Philip Cannon

Jack Philip Cannon (21 December 1929 – 24 December 2016) was a British composer and teacher. His choral music and songs have enjoyed extensive performances worldwide.

Brief biography Philip Cannon was born in Paris on 21 December 1929, to Franco-British parents. The family moved to Falmouth in Cornwall in 1936, where Philip was educated at the local Grammar School. Cannon subsequently studied with Imogen Holst at Dartington and with Gordon Jacob and Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music, where (in 1951) he was awarded the Octavia Travelling Scholarship.

In 1958 he became a lecturer in music at Sydney University, before returning to the Royal College in London in 1960 as Professor of Composition, a post which he held until his retirement in 1995. He was appointed FRCM in 1971.

Cannon's String Quartet of 1964 won two international awards in France. A number of high-profile commissions followed, including his work for 24 solo strings Oraison funèbre de l'âme humaine (1970) for French Radio, his choral work Son of Man (1975), commissioned by the BBC to mark the entry of the UK into the EEC, and three works of great beauty for the Three Choirs Festival: The Temple in 1974 (which later became a staple in the repertoire of the Bach Choir under David Willcocks), Lord of Light (1980), and A Ralegh Triptych (1992). His Te Deum (1975) was the result of a personal commission from HM Queen Elizabeth II for a work to mark the 500th anniversary of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Cannon's other works include; three operas (Morvoren (1964), The Man from Venus (1967), and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) (a commission for BBC TV, 1973), 2 symphonies, various instrumental pieces including his Concertino for piano & strings (1949), his clarinet quintet Logos (another BBC commission, 1977), and a Septain (1995) originally created for the pianist John Ogdon., The recording label Lyrita released a CD of Philip's works in 2017, including his Cinq Chansons de femme for soprano & harp (1952), together with his String Quartet and Lord of Light. Simon Callaghan has recorded the Concertino with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Interviewed about this opera by The Times, the composer stated "I believe that a composer should feel free to build his style from everything that is available – microtones, note clusters, electronic oscillators and the chord of C major – and make a synthesis of all the means at his disposal if by so doing he can make an impact on his audience."

In their entry for Philip Cannon in Grove Music Online, Richard Cooke and Roderic Dunnett note that Cannon's "musical personality is characterized by a fierce individualism, reflected in his use of a forthright and uncompromising musical language. The expressive drive that he can achieve with that language, sometimes tonal, occasionally atonal, yet always direct and communicative, is evident throughout his work .. his works show an intensification of thought and an endeavour to assert the potentials of the human spirit that prompted one French critic to speak of Oraison Funèbre de l'Âme Humaine as 'avant-garde romantique'".

In his article on The Sacred Choral Music of Philip Cannon, Ronald Thomas describes Cannon as "making a strong creative contribution to choral tradition .. a world figure .. a masterly composer", and observes of Cannon's first Three Choirs' commission, The Temple that the work "demonstrates a real understanding of choral composition resulting in moments of rare beauty and sensitivity to Herbert's poetry, using a combination of strong counterpoint 'with moments of stillness and exquisite chording".

Thomas quotes Cannon himself describing the structure of his Ralegh Triptych:

List of works

Operas Morvoren, 1963 The Man from Venus, 1966–67 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, 1973

Orchestra Sinfonietta, (chamber orch) 1947 Spring, (orchestra), 1949 Piano Concertino, (piano & strings) 1949 Fanfares, (8 tpt, 6 trombones, tuba, perc) 1963 Oraison Funebre de l'ame humaine, (24 solo strings) 1970 Symphony, (orchestra) 1998–9

Choral

Songs to Delight, (SSA & strings) 1950 Fleeting Fancies, (SATB) 1953 Son of God, (double chorus) 1956 To Music, (SSSA & piano) 1960 Son of Science, (tenor, boys choir, perc, piano, strings) 1961 Idea, (SATB) 1964 En hiver, (SSSA) 1968 The Temple, (SSATB) 1974 Son of Man, (T, Bar, SATB, orch) 1975 Te Deum, (SATB, org, (state) tpt, orch) 1975 Lord of Light, (soprano, tenor, baritone, boys vv, SATB, org, orch) 1980 Missa Chorea, (solo vv, double semi-chorus, double chorus) 1984 A Ralegh Triptych, (SATB) 1989–91

Songs Cinq Chansons de femme (soprano & harp) 1952 Cecilia, (1 voice & harp) 1953 River Lullaby, (soprano & piano) 1962 Three Rivers, (tenor & piano) 1963 Six Bird Songs, (coloraturas & piano) 1993 Le Mort, (baritone & piano) 1998 Instrumental Two Rhapsodies, (piano) 1943 String Quartet, 1945 String Trio, 1945 Sextet, (flute, oboe and string quartet) 1945 Fantasia, (string quartet) 1946 Variations for two violins, 1946 Variations on a canto firmo, (violin) 1948 Galop Parisien, (two pianos) 1950 L'enfant s'amuse, (piano) 1954 Carillon, (harp) 1955 Carillon, (organ) 1955 Sonatine Champetre, (for piano) 1959 Sonata (two pianos) 1960 String Quartet, 1964 Jazz and Blues, (piano) 1970 Piano Trio, (piano, violin & cello) 1973–4 Clarinet Quintet, (clarinet & string quartet) 1977 Boutades Bourguignonnes, (piano) 1984 String Sextet, (2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos) 1985 Trois Chiffres, (piano) 1994 Carillon "Joyeux Noel" (harp) 1994 Septain (piano) 1995