Alexander Goehr, composer and teacher, was born in Berlin on 10 Agust 1932, as son of the conductor Walter Goehr, and was brought to England in 1933. He studied with Richard Hall at the Royal Manchester College of Music, where together with Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies and John Ogdon he formed the New Music Manchester Group; in 1955-56 he continued his studies in Paris with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod. In the early 60's he worked for the BBC and formed the Music Theatre Ensemble, the first devoted to what has become an established musical form. From the late 60's onwards he taught at the New England Conservatory Boston and at Yale; in 1971he was appointed professor of music at the University of Leeds and in 1975 he was appointed to the chair of the University of Cambridge, where he taught at Trinity Hall and as director of the University Music School until his emeritus status in 1999. He has also taught in China and has twice been Composer-in-Residence at Tanglewood. He is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a former Churchill Fellow, and was the Reith Lecturer in 1987. He has written the operas “Arden Must Die” (Hamburg 1967), “Behold the Sun” (Düsseldorf 1985), “Arianna, a lost opera by Monteverdi” (London, ROC 1995 and subsequently recorded for NMC) as well as a music theatre “Triptych” (“Naboth's Vineyard”, London 1968, “Shadowplay”, London 1970 and “Sonata about Jerusalem”, Tel Aviv 1971) and the chamber operas “Kantan & Damask Drum” (Dortmund 1999 and in 2001 newly produced at Aldeburgh and Almeida Festivals). His orchestral works, including four symphonies, concerti for piano, violin, viola and violoncello and other orchestral compositions have at various times been performed by a.o. Antal Dorati, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, John Pritchard, Bernhard Heitink, Christoph von Dohnanyi and Simon Rattle. Oliver Knussen too regularly conducts his works. Premières for 2001 include two orchestral works, “Overture with Handelian Air” commissioned by the Halle Handel Festival, and “...second musical offering” commissioned by the Proms, a Piano Quintet for Peter Serkin and the Orion Quartet, commissioned by the Carnegie Hall New York, and a Suite for Pamela Frank and Peter Serkin for the Harvard Musical Society.
Web: http://www.schott-english.com/nocache/smi_en/autoren/KomponistenAZ/

Compositore inglese di origine tedesca nato in Berlino nel 1932. Ha studiato con il padre Walter Goehr, e si è perfezionato al Conservatorio di parigi con O.Messiaen. La sua è scrittura influenzata dai grandi compositori del novecento (Schönberg, Messiaen, Boulez). Attento sperimentatore si è accostato con proprio linguaggio alla drammaturgia barocca, ed ha composto lavori vocali su testi letterali.