Patterson, Paul
All Works
AllusionsArchesBrussels FanfareCataclysmCello ConcertoChromascopeCircular Ruins, TheCity Within, TheClarinet ConcertoConcertanteCracowian CounterpointsDeviations Op.88Eurostar FanfareFanfare For A Great OccasionFanfare For The FutureFestivoFiesta SinfonicaFifth Continent, TheFireworks on ParadeFour Rustic Sketches op.80Four Rustic Sketches Op.80aFusionsGloriaHorn ConcertoJubilee DancesLittle Red Riding Hood Songbook, TheLittle Red Riding Hood Songbook, TheMagnificatMillennium MassOrchestra on Parade!Overture - Songs of the WestParis FanfarePartitaPhoenix ConcertoPiccola SinfoniaRequiemRoald Dahl's Little Red Riding Hood op.73Roald Dahl's Little Red Riding Hood op.73Roald Dahl's Little Red Riding Hood op.73Royal EurostarShadowsStrange MeetingSymphonic StudySymphonic Study No.2SyntonyTe Deum Op.65Three Little Pigs, TheThree Little Pigs, TheTrumpet ConcertoViola ConcertoViolin Concerto op.72White Shadows On The Dark HorizonWildfireZeitgeist
Paul Patterson is one of the most prominent composers of his generation. He studied trombone and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. He returned there to become Head of Composition and Contemporary Music until 1997, when he became Manson Professor of Composition. In his time at the Academy, it is fair to say that Patterson has almost single-handedly been responsible for the creation of the Contemporary Music Department. A regular guest on composition competition panels both in the UK and further afield, his devotion to new music, along with his desire to introduce the music of contemporary masters to students (in both composition and performance fields), has resulted in the creation of annual festivals devoted to a single composer at the Academy. He has worked with South East Arts, the University of Warwick the London Sinfonietta and is currently Composer-in-Residence with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and celebrated his tenth year with them in 2007.
Patterson is an important figure in the choral field and his enthusiasm for music both challenging and enjoyable to performers and audiences has produced a number of important large-scale choral works, most notably the Mass of the Sea (1983), Stabat Mater (1986), Te Deum (1988) the Millennium Mass (2000).
His works are performed regularly by leading performers in the United Kingdom and abroad, most popular among which are the orchestral setting of Roald Dahl’s Little Red Riding Hood and the Violin Concerto.
Patterson is a tireless advocate for contemporary music, having organised many special composer festivals at the Royal Academy of Music, and in 1996 he was honoured with the PRS/RPS Leslie Boosey Award.
Patterson was awarded the John Armitage Memorial Commission for 2005. For this, he composed The Fifth Continent, a work for solo counter tenor, choir, brass quintet and organ, which received its premiere in Southwark Cathedral in March 2005 and has subsequently been heard in Edinburgh. The work received further performances by the BBC Singers during the 2007/8 and 2008/9 seasons.
Recent commissions include an Oboe Concerto (Phoenix Concerto) for the International Double Reed Society Conference in Birmingham and a Viola Concerto for the Hampstead & Highgate Festival, both of which received their premieres during the latter part of 2009.
Recent CD releases have included The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood, narrated by the TV presenter Chris Jarvis, with the London Philharmonic under David Parry, and a recording of the Cello Concerto with Raphael Wallfisch and the South West German Chamber Orchestra (Pforzheim).