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Biographie

Margaret Lucy Wilkins

MARGARET LUCY WILKINS’ works explore spatial elements and music theatre, displaying a strong dramatic, gestural and visual approach to sound. Sonic architecture is a feature of her musical aesthetic.

Born in England in 1939, Margaret Lucy Wilkins’ musical career embraces composing, lecturing, performing and writing. She has conducted 20th century music, and has performed on a variety of mediaeval instruments with the Scottish Early Music Consort, with whom she played in many concerts and broadcasts. Between 1976 and 2003, she was Principal Lecturer in Music at the University of Huddersfield, UK, where she was Head of Composition.

Margaret Lucy Wilkins has been composing since the age of 12, when she won a Junior Exhibition to attend Trinity College of Music, London. Later, she read Music at Nottingham University, UK, where she gained the B.Mus. (Hons.) and A.Mus.D.

There have been many commissions and broadcasts of her works. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a Scottish Arts Council Award for Composers (1970), Hinrichsen Foundation Award for Composers (1979), Arts Council of Great Britain Bursary for Composers (1981-82). Prizes include The New Cantata Orchestra of London Competition for Young British Composers (1970), the Cappiani Prize for Women Composers (1971) and the Miriam Gideon International Prize (2000).

Performances of her music have been given in most European countries, the Americas and Asia. Festival performances include Edinburgh International (Scotland), Durham International (UK), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), Middelburg (The Netherlands), ISCM World Music Days (Poland and Slovenia), Musica Nova:Sofia (Bulgaria), Donne in Musica (Italy), International New Music Week, Bucharest (Romania), International Festival of Women in Music To-day 2003, Seoul (South Korea), Two Days & Two Nights of New Music, Odessa (Ukraine), Europa-Asia Festival, Kazan (Russia).

Margaret Lucy Wilkins’ compositions range from orchestral music, through chamber music and works for soloists, to electroacoustic music. Notable amongst her orchestral works are "Hymn to Creation" (1973), "Music of the Spheres" (BBC commission, 1976), "Revelations of the Seven Angels" (1988, a 50-minute work for over 100 performers divided into eight groups, designed for performance in a large cathedral space), "Symphony" (1989), "Musica Angelorum" (Goldberg commission, 1991) and "Rituelle" for 27 brass, wind and percussion players (2000).

Chamber music works include "Struwwelpeter" (1973), "Burnt Sienna:Etude for String Trio" (1974), "Ave Maria" (New Music Group of Scotland commission, 1975), "Aspects of Night" (John Turner commission, 1981), "Gitanjali" (William Byrd Singers commission, 1981), "Rêve, Réveil, Révélation, Réverbérations" (1988), "Trompettes de Mort" (Philip Mead commission, 2002).

Amongst Margaret Lucy Wilkins’ electroacoustic works are "Stringsing" and "L’Attente" (commissioned by choreographer, Julie Wilson, 1992, 1994) and "Discover Oakwell" (a long-running sound installation commissioned by Oakwell Hall, 1995, with funds from Kirklees Metropolitan Council and the European Commission). In 1999, this project won a Sandford Award for Heritage Education. In 1990, she composed "KANAL", a 90-minute multi-media work for 75 musicians, actors, dancers and electroacoustic music, which was performed at the 1992 ISCM ‘World Music Days’ in Poland.

As an advocate of new music, Margaret Lucy Wilkins has directed many performances including works by Igor Stravinsky, Anton Webern, Hanna Kulenty, Olivier Messiaen, Michael Nyman, Joan Tower, Jennifer Fowler, Rebecca Saunders, Mihaela Vosganian, Luminita Spinu and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

In the service of composers, Margaret Lucy Wilkins has been elected to the Executive Committee of the Composers’ Guild of Great Britain, the Council of the Society for the Promotion of New Music, the Honour Committee of Donne in Musica (Italy) and Board of Directors for the International Alliance for Women in Music (headquarters in USA).


Margaret Lucy Wilkins Orchestral works


Dance Variations (1973) 11’
Commissioned by The University of St. Andrews Chamber Orchestra,
funded by Scottish Arts Council.

harpsichord/strings: 6 6 3 2 1

Hymn to Creation (1973) 9’
3333/433/1T 3P/7 6 5 4 3

‘Textures of extreme clarity and the sense of natural growth the music gives, make this a fascinating and compelling work’. Glasgow Herald

‘... a keen feeling for punchy orchestral colours and rhythms with a sometimes Straussian sense of humour...’ Scotsman

Music of the Spheres (1975) 17’
Commissioned by BBC.
333(+ bass cl) 3/4331/hrp/1T 3P/12 10 8 6 4

Revelations of the Seven Angels (1988) c. 50’
solo sop/cathedral choir/string quartet/
orchestra: 2131/2431/hrp/guitar/celeste-harpsichord/2 descant recorders/2P/strings: 12 10 8 8 6

Symphony 1989  22’
3333/4331/1T 2P/16 14 12 10 8

Musica Angelorum (1991) 10’.30” Commissioned by Goldberg Ensemble, funded by a Holst Foundation Award
solo strings: 4 3 2 2 1

Musica Andelorum, inspired by mediaeval paintings portraying multitudes of angels playing instruments, has a marvellously wrought shape. And unlike the oft-heard fragmentary style honoured by many living composers, it displayed, in this splendid performance, a pleasing continuity which generated keen anticipation.’ Malcolm Cruise, Huddersfield Examiner

‘...The elevated euphony of Margaret Lucy Wilkins’ Musica Angelorum was all the more welcome...this new score, with its references to the angelic instrumentalists that populate mediaeval art, emerged freshly minted in a concert pervaded by the all too familiar gambits of the avant garde’s more recent offerings’ Simon Cargill, Yorkshire Post.



Margaret Lucy Wilkins Instrumental Ensemble

Orpheus (1973) 14’
violin & piano

‘contains many interesting passages where plucked notes inside the
piano were made to balance structurally against pizzicato and
tremolando effects from the violin’. Times Educational Supplement

Burnt Sienna: Etude for string trio (1974) 9’
violin/viola/cello

‘a series of studies, cogently and excitingly presented of the different
dramatic sonorities obtainable from a string trio’. Scotsman

Circus (1975) 13’
flute/clarinet/bass clarinet/horn/trumpet/violin/double bass/1 percussion/piano

Aspects of Night (1981) 10’.30”
Commissioned by John Turner, funded by North West Arts.
recorder/s (1 player) & guitar

version for recorder/s (1 player) & harpsichord

‘...marvellous humour and variety of gesture.... richly entertaining...
the inventiveness and sense of colour in small spaces’. Michael Ball


Pirouette for solo oboe, 3’
Pas de Quatre for 4 oboes, 5’
Modern Wind Music, vol.2, ed. John Turner, Forsyth (Manchester, UK, 1985)

Circuit for bassoon & piano, 3’.30”
Modern Wind Music, vol.4, ed. John Turner, Forsyth (Manchester, UK, 1986)

Epistola da San Marco (1987) 10’
brass band

‘a powerful essay for brass band, with trumpets thundering at the back of the hall’.
David Briers. Huddersfield Examiner

R
éve, Réveil, Révelation, Réverbérations (1988) 13’
alto flute/clarinet/bass clarinet/bassoon/guitar/harp/vibraphone/
marimba/DX7.2/4 violins/cello/double bass

A Baker’s Dozen (1994) 1’
descant recorder & piano

Trompettes de Mort (2003) c. 10’
Commissioned by Philip Mead with financial assistance from Thames Valley University
2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba, piano

Lullaby for Jesus (2010) 6'
String quartet




Margaret Lucy Wilkins Works for Voice and Ensemble

Witch Music (1971) 10’
mezzo-soprano/clarinet/trumpet/double bass/
finger cymbals suspended from a large cross

‘a colourful setting of various magic spells and charms... bleating clarinet, whining double bass, spirited trumpet and a set of chiming instruments suspended from a crucifix, struck by the singer....’ Scotsman

Struwwelpeter (1973) 14’
soprano/3 clarinets/piano/1 percussion

Ave Maria (1975) 30’
mezzo-soprano/flute/clarinet/violin/viola/cello/harp/piano/1 percussion

Commissioned by the New Music Group of Scotland,
funded by the Scottish Arts Council.

‘This very fine and moving composition cannot fail to enhance the rapidly growing reputation of the composer: hers is one of the most original and inventive musical minds working in Scotland to-day’. Glasgow Herald

‘Here is a truly contemporary voice, sophisticated,versatile and professional’.
Scotsman

L’Allegro (1977) 20’
countertenor/harpsichord/recorders(1 player): sopranino, descant, treble, bass.

Commissioned by John Turner, funded by the Arts Council of Great Britain.

The Tree of Life (1979) 45’
tenor/baritone/bass/flute/clarinet/piano/violin/cello/1 percussion

A complementary work for Ave Maria.

Playtime (1985) 16’
Commissioned by Kirklees Primary Schools Music Festival,
funded by Yorkshire Arts Association and Marks and Spencer plc.

children’s voices/flute/clarinet/trumpet/violin/cello/double bass/piano.

version for: children’s voices/piano.

‘Local children’s poems are the inspiration behind the piece and though there is nothing straight-forward about the music’s tonality or structure, the 
children took it warmly to their hearts’. Huddersfield Examiner. 


Folkworks (1996) 13’
countertenor (alto)/cello/harpsichord. 


BallyMo (1998) 3’
medium voice/bass + descant recorders (1 player)





Margaret Lucy Wilkins Works for Solo Instruments

A Dance to the Music of Time (1980) 10’. 30”
Commissioned by Alan Cuckston, funded by Yorkshire Arts Association.

solo harpsichord

‘... a delicate woven subject, treated in a precise and disciplined manner, though managing without seeming effort, to create endlessness, a feeling of suspension, maintained despite
lively rhythmic pulses’. Huddersfield Examiner

Deus ex Machina (1982) 5’
Commissioned by Keith Jarvis, funded by Yorkshire Arts Association.

solo organ

Aries for descant recorder, 5’
Pieces for Solo Recorder, vol.1, ed. John Turner, Forsyth (Manchester, UK, 1988)

A Joyful Noise! (1988) 2’-4’
solo organ

366” for solo trombone (1986) 6’. 6”
Trombone Association Publishing, (MA, USA,1988)

Study in Black & White No.1 (1983) 6’
solo piano
‘A notable exception extended a Bartokian idiom with power, panache and real ingenuity’
Meirion Bowen, Guardian.

Study in Black & White No.2 (1992) 3’. 30”
solo piano

‘Heel wat verrassender waren Margaret Lucy Wilkins’ bijzonder overtuigende Study in Black & White No.2’. 

Dmitri van der Werf, De Haagse Courant 


Study in Black & White No.3 (1995) 4’. 30”
solo piano

Study in Black & White Nos.1, 2 & 3 for solo piano,
Hildegard Publishing Co., ed. Sylvia Glickman (PA, USA, 1998)
Theodore Presser Co, 588 North Gulph Road, King of Prussia, PA 1406, USA.

Study in Black & White No.3 for solo piano, 4’. 30”
British Contemporary Music Anthology 1996-97 (Telford, UK, 1997)



Margaret Lucy Wilkins Electroacoustic works

Music for an Exhibition (1970)
Commissioned by Exhibition of Modern Sculpture; Ledlanet, Scotland
(with financial assistance from The Scottish Arts Council).

musique concr
ète; sound installation.

Sci-Fi (1973)
sound installation
commissioned by University of St. Andrews Dpt. of Fine Art
(with financial assistance from Scottish Arts Council);
Science Fiction Exhibition, St. Andrews Arts Festival.

Lest We Forget (1982) 25’
solo SATB/live electronics/tape

The Cello In My Life (1989) 12’.30”
cello/piano/live electronics(2 x Yamaha SPX 90)

KANAL (1990) 60’- 90’
A multi-media environmental event,
for solo oboe(or clarinet, or trumpet)/singers/actors/dancers/brass/
percussion/electronic tapes (stereo)

KANAL implies a channel - a way through - as well as a canal. It is an intriguing, metaphoric title for an intriguing work, which makes use of texts from writers as far apart as Blake and Brecht, and mixes words and music, movement and light, in an abstract, and at times quite exciting fashion.... Apart from the solo oboe and percussion, most of the live music comes from a large number of brass players, in different locations, and the score provides for a rich texture of resonant sound, rising, falling and echoing in its important contribution to the atmosphere of this unusual, original and engrossing work’. 

David Hammond, Huddersfield Examiner

Stringsing (1992) 18’.15”
Commissioned by Julie Wilson, choreographer.

electroacoustic music for dance/stereo DAT

‘This was a powerful, engrossing and disturbing piece’. 

Stephen Barber, Event Magazine

‘Julie Wilson’s choreographed duets and the Margaret Lucy Wilkins music for Strung Out start at maximum emotional pitch so that one wonders how they can possibly develop - but they do, in a bleak look at a relationship gone sour’.
Ramsey Burt, Yorkshire Evening Post

L’Attente (1994) 15’
electracoustic music for dance/stereo DAT

Discover Oakwell (1995) 21’.30”
Commissioned by Oakwell Hall, funded by Yorkshire & Humberside Arts
Kirklees Cultural Services and the European Commission.
Won a Sandford Award for Heritage Education,1999
electroacoustic sound installation/4 stereo DATs

Fearful Apathy (1997) 8’
octophonic DAT Text by Pastor Niemoeller




Margaret Lucy Wilkins Works for choir


Three Skelmanthorpe Carols (1980) 6’
Commissioned by the Skelmanthorpe Male Voice Choir,
funded by Yorkshire Arts Association.

male voice choir: 2T/ 2 B

‘.... such is their high musical quality there is no doubt that the carols will grace many a Christmas programme for years to come.’ 

Wakefield Examiner

Gitanjali (1981) 16’.30”
Commissioned by the William Byrd Singers.

Minimum 16 voices: 4 soprano/4 alto/4 tenor/4 Bass
with SATB soloists drawn from the choir.

Ring Out, Wild Bells (1997) 8’
Written for the Vatican Millennium Commission

unison voices/ organ

Ring Out, Wild Bells (1997) 9’.30”
Written for the Vatican Millennium Commission

SATB (4-8parts) / organ

Margaret Lucy Wilkins Works for students, young musicians, amateurs

Pirouette for solo oboe 3’
Pas de Quatre for 4 oboes * 5’
Modern Wind Music, vol. 2, ed. John Turner, Forsyth (Manchester, UK, 1985)

*‘a work for four oboes buzzing like bees’. 

David Briers. Huddersfield Examiner.

Playtime (1985) 16’
Commissioned by Kirklees Primary Schools Music Festival,
funded by Yorkshire Arts Association and Marks and Spencer plc.

children’s voices/flute/clarinet/trumpet/violin/cello/double bass/piano.

version for: children’s voices/piano.
‘Local children’s poems are the inspiration behind the piece and though there is nothing straight-forward about the music’s tonality or structure, the children took it warmly to their hearts’. Huddersfield Examiner.

Epistola da San Marco (1987) 10’
brass band

‘a powerful essay for brass band, with trumpets thundering at the back of the hall’.
David Briers. Huddersfield Examiner

KANAL (1990) 60’- 90’
A multi-media environmental event,
for solo oboe(or clarinet, or trumpet)/singers/actors/dancers/brass/
percussion/electronic tapes

KANAL implies a channel - a way through - as well as a canal. It is an intriguing, metaphoric title for an intriguing work, which makes use of texts from writers as far apart as Blake and Brecht, and mixes words and music, movement and light, in an abstract, and at times quite exciting fashion.... Apart from the solo oboe and percussion, most of the live music comes from a large number of brass players, in different locations, and the score provides for a rich texture of resonant sound,
rising, falling and echoing in its important contribution to the atmosphere of this unusual, original and engrossing work’.

 David Hammond, Huddersfield Examiner 


Ring Out, Wild Bells (1997) 8’
Written for the Vatican Millennium Commission
unison voices/ organ

Rituelle (1999) c. 16’
7 mobile groups: 5 flutes/ 5 clarinets/ 4 horns/ 3 trumpets/ 3 trombones/
1 flute, 1 clarinet, 1 trumpet, 1 trombone/
2 timps. + 1 tubular bells.

‘There is frequently a theatrical element in Margaret Lucy Wilkins’ works, though never overdone, and a thoughtful exploitation of spatial elements. Musicians often play offstage, or move around during a performance.
This aspect came to the fore in a piece written specially for this concert. Rituelle for 24 wind players and 3 percussionists in six perambulating groups is a fascinating, charming and very effective piece.
It deserves to be heard again --- soon! ‘ 

David Briers, Huddersfield Examiner.