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Colin Matthews

Composer

Matthews generates a sustained span from the most subtly coloured cross-pulsations …

— Bayan Northcott, The Sunday Telegraph

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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Group of composers standing in a row

Panuknik composers 2023

12 March, 2023

Francois-Xavier Roth conducting

Mosaics

18 February, 2023

Aerial photo of Snape Maltings

Britten-Pears Young Artists

2 November, 2022

Upcoming Performances

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

19 July, 2023 - Nicht zu Schnell (Matthews/Mahler)
Orquesta Joven de Andalucia, Victor Pablo Pérez (conductor)
Palacio de Carlos V, Granada, Spain

20 July, 2023 - Nicht zu Schnell (Matthews/Mahler)
Orquesta Joven de Andalucia, Victor Pablo Pérez (conductor)
Palacio de Carlos V, Granada, Spain

6 June, 2025 - A Visit to Friends (World Premiere)

Snape Maltings Concert Hall - Aldeburgh Festival

7 June, 2025 - A Visit to Friends

Snape Maltings Concert Hall - Aldeburgh Festival

8 June, 2025 - A Visit to Friends

Snape Maltings Concert Hall - Aldeburgh Festival

View all performances

Useful Links

Faber Music
NMC Recordings
The Holst Foundation

© 2023 Colin Matthews · Website by Bookswarm

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