Barrie Gavin

Barrie Vincent Gavin (10 June 1935 – 12 November 2024) was a British film and television director.

Early life Gavin was born in Stanmore, London on 10 June 1935. He was educated at St Paul's School, and studied history at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge from 1954 to 1957. He joined the BBC as an assistant film editor in 1961. With the opening of BBC Two in 1964 he began to direct programmes principally about music.

In the early years of BBC2, there was regular coverage of chamber music, and Gavin learnt his craft with many studio-based productions. These experiences led to his work as a documentary filmmaker. Gavin subsequently worked at London Weekend Television and the British Film Institute in the 1970s before returning to the BBC.

Collaboration with Pierre Boulez In 1966, his interest in contemporary music brought him into contact with Pierre Boulez. Over the next 40 years, they collaborated on a series of analytical documentaries on the founding fathers of 20th-century music: Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Bartók, Stravinsky, Ives, Varese, Messiaen and of course Boulez himself. They made twelve films together:

Pierre Boulez: Portrait – Analysis – Performance, 1966 The New Language of Music (Schönberg, Berg, Webern) The New Rhythm of Music (Bartók, Stravinsky) Telemarteau (Le marteau sans maître) The Outsiders (Ives, Varese) Olivier Messiaen: Vision and Revolution A Different Beauty (Webern) 1977 The Doors are Open (conducting master classes in Lucerne) In Search of the Future (80th birthday portrait for German TV) Tomorrow Today (the Boulez years at the BBC) 2005 Boulez Now (retrospective up to mid-1980s) Pierre Boulez: Living in the Present 2005

Portraits of contemporary composers From the 1970s until the end of the 20th century Gavin specialised in portraits of contemporary composers: Roberto Gerhard, Luciano Berio, Luigi Nono, George Benjamin, Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Adams, Sofia Gubaidulina, Aribert Reimann, Toru Takemitsu, Isang Yun, Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Oliver Knussen, Hans Werner Henze and many others.

Films on folk music In 1970, Barrie Gavin began to explore folk music with the writer and musician A. L. Lloyd. Together they travelled across the British Isles and visited Romania, Hungary, the United States. The death of A. L. Lloyd in 1984 brought this work to an end.

Years in Germany In 1977, Gavin had been invited to Germany to make a film about Kurt Weill. This marked the beginning of a long association with German television, resulting not only in many documentaries (mainly in Frankfurt for the producer Swantje Ehrentreich) but also in a new area of work, directing concerts for television. To date, he has been responsible for some 250 relays of concerts and opera.

Collaboration with Sir Simon Rattle In the 1980s, Gavin began a collaboration with Sir Simon Rattle, on a series of productions with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The list of films created together includes:

1911 (a trilogy on a crucial year in music) From East to West (a trilogy on the influence of the East on classical music) A Symphony in Time of War (Stravinsky – Symphony in three movements) Young Apollo (the early works of Britten) Carl Nielsen: A Life in six Symphonies Leaving Home (a seven-part series on the music of the 20th century) Sinfonia (Luciano Berio) The Middle of Life (Hans Werner Henze) A Romantic Imagination (3-part series on Berlioz) Stockhausen: Gruppen (documentary and performance)

Collaboration with Gerard McBurney In 1989, Gavin worked for the first time with the composer and writer Gerard McBurney. Their co-produced films included: Think Today, Speak Tomorrow, Giving Voice, two films on dissident composers in the Soviet Union (from 1990) The Fire and the Rose, about Sofia Gubaidulina (from 1990) The Face behind the Face (Shostakovich)

In 2006, Gavin began a collaboration with Gerard McBurney and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on a series of music documentaries, for the Beyond the Score Series. These documentaries included:

Bartók – The Miraculous Mandarin 2006 Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 27, K.595 2007 Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 4 2008 Shostakovich – Symphony No. 4 2008 Holst – The Planets: suite 2008 Vivaldi – The 4 Seasons 2008 Mussorgsky/Ravel – Pictures from an Exhibition 2008 Sibelius – Symphony No. 5 2010 Dvořák – Symphony No. 9 (From the New World) 2010 Debussy – La Mer 2010

Films on arts and literature Whilst much of Gavin's work concentrated on music, he also produced in 1967 a series on classic film directors. He also produced films on literature and the visual arts, which included: Sir William in search of Xanadu (Award of Montreal Festival of Films on Art, 1984) Images – A History of Early Photography (Award of New York Festival of Films on Art, 1989).

Later projects In 2007, Gavin finished a film, Finding the Music in Croatia, on the composer Nigel Osborne. In 2008, he received an award from International Music Publishers' Association for Services to Contemporary Music. In 2009, he completed a film Towards and Beyond (Jonathan Harvey), a portrait of the composer. In 2010, he made two short films: A Mind of Winter (George Benjamin) and How Slow the Wind (Toru Takemitsu), using music by these composers. He also started work on a continuing series of archival, unedited interviews, mainly with contemporary composers.

Copies of many of Gavin's films on contemporary music have been deposited in the archives of the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel, Switzerland.

Death Gavin died on 12 November 2024, at the age of 89. His widow, the children's writer Jamila Gavin (née Patten), and their two children survive him.

Filmography Masterworks, 1966 Music on 2, 1970 Omnibus, 1971–73 Aquarius, 1972 Scenes from a Geordie Ceilidh, 1976 A Line Through the Labyrinth, 1977 Robert Vas Film-maker, 1978 The Lively Arts, 1977–79 But Still We Sing, 1979 Ruddigore, 1982 The Tenor Man's Story, 1985 Guitarra, 1985 Ernest Ansermet: Archives and Memories, 1985 Towards Antara, 1987 Leonardo, 1987 Crossover: Richard Rodney Bennett, 1987 Billy Budd, 1988 The Cunning Little Vixen, 1990 Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, 1991 Carmen by Georges Bizet, 1991 Opus 20 Modern Masterworks: Ernst Krenek, 1991 Georg Friedrich Händel: Messiah, 1992 Mlada, 1992 Berlioz: Messe solennelle, 1993 Benjamin Britten: War Requiem, 1993 Cleveland Plays the Proms, 1994 The Fairy Queen, 1995 Peter Grimes, 1995 Soviet Echoes, 1995 Verdi, 1995 Leaving Home, 1996 American Dream: Stephen Collins Foster und seine Zeit, 1997 In Rehearsal: Christoph von Dohnányi with the Philharmonia Orchestra, 1998 Between Two Worlds: Erich Wolfgang Korngold, 2001 All the Russias, 2002

Videography New Year's Eve Concert 1992: Richard Strauss Gala, Kultur Video DVD, D4209, 2007