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Tier 3 · vertical & regionalfull biography
Sally Beamish
Person · female · United Kingdom · London · born 1956 · recording since 1999
British composer and violist (born 1956)
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Also known as 萨莉·比米什
Timeline
13 events▣ Album 9✦ Award 2◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1
1950s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: River: Viola Concerto / Cello Concerto "River" / Tam Lin for Oboe & Orchestra
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
· Album
Album: River: Viola Concerto / Cello Concerto "River" / Tam Lin for Oboe & Orchestra
Album
source: musicbrainz
2000s
2010s
2020s
Biography
English biography638 words · 4 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1373676455
Biography
Sarah Frances Beamish (born 26 August 1956) is a British composer and violist. Her works include chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in theatre, film and television, as well as composing for children and for her local community.
Early life and education
Sarah Frances Beamish was born on 26 August 1956 in London, to William Anthony Alten Beamish and Ursula Mary Beamish (née Snow). She attended Camden School for Girls and played in the National Youth Orchestra. She studied viola at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she received composition lessons from Anthony Gilbert and Lennox Berkeley. She later studied in Germany at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, with the Italian violist Bruno Giuranna.
Career
As a violist in the Raphael Ensemble, she recorded four discs of string sextets. However she made her mark as a composer, particularly after moving to Scotland. She has written a large amount of music for orchestra, including two symphonies and several concertos (for violin, viola, cello, oboe, saxophone, saxophone quartet, trumpet, percussion, flute and accordion), chamber and instrumental music, film scores, theatre music, and music for amateurs.
In September 1993, Beamish received the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for outstanding achievement in composition. In 1994 and 1995 she co-hosted the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) composers' course in Hoy with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. From 1998 to 2002, she was composer in residence with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the SCO, for which she wrote four major works. Beamish won a 'Creative Scotland' Award from the Scottish Arts Council that enabled her to write her oratorio for the 2001 BBC Proms – the Knotgrass Elegy premiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus with Sir Andrew Davis.
Other works include three viola concerti, five string quartets, two percussion concerti (the second written for Colin Currie with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Stanford Lively Arts and the Bergen Symphony Orchestra and premiered in 2012), and works for traditional instruments, including a concerto for clàrsach and fiddle concerto premiered by Catriona Mackay and Chris Stout in 2012. In 2010, it was announced that Beamish had been selected as one of 20 composers to participate in the New Music 20x12 project as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. She composed a work for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to be premiered in 2012.
She has a series of recordings on the BIS label.
In December 2017, Northern Ballet premiered The Little Mermaid, a full-length ballet with her orchestral score.
In 2012, 2015 and again in 2026, she was featured as BBC Radio 3's Composer of the Week. In 2016, Beamish was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's National Academy for science and the arts. She was presented with the 'Award for Inspiration' at the 2018 British Composer Awards and appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to music.
In 2020, Beamish composed April for Sound World’s Coronavirus Fund for Freelance Musicians, a project supporting struggling musicians during the UK's COVID-19 lockdown. Written in memory of Ellis Marsalis Jr. who had died of COVID-19 near the beginning of the pandemic, it was included on the album Reflections alongside specially written pieces by other composers such as Gavin Bryars, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Evelyn Glennie and Nico Muhly.
Her Nine Fragments – String Quartet No. 4 was the set repertoire for the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition 2022.
She is a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
In 2025 she was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for her piece DISTANS for orchestra.
Personal life
In 1988, she married Robert Irvine. They had three children. They separated in 2008. In 2019, she married Peter Thomson. She has lived in Brighton since 2018. She is a Quaker. Beamish has been formally diagnosed as autistic.
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 | 10 | 58.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 10 | 82.3th |
| Studio albums | 9 | 90th |
| Awards recorded | 3 | 95.4th |
| Timeline events | 13 | 89.7th |
| Recording span (years) | 26 | 58.1th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (10 release groups · 9 studio albums)
Albums · 9
River: Viola Concerto / Cello Concerto "River" / Tam Lin for Oboe & Orchestra
1999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 6 tracks · 1:04:15
1Viola Concerto19:392Cello Concerto "River": I. March Watercolour3:473Cello Concerto "River": II. The Kingfisher4:254Cello Concerto "River": III. Low Water7:095Cello Concerto "River": IV. All Night a Music / Like a Needle Sewing6:566Tam Lin22:19The Imagined Sound of Sun on Stone
2000 · studio album
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Tracklist · 4 tracks · 1:07:21
1The Caledonian Road13:052The Day Dawn13:333No, I'm Not Afraid21:214The Imagined Sound of Sun on Stone19:22Bridging the Day: Works for Cello and Piano
2001 · studio album
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Tracklist · 14 tracks · 1:01:26
1Gala Water: Lento1:552Gala Water: Andante2:203Gala Water: Allegro1:044Gala Water: Adagio2:382Bridging the Day11:473Entre chien et loup1:334Lullaby for Owain2:425Kyle Song4:036Iasg11:117The Wise Maid3:4111Sonata for Cello and Piano: I. Prelude. Allegro moderato2:2412Sonata for Cello and Piano: II. Scherzo. Allegro4:0613Sonata for Cello and Piano: III. Ballad. Lento6:0414Sonata for Cello and Piano: IV. Variations5:582005 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 53:42
1String Quartet no. 1: I. Andante3:352String Quartet no. 1: II. Allegro3:553String Quartet no. 1: III. Lento5:264String Quartet no. 1: IV. Allegro6:015String Quartet in C minor, op. 18 no. 4: I. Allegro ma non tanto8:356String Quartet in C minor, op. 18 no. 4: II. Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto6:477String Quartet in C minor, op. 18 no. 4: III. Menuetto. Allegro3:358String Quartet in C minor, op. 18 no. 4: IV. Allegretto4:349String Quartet no. 2 "Opus California": I. Broadwalk2:0910String Quartet no. 2 "Opus California": II. Golden Gate3:2711String Quartet no. 2 "Opus California": III. Dreams Before Lullabies2:3812String Quartet no. 2 "Opus California": IV. Natural Bridges3:002007 · studio album
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Tracklist · 7 tracks · 58:47
1Viola Concerto no. 2 "The Seafarer": I. Andante irrequieto7:432Viola Concerto no. 2 "The Seafarer": II. Andante malevole8:143Viola Concerto no. 2 "The Seafarer": III. Andante riflessivo11:594Whitescape10:385Sangsters: I. Laverocks. Andante - Allegro5:056Sangsters: II. Selkies. Adagio7:567Sangsters: III. Choir-sang. Andante maestoso7:12Violin Concerto / Callisto / Symphony no. 1
2010 · studio album
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Tracklist · 7 tracks · 1:16:40
1Violin Concerto: I. Allegro10:262Violin Concerto: II. ♩ = c. 606:233Violin Concerto: III. Allegretto11:354Callisto: I. Callisto and Diana8:325Callisto: II. Callisto and Juno9:006Callisto: III. Callisto and Arcas7:187Symphony no. 123:262015 · studio album
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Tracklist · 15 tracks · 1:12:44
1The Singing: I. Andante - Allegro - Andante6:312The Singing: II. Lento2:003The Singing: II. Variation 1. Piu mosso1:104The Singing: II. Variation 2. Piu mosso0:415The Singing: II. Variation 3. Ancora piu mosso0:416The Singing: II. Variation 4. Adagio2:427The Singing: II. Variation 5. Adagio2:178The Singing: II. Variation 60:549The Singing: II. Variation 7 / Finale - Allegro5:1310A Cage of Doves12:0711Under the Wing of the Rock13:0312Reckless2:3813Trumpet Concerto: I. Prelude, Adagio - Allegro6:5414Trumpet Concerto: II. Andante7:2715Trumpet Concerto: III. Allegro Presto8:262021 · studio album
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Tracklist · 22 tracks · 59:19
1An die Nachtigall, op. 46 no. 43:192Mädchenlied, op. 107 no. 51:323Das Mädchen, op. 95 no. 12:234Liebst du um Schönheit, op. 12 no. 22:075Das Mädchen spricht, op. 107 no. 31:256Salamander, op. 107 no. 21:017Nachtigall, op. 97 no. 12:218Four Songs from Hafez: Nightingale3:339Four Songs from Hafez: Peacock4:2310Four Songs from Hafez: Fish2:4811Four Songs from Hafez: Hoopoe5:1112Vergebliches Ständchen, op. 84 no. 41:4513Sapphische Ode, op. 94 no. 42:3514Von ewiger Lieber, op. 43 no. 14:0715Frauenliebe und -leben, op. 42: Seit ich ihn gesehen2:1316Frauenliebe und -leben, op. 42: Er, der Herrlichste von allen3:1517Frauenliebe und -leben, op. 42: Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben1:5018Frauenliebe und -leben, op. 42: Du Ring an meinem Finger2:3119Frauenliebe und -leben, op. 42: Helft mir, ihr Schwestern1:5020Frauenliebe und -leben, op. 42: Süsser Freund3:5221Frauenliebe und -leben, op. 42: An meinem Herzen, an meiner Brust1:2222Frauenliebe und -leben, op. 42: Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan3:56The Complete Piano Trios, Volume 4
2025 · studio album
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Tracklist · 11 tracks · 1:06:49
1Piano Trio no. 26 in C minor, op. 57 no. 3, Hob. XV:13: I. Andante8:192Piano Trio no. 26 in C minor, op. 57 no. 3, Hob. XV:13: II. Allegro spiritoso7:543Piano Trio no. 36 in E-flat major, op. 71 no. 2, Hob. XV:22: I. Allegro moderato8:324Piano Trio no. 36 in E-flat major, op. 71 no. 2, Hob. XV:22: II. Poco adagio5:015Piano Trio no. 36 in E-flat major, op. 71 no. 2, Hob. XV:22: III. Finale. Allegro5:336Piano Trio no. 31 in G major, Hob. XV:32: I. Andante5:227Piano Trio no. 31 in G major, Hob. XV:32: II. Allegro6:488Piano Trio no. 34 in B-flat major, op. 36 no. 3, Hob. XV:20: I. Allegro6:129Piano Trio no. 34 in B-flat major, op. 36 no. 3, Hob. XV:20: II. Andante cantabile3:2910Piano Trio no. 34 in B-flat major, op. 36 no. 3, Hob. XV:20: III. Finale. Allegro4:0811Trance5:31
Single · 1
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | In the stillnessSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 4:131In the stillness4:13 | 1 December 2019 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Sally Beamish head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 10 | 58.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 10 | 82.3th |
| Studio albums | 9 | 90th |
| Awards recorded | 3 | 95.4th |
| Timeline events | 13 | 89.7th |
| Recording span (years) | 26 | 58.1th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Awards & honours
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Royal Philharmonic Society Award (Chamber-Scale Composition) | won | |
| 2016 | Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | won | |
| — | Officer of the Order of the British Empire | won |
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/fd71090f-8804-49f2-b36f-052cc0bdc3ecdiscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/fd71090f-8804-49f2-b36f-052cc0bdc3eccore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2680514seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Beamishbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Beamish
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: Q2680514 · MusicBrainz: fd71090f-8804-49f2-b36f-052cc0bdc3ec
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