John White was born in Berlin in 1936. He studied composition at the Royal College of Music from 1955 to 1958 with Bernard Stevens, and analysis privately with Elisabeth Lutyens.
He became musical director of the Western Theatre Ballet, and then professor of composition at the Royal College of Music from 1961 to 1967.
He was teacher of composition and improvisation at the Yehudi Menuhin School from 1974 to 1977, head of keyboard studies at Leicester Polytechnic (1979 to 1987), and head of music at the Drama Centre, London, in 1991.
As composer White first attracted attention with his Piano Sonata no. 1 (1957), and he has since written a further 179 of them.
His sound world includes reed organs, toy pianos and small percussion instruments.
His vocal music employs dada and surrealist texts; this creates a double distancing of meaning leaving the composer free to create a wide range of musical imagery unhampered by the demands of more expressive, traditional poetry.
His works include:
26 symphonies, 1965 to 1990
Harpsichord concerto, 1957
Piano concerto, 1966
180 piano sonatas, 1957 to 1996:
number 95, 1977
number 138
3 operas
and much more.
There is a useful discussion in Dave Smith's "The Piano Sonatas of John White" (PDF), linked under the Wikipædia article on White.
He became musical director of the Western Theatre Ballet, and then professor of composition at the Royal College of Music from 1961 to 1967.
He was teacher of composition and improvisation at the Yehudi Menuhin School from 1974 to 1977, head of keyboard studies at Leicester Polytechnic (1979 to 1987), and head of music at the Drama Centre, London, in 1991.
As composer White first attracted attention with his Piano Sonata no. 1 (1957), and he has since written a further 179 of them.
His sound world includes reed organs, toy pianos and small percussion instruments.
His vocal music employs dada and surrealist texts; this creates a double distancing of meaning leaving the composer free to create a wide range of musical imagery unhampered by the demands of more expressive, traditional poetry.
His works include:
26 symphonies, 1965 to 1990
Harpsichord concerto, 1957
Piano concerto, 1966
180 piano sonatas, 1957 to 1996:
number 95, 1977
number 138
3 operas
and much more.
There is a useful discussion in Dave Smith's "The Piano Sonatas of John White" (PDF), linked under the Wikipædia article on White.
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