Edmund Rubbra
Born: May 23, 1901; Northampton, England
Died: February 13, 1986; Gerard's Cross, England
|
Edmund Rubbra's emergence during the interwar period as one of England's most skillful symphonists, and the subsequent dissemination of his musical ideals through 40 years of teaching at major British institutions, have earned him a place of honor among twentieth century British musicians. Rubbra was born into an impoverished Northampton family in 1901. His mother gave him his first musical lessons at the age of eight, and, although Rubbra was
...
Read more
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Works
|
|
(3) Psalms, Op. 61 (1)
|
|
A Duan of Barra, Op. 20 (1)
|
|
A Hymn to the Virgin, Op. 13, no 2 (3)
|
|
A Tribute, Op. 56 (4)
|
|
Air and Variations for 4 Recorders, Op. 70 (1)
|
|
Amoretti, Op. 43 (3)
|
|
And when the builders (1)
|
|
Ave Maria Gratia Plena (2)
|
|
Cantata pastorale, Op. 62 (2)
|
|
Concerto for Piano in G major, Op. 85 (1)
|
|
Concerto for Viola in A major, Op. 75 (2)
|
|
Concerto for Violin, Op. 103 (2)
|
|
Cradle Song Op. 8, No. 1 (1)
|
|
Dormi Jesu, Op. 3 (1)
|
|
Duo for English Horn and Piano, Op. 156 (1)
|
|
Fanfare for Europe (1)
|
|
Fantasia on a Chord, Op. 154 (1)
|
|
Fantasy on a theme of Machaut for Flute, Harpsichord and String Quartet, Op. 86 (2)
|
|
Festival Gloria, Op. 94 (2)
|
|
Festival Overture, Op. 62 (1)
|
|
First Study Pieces for Recorder and Keyboard, Op. 118 (1)
|
|
Hymn Tunes (3), Op. 114: That virgin's child (3)
|
|
Improvisation for Cello, Op. 124 (1)
|
|
Improvisation for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 89 (2)
|
|
Improvisations on Virginal Pieces by Giles Farnaby, Op. 50 (2)
|
|
Improvisations on Virginal Pieces by Giles Farnaby, Op. 50: no 4, Loth to Depart (1)
|
|
Introduction, Aria and Fugue for Piano, Op. 104 (1)
|
|
Lyric Movement for Piano and String Quartet, Op. 24 (1)
|
|
Madrigals (5), Op. 51: no 3, Beauty is but a painted hell (1)
|
|
Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis in A flat major, Op. 65 (2)
|
|
Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis in A flat major, Op. 65: Magnificat (2)
|
|
Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis in A flat major, Op. 65: Nunc dimittis (1)
|
|
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in A flat, Op. 65 (2)
|
|
Medieval Latin Lyrics (4), Op. 32 (1)
|
|
Meditation for Organ, Op. 79 (1)
|
|
Meditations on a Byzantine Hymn 'O Quando in Cruce', Op. 117 (2)
|
|
Meditations on a Byzantine Hymn for Viola solo, Op. 117 (1)
|
|
Meditazioni sopra "Coeurs désolés", for recorder & harpsichord (or flute/oboe & piano), Op. 67 (1)
|
|
Meditazioni sopra "Coeurs désolés", Op. 67 (1)
|
|
Missa cantuariensis, Op. 59 (2)
|
|
Missa in Honorem Sancti Dominici for chorus a cappella, Op. 66 (1)
|
|
Missa in honorem Sancti Dominici, Op. 66 (4)
|
|
Missa in honorem Sancti Dominici, Op. 66: Agnus Dei (1)
|
|
Missa in honorem Sancti Dominici, Op. 66: Benedictus (1)
|
|
Morning Watch, Op. 55 (2)
|
|
Notturno, Op. 106 (1)
|
|
O Excellent Virgin Princess, Op. 77 (1)
|
|
O My Deir Hert, Op. 5 (1)
|
|
Ode to the Queen, Op. 83 (2)
|
|
Passacaglia sopra "Plusiers regrets", for recorder & harpsichord (or flute & piano), Op. 113 (1)
|
|
Passacaglia sopra "Plusieurs Regrets", Op. 113 (2)
|
|
Prelude and Fugue for Piano on a theme by Cyril Scott, Op. 69 (1)
|
|
Preludes (8) for Piano, Op. 131 (1)
|
|
Psalms (3), Op. 61 (1)
|
|
Psalms (3), Op. 61: Psalm 150 "Praise ye the lord" (2)
|
|
Psalms (3), Op. 61: Psalm 23 "The lord is my shepherd" (2)
|
|
Psalms (3), Op. 61: Psalm 6 "O, lord rebuke me not" (2)
|
|
Quartet for Strings no 1 in F minor, Op. 35 (3)
|
|
Quartet for Strings no 2 in E flat major, Op. 73 (4)
|
|
Quartet for Strings no 3, Op. 112 (3)
|
|
Quartet for Strings no 4, Op. 150 (3)
|
|
Resurgam, Op. 149 (1)
|
|
Rosa Mundi, Op. 2 (1)
|
|
Rune of Hospitality, Op. 15 (1)
|
|
Salutation, Op. 82 (1)
|
|
Sinfonia concertante, Op. 38 (2)
|
|
Sinfonietta, Op. 163 (1)
|
|
Sleep, Sweet Babe, for chorus (1)
|
|
Soliloquy for cello & orchestra, Op. 57 (1)
|
|
Soliloquy, Op. 57 (2)
|
|
Sonata for cello & piano in G minor Op 60: Vivace flessibile (1)
|
|
Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op. 60 (4)
|
|
Sonata for Oboe & Piano in C major, Op. 100 (1)
|
|
Sonata for Oboe and Piano in C major, Op. 100 (3)
|
|
Sonata for violin & piano, No.2, Op.31 (1)
|
|
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2, Op. 31 (1)
|
|
Sonatina for Recorder and Piano, Op. 128 (2)
|
|
Sonatina for treble recorder & harpichord, Op. 128 (1)
|
|
Song of the Soul, Op. 78 (1)
|
|
Songs, Op. 22: Take, O take those lips away (1)
|
|
Songs, Op. 4: no 1, The Mystery (1)
|
|
Songs, Op. 4: no 2, Jesukin (1)
|
|
Songs, Op. 8: no 2, Orpheus with his Lute (3)
|
|
Sonnets (2) by William Alabaster, Op. 87 (1)
|
|
Spenser Sonnets (5), Op. 42 (1)
|
|
Symphony no 1, Op. 44 (2)
|
|
Symphony no 1, Op. 44: 2nd movement, Perigourdine (1)
|
|
Symphony no 10, Op. 145 "Sinfonia da camera" (3)
|
|
Symphony no 11, Op. 153 (2)
|
|
Symphony no 2, Op. 45 (3)
|
|
Symphony no 3, Op. 49 (3)
|
|
Symphony no 4, Op. 53 (3)
|
|
Symphony no 5 in in Bb, Op. 63 (4)
|
|
Symphony no 6, Op. 80 (3)
|
|
Symphony no 7 in C major, Op. 88 (3)
|
|
Symphony no 8, Op. 132 "Hommage à Teilhard de Chardin" (3)
|
|
Symphony no 9, Op. 140 "Sinfonia sacra" (2)
|
|
Tenebrae Motets (9), Op. 72 (1)
|
|
Tenebrae Motets (9), Op. 72: Nocturne no 1 (2)
|
|
Tenebrae Motets (9), Op. 72: Nocturne no 2 (1)
|
|
Tenebrae Motets (9), Op. 72: Nocturne no 3 (2)
|
|
The Virgin's cradle song (5)
|
|
Trio for Piano and Strings no 1, Op. 68 (2)
|
|
Variations on "The Shining River", Op. 101 (2)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| More Featured Edmund Rubbra CDs & DVDs: |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Biography |
by Blair Johnston
|
Edmund Rubbra's emergence during the interwar period as one of England's most skillful symphonists, and the subsequent dissemination of his musical ideals through 40 years of teaching at major British institutions, have earned him a place of honor among twentieth century British musicians. Rubbra was born into an impoverished Northampton family in 1901. His mother gave him his first musical lessons at the age of eight, and, although Rubbra was forced to take a job as a railway clerk at age 14, his enthusiasm for music continued unabated. By 1917 he had discovered the music of Cyril Scott, and his subsequent recital of that composer's piano works impressed the composer enough that he invited Rubbra to study both piano and composition with him privately. After working with Scott for three years he attended Reading University on a musical scholarship for one year (1920-1921), after which he entered the Royal College of Music to study composition with Gustav Holst and harmony/counterpoint with R.O. Morris.
Rubbra's career was somewhat uncertain after graduating from the Royal College in 1925, and he was forced to work in a number of capacities to make ends meet (teaching school, working as an accompanist on a part-time basis, and writing reviews of new music for the Monthly Musical Record). By the mid-1930s, however, Rubbra was beginning to make waves as a composer, and the premieres of his first three symphonies (between 1937 and 1939) were sufficient to thrust him into the front rank of contemporary British composers.
Rubbra found professional stability with an appointment as lecturer at Oxford in 1947 (for which purpose he made a thorough and insightful examination of both books of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier), and in 1961 he was invited to join the composition faculty of the Guildhall School of Music, where he remained until the 1980s. His later years were marked by an increasing interest in Eastern spirituality, in conjunction with a devout Roman Catholicism. Rubbra died in 1986.
Although a major facet of British musical life during the second half of twentieth century, Rubbra's music has been sadly neglected by North American musicians. Rubbra developed his compositional voice slowly and with great care, absorbing the myriad influences of British composers, from Holst and Vaughan Williams to his childhood idol Cyril Scott, and eventually emerging with a musical language all his own. His later music shows a keen awareness of sixteenth century polyphony (especially that of Monteverdi). The 11 symphonies (the ninth, entitled Sinfonia Sacra, for soloists, chorus, and orchestra) are undoubtedly Rubbra's most significant contribution to the repertory. |
| |
|
