David Earl

David Earl (born Stellenbosch, South Africa, 1951) is a South African composer and pianist. He was educated at Rondebosch Boys' High School. He made his professional debut at the age of sixteen when he broadcast Bach, Chopin and Chabrier on the SABC. In 1968, he performed Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No 1 with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. In 1971, he moved to London where he studied at Trinity College of Music. He studied under Jacob Kaletsky and Richard Arnell. His first recital at Wigmore Hall was reported as “stylish and powerful” by The Times. In 1975, he was selected as one the Young Musicians of the Year by the Greater London Arts Association. He also won first prize in the 1976 SABC Piano Competition. He was described by the Daily Telegraph as having “remarkable gifts of style, technical mastery and artistry”. He made his debut as a composer in the 1977 when he premiered his own Piano Suite No 1 Mosaics at Wigmore Hall.

He was introduced to the world of writing music for television by the director David Puttnam and wrote for a number of programmes between 1982 and 1987.

In 2001 he became a Buddhist.^[1]

Filmography

• P'Tang Yang Kipperbang, 1984
• The Price, 1985
• Arthur's Hallowed Groun, 1986,^[2][3]

Ballets

• Ballet in one act: Chéri (1978)
• Ballet in one act: Return of the Soldier (1980–81)
• Ballet in one act: Abelard and Heloise (1983)
• Ballet in one act: The Nightingale and the Rose (1983)
• Ballet in two acts: Macbeth (1991)

Operas

• Opera in two acts: Hamlet (1984)
• Opera in two acts: The Go-Between (1991)

Other works

• Piano Suite No 1 Mosaics (1977)
• Piano Concerto No 1 (1977–78)
• Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace - setting of St Francis of Assisi for SATB (1979)
• Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (1983)
• Incidental music for Dance of the Defectors (Lot's Wife) (1983–84)
• I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills - Psalm 121 for soprano and piano (1984)
• Violin Concerto (1985)
• Piano Suite No 2 Gargoyles (1986–89)
• Choral Symphony Trumpets from the Steep (1987)
• 3 Intermezzi for Piano Caryatids (1991)
• Sonata No 1 for Violin and Piano (1991)
• 24 Preludes for Piano Oxymorons (1993)
• Man's Medley - choral and orchestral settings of George Herbert (1993)
• Cello Concerto (1994)
• Highland Journal - dance/theatre score with piano, tenor roles (1995)
• Piano Suite No 3 Mandalas (1996)
• To a Nobleman in Kyoto - settings of Kukai for baritone and piano (1997)
• Sonata No 2 for Violin and Piano (1997)
• Sonata for Cello and Piano (1998)
• Invocation to Manjughosa - Violin and Piano (2002)
• Theme and Variations - transcription for piano of the 4th movement from Tchaikovsky's Suite No 3 Op 55 (2002)
• Trumpet Concerto (2005)
• Piano Concerto No 2 (2006)

References

• David F. C. Wright, David Earl, on Classical Composers Database website.

External links

• David Earl at the Internet Movie Database
• Cape Town International Summer Music Festival: Festival Symphony Concert 2
• David Earl - Official website

Notes

1. ^ Wright, David Earl
2. ^ IMDb film database
3. ^ British Film Institute Screen on Line website

Persondata
Name	Earl, David
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Date of birth	1951
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Date of death
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