Harrison Birtwistle was singular in his commitment to forging new pathways in music and music-theatre so I feel lucky to have worked with him. The first instance was on his opera Punch and Judy for the Aldeburgh Festival (coincidentally at the very same time that his magnificent opera Gawain was premiered at the Royal Opera) and later with Bow Down on tour through the U.K., Ring-a-Dumb Carillon and in Down by the Greenwood Side as well as coaching singers through many of his operas. I followed all of his new pieces closely, attending premieres whenever possible including Earth Dances, Slow Frieze, Cantus Iambeus, Responses and Moth Requiem and others. I also took every opportunity to hear Harry speak in interview or lead classes for young composers because his observations and responses were so individual and uniquely perceptive; everything was open for re-consideration, questioning and re-forming even where he might be uncertain about the value of the results. It really opened one’s sensibility to new, untried ideas.
This was reflected in his depth of curiosity across a wide range of subjects, especially visual art but also poetry and unusual natural phenomena; he always came into rehearsals carrying a book on one of these. I remember being startled while watching a television documentary about Piero della Francesca when Harry suddenly appeared on screen to contribute—as always, wth unique insight. A preoccupation with the representation of hidden realities and relationships was also evident in his interest in theatre and film. He was, of course, Music Director at the National Theatre, London for eight years; I remember his music for Peter Hall’s production of the Oedipus plays as especially engaging and exciting.
It seems to me that his natural artistic instinct for new and untrodden paths was grounded in the 1960s when cultural and aesthetic space opened up for new and experimental work. Although probably not a paradise for new work (it seldom is!), for a time at least, a spirit existed for artists to imagine and realize a quite radically new vision and in Harry Birtwistle, the flame of that spirit never dimmed.