Denis ApIvor was born in Collinstown in 1916. He became a chorister at Christ Church, Oxford, and Hereford Cathedral. Parental opposition saw to it that he qualified in medicine before turning to music.
Private instruction from Rawsthorne and Hadley as well as an astute awareness of contemporary English music helped to clarify his musical thinking, and he was influenced early on by Warlock and Van Dieren.
ApIvor’s early works are typically English in character with assured light tonal touches and technical fluency. Looking increasingly to continental models after 1947, he included serial elements in his Piano Concerto (1948). While works such as Landscapes (1950), the Violin Concerto (1950) and A Mirror for Witches (symphonic suite, opus 19a, 1954); retain tonal undertones, they are chromatically freer and form part of a transition towards a more radical style.
In 1955 his music moved towards a more freely atonal and athematic serialism, and this remained his mode of composition until 1988. In 1988 he returned to "a tonal and textural simplicity, and a reinstallation of recognisable melodic values".
In his rich and varied output he embraced both English and Second Viennese traditions, while his sincerity and dedication remained throughout periods of wide-ranging stylistic change.
Items of importance he gave us:
Symphonies:
Symphony no. 1, opus 22, 1952
Symphony no. 2, opus 36, 1963
Symphony no. 3. opus 67, 1979
Symphony no. 4, opus 81, 1985
Symphony no. 5, opus 87, 1991
Concertos:
Piano Concerto, opus 13, 1948
Violin Concerto no. 1, opus 16, 1950
Triple Concerto for string trio and string orchestra, 1967
Violin Concerto no. 2, opus 61, 1975
Cello Concerto, opus 64, 1977
Fantasy Concertante, opus 70, for horn and orchestra, 1980
Chamber:
String Quartet no. 1, opus 37, 1964
Clarinet Quintet, opus 60, 1975
String Quartet no. 2, opus 63, 1976
String Quartet no. 3, opus 84, 1990
Private instruction from Rawsthorne and Hadley as well as an astute awareness of contemporary English music helped to clarify his musical thinking, and he was influenced early on by Warlock and Van Dieren.
ApIvor’s early works are typically English in character with assured light tonal touches and technical fluency. Looking increasingly to continental models after 1947, he included serial elements in his Piano Concerto (1948). While works such as Landscapes (1950), the Violin Concerto (1950) and A Mirror for Witches (symphonic suite, opus 19a, 1954); retain tonal undertones, they are chromatically freer and form part of a transition towards a more radical style.
In 1955 his music moved towards a more freely atonal and athematic serialism, and this remained his mode of composition until 1988. In 1988 he returned to "a tonal and textural simplicity, and a reinstallation of recognisable melodic values".
In his rich and varied output he embraced both English and Second Viennese traditions, while his sincerity and dedication remained throughout periods of wide-ranging stylistic change.
Items of importance he gave us:
Symphonies:
Symphony no. 1, opus 22, 1952
Symphony no. 2, opus 36, 1963
Symphony no. 3. opus 67, 1979
Symphony no. 4, opus 81, 1985
Symphony no. 5, opus 87, 1991
Concertos:
Piano Concerto, opus 13, 1948
Violin Concerto no. 1, opus 16, 1950
Triple Concerto for string trio and string orchestra, 1967
Violin Concerto no. 2, opus 61, 1975
Cello Concerto, opus 64, 1977
Fantasy Concertante, opus 70, for horn and orchestra, 1980
Chamber:
String Quartet no. 1, opus 37, 1964
Clarinet Quintet, opus 60, 1975
String Quartet no. 2, opus 63, 1976
String Quartet no. 3, opus 84, 1990
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