He was born in Oxford where he was a classics scholar before studying — somewhat hesitantly — with John Ireland at the Royal College of Music in London, after which he went to Vienna on a six-month scholarship to become a private pupil of Anton Webern, which became decisive in his composition career.
Searle was one of the foremost pioneers of serial music in the United Kingdom, and used his role as a producer at the BBC to promote it. Works of note include a Poem for 22 Strings (1950), premiered at Darmstadt, a Gogol opera, The Diary of a Madman (1958), and five symphonies (the first of which was commercially recorded by Sir Adrian Boult).
He is also known for developing the most authoritative catalogue of Franz Liszt's works, and the numbering system he developed is frequently used to identify Liszt's works.
Searle also composed scores for television and film, including incidental music for a 1965 Doctor Who serial. He died in London.
See also
External links
References
- Howard, Leslie; Short, Michael; Searle, Humphrey; Winklhofer, Sharon Ferenc Liszt (1811-1886) : list of works : comprehensively expanded from the catalogue of Humphrey Searle as revised by Sharon Winklhofer = elenco delle opere : ampliamento del catalogo di Humphrey Searle nella revisione di Sharon Winklkofer. Milano : Rugginenti Editore. ISBN 887665433X.
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Last updated on Saturday December 01, 2007 at 06:30:43 PST (GMT -0800)
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