Anthony Gilbert
Country of origin:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Birthday:
July 26, 1934
Date of death:
July 5, 2023
About Anthony Gilbert
Anthony Gilbert was born in London in 1934. Initially working as clerk-translator and interpreter, he first studied piano at Trinity College of Music under Dennis Holloway, then took up serious composition in his early twenties, studying first with Mátyás Seiber, then with Anthony Milner and Alexander Goehr at Morley College, London, and later with Gunther Scuhller at Tanglewood. He first attracted public attention in the 1960s with a series of brilliant virtuoso works for small ensembles, performed in the international festivals. Notable among these are Brighton Piece and Nine or Ten Osannas, the latter now commercially available on CD, and, for members of The Fires of London, Spell Respell for Basset Clarinet and Piano, and The Incredible Flute Music. During this time he began a close association with Schotts publishers, working his way up from warehouseman to Chief Editor of contemporary music and Head of Production.Leaving London for the North of England in 1970, first as Granada Arts Fellow at Lancaster University and then to teach Composition at the Royal Northern College of Music, he devoted the next ten years to writing larger works. These included an acclaimed Symphony, Ghost and Dream Dancing for orchestra - in effect a second Symphony - and two operas: The Scene-Machine for Staatstheater Kassel and The Chakravaka-Bird, a BBC Jubilee commission specifically for radio transmission. Among works for contemporary chamber orchestra, his Crow-Cry for the London Sinfonietta and Towards Asâvari for solo piano and chamber orchestra, a BBC commission for Peter Lawson and the Manchester Camerata, attracted particular attention and now available on an NMC CD. During the 1980s, largely as a result of extended periods of work in Australia where he headed the Composition Department at the New South Wales State Conservatorium, he focused once again on compositions featuring solo performers - of these, Moonfaring for cello and percussion has been particularly often performed as a concert piece and with dancers, and is now available on a CD of works performed by Psappha, Manchester’s leading contemporary ensemble. Beastly Jingles, the first of a trilogy of works based on an imaginary Chinese bestiary from J. L. Borges, has been recorded by Jane Manning and Jane’s Minstrels on the NMC label.
A good deal of his work during the late 80s was for the virtuoso recorder player John Turner, and included the extraordinary concerto Igórochki, now out on CD. From this period also date Dream Carousels for wind, Gilbert’s most-performed work, also on CD, and the beautiful orchestral song-cycle Certain Lights Reflecting, both inspired by writings of the Tasmanian poet Sarah Day. Certain Lights Reflecting was premièred by the late Susan Chilcott and the CBSO, has been performed by Merlyn Quaife and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and was issued in March 1995 on an NMC CD in a superb performance by Susan Bickley and the BBC SO conducted by Andrew Davis. This productive decade also included a second and a third String Quartet. The latter, commissioned for the Arditti and subtitled super hoqueto ‘David’, is another frequently-played work, now commercially issued on CD. In the 1990s Gilbert again concentrated on virtuoso pieces, this time featuring percussion. Ziggurat, for percussion and bass clarinet, commissioned by the Duo Contemporain, made a particularly strong impression.
Throughout his professional life, Gilbert has been closely involved in the promotion of performances of new music, with several long periods on the committees of the Society for the Promotion of New Music, the ICA Music Section, the British and Sydney Sections of the ISCM and the New Music Panel of North West Arts. He was Founder Member, Chairman and Artistic Director of New Music Forum, Manchester, and Founder and Artistic Director of AKANTHOS, the new music ensemble of the RNCM.
Until his retirement at the end of 1999 Anthony Gilbert was Head of Composition and Contemporary Music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Gilbert's music can be heard on Prima Facie, NMC and ACD (New Zealand).
Worklist
Gallery
(c) Morris Adam
For high resolution photos, please contact: infoservice@schott-music.com
Products
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being further illustrations to the ancient Chinese zoological classificationComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: Soprano and EnsembleLanguage: English
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for percussion and instrumental ensembleComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: Percussion and instrumental ensemble
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Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreSeries: Brighton Piece
Instrumentation: percussion and instrumental-ensembleProduct number: ED 11257In stock€12.50Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: Ensemble, -Workshop Ensemble and Audience
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for clarinets and brass instrumentsComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: clarinets and brass instruments
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song cycle for mezzo-soprano and orchestraComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: mezzo soprano and orchestraLanguage: English
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for chamber orchestraComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: chamber orchestra
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Composer: Anthony GilbertSeries: Edition Schott
Instrumentation: viola and pianoProduct number: ED 13038Product TypeIn stockAs low as €21.99Incl. Tax -
for wind orchestraComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: wind orchestra
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Studies for Orchestra IComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: Orchestra
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Concertini for recorder and chamber ensembleComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: recorder and chamber ensemble
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for soprano, reader, two reed players and one percussionistComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreSeries: Inscapes
Instrumentation: soprano, speakers and small ensembleProduct number: ED 11417In stock€21.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
from string quartet with piano piecesComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicSeries: Little Piano Pieces
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 11250In stock€10.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
Six songs of five seasonsComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: Soprano and Double-bass
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Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Score and partsInstrumentation: Sop.Vce Clar BaProduct number: ARC 2714Out of stock€39.95Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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version for a cappella choirComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Choral scoreInstrumentation: mixed choirProduct number: ED 10929In stock€10.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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after KV 550Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: small Orchestra
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for clarinet, horn, violin, cello and pianoComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: clarinet, horn, violin, cello and piano
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Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: Clarinet, Violoncello, Toy Instruments
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for jazz or school orchestraComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: Orchestra
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for flute, oboe, bassoon and pianoComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Score and partsInstrumentation: flute, oboe, bassoon and pianoProduct number: ED 12334In stock€31.50Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for orchestraComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: Orchestra
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for chamber orchestraComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: chamber orchestra
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Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Study scoreSeries: Sinfonia
Instrumentation: chamber orchestraProduct number: ED 10993In stock€10.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicInstrumentation: clarinet in A (bassett-clarinet) and pianoProduct number: ED 11119In stock€12.50Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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from string quartet with piano pieces, op. 20Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Study scoreSeries: Little Piano Pieces
Instrumentation: string quartetProduct number: ED 11249In stock€11.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Set of partsInstrumentation: string quartetProduct number: ED 99999-02Out of stock€62.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for orchestraComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: Orchestra
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Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicInstrumentation: flute and pianoProduct number: ED 11111In stock€31.50Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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Das Popgeheuer. Musikalische MoralitätComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: BookEdition: LibrettoSeries: The Scene - Machine
Language: German, EnglishProduct number: ED 11243In stock€12.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
for piano and small orchestraComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: Piano and small Orchestra
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Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Study scoreSeries: Music Of Our Time
Towards Asavari
Instrumentation: piano and small orchestraProduct number: ED 12195In stock€35.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
Composer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicInstrumentation: violin and tapeProduct number: ED 11416In stock€12.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for chamber orchestraComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: chamber orchestra
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for storyteller and Indo-European ensembleComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: narrator and instruments
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for chamber orchestraComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: chamber orchestraLanguage: Artificial language
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for orchestraComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra
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for bass clarinet and marimbaComposer: Anthony GilbertMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Score and partsSeries: Edition Schott
Instrumentation: bass clarinet and marimbaProduct number: ED 13021Out of stock€26.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping