- published: 23 Apr 2014
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Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE (born 8 September 1934) is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.
Davies was born in Salford, Lancashire, the son of Thomas and Hilda Davies. He took piano lessons and composed from an early age. As a 14-year-old he submitted a composition called "Blue Ice" to BBC Children's Hour in Manchester. Producer Trevor Hill showed it to resident pianist Violet Carson who said "He's either quite brilliant or mad". Conductor Charles Groves nodded his approval and said, "I'd get him in". They did and his rise to fame began under the careful mentorship of Hill who made him their resident composer and introduced him to various professional musicians both in the UK and Germany. (The full story can be found in Over the Airwaves, the autobiography of Trevor Hill published by Book Guild in 2005). After education at Leigh Boys Grammar School, Davies studied at the University of Manchester and at the Royal Manchester College of Music (amalgamated into the Royal Northern College of Music in 1973), where his fellow students included Harrison Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr, Elgar Howarth and John Ogdon. Together they formed New Music Manchester, a group committed to contemporary music. After graduating in 1956, he studied on an Italian government scholarship for a year with Goffredo Petrassi in Rome before working as Director of Music at Cirencester Grammar School from 1959 to 1962.
"Farewell to Stromness," Peter Maxwell Davies SD 480p
Peter Maxwell Davies: An Orkney Wedding With Sunrise
Peter Maxwell Davies "Symphony No.5"
Peter Maxwell Davies "Symphony No.7"
Peter Maxwell Davies (born 1934) - Eight Songs for a Mad King (with subtitles)
Peter Maxwell Davies: Symphony No.1 Op. 71 (1973/1976)
Farewell To Stromness - Peter Maxwell Davies - Ezra Williams
Interview Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016): String Quintet (World Premiere, 2015)
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies talks about composition and conducting