Pamela Harrison (composer)
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Pamela Harrison (28 November 1915 – 28 August 1990) was an English pianist, music teacher and composer.
Biography[]
Pamela Harrison was born in Orpington, England, and studied with Gordon Jacob and Arthur Benjamin at the Royal College of Music in London. During World War II, she worked as a school teacher.[1]
Harrison's work was influenced by composers including E.J. Moeran, Arnold Bax and John Ireland, and French music. She made her debut as a composer with String Quartet in 1944 at the National Gallery concerts. She went on to produce a variety of music, including chamber, orchestral and vocal music, with settings including Baudelaire, Herrick, Dowson and Edward Thomas. Her work for small orchestra, A Suite for Timothy, was composed for the first birthday of her son.[2]
Harrison died in a car accident in Firle, East Sussex.
Selected works[]
- Orchestral
- A Suite for Timothy for string orchestra (1948)
- An Evocation of the Weald (1954)
- Brimstone Down for small orchestra (1958)
- Concertante
- Concertante for piano and string orchestra (1954)
- Chamber music
- Allegretto for cello and piano (c.1935); published in The Strad, February 2003
- Quintet for flute, oboe, violin, viola and cello (1944)
- String Quartet (1944)
- String Trio (1945)
- Sonata for viola and piano (1946)
- Woodwind Quintet (1948)
- Sonata for cello and piano (1947)
- Sonata for clarinet and piano (1954)
- Clarinet Quintet for clarinet, 2 violins, viola and cello (1956)
- Idle Dan, or, Nothing to Do for cello and piano (1959)
- 2 Pieces for cello and piano (1959)
- White May Morning
- A Marsh Song
- Badinage for flute and piano (1963)
- Chase a Shadow for oboe and piano (1963)
- Faggot Dance for bassoon and piano (1963)
- Sonnet in D minor for cello and piano (1963)
- Lament for viola and piano (1965)
- Piano Trio for violin, cello and piano (1967)
- Quartet for flute, violin, cello and piano (1968)
- Quintet for flute, oboe, violin, cello and piano (1974)
- 5 Pieces for flute and piano (1976)
- Drifting Away for clarinet and piano (c.1978)
- Septet for clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and double bass (1980)
- Octetto Pastorale for wind octet (2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns, 2 bassoons) (1981)
- Mariner's Way for flute and piano (1982)
- Lullaby for cello and piano
- Rock Grove Suite for flute, cello and piano (1989)
- Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano
- Organ
- Epithalamium (1967)
- Piano
- Anderida, 6 Diversions (1960)
- Romney Marsh Goblin
- A Canterbury Tale
- Hoppers' Dance
- Childdingstone Cherry Pickers
- Ebb tide at Sandgate
- Faversham Fair
- 6 Eclogues of Portugal (1960)
- 6 Dances for Fanny Simon for piano 4-hands (1976)
- Vocal
- The Lonely Landscape for voice and piano (1944); words by Emily Brontë
- Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away
- I'm happiest now when most away
- The night is darkening round me
- The battle has passed from the height
- The starry night shall tidings bring
- 'Tis moonlight, summer moonlight
- 6 Poems of Baudelaire for tenor and string orchestra (1944–1945); words by Charles Baudelaire
- 8 Poems of Walter de la Mare for voice and piano (1949); words by Walter de la Mare
- Blindman's In
- A Goldfinch
- White
- Dreamland
- Where
- Why?
- The Horseman
- Nicoletta
- 5 Poems of Ernest Dowson for tenor and string orchestra (1951–1952); words by Ernest Dowson
- Beata solitudo
- Non suma qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae
- Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam
- Villanelle of Marguerite's
- Soli cantare periti Arcades
- The Kindling of the Day for voice and string quartet (1952)
- 2 Songs for voice and piano (1954); words by Walter de la Mare
- The Dark Forest, Song Cycle for tenor and string orchestra (1957); words by Edward Thomas
- 8 Songs for voice, recorder and piano (1959); words by Walter de la Mare
- Ladies' Choice for voice, violin, cello and harp (1969); words by Walter de la Mare
- Choral
- Songs for children's chorus and piano (1969); words by Walter de la Mare
Recordings[]
Selected recordings include:
- English String Miniatures, Volume 5 – Pamela Harrison: A Suite for Timothy (1948); Gavin Sutherland (conductor); Royal Ballet Sinfonia; Naxos 8.557752 (2006)
- La Viola: Music for Viola and Piano by Women Composers of the 20th Century – Pamela Harrison: Lament, Viola Sonata (1946) – Hillary Herndon (viola); Wei-Chun Bernadette Lo (piano); MSR 1416 (2012)
- A Portrait of the Viola – Pamela Harrison: Sonata for viola and piano (1946) – Helen Callus (viola); Robert McDonald (piano); ASV Ltd. CD DCA 1130 (2002)
Sources[]
- Sadie, Julie Anne; Samuel, Rhian (1994). The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 210–211. ISBN 0-393-03487-9.
References[]
- ^ Sadie, Julie Anne; Samuel, Rhian (1994). The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers (Digitized online by GoogleBooks). p. 210. ISBN 9780393034875. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- ^ "Pamela Harrison". Naxos. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
External links[]
- 1915 births
- 1990 deaths
- 20th-century classical composers
- English classical pianists
- English women pianists
- English classical composers
- British female classical composers
- Music educators
- 20th-century classical pianists
- 20th-century English composers
- Road incident deaths in England
- People from Orpington
- Alumni of the Royal College of Music
- 20th-century English women musicians
- Women music educators
- 20th-century women composers