Outstanding Works Collection

Alexander Goehr

They say cats have nine lives, but what about composers?

Certainly, as Alexander Goehr celebrates this richly deserved award, it’s clear that he has embraced enough styles, approaches and roles for multiple careers, never mind just one.

Born in Berlin, his family moved to England when Goehr was an infant. Surrounded by music as a child – his father, Walter, was a noted conductor – his own journey began when he studied at the Royal Manchester College Of Music. That’s where he met Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies, Elgar Howarth and John Ogdon and formed the New Music Manchester Group.

That group helped reshape the landscape for British music and fuelled Goehr’s lifelong desire for innovation. That has followed him wherever he’s gone – be it in his work for the BBC, his studies in Paris under Oliver Messiaen (where he became involved in the serialist movement) or his numerous pioneering musical works.

The Academy’s citation for Goehr’s award praises his “decades of consistently highquality compositions” and his catalogue speaks for itself. He has produced four symphonies, five operas and a huge collection of inspiring chamber music.

Landmark moments pepper his seven decades of work, from his composition of a white-note setting of Psalm IV to his hugely popular high-concept opera Arianna. But, while his work is always progressive and never shirks a challenge, musical or political, his melodic sensibility and clarity of purpose mean it always remains accessible. Not for nothing did he once declare he would regard it as “a personal defeat if people can’t follow my pieces”.

His unrivalled range has also seen him teach everywhere from China to Cambridge University (where he educated multiple generations of British composers), become an honorary member of the American Academy Of Arts And Letters and give the BBC’s Reith Lecture.

But, ultimately, it’s Alexander Goehr’s remarkable music that will convince you that his is a wonderful life, whichever one you choose.