Laurence English

Laurence English is a British composer writing mainly for the concert hall, as well as music for film, radio, theatre, dance and installation.

Crane’s piece ‘Octet’ was shortlisted for the 2009 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards in the Chamber-Scale Composition category.

He is closely associated with the ensemble Apartment House, who have to date given around forty performances of his works. He has written pieces especially for the ensemble, ‘Riis’ and ‘John White in Berlin’, the latter commissioned in 2003 by the MaerzMusik Festival in Berlin.

He has worked with many other ensembles, including Plus-Minus Ensemble (UK/Belgium), Ixion (UK), London Sinfonietta (UK), Ives Ensemble (Netherlands), Orkest de Volharding (Netherlands), Cikada Ensemble (Norway), asamisimasa (Norway), Ensemble Kore (Canada) and 175 East (New Zealand).

His music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and performed at numerous festivals in Britain and abroad, such as Huddersfield, The Cutting Edge (London), MaerzMusik (Berlin), Ultima (Oslo) and ZaterdagMatinee (Amsterdam).

Crane’s music is often very simple, presenting plain triads and open harmonies, free from ornamentation. Gramophone says of his music that it is “as minimal as you can get, and irresistibly droll” (1995).