David Bedford

From 1969 to 1981, Bedford was Composer in Residence at Queen's College, London. From 1968 to 1980, he taught music in a number of London secondary schools. In 1996 he was appointed Composer in Association with the English Sinfonia. In 2001 he was appointed Chairman of the Performing Right Society, having previously been Deputy chairman.

• Name — David Bedford • Birth Name — David Vickerman Bedford • Born — 4 August 1937 • Birthplace — Hendon, Middlesex, England • Died — 1 October 2011 • Occupation — * Composer • musician • conductor • teacher • Website — https: web.archive.org/web/20081230141300/http: www.impulse-music.co.uk/davidbedford/

Bedford was born in Hendon, London to Leslie Bedford, the director of engineering for the guided weapons division of the British Aircraft Corporation, and Lesley Duff, a soprano singer who worked with the English Opera Group. He was educated at Lancing College in West Sussex. When he was 19, he acted as a conscientious objector in lieu of performing national service, which was still mandatory in Britain at the time. During this time he worked as a porter at Guy's Hospital, London. Bedford studied music at the Royal Academy of Music under Lennox Berkeley, and later in Venice under Luigi Nono. His studies and early influences included the work of Nono, Paul Hindemith, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern. In the mid-60s, he was a music teacher at Whitefield school in Hendon, before joining Queen’s College in London as composer in residence in 1969. Bedford was a former president of the Severnside Composers' Alliance and a founding Trustee of the PRS for Music Foundation, which supports the composition of new pieces.

Bedford was also known for his avant-garde classical works. His 1963 Piece for Mo was described as "his first work of standing", although it was never recorded for release. In 1965 he composed a chamber work for soprano and septet called Music For Albion Moonlight, based on poems by Kenneth Patchen. He continued to set music to Patchen's poems throughout his career, including O Now the Drenched Land Wakes and The Great Birds, released by Deutsche Grammophon on one of their Avant Garde series of albums in 1968, and Instructions For Angels, released by Virgin in 1977. He also composed a number of works for wind orchestra, beginning with Sun Paints Rainbows on the Vast Waves in 1982, commissioned by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Many of these works have recorded by the wind orchestra of the Royal Northern College of Music, conducted by Clark Rundell, released by Doyen Records UK in 1998. Bedford is noted for the large amount of educational music he wrote for children. The musical notation he used was often unconventional, frequently making use of graphics, thus letting his works be performed by children and others who cannot read conventional notation. In the liner notes to the album Viola Today (1974) by Karen Phillips, it is stated that in the score of Bedford's Spillihpnerak (1972) there is "(a) page consisting of a drawing of a lysozyme molecule which the performer is asked to interpret". Bedford took a similar approach for his 1972 work, With 100 Kazoos, in which an instrumental ensemble is joined by the audience who are invited to play kazoos. The audience members were presented with various space-themed illustrations, and asked to interpret them using their kazoos. The piece was intended to be conducted by Pierre Boulez, but he rejected it, with Bedford stating "He rejected my piece on the grounds that audiences would be stupid and would fool about with their kazoos in the other pieces too". Bedford composed a 35-minute choral suite, commissioned by the BBC, "Twelve Hours of Sunset", based on Roy Harper's song of the same name, from his 1974 album Valentine, which Bedford orchestrated. The suite was given its live premiere at the Royal Albert Hall, London on 8 August 1975, by the BBC Singers, BBC Choral Society and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with Simon Lindley on organ, conducted by John Poole, as part of the 75th Proms. Another performance for BBC Radio was on 29 August 1997, on BBC Radio 3, by the Crouch End Festival Chorus and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with Jacques van Steen conducting, as part of a 60th birthday tribute to Bedford, who was also interviewed. He continued to combine skilled and non-skilled musicians in other works such as Seascapes (1986), combining a full symphony orchestra with school children, and Stories from the Dreamtime (1991), written for 40 deaf children and orchestra, as well as unconventional performance techniques such as requiring a singer to scream into a piano. The score to The Song of the White Horse (1978) instructs the choir to inhale helium gas to be able to reach the highest notes near the end of the piece. Science fiction was a repeated area of interest for Bedford. The Tentacles of the Dark Nebula has words taken from Arthur C. Clarke's short story Transcience, recorded by tenor Peter Pears with Bedford conducting the London Sinfonietta. The title of Star's End was taken from Isaac Asimov's book Second Foundation. Rigel 9 is a play based on the book by Ursula K. Le Guin, featuring background music composed and recorded by Bedford. Bedford's music has been described as modernist, avant-garde and experimental. He was known for his use of atonality, harmonic stasis, and rich timbre.

Bedford enjoyed sci-fi, was a keen astronomer and enjoyed cricket, all of which inspired his work. Bedford died of lung cancer in October 2011 and was survived by his third wife, his seven children, and his brother Steuart. Steuart died in 2021. After his death, a number of commemorative performances took place, including one of his later works for children The Wreck of the Titanic which was performed nine times at venues across England during early 2012. The performance at the SAGE Gateshead included choirs from four North East primary/junior schools. In November 2018 BBC Radio 3 broadcast a recording of a concert performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Michael Seal, marking what would have been Bedford's 80th year. The programme included his orchestration of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, with Steve Hillage on guitar, his 1981 reworking of his Alleluia Timpanis, and his Symphony No. 1.