Joseph Holbrooke

Joseph Charles Holbrooke (Croydon, July 5 1878 – London, August 5 1958) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He later changed his name to Josef. He was sometimes referred to as "the cockney Wagner".

His musical output includes eight symphonies, many tone poems, two piano concertos, chamber music including string quartets, a piano quintet, a quintet for clarinet and strings and a piano quartet, and much music inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, including choral and orchestral settings for "The Raven" and "The Bells", and a ballet score for "The Masque of the Red Death". He also wrote a three-part operatic trilogy based on the Welsh epic the "Mabinogion".

The classical music label Naxos notes that his works are rarely performed today, in part because "he made very considerable demands on the resources of promoters and the patience of listeners." [http://www.naxos.com/composer/btm.asp?fullname=Holbrooke,%20Joseph]

His son was Gwydion Brooke, a prominent British bassoonist.

The English composer and bassist Gavin Bryars paid tribute to Holbrooke by giving the name Joseph Holbrooke to his collective free-improvising trio with Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley. (Despite the name, the group never played Holbrooke's compositions.)

External links

* [http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/May01/Holbrooke.htm Biography, review and partial discography]
* [http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Feb03/Holbrook_Quartets.htm Update to the above, with more detail on quartets and Poeana]
* [http://www.naxos.com/composer/btm.asp?fullname=Holbrooke,%20Joseph Joseph Holbrooke] ; a biography from the classical label Naxos