Simon Holt

Simon Holt (born 21 February 1958) is an English composer.

For the British horse racing commentator, see Simon Holt (commentator). For the Dutch composer, see Simeon ten Holt.

Simon Holt with a sculpture of St Vitus in the kettle in 2017

Biography

Simon Holt was born in Bolton, Lancashire on 21 February 1958. Educated at Bolton School, Holt immersed himself in organ, piano and visual art during his sixth form years. In 1976, he attended Bolton College of Art for a year where he fulfilled a foundation course in all areas of visual representation. Shortly before achieving a diploma in composition from the Royal Northern College of Music, where he studied with Anthony Gilbert for four years from 1978 to 1982, he received a commission from the London Sinfonietta, which became Kites (1983). He was soon firmly established with a series of commissions and fruitful collaborations including not only with the Sinfonietta, but also the Nash Ensemble and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, resulting in pieces such as eco-pavan (1998), Sparrow Night (1989) and Lilith (1990) respectively. Inspired by Messiaen, Xenakis and Feldman as well as visual artists such as Goya, Alberto Giacometti and Brâncuși, his music is innately dramatic and impulsive in nature. His output comprises chamber music, concertos, songs, opera, orchestral and piano music.

From 2000 onwards, Holt has written several concertos and orchestral pieces, including a table of noises (2007), a percussion concerto for Colin Currie. Holt was Composer in Association with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from 2008 to 2014, working closely with the conductor Thierry Fischer on pieces such as Troubled Light (2008) for orchestra and Morpheus Wakes (2011), a flute concerto written for Emmanuel Pahud, both for the BBC Proms. Previously, Holt had been commissioned to write two orchestral pieces for the BBC Proms; Syrensong (1987), his first orchestral piece, written for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the viola concerto, walking with the river’s roar (1991), for Nobuko Imai and the BBC Philharmonic. Recent commissions include the orchestral piece, Surcos (2016), for Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker and co-commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra who gave the UK premiere with the conductor Ilan Volkov and the basset clarinet concerto, Joy Beast (2016), for Mark Simpson and the BBC Philharmonic as part of the New Music Biennial 2017. Simon Holt's music has been recorded on several record labels, most extensively with NMC.

Holt is currently Professor of Composition at the Royal College of Music.[1]

Career highlights

Key works
  • Maïastra (1981; flute solo)
  • Kites (1983; chamber ensemble)
  • Era madrugada (1984; chamber ensemble)
  • Canciones (1986; mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble)
  • Syrensong (1987; orchestra)
  • Sparrow Night (1989; solo oboe and chamber ensemble)
  • Lilith (1990; small chamber ensemble)
  • walking with the river’s roar (1991; viola concerto)
  • Banshee (1994; oboe and percussion)
  • Nigredo (1994; piano solo)
  • The Nightingale’s to Blame (1996 to 1998; chamber opera)
  • eco-pavan (1998; solo piano and chamber ensemble)
  • feet of clay (2003; cello solo)
  • witness to a snow miracle (2005; violin concerto)
  • Sueños (2006; baritone and chamber ensemble)
  • a table of noises (2007; percussion concerto)
  • Troubled Light (2008; orchestra)
  • Morpheus Wakes (2011; flute concerto)
  • The Yellow Wallpaper (2011; soprano, 6 female singers and orchestra)
  • Ellsworth 2 (2012; orchestra)
  • Fool is Hurt (2015; piccolo concerto)
  • Joy Beast (2016; basset clarinet concerto)
  • Surcos (2017; orchestra)
  • Quadriga (2017; percussion and string quartet)
  • Serra-Sierra (2018; cello and piano)
  • 3 for Icarus: Icarus Lamentations (1992; 2 clarinets, cimbalom, harp and strings), Minotaur Games (1993; orchestra), Daedalus Remembers (1995; solo cello and chamber ensemble)
  • a ribbon of time: Sunrise' yellow noise (1999; soprano and orchestra), Two movements for string quartet (2001), Boots of Lead (2002; mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble), Clandestiny (2000; soprano and organ), startled Grass (2001; solo cello, 6 sopranos, 6 altos, harp, cimbalom and percussion)
  • The Bella cycle: the sharp end of night (2003; violin solo), the other side of silence (2004; chamber ensemble), The Coroner’s Report (2004; chamber ensemble), Who put Bella in the Wych elm? (2003; music theatre, baritone, soprano, violin, piano and chamber ensemble)
  • Terrain: String sextet: the torturer’s horse (2009), everything turns away (2010; piano and four string players), 3rd Quartet (2013), Amapolas (2008; string trio), Telarañas (2009; violin and cello), Mantis (2005; solo viola)[13][14]

Selected recordings

References
  1. "Simon Holt". Wise Music Classical. Wise Music Group. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  2. "Capriccio Spettrale". Wise Music Classical. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  3. "Fondation Prince Pierre, Simon Holt". Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  4. "The Ivors Academy | Champions of Music Creators". The Ivors Academy. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  5. "Simon Holt, St. Vitus in the Kettle". YouTube, Royal College of Music. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  6. Dammann, Guy (21 January 2015). "JACK Quartet review". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  7. "String Quartet Festival". Heidelberger Frühling. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  8. "Concert Calendar". Berliner Philharmoniker. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  9. "Berlin Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle". Elbphilharmonie. 7 May 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  10. "Composers and Commissions 2017". New Music Biennial. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  11. "Aldeburgh Festival 2018". Snape Maltings. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  12. "Aldeburgh Festival 2018 programme revealed". Rhinegold Publishing. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  13. "Simon Holt Catalogue". Wise Music Classical. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  14. The Music of Simon Holt, ed. David Charlton, Boydell (2017), Appendix A: Overview and catalogue of pieces, pp. 305–329.
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