Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is universally acknowledged as one of the foremost composers of our time.
He lives in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland where he writes most of his music. In a worklist that spans many decades, he has written across the widest gamut of musical genre, and in many styles. The power to communicate forcefully and directly with his audiences always manifests itself, whether it be in his profoundly argued symphonic works, the delightful music-theatre works written to be performed by non-specialist children or his sometimes outrageous witty light orchestral works.
Born in Salford, Maxwell Davies studied in Manchester in the 1950's and later in Rome with Petrassi and in the US at Princeton University. His first appointment as head of music at Cirencester Grammar School in 1959 sparked a life-long commitment to writing for children and young musicians. In the 1960's Maxwell Davies wrote some of his most controversial and iconic works, such as Eight Songs for a Mad King, and in 1967 he founded the new music ensemble The Pierrot Players with Harrison Birtwistle, soon after becoming Artistic Director of the Fires of London ensemble, for whom he wrote many works. In the 1970's Maxwell Davies moved to the Orkney Islands where he composed his first symphony in 1976, and in 1977 founded the St Magnus Festival, Orkney's annual arts festival which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. Through the 80's and 90's he was prolific both as composer and conductor, composing most of his symphonies and the ten Strathclyde Concertos for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Maxwell Davies was appointed Master of the Queen's Music in 2004 and in this role he has sought to raise the profile of music in Great Britain, as well as writing many works for Her Majesty The Queen and for royal occasions.
Maxwell Davies' major works include the operas Taverner, Resurrection, The Lighthouse and The Doctor of Myddfai; the full-length ballets Salome and Caroline Mathilde, and the music-theatre works Mr Emmet Takes a Walk and Miss Donnithorne's Maggot. His huge output of orchestral works includes eight symphonies - hailed by The Times as being "the most important symphonic cycle since Shostakovich" - fourteen concertos, several light orchestral works including An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise and Mavis in Las Vegas, five large-scale works for chorus including the oratorio Job . Chamber music includes the landmark cycle of ten string quartets commissioned by Naxos (called the Naxos Quartets), the entire cycle being performed at the Wigmore Hall by the Maggini Quartet between 2002 and 2007.
Maxwell Davies is also internationally active as a conductor, having held the position of Composer/Conductor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic, and is the Composer Laureate of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He has guest-conducted orchestras both in Europe and in the United States including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Russian National Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Recent highlights include the culmination of the Naxos cycle with the premiere of the tenth and final Quartet in October 2007, when the cycle was described in the Financial Times as "one of the most impressive musical statements of our time" and "an immensely rewarding experience". Forthcoming commissions include an orchestral work for the Camerata Salzburg and Carinthische Sommer and a violin concerto for the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester, with both premieres also conducted by Maxwell Davies. Further engagements include conducting the Hamburg Philharmonic and Orquestra Sinfonica de Estado Sao Paolo, a residency at the 2008 Dartington Summer School and further ahead he writes an opera for the Royal Academy of Music and Juilliard School of Music. In 2008 and 2009 a number of new chamber and choral works will be premiered at festivals including the Cheltenham Festival, City of London Festival, St Magnus Festival and Liverpool City of Culture.
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is represented by Intermusica.
January 2008 / 646 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.