Nicholas Maw

Biography

John Nicholas Maw (5 November 1935 – 19 May 2009) was a British composer. Among his works are the operas The Rising of the Moon (1970) and Sophie's Choice (2002).

Biography

Born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Maw was the son of Clarence Frederick Maw and Hilda Ellen Chambers. He attended the Wennington School, a boarding school, in Wetherby in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was 14. He attended the Royal Academy of Music on Marylebone Road in London where his teachers were Paul Steinitz and Lennox Berkeley. He then studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Max Deutsch.
From 1998 until 2008, Maw served on the faculty of the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, where he taught music composition. He had previously served on the faculties of Yale University, Bard College, Boston University, the Royal Academy of Music, Cambridge University, and Exeter University.

Personal life

In 1960, Maw married Karen Graham, and they had a son and a daughter. Their marriage was dissolved in 1976. He took up residence in Washington, DC in 1984, living there with his companion Maija Hay, a ceramic artist, until his death. He died at home on 19 May 2009, at age 73, as a result of heart failure with complications from diabetes.
On Sunday 6 November 2011, BBC Radio 3 broadcast a 2-hour tribute called, "Nicholas Maw: A Celebration". The program featured performances of Maw's Violin Concerto, an orchestral suite drawn from his opera, Sophie's Choice, and two choral works (One foot in Eden still, I stand and Hymnus).

Compositions

Maw is best known for Scenes and Arias (1962) for three female voices and orchestra, the orchestral pieces Odyssey (1987) and The World in the Evening (1988), the guitar work Music of Memory (1989) and a violin concerto (1993) written for Joshua Bell. His music has been described as neo-romantic but also as modernist and non-tonal (for instance Personæ, his cycle of piano pieces).
In 2002, the opera Sophie's Choice (based on William Styron's novel) was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was premièred at the Royal Opera House under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle, and afterwards received a new production by stage director Markus Bothe at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Volksoper Wien, which had its North American premiere by the Washington National Opera in October 2006. Mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager, who sang Sophie in London, reprised the role at the National Opera, joined by American baritone Rod Gilfry as Nathan Landau, the schizophrenic man who initially rescues Sophie and then persuades her to join him in a suicide pact. Maw also prepared a concert suite for orchestra based on the music.
Odyssey was performed in BBC's Maida Vale Studios on 9 December 2005, and was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 two days later. Rattle has also conducted a recording of the work with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Chronological list of compositions

Eight Chinese Lyrics (1956) for mezzo-soprano
Requiem (1956–57) for voices & orchestra
Flute Sonatina (1957)
Nocturne (1957) for mezzo-soprano & chamber orchestra
Six Chinese Songs (1959) for contralto & piano
Five Epigrams (1960) for chorus
Our Lady's song (1961), carol for chorus
Chamber Music (1962) for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon & piano
Scenes and Arias (1962, rev. 1966) for soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto and orchestra
Round (1963) for children's voices, SATB chorus and piano
The Angel Gabriel (1963), choral arrangement of Basque melody
Bulalow (1964), carol for chorus
One Man Show (1964, rev. 1966 & 1970), opera
Arrangement of Corpus Christi Carol (1964) for sopranos and piano
String Quartet No. 1 (1965)
Severn Bridge Variation (1966) for a composite work with Malcolm Arnold, Michael Tippett, Alun Hoddinott, Grace Williams and Daniel Jones
Sinfonia (1966) for chamber orchestra
Six Interiors (1966) for tenor and guitar
Sonata (1966) for strings and two horns
The Voice of Love, Eight Peter Porter songs (1966) for mezzo-soprano & piano
Double Canon for Igor Stravinsky on his 85th Birthday (1967)
The Rising of the Moon (1967–70), three-act opera
Concert Music from The Rising of the Moon (arr. 1972) for orchestra
Epitaph-Canon in Memory of Igor Stravinsky (1971) for flute, clarinet & harp
Five Irish Songs (1972) for chorus
Personae I, II & III (1973) for piano
Serenade for orchestra (1973, rev. 1977)
Life Studies (1973–76) for fifteen strings
Te Deum (1975) for treble or soprano, tenor, SATB chorus, congregation and organ
Reverdie (1975), five songs for male voices
Annes! (1976) for unaccompanied SATB chorus
Nonsense Rhymes for Children (1976), 20 songs with piano accompaniment
La Vita Nuova (1979), five songs for soprano and chamber ensemble
The Ruin (1980) for SSAATTBB chorus and solo horn
Flute Quartet (1981)
Summer Dances (1981) for orchestra
Night Thoughts (1982) for solo flute
String Quartet No. 2 (1982)
The Old King's Lament (1982) for solo double-bass
Spring Music (1982–83) for orchestra
Little Suite (1984) for solo guitar
Sonata Notturna (1985) for cello & strings
Personae IV, V & VI (1985–86) for piano
Little Concert (1987) for oboe, two horns & strings
Odyssey (1972-5, 1979, 1985-7) for orchestra
Ghost Dances (1988), imaginary ballet for five players
The World in the Evening (1988) for orchestra
Five American Folksongs (1989) for voice & piano
Music of Memory (1989, rev. 1991) for solo guitar
Three Hymns (1989), for SATB chorus and organ
Roman Canticle (1989, rev. 1991) for baritone, flute, viola & harp
One Foot in Eden Still, I Stand (1990) for mixed chorus and optional organ
Piano Trio (1990-1)
American Games (1991) for wind orchestra
Shahnama (1992) for chamber orchestra
The Head of Orpheus (1992) for soprano & two clarinets
Swetė Jesu (1992) for chorus
Violin Concerto (1993)
String Quartet No. 3 (1994)
Dance Scenes (1994–95) for orchestra
Voices of Memory (1995) for orchestra
Hymnus (1995–96) for SATB chorus and orchestra
Solo Violin Sonata (1996–97)
Stanza (1997) for solo violin
Narration (2001) for solo cello
Intrada (2001) for string quartet
Sophie's Choice (1999-2002), four-act opera based on the William Styron novel
Concert Suite from Sophie's Choice (2003) for orchestra with optional mezzo-soprano
Tango from Sophie's Choice (2004) for solo guitar
Fanfare (2004) for brass ensemble
Concerto for Cor Anglais and Orchestra (2004)
String Quartet No. 4 (2005)
String Sextet (2007)
Works lists may be found online.