Nicholas Maw is one of Britain's most admired composers. He is also an acknowledged master in whatever genre he expresses himself, and one whose musical language is instantly recognizable. Born in 1935 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London (1955-58) with Paul Steinitz and Lennox Berkeley; and in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Schoenberg's pupil, Max Deutsch. His career as a teacher has included positions at Trinity College Cambridge, Exeter University, and Yale University. He is currently Professor of Composition at the Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore. Prizes and awards he has won include the 1959 Lili Boulanger Prize, the 1980 Midsummer Prize of the City of London, the 1991 Sudler International Wind Band Composition Competition for American Games, and the 1993 Stoeger Prize from The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
In the UK he was honored in a Nicholas Maw Day at the South Bank Centre (a BBC promotion). He has been commissioned by most of the major musical organizations. In 1991 Simon Rattle took up his defining work, Odyssey, toured it and recorded it for EMI. His opera Sophie's Choice (a joint BBC/ROH commission) was also conducted by Rattle in a production by Trevor Nunn for the Royal Opera. It is now due to be heard in Berlin, Vienna, and Washington.
Since 1984 Maw has divided his time between Europe and the United States. There has been a resultant upsurge of performances in the US from many major American ensembles, soloists, and orchestras: such as the orchestras of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and National Symphony (Washington DC), and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Perhaps the warmth of the reception in America can be most aptly summed up by Richard Dyer's recent comment in the Boston Globe that "for generations people will be buying tickets to hear his music," which echoes earlier words from the British critic Malcolm Hayes in 1989 (on Odyssey): "There are very few post-war works whose substance, technical control, sheer range of thought, wonderful playability and - above all - whose magnificent attitude looks set to ensure that they're still going to be played in 50 years' time (and beyond). I think Odyssey will be one of them."
June 2005