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Artist
George Benjamin
12+ albums
contemporary classicalcomposerAvant-Gardebritish20th Century Classical
about
George Benjamin (born January 31, 1960, London, England) is a British composer of classical music. He is also a conductor, pianist and teacher. Benjamin attended Westminster School and then studied with Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire during the second half of the 1970s. Messiaen himself was reported to have described Benjamin as his favourite pupil. He then read music at King's College, Cambridge, studying under Alexander Goehr, and emerged in his early twenties as a mature and confident voice. His orchestral piece Ringed by the Flat Horizon (written for the Cambridge University Musical Society and premiered in Cambridge under the baton of Mark Elder on March 5, 1980) was performed at The Proms that August, while he was still a student, making him the youngest composer ever to have had music performed at the Proms. Since the 1980s he has fulfilled a number of large commissions, including Sudden Time (for orchestra), Three Inventions (for chamber orchestra) and Antara (for ensemble and electronics, realised at IRCAM and the first composition ever published using the Sibelius notation program). Benjamin's music is seen by many as carefully crafted and governed by an overriding seriousness, yet colourful and even flamboyant in style.[citation needed] In 1993, Benjamin curated the first 'Meltdown' music festival in London. In the 2002-2003 concert season, the London Symphony Orchestra gave a season-long festival of concerts which he curated, called "By George!"
top songs
1
3 Studies: No. 2, Meditation on Haydn's Name
3,2282Three Miniatures for Solo Violin: I. A Lullaby for Lalit
1,0093Viola, Viola
5164Meditation on Haydn’s Name
4975Shadowlines: III Scherzando
4946Shadowlines: V Very freely, solemn and spacious
4317Shadowlines: VI Gently flowing, flexible
3938Three Miniatures for Solo Violin: II. A Canon for Sally
3859Panorama
37110Part One, Scene I: Chorus of Angels I
360albums
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Music of Tribute, Vol. 7: Haydn
Benjamin: Shadowlines / Viola, Viola / Three Studies / Piano Sonata
A Mind of Winter
Written On Skin
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Variations
SOLI: Works for Solo Violin by Bartók, Penderecki, Benjamin, Carter and Kurtág
Benjamin: Into the Little Hill
Benjamin: A Mind of Winter
Benjamin: Piano Figures
Benjamin: Palimpsests
George Benjamin: Into the Little Hill, Dance Figures, Sometime Voices
Benjamin: Shadowlines