Ronald Stevenson

For the Scotland international rugby union player, seeRonald Stevenson (rugby union).

Ronald James Stevenson(6 March 1928 – 28 March 2015) was a Scottish composer, pianist, and writer about music.

Biography

The son of a Scottish father and Welsh mother, Stevenson was born inBlackburn,Lancashire, in 1928. He studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music (now incorporated in theRoyal Northern College of Music), studying composition withRichard Halland piano withIso Elinson,graduating with distinction in 1948. He married Marjorie Spedding in 1952.He moved to Scotland in the mid-1950s. As a socialistpacifistconscientious objector,he applied for exemption fromNational Service,but was refused recognition by the North Western Tribunal. He, in turn, refused to attend a medical examination as an essential preliminary to call-up, which led to prosecution and sentence to 12 months imprisonment inWormwood Scrubs.The sentence qualified him to go to the Appellate Tribunal, which finally allowed exemption from military service conditional upon work on the land.

Among his many compositions, the largest (in terms of duration) and most famous is hisPassacaglia on DSCHfor solo piano, written between 1960 and 1962, based on a 13-noteground bassderived from the musical motifD-E♭-C-B:the German transliteration ofDmitri Shostakovich's initials ( "D. Sch." ). Stevenson's work takes more than an hour and a quarter to perform and is one of the longest unbroken singlemovementscomposed for piano.

Stevenson's other works include twopiano concertos,the second of which was first performed atthe Promsin 1972, aviolin concertocommissioned byYehudi Menuhin,and acello concertoin memoriamJacqueline du Pré.He also wrote several chamber works including aString QuartetandPiano Quartet,numerous songs (among these, many settings ofHugh MacDiarmid,William SoutarandJames Joyce) and works for solo piano. In 2007 he completed achoral symphony,Ben Dorain,on Hugh MacDiarmid's translation of the poem of that name byDuncan Ban MacIntyre.This work, for full chorus and chamber choir with chamber orchestra and symphony orchestra, was begun in the 1960s and laid aside for many years. The world premiere was given in City Halls,Glasgow,on 19 January 2008 by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with the composer present.

Stevenson was very active as a transcriber of music other than his own, chiefly for the piano, in the tradition ofFerrucio Busoni,Percy GraingerandLeopold Godowsky.His transcriptions covered composers as diverse asHenry Purcell,Frederick DeliusandBernard van Dieren.Notable examples include piano solo versions of Grainger'sHill Song No.1(originally for wind orchestra), the first movement ofGustav Mahler'sTenth Symphony,and of the six unaccompanied violin sonatas ofEugène Ysaÿeas piano sonatas. Stevenson worked on van Dieren's String Quartet No 5 over a period of 40 years (from 1948 to 1987), transcribing it "as a piano sonata (which B.v.D. never composed)".There is also a collection of piano solos based on songs from the 19th and 20th centuries entitledL'art nouveau de chant appliqué au piano,a title that recalls deliberately the collection of song-transcriptions bySigismond Thalberg.Stevenson made many arrangements of folk music from countries as far apart as Scotland and China, while many of his own works exist in several different instrumentations.

Stevenson was also noted as a teacher. He was senior lecturer in composition at theUniversity of Cape Townin the mid-1960s, delivered seminars at theJuilliard Schoolin New York, and was responsible for a course entitledThe Political Pianoat theUniversity of Yorkin the early 1980s.

Stevenson died on 28 March 2015, aged 87 at his home inWest Linton,Scotland. His widow and three children survive him.His daughterSavourna Stevenson(born 1961) has recorded many works on the Scottish harp. His daughterGerda Stevensonis a film and theatre actress, and a poet.His granddaughter Anna Wendy Stevenson is a Scots folk fiddler.

List of works (selection only)

(Full list to 2005 in Symposium ed. Scott-Sutherland listed in References)

Orchestra

• Berceuse Symphonique(1951)
• Jamboree for Grainger(1960–61)
• Scots Dance Toccata(1965)
• Young Scotland Suite(1976)
• Strathclyde's Salute toMandelafor brass band (1990–91)

Solo instrument and orchestra

• Piano Concerto No.1,A Faust Triptych(1959–60; reworking ofPrelude, Fugue and Fantasyfor solo piano)
• Simple Variations of Purcell's 'New Scotch Tune' for clarinet and strings (1967 reworking of 1964 piano variations)
• Piano Concerto No. 2,The Continents(1970–72)
• Violin Concerto,The Gypsy(1977–79)
• Corroborree for Graingerfor piano and wind band (1989 recomposition ofJamboree for Grainger)
• Cello Concerto,The Solitary Singer(1968–94)

Solo voice and orchestra

• Variations Vocalises sur deux themes de 'Les Troyens' de Berliozfor mezzo-soprano and orchestra (1969)
• St Mary's May Songsfor soprano and string orchestra (1988–89)

Choral music

• The Weyvers o' Blegburnfor chamber choir, texts in Lancashire dialect (1962)
• A Medieval Scottish Triptychfor a cappella chorus, medieval Scottish texts (1967)
• Anns an Àirde, as an Doimhnefor a cappella chorus, poems bySorley MacLean(1968)
• 4 Peace Motets,Biblical texts (1976)
• Domino Roberto Carwor: 12-part Motet in memoriam Robert Carver,text byJames Reid-Baxter(1987)
• In praise of Ben Dorain:Symphony for full chorus, chamber chorus, symphony orchestra and chamber orchestra, Gaelic text by Duncan Ban MacIntyre and translation by Hugh MacDiarmid (1962–2007)

Chamber and instrumental

• Sonata for violin and piano (1947)
• Variations on a Theme ofPizzettifor unaccompanied violin (1961; NB unrelated to piano variations, though same theme)
• 4 Meditationsfor string quartet (1964 arrangements of movements fromA 20th-Century Music Diaryfor piano)
• Variations and Theme ('The Bonnie Earl o' Moray') for cello and piano (1974)
• Recitative and Air: In Memoriam Shostakovichfor violin and piano (1976 arrangement of piano original; also for cello & piano, bassoon & piano, viola & piano, string quartet and string orchestra)
• Don Quixote and Sancho Panza:Duo for 2 guitars (1982–83)
• Scots Suitefor unaccompanied violin (1984)
• Fantasy Quartet,Alma Albafor piano, violin, viola and cello (1985)
• Bergstimmungfor horn and piano (1986)
• The Harlot's House– Dance Poem afterOscar Wildefor free-bass accordion, timpani and percussion (1988)
• String Quartet,Voces Vagabundae(1990)
• Pan-Celtic Wind Quintet(2000)
• Celtic Triptychfor solo recorder (2010), dedicated to John Turner

Keyboard music

Piano and harp

• Duo Sonata (1970–71)
• Chiaroscuro: Homage to Rembrandt and his Biographer Van Loon(1987)

Harpsichord

• Sonata (1968)

Organ

• Prelude and Fugue on the 12-note theme from Liszt'sFaust Symphony(1961–62)

Solo piano

• Sonatina No.1 (1945)
• 18 Variations on a Bach Chorale (1946)
• Sonatina No.2 (1947)
• Vox Stellarum(1947)
• Sonatina No.3 (1948)
• Chorale Prelude for Jean Sibelius(1948)
• Fugue on a Fragment of Chopin (1948; also version for 2 pianos)
• 3 Nativity Pieces(1949)
• Andante Sereno(1950)
• Variations on a Theme of Pizzetti (1955; NB unrelated to violin variations, though same theme)
• A 20th-Century Music Diary(1953–59)
• 6 Pensées sur des Préludes de Chopin(1959)
• Prelude, Fugue and Fantasy on Busoni'sFaust(1949–59)
• Passacaglia onDSCH(1960–62)
• Simple Variations on Purcell's 'New Scotch Tune' (1964; rev and enlarged 1975 asLittle Jazz Variations on Purcell's 'New Scotch Tune')
• Scottish Folk Music Settings (c. 1959–65)
• A Scottish Triptych (1959–67) (originallyA Modern Scottish Triptych:consists ofKeening Sang for a Makar (in memoriamFrancis George Scott,Heroic Song for Hugh MacDiarmidandChorale-Pibroch for Sorley MacLean)
• South Uist Folksong Suite(1969)
• Peter Grimes Fantasyon themes from the opera byBenjamin Britten(1971)
• 3 Scottish Ballads(1973)
• Recitative and Air(1974) (published 1976 asRecitative and Air: In Memoriam Shostakovich)
• Sonatina Serenissima(In Memoriam Benjamin Britten) (Sonatina No.4) (1973–77)
• Norse Elegy for Ella Nygard(1976–79)
• Barra Flyting Toccata(1980)
• A Rosary of Variations on Seán Ó’Riada’s Irish Folk Mass(1980)
• Symphonic Elegy for Liszt(1986)
• A Threepenny Sonatina: Homage to Kurt Weill(Sonatina No.5) (1987–88)
• Motus Perpetuus (?) Temporibus Fatalibus(1987–88)
• Beltane Bonfire(1989)
• A Carlyle Suite(1995)
• Le Festin d’Alkan:Concerto for solo piano without orchestra (1988–97)
• Fugue, Variations and Epilogue on a Theme of Bax (1982–83; 2003)

Song cycles

• 19 Songs of Innocencefor four solo voices and piano with a cappella chorale, texts byWilliam Blake(1947–8, rev. 1965)
• Four Vietnamese Miniaturesfor high voice and harp (or piano), texts byHo Chi Minh(1965)
• Border Boyhoodfor tenor and piano, text by Hugh MacDiarmid (1970)
• The Infernal Cityfor tenor and piano, texts by Hugh MacDiarmid and Sorley MacLean (1970–71)
• 9 Haikufor high voice and harp or piano, texts from Japanese poets (School ofBashō) translated byKeith Bosleyplus one poem by Keith Bosley (1971)
• Songs of Questfor baritone and piano, texts byJohn Davidson(1974)
• Hills of Homefor baritone and piano, texts byR. L. Stevenson(1974)
• Songs from Factories and Fieldsfor bass-baritone and piano, texts by Hugh MacDiarmid (1977)
• Lieder ohne Buchstaben (Unspelt Songs)for tenor and piano, texts byA. D. Hope(1982)
• A Child's Garden of Versesfor soprano or tenor and piano with optional treble or young soprano, texts by R. L. Stevenson (1985)

Sources

• Raymond Clarke, recording notes for Stevenson:Passacaglia on DSCH.Raymond Clarke (piano). Marco Polo 8.223545.
• Ronald Stevenson: A Musical Biography,by Malcolm MacDonald (Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, 1989)
• Ronald Stevenson: The Man and his Music, A Symposium,edited by Colin Scott-Sutherland with a foreword by Yehudi Menuhin (London, 2005)ISBN0-907689-40-X

External links

• The Ronald Stevenson Society
• Ronald Stevenson at the Scottish Music Centre
• Ates OrgaRonald Stevenson Composer-Pianist: A Memoir(June 1999)
• Digitised scores of Stevenson's compositions can be viewed through theFive Centuries of Scottish Musiccollection hosted byAHDS Performing Arts
• Gasser, M., "Ronald Stevenson, Composer-Pianist: An Exegetical Critique from a Pianistic Perspective" (Edith Cowan University Press, Western Australia, 2013)
• Chris Walton, "Composer in Interview: Ronald Stevenson – a Scot in 'emergent Africa'"