 78
    Instrumentation : violin
    Order No. : ED 13050 Q6578
    €11.99  *
  4. manere

    manere

    duo for clarinet and violin
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 81
    Instrumentation : clarinet in B flat and violin
    Edition : Double score edition (parts for both clarinet and violin)
    Order No. : ED 13278 Q7025
    €19.99  *
  5. Broken Psalm

    Broken Psalm

    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 84
    Instrumentation : mixed choir (SATB) and organ
    Edition : choral score
    Language : English
    Order No. : ED 13289 Q7100
    €7.99  *
  6. Warngedichte

    Warngedichte

    eight songs on poems by Erich Fried
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 22
    Instrumentation : mezzo-soprano and piano
    Language : German
    Order No. : ED 11169 Q11731
    €16.99  *
  7. Dark Days

    Dark Days

    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 76
    Instrumentation : low voice and piano
    Language : English
    Order No. : ED 13074 Q12105
    €20.99  *
  8. Suite

    Suite

    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 70
    Instrumentation : violin and piano
    Order No. : VLB 1001 Q16460
    €23.99  *
  9. Ariel, Sing

    Ariel, Sing

    for solo flute
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    Instrumentation : alto-flute
    Order No. : ED 13308 Q19059
    €5.99  *
  10. Largo Siciliano

    Largo Siciliano

    Trio for violin, horn and piano
    Download Edition
    Composer : Goehr, Alexander
    op. 91
    Instrumentation : violin, horn and piano
    Edition : score and parts
    Order No. : ED 13509 Q19133
    €27.99  *

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