Biography
Richard Blackford (born 13 January 1954 in London, England) is an English composer. Richard Blackford PhD studied composition with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music and conducting with Norman Del Mar. He was awarded the Mendelssohn Scholarship and the Tagore Gold Medal. He spent a number of years as Hans Werner Henze's assistant in Italy on a Leverhulme scholarship, where he received his first commissions while immersed in the European avant-garde.
He returned to London in 1977 to turn his sights to the dramatic potential of music, combining teaching at LAMDA with commissions for theatre scores along with concert commissions. After becoming first Composer in Residence at Balliol College, Oxford, he was commissioned to write the opera Metamorphoses for the Centenary of the Royal College of Music. Further collaborations with Ted Hughes and Tony Harrison led to international film and theatre projects, including The Prince's Play and Fram at the Royal National Theatre. In all he has composed four operas, two musicals, much concert music and the scores to over two hundred films, being nominated for an Emmy Award in 2001 for Outstanding Achievement In Music.
The mid-1990s saw a renewed focus on lyrical and dramatic works for the concert hall, notably Mirror of Perfection and Voices of Exile, both subjects of television documentaries. 2011 saw the premiere of Not In Our Time, a 55-minute choral and orchestral work commissioned to mark the Centenary of the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and for performance on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. It was subsequently performed in Chicago and Bremen to standing ovations.
In 2014, Blackford collaborated with wild soundscape recordist Bernie Krause to compose The Great Animal Orchestra Symphony. The work combines the traditional sounds of the orchestra with recordings of gibbons, humpback whales, Pacific tree frogs, mountain gorillas, beavers and the musician wren. The piece was premiered on the 12 July 2014 at the Cheltenham Festival with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Martyn Brabbins, then given at the Aberystwyth MusicFest and Birmingham Town Hall by the LSSO. Nimbus Records and Nimbus Music Publishing released the CD and score respectively.
In 2015 Richard was awarded Die Goldene Deutschland for services to music in Germany alongside Plácido Domingo and Diana Damrau. 2017 saw the premiere of his concertante work for violin and orchestra 'Niobe', commissioned by the Czech Philharmonic and recorded with soloist Tamsin Waley-Cohen for Signum Classics. The Czech Philharmonic also recorded Kalon for string quartet and string orchestra, a Cheltenham Festival commission in association with BBC Radio 3 for the 2018 Cheltenham Festival with the BBC NOW conducted by Martyn Brabbins. 2018 also saw the premiere of his string quartet Seven Hokusai Miniatures, commissioned by the Aberystwyth MusicFest for the Solem Quartet. 'Pietà', his third commission from the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, was premiered in 2019 and won the Ivor Novello Award in the Choral Category 2020.
Blackford is President of the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and is a Trustee of Music For Youth (MFY), the Aberystwyth MusicFest and The Bach Choir. He is published by Novello and Nimbus Publishing. In January 2019 he was awarded the Degree of Doctor Of Philosophy by the University of Bristol.
Filmography
all 71
Movies 67
TV Shows 4
Rosamunde Pilcher: Anwälte küsst man nicht (2014)
Unknown Heart (2014)
The Engaged Woman (2013)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Schlangen im Paradies (2013)
The Woman on the Cliff (2013)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Eine Frage der Ehre (2013)
Rosamunde Pilcher: The Other Wife (2012)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Das Geheimnis der weißen Taube (2012)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Verlobt, verliebt, verwirrt (2011)
Rosamunde Pilcher - Der gestohlene Sommer (2011)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Herzensfragen (2011)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Shades of Love-Family Secret (2010)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Flügel der Liebe (2010)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Wenn das Herz zerbricht (2010)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Liebe am Horizont (2010)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Im Zweifel für die Liebe (2010)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Lass es Liebe sein (2009)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Wiedersehen in Rose Abbey (2009)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Liebe gegen den Rest der Welt (2009)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Entscheidung des Herzens (2009)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Eine Liebe im Herbst (2009)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Herzen im Wind (2008)
Rebecca Ryman - Wer Liebe verspricht (2008)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Melodie der Liebe (2008)
A Risk Worth Taking (2008)
Rasmus und Johanna (2008)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Wind über der See (2007)
Starting Over (2007)
The Shell Seekers (2007)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Der Mann meiner Träume (2007)
The World Unseen (2007)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Flügel der Hoffnung (2007)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Sommer der Liebe (2007)
The Grand Finale (2006)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Wo die Liebe begann (2006)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Sommer des Erwachens (2006)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Der Himmel über Cornwall (2006)
Summer Solstice (2005)
House of Harmony (2005)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Segel der Liebe (2005)
Fingersmith (2005)
Rosamunde Pilcher - Magic of Love (2005)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Traum eines Sommers (2004)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Solange es dich gibt (2004)
Song for a Raggy Boy (2003)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Sternschnuppen im August (2003)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Wenn nur noch Liebe zählt (2002)
Du bist mein Kind (2002)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Blumen im Regen (2001)
Der Paradiesvogel (2000)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Im Licht Des Feuers (2000)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Ruf der Vergangenheit (2000)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Zerrissene Herzen (2000)
Der Arabische Prinz (2000)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Klippen der Liebe (1999)
Prometheus (1999)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Magie der Liebe (1999)
Barbara Wood - Herzflimmern (1998)
Rosamunde Pilcher - Melodie der Herzen (1998)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Dornen im Tal der Blumen (1998)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Die zweite Chance (1997)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Stunden der Entscheidung (1997)
Heiß und Kalt (1997)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Lichterspiele (1996)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Schneesturm im Frühling (1996)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Das Ende eines Sommers (1995)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Wechselspiel der Liebe (1995)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Karussell des Lebens (1994)
Rosamunde Pilcher: Wilder Thymian (1994)
(All Quiet on the) Preston Front (1994)
A Little Bit of Lippy (1992)
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Information
Known ForSound
GenderMale
Birthday1954-01-13 (70 years old)
Birth PlaceLondon, United Kingdom
CitizenshipsUnited Kingdom
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