Death of an English American polymath, 88

Death of an English American polymath, 88

RIP

norman lebrecht

June 19, 2023

Family members have announced that the experimental composer, musicologist, writer and performer Peter Dickinson died this weekend after a lifetime of ceaseless curiosity.

A Juilliard graduate from Lytham St Annes, Dickinson was an authority on American music, from Ives and Cage to present-day composers. He was the first professor of music at Keele in 1974 and he went on to teach at Goldsmiths, in London.

He composed concertos for organ, piano and violin, as well as a vast amount of vocal music, much of it performed with his sister, Meriel Dickinson. He wrote two books about Lennox Berkeley and others on Billy Mayerl, Aaron Copland, John Cage, Lord Berners and Samuel Barber.

Comments

  • Paul Terry says:

    One of my lecturers at Birmingham Uni 1972 to 75. Very stimulating teacher. Always enjoyed his reviews in Gramophone latterly. Very sad to learn of his passing.

  • Duncan says:

    As a student at the RAM in the early 1970s I was fascinated and intrigued by his lectures. RIP.

    • Gerry McDonald says:

      When I organised the David Munro memorial concert at the RAM in 1979 he very kindly provided me with a copy of his recently composed “A memory of David Munro” and also attended the performance.

  • Joel Kemelhor says:

    Their recording called “Rags, Blues & Parodies” (Conifer Records) is highly enjoyable.

  • Rob Keeley says:

    A great all-rounder and delightful colleague. He’ll be much missed.

  • AndrewB says:

    The Peter and Meriel Dickinson partnership produced and performed some excellent works over the years. Peter will be warmly remembered.

  • Hugo Preuß says:

    With all due respect (honestly!) to the deceased gentleman and his family: a polymath is someone who excels in several fields that are vastly different from each other. Leibniz was a polymath. Ibn Sina was a polymath. Newton was a polymath.
    Being excellent at different subdivisions of music will make you an eminent musician or musicologist, but not a polymath.

  • Richard Leigh Harris says:

    Who else but Peter could have been so empathetic and erudite on such a wide spectrum of 20th.century music from Lennox Berkeley through Copland and Cage to Billy Mayerl? – and that’s just for starters! In fact, the only near-contender would have been the late Wilfrid Mellers. Such a multi-faceted musician (composer, performer, musicologist) is fairly rare nowadays and we should celebrate Peter’s very full and diverse talents.

    Perhaps it is not entirely inappropriate that he died on ‘Bloomsday’ (16th.June), for the range of styles that Peter employed(often with subtle humour) is, surely, very Joycean in their wide range and references?

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