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Gavin Stevens | |
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As an open-minded composer living in the late 20th century, Gavin feels that all musical "styles" potentially have something to offer. more...  At Night |
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Biographical NotesGavin Stevens was born in Chichester, West Sussex in 1962. He started learning Piano at the age of 8 and started composing when he was 10. He received his first formal coaching in Composition in 1978 when he went to Chichester College of Technology. In 1980 he went to the Royal Academy of Music to study Composition and Piano.Although never an "Avant-Garde" composer, he began to question the direction that some of his music was taking. A meeting with Cornelius Cardew in 1981 only served to deepen that thought. Gavin entered the first Cornelius Cardew Memorial Prize in 1982 after that composer's tragic death in December 1981 and was placed runner-up. He won the Prize the following Year. By 1985 Gavin had moved away from the Marxist-Leninist view espoused by Cardew and his followers but he still acknowledges the vital role that this period played in shaping his musical output. In 1990 he decided that he could longer confine himself to writing music in a modern classical style and began to experiment with other approaches to composition. It soon became clear to him that it was not enough to try and absorb these other styles into his main output, but that these styles had to be allowed to flourish in full. continue |
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Since 1990 Gavin has continued to write modern classical music but this now sits alongside an album of Easy-Listening called City Dreaming. There are also three albums of dance based electronic music created over the past five years. There is an element of cross influence in his recent music, with popular styles affecting his modern classical work and vice-versa. It should be noted that work such as "City Dreaming" is not ironic, cheesy camp a la Mike Flowers. It is written with the same care and sincerity as any of his other work. Yes, there is sometimes humour, but that can be found in other pieces as well. Gavin is not afraid of dissonance - sometimes in the most unexpected places - but his music is always tonal, even if not always in the conventional sense. He still believes that he has a most pleasant duty to communicate as directly as possible with the listener. This does not mean "writing down" to a supposed level. It is simply writing honestly, with a balance of heart and head. recent works |
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Recent Works
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