John Carewe (born 24 January 1933) is a British conductor and teacher.

Biography

edit

Very early in his student career at the Guildhall School of Music, Carewe gave up his original intention of being a composer and turned to conducting. His teachers, nevertheless, were all composers: Walter Goehr and Max Deutsch (both Schoenberg pupils), Messiaen (with whom he studied in Paris on a French Government scholarship) and Pierre Boulez.[1][2]

In 1958, he founded the New Music Ensemble and gave many British premieres of music by composers including Birtwistle,[3] Boulez,[4] Bennett,[5] Maxwell Davies,[6] and appeared at most of the major British festivals, including the BBC Proms.[1][7] He was one of the three conductors in the first British performance of Stockhausen’s Gruppen, given in Glasgow in 1960.[8][9]

In 1966, at the invitation of Sir William Glock, Carewe became principal conductor of the BBC Welsh Orchestra,[1] and held the post until 1971. From 1974 to 1986, Carewe was music director of the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra. He was principal conductor of The Fires of London between 1980 and 1984.[10][11]

In 1988, Carewe gave the world premiere of Elliott Carter's Oboe Concerto with Heinz Holliger.[12] In 1996, he was involved with Sir Simon Rattle and Daniel Harding in six performances of Gruppen in Birmingham, London and Vienna.[13]

From 1993 to 1996, Carewe was Generalmusikdirektor (General Music Director) of the Chemnitz Opera, which encompassed its resident orchestra, the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie.[14]

Carewe's pupils have included Sir Simon Rattle.[15] He frequently worked with the Bundesjugendorchester[16] and taught conducting at both the Royal Academy of Music[17] and the Royal College of Music in London. He has served on the jury of the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition.[15]

Carewe's recordings include Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (recorded in 1988 after performances at Nice Opera),[18] and Milhaud's La Création du Monde and Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale (recorded with a chamber ensemble from the London Symphony Orchestra).[19]

Carewe has two daughters, Mary, a vocalist, and Anna, a cellist.[20]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "CHARM Symposium 6: Playing wih [sic] recordings". King's College London. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  2. ^ Rupprecht, Philip (2015). British Musical Modernism: The Manchester Group and their Contemporaries. King's College London: Cambridge University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-1316297988.
  3. ^ "Birtwistle – Monody for Corpus Christi for soprano, flute, violin and horn | Universal Edition". Universal Edition. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  4. ^ Harris, Paul; Meredith, Anthony (1 August 2011). Richard Rodney Bennett: The Complete Musician. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125880.
  5. ^ Harris, Paul; Meredith, Anthony (1 August 2011). Richard Rodney Bennett: The Complete Musician. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125880.
  6. ^ Craggs, Stewart R. (12 July 2017). Revival: Peter Maxwell Davies: A Source Book (2002): A Source Book. Routledge. ISBN 9781351765022.
  7. ^ "2017". BBC Music Events. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  8. ^ Del Mar, Norman (Autumn 1961). "On Co-Conducting Stockhausen's 'Gruppen'". Tempo. 59 (59): 15–23. doi:10.1017/S0040298200027807. S2CID 145272173.
  9. ^ "BBC SSO at 80 - 1961". BBC. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  10. ^ Heidelberg, Theater und Orchester. "John Carewe". theaterheidelberg.de (in German). Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  11. ^ "Our History". Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Elliott Carter – Oboe Concerto". boosey.com. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  13. ^ Hensher, Philip (21 December 1996). "All talent and no gimmicks". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 26 February 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  14. ^ Heidelberg, Theater und Orchester. "John Carewe". theaterheidelberg.de (in German). Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  15. ^ a b Kate Connolly (11 March 2010). "Passing the Mahler baton". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  16. ^ "Dirigentinnen und Dirigenten". Bundesjugendorchester (in German). Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Andrea Quinn | Biography | Conductor | Classical Orchestra". www.andreaquinn.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  18. ^ Salter, Lionel (9 January 2013). "Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande". Gramophone. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  19. ^ "Milhaud* / Stravinsky* – John Carewe Conducting The London Symphony Orchestra Chamber Group* – La Création Du Monde / L' Histoire Du Soldat". discogs. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  20. ^ "biographies". Sheridan Ensemble. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
Cultural offices
Preceded by Principal Conductor, BBC Welsh Orchestra
1966–1971
Succeeded by
Preceded by Principal Conductor, Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
1974–1986
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Dieter-Gerhardt Worm
Generalmusikdirektor, Theater Chemnitz
1993–1996
Succeeded by