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George Newson

2019-06-04T23:47:24Z

Newson: nbsp

George Newson is a contemporary [[composer]] and [[photographer]]. He made substantial advances in electronic composition and modes of recording for British [[electronic music]] in the 1960s<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Tape Leaders|last=Helliwell|first=Ian|publisher=Sound on Sound Ltd|year=2016|isbn=978-0995495807|location=|pages=|quote=|via=}}</ref>. He has 18 works in 17 library holdings<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n97875379/|title=Newson, George|last=|first=|date=|website=http://worldcat.org|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref> and collections with the British Music Collection <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://britishmusiccollection.org.uk/composer/george-newson|title=George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=britishmusiccollection.org.uk|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>, the University of Glasgow<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/manuscripts/search/detail_p.cfm?NID=39121&AID=&CID=101065|title=George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>, the Scottish Music Centre<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://scottishmusiccentre.com/collection/search-the-catalogue/?keywords=George+Newson&search=simple_classical&condition=exact&submit=submit|title=George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=http://scottishmusiccentre.com|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>, and the [[British Library]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vl(freeText0)=%20George%20+%20Newson%20+collection&vl(2084770704UI0)=lsr31&vl(2084770705UI1)=all_items&fn=search&tab=local_tab&mode=Basic&vid=BLVU1&scp.scps=scope%3a(BLCONTENT)&ct=lateralLinking|title=Explore the British Library: tape reels|last=|first=|date=|website=British Library|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4th June 2019}}</ref>.

== Early life ==
Born in London's docklands (1932) Newson taught himself to read music and play the piano<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/george-newson/|title=George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref>. He was overheard playing boogie-woogie piano in a youth centre and was awarded a piano scholarship to the [[Blackheath Conservatoire of Music]], London, aged 14, just a few years after having been evacuated during [[the Blitz]]. Nine years later, he attended [[Royal Academy of Music]] on a scholarship.

== Music and performances ==
From 1966, Newson set song cycles to poems by friend, Leonard Smith, for the BBC entitled ''The Man Who Collected Sounds'', heralded as 'equally ambitious in its radiophonic exploitation of sounds and voices<ref>File clipping from the Radio Times File DD110532 by Douglas Cleverdon https://wiki.delia-derbyshire.net/wiki/DD110532</ref>'. This was facilitated by the BBC [[BBC Radiophonic Workshop|Radiphonic Workshop]] and the technical facilitation given by [[Delia Derbyshire]], in the realisation of tape parts. No further access to the Radiophonic Workshop was allowed without further BBC commission, thus providing impetus for George to pursue a '''[[Winston Churchill Fellowship]]'''<ref name=":1" />.

In 1967 he was granted a fellowship to the USA<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wcmt.org.uk/fellows/reports/techniques-and-composition-electronic-music|title=Techniques and composition of electronic music|last=|first=|date=|website=www.wcmt.org.uk|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>. Here he stayed in Trumansburg and abased himself at the Moog factory with [[Robert Moog]] for several weeks, but his five month stay included visits to a number of other major electronic studios, including the [[Southern Illinois University Carbondale|Southern Illinosis University]] in Carbondale and the '''[[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign|University of Illinosis]], Urbana'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mixcloud.com/ianhelliwell/tone-generation-programme-26/|title=Tone Generation programme 26|last=Halliwell|first=Ian|date=|website=Mixcloud.com|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=12 February 2019}}</ref>. There he composed ''Silent Spring'', in which birdsong rather than instruments played a prominent role making a statement about humanity's impact upon nature that was decades ahead of its time<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio4/fm/1967-12-31|title=Wildlife Review|last=|first=|date=31 December 1967|website=bbc.co.uk/radio4|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>''.'' He then worked at the '''RAI studio''', Milan, producing ''Canto II'' for clarinet and tape (1968), which was performed at the Venice Biennale in 1969. In the same year he worked at the '''University of Utrecht''', making his third tape composition, ''Genus II''. Here, his electronic works sponsored by the British Society for Electronic Music were well received<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/11th-october-1969/27/music|title=Music|last=Nyman|first=Michael|date=11th October 1969|work=The Spectator|access-date=17th May 2019}}</ref>.

George went on to hold the '''Cramb Research Fellowship in Composition''' at [[University of Glasgow|Glasgow University]] (1972-75), where he received critical acclaim for pieces he composed for the [[Scottish National Orchestra]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Whyte|first=Hamish|year=2012|title=Sustenance provided: the Bibliographical Morgan|url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA313796338&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=fulltext&issn=17565634&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1&isAnonymousEntry=true|journal=Scottish Literary Review|volume=4|issue=2|pages=|via=Gale: Academic OneFile}}</ref>. The '''BBC''' ([[William Glock]]) commissioned ''Arena'' for the '''1971 Proms''' (conductor, [[Pierre Boulez|Boulez]]; singer, [[Cleo Laine|Celo Laine]])<ref name=":2" />, ''Songs for the Turning Year'' for the 1993 season, and various other chamber and ensemble works over three decades. One of his most studied pieces is ''Arena'' - 'a kind of staged oratorio addressing different sociopolitical "games", climaxing in the [[Kent State shootings in popular culture|shooting of anti-Vietnam student protestors]] at [[Kent State University]]' <ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Adlington|first=Robert|date=2018|title=Politics and the popular in British music theatre of the Vietnam era|url=|journal=Journal of the Royal Musical Association|volume=143(2)|pages=433-471|via=}}</ref>. ''Arena'' attracted attention as a particularly important political piece of its time <ref>{{Cite book|title=Music Theatre in Britain, 1960-1975|last=Hall|first=Michael|publisher=Boydell Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1783270125|location=|pages=|quote=|via=}}</ref>

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=== Collaborations with poets ===
Particular acclaim has focused on Newson's work for voice; 'There is much to admire in Newson’s gift for writing lyrically, even romantically, and yet simply for the voice' (Manning, 1986) <ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=New Vocal Repertory: An Introduction|last=Manning|first=Jane|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1986|isbn=978-0333405383|location=|pages=|quote=|via=}}</ref>. With his residency in Belfast and collaborations with Irish poets, his work has been noted as deserving recognition in celebrations of Irish music<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/celebration-of-irish-composers-neglects-women-and-living-composers-under-30-1.2702726|title=Celebration of Irish composers neglects women and living composers under 30|last=Dervan|first=Michael|date=29 July 2016|website=The Irish Times|publisher=The Irish Times|access-date=21 December 2016}}</ref>.

=== Further commissions ===
Other commissions include: his one act opera ''Mrs Fraser’s Frenzy'' (1994) for the Canterbury and Cheltenham festivals; ''Sonograms 1 & 11'' (1995) for the '''[[Orchestre national de Lille|Orchestre National de Lille]]'''; and ''Songs'' and ''More Songs in Exchange'' (1994/9), which comprised an exhibition and recital of works exchanged by participating artists for a song (42 pieces in all)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://britishmusiccollection.org.uk/composer/george-newson|title=George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref>. In 1998 ''Concerto for Percussion (Both Arms)'' was commissioned by [[Evelyn Glennie]] for the 2002 '''[[Canterbury Festival]]'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.evelyn.co.uk/archive/commissions/|title=Commissions|last=Glennie|first=Evelyn|date=21 December 2016|website=Evelyn.co.uk|publisher=Evelyn Glennie|access-date=21 December 2016}}</ref> and George completed his second full opera - ''The Winter’s Tale''.

=== Recent works (2000 - present) ===
His most recent large work is ''Cantiga'' ''for'' ''Piano Trio,'' which received its premiere at the '''Rye Festival of Music and Arts''' (2004). His double violin concerto was given its UK Premier as part of the '''BBC Encore''' series in 2006 and ''[https://soundcloud.com/george-newson-1/ayas-lullaby-2016 A Lullaby for Aya],'' which he wrote for his first great-grandchild, was included in a set of new songs performed at the Rye Festival in 2016. Newson's ''Ezra Pound'' from ''More Songs in Exchange'' opened one of the '''Ludlow Music Festival''' recitals (UK composers setting US texts) in 2017, performed by Robin Tritschler and [[Iain Burnside]].

== Photographic career ==
George is also a keen photographer, with a collection of 57 portraits of eminent composers and artists at the National Portrait Gallery. <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp14130/george-newson|title=Collections: George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref> He has photographed many composers and musicians including; [[Oliver Knussen|Oliver Knussen,]] [[Priaulx Rainier]], [[Richard Rodney Bennett|Sir Richard Rodney Bennett]], [[Alexander Goehr|Alexander Goher]], [[Andrzej Panufnik|Sir Andrzej Panufnik]], [[David Bedford|David Bedford,]] (John) [[Nicholas Maw]], [[Harrison Birtwistle|Sir Harrison Birtwistle]], and father and son [[Lennox Berkeley|Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley]] and [[Michael Berkeley|Michael Berkeley.]] His portraits also include: poets [[Michael Longley|Michael Longley,]] [[Seamus Heaney|Seamus Heaney,]] and [[Paul Muldoon]]; painters [[Ruskin Spear]] and [[Carel Weight]]; sculptor [[Kenneth Armitage]]; cartoonist [[Martin Honeysett]]; photographers [[Bert Hardy]] and [[George Rodger|George Rodger;]] and the musicology writer [[Hans Keller]].

George Newson

2019-06-04T23:45:34Z

Newson: Drop multiple space

George Newson is a contemporary [[composer]] and [[photographer]]. He made substantial advances in electronic composition and modes of recording for British [[electronic music]] in the 1960s<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Tape Leaders|last=Helliwell|first=Ian|publisher=Sound on Sound Ltd|year=2016|isbn=978-0995495807|location=|pages=|quote=|via=}}</ref>. He has 18 works in 17 library holdings<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n97875379/|title=Newson, George|last=|first=|date=|website=http://worldcat.org|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref> and collections with the British Music Collection <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://britishmusiccollection.org.uk/composer/george-newson|title=George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=britishmusiccollection.org.uk|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>, the University of Glasgow<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/manuscripts/search/detail_p.cfm?NID=39121&AID=&CID=101065|title=George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>, the Scottish Music Centre<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://scottishmusiccentre.com/collection/search-the-catalogue/?keywords=George+Newson&search=simple_classical&condition=exact&submit=submit|title=George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=http://scottishmusiccentre.com|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>, and the [[British Library]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vl(freeText0)=%20George%20+%20Newson%20+collection&vl(2084770704UI0)=lsr31&vl(2084770705UI1)=all_items&fn=search&tab=local_tab&mode=Basic&vid=BLVU1&scp.scps=scope%3a(BLCONTENT)&ct=lateralLinking|title=Explore the British Library: tape reels|last=|first=|date=|website=British Library|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4th June 2019}}</ref>.

== Early life ==
Born in London's docklands (1932) Newson taught himself to read music and play the piano<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/george-newson/|title=George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref>. He was overheard playing boogie-woogie piano in a youth centre and was awarded a piano scholarship to the [[Blackheath Conservatoire of Music]], London, aged 14, just a few years after having been evacuated during [[the Blitz]]. Nine years later, he attended [[Royal Academy of Music]] on a scholarship.

== Music and performances ==
From 1966, Newson set song cycles to poems by friend, Leonard Smith, for the BBC entitled ''The Man Who Collected Sounds'', heralded as 'equally ambitious in its radiophonic exploitation of sounds and voices<ref>File clipping from the Radio Times File DD110532 by Douglas Cleverdon https://wiki.delia-derbyshire.net/wiki/DD110532</ref>'. This was facilitated by the BBC [[BBC Radiophonic Workshop|Radiphonic Workshop]] and the technical facilitation given by [[Delia Derbyshire]], in the realisation of tape parts. No further access to the Radiophonic Workshop was allowed without further BBC commission, thus providing impetus for George to pursue a '''[[Winston Churchill Fellowship]]'''<ref name=":1" />.

In 1967 he was granted a fellowship to the USA<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wcmt.org.uk/fellows/reports/techniques-and-composition-electronic-music|title=Techniques and composition of electronic music|last=|first=|date=|website=www.wcmt.org.uk|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>. Here he stayed in Trumansburg and abased himself at the Moog factory with [[Robert Moog]] for several weeks, but his five month stay included visits to a number of other major electronic studios, including the [[Southern Illinois University Carbondale|Southern Illinosis University]] in Carbondale and the '''[[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign|University of Illinosis]], Urbana'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mixcloud.com/ianhelliwell/tone-generation-programme-26/|title=Tone Generation programme 26|last=Halliwell|first=Ian|date=|website=Mixcloud.com|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=12 February 2019}}</ref>. There he composed ''Silent Spring'', in which birdsong rather than instruments played a prominent role making a statement about humanity's impact upon nature that was decades ahead of its time<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio4/fm/1967-12-31|title=Wildlife Review|last=|first=|date=31 December 1967|website=bbc.co.uk/radio4|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>''.'' He then worked at the '''RAI studio''', Milan, producing ''Canto II'' for clarinet and tape (1968), which was performed at the Venice Biennale in 1969. In the same year he worked at the '''University of Utrecht''', making his third tape composition, ''Genus II''. Here, his electronic works sponsored by the British Society for Electronic Music were well received<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/11th-october-1969/27/music|title=Music|last=Nyman|first=Michael|date=11th October 1969|work=The Spectator|access-date=17th May 2019}}</ref>.

George went on to hold the '''Cramb Research Fellowship in Composition''' at [[University of Glasgow|Glasgow University]] (1972-75), where he received critical acclaim for pieces he composed for the [[Scottish National Orchestra]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Whyte|first=Hamish|year=2012|title=Sustenance provided: the Bibliographical Morgan|url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA313796338&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=fulltext&issn=17565634&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1&isAnonymousEntry=true|journal=Scottish Literary Review|volume=4|issue=2|pages=|via=Gale: Academic OneFile}}</ref>. The '''BBC''' ([[William Glock]]) commissioned ''Arena'' for the '''1971 Proms''' (conductor, [[Pierre Boulez|Boulez]]; singer, [[Cleo Laine|Celo Laine]])<ref name=":2" />, ''Songs for the Turning Year'' for the 1993 season, and various other chamber and ensemble works over three decades. One of his most studied pieces is ''Arena'' - 'a kind of staged oratorio addressing different sociopolitical "games", climaxing in the [[Kent State shootings in popular culture|shooting of anti-Vietnam student protestors]] at [[Kent State University]]' <ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Adlington|first=Robert|date=2018|title=Politics and the popular in British music theatre of the Vietnam era|url=|journal=Journal of the Royal Musical Association|volume=143(2)|pages=433-471|via=}}</ref>. ''Arena'' attracted attention as a particularly important political piece of its time <ref>{{Cite book|title=Music Theatre in Britain, 1960-1975|last=Hall|first=Michael|publisher=Boydell Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1783270125|location=|pages=|quote=|via=}}</ref>

'''<nowiki/>'''

'''<nowiki/>'''

=== Collaborations with poets ===
Particular acclaim has focused on Newson's work for voice; 'There is much to admire in Newson’s gift for writing lyrically, even romantically, and yet simply for the voice' (Manning, 1986) <ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=New Vocal Repertory: An Introduction|last=Manning|first=Jane|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1986|isbn=978-0333405383|location=|pages=|quote=|via=}}</ref>. With his residency in Belfast and collaborations with Irish poets, his work has been noted as deserving recognition in celebrations of Irish music<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/celebration-of-irish-composers-neglects-women-and-living-composers-under-30-1.2702726|title=Celebration of Irish composers neglects women and living composers under 30|last=Dervan|first=Michael|date=29 July 2016|website=The Irish Times|publisher=The Irish Times|access-date=21 December 2016}}</ref>.

=== Further commissions ===
Other commissions include: his one act opera ''Mrs Fraser’s Frenzy'' (1994) for the Canterbury and Cheltenham festivals; ''Sonograms 1 & 11'' (1995) for the '''[[Orchestre national de Lille|Orchestre National de Lille]]'''; and ''Songs'' and ''More Songs in Exchange'' (1994/9), which comprised an exhibition and recital of works exchanged by participating artists for a song (42 pieces in all)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://britishmusiccollection.org.uk/composer/george-newson|title=George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref>. In 1998 ''Concerto for Percussion (Both Arms)'' was commissioned by [[Evelyn Glennie]] for the 2002 '''[[Canterbury Festival]]'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.evelyn.co.uk/archive/commissions/|title=Commissions|last=Glennie|first=Evelyn|date=21 December 2016|website=Evelyn.co.uk|publisher=Evelyn Glennie|access-date=21 December 2016}}</ref> and George completed his second full opera - ''The Winter’s Tale''.

=== Recent works (2000 - present) ===
His most recent large work is ''Cantiga'' ''for'' ''Piano Trio,'' which received its premiere at the '''Rye Festival of Music and Arts''' (2004). His double violin concerto was given its UK Premier as part of the '''BBC Encore''' series in 2006 and ''[https://soundcloud.com/george-newson-1/ayas-lullaby-2016 A Lullaby for Aya],'' which he wrote for his first great-grandchild, was included in a set of new songs performed at the Rye Festival in 2016. Newson's ''Ezra Pound'' from ''More Songs in Exchange'' opened one of the '''Ludlow Music Festival''' recitals (UK composers setting US texts) in 2017, performed by Robin Tritschler and [[Iain Burnside]].

== Photographic career ==
George is also a keen photographer, with a collection of 57 portraits of eminent composers and artists at the National Portrait Gallery. <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp14130/george-newson|title=Collections: George Newson|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref> He has photographed many composers and musicians including; [[Oliver Knussen|Oliver Knussen,]] [[Priaulx Rainier]], [[Richard Rodney Bennett|Sir Richard Rodney Bennett]], [[Alexander Goehr|Alexander Goher]], [[Andrzej Panufnik|Sir Andrzej Panufnik]], [[David Bedford|David Bedford,]] (John) [[Nicholas Maw]], [[Harrison Birtwistle|Sir Harrison Birtwistle]], and father and son [[Lennox Berkeley|Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley]] and [[Michael Berkeley|Michael Berkeley.]] His portraits also include: poets [[Michael Longley|Michael Longley,]] [[Seamus Heaney|Seamus Heaney,]] and [[Paul Muldoon]]; painters [[Ruskin Spear]] and [[Carel Weight]]; sculptor [[Kenneth Armitage]]; cartoonist [[Martin Honeysett]]; photographers [[Bert Hardy]] and [[George Rodger|George Rodger;]] and the musicology writer [[Hans Keller]].