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Colin Matthews

Composer

The writing is energetic, skilful, imaginative, and organic, as Matthews’ music always is …

— Stephen Pettitt, The Times

Anthony Payne (1936-2021)

2 May, 2021

Tony Payne, standing in front of a lake and mountain view

That Anthony Payne has died so soon after the death of his wife Jane Manning is a shock. But, inseparable as they were in life, it is perhaps not surprising that one could not survive without the other. It is a double loss, to the musical world. Tony’s music was well represented on NMC, and only a few days ago I was talking to him about the possibility of a new recording of his orchestral music : let’s hope that it can still happen.

His love for the music of English composers, notably Vaughan Williams, Delius, Frank Bridge and, of course, Elgar, didn’t result in any attempt to emulate them. Instead his music reveals how he was able to reconcile their disparate styles with the mainstream of contemporary music (he wrote a remarkably perceptive book about Schoenberg in 1968). His music is both expressive and hard-edged, and like his personality, never lacks warmth.

His reconstruction of Elgar’s Third Symphony, first performed and recorded for NMC in 1998, is a tour de force of insight and imagination. Though many disapproved of the idea of ‘completing’ the symphony – a term which in any case Tony rejected – those objections were swept aside by the power and beauty revealed in the music. He would have wanted to, and will be, remembered for more than that considerable achievement, but it was one of which he was justifiably very proud.

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Latest News & Views

Group of performers posing for a photo together in front of the piano, with Colin Matthews and William Boyd

A Visit to Friends

27 March, 2022

CD cover of Beethoven for Three, Symphonies Nos.2 and 5 - image of Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos and Yo-Yo Ma

Beethoven for Three

1 March, 2022

Line up of the panufnik composers with Colin Matthews. One composer is on a video screen, the rest are there in person.

Latest Panufnik Composers

15 February, 2022

Upcoming Performances

Click on the date and title of the performance to view venue and booking details in a new window.

24 June, 2022 - Three Fragments

Aldeburgh Festival Britten Studio, Snape Maltings (Aldeburgh Festival)

24 June, 2022 - O (World Premiere)
Claire Booth (soprano), Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin), Anssi Karttunen (cello), Huw Watkins (piano)
Aldeburgh Festival Britten Studio, Snape Maltings (Aldeburgh Festival)

View all performances

Useful Links

Faber Music
NMC Recordings
The Holst Foundation

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