Adam Pounds

Adam Pounds is the first living British composer recorded by the Sinfonia of London and its conductor, John Wilson.[https://sinfoniaoflondon.com/recordings/ Recordings, Sinfonia of London] Born in Walthamstow, in London, to Edward Pounds and Annie Pounds (née Crisp).[https://www.adampounds.co.uk/biography Adam Pounds biography, Composer's website], he moved to Cambridge with his wife, Dinah Pounds,[https://democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=6497 Councillor Dinah Pounds, Cambridge City Council] and their two children, in 2000.[https://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/files/documents/cam_103_pdf_screen_resolution_final.pdf Cambridge Soundtrack, Cambridge Alumni Magazine (issue 103)]

As a child, Pounds was a chorister at St Michael's Church, in Walthamstow. Educated at William Morris High School, he was accepted to the London College of Music where he studied oboe, guitar, composition and conducting, the latter under Christopher Fry. His oboe quartet won the Lillian Hunt Memorial prize for composition. Pounds later took private composition lessons from Lennox Berkeley, to whom he had sent the prize-winning oboe quartet by way of introduction.[https://www.britishmusicsociety.co.uk/2024/03/only-the-notes-you-need/ Only the Notes You Need, British Music Society]

Pounds continued his studies at Goldsmiths' College, graduating with a BMus (Hons) degree. In 2002, Pounds began studying for a MEd at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where his research focused on the decline of classical music provision in state schools.[https://www.classicalmusicdaily.com/articles/p/a/adam-pounds.htm Adam Pounds biography, Classical Music Daily] During his studies at Trinity Hall, Pounds joined the choir of Great St Mary's, the University Church.

During his studies, Pounds worked as a music copyist for the BBC, preparing parts for major works by Harrison Birtwistle, William Alwyn and others, to be performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, continuing this work after leaving music college. He also worked for Crescendo, a jazz magazine, as an administrative assistant, and taught at Long Road Sixth Form College.

File:Adam Pounds, March 2025.jpgPounds founded and conducted the Nelson Orchestra, Waltham Forest, in 1981.[https://amateurorchestras.org.uk/olondon.htm London (inside the M25), UK Amateur Orchestras] He subsequently founded the Academy of Great St. Mary's at the University Church in Cambridge,[https://www.greatstmarys.org/orchestra Symphony Orchestra, Great St Mary's, The University Church] where some of his later works have received their debut.[https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/whatson/detail.shtml?uid=36dc6c71-ca6c-46aa-9f70-58d338b82d99 Academy of Great St.Mary's Orchestral and Choral Concert, University of Cambridge] Pounds also conducts the Stapleford Choral Society.[http://www.staplefordchoral.org.uk/musical-director Musical Director, Stapleford Choral Society]

Between 2015 and 2021, then again from 2024, Pounds also served as the chairman of the Lennox Berkeley Society,[https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/3997022/trustees The Lennox Berkeley Society: Trustees, Charity Commission for England and Wales] which encourages the performance, study, recording and broadcast of his former tutor's work.[https://www.lennoxberkeley.org.uk/about-us About Us, The Lennox Berkeley Society]

Along with his wife, Dinah, Pounds has co-founded the Romsey Music Project, producing an ongoing series of free and accessible concerts in Romsey Town where Dinah Pounds has served as a City Councillor since 2021, and as Deputy Mayor of Cambridge since 2024.[https://www.cambridgelabour.org.uk/people/cllr-dinah-pounds/2023/08/13/ Cllr Dinah Pounds, Cambridge Labour Party]

Pounds' early orchestral compositions include the Sinfonietta (1979) and the Gaelic Triptych (1983). His Festival Overture (1987) was commissioned by the Waltham Forest Arts Festival.[https://landofllostcontent.blogspot.com/2018/03/adam-pounds-london-cantata.html Adam Pounds: London Cantata], reviewed at The Land of Lost Content The Violin Concerto was first performed at the Stansted Festival in 1995.Question of Interpretation, in Saffron Walden Weekly News, 1 July, 1995, p. 11 Chamber works include three string quartets: No. 1 (1978); the one movement Second String Quartet (2003);[https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Aug13/Shostakovich_Barber_qt_CAMREC001.htm Recorded by the Bingham String Quartet, Cambridge Recordings CAMREC001 (2013)] and the String Quartet No. 3, completed in 2022. There are also vocal works, such as the Shakespeare Sonnets for voice, flute and piano, the London Cantata, and an opera, Syn (2005), based on Russell Thorndike's Dr Syn character. The opera has been performed at the Mumford Theatre, Cambridge.

The Martyrdom of Latimer was commissioned in 2009 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Ely Sinfonia. It explores the final days of the life of the cleric Hugh Latimer, his death at the stake and his martyrdom, using modal themes and liturgical ideas combined with strong rhythmic statements. It is written for a fairly large orchestra, employing four trumpet parts, with two of the players intended to be sited in a gallery. The piece was premiered in Ely Cathedral on {{date|2009/10/03|YYYY/MM/DD}}.[https://www.elysinfonia.co.uk/images/10th%20anniv%20prog%20Final.pdf 10th Anniversary Concert, Ely Sinfonia]

The London Cantata, completed in 2017, returns to Pounds' city of birth, reflecting on the historical diversity of life in the capital, set to the words of Wilfred Owen, Amy Levy, George Eliot and William Wordsworth, among others.

In 2018 Pounds continued composing a series of numbered symphonies, with Symphony No. 3 (2021) recorded in November 2022 by John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London, to whom it is dedicated, their first recording of a living British composer.[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/03/sinfonia-of-london-ravel-berkeley-pounds-orchestral-works-john-wilson-review-igor-levit-mendelssohn-lieder-ohne-worte Fiona Maddox. Chandos CHSA5324 review in The Guardian, 3 February, 2024] Written in response to the COVID-19 lockdowns imposed in 2020 and 2021, Pounds states that the piece captures the ‘sadness, humour, determination and defiance’ which everyone faced at this time – not least musicians.[https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%205324 'Ravel / Berkeley / Pounds: Orchestral Works' Chandos] Its concert premiere took place in Great St Mary's Church in Cambridge on {{date|2024/09/28|YYYY/MM/DD}}, conducted by the composer.[https://greatstmarysorchestra.org.uk/concert/28th-september-2024 28th September 2024 Great St Mary's Orchestra]

{{blockquote|text=But it's the Symphony’s third-movement Elegy – noble, serene, spacious — that stands as the work's high point: music decidedly of the present but tapping a vein of timeless, unaffected beauty and pure expression.[https://artsfuse.org/289445/classical-album-reviews-the-sinfonia-of-london-and-susanna-malkki-with-the-helsinki-philharmonic-orchestra/ Classical Album Reviews: The Sinfonia of London and Susanna Mälkki with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, The Arts Fuse]|author=Jonathan Blumhofer|source=The Arts Fuse}}

{{blockquote|text=... the music is utterly compelling, holds the attention with a glue-like grip, and thus, this issue is strongly recommended. The symphony is dedicated to John Wilson and his Sinfonia, and they repay the honour with a performance of searing conviction and intensity.[https://www.britishmusicsociety.co.uk/2024/01/ravel-berkeley-pounds/ RAVEL, BERKELEY & POUNDS, British Music Society]|author=Geoffrey Atkinson|source=British Music Society}}

{{blockquote|text=The finale projects a mood of hard-won defiance, and the symphony as a whole is certainly worth experiencing – especially in a performance as scrupulously prepared and committed as this one.[https://www.gramophone.co.uk/reviews/review?slug=berkeley-ravel-pounds-orchestral-works-wilson BERKELEY; RAVEL; POUNDS Orchestral Works (Wilson), Gramophone]|author=Andrew Achenbach|source=Gramophone magazine}}

The Symphony No. 4 was also premiered in Cambridge on {{date|2023/12/10|YYYY/MM/DD}}, followed by Pounds' Nocturne for Choir and Orchestra on {{date|2024/12/08|YYYY/MM/DD}}.[https://greatstmarysorchestra.org.uk/concert/8th-december2024 8th December 2024, Great St Mary's Orchestra]

Pounds' compositional style is in the symphonic tradition, and although he has used some so-called modern methods including serialism and minimalism, he has followed a line through composers such as Shostakovich, Hindemith, Vaughan Williams and Bartók. He also gained much from his time studying with Lennox Berkeley, who advised him to 'write only the notes you need'; during this time Pounds was able to refine his form and find direction.

Pounds has drawn inspiration from his travels, writing his Gaelic Triptych after a holiday in the Scottish Highlands. Its second movement, subtitled Corgarff Castle, evokes a misty picture of a lonely and deserted garrison, while the third, subtitled Drumossie Moor, is a tribute to the Scots butchered in the Battle of Culloden, ending with an orchestration of an ancient bagpipe tune. Another programmatic work, Northern Picture, is a collage of dance, mysticism and combat, influenced by the Castlerigg stone circle.

While Pounds' earlier work, Life Cycle, shares the same idea of programme, the inspiration is far more abstract, dwelling on life's journey. The fullness of life is represented by a strong minimalist section. His String Quartet No. 2, composed in 2003, contrasts war-like themes with images of reason and meditation. Pounds describes that, although he had always been involved with the Church of England, he went through a "political and hot-headed" period; this piece was written as he was returning to religion.

More recently, Pounds' Symphony No. 3 (2021) expresses the composer's various emotional reactions to the impact and psychological effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Regarding his time in the choir of Great St Mary's Church, Pounds has described his choral experience as beneficial to his work as a musician, explaining that "when you’re arranging instrumentation and conducting, it's important to understand choir and orchestra together".

In addition to the poems set in the London Cantata, Pounds' vocal works include settings of poems by William Blake, G. K. Chesterton and W. B. Yeats.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YvrhQF3FvM A Cradle Song, YouTube][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9R1SzsCWsY The Christ-Child, YouTube][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYUAU7RDPQ Dreams, YouTube]

• Symphony No. 4 (2023)
• Symphony No. 3 (2021)
• Symphony No. 2 (2019)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnCNlHyC6DA Symphony No. 2 (2nd movement), YouTube]
• Interludes from Syn (2005)
• Flute Concertino (1999)
• Northern Picture (1993)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2dhOYszDfo Northern Picture, YouTube]
• Life Cycle (1992)
• Violin Concerto (1989)
• Festival Overture (1987)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5XvXApNIL0 Festival Overture, YouTube]
• Symphony No. 1 (1985)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55g9vjskMyk Symphony No. 1 (1st movement), YouTube]
• Gaelic Triptych (1981)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBjDEDCvMxw Gaelic Triptych (1st movement), YouTube]
• Sinfonietta (1979)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xs9F3v-rUA Sinfonietta, YouTube]
• The Martyrdom of Latimer (2009)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoHPHHEaSIo The Martyrdom of Latimer, YouTube]

• Sonata for Flute and Piano (2020)
• Clarinet Quintet (2013)
• Sextet (2012)
• String Quartet No. 2 (2003)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NECXYsPFvdw String Quartet No. 2, YouTube]
• A Prelude to Bach (for organ) (1997)
• Sonata for Violin and Piano (1986)
• Wind Quintet (1984)

• Nocturne for Choir and Orchestra (2024)
• Dreams (2018)
• London Cantata (2016, rev. 2023)
• Veni, Redemptor Gentium (2016)
• Behold, the Great Creator Makes (2012)
• Time (2011)
• The Christ-Child (2011)
• Christmas Evocation (2008)
• A Cradle Song (2007)

• Syn (2005)

• Shostakovich String Quartet No. 3, Barber, Pounds String Quartets (2005)[https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Aug13/Shostakovich_Barber_qt_CAMREC001.htm Review MusicWeb International]
• The Nelson Orchestra 25th Anniversary Recording (Walton, Pounds, Vaughan Williams) (2006)
• Magnificat - Christmas from Cambridge (2007)
• Resurrection (2011)
• Entr'acte (2013)[https://www.lennoxberkeley.org.uk/album?album_id=210 Entr'acte, The Lennox Berkeley Society]
• London Cantata (2016)
• Symphony (2018)[https://landofllostcontent.blogspot.com/2019/01/adam-pounds-symphony-1985-and-other.html Adam: Pounds: Symphony (1985), British Classical Music]
• Time (2018)
• Sonata (2020)[https://music.apple.com/us/album/sonata/1553904221 Sonata, Apple Music]
• Ravel / Berkeley / Pounds: Orchestra Works (2024)

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.adampounds.co.uk/ Composer's website]
• [https://www.lennoxberkeley.org.uk The Lennox Berkeley Society]
• [https://www.greatstmarys.org/orchestra Academy of Great St Mary's]
• [http://www.staplefordchoral.org.uk Stapleford Choral Society]
• [https://romseymusicproject.org/ Romsey Music Project]
• [https://nationaljazzarchive.org.uk/explore/journals/crescendo National Jazz Archive: Crescendo]

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Category:1954 births

Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London

Category:Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge

Category:Musicians from the London Borough of Waltham Forest

Category:People from Walthamstow

Category:21st-century British composers

Category:20th-century British composers