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Contributor


Richard Bolley

Composer

Born: 1951

Biography

Having spent twenty years living in Auckland, Richard Bolley is proud to consider himself – at least in part – a New Zealander, although he lives at present in London, England, where he was born in 1951.

Up until 2010 his compositional life had been rather episodic, with periods of absorption in creativity interspersed with phases during which his life as first an administrator of the arts and then of education has taken over. With the commencement of a part-time PhD in Composition at Goldsmiths, University of London, however, composition became a regular part of his life once more.

His portfolio of compositions entitled Travels with Alex, inspired by the travel writings of the intrepid French Buddhist, Alexandra David-Néel, comprises an hour-long cycle of nine pieces for obbligato viola and various instrumental groups. Three of these pieces were performed in a concert at Goldsmiths on the 5th of June 2018. Entitled ‘Mantras and Mandalas’, the event involved eight monks from the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, the Ligeti Quartet, counter-tenor Ben Williamson, prepared-piano player Kate Ryder and others, conducted by Roger Redgate (his supervisor at Goldsmiths).

Richard studied composition at the University of York with Richard Orton, at the Royal College of Music with John Lambert (he won a Herbert Howells Prize for Composition at the RCM) and, for a short time, with Jonathan Harvey. In New Zealand he studied at the University of Auckland with John Rimmer and John Elmsly, subsequently being awarded a doctoral scholarship and a Claude McCarthy Fellowship. An early interest in vocal music broadened later into explorations of electronic media, the orchestra and, even (his own instrument), the piano – of which a long acquaintance had led him to be rather nervous. Recurrent preoccupations have been the interplay of highly ordered and free-form elements, of mosaic structures with melismatic vocal and instrumental lines and a quasi-spiritual search for a balance of dissonance and tonal elements.


Composed (46)

A mandala of the five buddhas

for soprano, four baritones, oboe, clarinet, alto sax, bassoon, violin and two pianos


A quietening of hindrances

for three pianos, 7m


Alexander's Music

for solo flute, 7m


An island lilt

for two violins


An island lilt

for piano


Anthem 1

for soprano and SATB choir with optional organ accompaniment, 2m


Antiphony: Pictures of Villon for 15 musicians

for 2 sopranos, 2 tenors, 2 baritones, 3 percussion and string quintet, 40m


April Rise

for soprano, mezzo-soprano, violin, vibraphone and piano


Bagatelle

for 2 clarinets, 2 cellos, percussion and piano


Benedicite

for double quintet (combined wind and string quintets), 6m


Canticles in D minor

for SATB choir with organ


Citadels (Travels with Alex 9)

for viola obbligato and small ensemble


Cloudscapes

a cantata derived from the writings of Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-89) for counter tenor, violin and piano, 25m


Concerto for Orchestra

for trumpet, clarinet, cello and orchestra, 24m


Elegy

for tenor and piano


Epithalamium

for vibraphone and piano


Epithalamium

for organ


Face to Face

for clarinet and piano


Fantasia on She mov'd thro' the fair

for soprano, two violins, two cellos, celesta and piano


Five Fragments

for piano


Fleeting Masks

for mixed chamber quartet, 5m


Flights (Travels with Alex 1)

for viola obbligato and chamber ensemble, 9m


Fluttertongues

for ten flutists


Forests (Travels with Alex 2)

for viola obbligato and large ensemble


Full moon/brimming water

for soprano, vibraphone, three suspended cymbals and three gongs


Gothic Shards

for prepared piano, drum-kit and electronic tape (one player)


Haec Dies

for alto saxophone and piano, 8m


Intimations (Travels with Alex 3)

for countertenor, viola obbligato and small ensemble


Invocations (Travels with Alex 5)

for string quartet (featuring viola obbligato)


Nocturne

for vibraphone and harp


Nocturnes (Travels with Alex 6)

for viola obbligato, harp and two percussion players


Odysseys (Travels with Alex 8)

for countertenor, viola obbligato and chamber ensemble


One way of reflecting the moon

for alto flute, bass clarinet, vibraphone, 3 suspended cymbals and 3 gongs


Only the Certain Spring

for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, electronic organ, percussion and piano


per eco in lontano

for orchestra and string quartet


Processions (Travels with Alex 7)

for viola obbligato and small ensemble


Reflections of 'She mov'd thro' the fair'

for soprano, oboe, piano duet (or solo) and percussion


Rivermind

for tenor and string quartet


Scherzi (Travels with Alex 4)

for viola obbligato and chamber ensemble


Separations

a song cycle for tenor, clarinet in B flat and piano, 13m


Tennyson Morning (1st Aubade)

for piccolo, two violins, two violas and two pianos


Thème varié

for bassoon and piano


Thème varié

for cello and piano


Travels with Alex

for viola obbligato and various chamber ensembles


Villon Ripple

for mixed chamber ensemble, 1m