British composer Steve Martland has died at the age of
53, his publisher Schott Music has announced.
He was known
for pieces including 1983 orchestral work Babi Yar, premiered at the same time
in the US and the UK - by the St Louis Symphony and the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra.
It was later
recorded for Manchester's Factory Records.
Liverpool-born
Martland studied composition under leading Dutch composer Louis Andriessen in
the Hague.
"We are
very sad to announce that Steve Martland, one of the outstanding voices in
British music since the mid-80s, died in his sleep on the night of 6 May,"
his publisher said in a statement.
It said his
"lifetime preoccupation was with the function of the composer in
society".
"Steve was
a unique figure, an independent, questioning spirit who inspired a generation
of younger musicians - composers, players, promoters," it added.
'Pioneering school'
The composer's
music, described by Schott as "often amplified, muscular and powerfully
rhythmic", has been extensively choreographed in productions including
Drill, for the Sydney Opera House, Crossing the Border, for the Dutch National
Ballet, and Danceworks, which was premiered by the London Contemporary Dance
Theatre.
His publisher
said he rejected "academic dogma in favour of plurality of musical
influences, both ancient and modern, serious and vernacular" and had
frequently worked with artists "outside classical institutions".
He collaborated
with the band Spiritualized, in 1998, for Edinburgh's Flux Festival.
In 2006 and
2007, he was composer in residence at the Etna Music Festival, in Sicily.
And in 2008, he
wrote Starry Night for percussion and strong quartet for the Tromp music
festival in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Choral works
include Street Songs, written for King's Singers and percussionist Evelyn
Glennie.
The composer,
whose own Steve Martland Band tours his music internationally, also wrote Tyger
Tyger, for charity Youth Music's Sing Up campaign.
His scores for
TV include Granada children's show Wilderness Edge and he wrote and co-directed
A Temporary Arrangement with the Sea, a film about his mentor, Andriessen,
which was shown on BBC TV.
Schott said in
its statement he also ran his own "pioneering" summer school, Strike
Out, for budding composers still at school.
Source: BBC
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