Jonathan Harvey

Jonathan Harvey (1939 - 2012) was a chorister at St Michael's College, Tenbury and later a major music scholar at St John's College, Cambridge. He gained doctorates from the Universities of Glasgow and Cambridge and, on the advice of Benjamin Britten, also studied privately with Erwin Stein and Hans Keller. He was a Harkness Fellow at Princeton (1969-70).

An invitation from Boulez to work at IRCAM in the early 1980s has so far resulted in seven realisations at the Institute, including Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco - the celebrated tape piece - Bhakti, for ensemble and electronics, and Advaya for cello, live electronics and pre-recorded sounds. Harvey has composed for most other genres: orchestra - Tranquil Abiding, White as Jasmine and Madonna of Winter and Spring; chamber - including four string quartets, and Death of Light, Light of Death. He has written many widely-performed works for choir, as well as the large-scale cantata for the BBC Proms Millennium, Mothers shall not Cry (2000). His stage works include the church opera Passion and Resurrection (1981); Inquest of Love (1993), commissioned by ENO; and Wagner Dream (2007), commissioned by Nederlandse Oper in association with the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, the Holland Festival and IRCAM.

Harvey's music is played and toured by major ensembles - including Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain and ASKO. His music has been showcased at Strasbourg Musica, Ars Musica Brussels, Musica Nova Helsinki, the Acanthes and Agora festivals, and other centres for contemporary music; some 150-200 performances are given or broadcast each year and about 80 recordings of his music are available on CD - including Bhakti, NMC's inaugural release (NMC D001).

Harvey was Professor of Music at Sussex University between 1977 and 1993, and is currently an Honorary Professor there. He was Professor of Music at Stanford University (US) (1995-2000), Visiting Professor of Music at Imperial College, London and is an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. From 2005-07 he has been Composer-in-Association with the BBC Scottish SO. He has honorary doctorates from the Universities of Southampton, Sussex, Bristol and Huddersfield, is a Member of Academia Europaea, and in 1993 was awarded the prestigious Britten Award for composition. 

In 2009 he received several awards for his music, including the prestigious Prince Pierre of Monaco Prize in Musical Composition for Speakings, and the Charles Cros Grand Prix du Président for a lifetime’s work, becoming the first British composer ever to receive this coveted honour since its inception in 1970. In 2012 Messages won the RPS Award for Large Scale Composition and in the same year he received a lifetime achievement award from the Incorporated Society of Musicians.

Biography

Jonathan Harvey (1939 - 2012) was a chorister at St Michael's College, Tenbury and later a major music scholar at St John's College, Cambridge. He gained doctorates from the Universities of Glasgow and Cambridge and, on the advice of Benjamin Britten, also studied privately with Erwin Stein and Hans Keller. He was a Harkness Fellow at Princeton (1969-70).

An invitation from Boulez to work at IRCAM in the early 1980s has so far resulted in seven realisations at the Institute, including Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco - the celebrated tape piece - Bhakti, for ensemble and electronics, and Advaya for cello, live electronics and pre-recorded sounds. Harvey has composed for most other genres: orchestra - Tranquil Abiding, White as Jasmine and Madonna of Winter and Spring; chamber - including four string quartets, and Death of Light, Light of Death. He has written many widely-performed works for choir, as well as the large-scale cantata for the BBC Proms Millennium, Mothers shall not Cry (2000). His stage works include the church opera Passion and Resurrection (1981); Inquest of Love (1993), commissioned by ENO; and Wagner Dream (2007), commissioned by Nederlandse Oper in association with the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, the Holland Festival and IRCAM.

Harvey's music is played and toured by major ensembles - including Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain and ASKO. His music has been showcased at Strasbourg Musica, Ars Musica Brussels, Musica Nova Helsinki, the Acanthes and Agora festivals, and other centres for contemporary music; some 150-200 performances are given or broadcast each year and about 80 recordings of his music are available on CD - including Bhakti, NMC's inaugural release (NMC D001).

Harvey was Professor of Music at Sussex University between 1977 and 1993, and is currently an Honorary Professor there. He was Professor of Music at Stanford University (US) (1995-2000), Visiting Professor of Music at Imperial College, London and is an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. From 2005-07 he has been Composer-in-Association with the BBC Scottish SO. He has honorary doctorates from the Universities of Southampton, Sussex, Bristol and Huddersfield, is a Member of Academia Europaea, and in 1993 was awarded the prestigious Britten Award for composition. 

In 2009 he received several awards for his music, including the prestigious Prince Pierre of Monaco Prize in Musical Composition for Speakings, and the Charles Cros Grand Prix du Président for a lifetime’s work, becoming the first British composer ever to receive this coveted honour since its inception in 1970. In 2012 Messages won the RPS Award for Large Scale Composition and in the same year he received a lifetime achievement award from the Incorporated Society of Musicians.

Recordings by this composer

Recordings
Bhakti CD Cover image

Jonathan Harvey: Bhakti

NMC Recordings

Find out more & buy
Body Mandala CD cover image

Body Mandala

NMC Recordings

Buy
Bird Concerto CD cover image

Bird Concerto

NMC Recordings

Buy
Little Duo cover image

Little Duo

NMC Recordings

Buy

Compilations with this composer

Compilations
NMC Mixtape

NMC Mixtape

NMC Recordings

Buy
The NMC Songbook

The NMC Songbook

NMC Recordings

Buy
Spectrum CD Cover

Spectrum

NMC Recordings

Buy
Prime Cuts

Prime Cuts

NMC Recordings

Buy
New Music Collections - Piano

New Music Collections - Piano

NMC Recordings

Buy
New Music Collections: Electronic cover

New Music Collections: Electronic

NMC Recordings

Buy

Music Map

Discover more about the classical music of today with NMC's Music Map, and exciting and educational online tool which enables you to see and hear the connections between composers, their teachers, pupils, influences and their works.

Music Map