David Drew (writer)
Encyclopedia
David Drew was a British journalist
on music, particularly known for his work on Kurt Weill
. He published the authoritative catalogue of Weill's music, Kurt Weill: A Handbook (London, 1987) and, in German, edited and annotated a collection of Weill's writings, Kurt Weill: Ausgewählte Schriften, and a symposium of writings by others about Weill, Über Kurt Weill (both Frankfurt, 1975). He also produced performing editions of many of Weill's works and devised the significant celebration and revival of many of Weill's works at the 1975 Berliner Musikfest; much of this project was later recorded by the participating artists and the London Sinfonietta
conducted by David Atherton
and issued by the Decca
Record Company in 1976.
Other composers he was known for advocating were the Pole Henryk Górecki
, Americans Elliott Carter
and Roger Sessions
, Germans and Austrians HK Gruber, Kurt Schwertsik
, Berthold Goldschmidt
, Leopold Spinner
, Boris Blacher and Rudolf Wagner-Régeny
, Italian Luigi Dallapiccola
, Catalan exile Roberto Gerhard
(a close friend from his student days in Cambridge), conductor-composer Igor Markevitch
and British composers Alexander Goehr
, Robin Holloway
, Christopher Shaw
and Walter Leigh
. He first drew attention with the first important articles on Olivier Messiaen
to be published in English, in the journal The Score
, and his 60-page chapter on 'Modern French Music', in the 1957 symposium European Music in the Twentieth Century edited by Howard Hartog (Routledge, later Pelican books 1961).
He was editor of the music journal Tempo
from 1971 to 1982 and wrote several hundred articles for the music press. For Boosey & Hawkes
he was editor of Tempo magazine in 1971, then Director of Publications in 1975, becoming Director of New Music until he left the company in 1992.
In the 1960s and 1970s he devised, managed and edited an important series of recordings of 20th-century and contemporary music under the aegis of the Gulbenkian Foundation. Known as 'Music Today', the first albums of the series - almost entirely consisting of first recordings and including premiere recordings of music by Roberto Gerhard
, Nikos Skalkottas, Dallapiccola, Stefan Wolpe
, Charles Koechlin
, Messiaen, Pierre Boulez
and the two symphonies of Kurt Weill - were issued by EMI Records
. They were reissued in the 1970s, along with a new batch of recordings, by Argo Records
. After his departure from Boosey & Hawkes, Drew worked in a similar capacity producing recordings for the German label Largo Records - these included a Weill album, 'Berlin im Licht', a series of recordings of music by Berthold Goldschmidt, and a double album including works by Weill, Blacher, Goldschmidt, Milhaud
, Vaughan Williams
and Harrington Shortall entitled Testimonies of War: Kriegzeugnisse 1914-45.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
on music, particularly known for his work on Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
. He published the authoritative catalogue of Weill's music, Kurt Weill: A Handbook (London, 1987) and, in German, edited and annotated a collection of Weill's writings, Kurt Weill: Ausgewählte Schriften, and a symposium of writings by others about Weill, Über Kurt Weill (both Frankfurt, 1975). He also produced performing editions of many of Weill's works and devised the significant celebration and revival of many of Weill's works at the 1975 Berliner Musikfest; much of this project was later recorded by the participating artists and the London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
conducted by David Atherton
David Atherton
David Atherton OBE, is an English conductor.-Background:Atherton was born in Blackpool, Lancashire in a musical family. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School. His father, Robert Atherton, was the Music Master at St Joseph's College, Blackpool and was also a conductor...
and issued by the Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
Record Company in 1976.
Other composers he was known for advocating were the Pole Henryk Górecki
Henryk Górecki
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki was a composer of contemporary classical music. He studied at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice between 1955 and 1960. In 1968, he joined the faculty and rose to provost before resigning in 1979. Górecki became a leading figure of the Polish avant-garde during...
, Americans Elliott Carter
Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music...
and Roger Sessions
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions was an American composer, critic, and teacher of music.-Life:Sessions was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a family that could trace its roots back to the American revolution. His mother, Ruth Huntington Sessions, was a direct descendent of Samuel Huntington, a signer of...
, Germans and Austrians HK Gruber, Kurt Schwertsik
Kurt Schwertsik
Kurt Schwertsik is an Austrian contemporary composer. He is famous for creating the “Third Viennese School” and spreading contemporary classical music....
, Berthold Goldschmidt
Berthold Goldschmidt
Berthold Goldschmidt was a German Jewish composer who spent most of his life in England...
, Leopold Spinner
Leopold Spinner
Leopold Spinner was a Ukrainian-born, British-domiciled composer and editor.-Biography:Spinner was born of Austrian parentage in Lemberg...
, Boris Blacher and Rudolf Wagner-Régeny
Rudolf Wagner-Régeny
Rudolf Wagner-Régeny was a composer, conductor, and pianist. Born in Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary, since 1920 Romania, he became a German citizen in 1930, and then East Germany after 1945.From 1919–1920 he studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and then at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik from...
, Italian Luigi Dallapiccola
Luigi Dallapiccola
Luigi Dallapiccola was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions.-Biography:Dallapiccola was born at Pisino d'Istria , to Italian parents....
, Catalan exile Roberto Gerhard
Roberto Gerhard
Robert Gerhard i Ottenwaelder was a Catalan Spanish composer and musical scholar and writer, generally known outside Catalonia as Robert Gerhard.-Life:...
(a close friend from his student days in Cambridge), conductor-composer Igor Markevitch
Igor Markevitch
Igor Markevitch was a Ukrainian, Italian, and French composer and conductor.- Origin :Igor Markevich was born in Kiev, to an old family of Ukrainian Cossack starshyna ennobled in the 18th century...
and British composers Alexander Goehr
Alexander Goehr
Alexander Goehr is an English composer and academic.Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and Schoenberg pupil Walter Goehr. In his early twenties he emerged as a central figure in the Manchester School of post-war British composers. In 1955–56 he joined Oliver Messiaen's...
, Robin Holloway
Robin Holloway
Robin Greville Holloway is an English composer.-Early life:From 1952 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral...
, Christopher Shaw
Christopher Shaw (composer)
Christopher Shaw was a British composer. He lived in London and wrote principally choral music, of which the most notable example may be the cantata Peter and the Lame Man for soli, chorus and orchestra, recorded in 1976 by Argo Records along with three shorter pieces...
and Walter Leigh
Walter Leigh
Walter Leigh was an English composer. Leigh is most famous for his Concertino for harpsichord and string orchestra, written in 1934. Other famous works include the overture Agincourt and The Frogs of Aristophanes for chorus and orchestra...
. He first drew attention with the first important articles on Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
to be published in English, in the journal The Score
The Score
The Score may refer to:* The Score Magazine, a Chennai magazine* The Score Television Network, a Canadian sports channel* The Score , a 1996 album by Fugees* The Score – An Epic Journey, a 2005 album by the symphonic metal band Epica...
, and his 60-page chapter on 'Modern French Music', in the 1957 symposium European Music in the Twentieth Century edited by Howard Hartog (Routledge, later Pelican books 1961).
He was editor of the music journal Tempo
Tempo (journal)
Tempo is a quarterly music journal published in the UK and specialising in music of the 20th century and contemporary music. Originally founded in 1939 as the 'house magazine' of the music publisher Boosey & Hawkes, Tempo was the brain-child of Schoenberg's pupil Erwin Stein, who worked for Boosey...
from 1971 to 1982 and wrote several hundred articles for the music press. For Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
he was editor of Tempo magazine in 1971, then Director of Publications in 1975, becoming Director of New Music until he left the company in 1992.
In the 1960s and 1970s he devised, managed and edited an important series of recordings of 20th-century and contemporary music under the aegis of the Gulbenkian Foundation. Known as 'Music Today', the first albums of the series - almost entirely consisting of first recordings and including premiere recordings of music by Roberto Gerhard
Roberto Gerhard
Robert Gerhard i Ottenwaelder was a Catalan Spanish composer and musical scholar and writer, generally known outside Catalonia as Robert Gerhard.-Life:...
, Nikos Skalkottas, Dallapiccola, Stefan Wolpe
Stefan Wolpe
Stefan Wolpe was a German-born composer.-Life:Wolpe was born in Berlin. He attended the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory from the age of fourteen, and the Berlin Hochschule für Musik in 1920-1921. He studied composition under Franz Schreker and was also a pupil of Ferruccio Busoni...
, Charles Koechlin
Charles Koechlin
Charles Louis Eugène Koechlin was a French composer, teacher and writer on music. He was a political radical all his life and a passionate enthusiast for such diverse things as medieval music, The Jungle Book of Rudyard Kipling, Johann Sebastian Bach, film stars , travelling, stereoscopic...
, Messiaen, Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
and the two symphonies of Kurt Weill - were issued by EMI Records
EMI Records
EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
. They were reissued in the 1970s, along with a new batch of recordings, by Argo Records
Argo Records
Argo Records was started in December of 1955 to accommodate some of the rapidly growing recording activity at Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint was renamed Argo.Initially, Argo offered a...
. After his departure from Boosey & Hawkes, Drew worked in a similar capacity producing recordings for the German label Largo Records - these included a Weill album, 'Berlin im Licht', a series of recordings of music by Berthold Goldschmidt, and a double album including works by Weill, Blacher, Goldschmidt, Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
, Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
and Harrington Shortall entitled Testimonies of War: Kriegzeugnisse 1914-45.