Burgess, Anthony(real name, John Anthony Burgess Wilson)

Burgess, Anthony(real name, John Anthony Burgess Wilson), celebrated English novelist, critic, and composer; b. Manchester, Feb. 25, 1917; d. London, Nov. 22, 1993. He studied language and literature at the Univ. of Manchester (B. A., 1940); he also played piano in jazz combos and taught himself to compose by a close study of the Classical masters. He was active as a teacher in England and the Far East; later was writer–in– residence at the Univ. of N.C at Chapel Hill (1969–70), visiting prof, at Princeton Univ. and Columbia Univ. (1970), and distinguished prof, at City Coll. of the City Univ. of N.Y. (1972–73). As a novelist, Burgess made a notable impression with his disturbing A Clockwork Orange (1962), which was followed by such novels as the Napoleon Symphony (1974) and his major literary achievement, Earthly Powers (1980). Among his other writings were This Man and Music (1982) and the autobiography, Little Wilson and Big God (1987). As a composer, he produced a respectable body of works notable for being refreshingly rhythmical and tonal, but not without quirky quartal harmonies and atonal diversions.

Works

DRAMATIC: Opera: Blooms of Dublin (1981). ORCH.: Sym. (1937); Sinfonietta for Jazz Combo (1941); Gibraltar, symphonic poem (1944); Cello Concerto (1944); Song of a Northern City for Piano and Orch. (1947); Ascent of ¥6 for Dance Band (1947); The Adding Machine for Dance Band (1949); Partita for Strings (1951); Ludus Multitonalis for Recorder Consort (1951); Concertino for Piano and Percussion (1951); Sinfoni Melayu (1956); Concerto for Flute and Strings (1960); Passacaglia (1961); Sym. in C (1975); Piano Concerto (1976); A Glasgow Overture (1985); Mr. Burgess’s Almanac (1988); Petite Symphonie pour Strasbourg (1988); Concerto Grosso for 4 Guitars and Orch. (1988); Marche pour une Révolution (1989). chamber: Cello Sonata (1944); Cyrano de Bergerac for Flute, Trumpet, Cello, Percussion, and Keyboard (1970); 2 guitar quartets (1984, 1987).p i a n o : 2 sonatas (1946, 1951). vocal:The Brides ofEnderby for Voice, Flute, Oboe, Cello, and Piano (1976); Man Who Has Come Through for Voice, Flute, Oboe, Cello, and Piano (1984); La Piaggia del Pineto for Voice and Piano (1988).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire