Timeline
1900s
1970s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: Rawsthorne: Piano Concerto no. 2 / Concerto for Two Hands / Simpson: Piano Concerto
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
· Album
Album: Violin Concertos nos. 1 & 2 / Improvisations on a Theme of Constant Lambert / Divertimento
Album
source: musicbrainz
· Album
Album: Concerto for String Orchestra / Divertimento for Chamber Orchestra
Album
source: musicbrainz
· Album
Album: Piano Quintet / Piano Trio / Cello Sonata / Concertante / Viola Sonata
Album
source: musicbrainz
2000s
· Album
Album: Piano Concertos nos. 1 and 2 / Improvisation on a Theme by Constant Lambert
Album
source: musicbrainz
· Album
Album: Practical Cats / Street Corner Overture / Madame Chrysanthème Ballet Suite
Album
source: musicbrainz
Biography
Biography
Alan Rawsthorne (2 May 1905 – 24 July 1971) was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex.
Early years
Alan Rawsthorne was born in Deardengate House, Haslingden, Lancashire, to Hubert Rawsthorne (1868–1943), a well-off medical doctor, and his wife, Janet Bridge (1877/8–1927). Despite what appears to have been a happy and affectionate family life with his parents and elder sister, Barbara (the only sibling), in beautiful Lancashire countryside, as a boy Rawsthorne suffered from fragile health. Although he did at various times attend schools in Southport, much of Rawsthorne's early education came through private tutoring at home. Despite his childhood aptitude for music and literature, Rawsthorne's parents tried to steer him away from his dreams of becoming a professional musician. As a result, he unsuccessfully tried to take on degree courses at Liverpool University, first in dentistry and then architecture. Concerning dentistry, Rawsthorne is on record as having said "I gave that up, thank God, before getting near anyone's mouth", while his friend Constant Lambert quipped "Mr Rawsthorne assures me that he has given up the practice of dentistry, even as a hobby."
Career
In 1925, Rawsthorne was finally able to enroll at the Royal Manchester College of Music, where his teachers included Frank Merrick for the piano and Carl Fuchs for the cello. In 1927, Rawsthorne's mother died aged just forty-nine. After graduating from the Royal Manchester College of Music around 1930, Rawsthorne spent the next couple of years pursuing his piano training with Egon Petri at Zakopane in Poland, and then briefly also in Berlin.
On his return to England in 1932, Rawsthorne took up a post as pianist and teacher at Dartington Hall in Devon, where he became composer-in-residence for the School of Dance and Mime. In 1934, Rawsthorne left for London to try his fortune as a freelance composer. His first real public success arrived four years later with a performance of his Theme and Variations for Two Violins at the 1938 International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) Festival in London. The next year, his large-scale Symphonic Studies for orchestra was performed in Warsaw, again at the ISCM Festival. The first in a line of completely assured orchestral scores, the Symphonic Studies, which can be heard as a concerto for orchestra in all but name, rapidly helped Rawsthorne establish himself as a composer possessing a highly distinctive musical voice.()
Other acclaimed works by Rawsthorne include a viola sonata (1937), two piano concertos (1939, 1951), an oboe concerto (1947), two violin concertos (1948, 1956), a concerto for string orchestra (1949), and the Elegy for guitar (1971), a piece written for and completed by Julian Bream after the composer's death. Other works include a cello concerto, three acknowledged string quartets among other chamber works, and three symphonies.
Rawsthorne wrote a number of film scores. His best–known work in this field was the music for the 1953 British war film The Cruel Sea, and his other scores included many popular British films, such as The Captive Heart (1946), School for Secrets (1946), Uncle Silas (1947), Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948), Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951), Where No Vultures Fly (1951), West of Zanzibar (1954), The Man Who Never Was (1956) and Floods of Fear (1958).
Rawsthorne died from pneumonia at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge on 24 July 1971.
Family
In 1934, Rawsthorne married his first wife Jessie Hinchcliffe, a violinist in the Philharmonia Orchestra. They separated in 1947 and divorced in 1954. Hinchcliffe went on to marry René Leibowitz in Paris. In 1955, he married Isabel Rawsthorne (née Isabel Nicholas), an artist and model well known in the Paris and Soho art scenes. Her contemporaries included André Derain, Alberto Giacometti, Pablo Picasso and Francis Bacon. Isabel Rawsthorne was the widow of composer Constant Lambert and stepmother to Kit Lambert, manager of the rock group the Who, who died in 1981. Alan Rawsthorne was her third husband; Sefton Delmer (a journalist and member of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War) was her first husband. Isabel died in 1992.
Orchestral
Light Music for Strings (1938)
Symphonic Studies (1938)
Street Corner Overture (1944-5)
Cortèges, Fantasy Overture (1945)
Prisoners' March – from film The Captive Heart (1946)
Concerto for String Orchestra (1949)
Symphony No. 1 (1950)
Music from film The Cruel Sea (1953)
Suite from Madame Chrysanthème (1957)
Hallé Overture (1958)
Symphony No. 2 A Pastoral Symphony (1959)
Symphony No. 3 (1964)
Improvisations on a Theme by Constant Lambert (1960)
Divertimento for Chamber Orchestra (1962)
Elegiac Rhapsody for Strings (1963)
'Suite for Brass Band' (1964)
Overture for Farnham (1967)
Theme, Variations and Finale (1967)
Triptych for orchestra (1969)
Concertante
Clarinet Concerto (1936–37)
Piano Concerto No. 1 (1939, revised 1942)
Oboe Concerto (1947)
Violin Concerto No. 1 (1948)
Concertante Pastorale for flute, horn and orchestra (1951)
Piano Concerto No. 2 (1951)
Violin Concerto No. 2 (1956)
Cello Concerto (1966)
Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (1968)
Chamber
Sonatina for Flute, Oboe and Piano (1936)
Concertante for Piano and Violin (1937)
Theme and Variations for Two Violins (1937)
String Quartet No. 1 (1939)
Clarinet Quartet (1948)
String Quartet No. 2 (1954)
Concerto for Ten Instruments (1961)
Piano Trio (1962)
Quintet for Piano, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn & Bassoon (1963)
String Quartet No. 3 (1965)
Piano Quintet (1968)
Suite for Flute, Viola and Harp (1968)
Instrumental
Violin Sonata in E minor (1927 - missing)
Violin Sonata in A major (c.1933)
Violin Sonata in A minor (c.1934)
Pierrette: Valse Caprice for violin and piano (c.1934)
Concertante for violin and piano (1934)
Suite for Treble Recorder & Piano (1939)
Viola Sonata (1937, revised 1953)
Cello Sonata (1949)
Violin Sonata (1958)
Elegy for Guitar (1971)
Piano
Ballade in G sharp minor (dated Christmas 1929)
Bagatelles (1938)
The Creel: suite for piano duet (1940)
Piano Sonatina (1949)
Four Romantic Pieces (1953)
Ballade (1967)
Vocal orchestral
A Canticle of Man: chamber cantata (1952)
Practical Cats for speaker and orchestra (1954)
Medieval Diptych (1962, BBC Proms)
Carmen Vitale: choral suite (1963)
The God in a Cave: cantata (1966)
Tankas of the Four Seasons (1965, Cheltenham Festival)
Choral
Canzonet from A Garland for the Queen (1953)
A Rose for Lidice (1956)
Four Seasonal Songs (1956)
Lament for a Sparrow (1962)
The Oxen (1965)
Vocal
Three French Nursery Songs (1938)
We Three Merry Maids (1940)
Two Songs to Words by John Fletcher (1943)
Carol (1948)
Saraband (with Ernest Irving) (1948, taken from the film Saraband for Dead Lovers)
Scena Rustica for soprano and harp (1967)
Two Fish (c. 1970)
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 13 | 67.6th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 11 | 82.8th |
| Studio albums | 9 | 90th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 12 | 88.9th |
| Recording span (years) | -25 | 7.8th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (11 release groups · 9 studio albums)
Albums · 9
Violin Concertos nos. 1 & 2 / Improvisations on a Theme of Constant Lambert / Divertimento
1997 · studio album
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Tracklist · 9 tracks · 1:17:39
1Violin Concerto no. 1: Adagio espressivo e rubato15:502Violin Concerto no. 1: Andante (I'istesso tempo) Allegro12:203Violin Concerto no. 2: Allegretto9:534Violin Concerto no. 2: Poco lento6:385Violin Concerto no. 2: Tema con variazioni (Allegro moderato)8:376Improvisations on a Theme by Constant Lambert12:367Divertimento: Rondo5:178Divertimento: Lullaby2:559Divertimento: Jig3:33Violin Concertos nos. 1 and 2 / Fantasy Overture: Cortèges
1998 · studio album
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Tracklist · 6 tracks · 1:04:07
1Fantasy Overture: Cortèges13:212Concerto for Violin and Orchestra no. 1: I. Adagio espressivo e rubato - Andante con moto, poco teneramente15:493Concerto for Violin and Orchestra no. 1: II. Andante (I'istesso tempo) - Allegro - Allegro moderato11:344Concerto for Violin and Orchestra no. 2: I. Allegretto8:485Concerto for Violin and Orchestra no. 2: II. Poco lento6:416Concerto for Violin and Orchestra no. 2: III. Tema con variazioni7:54Concerto for String Orchestra / Divertimento for Chamber Orchestra
1999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 13 tracks · 1:03:34
1Concerto for String Orchestra: Largo maestoso - Molto allegro7:062Concerto for String Orchestra: Lento e mesto7:433Concerto for String Orchestra: Allegro piacevole6:454Concertante pastorale for Flute, Horn and Strings10:015Light Music for Strings (Based on Catalan Tunes)3:556Suite for Recorder and String Orchestra: Sarabande. Maestoso1:237Suite for Recorder and String Orchestra: Fantasia. Andante con moto2:328Suite for Recorder and String Orchestra: Air. Andante grazioso1:269Suite for Recorder and String Orchestra: Jig. Allegro1:1510Elegiac Rhapsody for String Orchestra10:1511Divertimento for Chamber Orchestra: Rondo. Allegro moderato5:0312Divertimento for Chamber Orchestra: Lullaby. Allegretto2:3913Divertimento for Chamber Orchestra: Jig. Presto3:31Piano Quintet / Piano Trio / Cello Sonata / Concertante / Viola Sonata
1999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 14 tracks · 1:10:03
1Quintet for Piano and Strings: Allegro - Allegretto5:542Quintet for Piano and Strings: Allegro3:193Quintet for Piano and Strings: Lento non troppo5:044Quintet for Piano and Strings: Allegro1:245Concertante for Violin and Piano8:296Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello: Introduction: Poco lento - Capriccio: Allegro deciso6:507Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello: Theme and Variations: Poco lento - Allegro - Allegretto7:088Sonata for Viola and Piano: Maestoso - Molto allegro5:429Sonata for Viola and Piano: Scherzo2:2710Sonata for Viola and Piano: Adagio3:4511Sonata for Viola and Piano: Rondo: Allegro commodo3:5612Sonata for Cello and Piano: Adagio - Allegro appassionato4:5713Sonata for Cello and Piano: Adagio5:4814Sonata for Cello and Piano: Allegro molto5:20Cello Concerto / Oboe Concerto / Symphonic Studies
2000 · studio album
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Tracklist · 7 tracks · 1:11:46
1Symphonic Studies21:312Oboe Concerto: Maestoso - Allegro5:373Oboe Concerto: Allegretto con morbiezza5:554Oboe Concerto: Vivace5:165Cello Concerto: Allegro lirico (Quasi variazioni)11:146Cello Concerto: Mesto12:247Cello Concerto: Allegro - Vivace9:49Piano Concertos nos. 1 and 2 / Improvisation on a Theme by Constant Lambert
2003 · studio album
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Tracklist · 8 tracks · 56:03
1Concerto no. 1 for Piano and Orchestra: Capriccio: Allegro molto7:192Concerto no. 1 for Piano and Orchestra: Chaconne: Andante con moto5:003Concerto no. 1 for Piano and Orchestra: Tarantella: Vivace5:134Improvisations on a Theme by Constant Lambert12:155Concerto no. 2 for Piano and Orchestra: Allegro piacevole8:056Concerto no. 2 for Piano and Orchestra: Allegro molto5:007Concerto no. 2 for Piano and Orchestra: Intermezzo: Adagio semplice6:468Concerto no. 2 for Piano and Orchestra: Allegro6:252005 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 1:15:08
1Symphony no. 1: I. Allegro tempestuoso7:112Symphony no. 1: II. Allegro7:543Symphony no. 1: III. Allegro non troppo3:364Symphony no. 1: IV. Poco maestoso - Allegro risoluto6:075Symphony no. 2 "A Pastoral Symphony": I. Allegro piacevole6:256Symphony no. 2 "A Pastoral Symphony": II. Poco lento e liberamente5:247Symphony no. 2 "A Pastoral Symphony": III. Country Dance. Allegro giocoso3:098Symphony no. 2 "A Pastoral Symphony": IV. Andante4:509Symphony no. 3: I. Allegro7:5510Symphony no. 3: II. Alla sarabanda. Andantino8:2411Symphony no. 3: III. Scherzo. Allegro molto4:2912Symphony no. 3: IV. Allegro risoluto9:44String Quartets / Theme and Variations for Two Violins
2006 · studio album
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Tracklist · 24 tracks · 1:00:06
1Theme and Variations: Theme. Allegro0:442Theme and Variations: Variation 1. Capriccietto0:483Theme and Variations: Variation 2. Siciliano2:044Theme and Variations: Variation 3. Cancrizzante0:535Theme and Variations: Variation 4. Rhapsodia2:336Theme and Variations: Variation 5. Notturno3:167Theme and Variations: Variation 6. Scherzetto0:398Theme and Variations: Variation 7. Ostinato1:109Theme and Variations: Variation 8. Canone0:3010Theme and Variations: Variation 9. Fantasia2:5911String Quartet no. 1 "Theme and Variations": Theme. Tempo giusto, espressivo e poco agitato0:5112String Quartet no. 1 "Theme and Variations": Variation 1. L'istesso tempo0:4313String Quartet no. 1 "Theme and Variations": Variation 2. Andante appassionato1:4014String Quartet no. 1 "Theme and Variations": Variation 3. Allegro1:1515String Quartet no. 1 "Theme and Variations": Variation 4. Adagio, poco misterioso2:3816String Quartet no. 1 "Theme and Variations": Variation 5. Allegro preciso1:0617String Quartet no. 1 "Theme and Variations": Variation 6. Prestissimo1:4818String Quartet no. 2: I. Maestoso e pesante - Allegretto - Allegro agitato4:0019String Quartet no. 2: II. Allegro appassionato sempre molto rubato4:1620String Quartet no. 2: III. Allegretto3:3221String Quartet no. 2: IV. Theme, Three Variations and Coda5:5022String Quartet no. 3: I. Allegro deciso - Allegretto - Allegro deciso7:3123String Quartet no. 3: II. Alla ciacona - Andante5:3724String Quartet no. 3: III. Molto vivace3:43Practical Cats / Street Corner Overture / Madame Chrysanthème Ballet Suite
2008 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 1:12:32
1Street Corner Overture5:422Madame Chrysanthème Ballet Suite: I. Procession with Lanterns (Allegretto, poco misterioso)2:463Madame Chrysanthème Ballet Suite: II. Sword Dance (Allegro feroce)1:144Madame Chrysanthème Ballet Suite: III. Hornpipe (Allegro giocoso)1:205Madame Chrysanthème Ballet Suite: IV. Les Mousmès (Allegretto grazioso)3:176Practical Cats - An Entertainment for Speaker and Orchestra: I. Overture (Presto)2:157Practical Cats - An Entertainment for Speaker and Orchestra: II. The Naming of Cats (Allegretto)3:258Practical Cats - An Entertainment for Speaker and Orchestra: III. The Old Gumbie Cat (Allegro)4:519Practical Cats - An Entertainment for Speaker and Orchestra: IV. Gus: The Theatre Cat (Allegro moderato)3:3810Practical Cats - An Entertainment for Speaker and Orchestra: V. Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town (Andante pomposo)3:2811Practical Cats - An Entertainment for Speaker and Orchestra: VI. Old Deuteronomy (Andante teneramente)4:0112Practical Cats - An Entertainment for Speaker and Orchestra: VII. The Song of the Jellicles (Molto vivace)1:2613Theme, Variations, & Finale15:1814Medieval Diptych, for Baritone & Orchestra: I. Sodenly Afraid10:1215Medieval Diptych, for Baritone & Orchestra: II. Adam Lay I-Bounden4:0616Coronation Overture5:33
Album · 2
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Rawsthorne: Piano Concerto no. 2 / Concerto for Two Hands / Simpson: Piano ConcertoSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 8 tracks · 1:09:161Piano Concerto no. 2: Allegro piacevole9:02 2Piano Concerto no. 2: Allegro molto5:25 3Piano Concerto no. 2: Adagio semplice - poco allegro - tempo 17:21 4Piano Concerto no. 2: Allegro6:48 5Piano Concerto for Two Pianos: Allegro di bravura - allegro7:15 6Piano Concerto for Two Pianos: Adagio4:30 7Piano Concerto for Two Pianos: Theme and Variations7:02 8Piano Concerto: Largo - Allegro - Vivace - Andante con moto - Allegro con brio21:53 | Compilation | 1996 | |
| 2007 | Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf / Rawsthorne: Practical Cats / Britten: The Young Person’s Guide to the OrchestraSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 39 tracks · 1:11:521Practical Cats: Overture (Presto)2:22 2Practical Cats: The Naming of Cats (Allegretto)2:55 3Practical Cats: The Old Gumbie Cat (Allegro)5:19 4Practical Cats: Gus: The Theatre Cat (Allegro moderato)4:17 5Practical Cats: Bustopher Jones: The Cat about Town (Andante pomposo)3:23 6Practical Cats: Old Deuteronomy (Andante teneramente)4:11 7Practical Cats: The Song of the Jellicles (Molto vivace)1:26 8Peter and the Wolf: Introduction2:12 9Peter and the Wolf: Early one morning (Peter)1:02 10Peter and the Wolf: One a branch of a tree (The Bird)1:31 11Peter and the Wolf: Just then, a duck came waddling round (The Duck)2:16 12Peter and the Wolf: Suddenly,something caught Peter's attention (The Cat)1:55 13Peter and the Wolf: Grandfather came out (Grandfather)2:26 14Peter and the Wolf: No sooner had Peter gone (The Wolf)3:08 15Peter and the Wolf: And now, this is how things stood4:11 16Peter and the Wolf: Meanwhile, Peter made a lasso1:54 17Peter and the Wolf: Just then... (The Hunters)2:29 18Peter and the Wolf: And now... imagine the triumphant procession!5:07 19The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Spoken Introduction0:59 20The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Theme (Allegro maestoso and largamente)0:27 21The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Woodwind0:23 22The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Brass0:22 23The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Strings0:25 24The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Percussion0:26 25The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Full Orchestra0:20 26The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Flutes and Piccolo - (Presto)0:32 27The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Oboes - (Lento)1:12 28The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Clarinets - (Moderato)0:45 29The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Bassoons - (Allegro alla marcia)0:59 30The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Violins - (Brillante - Alla polacca)0:53 31The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Violas - (Meno mosso)1:09 32The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Cellos1:24 33The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Double basses - Lento (Cominciando lento ma poco a poco accel. al Allegro)1:00 34The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Harps (Maestoso)0:49 35The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Horns (L'Istesso tempo)0:54 36The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Trumpets - (Vivace)0:33 37The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Trombones and bass tuba - (Allegro pomposo)1:09 38The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Timpani and the rest of the percussion - (Moderato)1:51 39The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: Fugue (Allegro molto)3:16 | Compilation | 2007 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Alan Rawsthorne head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 13 | 67.6th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 11 | 82.8th |
| Studio albums | 9 | 90th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 12 | 88.9th |
| Recording span (years) | -25 | 7.8th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/abbe8130-c320-4a8b-849b-3662032ccf50discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/abbe8130-c320-4a8b-849b-3662032ccf50core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q428560genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q428560seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rawsthornebiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rawsthorne
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q428560 · MusicBrainz: abbe8130-c320-4a8b-849b-3662032ccf50
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