About

David Gorton - composer

Piano Quintet: Fosdyke Wash                  Kreutzer Quartet, Zubin Kanga

Welcome to DavidGortonMusic.com, the website for composer David Gorton.

"intricately atmospheric" (The Observer)

“lyrical without being soft, complex without being threatening, cool without being cold. It is intricately crafted, but it wears its intelligence lightly.” (The Rambler)

“combines an acute imagination for delicate timbral invention with a prodigious command of the unfolding of this half-hour ritual drama” (The Independent)

 

The music of British composer David Gorton is difficult to pin down and to categorize. While it clearly fits within what can broadly be described as contemporary classical music, it sits uneasily with what that might normally imply. Certainly a number of his works are experimental in outlook, with an interest in microtones and alternative tuning systems, and a fascination with frenzy, complexity, and virtuosity for its own sake. Yet other works are fragile, meditative, and transcendent in character, with a melancholic lyricism and harmonies that, while not tonal in a functional sense, owe much to the consonance and dissonance of the natural harmonic series. And while his works are performed by specialist contemporary music ensembles, and he has a particular interest in building collaborative relationships with virtuosic performers, he has also written music for beginners, amateurs, and students to perform. Yet these apparent antinomies cease to be problematic when viewed from the perspective of 'contradiction' as an artistic endeavor in its own right; an outlook that derives perhaps from the contradictory landscapes of the south Lincolnshire fens from where Gorton originates.

 

David Gorton studied composition with Harrison Birtwistle and Simon Bainbridge. He teaches at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Contact: info@davidgortonmusic.com   
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