Sir Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Birtwistle was born in Accrington in the north of England in 1934 and studied clarinet and composition at the Royal Manchester College of Music, making contact with a highly talented group of contemporaries including Peter Maxwell Davies, Alexander Goehr, John Ogdon and Elgar Howarth. In 1965 he sold his clarinets to devote all his efforts to composition, and travelled to Princeton as a Harkness Fellow where he completed the opera Punch and Judy. This work, together with Verses for Ensembles and The Triumph of Time, firmly established Birtwistle as a leading voice in British music.
Films
Filmmakers: Paul Archbold & Colin Still
Sir Harrison Birtwistle and David Harsent in conversation with Fiona Sampson
Sir Harrison Birtwistle and David Harsent discuss the creation of the opera The Minotaur
Shadows and Mirrors: Birtwistle in the new millenium
Jonathan Cross introduces recent works by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, including Orpheus Elegies, The Minotaur and The Shadow of Night
Harrison Birtwistle at 80: a study day
11 May 2014
Frobisher Suite, Barbican Centre
Recommended by the IMR
Royal Opera House films
Ryan Wigglesworth on conducting The Minotaur with The Royal Opera
The Minotaur Sitzprobe - Royal Opera LIVE
The Minotaur Stage Rehearsal - Royal Opera LIVE
The Minotaur Trailer - The Royal Opera
The Minotaur - The Labyrinth scene extract (The Royal Opera)