Justin Connolly

Justin Connolly was born on 11 August 1933[1] in London. He was the son of John D'Arcy-Dawson, a journalist and author, and his wife Barbara (née Little). He changed his surname from D'Arcy-Dawson to that of his father's biological father in his early 20s.[2]

He was educated at Westminster School, went on to national service in the Army, and briefly studied law at the Middle Temple before deciding on a career in music. From 1958 he studied at the Royal College of Music – composition with Peter Racine Fricker, piano with Lamar Crowson and conducting with Sir Adrian Boult[3] – graduating with a BMus degree. At the same time he had informal contact with Roberto Gerhard.[4] From 1963 to 1965 he attended Yale University on a Harkness Fellowship, where he studied with Mel Powell. He subsequently taught at Yale for 18 months before returning to the UK in 1967.[5] He taught for many years at the Royal College of Music, later moving to the Royal Academy of Music, retiring from teaching in 1995.

Justin Connolly died on 29 September 2020, in London.

His music is characterised by an outwardly modernist idiom, although Connolly professed a strong affinity with the music of the nineteenth century. His style is glittering, sometimes pointillist, and is often concerned with the interplay of complex and detailed textures. His music is rigorously crafted and often explores ideas related to philosophy, literature and history.[6]

Works include a brass quintet Cinquepaces, several Sonatinas for piano solo, concertos for viola, organ and piano (the latter the result of a BBC commission, premièred in 2003), four vocal cycles setting the poetry of Wallace Stevens, and a number of instrumental chamber pieces. His music is partially published by Novello & Co (Wise Music Group).[7]

Performers of his music have included conductors Pierre Boulez, who premiered one of his orchestra works,[8] Norman Del Mar, Sir Charles Groves, David Porcelijn, soloists Jane Manning, Gillian Weir, Ralph Kirshbaum, Susan Bradshaw, Stephen Savage, Nicolas Hodges, Marilyn Nonken, Chisato Kusunoki, as well as the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, the Nash Ensemble and the Pierrot Players.

Connolly was highly regarded as a teacher. His former students include Minna Keal, Geoffrey King and Alwynne Pritchard.

• Sonatina in Five Studies, Op. 1, piano, 1962, rev.1983
• Triad I, Op. 2, tpt, vla, pno, 1964
• Obbligati I, Op. 3, orchestra in 5 groups, 1966
• Antiphonies, Op. 4, orchestra, 1966
• Cinquepaces, Op. 5, brass quintet, 1965
• Triad IIa, Op. 6a, dbass, perc, piano, 1965
• Triad IIb, Op. 6b, dbass, perc, piano, 1982
• Prose, Op. 7a, SATB, 1967
• Verse, Op. 7b, SSAATTBB, 1969
• Triad III, Op. 8, ob, va, vc, 1966
• Poems of Wallace Stevens I, Op. 9, S, 7 insts, 1967
• M-Piriform, Op. 10, S, vln, fl, tape, 1968 (lost)
• The Garden of Forking Paths, Op. 11a, piano duet, 1969 (withdrawn)
• Fourfold, for two pianos, Op. 11b, 1983, from The Garden of Forking Paths
• Triad IV, Op. 12, fl, 2 perc, tape, 1969
• Obbligati II, Op. 13, fl, cl, vln, vcl, tape, 1967, rev. pending
• Poems of Wallace Stevens II, Op. 14, S, cl, pno, 1970
• Tesserae A, Op. 15a, ob, hpd, 1968, rev. ob, pno, 1983/pending
• Tesserae B, Op. 15b, fl, pf, 1970
• Tesserae C, Op. 15c, cello solo, 1971
• Tesserae D, Op. 15d, tpt, tape, 1971
• Tesserae E, Op. 15e, fl, db, 1972
• Tesserae F, Op. 15f, bass clarinet solo, 1999
• Poems of Henry Vaughan, Op. 16, 1&3: SATB. 2: SSATB, 1970
• Rebus, Op. 17, orch., 1971 (withdrawn)
• Poems of Wallace Stevens III, Op. 18, sop, accord, fl, cl, vla, 1971, rev. pending
• Triad V, Op. 19, cl, vln, vc, 1971
• Obbligati III, Op. 20, 20 inst., 1971, rev. pending (commissioned by the London Sinfonietta, premiere April 14th 1971)
• Triad VI, Op. 21, vla, pf, tape, 1974, rev. pending
• Tetramorph, Op. 22, strings, tape, 1972 (withdrawn)
• Divisions, Op. 23, wind band, 1972 (withdrawn)
• Waka, Op. 24, mezzo, pf, 1972, rev. 1981
• Sestina A, Op. 25a, pf, fl, ob, cl, hn, bsn, 1972 (lost)
• Sestina B, Op. 25b, fl, ob, bcl, vln, vc, hpsd, 1972, rev.1978
• Sonatina No. 2: Ennead, Op. 26, piano, 2000
• Anima, Op. 27, vla, orch, 1974
• Obbligati IV, Op. 28, ensemble (?), 1974, rev. pending
• Ceilidh, Op. 29a, 4 vln, 1976
• Chimaera, Op. 29b, dancer, 2 voices, and saxophone quartet, 1979, rev. for dancer, alto, bar., ch., pf., perc., and vc. 1981 (withdrawn)
• Collana, Op. 29c, vc, 1995
• Celebratio, Op. 29d, 3 vla, accordion, 1994
• Diaphony, Op. 31, organ and orchestra, 1977
• Spelt from Sibyl's Leaves, Op. 32, 5 voices, ensemble (3hn, 2hp, pno, bgtr, 2perc), 1989
• Nocturnal, Op. 33, fl, pf, cb, perc, 1991
• Sapphic, Op. 35, S, 12 players (fl, ob, bcl, tpt, trb, 2perc, 2 vln, vla, vlc, cb), 1991
• Piano Trio, Op. 36, 1999-
• Scardanelli Dreams, Op. 37, MS, pf, 1997-8
• Poems of Wallace Stevens IV, Op. 38, MS, vla, pno, 1992, withdrawn
• Gymel A, Op. 39a, fl, cl, 1993
• Gymel B, Op. 39b, clarinet, cello, 1995
• Remembering the butterfly..., Op. 40a, fl, pf, 1998
• Silbo, Op. 40b, piccolo and piano, 2009
• Piano Concerto, Op. 42, piano and orchestra, 2001-3
• String Trio, Op. 43, 2009-10
• Canaries, Op. 44, wind quintet, 2004
• Sonatina Scherzosa, Op. 45, piano, 2015

No opus number:

• Variations, tape, 1968
• Brahms: Variations Op. 23, arranged for wind band, 1985
• MPF – his rebus, for solo piano, 1996
• God and Dog, for voice and tape
• Scherzetti, solo flute, 2020

• Poems of Wallace Stevens I / Verse / Cinquepaces / Triad III, Argo LP ZRG 747 (1973), Lyrita CD SRCD305 (2008)
• Night Thoughts: Sonatina No. 2: Ennead, Nocturnal, Tesserae F: "Domination in Black", Scardanelli Dreams.
• Tesserae D, John Wallace, trumpet, Soma 781 (LP)
• MK lives! [early version of Piano Trio, op.36], Minna Keal 90th Birthday Concert (private release)
• Poems of Wallace Stevens II, Jane Manning, Jane's Minstrels, NMC D025
• Sonatina in Five Studies, Steven Neugarten, piano, Metier MSV CD92008
• Remembering the Butterfly..., op.40, Mark Underwood / Justin Connolly, Piping Hot, Chromattica 0500 (2000)

• Anon, Justin Connolly, composer brochure with biography and worklist, Novello and Co. Ltd., January 1992
• Connolly, Justin, "Cardew's 'The Great Digest' and Gilbert's 'Missa Brevis'" Tempo, No. 86 (Autumn, 1968), pp. 16–17
• Connolly, Justin, Havergal Brian review, Tempo No. 167 (August 2000)
• Connolly, Justin, The Songs of Bernard van Dieren, diss., U. of London, 1978
• Conway, Paul, "London, BBC Maida Vale Studios: Justin Connolly's Piano Concerto" Tempo, Vol. 58, No. 228 (Apr., 2004), pp. 66–67
• Ford, Andrew, Interview with Pierre Boulez, Composer to composer, Hale & Iremonger, 1993, p. 21
• Gilbert, Anthony, "Kaleidoscopes and a labyrinth – the musical vision of Justin Connolly", Tempo, Volume 66, Issue 260 (April 2012), pp. 15–22
• Hodges, Nicolas, "Justin Connolly", New Grove, Second Edition
• Kenyon, Nicholas, The BBC Symphony Orchestra: 1930-1980, London: BBC, 1981, pp370-1 (discussion of circumstances surrounding premiere of Tetramorph)
• Kurowski, Andrew, Interview with Justin Connolly at the ISCM event celebrating his 60th birthday, unpublished
• McBirnie, Andrew, Obituary of Justin Connolly, The Guardian, 1 November 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/nov/01/justin-connolly-obituary
• Oliver, Michael, 'Miscellany' in British Music Now, ed. Lewis Foreman (1975), pp. 162–178, esp. pp. 162–164
• Padmore, Susan, Interview with Justin Connolly on Spelt from Sibyl's leaves (BBC Radio 3 broadcast, 1989)
• Payne, Anthony, "Justin Connolly", New Grove (1st edition)
• Payne, Anthony, "Justin Connolly", The Musical Times, Vol. 112, No. 1538 (Apr. 1971), pp. 335–337,
• Potter, Keith and Villars, Chris, "Interview with Justin Connolly". Contact, 1 (1971). pp. 16–20. ISSN 0308-5066.
• Wolf, Benjamin, "The SPNM 1943–1975: a retrospective", The Musical Times, Vol. 154, No. 1925 (WINTER 2013), pp. 47–66

• Official website
• Page at Wise Music website – contains photograph, biography and list of published works