Ruth Gipps

Ruth Gipps (20 February 1921 – 23 February 1999) was a British composer, oboist, pianist and impresario.

Biography

Ruth Gipps was born in Bexhill-on-Sea, England in 1921. She was something of a child prodigy, winning performance competitions in which she was considerably younger than the rest of the field -- and female, to boot. After performing her first composition at the age of 8 in one of the numerous music festivals she entered, the work was bought by a publishing house for a guinea and a half. Winning a concerto competition with the Hastings Municipal Orchestra began her performance career in earnest.

In 1936 Gipps entered the Royal College of Music, where she studied theory, composition, piano, and eventually oboe, and where several works of hers were first performed. Continuing her studies at Durham University would lead her to teachers Gordon Jacob and Ralph Vaughan Williams, as well as her future husband, clarinettist Robert Baker.

She was an accomplished all-round musician, as a soloist on both oboe and piano as well as a prolific composer. Her repertoire include works such as Arthur Bliss's Piano Concerto and Constant Lambert's The Rio Grande. When she was 33 her performance career ended, however, due to a hand injury, and she decided to focus her energies on conducting and composition.

A turning point in Gipps' career was the Symphony No. 2, Op. 30, first performed in 1946, which showed the beginnings of her mature style. Gipps' music is marked by a skillful use of instrumental color, and often shows the influence of Vaughan Williams, rejecting the trends in avant-garde modern music such as serialism and twelve-tone music. She considered her orchestral works — particularly her five symphonies — her greatest works. Two substantial piano concertos were also produced.

Her early career was affected strongly by discrimination against women in the male-dominated ranks of music (and particularly composition), by professors and judges as well as the world of music criticism. (For example, she was not even considered for the post of conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra where her longtime associate George Weldon vacated it, because the thought of a woman conductor was "indecent".) Because of it she developed a tough personality that many found off-putting, and a fierce determination to prove herself through her work.

She founded the London Repertoire Orchestra in 1955 as an opportunity for young professional musicians to become exposed to a wide range of music, and the Chanticleer Orchestra in 1961, a professional ensemble which included a work by a living composer in each of its programs, often a premiere performance. Later she would take faculty posts at Trinity College, London (1959 to 1966) and the Royal College of Music (1967 to 1977), and then the Kingston Polytechnic.

She died in 1999, aged 78, after suffering the effects of cancer and a stroke.

Selected works

Orchestra

• Knight in Armour, tone poem, Op. 8
• Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 22 (1942)
• Death on a Pale Horse, Op. 25
• Symphony No. 2 (in One Movement), Op. 30 (1945)
• Mahomet and the Cat, Op. 32 (1947)
• Cringlemire Garden, Impression for String Orchestra, Op. 39 (1952)
• Song, Op. 33 (1948)
• Symphony No. 3, Op. 57 (1965)
• Symphony No. 4, Op. 61 (1972)
• Symphony No. 5, Op. 64 (1982)
• Ambarvalia for small orchestra, Op. 70 (1988)

Concertante

• Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 9 (1940)
• Jane Grey, Fantasy for Viola and String Orchestra, Op. 15 (1940)
• Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra, Op. 20 (1941)
• Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 24 (1943)
• Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 34 (1948)

(Ruth Gipps Piano Concerto in G minor Op. 34 received its premiere recording in 2011. It was made by Cameo Classics for CD (CC9046CD). The soloist was Angela Brownridge, who had been conducted by Gipps as a child prodigy. No full score existed, and this was created from a set of parts by Elizabeth Smith as a commission from Cameo Classics. The orchestra was the Malta Philharmonic conducted by Michael Laus).

• Concerto for Violin, Viola and Small Orchestra, Op. 49 (1957)
• Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, Op. 58 (1968)
• Leviathan for Contra-Bassoon and Chamber Orchestra, Op. 59 (1969)
• Introduction and Carol: The Ox and the Ass for Double Bass and Chamber Orchestra, Op. 71 (1988)

Chamber music

• Kensington Gardens Suite for Oboe and Piano, Op. 2 (1938)
• Sea-Shore Suite for Oboe and Piano, Op. 3b (1939)
• Chamois for 2 Violins and Piano, Op. 3c (1939)
• Sonata No.1 for Oboe and Piano, Op. 5 (1939)
• The Kelpie Of Corrievreckan for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5b (1939)
• Pixie Caravan for Flute and Piano (1939)
• Rowan for Flute and Piano (1940)
• Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Piano, Op. 10 (1940)
• The Piper of Dreams for Oboe Solo, Op. 12b (1940)
• Sea-Weed Song for English Horn and Piano, Op. 12c (1940)
• Suite for 2 Violins, Op. 12d (1940)
• Elephant God for Clarinet and Percussion, Op. 12e (1940)
• Sabrina for String Quartet, Op. 13 (1940)
• Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola and Cello, Op. 16
• Brocade for Piano Quartet, Op. 17
• Rhapsody in E♭ for Clarinet Quintet, Op. 23 (1942)
• Rhapsody for Violin and Piano, Op. 27a (1943)
• Scherzo: The Three Billy Goats Gruff for Oboe, Horn, and Bassoon, Op. 27b
• Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 42 (1954)
• Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 45 (1955)
• Lyric Fantasy for Viola and Piano, Op. 46 (1955)
• String Quartet, Op. 47 (1956)
• Evocation for Violin and Piano, Op. 48 (1956)
• Prelude for Bass Clarinet Solo (or B♭ Clarinet), Op. 51 (1958)
• Seascape for 2 Flutes, Oboe, English Horn, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons and 2 Horns, Op. 53 (1958)
• A Tarradiddle for 2 Horns, Op. 54 (1959)
• Sonatina for Horn and Piano, Op. 56 (1960)
• Triton for Horn and Piano, Op. 60 (1970)
• Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 63 (1978)
• Octet for 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons and 2 Horns, Op. 65 (1983)
• Sonata No. 2 for Oboe and Piano, Op. 66 (1985)
• The Saint Francis Window for Alto Flute and Piano, Op. 67 (1986)
• The Riders of Rohan for Trombone and Piano (1987)
• Scherzo and Adagio for Cello Solo, Op. 68 (1987)
• Sinfonietta for 10 Winds and Percussion, Op. 73 (1989)
• Threnody for English Horn and Piano (or Organ), Op. 74 (1990)
• The Pony Cart for Flute, Horn and Piano, Op. 75 (1990)
• A Wealden Suite, Quartet for E♭, B♭, A and Bass Clarinets, Op. 76 (1991)
• Cool Running Water for Bass Flute and Piano, Op. 77 (1991)
• Pan and Apollo for 2 Oboes, English Horn and Harp, Op. 78 (1992)

Piano

• The Fairy Shoemaker (1929)
• Conversation for 2 Pianos, Op. 36 (1950)
• Theme and Variations, Op. 57a (1965)
• Opalescence, Op. 72 (1989)

Choral

• Mazeppa's Ride for Female Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 1
• The Cat, Cantata for Alto, Baritone, Double Mixed Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 32 (1947)
• Goblin Market for 2 Sopranos, Female Chorus and String Orchestra (or Piano), Op. 40 (1953)
• An Easter Carol for Soprano, Mixed Chorus and Piano or Organ, Op. 52 (1958)
• Magnificat and Nunc dimittis for Mixed Chorus and Organ, Op. 55 (1959)
• Gloria in excelsis for Unison Chorus and Organ, Op. 62 (1977)
• A Service for Holy Communion for Mixed Chorus and Organ, Op. 62a (1974)

Vocal

• Four Baritone Songs for Baritone and Piano, Op. 4b (1939)
• Heaven for High Voice and Piano (1939)
• Four Songs of Youth for Tenor and Piano (1940)
• Two Songs for Soprano and Piano, Op. 11 (1940)
• Rhapsody for Wordless Soprano and Small Orchestra, Op. 18
• Ducks for Soprano, Flute, Cello and Piano, Op. 19 (1941)
• The Song of the Narcissus for Soprano and Piano, Op. 37 (1951)
• Three Incantations for Soprano and Harp, Op. 50 (1957)
• The Lady of the Lambs for Soprano and Wind Quintet, Op. 79 (1992)

Further reading

• Halstead, Jill (2006). Ruth Gipps: Anti-Modernism, Nationalism And Difference in English Music. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 0-7546-0178-1. 

External links

• Classical Music on the Web: Obituary of Ruth Gipps