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John Mccabe
April 21, 1939 -
born in Huyton, composed during the Contemporary period
Biography
John McCabe is a prolific English composer whose pianism has generally attracted greater attention than his many worthwhile compositions. Part of the reason public focus has been directed largely at his keyboard activity owes something to his enormous pianistic talent, a talent that has allowed him to record the entirety of the Haydn sonatas with great acclaim, as well as to delve into twentieth century works by Hindemith, Britten, Bax, Webern, and others with equal authority. His mature compositional style has been conservative and generally tonal, not much further advanced in its expressive language than that of Bartók or pre-serial Stravinsky. Though McCabe did dabble in twelve-tone music early on, he cast it aside in favor of tonality and greater accessibility. McCabe has composed in most genres, including opera, ballet, symphonic (including film scores), vocal, choral, and various instrumental. As a pianist McCabe has recorded for a variety of labels, including Decca, EMI, Philips, Hyperion, Lyrita, and ASV.

John McCabe was born on April 21, 1939, in Huyton, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. He was a musical prodigy, composing symphonies and numerous other works in his childhood, despite suffering periodic illnesses resulting from severe burns incurred at age two.