Paul Crossley
Encyclopedia
Paul Crossley is a British pianist.
Born in Dewsbury
, Yorkshire
, his piano teacher was Fanny Waterman
in Leeds
. While a student at Mansfield College, Oxford
, he was discovered by Olivier Messiaen
and his wife Yvonne Loriod
, who heard him play and immediately invited him to come to Paris
to study with them. In 1968 he was second prize winner (joint prize winner with Japanese pianist Izumi Tateno) at the Messiaen Competition in Royan
, France
. Crossley is particularly associated with the music of Messiaen and British composers such as Michael Tippett
, Nicholas Maw
and George Benjamin
. Tippett wrote his third and fourth Piano sonatas specifically with Crossley in mind. His extensive discography includes the piano works of Tippett, Fauré
, Debussy
and Ravel
and the Fauré Violin sonatas with Arthur Grumiaux
.
Paul Crossley was artistic director of the London Sinfonietta
from 1988 to 1994.
He presented a landmark television series on avant garde classical music entitled Sinfonietta for Channel 4
.
Born in Dewsbury
Dewsbury
Dewsbury is a minster town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Huddersfield and south of Leeds...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, his piano teacher was Fanny Waterman
Fanny Waterman
Dame Fanny Waterman, DBE is a piano teacher, and the founder, Chairman and Artistic Director of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition. She is also president of the Harrogate International Music Fesitval.-Life:...
in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. While a student at Mansfield College, Oxford
Mansfield College, Oxford
Mansfield College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Of the colleges that accept both undergraduate and graduate students Mansfield College is one of the smallest, comprising approximately 210 undergraduates, 130 graduates, 35 visiting students and 50...
, he was discovered by Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
and his wife Yvonne Loriod
Yvonne Loriod
Yvonne Loriod was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod.-Life:...
, who heard him play and immediately invited him to come to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to study with them. In 1968 he was second prize winner (joint prize winner with Japanese pianist Izumi Tateno) at the Messiaen Competition in Royan
Royan
Royan is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, along the Atlantic Ocean, in southwestern France.A seaside resort, Royan is in the heart of an urban area estimated at 38,638 inhabitants, which makes it the fourth-largest conurbation in the department, after La Rochelle, Rochefort and Saintes...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Crossley is particularly associated with the music of Messiaen and British composers such as Michael Tippett
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
, Nicholas Maw
Nicholas Maw
John Nicholas Maw was a British composer.-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...
and George Benjamin
George Benjamin (composer)
George William John Benjamin, CBE is a British composer of classical music. He is also a conductor, pianist and teacher....
. Tippett wrote his third and fourth Piano sonatas specifically with Crossley in mind. His extensive discography includes the piano works of Tippett, Fauré
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
, Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
and Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
and the Fauré Violin sonatas with Arthur Grumiaux
Arthur Grumiaux
Arthur Grumiaux was a Belgian violinist who was also proficient in piano.-Youth:Grumiaux was born in Villers-Perwin, Belgium to a working-class family, and it was his grandfather who urged him to begin music studies at the age of only 4...
.
Paul Crossley was artistic director of the London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
from 1988 to 1994.
He presented a landmark television series on avant garde classical music entitled Sinfonietta for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
.