Peter Dickinson | it

Peter Dickinson (born November 15, 1934) is an English composer, musicologist, and pianist. He was born in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, and studied organ at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he was a student of Philip Radcliffe. In 1958 he became a student at the Juilliard School in New York City, and studied with Bernard Wagenaar, and encountered the works of experimental composers such as Henry Cowell, John Cage, and Edgard Varèse. Returning to England in 1962, he established courses in improvisation and experimental music at the College of St. Mark and St. John, Chelsea. After a lectureship at Birmingham (1966-1970), he became the first professor of music at Keele University in 1974, where he created an important center for the study of American music. He served as chair of music at Goldsmiths College, University of London from 1991 to 1997, and in 1996 became a Fellow and head of music at the Institute of United States Studies in London.

His musical compositions include experimental and aleatoric elements, and are compared to works by Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives and Erik Satie . His frequent performances of works by Ives with his sister, mezzo-soprano Meriel Dickinson reflect his affinity for that composer, and he has also accompanied several acclaimed instrumentalists, such as violinist Ralph Holmes and oboist Sarah Francis, in addition to his several international lecture-recital tours.

As a prolific writer, he has often shown his varied interests in American music. He wrote a series of articles on improvisation in 1964, and more recently has discussed postmodernism, coining the term ‘style modulation’ to describe the weaving together of serious and popular or past and present music. The term can be applied to his own music, which adds a mix of ragtime, jazz, serial music, and even electronic playback to more traditional types of instrumental musical forms. .