University of York Music Press

Jeremy Dale Roberts has produced a varied and eclectic body of work, ranging in forces from substantive works for solo piano and solo guitar, to Deathwatch a large scale work for cello, amplified cello and orchestra. However, it is perhaps in his chamber music and works for sinfonietta forces that he has gained most acclaim. Croquis, his BBC commission for members of the Arditti Quartet, was praised by the Guardian for its "volatile, sinuous and intense virtuosity," whilst Hamadryad, for alto flute viola and guitar, was described by Classical Source as having "a kind of ascetically sumptuous exoticism... quite personal in its oblique beauty." He taught composition for over thirty years at the Royal College of Music, in later years as Head of Composition, where he has been a considerable influence on several generations of composers.

Anthony Gilbert is one of the leading figures in the British contemporary music scene, and has been influential as a composer, teacher of composition, and as a major contributor to the spnm. His output is extremely varied in its genre and forms, reflecting a huge range of compositional interests, from serial techniques to Australian birdsong, from rhythmic cycles originating in Indian classical music to social and political oppression. He has written for the London Sinfonietta, Manchester Camerata, Hallé Orchestra, Lindsay Quartet, Arditti Quartet, and has received major commissions from the Cheltenham Festival. On Beholding a Rainbow, commissioned and later recorded by the BBC, has been described by Music Web International as "a piece of great lyrical beauty and one of the great violin concertos of the late 20th century." Gilbert shows no sign of slowing his prolific output, and according to Keith Potter of The Independent, "on the evidence of Rose luisante, heard in a recital earlier this year, Gilbert might be hitting a new, Indian-summer stride." 1934 was a pivotal year for British music, seeing the deaths of Elgar, Host and Delius as well as the births of Anthony Gilbert and Jeremy Dale Roberts, and it will be interesting to see how concert programmers respond to the challenge of marking the anniversary of this crossroads in British music.