2013 also saw the critically acclaimed release of a recording of John's First and Fifth Quartets (Toccata Classics). Tenebrae was also shortlisted in the 2013 British Composer Awards. and a second disc of orchestral works on the BIS label ( Sea-Change Piano Concerto Tenebrae) was issued in March 2013 and featured on the cover of the May 2013 edition of International Record Review as one of its 'outstanding' releases. His 5th quartet was premièred in the Purcell Room at London's Southbank Centre in April 2013 and was described by 'Classical Source' as a work of 'hard-won affirmation' by a composer 'whose contribution to the genre has already set him among its leading practitioners'.Ī disc of six chamber pieces was issued by Toccata Classics in July 2012. Reviewing the première of the Fourth Quartet in June 1998, The Strad called it 'one of the best pieces of British chamber music to be heard for years' while the January 2003 edition of Tempo, reviewing the Sorrel Quartet's CD of Quartets 2, 3 & 4 (Dutton Epoch CDLX 71117), said 'even if Pickard were never to write another quartet in his life, his place among the greats is secure'. Reviewing the same disc, International Record Review described it as 'music that immediately engages the attention and, above all, amply rewards repeated listening'. In a five-star review of a disc of his orchestral music (BIS CD-1578), BBC Music Magazine characterised his music as 'grounded in a much-expanded tonality that encompasses a huge and stimulating harmonic spectrum' and describing him as 'a born master of the orchestra'. John Pickard's music has been praised for its large-scale architectural sense and bold handling of an extended tonal language.
This piece, Eden, has since been performed all over the world and is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important works ever written for brass band. In 2005 he was commissioned to compose the test piece for the finals of the 2005 National Brass Band Championship, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London in October. John Pickard's commitment to the brass band movement was marked in 2001, when he was appointed Composer in Residence to the renowned Cory Band, a position he held until 2004. Other major works include the large-scale oratorio Agamemnon's Tomb (2005-08), commissioned by the Huddersfield Choral Society, and premièred by them in 2008, Tenebrae (2008-9) composed for the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, and first performed in 2010, and the hour-long Gaia Symphony (Symphony No.4, 1991-2003) for brass band, first heard in its complete version at the 2005 Cheltenham Music Festival. In January 2006 the work received its US première by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and it was performed by the Cincinatti Symphony Orchestra in 2010
The Flight of Icarus (a BBC commission), received its first performance in 1991 by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, was repeated by them at the 1996 BBC Proms and has since been played many times. 3, a BBC commission for BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Mark Wigglesworth, premièred in 1997 No.5 written in 2014, once again for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and other orchestral works of symphonic dimensions: Sea-Change (1989), The Flight of Icarus (1990), Channel Firing (1992-93), the Trombone Concerto: The Spindle of Necessity (1997-98) and the Piano Concerto, premièred in Dresden in 2000. 2 premièred by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in 1989 No. John is best known for his orchestral and chamber music. He was awarded a PhD in composition in 1989 and has worked at the University of Bristol since 1993. Between 19 he studied with Louis Andriessen at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Netherlands on a Dutch Ministry of Culture Scholarship. degree from Bangor University in 1984, where his composition teacher was William Mathias.