Lawrence Power
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Power is a British viola
player, born 1977, noted both for solo performances and for chamber music with the Nash Ensemble
and Leopold String Trio.
(rather than beginning studies on the violin
and switching to viola) at his primary school aged eight. When 11, Power entered the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
in London studying with Mark Knight. Later Power spent a year at the Juilliard School
with Karen Tuttle.
After a year in New York, Power returned to London and won first prize in the Primrose International Viola Competition
in 1999. Following another prize at the 2000 Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition
in Paris, he made his first recording (Ligeti, Roslavets, Takemitsu and Prokofiev).
In 2001 Power was selected to become a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist
until 2003.
Power is a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music
in London and has given master classes at the Verbier Festival
.
In 2003 Power was head-hunted to become the leader of the viola section of Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
, but despite playing with them in Mahler’s 3rd Symphony
at the Barbican
under Haitink
he declined the position.
Since his London solo debut with The Philharmonia, he has performed in the UK and abroad, appearing as soloist with many orchestras such as the London Symphony, BBC Symphony, English Chamber, Scottish Chamber, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Verbier Festival Chamber, New Zealand Symphony, Lucerne Festival Strings and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.
At the Proms, he has played the Mozart Sinfonia concertante (with Maxim Vengerov
) in 2006, the Walton Viola Concerto in 2007, Vaughan Williams's
Flos Campi
in 2008, and he took part in a chamber music Prom in 2009.
Power has a prominent career as a chamber musician, as violist in the Nash Ensemble and the Leopold String Trio. He has made guest appearances at international music festivals such as Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Verbier, Vancouver, and Oslo.
Lawrence Power plays an instrument by Antonio Brensi of Bologna from c.1610.
Chamber music
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
player, born 1977, noted both for solo performances and for chamber music with the Nash Ensemble
Nash Ensemble
The Nash Ensemble of London is an acclaimed English chamber ensemble. It was founded by Artistic Director Amelia Freedman in 1964, while she was a student at the Royal Academy of Music, and was named after the Nash Terraces around the Academy...
and Leopold String Trio.
Career
Power started out as a violistViola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
(rather than beginning studies on the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and switching to viola) at his primary school aged eight. When 11, Power entered the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
in London studying with Mark Knight. Later Power spent a year at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
with Karen Tuttle.
After a year in New York, Power returned to London and won first prize in the Primrose International Viola Competition
Primrose International Viola Competition
The Primrose International Viola Competition , also referred to as the Primrose Memorial Scholarship Competition , is an international music competition for viola players sponsored by the American Viola Society and named for the 20th century virtuoso William Primrose.The 13th Primrose International...
in 1999. Following another prize at the 2000 Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition
Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition
The Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition is an international music competition for viola players established in 1983 by the French viola society Les Amis de l'Alto...
in Paris, he made his first recording (Ligeti, Roslavets, Takemitsu and Prokofiev).
In 2001 Power was selected to become a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist
BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme
BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme was devised by BBC Radio 3 Editor Adam Gatehouse and launched in 1999. It exists as part of the BBC's commitment to nurture young musical talent. Every autumn six to seven young artists who are beginning to make a mark on the national and international...
until 2003.
Power is a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
in London and has given master classes at the Verbier Festival
Verbier Festival
The Verbier Festival is an international music festival that takes place annually for two weeks in late July and early August in the mountain resort of Verbier, Switzerland.Founded by Swedish expatriate Martin T...
.
In 2003 Power was head-hunted to become the leader of the viola section of Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
The Berlin Philharmonic, German: , formerly Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester , is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In 2006, a group of ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of "top ten European Orchestras", after the Vienna Philharmonic and the...
, but despite playing with them in Mahler’s 3rd Symphony
Symphony No. 3 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 3 by Gustav Mahler was written between 1893 and 1896. It is his longest piece and is the longest symphony in the standard repertoire, with a typical performance lasting around ninety to one hundred minutes.- Structure :...
at the Barbican
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
under Haitink
Bernard Haitink
Bernard Johan Herman Haitink, CH, KBE is a Dutch conductor and violinist.- Early life :Haitink was born in Amsterdam, the son of Willem Haitink and Anna Haitink. He studied music at the conservatoire in Amsterdam...
he declined the position.
Since his London solo debut with The Philharmonia, he has performed in the UK and abroad, appearing as soloist with many orchestras such as the London Symphony, BBC Symphony, English Chamber, Scottish Chamber, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Verbier Festival Chamber, New Zealand Symphony, Lucerne Festival Strings and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.
At the Proms, he has played the Mozart Sinfonia concertante (with Maxim Vengerov
Maxim Vengerov
Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov is a violinist, violist, and conductor who was born in the Soviet Union.-Youth:Born on 20 August 1974 in Novosibirsk, Russia, to a family with musical tradition....
) in 2006, the Walton Viola Concerto in 2007, Vaughan Williams's
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
Flos Campi
Flos Campi
Flos Campi: suite for solo viola, small chorus and small orchestra is a composition by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, completed in 1925. Its title is Latin for "flower of the field". It is neither a concerto nor a choral piece, although it prominently features the viola and a...
in 2008, and he took part in a chamber music Prom in 2009.
Power has a prominent career as a chamber musician, as violist in the Nash Ensemble and the Leopold String Trio. He has made guest appearances at international music festivals such as Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Verbier, Vancouver, and Oslo.
Lawrence Power plays an instrument by Antonio Brensi of Bologna from c.1610.
Discography
Viola music- York BowenYork BowenEdwin York Bowen was an English composer and pianist. Bowen’s musical career spanned more than fifty years during which time he wrote over 160 works. As well as being a pianist and composer, Bowen was a talented conductor, organist, violist and horn player...
: The Complete Works for Viola and Piano; Lawrence Power (viola), Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano); with Philip Dukes, James Boyd, Scott Dickinson (violas); Hyperion Records CDA67651/2 (2008)
-
- Allegro de Concert in D minor for viola and piano (1906)
- Fantasia ("Fantasie Quartet") in E minor for 4 violas, Op.41 No.1 (1907)
- Beethoven'sLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
"Moonlight" Sonata, Movement I for piano with viola obbligato; transcription by York Bowen; completed and edited by Lawrence Power - Melody for the C-String in F major for viola and piano, Op.51 No.2 (1918)
- Melody on the G-String in G major for viola and piano, Op.47 (1917)
- Phantasy in F major for viola and piano, Op.54 (1918)
- Rhapsody in G minor for viola and piano, Op.149 (1955)
- Romance in A major for viola and piano (1908)
- Romance in D major for viola and piano (1900, 1904)
- Viola Sonata No.1 in C minor for viola and piano, Op.18 (1905)
- Viola Sonata No.2 in F major for viola and piano, Op.22 (1906)
- Bowen • Forsyth Viola Concertos; Lawrence Power (viola), Martyn BrabbinsMartyn BrabbinsMartyn Brabbins is a British conductor. He studied at Goldsmiths College, London University, and later was a conducting student of Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory....
conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony OrchestraBBC Scottish Symphony OrchestraThe BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is a broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow, Scotland. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation , it is the oldest full-time professional orchestra in Scotland...
; Hyperion Records CDA67546 (2005)
- Bowen • Forsyth Viola Concertos; Lawrence Power (viola), Martyn Brabbins
- York BowenYork BowenEdwin York Bowen was an English composer and pianist. Bowen’s musical career spanned more than fifty years during which time he wrote over 160 works. As well as being a pianist and composer, Bowen was a talented conductor, organist, violist and horn player...
– Viola Concerto in C minor, Op.25 (1906–1907), world premiere recording - Cecil ForsythCecil ForsythCecil Forsyth was an English composer and musicologist. He was born in Greenwich on November 30, 1870, and he died in New York on December 7, 1941. He studied at Edinburgh University and at the Royal College of Music , and played viola in various London Orchestras...
– Viola Concerto in G minor (1903), world premiere recording- Johannes BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
: Viola Sonatas; Lawrence Power (viola), Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano), Tim Hugh (cello); Hyperion Records CDA67584 (2007); also released in 12-CD set Johannes Brahms: Complete Chamber Music; Hyperion Records CDS44331/42 (2008)
- Johannes Brahms
- Sonata in F minor for viola and piano, Op.120 No.1 (1894)
- Sonata in E major for viola and piano, Op.120 No.2 (1894)
- Trio in A minor for piano, viola and cello, Op.114 (1891)
- Paul HindemithPaul HindemithPaul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
: The Complete Viola Music, Vol. 1 – Sonatas; Lawrence Power (viola), Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano); Hyperion Records CDA67721 (2008)
- Paul Hindemith
- Sonata in F for viola and piano, Op.11 No.4 (1919)
- Sonata for viola and piano, Op.25 No.4 (1922)
- Sonata for viola and piano (1939)
- Meditation from Nobilissima visione for viola and piano (1938)
- Paul HindemithPaul HindemithPaul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
: The Complete Viola Music, Vol. 2 – Solo Sonatas; Lawrence Power (viola); Hyperion Records CDA67769 (2010)
- Paul Hindemith
- Sonata for solo viola, Op.11 No.5 (1919)
- Sonata for solo viola, Op.25 No.1 (1922)
- Sonata for solo viola, Op.31 No.4 (1923)
- Sonata for solo viola (1937)
- Vincent d'IndyVincent d'IndyVincent d'Indy was a French composer and teacher.-Life:Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion. He had piano lessons from an early age from his paternal grandmother, who passed him on to Antoine François Marmontel and...
; Lawrence Power (viola), Thierry FischerThierry FischerThierry Fischer is a Swiss orchestra conductor and flutist.Fischer studied flute with Aurèle Nicolet and began his musical career as Principal Flute in Hamburg and at the Zurich Opera, where he studied scores with Nikolaus Harnoncourt...
conducting the BBC National Orchestra of WalesBBC National Orchestra of WalesThe BBC National Orchestra of Wales is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisation in Wales, occupying a dual role as both a broadcasting orchestra and national orchestra.The BBC NOW has its...
; Hyperion Records CDA67690 (2009)
- Vincent d'Indy
- Choral varié for viola and orchestra, Op.55 (1903)
- Lied for viola and orchestra, Op.19 (1884)
- Les Nouveaux Musiciens: Lawrence Power; Lawrence Power (viola), Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano); Harmonia Mundi HMN911756 (2001)
- György LigetiGyörgy LigetiGyörgy Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
– Sonata for viola solo (1991–1994) - Sergei ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
– Pieces from Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet (Prokofiev)Romeo and Juliet is a ballet by Sergei Prokofiev based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It is one of the most enduringly popular ballets...
for viola and piano, Op.64; transcriptions by Vadim BorisovskyVadim BorisovskyVadim Vasilyevich Borisovsky was a Russian violist.Born in Moscow, Borisovsky entered Moscow Conservatory in 1917 studying the violin with Mikhail Press. A year later, on the advice of violist Vladimir Bakaleinikov, Borisovsky turned his attentions to the viola. He studied with Bakaleinikov and...
- Introduction: The Montagues and Capulets
- The Young Juliet
- Dance of the Knights
- Farewell before Parting and Death of Juliet
- Mercutio
- Nikolai RoslavetsNikolai RoslavetsNikolai Andreevich Roslavets was a significant Soviet modernist composer. Roslavets was a convinced modernist and cosmopolitan thinker; his music was officially suppressed from 1930 onwards....
– Sonata No.1 for viola and piano (1926); completed by Alexander RaskatovAlexander RaskatovAlexander Mikhailovich Raskatov is a Russian composer.-Life:Alexander Raskatov, a son of a leading journalist of the magazine Krokodil, studied composition under Albert Leman at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1990 he was composer in residence at Stetson University and 1998 in Lockenhaus... - Tōru TakemitsuToru Takemitsuwas a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu possessed consummate skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre...
– A Bird Came Down the Walk for viola and piano, SJ 1092 (1994)- Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
– Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola and orchestra, K.364 (1779); Maxim VengerovMaxim VengerovMaxim Alexandrovich Vengerov is a violinist, violist, and conductor who was born in the Soviet Union.-Youth:Born on 20 August 1974 in Novosibirsk, Russia, to a family with musical tradition....
(violin), Lawrence Power (viola), UBS Verbier Festival Chmaber Orchestra; EMI Classics (2007) - Rózsa • Bartók Viola Concertos – Lawrence Power (viola), Andrew LittonAndrew LittonAndrew Litton is an American orchestral conductor. Litton is a graduate of The Fieldston School, and holds both undergraduate and Masters degrees in music from Juilliard....
(conductor), Bergen Philharmonic OrchestraBergen Philharmonic OrchestraThe Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world's oldest orchestral institutions. It performs some 110 concerts a year, and is based at the 1,500-seat Grieg Hall in Bergen, Norway.-History:...
; Hyperion Records CDA67687 (2010)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Miklós RózsaMiklós RózsaMiklós Rózsa was a Hungarian-born composer trained in Germany , and active in France , England , and the United States , with extensive sojourns in Italy from 1953...
– Viola Concerto, Op.37 (1982) - Tibor SerlyTibor SerlyTibor Serly was a Hungarian violist, violinist and composer.He was one of the students of Zoltán Kodály. He greatly admired and became a young apprentice of Béla Bartók. His association with Bartók was for him both a blessing and a curse...
– Rhapsody for viola and orchestra (1946–48) - Béla BartókBéla BartókBéla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
– Viola ConcertoViola Concerto (Bartók)Béla Bartók's Viola Concerto, Sz. 120, BB 128 was written in July – August 1945, in Saranac Lake, New York, while he was suffering from the terminal stages of leukemia. It was commissioned by William Primrose. Along with the Piano Concerto No. 3, it is his last work, and he left it incomplete at...
, Sz.120, BB128 (1945)- Mark-Anthony TurnageMark-Anthony TurnageMark-Anthony Turnage is a prolific English composer of classical music. His initial musical studies were with Oliver Knussen, John Lambert, and later with Gunther Schuller...
– Eulogy for viola and orchestra (2003); Lawrence Power (viola), Nash EnsembleNash EnsembleThe Nash Ensemble of London is an acclaimed English chamber ensemble. It was founded by Artistic Director Amelia Freedman in 1964, while she was a student at the Royal Academy of Music, and was named after the Nash Terraces around the Academy...
; ONYX 4005 (2005) - Walton • Rubbra Viola Concertos; Lawrence Power (viola), Ilan VolkovIlan VolkovIlan Volkov is an orchestral conductor. His father, Alexander Volkov, was a concert pianist of Ukrainian ancestry. His mother, Professor Shulamit Volkov of The School of Historical Studies in Tel Aviv University, is of German ancestry...
conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony OrchestraBBC Scottish Symphony OrchestraThe BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is a broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow, Scotland. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation , it is the oldest full-time professional orchestra in Scotland...
; Hyperion Records CDA67587 (2007)
- Mark-Anthony Turnage
- William WaltonWilliam WaltonSir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
– Viola ConcertoViola Concerto (Walton)The Viola Concerto by William Walton was written in 1929 for the violist Lionel Tertis at the suggestion of Sir Thomas Beecham. The concerto carries the dedication "To Christabel" ....
in A minor (original version, 1928–1929) - Edmund RubbraEdmund RubbraEdmund Rubbra was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak of his fame in the mid-20th century. The most famous of his pieces are his eleven...
– Meditations on a Byzantine Hymn for viola solo, Op.117 (1962) - Edmund RubbraEdmund RubbraEdmund Rubbra was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak of his fame in the mid-20th century. The most famous of his pieces are his eleven...
– Viola Concerto in A minor, Op.75 (1952)- Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
: The Early Chamber Music – Romance for viola and piano (c.1914); Lawrence Power (viola), Nash EnsembleNash EnsembleThe Nash Ensemble of London is an acclaimed English chamber ensemble. It was founded by Artistic Director Amelia Freedman in 1964, while she was a student at the Royal Academy of Music, and was named after the Nash Terraces around the Academy...
; Hyperion Records CDA67381/2 (2002)
- Ralph Vaughan Williams
Chamber music
- Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev: String Trios; Leopold String Trio; Hyperion Records CDA67573 (2008)
-
- String Trio in E major, Op.31
- String Trio in B minor
- String Trio in D major
- William WaltonWilliam WaltonSir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
: Chamber Music – Piano Quartet (1918–1921, revised 1975); Nash EnsembleNash EnsembleThe Nash Ensemble of London is an acclaimed English chamber ensemble. It was founded by Artistic Director Amelia Freedman in 1964, while she was a student at the Royal Academy of Music, and was named after the Nash Terraces around the Academy...
; Hyperion Records CDA67340 (2002)
- William Walton