Patric Standford

Patric Standford was an English composer and music teacher, born in Barnsley on 5 February 1939. His early training included piano and violin at a Quaker boarding school in Ackworth. After completing national service in the RAF, he entered the Guildhall School of Music, where he studied with Rubbra. He later won a Mendelssohn Scholarship that allowed him to work with Malipiero in Venice in 1964.

His encounter with Lutosławski at Dartington in 1965 marked a period of study with the Polish composer, and this influence led to his use of aleatoric techniques in works such as Notte (1968) and Cantico delle creature (1969, revised in 1992). Between 1969 and 1980 he taught composition at the GSM and, in 1980, he was appointed head of the music department at Bretton Hall, which was linked to the University of Leeds.

His symphonic output received early recognition: Symphony No. 1 (1972) won the Città di Trieste Prize. Christus Requiem, which includes a highly visual depiction of the Crucifixion, received the Yugoslav Solidarity Prize in 1973 and the Oscar Espla Prize in 1974. Symphony No. 4 (1976), written for two pianos and percussion, reflects his interest in Japanese music. A recurring feature of his output is the quotation of other composers: the Mass of Our Lady and St Roch, later renamed Mass for Hildegard of Bingen, uses material by the medieval composer, and New Messiah reworks Handel. His Piano Trio (1970) earned the admiration of Lennox Berkeley and Alan Rawsthorne, and String Quartet No. 2 (1973) won the Clements Memorial Prize in 1976.

Standford is today remembered above all for combining a solid European training, marked by the influence of Malipiero and Lutosławski, with a style of writing attentive to very diverse sources. His output ranges from the chamber opera Villon to a substantial body of choral, chamber and piano music, and his teaching in London and Leeds completes his contribution to British musical life.