Guy Woolfenden Recordings

Guy Woolfenden was a distinguished British composer and conductor. He served as the Head of Music to the Royal Shakespeare Company for 37 years, composing more than 150 scores for its productions. Woolfenden was also the first Artistic Director of the Cambridge Festival from 1986 to 1991. His compositions include operas, ballets, incidental music for the theatre, and orchestral, chamber and wind music for the concert hall. His contributions to music were recognized with a Fellowship from the Birmingham Conservatoire and in 2007 he was awarded The Order of the British Empire for his services to music. In 1995, during the tercentenary celebrations of Henry Purcell’s death, Guy Woolfenden was researching Purcell’s songs for Thomas Southerne’s rarely performed play The Wives’ Excuse. Impressed by the wit, exuberance and pathos of Purcell’s theatre music, he was inspired to commemorate this significant anniversary by creating a work for clarinet choir, and Gordian Knots was commissioned by the Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain (CASSGB). Woolfenden drew inspiration from Purcell’s music for The Gordian Knot Unty’d (1691). The work’s final movement, a Jig, cleverly incorporates the tune “Lilliburlero” as a ground bass, showcasing Purcell’s ingenuity. Woolfenden dedicated Gordian Knots to the memory of his brother, Peter, who passed away during its composition. Gordian Knots was first performed in Finland in July 1995 by the British Clarinet Ensemble conducted by Charles Hine. The woodwind orchestra version, retitled More Gordian Knots, was arranged by the composer and performed in November 2010 by the Bloomsbury Woodwind Ensemble under the direction of Shea Lolin.