Brett Dean

Brett Dean (born October 23, 1961 in Brisbane) is a contemporary Australian composer, violist and conductor.

Life

From 1985 to 1999, Dean was a violist in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2000, he decided to puruse a career as a freelance artist and returned to Australia. As a composer and musician, he is a regularly invited guest to many professional concert stages around the world.

Dean is married to painter Heather Betts and often performs together with his brother, the clarinet player Paul Dean.

Honors

Dean’s clarinet concerto "Ariel’s Music" won an award from the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in 1995. "Winter Songs" for tenor and wind quintet received the Paul Lowin Song Cycle Prize in 2001; "Moments of Bliss" for orchestra was named Best Composition at the Australian Classical Music Awards in 2005. In 2002-2003, Dean was artist in residence with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and composer in residence at the Cheltenham Festival. In 2007-2008, he became artist in residence with the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Griffith University in Brisbane and was named Artistic Director at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne.

Works

General

Dean began composing in 1988 initially focusing on experimental film and radio projects as well as improvisational performance. Since then, he has created numerous compositions, mainly orchestral or chamber music as well as concertos for several solo instruments. His most successful work is "Carlo" for strings, sample and tape, inspired by the art of Gesualdo. His most important project at present is the opera Bliss based on the novel by Peter Carey. On September 7, 2008 his new work "Polysomnography" for wind quintet and piano will receive its world premiere at the Lucerne Festival; on October 2, 2008 Sir Simon Rattle will conduct the first performance of the orchestral song cycle "Songs of Joy" in Philadelphia.

Dean's compositional style is known for creating dynamic soundscapes and treating single instrumental parts with complex rhythms. He shapes musical extremes, from harsh explosions to inaudibility. Modern playing techniques are as characteristic for his style as an elaborate percussion scoring, often enriched with objects from everyday life. Much of Dean’s work draws from literary, political or visual stimuli, transporting a non-musical ‘message’. Environmental problems are the subject of "Water Music" and "Pastoral Symphony," while "Vexations and Devotions" deal with the absurdities of a modern society obsessed with information.

List of compositions

tage

* "One of a Kind" – Ballet in three acts for solo cello and tape (1998)
* "Bliss" – Opera (2004ff.)

Orchestra

* "Carlo" – Music for strings, sampler and tape (1997)
* "Beggars and Angels" Music for orchestra (1999)
* "Amphitheatre" – Scene for orchestra (2000)
* "Etüdenfest" for string orchestra with off-stage piano (2000)
* "Game over" for instrumental soloists, string orchestra and electronics (2000)
* "Pastoral Symphony" for chamber orchestra (2000)
* "Dispersal" for orchestra (2001)
* "Shadow Music" for small orchestra (2002)
* "Between Moments" – Music for orchestra, in memory of Cameron Retchford (2003)
* "Ceremonial" for orchestra (2003)
* "Moments of Bliss" for orchestra (2004)
* "Parteitag" – Music for orchestral groups and video (2004/05)
* "Short Stories" – Five interludes for string orchestra (2005)
* "Komarov’s Fall" for orchestra (2005/06)
* "Testament" – Music for orchestra, after version for 12 violas (2008)

Concertos

* "Ariel’s Music" for clarinet and orchestra (1995)
* "Viola Concerto" (2004)
* "Water Music" for saxophone quartet and chamber orchestra (2004)
* "The Lost Art of Letter Writing" for violin and orchestra (2006)
* "The Siduri Dances" – Music for solo flute and string orchestra (2007)

Chamber music

* "Fledermaus-Overture" by Johann Strauß, arr. for octet (1988)
* "Wendezeit (Homage to F.C.)" for 5 violas (1988)
* "some birthday..." for 2 violas and cello (1992)
* "Night Window" – Music for clarinet, viola and piano (1993)
* "Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche" by Richard Strauss, arr. for octet (1995)
* "Twelve Angry Men" for 12 cellos (1996)
* "Voices of Angels" for strings and piano (1996)
* "Intimate Decisions" for solo viola (1996)
* "Night’s Journey" for 4 trombones (1997)
* "Three Pieces for Eight Horns" (1998)
* "hundreds and thousands" for tape (1999)
* "Huntington Eulogy" for cello and piano (2001)
* "Testament" for 12 violas (2002)
* "Eclipse" for string quartet (2003)
* "Three Caprichos after Goya" for solo guitar (2003)
* "Equality" for piano (with speaking part) (2004)
* "Demons" for solo flute (2004)
* "Prayer" for piano (with speaking part) (2005)
* "Recollections" for ensemble (2006)
* "Polysomnography" – Music for piano and wind quartet (2007)

Choral

* "Katz and Spatz" for eight-part mixed chorus (1999/2002)
* "Bell and Anti-Bell" (From Parables, Lullabies and Secrets) for children’s choir and small orchestra (2001)
* "Tracks and Traces" – Four Songs for children’s choir, based on texts by indigenous Australians (2002)
* "Vexations and Devotions" for choirs and large orchestra (2005)
* "Now Comes the Dawn" for mixed chorus (2007)

Vocal

* "Winter Songs" for tenor and wind quintet (2000)
* "Buy Now, Pay Later!" by Tim Freedman, arr. for voice and ensemble (2002)
* "Sparge la morte" for solo cello, vocal consort and tape (2006)
* "Poems and Prayers" for mezzo-soprano and piano (2006)
* "Wolf-Lieder" for soprano and ensemble (2006)
* "Songs of Joy" for baritone and orchestra (2008)

External links

* [http://www.amcoz.com.au/composers/composer.asp?id=3317 Australian Music Center]
* [http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2959&langid=1&ttype=SNAPSHOT&ttitle=Snapshot Biography by Boosey & Hawkes]
* [http://www.intermusica.co.uk/artists/composer-conductor/brett-dean/biography Brett Deans Homepage with his agency Intermusica]