Biography

Chorister at St.George's Chapel, Windsor, and studied composition, piano, organ and conducting at the RSAMD (now RCS), before continuing studies privately with Lennox Berkeley in London. Whilst still a student he won the BBC Composer's Prize with his first orchestral score. Further important awards followed including 2 Philharmonic Prizes and the Zaiks Prize in the International competition set up in memory of Kazimierz Serocki, one of the leading figures of the Polish avant garde. In 2006 he won a Creative Scotland Award to write an opera on the nineteenth century German feral child, Kaspar Hauser with a libretto by the Edinburgh based poet and writer, Dilys Rose. The Opera, Kaspar Hauser, Child of Europe, was performed in Scotland and Germany to crtitical acclaim, and won for Boyle a British Composer Award in the stage work category in 2010 with the jury citation describing the work as 'a very accomplished score; a powerful and disturbing story told with theatrical flair, dramatic pacing and excellent characterisation'. Five years later he won a second British Composer Award for his powerful brass band score Muckle Flugga, and he has received two further nominations in these annual awards, for Burble (solo clarinet), and  Elegy For The Black Bitch (brass quintet). His list of works covers most genres and he has written for many international performers including the BBC Singers (Songs From the Marshes), Evelyn Glennie (Marimba Concerto), Nicholas Daniel (Oboe Concerto, 'Sorella'), Karen Cargill (Watching Over You), Michael Chance (Lord Lundy), David Hubbard (Bassoon Concerto 'That Blessed Wood'), Olga Kern (Six T{ok}ens), Garth Knox (et Voila), and Mark O'Keeffe (Ceremony After A Fire Raid).  He has also worked closely with several new generation artistes including the remarkably talented pianist James Willshire who recorded a CD of Boyle's piano music on the Delphian label, and the brilliant virtuoso clarinettist Fraser Langton, whose CD of Boyle's clarinet music spanning some 40 years was released in 2017 (again on Delphian), with Gramophone magazine reviewing the music as being 'of high organisation, clarity and expressive power'. His work in the educational sphere includes 4 operas for children, and in 1988 the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland's tour programme included his Capriccio which was performed at venues including the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, and the London Proms. He has also scored two documentary films by Murray Grigor (Ever To Excel, and Beatus, The Spanish Apocalypse).

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Residence/Main Office Ayrshire

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Year of birth 1951

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Contact email

Works

Title	Year composed	Instrumentation Genre
Cinderella	1990	Ensemble (with conductor)
Sorceries, Charms and Spells	1990	Ensemble (no conductor)
Four Ways to Play Reels	1997	Ensemble (no conductor)
Beastly Tales	2001	Ensemble (with conductor)
Phaethon's Dancing Lesson (Piano Trio No. 2)	2002	Ensemble (no conductor)
Elegy For The Black Bitch	2004	Ensemble (no conductor)
Fluting	2007	Ensemble (no conductor)
A Box Of Chatter	2009	Ensemble (no conductor)
Tallis' Light	2011	Ensemble (with conductor)
Three Faces In The Crowd (Piano Trio No 3)	2017	Ensemble (no conductor)
Trio Notturno	2017	Ensemble (no conductor)
String Quartet No 2 (Quartetto da Requiem)	2017	Ensemble (no conductor)
Auld Nick's Dance Tunes Volume 6	2008	Ensemble (with conductor)
Intrada	2015	Ensemble (with conductor)
5 Bagatelles	1990	Ensemble (no conductor)
Sonata for Cello and Piano	1991	Ensemble (no conductor)
Lament	1999	Ensemble (no conductor)
Lullabies For Daft Jamie	2003	Solo instrument
Touch	2008	Solo instrument
Corrente	2009	Solo instrument
Partita a Quattro	2011	Solo instrument
Such Sweet Sorrow	2009	Solo instrument
Sin-Eater	2011	Ensemble (no conductor)
Burble	2012	Solo instrument
Dramatis Personae	2012	Ensemble (no conductor)
Baloue (Lullaby)	2015	Solo instrument
Scarlattiana	2017	Solo instrument
Autumn Music	2018	Ensemble (no conductor)
Vigils	1971	Ensemble (no conductor)
Two Love Lyrics	1984	Vocal
Four Greek Love Songs	1985	Vocal
Behemoths	2006	Ensemble (with conductor)
Wild Nights	1989	Ensemble (with conductor)
Watching Over You	2014	Ensemble (with conductor)
Songs From The Marshes	2018	Ensemble (with conductor)
Two Pieces for solo violin (Baloue & Elagie)	2016	Solo instrument
5	2013	Solo instrument
Duelogue	2015	Other
Capriccio On The Anniversary of a Beloved Master	2000	Solo instrument
From Golden Morning to Blackets Night	2012	Vocal
O Sacrum Convivium	2015	Ensemble (with conductor)
Nobilis Humilis	2016	Ensemble (with conductor)
Two Nocturnes	2016	Ensemble (with conductor)
The Cross Over The Cradle	2017	Vocal
Moduli	1985	Solo instrument
Three Pieces for Organ	1987	Solo instrument
Sonata for Piano	1991	Solo instrument
Three Studies For the One In The Middle	1998	Solo instrument
Reeling	2001	Solo instrument
A Handful of Leaves	2008	Ensemble (no conductor)
Les Deux Adieux de Marie	2011	Vocal
Sorella	2002	Ensemble (with conductor)
Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra	1992	Ensemble (with conductor)
Capriccio	1995	Ensemble (with conductor)
Winter Music	1986	Ensemble (with conductor)
That Blessed Wood	2010	Ensemble (with conductor)
Kaspar Hauser Suite	2012	Ensemble (with conductor)
Muckle Flugga	2014	Ensemble (with conductor)
Pictures Of Mole	1976	Ensemble (with conductor)
Perchance To Dream	2019	Ensemble (with conductor)
Dancing With Dr William	1994	Ensemble (with conductor)

See the full list of works by Rory Boyle