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Iain Farrington

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Iain Farrington (born 1977) is a British pianist, organist, composer and arranger. He performs regularly with some of the country's leading singers, instrumentalists and choirs, as well as giving solo recitals.

Biography

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Early years and education

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Farrington studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music, London and was Organ Scholar at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle and Organ Scholar at St John's College, Cambridge. As a solo pianist, accompanist, chamber musician and organist, he has performed at Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Purcell Room, the BBC Proms, the Royal Opera House, and in the US, Japan, South Africa, and across Europe.

Career

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Farrington played the piano at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics, performing "Chariots of Fire" with Rowan Atkinson (as Mr. Bean), the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle (and appeared as a runner in Mr. Bean's dream sequence).[1] He has made two solo piano recordings featuring his own compositions and arrangements, Fiesta! and Piano Songs.[2][3] His solo performance in the Proms 2007 on the Royal Albert Hall organ was critically acclaimed.[4] In 2013 he featured as a piano soloist in Howard Goodall's 'Story of Music' on BBC Television.[5] He has performed the organ works of Schoenberg in concerts for the Schoenberg family in Los Angeles [6] At the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London he performed Ligeti's Continuum for solo harpsichord in 2012.[7]

As a composer, Farrington has written orchestral, choral and chamber works. His orchestral work Wing It was composed for the Wallace and Gromit Prom in 2012.[8] His choral work The Burning Heavens premiered with Twickenham Choral in 2009 and was nominated for a British Composer Award in 2010.[9] His organ suite, Fiesta!, has been performed extensively and recorded several times.[10][11][12] His organ work Animal Parade has been recorded and was featured at the 2011 Lord Mayor's Show in St Paul's Cathedral, London, with narration by Brian Blessed.[13][14]

In 2023, he was one of twelve composers asked to write a new piece for the coronation of Charles III and Camilla.[15] His composition for organ, Voices of the World, incorporated tunes from countries of the Commonwealth and was performed before the coronation ceremony began.[16]

Arrangements

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Farrington has made numerous arrangements for orchestra, choir and chamber ensemble. He has made many arrangements of the music of Edward Elgar. His arrangement of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 5 was performed at the 2011 Royal Wedding,[17] while his arrangement of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4 was performed at the 2023 Coronation.[18] His other organ arrangements of Elgar have been recorded at Westminster Abbey by Robert Quinney.[19] Farrington has made a version of Elgar's Concert Allegro for piano and orchestra which he has recorded, as well as his solo piano arrangement of Elgar's 2nd Symphony. [20] He has also transcribed Elgar's Five Piano Improvisations and made piano versions of Falstaff, the 1st Symphony, and the Elgar/Payne 3rd Symphony.[21]

He is the Arranger in Residence for the Aurora Orchestra, and has made many reduced versions of orchestral and choral works for chamber ensembles.[22] Orchestral works include Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5 (performed at the Proms 2010), Mahler's 1st Symphony, Das Lied von der Erde and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.[23] He has also done arrangements/reductions of opera scores including Dvorak's Rusalka, Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen and Tippett's King Priam.[24][25][26] Choral works arranged include Bach's Christ lag in Todesbanden (for English Touring Opera) and Brahms A German Requiem.[27]

BBC Proms

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Farrington orchestrated and arranged all the songs for the Horrible Histories Prom in 2011.[28] He was commissioned to compose a "mash-up" piece for the 2020 Proms season based on Beethoven's Nine Symphonies. It was recorded by all the five BBC orchestras and the BBC Singers in a "Grand Virtual Orchestra" of some 350 performers and was broadcast on BBC Four on 19 July 2020.[29][30][31]

In 2024, Farrington composed a piece for the Last Night of the Proms called Extra Time. The piece, a BBC Commission, which was written during the final week of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, is a celebration of sports as well as famous sporting TV themes, and was performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo.[32][33]

References

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  1. ^ "Iain Farrington performs at the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games | StJohns". Joh.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Seven Cedars Music - Period Performance and Chamber Music". Gileadlimor.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Piano Songs by Iain Farrington on Amazon Music - Amazon.co.uk". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  4. ^ Norris, Geoffrey (5 August 2007). "BBC Proms review: National Youth Orchestra, Iain Farrington and the RPO". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Performers in the series: TV presenting: Works - Howard Goodall". Howardgoodall.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Free Classical Music Concert-Tribute to Arnold Schoenberg/Eric Zeisl - dkk events/Pamela & Randol Schoenberg - Sinai Temple-Main Sanctuary". Performingartslive.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  7. ^ "London Sinfonietta". Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  8. ^ "Welcome to Classical Music". Classical Music. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  9. ^ "BASCA unveils shortlist for Composer Awards | News | Music Week". Musicweek.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Organ Party Vol 1: Kevin Bowyer Plays the Organ of Glasgow Cathedral | Britain's Premier Church Music Label". Prioryrecords.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  11. ^ "PIPING BLUES". Regent-records.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Organ Fireworks, Vol. 10". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Animal Parade". Regent-records.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Lord Mayor's Show Day 2011 - St Paul's Cathedral, London, UK". Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  15. ^ "Andrew Lloyd Webber piece among new coronation music". BBC News. 18 February 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  16. ^ Iain Farrington, "Coronation composer Iain Farrington on making music fit for a king – and what the cameras didn’t show", 9 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Royal wedding: the Order of Service in full". Daily Telegraph. 29 April 2011. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  18. ^ "Coronation order of service in full". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Edward ELGAR The Organ of Westminster Abbey - SIGNUM SIGCD266 [EML]: Classical Music Reviews - September 2012 MusicWeb-International". Musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  20. ^ Pritchard, Stephen (20 February 2011). "Elgar: Concert Allegro; Symphony No 2, Iain Farrington (piano), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Vass – review". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  21. ^ "Five Piano Improvisations Sheet Music | Piano Solo | Five Piano Improvisations Sheet Music from the Elgar Shop - the Elgar Birthplace Museum and Visitor Centre". Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  22. ^ "Creative Partners". Aurora Orchestra. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  23. ^ Brown, Geoff. "Klez/Mahler, at LSO St Luke's, EC1". Thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Rusalka, Iford Manor, Bradford-on-Avon". the Guardian. 29 July 2005. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  25. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ^ Ashley, Tim (14 February 2014). "King Priam – review". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  27. ^ "North Herts Guild of Singers- Past Performances". Nhgs.org.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  28. ^ BBC Proms performance archive, 30 July 2011
  29. ^ "How do you edit together a 'Grand Virtual Orchestra' of 300 musicians, for a Proms premiere?". Gramophone. 17 July 2020. Archived from the original on 16 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  30. ^ Clements, Andrew (17 July 2020). "Opening night of the virtual Proms". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  31. ^ "Beethoveniana". BBC. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  32. ^ "Last Night of the Proms 2024 Review". theguardian.com.
  33. ^ "Last Night of the Proms 2024". bbc.co.uk.
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