Robin Walker was born in York, England, and attended schools attached to York Minster for ten years. He studied composition at the University of Durham with the Australian composer David Lumsdaine and subsequently taught at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and at the University of Manchester.
In the 1980s he undertook two visits to India to study the Buddhist temple music of the far north and the religious dance music of the south. The rhythmic liberation he experienced as a result of these visits is the most notable element of Dance/Still (1982), a chamber work in two parts which expresses concurrently a ritualised vitality and a religious stillness.
Despite a high-flying academic training at Durham and Oxford Universities (and also at the Royal College of Music), in the late 80’s Robin Walker abandoned his academic post in Manchester, rejecting the idea that composing is an intellectual activity. Instead, he embarked on a Jungian spiritual journey that redefined his style and aspirations. His career includes works composed for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hilliard Ensemble and the English Chamber Orchestra. Notable landmarks include the live broadcast of the 30-minute orchestral work The Stone Maker (1996) performed by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and his monumental forty-part motet, “I have thee by the hand O man” sung by the Tallis Scholars at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall in 2003. In December 2005, a carol was performed by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge at the same venue. His many other works include pieces for orchestra, brass brand, organ, choir and even pianola.
In Robin Walker’s music, we can hear many influences integrated into a uniquely personal voice, including such diverse figures as Vaughan-Williams, Wagner, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Messiaen. There is even an echo of the rhythmical complexity of the South Indian music Robin studied in Bangalore. There are ritualistic elements in his music combined with folk-like melody, while the harmonies are generally simple and derived from the archaic modes. The musical material is presented in blocks, which build into larger forms through patterns of repetition and variation. This generates ever-changing relationships between his musical ideas and thus develops them. The music has a primitive quality at times, like a natural object or something improvised.
In the 1980s he undertook two visits to India to study the Buddhist temple music of the far north and the religious dance music of the south. The rhythmic liberation he experienced as a result of these visits is the most notable element of Dance/Still (1982), a chamber work in two parts which expresses concurrently a ritualised vitality and a religious stillness.
Despite a high-flying academic training at Durham and Oxford Universities (and also at the Royal College of Music), in the late 80’s Robin Walker abandoned his academic post in Manchester, rejecting the idea that composing is an intellectual activity. Instead, he embarked on a Jungian spiritual journey that redefined his style and aspirations. His career includes works composed for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hilliard Ensemble and the English Chamber Orchestra. Notable landmarks include the live broadcast of the 30-minute orchestral work The Stone Maker (1996) performed by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and his monumental forty-part motet, “I have thee by the hand O man” sung by the Tallis Scholars at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall in 2003. In December 2005, a carol was performed by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge at the same venue. His many other works include pieces for orchestra, brass brand, organ, choir and even pianola.
In Robin Walker’s music, we can hear many influences integrated into a uniquely personal voice, including such diverse figures as Vaughan-Williams, Wagner, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Messiaen. There is even an echo of the rhythmical complexity of the South Indian music Robin studied in Bangalore. There are ritualistic elements in his music combined with folk-like melody, while the harmonies are generally simple and derived from the archaic modes. The musical material is presented in blocks, which build into larger forms through patterns of repetition and variation. This generates ever-changing relationships between his musical ideas and thus develops them. The music has a primitive quality at times, like a natural object or something improvised.