Joseph horovitz biography

Joseph Horovitz

British composer and conductor (1926–2022)

This article is about the British composer and conductor. For the German orientalist, see Josef Horovitz. For the American cultural historian, see Joseph Horowitz.

Joseph Horovitz

Born(1926-05-26)May 26, 1926
Vienna, Austria
DiedFebruary 9, 2022(2022-02-09) (aged 95)
England
Occupation(s)Conductor and composer
Spouse

Anna Horovitz (née Landau)

(m. 1956)​

Musical artist

Joseph Horovitz (26 May 1926 – 9 February 2022) was an Austrian-born British composer and conductor best known for his 1970 pop cantata Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo, which achieved widespread popularity in schools. Horovitz also composed music for television, including the theme music for the Thames Television series Rumpole of the Bailey, and was a prolific composer of ballet, orchestral (including nine concertos), brass band, wind band and chamber music.[1] He considered his fifth string quartet (1969) to be his best work.[2]

Biography

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Joseph Horovitz

Joseph Horovitz (born 26 May 1926) is a British composer and conductor.

Horovitz was born in Vienna, Austria. His Jewish family emigrated to England in 1938 to escape the Nazis. His father was the publisher Béla Horovitz, the co-founder in 1923, with Ludwig Goldscheider, of Phaidon Press. His sister was the classical music promoter Hannah Horovitz (1936-2010).

He studied music and modern languages at New College, Oxford, and later attended the Royal College of Music in London, studying composition with Gordon Jacob. He then undertook a year of further study with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. His musical career began in 1950, when he became music director at the Bristol Old Vic. He was subsequently active as a conductor of ballet and opera, and toured Europe and the United States.

Horovitz married Anna in 1956, shortly after coaching at the bi-centenary celebration for Mozart and Glyndeborne. They honeymooned in Majorca, staying in Paguera&n

He discusses how he studied drawing, French, German and Music at New College Oxford, before being classed as an enemy alien class C (friendly) during the war and lecturing about music to the troops. Finally, Joseph speaks about coming to the Royal College of Music, where he is still teaching in 2015.

Biography

Joseph Horovitz was born in Vienna in 1926 and emigrated to England with his family in 1938. After completing a BMus at Oxford, he studied with Gordon Jacob at RCM and later with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. His compositions range widely from ballets, one-act operas, concertos and chamber music, through to pieces for brass, wind bands and choral works. He has also written many Son et Lumière, and over seventy scores for television. Horovitz is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music and holds two Ivor Novello awards. In 2002 he received the Nino Rota Prize of Italy, and in 2007 he was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art First Class. In 2008 the Worshipful Company of Musicians awarded him the Cobbett Medal for services to chamber music.

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