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Brett Dean

Composer, Viola, Conductor
Visiting Professor, Royal Academy of Music London

  • Brett Dean was born and studied in Australia before moving to Germany. He was a member of the Berlin Philharmonic for fourteen years, during which time he began composing. His music is championed by many of the leading conductors and orchestras worldwide, including Sir Simon Rattle, Vladimir Jurowski, Simone Young, Daniel Harding, Andris Nelsons, Marin Alsop and Sakari Oramo. Much of Dean’s work draws from literary, political, environmental or visual stimuli, including a number of compositions inspired by artwork by his wife Heather Betts.

  • Brett Dean wurde in Australien geboren und studierte dort, bevor er nach Deutschland zog, wo er vierzehn Jahre lang Mitglied der Berliner Philharmoniker war und zu komponieren begann. Seine Musik wird von führenden Dirigenten und Orchestern weltweit geschätzt, darunter Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Andris Nelsons und Marin Alsop. Ein Großteil von Deans Werken basiert auf literarischen, politischen, umweltbezogenen oder visuellen Anregungen, darunter auch eine Reihe von Kompositionen, die durch die Kunstwerke seiner Frau Heather Betts inspiriert wurden.

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  • Dean began composing in 1988, initially concentrating on experimental film and radio projects and as an improvising performer. Dean’s reputation as a composer continued to develop, and it was through works such as his clarinet concerto Ariel's Music (1995), which won an award from the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers, and Carlo (1997) for strings, sampler and tape, inspired by the music of Carlo Gesualdo, that he gained international recognition.


    Dean won the 2009 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for his violin concerto The Lost Art of Letter Writing, and was awarded the 2016 Don Banks Music Award by Australia Council, acknowledging his sustained and significant contribution to Australia’s musical scene. In 2017 his second opera Hamlet was premiered at Glyndebourne Festival Opera to great acclaim, and has since been performed at the Cologne Opera, Adelaide Festival, The Met, the Bayerische Staatsoper and Opera Australia, winning the 2018 South Bank Sky Arts Awards and International Opera Awards for Best New Opera. In 2022 Dean was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for Chamber Ensemble Composition for Madame ma bonne sœur, written for mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean and the Armida Quartet; and in 2023 he won the Ivor Novello Award for Orchestral Composition for his Cello Concerto, written for Alban Gerhardt.


    Other major works by Dean include a Piano Concerto for Jonathan Biss and a Trumpet Concerto for Håkan Hardenberger. Recent works include the orchestral piece Nocturnes and Night Rides for the Bayerische Staatsorchester, and In spe contra spem, for two sopranos and orchestra, premiered by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023. Dean was Composer in Residence of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 2019-2023, and at the Wigmore Hall for the 2023/24 season. In 2024, Dean was appointed Visiting Professor of the Composition and Contemporary Music Department at the Royal Academy of Music in London.


    Dean enjoys a prolific performing career as a violist and conductor, playing his own Viola Concerto with many of the world’s leading orchestras. He is a natural chamber musician, frequently collaborating with other soloists and ensembles including the Doric Quartet, Scharoun Ensemble, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Australian National Academy of Music. Dean’s imaginative conducting programmes usually centre around his own works combined with those by other composers. Past performing highlights include the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra BBC Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, Sydney Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Toronto Symphony and Swedish Chamber Orchestra.


    In the 2024/25 season, Dean conducts the Australian National Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra and performs at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Hatfield House and the Purbeck International Chamber Music Festival, where Dean’s I Starred Last Night, I Shone receives its world premiere in a new version for voice and string trio. Elsewhere in the season, Dean conducts the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Lapland Chamber Orchestra, and the Riot Ensemble. 2025 sees the Spanish premiere of Dean’s In spe contra spem by the Orquesta Nacional de España.


    Dean’s music has been recorded for BIS, Chandos, Warner Classics, ECM Records and ABC Classics. Highlights include a BIS release in 2016 of works including Shadow Music, Testament, Short Stories and Etudenfest, performed by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and conducted by Dean. His Viola Concerto has also been released on BIS with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The DVD of Hamlet was released by Glyndebourne in June 2018 and won a Gramophone Award in 2019.

    The works of Brett Dean are published by Boosey & Hawkes.
    2024/25 season / 648 words. Not to be altered without permission.
  • Dean begann 1988 zu komponieren und erlangte internationale Anerkennung durch Werke wie sein Klarinettenkonzert Ariel's Music (1995), das mit dem UNESCO Composers Award ausgezeichnet wurde, und Carlo (1997), das von der Musik Carlo Gesualdos inspiriert ist. Im Jahr 2009 gewann Dean den Grawemeyer Award für sein Violinkonzert The Lost Art of Letter Writing; im Juni 2017 wurde seine zweite Oper Hamlet an der Glyndebourne Festival Opera unter großem Beifall uraufgeführt und bei den South Bank Sky Arts Awards und mit einem International Opera Award ausgezeichnet. Dean tritt auch bei vielen der weltweit führenden Orchester, Ensembles und Festivals als Dirigent und Bratscher auf, oft mit seinem Violakonzert oder Kammermusik.


    In der Saison 2023/24 ist Brett Dean Composer in Residence in der Wigmore Hall, wo er eine Reihe von Programmen und Auftritten als Dirigent und Interpret kuratiert hat. Die Residency umfasst die erste vollständige Aufführung von Deans Hommage Etudes sowie die Uraufführung eines neuen Soloklavierwerks, das vom Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, der Wigmore Hall und dem Chicago Symphony Orchestra gemeinsam in Auftrag gegeben wurde. Weitere Höhepunkte der Saison 2023/24 sind die Weltpremiere eines neuen Werks, das vom Scharoun Ensemble in Auftrag gegeben wurde, und die französische Erstaufführung von In This Brief Moment mit dem Orchestre National de Lyon. Darüber hinaus gibt Dean Liederabende mit Lotte Betts-Dean, dirigiert die Deutsche Radio Philharmonie und ist Composer in Residence an der Royal Academy of Music.

    Brett Dean wird von Intermusica vertreten. Die Werke von Brett Dean werden von Boosey & Hawkes veröffentlicht.
    Saison 2023/24 / 306 Wörter. Darf ohne Genehmigung nicht verändert werden.

Performances

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Composer in Residence, Wigmore Hall (2023/24)

06 November 2023, 19:30


Arthur Benjamin: Hedgerow
Eliot Carter: Dust of Snow
Gerald Finzi: Song of Hiems
Benjamin Britten: Winter Words, Op.52
Peter Maxwell Davies: Seven Skies of Winter
Interval
Franz Schubert: Fahrt zum Hades, D. 526
Franz Schubert: Die Krähe D.911
Franz Schubert: Nachtstück D672
Franz Schubert: Der Tod und das Mädchen, D.531, Op.7, No.3
Franz Schubert: Nachthymne D687
Hans Abrahamsen: Schnee: Canon 1
Brett Dean: Winter Songs


with Robin Tritschler (tenor); Apartment House; Brett Dean (conductor)


11 January 2024, 19:30


Beethoven: Piano Quartet No.1 in E-flat, WoO. 36
Brett Dean: Imaginary Ballet
Interval
Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 2 in A, Op. 26


22 January 2024, 19:30


Schumann (arr. Dean): Three Poems of Queen Mary Stuart, op.135
Janáček: String Quartet No.2, JW.7/13 "Intimate Letters"
Interval
Brett Dean: Madame ma bonne sœur


with Lotte Betts-Dean (mezzo-soprano) and Armida Quartet


20 April 2024, 11:30


Brett Dean: Hommage à Bach: I. Prelude
Brett Dean: Hommage à Kurtág
Brett Dean: Music for Drakenstein (World Premiere)
Pause
Brett Dean: Etude: Hommage à Janácek 
Brett Dean: Etude: Hommage à Lutoslawski
Brett Dean: Hommage à Bach: II. Chorale (Transcription of J.S.Bach’s "Gute Nacht, o Wesen" from BWV.277)
Brett Dean: Faustian Pact (Hommage à Liszt) (UK Premiere)
Pause
Brahms: 4 Pieces for Piano, Op.119: I. Intermezzo in B minor
Brett Dean: Hommage à Brahms: I. Engelsflügel 1 (Angels’ Wings 1)
Brahms: 4 Pieces for Piano, Op.119: II. Intermezzo in E minor
Brett Dean: Hommage à Brahms: II. Hafenkneipenmusik (Harbourside Bar Music)
Brahms: 4 Pieces for Piano, Op.119: III. Intermezzo in C major
Brett Dean: Hommage à Brahms: III. Engelsflügel 2 (Angels’ Wings 2)
Brahms: 4 Pieces for Piano, Op.119: IV. Rhapsody in E flat major


with Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)


20 April 2024, 15:00


Brett Dean: String Quartet No. 3 "Hidden Agendas"
Felix Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 1 in A Op. 18
Brett Dean: String Quartet No. 2 “And once I played Ophelia”


with Doric String Quartet; Brett Dean (viola); Jennifer France (soprano)


20 April 2024, 19:30


Heinrich Biber: Partita No. 7 from "Harmonia Artificioso - Ariosa"
William Byrd: Three Fantasias
George Benjamin: Viola, Viola
Brett Dean: some birthday...
Interval
William Byrd: Pavan ('The Earl of Salisbury')
William Byrd: Galliard
William Byrd: The Bells
Brett Dean: Byrdsong Studies
Brett Dean: Approach (Prelude to a Canon)
J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.6 in B-flat major, BWV.1051


with Brett Dean (viola, viola d'amore); Lawrence Power (viola, viola d'amore); Nash Ensemble; Xiaowen Shang (harpsichord)

Conducting repertoire

Brett Dean’s career as conductor is blossoming alongside his work as composer and performer, his imaginative programmes usually centred around his own works combined with those of other composers.


Recent conducting highlights include the Sydney Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Northern Sinfonia and as Artist in Residence with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.


A selection of Brett Dean’s recent and future conducting programmes


Strauss Till Eulenspiegel
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat for Violin, Viola and Orchestra
interval
Dean Beggars and Angels


Lutoslawski Sacher Variation for solo cello
Lutoslawski Symphony No.3
interval
Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor


R. Meale Clouds Now and Then 
Thomas Meadowcroft Peacemaker Tattoo 
Lisa Illean Land's End 
Georges Lentz "Caeli enarrant ..." III 
interval
Brett Dean Engelsflügel 
Anthony Pateras Immediata 


Beethoven Adagio molto e mesto (from Rasumovsky Quartet No.1, Op.59) arr. Dean
Dean Testament
interval
Beethoven Symphony No.3 ‘Eroica’


Jean Sibelius Scènes historiques, Op.25, No.1 ‘All'overtura’
Brett Dean Dramatis Personae
interval
Jean Sibelius Symphony No.3 in C major, Op.52


Brahms Academic Festival Overture
Bruch Double Concerto for viola and clarinet (play/direct)
interval
Dean Ariel’s Music (clarinet concerto)
Brahms Tragic Overture


Mozart Prelude & Fugue in D minor K. 405/4 (after J.S. Bach, BWV 877)
Brett Dean Short Stories No. 1 & 2 (Devotional; Premonitions)
Mozart Adagio & Fugue in E major, K. 405/3 (after J.S. Bach, BWV 878)
Brett Dean Short Stories No. 3 & 4 (Embers; Komarov’s Last Words)
Mozart Adagio & Fugue in B minor (after J.S. Bach, BWV 849)
Brett Dean: Short Stories No 5 (Arietta)
interval
Beethoven Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral"

Brett Dean's Viola Concerto

Commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic & Sydney Symphony Orchestra.


“Having done so many pieces in recent years that tell an extra-musical story, or have a poetic or literary title, it seemed fitting that this should be a piece that examines first and foremost purely musical ideas... It’s nevertheless an essay in which I inhabit part-sonic and part-lyrical words as in much of my music... I’m treating it the same as a concerto I’d write for any other viola soloist, and certainly want to give myself something that I personally enjoy playing in terms of challenge, expression and virtuosity.”
Brett Dean on his Viola Concerto


Details


Duration: 27 minutes


Instrumentation: 3(I,III=picc,II=picc,afl).2(II=corA).2(II=bcl).2(II=dbn)-3.2.2.1-timp.perc(3)-harp-cel-pft-strings(12.10.8.6.5)


Composition date: 2005


Click here to see the publisher's information on the Viola Concerto


Performances past and future include: BBC Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, St Louis Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Hamburg Philharmonic, Tonkunstler Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Residentie Orkest, Trondheim Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic


Viola Concerto conductors: Marc Albrecht, Lionel Bringuier, Baldur Brönnimann, Reinbert de Leeuw, André de Ridder, Olari Elts, Rumon Gamba, Marko Letonja, Hannu Lintu, James MacMillan, Sakari Oramo, Peter Oundjian, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, John Storgards, François-Xavier Roth, Bramwell Tovey, Simone Young, Lothar Zagrosek


Click here to watch the performance on YouTube 


Viola Concerto Reviews


“Dean is a top-flight viola player as well as an upwardly mobile composer. His new Viola Concerto is a substantial affair, elegantly proportioned and full of colourful musical imagery." Guardian


"Dean has written something as personal as one would expect. The haunting and arresting sounds are all his own, and bright colours suggest a strong connection to his country’s landscape. Indeed, the peaceful close, in which the previously hectic solo viola emerges purified, evokes a lullaby in which the earth seems to be singing itself to sleep." The Times


“Each element of Dean's brilliant orchestration could be savored, as well as his own virtuosic playing.” Los Angeles Times


“...tightly structured and well-proportioned... Dean is a fine soloist, too, throwing off the blazingly virtuosic passages with unruffled ease while sustaining a strong, full-bodied tone. His orchestration is imaginative, full of evocative colours and striking effects” The Australian


“…Dean has lost none of his virtuosity as a performer, while confirming his reputation as an up-and-coming craftsman-composer… Curiously beautiful, somewhat enigmatic? No question.” Financial Times

Chamber music

Doric Quartet & Brett Dean:
Haydn String Quartet Op.20 No.1
Brett Dean Epitaphs (string quintet)
Brahms Quintet No.2 in G maj Op.111


Doric Quartet & Brett Dean – Ophelia Songs
Haydn String Quartet Op.76 No.65
Brett Dean String Quartet No.2 “And Once I Played Ophelia”
Brahms Ophelia Songs WoO.22 (arr Reimann)
Brahms String Quintet No.2 in G maj Op.111


Viola & Mezzo-soprano Duo


Brett Dean & Lotte Betts-Dean
Ralph Vaughan Williams Prelude from Three Vocalises
Stuart MacRae  The Lif of this World
Sally Beamish  Buzz
Arthur Bliss  The Dandelion
Erin Gee  Mouthpiece I
Brett Dean  Sketches for Siegbert
Giacinto Scelsi  Hô I
Morton Feldman  Only
Paul Hindemith  Gute Nacht from Die Serenaden
Michael Berkeley  Sonnet for Orpheus from Three Rilke Sonnets
Brett Dean  I Starred Last Night, I Shone


Brett Dean performs a range of chamber music projects; future highlights include projects with Alban Gerhardt, the Scharoun Ensemble and at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.

Conductors

Conductors who have recently conducted Brett Dean’s music include:
David Afkham
Marin Alsop
Andrey Boreyko
Martyn Brabbins
Lionel Bringuier
Baldur Brönnimann
Sylvain Cambreling
Karina Canellakis
Nicholas Carter
Nicholas Collon
Thomas Dausgaard
Olari Elts
Mark Elder
Thierry Fischer
Michael Francis
Edward Gardner
HK Gruber
Daniel Harding
Vladimir Jurowski
Tonu Kaljuste
Stanislav Kochanovsky
Hannu Lintu
James MacMillan
Klaus Mäkelä
Susanna Mälkki
Andrew Manze
Ludovic Morlot
Andris Nelsons
Gemma New
Jonathan Nott
Sakari Oramo
Peter Oundjian
Rafael Payare
Geoffrey Paterson
Simon Rattle
Lawrence Renes
David Robertson
François-Xavier Roth
Kwamé Ryan
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Dmitri Slobodeniuk
Markus Stenz
John Storgårds
Robin Ticciati
Richard Tognetti
Robert Trevino
Krzysztof Urbański
Duncan Ward
Joshua Weilerstein
François Xavier-Roth
Simone Young

A voice of fertile imagination, originality and expressive subtlety.

Chicago Tribune

...the two works here show Dean to be a formidable and musical player as well as an impressive composer. The Viola Concerto confirms the impression it made at its first performance… It is one of Dean's most successful orchestral works, an asymmetrical, three-movement structure that pivots about a dark, central scherzo.

Guardian

…a towering masterpiece. Multi-layered and rhythmically complex, Fire Music’s imaginative depth, sophistication and sheer impact marks it as one of the most important works to come from an Australian composer.

The Australian

Downloads

Intermusica represents Brett Dean worldwide

Catherine Gibbs
Associate Director
+44 20 7608 9946
cgibbs@intermusica.com

Lucy Evans
Assistant Artist Manager
+44 20 7608 9940
levans@intermusica.com

All artists

Chansonnier

HK Gruber

Counter-tenor

Tim Mead

Harpsichord

Richard Egarr

Piano accompanist

Roger Vignoles

Saxophone

Jess Gillam

Contralto

Avery Amereau