Smith Brindle, Reginald
Smith Brindle, Reginald
Smith Brindle, Reginald, English composer, teacher, and writer on music; b. Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, Jan. 5, 1917. He studied architecture before serving as a captain in the Royal Engineers (1940–6). He then studied music at the Univ. Coll. of North Wales in Bangor (1946–49; B.Mus.; later Mus.D.), and subsequently with Pizzetti at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome (1949–52; composition diploma). He also studied privately with Dallapiccola in Florence (1949; 1952–53). From 1956 to 1961 he was active with the RAI. In 1957 he joined the faculty of the Univ. Coll. of North Wales, serving as a prof. there from 1967 to 1970. From 1970 to 1985 he was prof. of music at the Univ. of Surrey in Guildford. In addition to his many articles in journals, he publ, the books Serial Composition (1966), Contemporary Percussion (1970), The New Music (1975), and Musical Composition (1980). He utilized serial techniques in his scores until about 1970, all the while varying his style. Thereafter his path proved ever more eclectic as he refined his personal idiom of musical expression.
Works
DRAMATIC: Opera: The Death of Antigone (1969). ORCH.: Concertino for Guitar and Chamber Orch. (1951); 2 syms. (1954, 1990); Variations on a Theme by Dallapiccola (1955); An Epitaph for Alban Berg (1955); Symphonic Variations (1957); Cosmos (1959); Via Crucis (1960); Homage to H.G. Wells (1960); Clarinet Concerto (1962); Creation Epic (1964); Apocalypse (1970); Fons Bonitatis II (1973); Guitar Concerto (1977); Le Chant du Monde (1984); Recordando el gran maestro (1987); Grande Chaconne (1993). CHAMBER: 3 Pieces for Guitar and Piano (1956); 10-String Music for Guitar and Cello (1957); 5 Sketches for Violin and Guitar (1957); String Quartet Music (1958); Concerto for 5 Instruments and Percussion (1960); Segments and Variants for Wind Quintet (1965); Andromeda for Flute (1966); Orion Mil for Percussion (1967); Auriga for Percussion (1967); Concerto Breve Omnis Terra for 8 Guitars and Percussion (1971); Tubai Cain’s Heritage for Trombone and Piano (1973); Concerto de angelis for 4 Guitars (1973); Concerto Cumjubiio for 3 Guitars (1974); The Walls of Jericho for Tuba (1975); The Pillars ofKarnak for 4 Guitars (1979); Las doces cuerdas for 2 Guitars (1989); numerous solo guitar pieces. organ: Organ Sym. (1979); Missa de Spiritus flammis (1980); Regina caeli (1986); The Harmonies of Peace (1986); Inner Refrains (1988); The Firmament Beyond (1988).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire