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Edward McGuire (composer)

This article is about the composer. For others, see Edward McGuire (disambiguation).

Edward ("Eddie") McGuire (born 1948) is a Scottish composer whose work ranges from compositions for solo instruments and voice to large-scale orchestral and operatic works. McGuire studied composition with James Iliff at the Royal Academy of Music in London from 1966 to 1970 and then with Ingvar Lidholm in Stockholm in 1971.

Early life

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McGuire was born and brought up in Possilpark in Glasgow. His father played folk violin and was a member of a male voice choir which sang arrangements of Scottish Gaelic and Irish songs at charity concerts.[1]

Career

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As a student at the Royal Academy of Music McGuire won the Hecht Prize (1968) and the National Young Composers Competition (held in Liverpool University in 1969).[2] A competition organised by the Society for the Promotion of New Music to find a modern test piece for the 1978 Carl Flesch International Violin Competition was won by McGuire with a solo violin piece, Rant.[3][4] This piece was recently performed for a 65th birthday concert for McGuire organised by the BBC Scottish Symphony Club[5] which was followed by another concert at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[6] Another early success was when String Quartet was selected for the 40th anniversary Barbican Gala of the SPNM in 1983. His 3 act opera The Loving of Etain to a libretto by Marianne Carey was premiered by Paragon Opera at the Atheneum Theatre, Glasgow, in 1990. McGuire's 2 act opera Cullercoats Tommy,[7] with a libretto by Michael Wilcox was premiered by Northern Sinfonia and Northern Stage in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1993. McGuire received a British Composers' Award in 2003.[8] In 2004 he received a Creative Scotland Award[9] which allowed him to create the work Defying Fate. He was commissioned to produce the finale for the 2006 St Magnus Festival, Ring of Strings.[10][11] Calgacus, first recorded in 1997 by BBCSSO at the London Proms was performed again by the same orchestra for 2014 Celtic Connections.[12] His most frequently performed work has been his 3 act ballet Peter Pan staged by Scottish Ballet and Hong Kong Ballet over 120 times with a page dedicated to it on his website.

McGuire plays the flute in the folk group the Whistlebinkies.[13] In January 2006 he travelled to Hong Kong with the group to play a concert ("Scotland the Brave") with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong.

A CD of his music, Eddie McGuire: Music for Flute, Guitar and Piano,[14] on the Delphian Records label was 'Editor's Choice' in Gramophone magazine in 2006. In 2015 Delphian Records released Entangled Fortunes[15] performed by the Red Note Ensemble and once again featured in Gramophone magazine 'Editor's Choice'[16]

Selected compositions

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Selected recordings

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References

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  1. ^ Ross, Raymond J. (1983), An Interview with Eddie McGuire, in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), Cencrastus No. 14, Autumn 1983, pp. 23 - 27, ISSN 0264-0856
  2. ^ "Edward McGuire". Cadenza Music. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  3. ^ Carder, Richard. "McGuire's Minstrelsy" (PDF). Basbwe. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  4. ^ McGregor, Richard (1979). "Edward McGuire". The Musical Times. 120 (1636): 479–481. doi:10.2307/961099. JSTOR 961099.
  5. ^ "Eddie McGuire - Solos and Duos". The Sampler. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Fiddling of Anither Kind". A Scottish Musical Miscellany. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  7. ^ Griffiths, Bill (July 2010). Northern Sinfonia: a Magic of its own. ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited. ISBN 9781458784735. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. ^ "British Composer Awards shortlist 2003". British Composer Awards. Archived from the original on 24 November 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2003.
  9. ^ "Creative Scotland Awards judging panel announced". Scottish Arts Council. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  10. ^ Bruce, Keith (24 June 2015). "Review: St Magnus Festival, Orkney". The Herald. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  11. ^ Peebles, Alastair (28 June 2006). "ST MAGNUS FESTIVAL 2006". Northings. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Scotland's Music Live at City Halls". BBC. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  13. ^ "'Binks at Celtic Connections with the Musician's Union". the Whistlebinkies. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  14. ^ "Eddie McGuire: Music for flute, guitar and piano". Delphian Records. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  15. ^ Molleson, Kate (2 July 2015). "Eddie McGuire: Entangled Fortunes review – heartfelt and tuneful". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  16. ^ "Gramophone Editor's Choice August 2015". Mmmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  17. ^ "mr McFalls Chamber - Search". McFalls Chamber. Retrieved 15 March 2016.

Further reading

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