View source for Harrison Birtwistle

{{Short description|English composer (1934–2022)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox classical composer
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name             = Harrison Birtwistle        
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CH}}
| image            = Harrison Birtwistle (cropped).jpg
| caption          = Birtwistle in [[Turin]], 2008
| birth_name       = <!-- Use only if different from name in header -->
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|df=yes|1934|07|15}}
| birth_place      = [[Accrington]], [[Lancashire]], England
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2022|04|18|1934|07|15}}
| death_place      = [[Mere, Wiltshire]], England
| occupations      = <!-- Use this field *only* if the person was also **notable** for contributions in another discipline.  If notable as a composer only, leave blank. -->
| alma_mater  = [[Royal Northern College of Music|Royal Manchester College of Music]]
| era              = [[Contemporary classical music|Contemporary]]
| list_of_works    = [[List of compositions by Harrison Birtwistle|List of compositions]]
| spouse           = {{marriage|Sheila Duff|1958|2012|end=d}}
| children         = 3, including [[Adam Birtwistle|Adam]] and [[Silas Birtwistle|Silas]]
}}

'''Sir Harrison Birtwistle''' (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of [[contemporary classical music]] best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects.{{sfn|Cross|2012|loc="Introduction"}}<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last=Allen |first=David |date=18 April 2022 |title=Harrison Birtwistle, Fiercely Modernist Composer, Dies at 87 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/18/arts/music/harrison-birtwistle-dead.html |access-date=18 April 2022 |url-access=limited}}</ref> Among his [[List of compositions by Harrison Birtwistle|many compositions]], his better known works include ''[[The Triumph of Time (Birtwistle)|The Triumph of Time]]'' (1972) and the operas ''[[The Mask of Orpheus]]'' (1986), ''[[Gawain (opera)|Gawain]]'' (1991), and ''[[The Minotaur (opera)|The Minotaur]]'' (2008). The last of these was ranked by music critics at ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2019 as the third-best piece of the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Clements |first1=Andrew |last2=Maddocks |first2=Fiona |last3=Lewis |first3=John |last4=Molleson |first4=Kate |last5=Service |first5=Tom |last6=Jeal |first6=Erica|last7=Ashley|first7=Tim|date=12 September 2019|title=The best classical music works of the 21st century|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/12/best-classical-music-works-of-the-21st-century|access-date=31 May 2021|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Even his compositions that were not written for the stage often showed a theatrical approach. A performance of his saxophone concerto ''[[Panic (Birtwistle)|Panic]]'' during the BBC's [[Last Night of the Proms]] caused "national notoriety".<ref name="Tilden" /> He received many international awards and honorary degrees.

==Life and career==

===Early life===
Harrison Birtwistle was born in [[Accrington]], a mill town in Lancashire around 20 miles north of [[Manchester]].{{sfn|Hall|1984|p=4}}{{refn|Regarding his name, Birtwistle stated that "in some reference books my name is down as Harrison Paul, which it isn't, and never has been. I don't have a second name."{{sfn|Birtwistle|Maddocks|2014|p=10}} Many people close to Birtwistle knew him as "Harry"<ref name="NYT"/> or "Harri".<ref name="Hewett2022"/>|group=n}} His parents, Fred and Madge Birtwistle, ran a bakery, and his interest in music was encouraged by his mother.<ref name="NYT"/>{{sfn|Hall|1984|p=5}} She bought him a clarinet when he was seven and arranged for him to have lessons with the local bandmaster.{{sfn|Hall|1984|p=5}} He attended [[Accrington Grammar School]].<ref name="Tomlinson">{{cite web| last=Tomlinson | first=John | title='How that music was created remains to me a complete mystery': John Tomlinson on fellow Lancastrian Harrison Birtwistle | website=The Arts Desk | date=20 May 2022 | url=https://theartsdesk.com/node/88156/view | access-date=25 November 2024}}</ref> Much of his youth was spent roaming the countryside near his home, and his frustration with the disruption of the nature by modern technology would affect his later work profoundly.<ref name="Hewett2022">{{cite news |last=Hewett |first=Ivan |author-link=Ivan Hewett |date=18 April 2022 |title=Sir Harrison Birtwistle obituary |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/apr/18/sir-harrison-birtwistle-obituary |access-date=18 April 2022 }}</ref> Other youthful activities included the construction of amateur theatrical sets, and the subsequent imagining of dramas taking place inside them.<ref name="Clements2022">{{cite news |last=Clements |first=Andrew |date=18 April 2022 |title=Harrison Birtwistle: an utterly distinctive composer who wrote music of delicate beauty |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/apr/18/harrison-birtwistle-utterly-distinctive-music-of-delicate-beauty-andrew-clements |access-date=18 April 2022 }}</ref> Birtwistle became proficient enough to play in the local [[Concert band|military-style band]] and also played in the orchestra that accompanied [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] productions and the local choral society's performances of Handel's ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]''. From around this time Birtwistle first composed, later describing his early pieces as "sub-[[Ralph Vaughan Williams|Vaughan Williams]]".{{sfn|Hall|1984|p=5}}

In 1952 he entered the [[Royal Northern College of Music|Royal Manchester College of Music]] in Manchester on a clarinet scholarship. While there he came in contact with contemporaries including [[Peter Maxwell Davies]], [[Alexander Goehr]], the pianist [[John Ogdon]], and the trumpeter [[Elgar Howarth]].<ref name="NPR" /> Between 1955 and 1957 he completed [[national service]] in the [[Royal Artillery]] (Plymouth) Band, based in [[Oswestry]].<ref>N. Wilkins, ''Musical Encounters'', London, 2018.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/18/arts/music/harrison-birtwistle-dead.html | title= Harrison Birtwistle, Fiercely Modernist Composer, Dies at 87 | work=The New York Times | first=David | last=Allen | date=18 April 2022 | access-date=25 May 2024}}</ref>

===Composing career===
Birtwistle served as director of music at [[Cranborne Chase School]] from 1962 until 1965, before continuing his studies at [[Princeton University]] on a [[Harkness Fellowship]], where he completed the opera ''[[Punch and Judy (opera)|Punch and Judy]]'' to a libretto by [[Stephen Pruslin]].<ref name="NPR" /> It was premiered at the [[Aldeburgh Festival]]; [[Benjamin Britten]] is said to have left during intermission.<ref name="Tilden">{{Cite news |last=Tilden |first=Imogen |date=18 April 2022 |title=Composer Harrison Birtwistle dies aged 87 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/apr/18/composer-harrison-birtwistle-dies-aged-87 |access-date=19 April 2022}}</ref> This work, together with ''Verses for Ensembles'' and ''[[The Triumph of Time (Birtwistle)|The Triumph of Time]]'', led to greater exposure for Birtwistle in the classical music world. The orchestral work ''The Triumph of Time'', inspired by a woodcut by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder|Pieter Bruegel]], premiered in 1972.<ref name="Tilden"/>

In 1972, he wrote the music to the film ''[[The Offence]]'', starring [[Sean Connery]], his only film score.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070468/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ql_1|title=Full Cast and Crew list of the movie 'The Offence' provided by IMDb|publisher=[[IMDb]]}}</ref> In 1975, he became musical director of the newly established [[Royal National Theatre]] in London, a post he held until 1983.<ref name="Tilden" /> He received a [[knighthood]] (1988) and was made a [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] (2001). From 1994 to 2001 he was [[Henry Purcell]] Professor of Composition at [[King's College London]]. Birtwistle was the 1987 recipient of the [[University of Louisville]] [[Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition]]<ref name=grawemeyer.org>{{Cite web|url=http://grawemeyer.org/1987-harrison-birtwistle/|title=1987 – Harrison Birtwistle – Grawemeyer Awards|date=20 July 1987 |access-date=27 March 2022}}</ref> for his epic opera ''[[The Mask of Orpheus]]''.<ref name="NPR"/>

Though well-established in the classical music world, Birtwistle was relatively unknown to the general public until the mid-1990s, when two events increased his profile with the wider audience. In 1994 two anti-modernist musicians, [[Frederick Stocken]] and [[Keith Burstein]], calling themselves "The Hecklers", organised a demonstration at the first night of a revival of his opera ''[[Gawain (opera)|Gawain]]'' at the [[Royal Opera House]], London.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lister|first=David|date=14 April 1994|title=First Night: Hecklers lose their first night joust: Gawain / The Hecklers Royal Opera House|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/first-night-hecklers-lose-their-first-night-joust-gawain-the-hecklers-royal-opera-house-1370068.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220509/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/first-night-hecklers-lose-their-first-night-joust-gawain-the-hecklers-royal-opera-house-1370068.html |archive-date=9 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=18 April 2022|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> The following year, Birtwistle's saxophone concertante work ''[[Panic (Birtwistle)|Panic]]'' was premiered in the second half of the [[Last Night of the Proms]], as the first piece of contemporary music ever,<ref name="Tilden" /> to an estimated worldwide television audience of 100 million.<ref>{{Cite web|date=9 August 2007|title=Panic at the Proms|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/aug/10/classicalmusicandopera.proms20071|access-date=18 April 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> According to the ''[[The Daily Telegraph|Daily Telegraph]]'', it met with incomprehension from many viewers.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hewett|first=Ivan|author-link=Ivan Hewett|date=14 July 2017|title=Harrison Birtwistle: the welcome return of a Proms maverick|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/classical-music/harrison-birtwhistle-welcome-return-proms-maverick/|access-date=18 April 2022|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

In 1995, he was awarded the [[Ernst von Siemens Music Prize]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.evs-musikstiftung.ch/preise/preise/archiv/hauptpreistraeger/sir-harrison-birtwistle.html|title=Sir Harrison Birtwistle|website=evs-musikstiftung.ch|access-date=5 August 2020|archive-date=22 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622165629/https://www.evs-musikstiftung.ch/preise/preise/archiv/hauptpreistraeger/sir-harrison-birtwistle.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the 2006 [[Ivor Novello Awards]] he criticised pop musicians at the event for performing too loudly and using too many [[cliché]]s.<ref>Nuala Calvi, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930165210/http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/12741/winning-composer-booed-off-ivors-stage-for "Winning composer booed off Ivors stage for criticising bands"], ''The Stage'', 26 May 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2011.</ref>

Among the musicians who performed his works are conductors [[Pierre Boulez]], [[Andrew Davis (conductor)|Sir Andrew Davis]], [[Daniel Barenboim]], [[Christoph von Dohnányi]], [[Oliver Knussen]]<ref name="NPR" /> and [[Simon Rattle]],<ref name="Clarke" /> violinist [[Christian Tetzlaff]], the soloist in the world premiere of his violin concerto in 2011, and pianist [[Pierre-Laurent Aimard]], the soloist in the first performance of his ''Responses'' for piano and orchestra in 2014.<ref name="NPR" />

=== Private life ===
Birtwistle had a low media profile,<ref>{{cite news |last=Maddocks |first=Fiona |date=3 May 2014 |title=Harrison Birtwistle: 'I don't think, with hindsight, I was a natural musician' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/03/harrison-birtwistle-hindsight-not-natural-musician-composers |work=[[The Observer]] |location=London |access-date=9 November 2017}}</ref> but occasionally gave interviews. In 2019, he was interviewed for ''[[Composer of the Week]]'' on [[BBC Radio 3]].<ref name="BBC">{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009r3g |title=Composer of the Week}} BBC. Retrieved 19 April 2022.</ref> He married Sheila Duff, a singer, in 1958.<ref name="Hewett2022"/> The couple had three sons,<ref name="Hewett2022"/> two of whom, [[Adam Birtwistle|Adam]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp08148/adam-birtwistle |title=Adam Birtwistle – National Portrait Gallery |website=npg.org.uk |language=en |access-date=2 December 2019}}</ref> and [[Silas Birtwistle|Silas]], are artists.<ref name="NPR" /><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.ifad.org/newsroom/press_release/tags/p77/y2016/36289916| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170202000200/https://www.ifad.org/newsroom/press_release/tags/p77/y2016/36289916| archive-date = 2 February 2017| title = Giant heads sculpted from fruit and vegetables draw attention to rural communities at biodiversity summit |website=ifad.org}}</ref> Sheila died in 2012.<ref name="Hewett2022"/>

Birtwistle had a stroke in 2021 and died at his home in [[Mere, Wiltshire]], on 18 April 2022, aged 87.<ref name="NYT"/><ref name="NPR">{{cite news |last=Tsioulcas |first=Anastasia |date=18 April 2022 |title=Harrison Birtwistle, an influential English composer, has died at age 87 |publisher=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/04/18/1093301810/harrison-birtwistle-composer-died |access-date=18 April 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.thetimes.com/article/sir-harrison-birtwistle-obituary-mh9fjr57g|title = Sir Harrison Birtwistle obituary|date = 18 April 2022|access-date = 18 April 2022|work = [[The Times]]|url-access = subscription}}</ref>

== Music ==
=== Style ===
Birtwistle's music is not categorised as belonging to any particular school or movement. For a time, he was described as belonging to the [[New Music Manchester|Manchester School]], a phrase invented as a parallel to the [[Second Viennese School]] to refer to Birtwistle, Goehr, and Davies.<ref name="NPR" /> Birtwistle's music is complex, written in a modernistic manner with a clear, distinctive voice, with sounds described as of "sonic brashness".<ref name="NPR" />

His early work is sometimes evocative of [[Igor Stravinsky]] and [[Olivier Messiaen]], whom he acknowledged as influences, and his technique of juxtaposing blocks of sound is sometimes compared to that of [[Edgard Varèse]].{{sfn|Cross|2012|loc=§ "To 1969"}} Hearing the work of [[Boulez]] (''[[Le Marteau sans maître]]'') and [[Stockhausen]] (''[[Zeitmaße]]'' and ''[[Gruppen]]'') in his youth was also inspirational,{{sfn|Cross|2012|loc=§ "To 1969"}} with that of the latter composer in particular influencing his [[wind quintet]], ''Refrains and Choruses'' (1957).{{sfn|Pace|1996|p=27}} His early pieces made frequent use of [[ostinato|ostinati]] and often had a ritualistic feel. These were toned down in Birtwistle's later decades as his compositional style developed.<ref name="Clarke">{{cite news |last=Clarke |first=Colin |date=18 April 2017 |title=Simon Rattle Opens the LSO Season with an Imaginatively Varied English Programme |publisher=[[NPR]] |url=https://seenandheard-international.com/2018/09/simon-rattle-opens-the-lso-season-with-an-imaginatively-varied-english-programme/ |access-date=19 April 2022 }}</ref>

Even when not creating a visual piece involving stage action, Birtwistle's musical output remained frequently theatrical in conception.{{sfn|Adlington|2000|p=38}} The music does not follow the logic and rules of classical forms such as [[sonata form]], but is structured more like a drama. Furthermore, different musical instruments can almost be seen to take the part of different characters in the drama. This is especially apparent in a performance of ''Secret Theatre'' (1984). For various portions of the piece, a number of the instrumentalists perform in a soloist capacity. For this, they leave their seat in the ensemble and stand separately, to one side of the ensemble, returning to the group when they are no longer given that role.<ref name="Oliver">{{cite magazine |last=Oliver |first=Michael |date=May 1996 |title=Birtwistle Secret Theatre, etc. |magazine=[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]] |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/birtwistle-secret-theatre-etc |access-date=19 April 2022}}</ref>

=== Works ===
{{main|List of compositions by Harrison Birtwistle}}
Source:{{sfn|Britannica|2022|loc=§ paras. 3–4}}

==== Opera ====
* ''[[Punch and Judy (opera)|Punch and Judy]]'' (1966–1967)
* ''[[The Mask of Orpheus]]'' (1973–84)
* ''[[Gawain (opera)|Gawain]]'' (1990)
* ''[[The Second Mrs Kong]]'' (1993–94)
* ''[[The Last Supper (opera)|The Last Supper]]'' (2000)
* ''[[The Minotaur (opera)|The Minotaur]]'' (2008)
* ''[[The Corridor (opera)|The Corridor]]'', chamber opera (2009)
* ''The Cure'' (2014–15)
<!--The pieces listed here are the ones considered notable by the source above, in order to not overwhelm this selected list, please do not add any more-->

==== Other music ====
* ''Refrains and Choruses'' (1957), [[wind quintet]]
* ''[[The Triumph of Time (Birtwistle)|The Triumph of Time]]'' (1971–72), orchestra
* ''[[Silbury Air]]'' (1976–77), chamber orchestra
* ''Secret Theatre'' (1984), chamber ensemble
* ''[[Panic (Birtwistle)|Panic]]'' (1995), alto saxophone, jazz drum kit and orchestra
* ''Theseus Game'' (2002), large ensemble with two conductors (2002)
* ''In Broken Images'' (2011), large ensemble (after the antiphonal music of [[Giovanni Gabrieli|Gabrieli]])
* ''Songs from the Same Earth'' (2012–13), tenor and piano
* ''Responses'' (2013–14), piano concerto
* ''Deep Time'' (2016), orchestra
<!--The pieces listed here are the ones considered notable by the source above, in order to not overwhelm this selected list, please do not add any more-->

==Honours and awards==
* 1986 [[Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition]], University of Louisville<ref name="adk" />
* 1986 [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres|Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]], [[Ministry of Culture (France)|Ministry of Culture]], France<ref name="NPR"/> 
* 1988 [[Knight Bachelor]] (Kt), [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom]] in the [[1988 Birthday Honours|1988 Queen's Birthday Honours List]]<ref name="NPR" /><ref name="adk">{{cite web | title=Birtwistle | website=Akademie der Künste, Berlin | url=https://www.adk.de/de/akademie/mitglieder/index.htm?we_objectID=52756 | language=de | access-date=22 April 2022}}</ref>
* 1989 Fellowship, [[Royal Northern College of Music]] (FRNCM).<ref>{{cite web |title=Fellows, Honorary Members and Associate Artists  |url=https://www.rncm.ac.uk/about/college-information/fellows-honorary-members/ |website=The Royal Northern College of Music |access-date=13 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=In tribute – Sir Harrison Birtwistle: 1934 – 2022 |url=https://www.rncm.ac.uk/news/in-tribute-sir-harrison-birtwistle-1934-2022/ |website=The Royal Northern College of Music |access-date=13 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

* 1994 Honorary Fellow, [[Royal Academy of Arts]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/harrison-birtwistle|title = Sir Harrison Birtwistle &#124; Royal Academy of Arts}}</ref>
* 1995 [[Ernst von Siemens Music Prize]]<ref name="adk" />
* 2001 [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] (CH), [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom]] in the [[2001 New Year Honours|2001 New Years Honours List]]<ref name="NPR"/>
* 2003 [[Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards]] Large-scale Composition in London<ref name="adk" />
* 2007 Foreign Honorary Member, [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artsandletters.org/honorary-members/|title=Honorary Members – American Academy of Arts and Letters|access-date=8 October 2020|archive-date=3 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203040439/https://artsandletters.org/honorary-members/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2015 [[Wihuri Sibelius Prize]]<ref name="adk" />

'''Honorary degrees'''
* 1994 [[University of Sussex]], [[Doctor of Music]] (D.Mus.)<ref>[https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=list-of-honorary-graduates.pdf&site=76 List of honorary graduates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119063525/https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=list-of-honorary-graduates.pdf&site=76 |date=19 January 2016 }} Sussex.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2022.</ref>
* 1996 [[City, University of London]], D.Mus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.city.ac.uk/people/honorary-graduates/harrison-birtwistle|title=Professor Sir Harrison Birtwistle|website=City, University of London|date=23 November 2020}}</ref>
* 2008 [[University of London]], D.Mus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ireland.anglican.org/news/2403/rt-revd-lord-eames-archbishop|title=Rt Revd Lord Eames & Archbishop Tutu Honoured by University of London|website=Church of Ireland|date=2 December 2008 }}</ref>
* 2010 [[University of Cambridge]], D.Mus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/honorary-degree-2010-nominations-announced|title=Honorary degree 2010 nominations announced|date=15 March 2010|website=University of Cambridge}}</ref>
* 2013 [[Bath Spa University]], Doctorate<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/about-us/networks/honorary-graduates/|title=Honorary Graduates|website=bathspa.ac.uk}}</ref>
* 2014 [[University of Oxford]], D.Mus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2014-06-25-honorary-degrees-awarded|title=Honorary degrees awarded |date=25 June 2014 |publisher=University of Oxford}}</ref>
* 2014 [[Edge Hill University]], Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-awards/|title=Honorary Awards|accessdate=27 March 2022}}</ref>

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=n}}

===References===
{{reflist}}

===Cited sources===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Adlington |first=Robert |year=2000 |title=The Music of Harrison Birtwistle |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last1=Birtwistle |first1=Harrison |last2=Maddocks |first2=Fiona |author-link2=Fiona Maddocks |year=2014 |title=Harrison Birtwistle: Wild Tracks - A Conversation Diary |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last=Cross |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Cross (academic) |year=2000 |title=Harrison Birtwistle: Man, Mind, Music |publisher=[[Faber & Faber]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-8014-8672-2 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=2ESs5bbzfEcC}}}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Cross |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Cross (academic) |year=2012 |orig-year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Birtwistle, Sir Harrison |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.03136 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000003136}} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite book |last=Hall |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Hall (English musician) |year=1984 |title=Harrison Birtwistle |publisher=[[Robson Books]] |location= |isbn= }}
* {{cite journal |last=Pace |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Pace |date=July 1996 |title='Secret Theatres' - The Harrison Birtwistle Retrospective, 12 April-4 May 1996 |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |issue=197 |pages=25–27 |doi=10.1017/S0040298200004952 |jstor=944433 |s2cid=251414737 |url=https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/6569/1/Ian%20Pace%20-%20Panorama%20Finnissy%201.pdf }}
* {{cite book |last=Wilkins |first=Nigel |year=2018 |title=Musical Encounters |publisher=[[Austin Macauley Publishers]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-78710-127-2 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |date=18 April 2022 |title=Harrison Birtwistle &#124; Biography, Music, Punch and Judy, Gawain, The Mask of Orpheus, The Minotaur, & Facts |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |location=Chicago |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harrison-Birtwistle |ref={{sfnRef|''Britannica''|2022}} }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Beard |first=David |year=2012 |title=Harrison Birtwistle's Operas and Music Theatre |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-89534-7 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=tUOMC360M5UC}} }}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Beard |editor-first1=David |editor-last2=Gloag |editor-first2=Kenneth |editor-last3=Jones |editor-first3=Nicholas |year=2015 |title=Harrison Birtwistle Studies |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1-107-09374-4 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Clements |first=Andrew |date=March 1984 |title=Harrison Birtwistle: A Progress Report at 50 |journal=[[The Musical Times]] |volume=125 |issue=1693 |pages=136–137+139 |jstor=963009 |doi=10.2307/963009 }}
* {{cite book |last=Cross |first=Jonathan |year=2009 |title=Harrison Birtwistle: The Mask of Orpheus |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |location=Farnham |isbn=978-0-7546-5383-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hall |first=Michael |year=1998 |title=Harrison Birtwistle in Recent Years |publisher=[[Robson Books]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-86105-179-0 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Henderson |first=Robert |date=March 1964 |title=Harrison Birtwistle |journal=[[The Musical Times]] |volume=105 |issue=1453 |pages=188–189 |jstor=950600 |doi=10.2307/950600 }}
* {{cite web |last=Northcott |first=Bayan |author-link=Bayan Northcott |date=11 November 2021 |title=Birtwistle, Harrison |work=[[BBC Music Magazine]] |access-date= |url=https://www.classical-music.com/features/articles/birtwistle-harrison/ |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920173834/https://www.classical-music.com/features/articles/birtwistle-harrison/ |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite journal |last=Smalley |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Smalley |date=Spring 1967 |title=Birtwistle's 'Chorales' |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |volume=80 |issue=80 |pages=25–27 |jstor=942634 }}

==External links==
* [http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2729&langid=1&ttype=BIOGRAPHY&ttitle=Biography Biography of Harrison Birtwistle], on his publisher's website, Boosey & Hawkes
* [https://www.universaledition.com/composers-and-works/sir-harrison-birtwistle-64 Biography of Harrison Birtwistle], on his former publisher's website, Universal Edition
* {{NPG name}}
* [http://www.rayfieldallied.com/artists/harrison-birtwistle/ Profile on Harrison Birtwistle] at Rayfield Allied
* {{BrahmsOnline|417}}
* [http://www.bruceduffie.com/birtwistle.html Interview with Harrison Birtwistle] on [[WNIB (defunct)|WNIB]] Classical 97, Chicago, 8 December 1996
* {{Discogs artist|Harrison Birtwistle}}
* {{IMDb name|0083803}}

{{Harrison Birtwistle}}
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