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Brian Inglis | |
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 Ave, Generosa
Tainted Kiss |
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Two important strands since the early 90s have been an interest in the life and works of the mediaeval visionary, St. Hildegard of Bingen and increasing concern with vocal writing and the setting of poetical texts by Hildegard and others, notably the poets of the First World War. |
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Biographical NotesBrian Inglis was born of Scottish descent in Germany in 1969 and lived for several formative years in Germany and Iran, which may have helped foster a later interest in multi-cultural eclecticism. His interest in music, encouraged by an inspirational Reading music teacher, took him to Durham University in 1988, where a particular interest in composition was strengthened and developed through studies with Dr. John Casken and Roger Redgate and an interest in non-Western music, especially gamelan and Japanese music, took root.A desire for broader compositional horizons took him to London in 1992, where he began studies for an M A degree in Composition with Simon Holt at City University, awarded in 1993 along with the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers' Prize for outstanding achievement on the course. His studies continued at City under Dr. James Ellis and a PhD. supervised by Dr. Rhian Samuel was awarded in May 1999. Brian Inglis' earliest compositions date from the autumn of 1986, inspired by his study of the piano and an interest in the modernist piano styles of Stravinsky and Prokofiev. These early influences were succeeded by an interest in serial/modal techniques and a more radically experimental approach to instrumental and vocal writing. At the same time, a growing interest in the re-interpretation of historical styles and formal models (particularly of the Baroque and Romantic eras), which had always been of importance, led to an increasing polystylism and eclecticism. Important landmarks along this road include the chamber work, Maskes, written in 1990 the Recorder Concerto of 1993 and the Symphony in One Movement, commissioned by the City University Symphony Orchestra in 1994 and first performed by them at St. John's Smith Square in March 1995. Two important strands since the early 90s have been an interest in the life and works of the mediaeval visionary, St. Hildegard of Bingen and increasing concern with vocal writing and the setting of poetical texts by Hildegard and others, notably the poets of the First World War. An early Hildegard setting, Responsory for soprano and chamber ensemble, was performed a the 1992 Huddersfield Festival; a choral work O Nobillissima Viriditas, has been featured in workshops by the New London Chamber Choir and the Allegri Singers. continue |
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An opera on the life of St Hildegard, Hildegard von Bingen, was completed in June 1997; several spin-off pieces were also completed during the period of the opera's composition. The opera's basis is a series of texts by Hildegard and others , woven with linking material to form a picture of Hildegard and her contemporaries, not as immortalised and sanctified figures but as deeply human figures whose situations and emotions reflect universal human concern, - love, loss, the fear of death, transcendence and redemption. In 1997 Brian was selected by the SPNM to take part in the pilot 'Adopt a Composer' project, leading to the composition of a piece for the Bath Choral society, utilising the chorus with soloists and chamber orchestra, weaving together texts from Hildegard, the Bible and the First World War poets Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon to form a tapestry of the themes of loss, conflict, redemption and salvation. The work, premiered in February 1999, draws together various musical concerns, particularly the contrast between and combination of an intuitive and a more rigorous approach to composition. In recent years Brian has fulfilled commissions for the Welsh Millennium service; the city church of St Margaret Pattens and the Kingsland Youth Choir. In June 2003 Invocation, written for the sound sculptures of the artist Derek Shiel, was premiered at Gallery Oldham. In these recent projects a prevailing interest has emerged in connecting ancient spiritual themes with present-day concerns (both Peace and Invocation combine texts drawn from Islamic Sufi mysticism with those from Eastern and Western Christian traditions). Selected Works |
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Selected Works
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