Brett Dean
Encyclopedia
Brett Dean is a contemporary Australia
n composer
, violist
and conductor
.
Brett Dean was Artistic Director of the Australian National Academy of Music
in Melbourne
until June 2010 when his brother, Paul Dean
, took up the post.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra celebrates Brett Dean's 50th birthday, and his contribution to music as composer, performer and teacher, in its 2011 Metropolis Festival.
International Rostrum of Composers
in 1995. Winter Songs for tenor and wind quintet received the Paul Lowin Song Cycle Prize in 2001; Moments of Bliss for orchestra was named Best Composition at the Australian Classical Music Awards
in 2005
. In 2002–2003, Dean was artist in residence with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
and composer in residence at the Cheltenham Festival
. In 2007–2008, he became artist in residence with the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR
.
He has been awarded an honorary doctorate
from Griffith University
in Brisbane.
On 1 December 2008, he was awarded the 2009 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition
for his violin concerto, The Lost Art of Letter Writing.
In September 2011, he was composer-in-residence at the Trondheim
Chamber Music Festival.
as well as concerto
s for several solo instruments. His most successful work is Carlo for strings, sample and tape, inspired by the music of Carlo Gesualdo
. On 7 September 2008 his work Polysomnography for wind quintet and piano received its world premiere at the Lucerne Festival
; on 2 October 2008 Simon Rattle
conducted the first performance of the orchestral song cycle Songs of Joy in Philadelphia. His first opera, Bliss
, based on the novel
by Peter Carey, premiered at Opera Australia
in 2010.
Dean's compositional style is known for creating dynamic soundscapes and treating single instrumental parts with complex rhythms. He shapes musical extremes, from harsh explosions to inaudibility. Modern playing techniques are as characteristic for his style as an elaborate percussion
scoring, often enriched with objects from everyday life. Much of Dean’s work draws from literary, political or visual stimuli, transporting a non-musical ‘message’. Environmental problems are the subject of Water Music and Pastoral Symphony, while Vexations and Devotions deal with the absurdities of a modern society obsessed with information.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, violist
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
.
Career
Dean studied at the Queensland Conservatorium where he received a Medal of Excellence. From 1985 to 1999, Dean was a violist in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2000, he decided to pursue a career as a freelance artist and returned to Australia. As a composer and musician, he is a regularly invited guest to many professional concert stages around the world.Brett Dean was Artistic Director of the Australian National Academy of Music
Australian National Academy of Music
The Australian National Academy of Music is Australia's centre of excellence responsible for training the country's finest young musicians. Located in the South Melbourne, Victoria, it is a member of the Australian Roundtable for Arts Training Excellence...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
until June 2010 when his brother, Paul Dean
Paul Dean (clarinetist)
-Career:A graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium where he reveived the Medal of Excellence, Dean won the Australian Clarinet Competition, the Mattara National Concerto Competition, the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in Los Angeles .He often performs together with his brother, the...
, took up the post.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra celebrates Brett Dean's 50th birthday, and his contribution to music as composer, performer and teacher, in its 2011 Metropolis Festival.
Honours
Dean’s clarinet concerto Ariel’s Music won an award from the UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
International Rostrum of Composers
International Rostrum of Composers
The International Rostrum of Composers is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music...
in 1995. Winter Songs for tenor and wind quintet received the Paul Lowin Song Cycle Prize in 2001; Moments of Bliss for orchestra was named Best Composition at the Australian Classical Music Awards
APRA Awards
The APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia and New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually....
in 2005
APRA Awards of 2005
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2005 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 30 May at the Sydney Four Seasons Hotel, they were presented by APRA and the...
. In 2002–2003, Dean was artist in residence with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
and composer in residence at the Cheltenham Festival
Cheltenham Festival
The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most prestigious meetings in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, and has race prize money second only to the Grand National...
. In 2007–2008, he became artist in residence with the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Stuttgart in Germany. The ensemble was founded in 1945 by American occupation authorities as the orchestra for Radio Stuttgart, under the name Sinfonieorchester von Radio Stuttgart...
.
He has been awarded an honorary doctorate
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
from Griffith University
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current...
in Brisbane.
On 1 December 2008, he was awarded the 2009 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition
Grawemeyer Award (Music Composition)
The Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition is an annual prize instituted by H. Charles Grawemeyer, industrialist and entrepreneur, at the University of Louisville in 1984. The award was first given in 1985...
for his violin concerto, The Lost Art of Letter Writing.
In September 2011, he was composer-in-residence at the Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
Chamber Music Festival.
General
Dean began composing in 1988 initially focusing on experimental film and radio projects as well as improvisational performance. Since then, he has created numerous compositions, mainly orchestral or chamber musicChamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
as well as concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
s for several solo instruments. His most successful work is Carlo for strings, sample and tape, inspired by the music of Carlo Gesualdo
Carlo Gesualdo
Carlo Gesualdo, known as Gesualdo di Venosa or Gesualdo da Venosa , Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, was an Italian nobleman, lutenist, composer, and murderer....
. On 7 September 2008 his work Polysomnography for wind quintet and piano received its world premiere at the Lucerne Festival
Lucerne Festival
- History :The festival was founded in 1938 with a series of concerts in the gardens of Wagner's villa conducted by Arturo Toscanini, who had formed an orchestra with members of different orchestras and soloists for the concert...
; on 2 October 2008 Simon Rattle
Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....
conducted the first performance of the orchestral song cycle Songs of Joy in Philadelphia. His first opera, Bliss
Bliss (opera)
Bliss is an opera in three acts by Brett Dean to a libretto by Amanda Holden. The libretto is based on Peter Carey's novel Bliss which had been made into the 1985 film Bliss. The opera premiered at the Sydney Opera House on 12 March 2010...
, based on the novel
Bliss (novel)
Bliss is a novel by Australian writer Peter Carey. Published in 1981, the book won that year's Miles Franklin Award.-Plot:Written as a dark, comic fable, the story concerns an advertising executive, Harry Joy, who briefly 'dies' of a heart attack. On being resuscitated, he realizes that the life he...
by Peter Carey, premiered at Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
in 2010.
Dean's compositional style is known for creating dynamic soundscapes and treating single instrumental parts with complex rhythms. He shapes musical extremes, from harsh explosions to inaudibility. Modern playing techniques are as characteristic for his style as an elaborate percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
scoring, often enriched with objects from everyday life. Much of Dean’s work draws from literary, political or visual stimuli, transporting a non-musical ‘message’. Environmental problems are the subject of Water Music and Pastoral Symphony, while Vexations and Devotions deal with the absurdities of a modern society obsessed with information.
Stage
- One of a Kind – Ballet in three acts for solo cello and tape (1998)
- BlissBliss (opera)Bliss is an opera in three acts by Brett Dean to a libretto by Amanda Holden. The libretto is based on Peter Carey's novel Bliss which had been made into the 1985 film Bliss. The opera premiered at the Sydney Opera House on 12 March 2010...
– Opera (2010)
Orchestra
- Carlo – Music for strings, sampler and tape (1997)
- Beggars and Angels Music for orchestra (1999)
- Amphitheatre – Scene for orchestra (2000)
- Etüdenfest for string orchestra with off-stage piano (2000)
- Game over for instrumental soloists, string orchestra and electronics (2000)
- Pastoral Symphony for chamber orchestra (2000)
- Dispersal for orchestra (2001)
- Shadow Music for small orchestra (2002)
- Between Moments – Music for orchestra, in memory of Cameron Retchford (2003)
- Ceremonial for orchestra (2003)
- Moments of Bliss for orchestra (2004)
- Parteitag – Music for orchestral groups and video (2004/05)
- Short Stories – Five interludes for string orchestra (2005)
- Komarov’s Fall for orchestra (2005/06)
- Testament – Music for orchestra, after version for 12 violas (2008)
Concertos
- Ariel’s Music for clarinet and orchestra (1995)
- Viola Concerto (2004)
- Water Music for saxophone quartet and chamber orchestra (2004)
- The Lost Art of Letter Writing for violin and orchestra (2006) – based on four significant 19th century letters, including Brahms'sJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
love letter to Clara SchumannClara SchumannClara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era... - The Siduri Dances for solo flute and string orchestra (2007)
Chamber music
- FledermausDie FledermausDie Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
-Overture by Johann Strauss IIJohann Strauss IIJohann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
, arr. for octet (1988) - Wendezeit (Homage to F.C.) for 5 violas (1988)
- some birthday… for 2 violas and cello (1992)
- Night Window – Music for clarinet, viola and piano (1993)
- Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche by Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
, arr. for octet (1995) - Twelve Angry Men for 12 cellos (1996)
- Voices of Angels for strings and piano (1996)
- Intimate Decisions for solo viola (1996)
- Night’s Journey for 4 trombones (1997)
- Three Pieces for Eight Horns (1998)
- hundreds and thousands for tape (1999)
- Huntington Eulogy for cello and piano (2001)
- Testament for 12 violas (2002)
- Eclipse for string quartet (2003)
- Three Caprichos after Goya for solo guitar (2003)
- Equality for piano (with speaking part) (2004)
- Demons for solo flute (2004)
- Prayer for piano (with speaking part) (2005)
- Recollections for ensemble (2006)
- Polysomnography – Music for piano and wind quartet (2007)
Choral
- Katz and Spatz for eight-part mixed chorus (1999/2002)
- Bell and Anti-Bell (From Parables, Lullabies and Secrets) for children’s choir and small orchestra (2001)
- Tracks and Traces – Four Songs for children’s choir, based on texts by indigenous Australians (2002)
- Vexations and Devotions for choirs and large orchestra (2005)
- Now Comes the Dawn for mixed chorus (2007)
Vocal
- Winter Songs for tenor and wind quintet (2000)
- Buy Now, Pay Later! by Tim FreedmanTim FreedmanTimothy "Tim" James Freedman is the mainstay lead singer and keyboardist of the Australian band The Whitlams formed in 1993...
, arr. for voice and ensemble (2002) - Sparge la morte for solo cello, vocal consort and tape (2006)
- Poems and Prayers for mezzo-soprano and piano (2006)
- Wolf-Lieder for soprano and ensemble (2006)
- Songs of Joy (from Bliss) for baritone and orchestra (2008)