Param Vir
{{short description|British composer originally from India}}
{{For|the Indian military decoration|Param Vir Chakra}}
{{BLP sources|date=December 2007}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
Param Vir is a British composer originally from India.
Born in Delhi into a family life permeated with Indian classical music, Param Vir's strong interest in music developed as a teenager when attending a Roman Catholic secondary school and had informal lessons from composer Hans-Joachim Koellreutter, then resident in India.{{cite web|title=Param Vir|url=http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/long-bio/Param-Vir|publisher=Novello & Co, London|year=|language=|accessdate=25 August 2013}}{{cite web|title=RASALÎLA – Spiel der Gefühle|url=http://archiv.hkw.de/de/virtuelles_hkw/dossiers/NeueMusik/kapitel8.html|publisher=Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin|year=2003|language=German|accessdate=25 August 2013}} With no prospects as a composer in India, he read history and philosophy at Delhi University, but returned to music on graduation in 1974 as a teacher. From 1983 Vir studied composition at Dartington with Peter Maxwell Davies and at Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Oliver Knussen. In 1986 Vir was a composition fellow at Tanglewood. The following year he was a featured composer in the Festival of India in Geneva.{{cite web|title=Vir, Param|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/46314|publisher=Malcolm Miller. "Vir, Param." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 11 Jan. 2016|accessdate=11 January 2016}}
Career highlights
- 1983 – attended Dartington International Summer School on a scholarship.
- 1984 – moved to London to study with Oliver Knussen.
- 1987 – awarded Benjamin Britten Composition Prize.
- 1993 – Pierre Audi production of Broken Strings wins Ernst von Siemens Music Prize for young composers (Munich).
- 2003 – first full production of ION tours Europe.
- 2005 – Horse Tooth White Rock performed at the BBC Proms.
- 2005 – Hayagriva commissioned and premiered by the Schoenberg Ensemble in Amsterdam
- 2006 – Between Earth and Sky, inspired by Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate, premiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London
- 2008 – He Begins His Great Trance for the BBC Singers; Black Feather Rising for Stichting Octopus
- 2010 – Constellations for the BCMG performed at the Barbican
- 2013 – BBC Proms Commission Cave of Luminous Mind
- 2014 – Raga Fields – co-commission from Klangforum Wien, Fulcrum Point Chicago, the BCMG
- 2017 – international tour of A Kinsman to Danger
- 2020 – awarded PRS Composer Award for portrait CD on NMC
Selected works
=Stage works=
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Premiere ! Title ! class=unsortable|Description ! class=unsortable|Libretto and source |
| {{Hs|19920511a}}11 May 1992, De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam
| Snatched by the Gods | Opera in one act, 55' | William Radice, after the poem Debatar Gras by Rabindranath Tagore |
| {{Hs|19920511b}}11 May 1992, De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam
| Broken Strings | Opera in one act, 60'. (revised 1995) | David Rudkin, after an ancient Buddhist tale Guttil Jatak |
| {{Hs|20000609}}09 Jun 2000, Aldeburgh Festival/ Almeida Opera
| ION | Opera in 4 scenes with Prologue, 120' |
| {{Hs|20081024}}24 Oct 2008, De Toneelschuur, Haarlem
| Black Feather Rising | Music Theatre for 2 Singers and 6 Instrumentalists, 90' | David Rudkin, after folklore collection Healers on the Mountain by Teresa Pijoan |
=Other=
- Before Krishna (1987; string orchestra)
- Horse Tooth White Rock (1994; orchestra)
- Ultimate Words: Infinite Song (1997; baritone, six percussion, piano)
- The Theatre of Magical Beings (2003; large ensemble)
- Hayagriva (2005; large ensemble)
- Between Earth and Sky (2006; orchestra)
- Cave of Luminous Mind (2013; orchestra) BBC commission for 2013 Proms
- ABLAZE! (2014, soprano, piano)
- [https://paramvir.net/works/raga-fields/ Raga Fields] (2014, sarod, mixed ensemble)
- Drum of the Deathless (2017, percussion quintet or percussion duo)
- A Kinsman to Danger (2017, baritone, piano)
Selected recordings
- White Light Chorale – Metronome METCD1053
- Video extracts on the Param Vir official website
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.paramvir.net/ Param Vir] official website
- [http://www.chesternovello.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2431&State_2905=2&composerId_2905=1644 Param Vir's homepage at Chester Music]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vir, Param}}
Category:British opera composers
Category:British male opera composers
Category:Indian composers of Western classical music
Category:Indian male composers
Category:20th-century British classical composers
Category:21st-century classical composers
Category:21st-century British composers
Category:20th-century Indian musicians
Category:21st-century Indian musicians