Roger Woodward

Roger Woodward AC, OBE,[2] (born 20 December 1942) is an Australian pianist, composer, conductor and teacher, who, for his depth of interpretation, extensive repertoire and formidable technique, is widely regarded by critics as a doyen of the late-twentieth and early-twenty-first century avant-garde. Iconic performances [3] [4] and recordings with Pierre Boulez,[5] Jean Barraqué,[6][7] Iannis Xenakis,[8][9][10] Karlheinz Stockhausen,[11] Sylvano Bussotti,[12][13] John Cage,[14] Morton Feldman,[15] Anne Boyd,[16] and Toru Takemitsu[17][18] provide a strong and original direction.[19] Innovative interpretations of J.S. Bach,[20] [21] [22][23] Beethoven,[24] Debussy,[25][26] [27] Scriabin,[28] and Shostakovich[29][30][31] are frequently described as redefining traditions, although sometimes criticized for clashing with aspects of period style. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honours at home and abroad.

Roger Woodward
AC OBE
Personal details
Born (1942-12-20) 20 December 1942
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
ChildrenAsmira Tamara (née Page), Benjamin Auryn (Ludgate Woodward); Elroy Everton (Palmer) MBE
Alma mater
OccupationClassical pianist, composer, professor (UNE and SFSU)
Websitewww.rogerwoodward.com
www.youtube.com/c/RogerWoodwardPiano

Biography

Early life

The youngest of four children,[32] Roger Woodward was born in Sydney, where he received first piano lessons from Winifred Pope.[33] His mother[34] and second sister were amateur violinists and his father[35] and elder sister sang in the local Chatswood Church of Christ choir. On his first day at Chatswood Public School, he sat next to a boy who had survived the Auschwitz train, four years before. The six-year olds became lifelong friends and, as he came to know Peter, his brother Paul, and the Kraus family, their deeply moving story impacted an emerging artist's vision and personal development.[36] He attended the Conservatorium High School and matriculated from North Sydney Boys' Technical High School with a Commonwealth scholarship.

Early studies of Bach organ works with Peter Verco led to immersion in the cantatas and passion music, and a training in church music with Kenneth R. Long, Music Master, St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.[37] He performed for the Papal organist, Fernando Germani,[38] and Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sir Eugene Goossens,[39] after which he entered the Sydney Conservatorium in the piano class of Alexander Sverjensky[40] (pupil of Alexander Glazunov, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Siloti) and composition class of Raymond Hanson.[41]

In 1963, he graduated with distinction from the Conservatorium and Sydney Teachers' College.[42] In the same year, he founded and developed plans for the housing and funding of a competitive, international, quadrennial rostrum originally named the Sydney Piano Competition, together with the support of a wide circle of Sydney musicians and enthusiasts, which was achieved during 1972–76.[43]

Between 1963 and 1965, he continued organ studies with Faunce Allman,[44] while carrying out full-time duties as a choir director and secondary school teacher. During this period he mastered works by Australian composers and Tōru Takemitsu,[45] John Cage[46] Olivier Messiaen and his pupils: Alexander Goehr,[47] Karlheinz Stockhausen,[48] Iannis Xenakis,[49] Pierre Boulez and Jean Barraqué.[50] In 1964, he won the Commonwealth Finals of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Instrumental and Vocal Competition, the prize for which was to perform throughout Australia with the six ABC State Radio orchestras and in multiple radio and television broadcasts.[51]

From 1965–69, he pursued postgraduate studies at the National Chopin Academy of Music, Warsaw, with Zbigniew Drzewiecki.[52] There he befriended the Cuban pedagogue Jorge Luis Herrero Dante and soon after, began working with Cuban composers Sergio Barroso, Juan Blanco, Leo Brouwer, and Carlos Fariñas.

During summer visits to London (1966–68), he prepared Chopin manuscripts owned by British musicologist Arthur Hedley,[53] before including them in recitals at the Wigmore Hall and South Bank.[54] Contrary to some reports, Woodward did not enter the International Chopin Piano Competition. In 1967, he played for Lina Prokofieva in Warsaw[55] and was soon invited to perform with the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra then throughout Poland.[56] Two years later, he toured extensively with the Wiener Trio[57] performed in Cuba[58] as guest of Casa de las Americas and at the Paris Jeunesses Musicales where the UNESCO Rostrum's two principal jury members: Yehudi Menuhin and Jack Lang, noticed Woodward's performances of his own compositions[59] alongside works of J.S. Bach, Chopin, Scriabin, and Prokofiev. Soon after he made his debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra[60] at the Royal Festival Hall, London and on Menuhin's recommendation, his first four recordings for EMI.[61]

In 1971, Woodward performed his first recital at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall[62] with premieres of works by Richard Meale, Ross Edwards, Leo Brouwer, Takemitsu and Barraqué,[63] after which he was invited by Robert Slotover, CEO, Allied Artists Management, to co-found a series of new music concerts known as the London Music Digest[64] at the Roundhouse.

Digest performances with Barraqué[65] were followed by a close working relationship with the composer on his Sonate pour piano[66][67][68] at the EMI Abbey Road Studios, then in Paris and at the Royan Festival. Woodward also worked with John Cage at the Roundhouse[69] for the British premiere of HPSCHD for ICES (International Carnival of Experimental Sound) and the BBC Proms. Further collaborations were undertaken with Stockhausen at the Festival Hall, London,[70][71] and with Takemitsu at the Roundhouse,[72] [73] London's Decca Studios, and the Music Today Festival, Tokyo.[74]

A partnership also began with Pierre Boulez and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Roundhouse,[75] the Cheltenham Festival,[76] and with Bernard Rands for the premiere of Mésallianz for piano and orchestra. His collaboration with Iannis Xenakis 1974–96[77] extended from France to the UK, Austria, Italy, and the United States,[49] during which Xenakis dedicated three works to him, as did Rolf Gehlhaar,[78] Takemitsu,[79] Anne Boyd,[80] and Morton Feldman.[81] Performing their works established his reputation as the leading exponent of new music of his time.

Steeped in church music and traditional repertoire, Woodward trained throughout his early life to perform established works side by side with more recent music as part of a belief that music was the essential expression of an experimental process. His concerts reflected this belief even though such programming was widely considered unorthodox for the time.[82] He placed new works by Anne Boyd and Richard Meale alongside those of Scriabin, late Beethoven and J.S. Bach at the Edinburgh Festival.[83] In Los Angeles, for the first half of three Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts,[84] he performed Liszt's Totentanz and Xenakis alongside J.S. Bach solo harpsichord concertos with the Tokyo String Quartet. In recital, he often programmed traditional eighteenth- and nineteenth-century repertoire with new, little known, or neglected works such as those he championed by experimental fin-de-siècle Russian, Ukrainian and early Soviet composers[85] Alexander Scriabin, Alexander Mosolov, Nikolai Roslavets, Ivan Vyshnegradsky, Nikolai Obukhov, Aleksei Stanchinsky.[86] His performances of the complete works of Scriabin attracted exceptional critical reviews.

Middle years

In 1973, Woodward worked with Stockhausen and Jerzy Romaniuk on Mantra for two ring-modulated pianos at Imperial College London (Lecture 7 in 3 parts),[87] with Anne Boyd in Sussex, UK, on Angklung, and with Takemitsu on the premiere of For Away and the recording of his complete piano music to that point in London's Decca studios. That September, he participated in the inaugural celebrations of the Sydney Opera House as soloist for an extended tour with the six principal Australian Broadcasting Commission orchestras and premiered a series of ABC commissions, including a septet As It Leaves the Bell by Anne Boyd for piano, two harps, and percussion.

January 1974 saw Woodward invited by Witold Rowicki on an extensive tour of the US with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra,[88] during which he made his debut at Carnegie Hall.[89] The week before, his daughter, Asmira was born in Sydney,[90] and on New Year’s Eve 1973, Roger met Patricia Ludgate in Warsaw as the Australian Embassy was established there. For five years they lived in London, then in Sydney where their son Ben was born.[91] That year, Woodward founded Music Rostrum Australia at the Sydney Opera House where he collaborated with Australian composer Richard Meale and guests Luciano Berio, Cathy Berberian, David Gulpilil, and Yuji Takahashi. He began performing with the Cleveland Orchestra directed by Lorin Maazel,[92] and became a regular guest in Los Angeles with the Philharmonic directed by Zubin Mehta,[93] with whom he subsequently performed (1972–89) in New York, Tel Aviv, and Paris.[94] He appeared regularly at Le Festival d'automne à Paris,[95][96] BBC Promenade Concerts,[97] at Teatro La Fenice for La Biennale di Venezia (with Péter Eötvös and the Norddeutscher Rundfunkorchester),[98] Warszawska Jeśien, Wien Modern[99] with Claudio Abbado, [55] at the New York Piano Festival,[100] Festival de la Roque d'Anthéron and at the Festival La Grange de Meslay, Touraine, at the invitation of its artistic director, Sviatoslav Richter.[101]

At Scala di Milano, Woodward directed an all-Xenakis program,[102] performed throughout Central and Regional Australia[103] and at outdoor venues: the Hollywood Bowl,[104] Odéon of the Herodes Atticus, Athens,[105] Gulbenkian Gardens, Lisbon,[106] and Sydney Domain.[107] In 1975, he premiered Morton Feldman's Piano and Orchestra with the Saarbrücken Rundfunkorchester at the Metz Festival (in the composer's presence). It was the year when Woodward first encountered Anne Boyd's a cappella masterpiece: As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams, which made a profound impact upon him. [108] Then in June and July, as Dmitri Shostakovich lay dying in a Moscow Cancer Clinic, he made the first complete recording in the West of his 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, in tribute to the great Russian composer. In 1977, he premiered Feldman's solo work Piano at the Hessischerrundfunk, commissioned Elisabeth Lutyens for a work for solo piano and two chamber orchestras, (Nox, Op.118),[109] and, following the Valldemosa Festival, began a collaboration with Alberto Ginastera which continued until 1979. 1978 saw his first performance of the complete cycle of Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas at the Adelaide Festival, repeated at Kenwood House, London, the following year and in 1980 for the Sydney Festival. In the same year he premiered the Xenakis solo piano work Mists in Edinburgh (in the composer's presence). A further performance of the Beethoven Cycle followed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. At London's ICA, he gave the world premiere of Morton Feldman's Triadic Memories in the presence of the composer—a ninety-minute masterpiece which heralded the composer's late period.

In 1982, Woodward performed the complete cycle of Beethoven Piano Concertos on three occasions: with Elyakum Shapirra and the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra, and twice with Georg Tintner, first with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and then with the Queensland Theatre Orchestra.[110] During this time he was active for the Polish Solidarność Trades Union Movement, leading to his being banned from performing throughout Eastern Europe. Throughout 1983–85, he performed the complete works of Chopin (from memory) for the Sydney Festival to raise public awareness of the importance of Poland's struggle for human rights as the ban took hold elsewhere. Despite damaging criticism from the Soviet Block, the artist remained loyal to the Solidarność Trades Union Movement, leading to his being banned not only in Eastern Europe but, unexpectedly, by some leading Western concert managements, festival directors, and symphony orchestra administrators. Despite this, he was the recipient of a second work (of three dedicated to him) by Xenakis—his third and final composition for piano and orchestra—Keqrops,[111] which was premiered in November 1986 at the Lincoln Center, NY, with New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Mehta,[112] The following year, he repeated Keqrops for the BBC Proms (again in the composer's presence). That year, he also performed Barraqué at De Ysbreeker, Amsterdam, premiered Áskell Másson's Piano Concerto in Reykjavik (again in the composer's presence),[113] and, in 1989 Rolf Gehlhaar's Diagonal Flying in Geneva together with the composer.[114] That same year Woodward founded the Sydney Spring Festival of New Music which continued until 2001.

Despite the downfall of Communism, the former Soviet disinformation campaign continued, with repeated attempts to remove Solidarność Activists' credibility and careers through an ongoing embargo. Nevertheless, Woodward worked with the New York, Los Angeles, Beijing, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras, five London Orchestras, the Hallé Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, London Mozart Players, London Brass, RTE Radio, the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish National Orchestra, the Estonian National Orchestra, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Berlin Radio Orchestra, L'orchestre National de Paris, L’orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Mahlerjugendorchester, EEC Youth Orchestra, the Australian Youth Orchestra, and the Budapest and Prague Chamber Orchestras. He also collaborated with the following artists: Charles Dutoit, Lorin Maazel, Yoel Levi, Edo de Waart, Sir Charles Mackerras, Enrique Bátiz Campbell, Kurt Masur,[115] Nello Santi, Paavo Berglund, Moshe Atzmon, Henry Kripps, Tan Lihua, Erich Leinsdorf, Eliahu Inbal, James Judd, Walter Susskind, Herbert Blomstedt, Georges Tzipine, Arturo Tamayo, Robert Busan, Lukas Foss, Péter Eötvös, Sir John Pritchard, Sir Roger Norrington, Willem van Otterloo, Hiroyuki Iwaki, Lamberto Gardelli, Colman Pearce, and Sir Alexander Gibson. Although the embargo was extensive, Woodward was invited by Symphony Australia to perform a limited number of orchestral concerts, thanks to the personal intervention of Prime Minister Keating.

Roger Woodward (left) with Iannis Xenakis at Lincoln Center NYC for world premiere of Keqrops performed with NY Philharmonic directed by Zubin Mehta.

Throughout this period, he performed with the Arditti, Tokyo, New Zealand, Australia, and Sydney String Quartets, the Australia Ensemble, and J.A.C.K. Quartet, and the Alexander String Quartet, with whom he recorded Beethoven,[116] Chopin,[117] Shostakovich,[118] and Robert Greenberg.[119] He also collaborated with harpsichordist George Malcolm and jazz pianist Cecil Taylor in Lisbon, Paris, for the Patras Festival, and for extensive tours of the UK Contemporary Music Network from 1987–94. He worked with musicologists Charles Rosen, Paul Griffiths, H. C. Robbins-Landon, Richard Toop, Nouritza Matossian, and Sharon Kanach; violinists Philippe Hirschhorn, Ivry Gitlis, Ilya Grubert, Winfried Rademacher and Wanda Wiłkomirska; violist James Creitz; cellists Rohan de Saram, Nathan Waks, Jacopo Scalfi and David Pereira; Synergy Percussion, Chris Dench; the flautist Laura Chislett; pianists: Yuji Takahashi, Alexander Gavrylyuk, Stephanie McCallum, and Simon Tedeschi; James Dillon, James Morrison, David Gulpilil, and Frank Zappa. Nominated by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and Premier Neville Wran, Woodward became a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1992. The following year, Polish President Lech Wałęsa, conferred his nation’s highest honor upon a foreigner—the Order of Merit (OM).

During the 1990s Woodward toured China twice,[120] co-founded and directed the Kötschach-Mauthner Musikfest (1992–97),[121] the Joie et Lumière concert series (with the support of Lord and Lady Hamlyn) at Château de Bagnols, Bourgogne 1997–2004,[122] in tribute to the memory of Sviatoslav Richter, and an annual concert series—the Sydney Spring International Festival of New Music 1989–2001, when he collaborated with Arvo Pärt and Horatiu Radulescu.[123] He commissioned a series of three piano concertos from Larry Sitsky. The first was premiered at the 1994 Sydney Spring and recorded in 1997. The same year it was selected by the UNESCO Composer's Rostrum Committee for citation. Between 1992-98 he was awarded four doctorates honoris causa[124] and in 1999, completed the degree of Doctor of Music at the University of Sydney. He was chair of Music at the University of New England, Australia from 2000 to 2001,[125] and from 2002 to 2004, chair of the School of Music, San Francisco State University where he is currently professor. [55] Woodward lectured in Germany, Finland, Poland, Cuba, Mexico, the UK, USA, China, New Zealand, and Australia and is a regular guest of international piano competition juries.

Woodward's performances as a conductor received wide critical acclaim: with the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra;[126] the Sydney Dance Company at the Sydney Opera House in a collaboration with its artistic director Graeme Murphy in twenty-six performances of the Xenakis ballet Kraanerg;[127] the Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra; in the UK for BBC2 Television;[128] at Le Festival d'automne à Paris; with the Alpha Centauri Ensemble (twenty-three musicians) at Scala di Milano;[129] and in the Festival d'automne à Paris; [130] the Academia Santa Cecilia, Rome; at the Biblioteca Salaborsa, Bologna;[131] and for the Sydney Spring Festival of New Music (1989–2001).[132] His compositions have been performed in Poland, Australia, Cuba, the UK, the Netherlands, and France, where his work Sound by Sound—for live and recorded pianos, percussion and live electronics—was commissioned by the Festival d'automne à Paris for the bicentennial celebrations of the French Revolution.

Personal life

Roger Woodward has three children: Asmira, a concert violinist (mother, Prudence Page); Benjamin, director of Academy Tennis (mother, Patricia Ludgate, to whom Woodward was married from 1989 to 2009), and foster son, Elroy Palmer, MBE, who is a director of the St. Giles Trust SOS Program, London.[55]

If misleading to label Woodward's dedication to compassionate causes that of an activist, it is not unreasonable to take into consideration: his founding and developing over a thirteen-year period an international piano competition in Sydney, when still a student, to provide a bridge in the more isolated Australia of the time for peers to forge closer links with the international Music community; contribution as instigator and producer of the "Concert for Darwin" in the wake of Cyclone Tracey's devastation of that city; support of underprivileged children in regional and Oceanic communities; dedication to Poland's Solidarność Trades Union Movement throughout the 1980s, at considerable personal and professional cost; and his support of the injured on the streets of Brixton during the South London Riots of April 1981.

Principal awards and publications

1980, Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire; 1981,Greater London Metropolitan Police, Citation for Bravery;[133] 1988, Ancient Order of Bréifne;[134] 1992, Companion of the Order of Australia; 1993, Commander Cross of the Order of Merit, Republic of Poland;[135] 1997, National Living Treasure, National Trust of Australia; 1998, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, University of Alberta, Canada; 2001, Centenary Medal, Australia; 2004, Ordre des arts et des lettres, Republic of France; 2011, Gloria Artis (gold class) medal, Republic of Poland;[136] 2019, Hon. Fellow, Australian Academy of the Humanities.[137]

He is published by Routledge Press, Abingdon, UK,[138] HarperCollins,[139] Kindle, the Greenway Press, N.Y., the Pendragon Press, NY,[140] Praeger, New York[141] and the E. R. P. Musikverlag, Berlin.[142] He has published chapters in two monographs for the University of Sydney, "Jean Barraqué" in Matters of the Mind, edited by Catherine Runcey (2001), and "Music And Change: Some Considerations of the Sonata quasi una fantasia in C-sharp minor, Op.27, No.2," in Literature and Aesthetics (1998).

Principal recordings

Principal recordings were issued by: ABC Classics, Accord (France.), Artworks (Australia), BMG, Col Legno (Munich), CPO, Decca, DG, EMI, Etcetera Records BV, Explore Records, Foghorn Classics (San Francisco), JB (Australia), Polskie Nagrania, Sipario Dischi (Milano), Unicorn (UK), Universal, Warner and RCA Red Seal (UK) for whom Woodward made the first complete recording (in the West) of Dmitry Shostakovich's Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, at the time of the composer's death.[143] It was rereleased by Celestial Harmonies (2010).

Live concerts were recorded for the ABC Radio/TV, BBC Radio/TV, Radio NZ, RAI, Radio France, Radio/TV Cuba, Hong Kong Radio, Radio China, Radio/TV Japan, Polish Radio/TV, RTE (Dublin), multiple German Radio Stations including Radio Berlin; Hilversum Radio (Netherlands), for the UNESCO Rostrum/Paris and You Tube. DVDs were issued by: Allied Artists (UK), BBC TV Productions, Chanan Productions (UK), Foghorn Classics (San Francisco), Kultur (China), Polygram (Australia), Smith Street Films (Australia) and Sydney Dance Company.

Three Celestial Harmonies compact disc recordings were named "Record of the Month" by MusicWeb International: Debussy "Préludes Books 1 and 2" (March 2010); "Roger Woodward In Concert" (October 2013) and "Prokofiev Works for Solo Piano 1908-1938" (April 2013).[144] A recording for Etcetera BV of "Scriabin's Piano Works" was a "Record of the Month" on Musicweb International (July 2002).The Etcetera BV release (1989) of Xenakis' Kraanerg with the Alpha Centauri Ensemble directed by Roger Woodward was selected by the music critics of The Sunday Times, UK, as one of the most outstanding releases of that year: " A stringent and sustained electro acoustical experience." 

Woodward was recipient of Preis der Deutschen Scallplattenkritik (2007), for performances of J. S. Bach's Partitas BWV 826 and 830, and Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 903. This recording was also named one of the finest of the year by MusicWeb International (2008). His performances of J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered-Clavier was "Editor's Choice" for The Gramophone, UK (February 2010). Both projects were recorded by Ulrich Kraus and produced by Eckart Rahn as part of twelve projects for Celestial Harmonies (2006-16).

In 1991, Woodward shared the Diapason d'or  with fellow Australian and senior ABC recording producer Ralph Lane, for their recording of Morton Feldman solo piano music  (ABC Classics). This recording was "Record of the Month" April, 1991 (Télérama, Paris) and reviewed: " Roger Woodward - à qui 'Triadic Memories' est dédiée - est tout bonnement sublime." In June, 1991, it was reviewed by Le monde de la musique: "Il fallait un pianiste rompu à toutes les difficultés, et doté de moyens pianistiques supérieurs pour rendre justice à ces oeuvres-limits; c'est Roger Woodward, et il est parfaite."

Ralph Lane recorded a wide range of live and studio projects with Woodward (1988-2018) some of which were named "Record of the Month" including the aforementioned Prokofiev, Scriabin and Xenakis recordings. In 1991, he was recipient of the Ritmo Prize (Spain),  for his Etcetera BV recording of Takemitsu piano music (also produced by Ralph Lane). In June, 1991, the same recording was  "Record of the Month" (Télérama, Paris  (January, 1991) and reviewed:  "....Roger Woodward est épatant. Enregistrement essentiel." 

In 2015, ABC Classics/Universal released "A Concerto Collection" comprising ten live concert and four studio performances of: J. S. Bach BWV 1052, Haydn Hob XVIII, 6, Beethoven Opp.37 and 58, Chopin Op.11, Rachmaninoff Op.18, Scriabin Opp.20 and 60, Prokofiev Op.26, Schoenberg, Larry Sitsky, Barry Conyngham, Qu Xiao Song, and Xenakis.

References

Citations
  1. Doctor of Music conferred in 1999 with the thesis "The Performance of Contemporary Piano Music"(1997) (https://sydney.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/61USYD_INST/1c0ug48/alma991003811869705106). https://www.sydney.edu.au/handbooks/conservatorium/rules/senate_resolutions.shtml University D.Mus document available in the NLA Collection Roger Woodwward (Other honours and awards, 1999-File 60- Box 10) https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/7579478.
  2. https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870280.
  3. "For decades Roger Woodward had been an icon of new piano music and had worked with practically all important composers of the day. Hans Otte characterized him as 'sensitive but has power; a musical genius.' " Wilfried Schäper, Musikredaktion, Radio Bremen, Germany, January 6, 2007, review of live concert recording in the Sendesaal, Celestial Harmonies Booklet 13324.
  4. Vincent Plush, reviewing a performance in the Canberra International Music Festival of the two books of Chopin Études and works by Debussy in Limelight Magazine (April 30, 2018), wrote: "A few hours later, a full-house greeted the first of two Debussy-Chopin programs by Roger Woodward. The once-notorious wunderkind of the avant garde is now revered elder statesman; at 75, he is as vital and essential as ever. Listening to his playing recalled Woodward’s formative lessons with Zbigniew Drzewiecki at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw a half-century ago. I could not recall such deliberative and magisterial pianism since Arthur Rubenstein’s recitals here in June 1964. Just put on a YouTube clip of Rubenstein and Woodward’s lineage and own legacy becomes immediately clear. After two encores and an ovation, his second recital on Tuesday evening will surely be a sell-out." https://limelightmagazine.com.au/news/canberra-international-music-festival-opening-weekend-roundup/.
  5. "The Politics of Music" (1972) by Michael Chanan Productions, BBC2, interview with Pierre Boulez, Roger Woodward at rehearsal with BBCSO for BBC Roundhouse world premiere of Bernard Rands "Mésallianz" for piano and chamber orchestrah:http://vimeo.com/13799532.
  6. Jean Barraqué'—public statement concerning Woodward's performance of his Piano Sonata: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean_Barraqu%C3%A9%27s_public_statement_about_Roger_Woodward_March_20_1973.pdf.
    • ROGER WOODWARD
    Une belle histoire, en somme. Car cela en est toujours une pour un compositeur que de découvrir aux confins de sa Nuit l'interprête qui a su donner une consistance à un rêve entrevu. J'avais su que Roger Woodward avait donné une première fois à Londres, avec un grand succès de presse, ma sonate. Je n'avais pas assisté au concert. Puis j'appris que ce même pianiste avait décidé de donner une double exécution de cette sonate, à Londres, en octobre dernier. Auparavant, Iors de mon passage, pour I'audition d'une de mes compositions, à I'Automne de Varsovie, une personnalité du monde musical, présente Iors du concert de Londres, me conseilla: "Allez-y, c'est génial." Interloqué, mais surtout fasciné par le fait qu'un pianiste puisse se dévouer d'une façon aussi dévorante à une oeuvre particulièrement difficile, je me rendis à Londres. Et c'était génial. Je revins huit jours après pour superviser l'enregistrement. Mis sans doute en confiance par ma présence (des conseils, je n'en eus guère à lui donner, Roger Woodward devine tout), c'était encore plus génial. Il est toujours facile de donner du génie à tel ou tel. Ce terme, je ne l'emploie que peu; je le réserve généralment aux créateurs. Roger Woodward est un génie pianistique parce qu'il a su ré-inventer le piano à la lumière des oeuvres qui l' inspirent, comme les oeuvres deviennent ré-inspirées par le souffle qu'il leur donne. Il prend place dans Ies grandes étapes de la gestuelle pianistique de Liszt à Horowitz. Il y a des pianistes bons, meilleurs, étonnants, mais sans ce génie de la découverte. La technique de Roger Woodward: la diversité des attaques, une registration des timbres, vibrato de la pédale conjugué au vibrato manuel, cantando, notes répétées en écho, contrôle des nuances, une nouvelle conception du trille et du tremolando souvent à deux mains, le jeu dans le double échappement comme une harpe, etc. Sur le plan de l'interprétation je cite le souffle, la violence, le lyrisme, la tendresse nocturne, un sens complètement intégré du silence comme valeur structurelle... Il y aurait trop à dire. Comme ultime témoignage d'admiration j'ajouterai que déjà le piano de Roger Woodward a eu une influence sur mon écriture. C'est dire pour moi l'importance de cette rencontre Paris, le 20 mars 1973 Jean BARRAQUÉ
    • (English Translation by Richard Toop)
    ROGER WOODWARD All in all, it's a wonderful story. Because that's always how it is when a composer who feels his personal Night coming on discovers the interpreter who knows how to give substance to glimpsed dreams. I knew that Roger Woodward had given my sonata its London premiere, and it had been a great success with the press. I wasn't present at the concert. Then I learned that the same pianist had decided to perform this sonata twice over, in London last October. Previously, after I had traveled to the Warsaw Festival for the performance of one of my compositions, a leading personality in the music scene who had been present at the London concert advised me: "You should go- it's sheer genius". Taken aback, but fascinated above all by the fact that a pianist could devote himself so obsessively to a particularly difficult work, I headed for London. And yes, it was sheer genius. I came back a week later to supervise the recording. No doubt gaining confidence from my presence (as for advice, I scarcely needed to give any: Roger Woodward guesses everything), there was even more genius. It's always easy to apply the word genius to this or that. Personally, it's a term I use very little; in general I reserve it for creators. Roger Woodward is a pianistic genius because he knows how to re-invent the piano in the light of the works that inspire him, just as the works themselves become re-inspired by what he breathes into them. He takes his place within the great stages of pianistic gesture, from Liszt to Horowitz. There are pianists who are good, better, even astonishing, but don't have this genius for discovery. Roger Woodward's technique: the diversity of attacks, registration of timbres, pedal vibrato conjugated through manual vibrato, cantando, repeated notes as echoes, control of nuance, a new conception of trill and tremolando, often with both hands, playing with the double escapement like a harp, etc. At the interpretative level I would mention the breathing, the violence, the lyricism, the nocturnal tenderness, and an absolutely integral grasp of silence as a structural element... There is so much more one could say. As final evidence of my admiration, I may add that Roger Woodward's piano has already influenced the way I write. For me, that sums up the importance of this encounter. Paris, March 20, 1973 Jean Barraqué
  7. Richter comments about Woodward's Barraqué Sonate pour piano recording: "Musicalement, Barraqué est une grande pierre d'achoppement. Natacha Gutman, qui écoutait avec moi, a réagi très positivement à l'interprétation de Roger Woodward—il n'y a ailleurs pas là matière à discussion—. Mais l'oeuvre elle même? J'ai du mal à croire, et je ne suis pas le seul, qu'elle tienne vraiment la route. Et si dans cinquante ans, on la trouvait géniale? Qui sait....de tels exemples se sont déjà produits" (Monsaingeon, 1998, p 346).
    • Helmut Rohm/Bayerischer Rundfunk https://www.br-klassik.de/audio/cd-tipp-10112014-barraque-100.html (translation: Eckart Rahn). Jean Barraqué Sonate pour piano. Jean Barraqué‘s sonata in two movements, finished in 1952, is a monumental work, lasting about fifty minutes, composed in serial technique. It belongs to the most relevant and important works for solo piano, composed in the 20th century. For good reason is it mentioned in the same breath as Beethoven’s late piano works (...) An exceptional reference interpretation.
  8. Eric Anther (1986). "Mi-homme, mi dragon" par Iannis Xenakis" (PDF). Le monde de la musique. France: Le monde and Telerama.
  9. Richter commented about Woodward's recorded performance of Xenakis' Mists and Sinaphai: C'est la première fois que j'entends de la musique de Xenakis; je suis sidéré, même si je ne suis pas certain d'avoir vraiment (ou même vraiment pas) com-ris cette musique. L'intuition? Mais peut-on toujours s'y fier? Que Woodward joue cette musique de façon convaincante, je l'ai maintenant compris. Il me semble que voilà effectivement de la vraie 'nouvelle' musique." (Monsaingeon, 1998, p 342).
  10. Comments about Woodward's performance in the XXII Reims International Festival Flâneries 2011 / Xenakis à la conquête de Reims. Publié le jeudi 14 juillet 2011. Une rare émotion hier soir, pour certains une secousse! REIMS (Marne). Quatre pièces maîtresses du compositeur grec, dont deux créations françaises, ont remué le public du centre des congrès. XENAKIS chez nous…un événement! Une rare émotion aussi…Pour certains, une secousse!…. Tout relevait, hier, de l'exceptionnel. Le lieu d'abord…La « nef » du palais des congrès qui, pour la première fois, accueillait un orchestre, dévoilant des qualités acoustiques insoupçonnées. Mais aussi l'intérêt d'un programme en tout point passionnant, révélant des œuvres magnifiques… les interprètes enfin, d'une envergure internationale, qui nous transportaient dans un univers de rêve digne du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées ou du Festival de Salzbourg. Voyez plutôt : Arturo Tamayo, chef d'orchestre espagnol, disciple et ami de Xenakis et l'un des plus authentiques interprètes de sa musique ; Roger Woodward, éblouissant pianiste, dédicataire et créateur de Keqrops en 1986 à New York sous la direction de Zubin Metha, et soliste de l'enregistrement Deutsche Gramophone sous la direction de Claudio Abbado…Benny Sluchin, tromboniste de l'Ensemble Intercontemporain de Boulez, et de l'Orchestre philharmonique d'Israël et…l'Orchestre national de Lille dont les qualités ont fait le tour du monde!…. C'est la version alpha de Metastasis, celle pour grand orchestre, qu'Arturo Tamayo dirigeait hier soir, pour la première fois en France. Musique hors normes, sans doute, mais absolument captivante, qui ne laissa personne indifférent. Tension extrême des cordes enveloppant de conquérants glissandos, explosion des attaques, crescendos telluriques, mais aussi transparence des dialogues. Une musique "inouïe," bouleversante, mais immédiatement accessible à qui n'est pas statufié dans le passé… L'ombre du concerto planait sur « Keqrops ». Un concerto aux fulgurances racées où soliste et orchestre opposaient leur personnalité dans un maillage tantôt délicat et serré, tantôt hostile et sauvage. En somme, les deux étymologies du concerto : fusion (consertare), ou affrontement (concertare)…Le toucher de Woodward fut aussi séduisant dans les envolées lyriques et les emportements dionysiaques de Xenakis que dans le contrepoint de Bach. Un grand seigneur du clavier! Autre page avec soliste, « Trookrh » dont ArturoTamayo et Benny Sluchin donnaient la première audition. Chacun ressentait avec émotion le miracle d'une création, ce saut dans l'inconnu, tandis que se déployaient les festives arabesques d'un trombone léger et aérien, miaulant ici, ricanant là, puis subitement féroce et agressif, toujours dans une stupéfiante musicalité. Pour conclure, on entendait « Lichens », vaste rétrospective symphonique créée en 1984. Tous les pupitres, toutes les techniques instrumentales y étaient déclinées, se fondant l'une dans l'autre par tuilage, procédé cher à Xenakis. Les clameurs de l'univers se répondaient, emportant l'auditeur dans leur souffle. Tamayo, Woodwards, Sluchin, l'Orchestre de Lille…(et le public!) furent à la hauteur de l'évènement. Certes, il en a toujours coûté d'être de son temps, mais quelle moisson en retour! https://www.flaneriesreims.com/images-78-flaneries-2011-l-xenakis-a-la-conquete-de-reims-flaneries-musicales-de-reims.html https://www.flaneriesreims.com/pdf-76-union-xenakis-a-la-conquete-de-reims-flaneries-musicales-de-reims.html.
  11. Stockhausen's "Mantra" lecture managed by Allied Artists (London); filmed at Imperial College, London July 19, 1973: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8K9gkuHpMo.
  12. Bussotti 1973.
  13. Bussotti 1974.
  14. BBC Proms 23 (13 August 1972) program: https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/emw5v2.
  15. "The Premiere of Feldman's 'Triadic Memories' by Adrian Jack in www.cnvill.net/mfjack.htm. In the early 1980s, British composer and music critic Adrian Jack was Director of the MusICA concert series at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London. On Sunday October 4, 1981, the Australian pianist Roger Woodward played the London premiere of "Mists" by Iannis Xenakis, followed by the world premiere of Morton Feldman's "Triadic Memories." Recalling the night of the premiere, Jack writes: "That night it poured, and the rain on the tin roof of the ICA theatre was almost louder than the music. Feldman was present and sat next to Harrison Birtwistle. He kissed Roger's fingers after the performance!" Feldman himself commented on Woodward's performance of "Triadic Memories": "Roger Woodward: more traditional, which also means more unpredictable in how he shapes and paces. I would call it a prose style. Where Tudor focused on a moment, Woodward would find the quintessential touch of the work, hold on to it and then as in one giant breath, articulate the music's overall scale. Like Tudor, Woodward played everything as primary material. He is a long-distance runner. Tudor jumps high over the bar. Where Tudor isolates the moment, by not being influenced by what we might consider a composition's cause and effect, and Woodward finds the right tone that savours the moment and extends it." (Feldman, 2001.
  16. Boyd 2021.
  17. Interview between Tōru Takemitsu and Dominic Gill, British critic and writer quoted by the Decca Record Company Limited, Headline Series HEAD 4, 1974. " The first time I came across Roger Woodward and his playing was back in 1969 when I attended the Musica Viva concert in Australia, Woodward's birthplace. I was tremendously impressed by him and promised I would compose a piece for him. I am extremely happy now that I have been able to keep my promise. I must also add that his playing on this recording impressed me greatly. To be sure the title of For Away (1973) is a strange one. While it is a personal gift of mine to Roger Woodward, it is at the same time my expression of extolment and offering to the Galaxy of Life—a galaxy that is not the sole domain of mankind." Toru Takemitsu (1974), Booklet of Corona (London Version), For Away, Piano Distance, Undisturbed Rest LP, Decca.
  18. See also Peter Burt, The Music of Tōru Takemitsu (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp.128-31.
  19. Tom Service wrote of Woodward's recording of the Jean Barraqué's Piano Sonata, describing it as being "from another stylistic universe, but if you want to know what real pianistic uber-virtuosity is, here's Roger Woodward's performance of Barraqué's sonata, one of the mighty masterworks of the postwar period." Tom Service' interview for the BBC in Music Matters program https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b06k8x4d.
  20. Dominy Clements wrote in Musicweb International about  Roger Woodward's Well-Tempered Clavier recording: "Even without these superb recordings, this release would be worth the asking price just for the extensive two-part booklet notes by Roger Woodward, "In Search of a Performance Practice", and those autograph facsimiles of both Books. These are the kinds of CD releases which you feel you should bequeath separately in your will, such is the feel of worth and value they have. Is Roger Woodward's well considered Well-Tempered Clavier perfect? I would dispute that there is any such thing, but nothing in this recording has made me go '?' and most if not almost all of it has been a case of just absorbing absolute and easy splendour. For the first time in nearly 30 years I am faced with a conversion: the next time I am asked which recording of this music I want to take with me onto my desert island, I won't instantly say Sviatoslav Richter, and I might not even mention him at all." Complete article at http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Mar10/Bach_Woodward_199225.htm
  21. Reinhard J. Brembeck wrote about Roger Woodward's recording of the complete Well-Tempered Clavier the article "Shiva meets Bach" in the Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich, 17 April 2010): "These recordings resulted in four-and-a-half stellar hours of the Bach discography. Because Woodward approaches the two cycles fluently and briskly as one unified work, because, as a graduate of the avant-garde he doesn't need to shy away from any technical challenge, because he knows how to courageously take full advantage of the possibilities of the modern grand piano, because he relies less on interpretation than on fiercely incendiary presentation, Woodward removes anything historical, elitist or alienating from this music; he understands Bach as a contemporary of innovators such as Xenakis, Cage, Feldman, and Ligeti. No looking back, no nostalgia, no more educational high-browism, no more old Europe. Never before did Johann Sebastian have such a future ahead of him".
  22. Andy Gill wrote in The Independent (London, UK, 19 March 2010 ) "There has been almost as much of a glut of Well-Tempered Claviers recently as commemorative Chopin editions, including interpretations from Daniel Barenboim and Maurizio Pollini; but this 5CD set of both Books I and II by Roger Woodward may well be the most significant since Glenn Gould's revolutionary completion of the sequence. The size of the set suggests unusually slow tempi, but Woodward is simply being scrupulously attendant to the demands of the music. Indeed, his thorough sleevenote "In Search Of A Performance Practice," analysing the different approaches employed on various cembali, clavichords, organs, etc, may constitute the last word on this subject, as too may his performance. Remarkable.".
  23. Cecilia Bazile's comments about Woodward's performance in the XXII Reims International Festival Flâneries / Remarquable Roger Woodward! Publié le jeudi 07 juillet 2011 Une interprétation sans faille, personnelle et audacieuse. L'interprétation des œuvres de J.-S. Bach sur un instrument moderne tel le piano est toujours un exercice difficile. Ainsi, choisir de jouer l'intégralité du Premier Clavier bien tempéré est un choix éminemment audacieux de Roger Woodward. La tentation de dédier cette carte blanche au Cantor de Leipzig peut cependant paraître assez naturelle. Il faut avouer que Bach est très inventif dans son écriture, notamment dans ses Préludes allant de la simple mélodie accompagnée (début du Prélude en mi mineur) en passant par des allures de cadences improvisées (Prélude en si bémol majeur), pour aller jusqu'à la véloce toccata (Prélude en fa dièse mineur). Les Fugues revêtent également une foule d'intentions par l'expressivité de leur thèmes. Hier soir, l'exécution de Roger Woodward était à la hauteur de son projet. Dans un unique élan, le pianiste a interprété avec succès les vingt-quatre préludes et fugues qui composent l'ouvrage dans une salle quasi comble. L'interprétation était sans faille, personnelle et audacieuse : ornements délicats, grande gestion des plans sonores dans les fugues où les basses avaient un rôle de premier ordre, différences de timbres et de couleurs selon les tonalités, jeu non legato permettant de constater la mécanique et la technique implacable de l'interprète… en un mot : remarquable! Le fameux Prélude en do majeur a naturellement ouvert le concert. Roger Woodward a proposé une interprétation mettant en valeur le chant des basses. Thématiques, elles ont conféré à cette pièce une dimension profonde que sa popularité a tendance à altérer. De ce prélude initial à l'ultime Fugue en si mineur dont le thème semble explorer les confins de la tonalité (n'est-ce pas, en quelque sorte, le défi que s'était lancé Bach?), l'inventivité de l'interprète a pu se mesurer sur chaque pièce. Exercice brillamment réussi pour l'artiste : Bach magnifié par quatre-vingt-huit touches et trois pédales ! Pendant près de deux heures de concert, Roger Woodward a su rappeler que le génie de Bach est intemporel. Cecilia Bazile https://www.flaneriesreims.com/pdf-53-union-remarquable-roger-woodward-flaneries-musicales-de-reims.html English version: http://www.rogerwoodward.com/index.php/home/more/xxii_reims_international_festival_bach_june_2011_REVIEW//.
  24. 1979 program of the complete Beethoven cycle: "London Diary for February," The Musical Times, vol. 120, no. 1631, pp. 93–96.
  25. Dominy Clements' review of Woodward's recording of Debussy's Préludes (recording of the month in March 2010): "I find myself in difficulties when writing about recordings which are so very good, it is hard to find a balance which describes a believeable truth as I hear it, without making a text which just ends up turning into sycophantic hyperbole. Looking on the Celestial Harmonies website, at least I am supported by the artist himself, who “considers [this] possibly the best recording of his career”. Even on only a first hearing, taking the music and performance in by osmosis while engaged in another little sideline of translating Dutch into English, the magic of this recording soon established itself. Having heard many of these pieces live and at times being rehearsed frequently, and having examined and worked with them in detail while making arrangements, I do feel a close affinity with this music, even though it will always be way beyond my meagre abilities at the keyboard. Roger Woodward’s first complete recording of both books of the Préludes by Claude Debussy was made after a highly successful concert at the Chamber Music Hall of Radio Bremen. He clearly felt at home in the location, and one with the Bösendorfer piano used, the instrument having been restored by a factory technician, and tuned and engineered to perfection. The recording brings out the warmth and sustaining power in the piano, which has a notably different sonority to the more bright and brilliant shine of a Steinway. Just listen to the low final notes of the opening Danseuses de Delphes and you will hear where the foundation of the sound sits in the soundboard, the strings encouraging an almost endless field of colour for Debussy’s harmonies. My own reference in terms of recordings has for a long time been that of Cécile Ousset on her 1986 EMI two disc set 7 47608 8 which is now long out of print, though she does have a recording available on Berlin Classics label. I also lived with Claudio Arrau on Philips for a long time, which is another beautiful set. I found it made me depressed for some reason, in the same way as rainy afternoons when there are no CDs to review. Roger Woodward does not make me feel in any way sad and soulful though his playing – on the contrary, his performances are life affirming, a spiritual journey indeed and one which at times may move you to tears, but one which ultimately lifts one beyond the clouds. Even his Des pas sur la neige have a ‘Scotch snap’ feel to that rhythmic feature of the main theme, something given a certain broad expressive licence by many pianists. In this case it might illustrate someone picking their way over thin ice rather than leaving a trail in deep snow. The massive tumult of the following piece, Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest, is a remarkably powerful statement in Woodward’s hands, and one can hear where Messiaen would have picked up on such a wild image of nature in music. Contrast, rich imagery and drama are all composed into these Préludes, but Roger Woodward breathes life into the notes at every turn. The sonorities of the Bösendorfer suits La cathédral engloutie particularly well. Just listen to the notes from about 00:40 in: the most evocative distant bells I think I’ve ever heard in a recording. The build-up to the great bass chime at 2:38 is a truly cathartic moment, and the whole experience is a remarkable monument to Debussy’s pictorial imagination and modernist thinking. Woodward takes 7:22 here compared to Ousset’s 5:46 but the difference is no indulgence, the sustaining power of the Bösendorfer strings making a lengthier exploration of this music all the more powerful. Woodward’s timings are by no means excessive in general, and he frequently comes in under Ousset’s durations in the lighter pieces. What Woodward is prepared to do is allow Debussy’s curtains of sound full expression with his pedalling in something like Brouillards which begins Book II of the Préludes. His clarity is faultless to my mind, but washes of sound are allowed to grow and swirl like the spread of watercolours over damp paper. The mysterious dance rhythms which grow out of the music here and there are also particularly piquant in these performances. The Habanera of La puerta del viño works on us like an echo from a lost and distant past, a sound to which ghosts may dance, but which mortals may only witness through sidelong glimpses around the corners of the Alhambra Palace, and a deeply felt awareness of its past peoples. This seriousness of purpose does carry through to the cakewalk of Général Lavine–eccentric, whose asymmetrical gait carries a ruminating frown despite plenty of bounce in the rhythms, and whose quasi-pomposity raises a wry grin rather than a belly laugh. The humour of Pickwick is also pretty much subsumed in marvellous and colourful pianism, though the spirit of fun in this music has perhaps always had a Gallic way of escaping me. Without wanting to gloss over the marvels to be found in all of these Préludes, I’ll just mention the fireworks of "Feux d’Artifice." I hope Roger Woodward’s fingernails didn’t suffer any painful damage, but you can hear them rattle hard against the keys on the downward glissando at 00:25. This performance has everything: those washes of colour, and the sharp contrast of clarity in those notes which rise and sparkle through those improbably rich textures, those harmonic progressions pushed strongly by that chunky Bösendorfer resonance. A favourite of my mate and accompanist Johan the piano, I’ve heard this piece on innumerable different instruments and in more than one hemisphere, but I’ve never heard it in as spectacularly a breathtaking performance as this. One of an increasing number of recordings of the complete Préludes on a single CD, this disc is not only terrific value in terms of its timing, but also the best performance I have ever heard. There is competition of course. Pascal Rogé on the Onyx label is a single-disc release and has to be a contender, and Steven Osborne on Hyperion also provides good value. Krystian Zimerman comes in at an even more improbable 84:00 on his single Deutsche Grammophon CD. I’m happy to stick with Roger Woodward though. This recording has been something of a revelation for me, crammed full with new discoveries in the potential of these pieces and of the piano as an implement for pure musical expression. I’m left lacking superlatives, and can only urge you to try this recording for yourself". http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Mar10/Debussy_Woodward_132792.htm.
  26. Jade Godart's comments about Woodward's performance in the XXII Reims International Festival Review Concert n°57 du 08/07/2011: Roger Woodward, la perfection du bout des doigts Publié le lundi 04 juillet 2011 à 07H37 Comment critique un concert, si ce n'est qu'en le couvrant d'éloges ? C'est l'heureuse question qui se posait ce soir. Avant même l'entrée du pianiste, l'annonce du programme impressionne. Trois estampes et douze pièces constituant le Livre II des Préludes de Debussy précèdent les six suites de la 6e Partita en mi mineur BWV 830 de Bach.. Autant dire que les exclamations du public ne se sont pas faites attendre.La première partie du concert mettant à l'honneur Debussy fut remarquable, tant Roger Woodward touchait de ses doigts la perfection. Sous sa stature imperturbable, la succession des pièces paraît d'une facilité enfantine. Les notes coulent laissant à la musique l'image d'une vapeur harmonique illustrée par les simples lignes mélodiques qu'il fait naître avec aisance. Plus qu'un jeu contrasté, l'artiste donne à chaque note une intensité précise, nous laissant percevoir le relief et la perspective que le compositeur voulait donner aux Préludes. Bien qu'australien, Roger Woodward paraissait être, ce soir, le digne héritier de la musique francaise. Le jeu transcendant qui nous avait ébloui se retrouve dans l'œuvre de Bach. Sa maîtrise de l'œuvre lui permet de nous offrir une musique mise à nue et dépourvue d'artifices. Son jeu impartial laisse s'échapper des souffles d'émotivité, particulièrement lors des entrées des thèmes fugués ; chaque apparition de sujet trouve son identité, et ce, pendant toute la durée de la Partita. C'est là l'extraordinaire talent de l'artiste : donner vie et attention à chaque parcelle musicale pour nous tenir en haleine deux heures durant. Si l'unité de ce concert est un toucher perlé et précieux au service de l'art absolu, le talent de cet artiste aura été de manier d'une main de maître deux époques totalement distinctes l'une de l'autre. Le peu de public présent peu se réjouir d'avoir été finalement une élite privilégiée ce soir. L'ovation et l'enthousiasme incitent un bis et c'est en nous comblant de La Cathédrale engloutie de Debussy qu'ici encore, et le plus symboliquement peut-être, Roger Woodward prouve l'envergure du concert achevé. Jade Godart https://www.flaneriesreims.com/a-47-roger-woodward-flaneries-musicales-de-reims.html English version: http://www.rogerwoodward.com/index.php/home/more/xxii_reims_international_festival_-_debussy_bach/.
  27. Andy Gill wrote in The Independent (March 26, 2010) about Woodward recording of Debussy's Preludes, Books 1and 2 "In this masterful series of Debussy's Preludes, pianist Roger Woodward perfectly evokes the composer's intuitive musical spirit, and his inimitable sense of quiet, measured exploration." https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/reviews/album-roger-woodward-debussy-preludes-books-1-2-celestial-harmonies-1927869.html.
  28. Gramophone's review of the Scriabin Piano Works CD: https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/scriabin-piano-works-7.
  29. "The Playful Assembler of Sounds Roger Woodward discovers a different Shostakovich" Reinhard J. Brembeck's review of the Woodward's Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues recording, available in https://www.harmonies.com/pdf/Woodward%20SZ%20Shostakovich%20english.pdf.
  30. Robert Greenberg review about Woodward's recording of Bach's and Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues: "I have always enjoyed hearing (and reading through) Shostakovich's "24", but frankly, I never gave them a whole lot of thought until I heard a recording made by Roger Woodward (born December 20, 1942) in 1975 on Celestial Harmonies. DAY-UM! So THIS is how folks felt when they heard Glenn Gould's first recording of The Goldberg Variations in 1955!!!! One revelation after another after another after another, all of them informed by a degree of energy, lyricism and SWING that I had never sensed in the music–that I could never have sensed-until I heard Woodward's performance! Purists might sneer: "he's playing too fast"; "that's not what Shostakovich wanted"; "it's too loud"; "it's too soft", blah, blah, blah. The purists be damned. Woodward's clarity of articulation and linearity, his lyricism and sheer rhythmic energy show the Shostakovich "24" to be the incredible masterwork that it is: Shostakovich's magnum opus for keyboard, his greatest single work for the piano. Woodward intuits what I understand to be Shostakovich's very personal, very idiosyncratic musical idiom in a manner that I find alchemical. I would also point out that Woodward's performances have the additional benefit of putting into high relief the intimate spiritual and musical relationship between Shostakovich's "24" and Bach's own WTC. And while we're talking about Bach: Woodward's 5-CD recording of both books of the WTC (also on Celestial Harmonies) is–to my ear–damn-near perfect for all the same reasons as his recording of the Shostakovich "24." His playing is characterized by lyricism and power in equal measure; unbelievable clarity of line and articulation. Woodward's WTC is interpretively insightful but never eccentric; and it demonstrates a sense of dramatic line that somehow renders these two sets of 24 preludes and fugues into larger musical entities. Recorded on a Steinway D, it does not get any better than this." https://robertgreenbergmusic.com/dr-bob-prescribes-the-well-tempered-clavier-and-shostakovichs-preludes-and-fugues/.
  31. Dominy Clements wrote  in Musicweb International about  Roger Woodward's Dmitri Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op.87 recording: "This remarkable recording stands alone as a landmark similar to the complete cycle of Shostakovich's string quartets by the Fitzwilliam Quartet on Decca." Complete article at http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/oct10/shostakovich_woodward_143022.htm.
  32. Bonnie Lois, b. February 1931, Maureen Caroline, b. November 1936, James Francis, b. January 1940, Roger Robert, b. December 1942.
  33. Woodward 2015, p. 45.
  34. Gladys Alma, b. May 26, 1904, second daughter of Sarah Bennett and Robert Bracken.
  35. Francis William Wilson b. August 20, 1901, first son of Jesse Elizabeth Wilson and Thomas William Woodward.
  36. Clara Kraus, 1987; Peter Kraus, 2020; Paul Kraus, 2015.
  37. Woodward 2015, p. 1-35.
  38. Woodward 2015, p. 61.
  39. Woodward 2015, p. 63-66.
  40. Woodward 2015, pp. 45, 80.
  41. Woodward 2015, p. 103-11.
  42. Woodward 2015, p. 79-100.
  43. Woodward 2015, p. 128.
  44. Woodward 2015, p. 114-15.
  45. Woodward 2015, p. 323-25.
  46. Woodward 2015, p. 313-20.
  47. Solo piano works recorded in 1986 by Woodward for BBC Radio 3.
  48. Stockhausen, 1973; Woodward, 2015, pp. 425, 435-36..
  49. Woodward 2015, p. 353-99.
  50. Barraqué, 2019; Heribert, 1997; Griffiths, 2003; Hodeir, 1961.
  51. Woodward 2015, p. 123-30.
  52. Woodward 2015, p. 138-40.
  53. Woodward 2015, p. 164-67.
  54. Woodward 2015, p. 163.
  55. Woodward 2018.
  56. Woodward 2015, p. 155-56.
  57. Woodward 2015, p. 209.
  58. Woodward 2015, p. 202-3.
  59. Woodward 2015, p. 208.
  60. Woodward 2015, p. 212.
  61. OASD 7560, 7561, 7562, 7567—EMI catalogue numbers of Woodward's first four commercial recordings released 1970 following Yehudi Menuhin's statement to the EMI Recording Co. shortly after hearing Woodward's Jeunesses Musicales performances in Paris, 1969: "Roger Woodward's performances of contemporary music showed that there were just so many different ways that he was able to interest and fascinate the listener, not only with sounds freely produced at the keyboard, but with magical sounds that came from inside the piano, from under it; from every possible part of the instrument. In every context his playing was beautiful, sensitive and wonderfully musical; his approach personal and imaginative as was proved by his Skryabin and Chopin." EMI subsequently printed the statement in full on each of the recordings.
  62. Woodward 2015, p. 210.
  63. Woodward 2015, p. 451-52.
  64. London Music Digest, The Roundhouse London, 1970s, https://www.discogs.com/Roger-Woodward-Jean-Barraqu%C3%A9-Sylvano-Bussotti-Leo-Brouwer-The-London-Music-Digest-From-The-Round-Ho/release/6479510; Woodward 2015, pp. 211, 326–29, 334, 389, 419, 423–25.
  65. Woodward 2015, p. 400-4.
  66. Sitsky 2002.
  67. Jobling 2001.
  68. Woodward 2015, p. 576-78.
  69. This collaboration is detailed in the 1972 BBC Promenade Concerts publication booklet (online) and, in addition to Woodward, involved David Tudor, Cornelius Cardew, John Tilbury, Frederick Page, Annea Lockwood, and Richard Bernas, directed by John Cage.
  70. Woodward 2015, p. 423.
  71. Stockhausen 1973.
  72. Ohtake 1998.
  73. Woodward 2015, p. 327-30.
  74. 2015, p. 331-32.
  75. Woodward 2015, p. 416-17.
  76. Woodward 2015, p. 160.
  77. Kanach 2010.
  78. Worked together with Rolf Gehlhaar in Strangeness, Charm and Colour (1978), Diagonal Flying (1989), and Quantum Leap (1994).
  79. Worked together with Toru Takemitsu: Undisturbed Rest (1952-59), For Away (1973), and Corona—London Version (1973).
  80. Anne Boyd, Angklung (1974), The Book of Bells I, II, III, IV, Meditation on a Chinese Character (1996), and Kabarli Meditation (Dawn) (2012).
  81. Feldman 2000, p. 152-54; Worked together with Morton Feldman, Piano and Orchestra (1975), Piano (1977), and Triadic Memories (1981)..
  82. The Financial Times, "Music on the West Coast" by Dominic Gill, 24 May 1972, http://www.rogerwoodward.com/images/PDF/LAPO-Mehta-Hollywood_Bowl.pdf The article covers a series of New Music concerts at UCLA where Zubin Mehta directed the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Roger Woodward’s debut performance program was a mixture of a recital of modern music-Australian Richard Meale’s Coruscations, Japanese Toru Takemitsu’s Undisturbed Rest, Cuban, Leo Brouwer’s Sonate piano et fort—as well as Beethoven’s "Hammerklavier" Sonata. This contemporary music marathon went on to include Xenakis’ Eonta for piano and five brass from the LAPO. The rehearsal was attended by Olivier Messiaen, a personal friend of Iannis Xenakis and his composition teacher, who personally corrected the brass parts during rehearsal. His wife, Yvonne Loriod, was also present at rehearsal, along with comedian Danny Kaye.
  83. Woodward 2015, p. 456-57.
  84. Woodward 2015, p. 354-55.
  85. Dominy Clements wrote in Music Web International about Roger Woodward's "Music of the Russian Avant-Garde 1905-1926" (Celestial Harmonies, 13255-2) recording: "This fascinating collection of works covers the period of transition from Tsarist Russia to the establishment of the Soviet Union. To a certain extent it relates to Woodward’s re-release of the Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, by Shostakovich on Celestial Harmonies 14302-2 (see review), which, dating from 1975, has acquired its own historical significance. Many of these pieces are little-known compositions that Woodward discovered as a student in Warsaw in the early 1970s, gaining access to rare works from Prokofiev's widow Lina Prokofieva.".
  86. Woodward 2015, p. 554 (item 70).
  87. Stockhausen's "Mantra" lecture managed by Allied Artists (London); filmed at Imperial College, London, July 19, 1973: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8K9gkuHpMo.
  88. Woodward 2015, pp. 498–500.
  89. Woodward 2015, p. 213.
  90. Asmira became a concert violinist and recording artist based in New York, who toured widely and pioneered chamber orchestra and chamber trio projects before marrying and settling with her family in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney.
  91. Ben is director Academy Tennis, Sydney, where he lives with his wife and son.
  92. Woodward 2015, pp. 496–97.
  93. Woodward 2015, p. 354.
  94. Woodward 2015, pp. 361–62.
  95. Festival d'automne.
  96. Woodward 2015, pp. 264–65, 308–9, 382.
  97. Woodward 2015, pp. 163, 358.
  98. Woodward 2015, pp. 297–98.
  99. Woodward 2015, p. 383.
  100. Woodward 2015, p. 282.
  101. Woodward 2015, p. 317-19.
  102. Woodward 2015, p. 394.
  103. Woodward 2015, p. 216-17.
  104. Woodward 2015, p. 358.
  105. Woodward 2015, p. 439-40; information found in Athens 1979 Festival https://iscm.org/wnmd/1979-athens; September 1979, Woodward played Liszt's "Les jeux d'eaux à la villa d'este," Feldman's Piano (1977), and premiered Rolf Gehlhaar's Strangeness, Charm and Colour with London Brass de.zxc.wiki/wiki/Rolf_Gehlhaar, at the Odeon Herodes Atticus at the 52nd International Society for Contemporary Music Festival (ISCM World Music Days)..
  106. Woodward 2015, p. 217-218.
  107. Woodward 2015, p. 46.
  108. Anne Boyd, As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams (Faber & Faber: London, 1975).
  109. 1977.
  110. Now the Queensland Orchestra.
  111. Matossian (2005); Anther (1986).
  112. Varga 1996, p. 182-83.
  113. 2015, p. 244.
  114. Woodward 2015, pp. 442–43.
  115. Roger Covell wrote in Sydney Morning Herald (November 22, 1977) about Woodward's recording of the Brahms First Piano Concert with Kurt Masur (RCA RS 25031 LP): "The wild, passionate opening of the recorded performance of Brahm’s First Piano Concerto…is immediately convincing. Like Serkin/Szell in their near-perfect reading of the work, Woodward/Masur never allow the slow movement to lose its sense of forward movement…. This is probably Roger Woodward’s most balanced and masterfully noble recording so far." http://www.rogerwoodward.com/images/PDF/Brahms_1_PC_with_NPO,_Kurt_Masur,_RCA.pdf/; Sviatoslav Richter described this performance thus: “Brahms: robuste, viril, convaincant.” Sviatoslav Richter and Bruno Monsaingeon Notebooks and Conversations (London: Faber & Faber, 2005), p. 341.
  116. Piano Quartet No.3 in C major, WoO36, in a co-production recorded for Celestial Harmonies and Radio Bremen, Germany, 13277-2.
  117. Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor, Op.21, in a co-production recorded for Celestial Harmonies and Radio Bremen, Germany, 13277-2.
  118. Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57, for Foghorn Classics, CD 1988.
  119. "Invasive Species for Piano Quintet".
  120. Woodward 2015, p. 276-77.
  121. Woodward 2015, p. 278.
  122. Woodward 2015, pp. 278, 504.
  123. Woodward 2015, p. 476-81.
  124. Doctor of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong (1992); Doctor of Music, University of Sydney (1996); Doctor of Letters, University of New England (1998); and Doctor of Laws, University of Alberta, Canada (1998).
  125. University of New England Handbook 2001.
  126. The programs are in the NLA Roger Woodward Collection.
  127. Performance recording on https://www.youtube.com/watch?vxBMvJrdoFP4; the concert programme is in the NLA Roger Woodward Collection. Compact disc recorded in 1989 by Etcetera Records BV.
  128. Dench Planetary Allegiances recorded for BBC2TV, London; Grateful Dead/Rex Foundation (Dec. 1992); NLA Collection. Composer's statement 1992 Sydney Spring program publication, p. 15; copy of MS in NLA.
  129. Program notes and photos of the concert available in the Scala di Milano's online archives: https://www.teatroallascala.org/archivio/interpreti.aspx?lang=en-US&id_allest=3841&id_event=8868&id_allest_conc=23458&uid=2dd1d15f-cd94-454c-9a66-05781920f434&objecttype=base.
  130. Festival d'automne à Paris—in the NLA Roger Woodward Collection. The all-Xenakis programme was recorded by Radio France at the Festival d'automne, December 1992, by the Alpha Centauri Ensemble in the presence of the composer.
  131. The program is in the NLA Roger Woodward Collection.
  132. The program is in the NLA Roger Woodward Collection; Woodward 2018.
  133. The award was shared with Patricia Ludgate and Jędrzej and Josie Wierbicki following the April 1981 Brixton riots in south London. 2 Citations—(a) Patricia Ludgate, "Butterflies of a Brief Summer," MoshPit Publishing, 2016, Kindle, Location 3608-21; (b) Leslie George Scarman, Baron Scarman, The Brixton Disorders 10–12 April, 1981: Report of an Enquiry (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1982).
  134. Kingdom of Bréifne; Former orders, decorations and medals of Ireland/Wikipedia; papers of Roger Woodward–National Library of Australia.
  135. Orders,decorations and medals of Poland/Wikipedia.
  136. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_to_culture.
  137. humanities.org.au.
  138. "Xenakis Studies: In Memoriam," Contemporary Music Review, Vol. 21, Nos. 2/3, pp. 109–120.
  139. Roger Woodward, Beyond Black and White 2014.
  140. "Conquering Goliath: Preparing and Performing Xenakis' 'Keqrops'" in Performing Xenakis, ed. Sharon Kanach, Xenakis Series No. 2 2010.
  141. "Sitsky’s Keyboard Music: Si Yeoo Ki," in Australian Piano Music of the Twentieth Century, ed. Larry Sitsky (2005), pp. 173–215.
  142. "Two Cadenzas for the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, KV 503, and Allegro con brio of the Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 2012.
  143. Dominy Clements wrote in MusicWeb International about Woodward's Dmitri Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op.87, recording: "This remarkable recording stands alone as a landmark." Complete article at http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/oct10/shostakovich_woodward_143022.htm
  144. Dominy Clements wrote in June 2013 about Woodward's recording of Prokofiev's works (Sergei Prokofiev Works for Piano: 1908-1938 Celestial Harmonies 13292-2) in MusicWeb International: "Roger Woodward’s recordings have consistently delivered stunning repertoire at the highest level, and his Bach, Chopin and Debussy CDs are all highly desirable. His experiences with Russia resulted in landmark recordings of Shostakovich, and his exploration of less well-known composers is essential listening for anyone seeking to educate themselves beyond what has become the mainstream. This particular recording was made in 1991 and marked Prokofiev’s centenary. Roger Woodward’s extensive booklet notes are drawn from his 2013 book Beyond Black and White from ABC Books of Sydney, and they reveal much about what makes this recording something a bit special. Woodward studied in Warsaw, hearing Sviatoslav Richter playing Prokofiev and striking up a friendship with Lina Prokofieva. Steeped in such an atmosphere, Woodward’s insights into this music are invaluable, and this very fine recording brings together works from Prokofiev’s early to middle periods. (...)Roger Woodward’s Prokofiev, Works for Piano 1908-1938 is a superb set of performances and an excellent recording, the Hamburg Steinway D sounding rich and brilliant in the large but not overwhelming Eugene Goossens Hall acoustic. Recorded in 1991, this is originally an ABC production and is released under license, though I’ve hunted and not been able to find evidence of another physical release from the period. It seems remarkable that this recording is not better known, but this superbly presented Celestial Harmonies disc will, I hope, rectify this state of affairs. " http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/June13/Prokofiev_piano_132922.htm.

Bibliography
  • Anther, Eric (1986). ""Mi-homme, mi dragon" par Iannis Xenakis" (PDF). Le monde de la musique. France: Le monde and Telerama.
  • Barraqué, Jean (2019). Sonate pour piano. Bärenreiter Urtext. ISMN 9790006567607.

See also
See also: List of Woodward's Principal First Performances, Recordings and Publications.
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