Dr John Croft
Reader (Professional Practice) - Music
- Music
- Theatre, Music and Film/TV
- Arts and Humanities
- College of Arts, Law and Social Sciences
Summary
John Croft (b. 1971) studied philosophy and music at the Victoria University of Wellington, and composition and music cognition at the University of Sheffield. He has a PhD from the University of Manchester, where he studied with John Casken. His music has been played by many ensembles and soloists, including the BBC Philharmonic, the London Sinfonietta, the Arditti String Quartet, Ensemble Exposé, Studiya Novoi Muzyki, Distractfold Ensemble, 175 East, Stroma, Marij van Gorkom, Philip Thomas, Matthew Barley, Richard Craig, Barbara Lüneburg, and Xenia Pestova. He received First Prize in the 2001 Jurgenson International Composers\' Competition for his String Quartet and the the 2011 ICMA European Regional Award for ...ne l\'aura che trema for alto flute and live electronics. His Intermedio III for bass clarinet and live electronics won the Prix Ton Bruynèl 2012. His opera-monodrama Malédictions d’une furiewas recently premiered at the Sounds New Festival, with Lore Lixenberg as the Fury. He also teaches and writes on the philosophy of music.Newest selected publications
Croft, J. (2023) 'Serenata II'. Performance notes: This score is for bass flute at A = 440 Hz and cello, guitar and theorbo at A = 415 Hz. Thus, the flute is a transposing instrument in D-flat in relation to the other instruments. A score with all instruments at A = 440 is also available. The guitar and theorbo must tune some strings down a quarter-tone, and some of the theorbo diapasons also have quarter-tone tunings.
Croft, J. (2023) 'Felix namque (after Tallis)'. This work experiments with microtonal "compression" of a keyboard work by Thomas Tallis. The resulting sixth-tone pitch structure becomes the basis of a composition for re-strung classical guitar. Premiered at City, University of London no 14 February 2023. Live recording at http://john-croft.uk/audio/Croft_Felix_namque.m4a.