Nigel Butterley
Encyclopedia
Nigel Henry Cockburn Butterley AM
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 13 May 1935) is an Australian 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...
and pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
.
Life and career
Butterley learnt to play the piano at the age of five. He attended Sydney Grammar SchoolSydney Grammar School
Sydney Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, selective, day school for boys, located in Darlinghurst, Edgecliff and St Ives, all suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
, but as music wasn't taught at the school at that time, he also sought training from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...
. He then travelled abroad and spent a year in Europe. He studied with Priaulx Rainier
Priaulx Rainier
Ivy Priaulx Rainier was a South African-British composer. Although she lived most of her life in England and died in France, her compositional style was strongly influenced by the African music remembered from her childhood. She never adopted 12-tone or serial techniques, but her music shows a...
in London.
After returning to Australia he composed his work Laudes in 1963. He won the Prix Italia
Prix Italia
The Prix Italia is an international Italian television, radio-broadcasting and Website award. It was established in 1948 by RAI - Radiotelevisione Italiana in Capri...
for his work In the Head the Fire in 1966. In 1967 he was the inaugural winner of the Albert H. Maggs Composition Award
Albert H. Maggs Composition Award
The Albert H. Maggs Composition Award is a commission-based Australian classical composition award given in order to "encourage and assist composers who might otherwise abandon their efforts for want of means"....
. He continued to compose through the proceeding decades, composing works for the Sydney Proms concerts such as Interaction for Artist and Orchestra, music performed while artist John Peart painted and First Day Covers, a collaboration with Barry Humphries
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...
' character Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna is a character created and played by Australian dadaist performer and comedian, Barry Humphries, famous for her lilac-coloured or "wisteria hue" hair and cat eye glasses or "face furniture," her favorite flower, the gladiola and her boisterous greeting: "Hello Possums!" As Dame Edna,...
. Butterley went onto win the Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize in 2001.
Butterley's compositions are strongly influenced by poetry, and are sometimes accompanied by recitation when performed. He composed a series of pieces inspired by the poetry of William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
, and in more recent times has appreciated the work of Kathleen Raine
Kathleen Raine
Kathleen Jessie Raine was a British poet, critic, and scholar writing in particular on William Blake, W. B. Yeats and Thomas Taylor. Known for her interest in various forms of spirituality, most prominently Platonism and Neoplatonism, she was a founder member of the Temenos Academy.-Life:Raine was...
.
He lectured at the Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
Conservatorium from 1973 to 1991, and later at the Sydney Conservatorium. He has also broadcast programs on ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM is a classical music radio station available in Australia, and internationally online. It is operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established in 1976 as "ABC-FM", and later for a short time was known as "ABC Fine Music" , before adopting its current name...
.
On 10 June 1991 Nigel Butterley was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(AM), "in recognition of services to music".
In 2007 the Sydney Chamber Choir
Sydney Chamber Choir
Following its formation in 1975, the Sydney Chamber Choir quickly established itself as a champion of Renaissance Music, especially the works of Josquin des Prez. Under the leadership of founding director Nicholas Routley, the choir was also a pioneer in revitalising Sydney performances of Bach and...
commissioned a new work Beni Avshalom, which was completed almost fifty years after Butterley's frequently performed landmark choral work The True Samaritan.
External links
- Listen to excerpts of 'In the Head the Fire' on australianscreen online
- 'In the Head the Fire' was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia Registry in 2009
- http://www.nigelbutterley.info/