When: 30/11/2011

Where: Spiro Ark Centre: 25-26 Enford Street, W1H 1DW

Time: 19:30

Contact: 020 7723 9991

Price: £10 + £1 Internet booking fee

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In a wide ranging conversation the eminent composer Julian Dawes will discuss his life and work with the distinguished musicologist Alexander Knapp. In addition to the conversation, the evening will include an opportunity to hear examples from Julian's wide ranging oeuvre of instrumental music, secular and religious vocal and choral music, his work in the theatre, and his compositions on Jewish themes. We will discover some of his influences and hear about the compositional process.
Amongst his 20th century English influences are the pastoralism and extended tonality of Herbert Howells, the richness of Walton, the elegant delicacy of Berkeley and the jazzy impetus of Rodney Bennett; wider European influences include the caustic irony of Shostakovich and Kurt Weil, and the rhythmic impetus of Prokofiev and Stravinsky. Yet Dawes welds from these influences an individual voice that is both distinctive and refreshing, displaying assured craftsmanship and characterful invention. (Malcolm Miller)