Gerald Barry
Gerald Barry was born in Ireland in 1952 and studied composition with Stockhausen and Kagel. He first came to public attention in 1979 with his radical ensemble works '__________' and 'Ø'.
Many of his works have been commissioned by the BBC, including Chevaux-de-frise for the Ulster Orchestra at the 1988 Proms, The Conquest of Ireland and Day for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Eternal Recurrence, a setting of Nietzsche for voice and orchestra, and Hard D for the Orkest de Volharding.
Barry's first opera The Intelligence Park, commissioned by the ICA, was first performed at the 1990 Almeida Festival, and a second opera, The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit, written for Channel 4 Television, opened the 2002 Aldeburgh Festival, followed by performances in London and the Berliner Festwochen conducted by Thomas Adés. In 2005 The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (recorded on RTE) was given at English National Opera and in 2007 at the Basle Opera. La Plus Forte (The Stronger), a one-act opera on the Strindberg play was commissioned by Radio France for the 2007 Festival Présences. Sung by Barbara Hannigan, it toured to Amsterdam, London, Dublin, Miami and Toronto.
Barry has enjoyed a long assocation with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, for whom he wrote Wiener Blut, Dead March, and Beethoven. God Save The Queen for choir and the London Sinfonietta was commissioned by London's South Bank Centre for the fiftieth birthday of the Royal Festival Hall in 2001.
Recent works include First Sorrow (string quartet) for Crash Ensemble, Beethoven (bass voice and ensemble) for BCMG, Le Vieux Sourd for piano commissioned by Betty Freeman, Feldman's Sixpenny Editions for the London Sinfonietta and St Paul Chamber Orchestra and Schott and Sons, Mainz, for Bass voice and Choir, an account of the relationship between Beethoven and Schott in his last years.
His fifth opera, The Importance of Being Earnest, was written for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Barbican, London. Stagings took place in 2013 and 2014 for the Opera Nationale de Lorraine - Nancy, The ROH Linbury and the New York City Opera.
Gerald Barry was born in Ireland in 1952 and studied composition with Stockhausen and Kagel. He first came to public attention in 1979 with his radical ensemble works '__________' and 'Ø'.
Many of his works have been commissioned by the BBC, including Chevaux-de-frise for the Ulster Orchestra at the 1988 Proms, The Conquest of Ireland and Day for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Eternal Recurrence, a setting of Nietzsche for voice and orchestra, and Hard D for the Orkest de Volharding.
Barry's first opera The Intelligence Park, commissioned by the ICA, was first performed at the 1990 Almeida Festival, and a second opera, The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit, written for Channel 4 Television, opened the 2002 Aldeburgh Festival, followed by performances in London and the Berliner Festwochen conducted by Thomas Adés. In 2005 The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (recorded on RTE) was given at English National Opera and in 2007 at the Basle Opera. La Plus Forte (The Stronger), a one-act opera on the Strindberg play was commissioned by Radio France for the 2007 Festival Présences. Sung by Barbara Hannigan, it toured to Amsterdam, London, Dublin, Miami and Toronto.
Barry has enjoyed a long assocation with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, for whom he wrote Wiener Blut, Dead March, and Beethoven. God Save The Queen for choir and the London Sinfonietta was commissioned by London's South Bank Centre for the fiftieth birthday of the Royal Festival Hall in 2001.
Recent works include First Sorrow (string quartet) for Crash Ensemble, Beethoven (bass voice and ensemble) for BCMG, Le Vieux Sourd for piano commissioned by Betty Freeman, Feldman's Sixpenny Editions for the London Sinfonietta and St Paul Chamber Orchestra and Schott and Sons, Mainz, for Bass voice and Choir, an account of the relationship between Beethoven and Schott in his last years.
His fifth opera, The Importance of Being Earnest, was written for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Barbican, London. Stagings took place in 2013 and 2014 for the Opera Nationale de Lorraine - Nancy, The ROH Linbury and the New York City Opera.
Recordings by this composer
Recordings
Compilations with this composer
Compilations
