John McCabe - Commissioned 2004
His output of compositions, which have been performed all over the world, covers many genres, including music for brass, wind band, chamber and orchestral music, opera and ballet. Among his most successful works is the ballet Edward II, created and choreographed by David Bintley (Stuttgart Ballet 1995). Edward II was premi�red, with great success, by the Birmingham Royal Ballet in the UK, winning, among other awards, the 1998 Barclays Theatre Award. Other major works include Notturni ed Alba (with soprano soloist), The Chagall Windows for orchestra, Concerto for Orchestra, five symphonies, and numerous concertos. He has also written Tenebrae for piano, and the chamber works Fauvel's Rondeaux and the string sextet Pilgrim. John McCabe's orchestral piece The Golden Valley is one of his most recent works. Especially commissioned and first performed by the Merseyside Youth Orchestra to celebrate their Golden Jubilee anniversary in 2001.
John McCabe's full-length ballet Arthur, Part I: Arthur Pendragon, with choreography by David Bintley; was premi�red by Birmingham Royal Ballet in January 2000. It is the first half of a cycle of two full-evening ballets, the second of which Arthur Part 2: Mort d'Arthur received its world premiere on May 9th 2001 at Sadlers Wells, with the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Works in progress include a Piano Quintet (The Woman by the Sea) for the pianist Yoshiko Endo and the Rubio String Quartet for premiere in September 2001 at the Wigmore Hall, London.
As a pianist, his integral recording on London of the complete Piano Sonatas of Haydn (12 CDs) was greeted by The Gramophone as "one of the great recorded monuments of the keyboard repertoire", likening it to Schnabel's Beethoven sonatas.
From 1983-1990 John McCabe was Director of the London College of Music, and is currently a Visiting Professor of Composition at both the Royal Academy of Music and the London College of Music. He has also held Visiting Professorships at the Universities of Cincinatti and Melbourne
McCabe was appointed C.B.E. in 1983 for his services to British music.