Richard Barrett (composer)

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Richard Barrett (born 7 November 1959, Swansea, South Wales) is a British composer.

Barrett began to study music seriously only after graduating in genetics and microbiology at University College London in 1980 (Warnaby 2001). Under the influence of Iannis Xenakis, Helmut Lachenmann, and Hans-Joachim Hespos (Anderson 1997, 55; Freeman 1994, 42–43) he became associated with the so-called New Complexity group of British composers.

Many of Barrett's works are grouped into series, and have extra-musical associations—particularly with the writers Samuel Beckett and Paul Celan, but also the Chilean painter Roberto Matta. Barrett's techniques are often highly involved mathematically, and he frequently avails himself of computer assistance (Warnaby 2001).

He taught composition at Middlesex University from 1989 to 1992, and was appointed professor of electronic composition at the Institute of Sonology of the Hague Royal Conservatory in 1996, where he taught for six years. He lived in Berlin from 2002 until 2006, when he joined the faculty of Brunel University in London (Service 2005; Brunel University webpage).

Barrett won the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt, in 1986, and was awarded the Gaudeamus Prize in 1989.

[edit] References

Anderson, Julian. 1997. "Richard Barrett: Vanity; Michael Finnissy: Red Earth; Anthony Payne: Time’s Arrow". Tempo, new series, no. 201 (July): 55–57.
Fox, Christopher. 1993. "British Music at Darmstadt, 1982–1992". Tempo, new series, no. 186 (September): 21–25
Fox, Christopher. 1995. "Music as Fiction: A Consideration of the Work of Richard Barrett". Contemporary Music Review, 13, no. 1 ("Aspects of Complexity in Recent British Music"):147–57.
Freeman, Robin. 1994. "Richard Barrett, compositeur maudit manqué", Tempo, new series, no. 190 (September):41–6
Hewitt, Ivan. 1994. "Fail Worse, Fail Better". Musical Times 135, no. 1813 (March): 148–51.
Service, Tom. 2005. "Just Say No". The Guardian (10 February).
Toop, Richard. 1988. "Four Facets of the 'New Complexity'". Contact no. 32:4–8.
Toop, Richard. 1991. "Richard Barrett in Interview". Sounds Australian, no. 29:27–31
Warnaby, John. 2001. “Barrett, Richard”. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.