Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include The Triumph of Time (1972) and the operas The Mask of Orpheus (1986), Gawain (1991), and The Minotaur (2008). The last of these was ranked by music critics at The Guardian in 2019 as the third-best piece of the 21st century. Even his compositions that were not written for the stage often showed a theatrical approach. A performance of his saxophone concerto Panic during the BBC's Last Night of the Proms caused "national notoriety". He received many international awards and honorary degrees.
Genre: contemporary-classical, british-contemporary-classical
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- Status: registered
- Registered: 2026-06-21T06:10:15+00:00
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Top Tracks
- 9 Settings of Lorine Niedecker for Soprano and Cello: Paul
- Three Latin Motets from 'The Last Supper': III. In supremae nocte cenae
- The Mask of Orpheus, Act I Scene 1: First Passing Cloud
- The Mask of Orpheus, Act I Scene I: First Act of Love - First Duet of Love
- The Mask of Orpheus, Act I Scene 1: The First Poem of Reminiscence
- The Mask of Orpheus, Act I: Parados
- Piano Trio
- 3 Settings of Lorine Niedecker for Soprano and Cello: I Was the Solitary Plover
- 3 Settings of Lorine Niedecker for Soprano and Cello: Always North of Him
- Birtwistle: ...agm...
- Panic
- The Mask of Orpheus: First Passing Cloud
- Oockooing Bird,
- Melencolia I (Excerpt)
- Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments: No. 16, Coda
- Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments: No. 15, Cantus V - Like the Wild Hyacinth Flower
- Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments: No. 14, Cantus IV - The Moon and the Seven Pleiades
- Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments: No. 13, Entr'acte V
- Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments: No. 12, Cantus III - Love Like Mountain Wind
- Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments: No. 11, Entr'acte IV
Albums (42)
- A Century of Artistry (2026)
- Above the Mists - Echoes of the Mountain (2026)
- Pictured Within "Birthday Variations for M.C.B" - Kuusisto: Symphony, Op. 39 (Live) (2023)
- Postcards from Grimethorpe (2023)
- Inner Landscape (2022)
- Kurtág: Messages de feu Demoiselle R. V. Troussova, Op. 17 - Birtwistle: ...agm... - Grisey: Modulations (2022)
- Crowd (2022)
- Harrison Birtwistle: Chamber Works (2022)
- Musica viva, Vol. 29: Harrison Birtwistle (2019)
- Duet 5 (Live) (2016)
- Duet 4 (Live) (2016)
- Duet 2 "Bourdon" (2016)
- Duet 1 "The Message" (Live) (2016)
- Birtwistle: Angel Fighter, In Broken Images & Virelai (Sus une fontayne) (2015)
- Duet 3 (2015)
- The NMC Songbook (2015)
- Birtwistle: Songs 1970-2006 (2015)
- Harrison Birtwistle: Gawain (1994 Revised Version) (2014)
- Birtwistle: Chamber Music (2014)
- Harrison Birtwistle: The Moth Requiem (2014)
- Electronic Calendar - The EMS Tapes (1970)
- Birtwistle: Secret Theater - Ritual Fragment - Nenia: The Death of Orpheus (2013)
- Harrison Birtwistle: Night's Black Bird, The Shadow of Night & The Cry of Anubis (2012)
- Birtwistle: The Mask of Orpheus (2012)
- Harrison Birtwistle: Punch and Judy (2012)
- Harrison Birtwistle: Secret Theatre (2012)
- Harrison Birtwistle: Melencolia I, Ritual Fragment & Meridian (2012)
- Birtwistle: The Triumph of Time, Ritual Fragment & Gawain's Journey (2012)
- Icon: Melos Ensemble (2011)
- Birtwistle: Complete String Quartets (1970)
- a/rhythmia (2009)
- Birtwistle: The Fields of Sorrow, Verses for Ensembles & Nenia (The Death of Orpheus) (2008)
- On Christmas Day. New Carols from King's (2005)
- Birtwistle: The Triumph of Time (2005)
- Birtwistle: Theseus Game; Earth Dances (2004)
- Birtwistle: The Woman And The Hare (2002)
- Taverner: To a Child - Birtwistle: Entr'actes (2001)
- Birtwistle : Pulse Shadows (2000)
- Joanna MacGregor - Harrison Birtwistle - Antiphonies & Harrison's Clocks (1970)
- Birtwistle: Panic / Earth Dances (1996)
- Birtwistle: Secret Theatre; Tragoedia; Five Distances; 3 Settings of Celan (1995)
- Harrison Birtwistle, Music for Wind and Percussion (1991)
Full machine-verifiable record (JSON-LD, dual-chain proof, every album and recording): https://artists.proofprofile.net/storage/jsonld/artists/745e/artist-1209438.json