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Philip Cannon (composer)

January 01, 1970

Jack Philip Cannon (21 December 1929 – 24 December 2016) was a British composer and teacher.[1] His choral music and songs have enjoyed extensive performances worldwide.[2]

Brief biography edit

Philip Cannon was born in Paris on 21 December 1929, to Franco-British parents. The family moved to Falmouth in Cornwall in 1936, where Philip was educated at the local Grammar School. Cannon subsequently studied with Imogen Holst at Dartington and with Gordon Jacob and Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music, where (in 1951) he was awarded the Octavia Travelling Scholarship.[3]

In 1958 he became a lecturer in music at Sydney University, before returning to the Royal College in London in 1960 as Professor of Composition, a post which he held until his retirement in 1995. He was appointed FRCM in 1971.[2][4]

Cannon's String Quartet of 1964 won two international awards in France. A number of high-profile commissions followed, including his work for 24 solo strings Oraison funèbre de l'âme humaine (1970) for French Radio, his choral work Son of Man (1975), commissioned by the BBC to mark the entry of the UK into the EEC, and three works of great beauty for the Three Choirs Festival: The Temple in 1974 (which later became a staple in the repertoire of the Bach Choir under David Willcocks),[5] Lord of Light (1980), and A Ralegh Triptych (1992). His Te Deum (1975) was the result of a personal commission from HM Queen Elizabeth II for a work to mark the 500th anniversary of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.[2][3]

In 2011 Cannon donated his manuscripts and other archives to the Bodleian Library at Oxford; to mark this, the composer's Te Deum was sung at Christ Church Cathedral.[6]

Cannon's other works include; three operas (Morvoren (1964), The Man from Venus (1967), and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) (a commission for BBC TV, 1973), 2 symphonies, various instrumental pieces including his Concertino for piano & strings (1949), his clarinet quintet Logos (another BBC commission, 1977), and a Septain (1995) originally created for the pianist John Ogdon.,[2] together with a number of works for voice, notably his song cycles Songs to Delight (1950), and Six Birdsongs (1993).

Cannon's String Quartet, Clarinet Quintet and his string sextet Cinq supplications sur un benediction (1985) are all available on an Olympia CD.[7] The recording label Lyrita released a CD of Philip's works in 2017, including his Cinq Chansons de femme for soprano & harp (1952), together with his String Quartet and Lord of Light. [8] Recordings of performances of the Concertino, Three Rivers (1954), The Temple, Son of Man, Lord of Light, and Tip Toe Tango (1994) are also available on YouTube.

Cannon's first wife, Jacqueline, died in 1984. Cannon himself died, aged 87, on 24 December 2016 in the Florence Nightingale Hospice attached to Stoke Mandeville hospital. He is survived by his second wife, Jane, whom he married in 1997, and by his daughter (by his first marriage) Virginia.[1]

Musical style edit

Cannon's first opera Morvoren premiered at the Royal College in 1964.[9] Interviewed about this opera by The Times, the composer stated "I believe that a composer should feel free to build his style from everything that is available – microtones, note clusters, electronic oscillators and the chord of C major – and make a synthesis of all the means at his disposal if by so doing he can make an impact on his audience."[10]

In their entry for Philip Cannon in Grove Music Online, Richard Cooke and Roderic Dunnett note that Cannon's "musical personality is characterized by a fierce individualism, reflected in his use of a forthright and uncompromising musical language. The expressive drive that he can achieve with that language, sometimes tonal, occasionally atonal, yet always direct and communicative, is evident throughout his work .. his works show an intensification of thought and an endeavour to assert the potentials of the human spirit that prompted one French critic to speak of Oraison Funèbre de l'Âme Humaine as 'avant-garde romantique'".

In his article on The Sacred Choral Music of Philip Cannon, Ronald Thomas describes Cannon as "making a strong creative contribution to choral tradition .. a world figure .. a masterly composer", and observes of Cannon's first Three Choirs' commission, The Temple that the work "demonstrates a real understanding of choral composition resulting in moments of rare beauty and sensitivity to Herbert's poetry, using a combination of strong counterpoint 'with moments of stillness and exquisite chording".

Thomas quotes Cannon himself describing the structure of his Ralegh Triptych:

It is designed as one great arc from the bitter nihilism of What is our Life? through the despairing acceptance – with a slight ray of hope – of Even Such is Time to the determination of Give me my Scallop shell of quiet. I have cut out bar lines altogether; instead I have commas and pauses in between each violent outburst of Ralegh's magnificent sorties. The sounds and the silence are both integral to the overall structure. I ascribe the idea of unmetered silence and pause to Sir David Willcocks who, when conducting The Temple, suggested these, rather than metered rests, as being a more effective way of maintaining shape and emotional intensity. His casual suggestion of unmetering the silences is a good one when one takes into consideration the dramatic effects of different acoustics in different venues. For instances, The Temple's performances were in widely varying acoustics from King's College Chapel, Cambridge, to La Chapelle Royale, Versailles. The only possible snag to unmetered pauses, of course, is that the performances have to be under the direction of a very experienced, dynamitic and sensitive conductor. Not just a "metered, stick waver"!

[citation needed]

List of works edit

Operas edit

  • Morvoren, 1963
  • The Man from Venus, 1966–67
  • Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, 1973

Orchestra edit

  • Sinfonietta, (chamber orch) 1947
  • Spring, (orchestra), 1949
  • Piano Concertino, (piano & strings) 1949
  • Fanfares, (8 tpt, 6 trombones, tuba, perc) 1963
  • Oraison Funebre de l'ame humaine, (24 solo strings) 1970
  • Symphony, (orchestra) 1998–9

Choral edit

[clarification needed]

  • Songs to Delight, (SSA & strings) 1950
  • Fleeting Fancies, (SATB) 1953
  • Son of God, (double chorus) 1956
  • To Music, (SSSA & piano) 1960
  • Son of Science, (tenor, boys choir, perc, piano, strings) 1961
  • Idea, (SATB) 1964
  • En hiver, (SSSA) 1968
  • The Temple, (SSATB) 1974
  • Son of Man, (T, Bar, SATB, orch) 1975
  • Te Deum, (SATB, org, (state) tpt, orch) 1975
  • Lord of Light, (soprano, tenor, baritone, boys vv, SATB, org, orch) 1980
  • Missa Chorea, (solo vv, double semi-chorus, double chorus) 1984
  • A Ralegh Triptych, (SATB) 1989–91

Songs edit

  • Cinq Chansons de femme (soprano & harp) 1952
  • Cecilia, (1 voice & harp) 1953
  • River Lullaby, (soprano & piano) 1962
  • Three Rivers, (tenor & piano) 1963
  • Six Bird Songs, (coloraturas & piano) 1993
  • Le Mort, (baritone & piano) 1998

Instrumental

  • Two Rhapsodies, (piano) 1943
  • String Quartet, 1945
  • String Trio, 1945
  • Sextet, (flute, oboe and string quartet) 1945
  • Fantasia, (string quartet) 1946
  • Variations for two violins, 1946
  • Variations on a canto firmo, (violin) 1948
  • Galop Parisien, (two pianos) 1950
  • L'enfant s'amuse, (piano) 1954
  • Carillon, (harp) 1955
  • Carillon, (organ) 1955
  • Sonatine Champetre, (for piano) 1959
  • Sonata (two pianos) 1960
  • String Quartet, 1964
  • Jazz and Blues, (piano) 1970
  • Piano Trio, (piano, violin & cello) 1973–4
  • Clarinet Quintet, (clarinet & string quartet) 1977
  • Boutades Bourguignonnes, (piano) 1984
  • String Sextet, (2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos) 1985
  • Trois Chiffres, (piano) 1994
  • Carillon "Joyeux Noel" (harp) 1994
  • Septain (piano) 1995

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Conway, Paul (29 January 2017). "Philip Cannon obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Cooke (n.d.)
  3. ^ a b Directory Entry, British Academy of Songwriters, Composers & Authors website (accessed 6 January 2017)
  4. ^ Anon (1958) "Music in Sydney, Australia". The Musical Times, Vol. 99, No. 1379 (Jan. 1958), p. 36
  5. ^ Ronald Thomas, The Sacred Choral Music of Philip Cannon: musicalics.com (accessed 6 January 2017)
  6. ^ "Philip Cannon Donates Archive to Bodleian Libraries", Bodleian Library website, 21 January 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  7. ^ ASIN: B0000266B7
  8. ^ Lyrita REAM1132
  9. ^ Written to a libretto by Maisie Radford, based on a Cornish legend: Grove Music Online entry for Radford: (accessed 6 January 2017)
  10. ^ Myers (1965), pp. 859–60.

Sources edit

  • Cooke, Richard and Roderic Dunnett (n.d.). "Cannon, (Jack) Philip" in Oxford Music Online. (subscription required). Retrieved 21 November 2016
  • Myers, Rolo (1965). "Philip Cannon: A Fresh Voice in British Music", The Musical Times, Vol. 106, No. 1473 (November 1965), pp. 858–860. (subscription required). Retrieved 21 November 2016.

External links edit

  • Philip Cannon, extensive list of works, essay

January 01, 1970
philip, cannon, composer, jack, philip, cannon, december, 1929, december, 2016, british, composer, teacher, choral, music, songs, have, enjoyed, extensive, performances, worldwide, contents, brief, biography, musical, style, list, works, operas, orchestra, cho. Jack Philip Cannon 21 December 1929 24 December 2016 was a British composer and teacher 1 His choral music and songs have enjoyed extensive performances worldwide 2 Contents 1 Brief biography 2 Musical style 3 List of works 3 1 Operas 3 2 Orchestra 3 3 Choral 3 4 Songs 4 References 4 1 Notes 4 2 Sources 5 External linksBrief biography editPhilip Cannon was born in Paris on 21 December 1929 to Franco British parents The family moved to Falmouth in Cornwall in 1936 where Philip was educated at the local Grammar School Cannon subsequently studied with Imogen Holst at Dartington and with Gordon Jacob and Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music where in 1951 he was awarded the Octavia Travelling Scholarship 3 In 1958 he became a lecturer in music at Sydney University before returning to the Royal College in London in 1960 as Professor of Composition a post which he held until his retirement in 1995 He was appointed FRCM in 1971 2 4 Cannon s String Quartet of 1964 won two international awards in France A number of high profile commissions followed including his work for 24 solo strings Oraison funebre de l ame humaine 1970 for French Radio his choral work Son of Man 1975 commissioned by the BBC to mark the entry of the UK into the EEC and three works of great beauty for the Three Choirs Festival The Temple in 1974 which later became a staple in the repertoire of the Bach Choir under David Willcocks 5 Lord of Light 1980 and A Ralegh Triptych 1992 His Te Deum 1975 was the result of a personal commission from HM Queen Elizabeth II for a work to mark the 500th anniversary of St George s Chapel Windsor Castle 2 3 In 2011 Cannon donated his manuscripts and other archives to the Bodleian Library at Oxford to mark this the composer s Te Deum was sung at Christ Church Cathedral 6 Cannon s other works include three operas Morvoren 1964 The Man from Venus 1967 and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde a commission for BBC TV 1973 2 symphonies various instrumental pieces including his Concertino for piano amp strings 1949 his clarinet quintet Logos another BBC commission 1977 and a Septain 1995 originally created for the pianist John Ogdon 2 together with a number of works for voice notably his song cycles Songs to Delight 1950 and Six Birdsongs 1993 Cannon s String Quartet Clarinet Quintet and his string sextet Cinq supplications sur un benediction 1985 are all available on an Olympia CD 7 The recording label Lyrita released a CD of Philip s works in 2017 including his Cinq Chansons de femme for soprano amp harp 1952 together with his String Quartet and Lord of Light 8 Recordings of performances of the Concertino Three Rivers 1954 The Temple Son of Man Lord of Light and Tip Toe Tango 1994 are also available on YouTube Cannon s first wife Jacqueline died in 1984 Cannon himself died aged 87 on 24 December 2016 in the Florence Nightingale Hospice attached to Stoke Mandeville hospital He is survived by his second wife Jane whom he married in 1997 and by his daughter by his first marriage Virginia 1 Musical style editCannon s first opera Morvoren premiered at the Royal College in 1964 9 Interviewed about this opera by The Times the composer stated I believe that a composer should feel free to build his style from everything that is available microtones note clusters electronic oscillators and the chord of C major and make a synthesis of all the means at his disposal if by so doing he can make an impact on his audience 10 In their entry for Philip Cannon in Grove Music Online Richard Cooke and Roderic Dunnett note that Cannon s musical personality is characterized by a fierce individualism reflected in his use of a forthright and uncompromising musical language The expressive drive that he can achieve with that language sometimes tonal occasionally atonal yet always direct and communicative is evident throughout his work his works show an intensification of thought and an endeavour to assert the potentials of the human spirit that prompted one French critic to speak of Oraison Funebre de l Ame Humaine as avant garde romantique In his article on The Sacred Choral Music of Philip Cannon Ronald Thomas describes Cannon as making a strong creative contribution to choral tradition a world figure a masterly composer and observes of Cannon s first Three Choirs commission The Temple that the work demonstrates a real understanding of choral composition resulting in moments of rare beauty and sensitivity to Herbert s poetry using a combination of strong counterpoint with moments of stillness and exquisite chording Thomas quotes Cannon himself describing the structure of his Ralegh Triptych It is designed as one great arc from the bitter nihilism of What is our Life through the despairing acceptance with a slight ray of hope of Even Such is Time to the determination of Give me my Scallop shell of quiet I have cut out bar lines altogether instead I have commas and pauses in between each violent outburst of Ralegh s magnificent sorties The sounds and the silence are both integral to the overall structure I ascribe the idea of unmetered silence and pause to Sir David Willcocks who when conducting The Temple suggested these rather than metered rests as being a more effective way of maintaining shape and emotional intensity His casual suggestion of unmetering the silences is a good one when one takes into consideration the dramatic effects of different acoustics in different venues For instances The Temple s performances were in widely varying acoustics from King s College Chapel Cambridge to La Chapelle Royale Versailles The only possible snag to unmetered pauses of course is that the performances have to be under the direction of a very experienced dynamitic and sensitive conductor Not just a metered stick waver citation needed List of works editOperas edit Morvoren 1963 The Man from Venus 1966 67 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 1973 Orchestra edit Sinfonietta chamber orch 1947 Spring orchestra 1949 Piano Concertino piano amp strings 1949 Fanfares 8 tpt 6 trombones tuba perc 1963 Oraison Funebre de l ame humaine 24 solo strings 1970 Symphony orchestra 1998 9 Choral edit clarification needed Songs to Delight SSA amp strings 1950 Fleeting Fancies SATB 1953 Son of God double chorus 1956 To Music SSSA amp piano 1960 Son of Science tenor boys choir perc piano strings 1961 Idea SATB 1964 En hiver SSSA 1968 The Temple SSATB 1974 Son of Man T Bar SATB orch 1975 Te Deum SATB org state tpt orch 1975 Lord of Light soprano tenor baritone boys vv SATB org orch 1980 Missa Chorea solo vv double semi chorus double chorus 1984 A Ralegh Triptych SATB 1989 91 Songs edit Cinq Chansons de femme soprano amp harp 1952 Cecilia 1 voice amp harp 1953 River Lullaby soprano amp piano 1962 Three Rivers tenor amp piano 1963 Six Bird Songs coloraturas amp piano 1993 Le Mort baritone amp piano 1998 Instrumental Two Rhapsodies piano 1943 String Quartet 1945 String Trio 1945 Sextet flute oboe and string quartet 1945 Fantasia string quartet 1946 Variations for two violins 1946 Variations on a canto firmo violin 1948 Galop Parisien two pianos 1950 L enfant s amuse piano 1954 Carillon harp 1955 Carillon organ 1955 Sonatine Champetre for piano 1959 Sonata two pianos 1960 String Quartet 1964 Jazz and Blues piano 1970 Piano Trio piano violin amp cello 1973 4 Clarinet Quintet clarinet amp string quartet 1977 Boutades Bourguignonnes piano 1984 String Sextet 2 violins 2 violas 2 cellos 1985 Trois Chiffres piano 1994 Carillon Joyeux Noel harp 1994 Septain piano 1995References editNotes edit a b Conway Paul 29 January 2017 Philip Cannon obituary The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 29 January 2017 a b c d Cooke n d a b Directory Entry British Academy of Songwriters Composers amp Authors website accessed 6 January 2017 Anon 1958 Music in Sydney Australia The Musical Times Vol 99 No 1379 Jan 1958 p 36 Ronald Thomas The Sacred Choral Music of Philip Cannon musicalics com accessed 6 January 2017 Philip Cannon Donates Archive to Bodleian Libraries Bodleian Library website 21 January 2011 Retrieved 21 November 2016 ASIN B0000266B7 Lyrita REAM1132 Written to a libretto by Maisie Radford based on a Cornish legend Grove Music Online entry for Radford accessed 6 January 2017 Myers 1965 pp 859 60 Sources edit Cooke Richard and Roderic Dunnett n d Cannon Jack Philip in Oxford Music Online subscription required Retrieved 21 November 2016 Myers Rolo 1965 Philip Cannon A Fresh Voice in British Music The Musical Times Vol 106 No 1473 November 1965 pp 858 860 subscription required Retrieved 21 November 2016 External links editPhilip Cannon extensive list of works essay Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Philip Cannon composer amp oldid 1216997249, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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