DAVID BEDFORD COMPOSER dvbmus@aol.com

Contents Biography Worklist Discography Contact Information

BIOGRAPHY

David Bedford was born in London in 1937 of a musical family, (his grandmother was the composer Liza Lehmann, and his mother, Lesley Duff, was a member of the English Opera Group just after the war and was thus involved in several Britten premières).

He began composing at the age of seven and went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Lennox Berkeley. A grant awarded by the RAM in 1961 enabled him to study with Luigi Nono in Venice.

In the late 60s he played keyboards with Kevin Ayers' cult band 'The Whole World', which led to numerous collaborations with musicians from the rock world, most notably in arrangements for Mike Oldfield, Elvis Costello, Frankie goes to Hollywood, Roy Harper, Propaganda, China Crisis, Enya, Billy Bragg and many more.

He has also done orchestrations for the films 'The Killing Fields', 'Supergrass', 'Absolute Beginners', 'Meeting Venus', 'Orlando', and was Choral Coordinator for 'The Mission'. He has written original music for several of the Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense TV series.

Another aspect of Bedford's work is composing for educational purposes - he was appointed Youth Music Director of the English Sinfonia in 1986, and Composer in Association in 1994. His music in this genre ranges from small pieces for pupils with little or no musical knowledge, to 7 school operas. He is in frequent demand for creative workshops and composition projects throughout the U.K. and overseas. His innovative approach has led to such works as 'Seascapes' (1986) and 'Frameworks' (1989), in which students are encouraged to create their own music in the context of a public concert with a professional orchestra - these two pieces have so far involved over 4000 students. His largest major educational piece is 'Stories from the Dreamtime', (1991) for 40 deaf children and symphony orchestra.

For over 30 years he has received commissions from major orchestras, festivals, ensembles and soloists, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, English Sinfonia, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, John Alldis Choir, Singcircle, Electric Phoenix, Endymion Ensemble, Sir Peter Pears, Jane's Minstrels, BASBWE, The Composers Ensemble, The Aldeburgh Festival, Harrogate Festival, Spitalfields Festival, Chelmsford Festival, Huddersfield Festival, Kings Lynn Festival, Norfolk and Norwich Festival and many BBC commissions including 4 for the Proms.

His projects over the last few years have included -

A big project for 2005, ‘Over the Wine-Dark Sea’, a commission from ‘Sounds New’ for young adults with special needs from the Orpheus centre, a group of deaf children and chamber orchestra was performed in October 2005 at the Canterbury Festival.

His commission from ‘Making Music’ ‘The Soft Stars that Shine at Night’, for a large choral/orchestral work, co-commissioned in 2006 by a large number of choral societies, was performed in 2007 as part of his 70th birthday year celebrations.

His next project for 2007 was the first ever commission for an orchestra of Deaf children ‘Gods, Goddesses and magical Creatures, commissioned by Paul Whittaker and Music and the Deaf.

Following that he completed a commission from the Aldeburgh Festival ‘Old Joe on the Beach’ for a large outdoor community piece in celebration of the festival’s 60th anniversary, which was performed in June 2007.

In April 2008 at the Barbican is the first performance of his ‘8 Beach Boys Songs’ for chorus and orchestra, the last 4 of which, and the orchestrations, were commissioned by David Temple for the Hertfordshire Chorus.

In August 2008 is the first performance of a large choral and orchestral work commissioned by Gavin Henderson for the 60th anniversary of the Dartington International Summer School.

David is married with 3 children aged 12, 10, 6, and lives in Bristol . His interests include: cricket; science fiction, murder mysteries, films in general and especially horror films, browsing in bookshops, astronomy, ancient history and playing tennis.

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DISCOGRAPHY COMPOSERS ENSEMBLE 'SONGBOOK' (1991) containing 'Even Now' plus songs by Weir, Matthews, Bainbridge, Nyman, Skempton etc. NMC D003 nmc@nmcrec.co.uk STAR CLUSTERS, NEBULAE AND PLACES IN DEVON/THE SONG OF THE WHITE HORSE (1981, CD release 1992, 1999) containing 'Star Clusters' plus 'The Song of the White Horse' Voiceprint VP110CD chris@seripity.demon.co.uk NURSE'S SONG WITH ELEPHANTS (1972, CD release 1993) containing, 'Nurse's Song with Elephant', 'It's Easier than It Looks', 'Some Bright Stars for Queen's College', 'Trona', 'Sad and Lonely Faces' Voiceprint VP116CD info@voiceprint.co.uk GREAT EQUATORIAL (1994) David Bedford (keyboards) Voiceprint VP157CD info@voiceprint.co.uk FIRST AND FOREMOST (THE APOLLO SAXOPHONE QUARTET 1994) containing 'Fridiof Kennings', plus works by Corea, Nyman and Gregory ARGO 443 903-2 THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER (1975 CD release 1994) Mike Oldfield, Robert Powell (narrator), David Bedford (keyboards) Virgin CDOVD443 THE ODYSSEY (1976, CD release 1994) David Bedford (keyboards), Mike Oldfield (guitar), The Queen's College Choir Virgin CDOVD444 VARIATIONS ON A RHYTHM OF MIKE OLDFIELD (1995) The Electric Candle Percussion Ensemble Voiceprint VP191CD STAR'S END (1974, CD release 1997) Mike Oldfield, Chris Cutler, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Vernon Handley Virgin CDV2020 INSTRUCTIONS FOR ANGELS (1997 CD release 1997) David Bedford, Mike Ratledge (keyboards), Mike Oldfield (guitar) Virgin CDV2090 RIGEL 9 (1985 CD release 1997) Ursula Le Guin (words), Enn Reitel, Gerard Kenny, Sarah Duthie, Lorin Stewart, Strawberry Switchblade (voices), Clem Clempson, Mark Bedford (guitars), Daniel Woodgate (drums), Pete King (saxophone), Adrian Levine, Bill Benham, Belinda Bunt (violins), David Bedford (keyboards), The County of Avon Symphonic Wind Band Virgin CDOVD484 ON FIRE (SIMON HARAM, SAXOPHONE, 1997) contains 'Backings' for soprano saxophone and tape, plus works by Heath, Muldowney, Carpenter and Gregory Black Box 5-031033-970126 cc@bbmusic.demon.co.uk THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS (1997) contains 'Godrestya' plus tracks by Kitaro, Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman and others AMP-CD036 ENGLISH CHORAL MUSIC (1998) contains 'The Golden Wine is Drunk', plus music by Holst, Britten and Howells. The Netherlands Chamber Choir/John Alldis Globe GLO 5170 RECORDER CONCERTO (CD Single, 1998) Piers Adams, BBCSO/Brabbins NMC DO45S Listen to an excerpt from a recording of the Recorder Concerto as a streamed RealAudio file. To download the RealAudio player, click on the icon below: THE WIND MUSIC OF DAVID BEDFORD ( 1998) contains 'Praeludium', 'Sun Paints Rainbows on the Vast Waves', Canons and Cadenzas', Sea and Sky and Golden Hill', 'Ronde for Isolde'. The Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra/Rundell Doyen DOY CD 082 sales@doyen-recordings.co.uk 12 HOURS OF SUNSET (1998) contains '12 Hours of Sunset', 'Recorder Concerto', 'Symphony 1', 'Alleluia Timpanis', BBCSO/Van Steen/Brabbins NMC DO49 nmc@nmcrec.co.uk THE GARDEN OF LOVE ( 1963 re-released 1998) Kevin Ayers and the Whole World/London Sinfonietta Voiceprint VP180CD info@voiceprint.co.uk MY MOTHER, MY SISTER AND (1999) Evelyn Tubb: Sylvia Pankhurst Mary Wiegold: Christabel Pankhurst Jacky Barron: Emmeline Pankhurst Classicprint CPVP003 chris@seripity.demon.co.uk THE WIND MUSIC OF DAVID BEDFORD (1998) contains 'Praeludium', 'Sun Paints Rainbows on the Vast Waves', 'Canons and Cadenzas', 'Sea and Sky and Golden Hill', 'Ronde for Isolde'. The Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra/Rundell Doyen DOY CD 082 12 HOURS OF SUNSET (1998) contains '12 Hours of Sunset', 'Recorder Concerto', 'Symphony 1', 'Alleluia Timpanis', BBCSO/Van Steen/Brabbins NMC DO49 Back to top

CONTACT INFORMATION David Bedford 12 Oakwood Road Henleaze Bristol BS9 4NR Tel/fax: 01179 624202 E mail dvbmus@aol.com Back to top