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About Stephen

stephenStephen Dodgson was born in London in 1924 and lived there with few interruptions all his life. He was educated at Stowe and served in the Royal Navy during World War II. He received his musical training at the Royal College of Music, and was subsequently for many years a member of its teaching staff in theory and composition. He started working at the College in the Junior Department where he also conducted the orchestra, for which he wrote several pieces. In 1950 he was in Italy with a travelling scholarship.

From 1957 he was often employed by the BBC; as provider of incidental music for many major drama productions, as well as a frequent and familiar broadcaster of reviews and other musical topics.

stephen_dodgson_composing
His compositions cover almost every genre, including opera (Margaret Catchpole, 1979), seven piano sonatas, nine string quartets and much other chamber music. There is also a substantial body of music for symphony orchestra & many concertos with chamber orchestra. His large output of vocal music ranges from a Magnificat & a Te Deum for chorus, soloists & orchestra through music for unaccompanied choir to songs for one or two singers with instrumental accompaniment. For many years Chairman of The National Youth Wind Orchestra he wrote music for this and other wind orchestras. For the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble he wrote and arranged music for various combinations of brass instruments. He is, however, probably best known worldwide for his numerous works for guitar. His interest in this instrument was prompted by Julian Bream.

Much of this music has now been recorded, including six orchestral Essays, all the String Quartets, a String Sextet, Quintets for Clarinet, Flute & Guitar, all the Piano Sonatas, Bagatelles & Piano Trios, other chamber & vocal music & most of the guitar music.

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Latest news

'Peasant Poet' solo songs CD – British Music Society review
Dec 05, 2022
Dodgson Tournament for Twenty_Fingers recording
Tournament for Twenty Fingers – Colin's Column review
Oct 06, 2022
BBC Music Magazine logo
Tournament for Twenty Fingers – 5-star BBC Music Magazine review
Sep 08, 2022
Sungbin Cho playing
Sungbin Cho wins RAM prize with Dodgson Guitar Concerto No. 1
Jul 04, 2022
Dodgson Tournament for Twenty_Fingers recording
New release – 'Tournament for Twenty Fingers' piano duets
Jul 03, 2022

Upcoming events

Feb
9
Thu
2023
7:30 pm Sungbin Cho and the Asaka Quarte... @ Royal Academy of Music
Sungbin Cho and the Asaka Quarte... @ Royal Academy of Music
Feb 9 @ 7:30 pm – 9:15 pm
Sungbin Cho and the Asaka Quartet – Guitar Quintet @ Royal Academy of Music
Exceptional young guitarist Sungbin Cho, winner of the London International Guitar Competition in 2021, performs Stephen Dodgson’s Guitar Quintet with the Asaka Quartet in an evening performance at the Royal Academy of Music. Graduating with a BMus from the Korea National University of Arts, Sungbin Cho subsequently served in the Republic of Korea Air Force where he completed his two-year military service before entering the Royal Academy of Music to undertake an MA in Performance, with Michael Lewin. He is the first Korean national to play classical guitar at the RAM. Sungbin Cho – guitar Asaka Quartet: Iona Mcdonald – Violin I[...]
Mar
4
Sat
2023
7:30 pm Pegasus – Four Poems of Mary Col... @ St John the Baptist, Kensington
Pegasus – Four Poems of Mary Col... @ St John the Baptist, Kensington
Mar 4 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Pegasus – Four Poems of Mary Coleridge and Two Choral Songs @ St John the Baptist, Kensington
Pegasus presents a choice selection of beautiful choral pieces exploring themes of day and night, sleep, and nature, including Stephen Dodgson’s Four Poems of Mary Coleridge and Two Choral Songs, the latter setting verses from Ronald Fletcher’s Old Pathways.
Mar
6
Mon
2023
7:30 pm Choral concert and Dodgson year-... @ Barnes Music Festival
Choral concert and Dodgson year-... @ Barnes Music Festival
Mar 6 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Choral concert and Dodgson year-long 'choral project' launch @ Barnes Music Festival
This year, the Barnes Music Festival sees the launch of a year-long international choral project, which marks the 10th anniversary of the composer’s death (2023) and his centenary year (2024) and encourages choirs and vocal groups all over the world to perform and record Stephen Dodgson rich and varied choral output.  To mark the start of the project, Barnes Music Festival host a three-choir concert with the opportunity to browse scores and a catalogue detailing Stephen Dodgson’s choral works. Programme ‘Tis Almost One Four Poems of Mary Coleridge Home-bred pictures Two Choral Songs Barnes Festival Consort – dir. James Day Pegasus[...]
Mar
16
Thu
2023
1:00 pm Promenade and Riversong @ Barnes Music Festival
Promenade and Riversong @ Barnes Music Festival
Mar 16 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Promenade and Riversong @ Barnes Music Festival
 The Vickers-Bovey Duo perform a programme at the Barnes Music Festival based around nature and the works of Stephen Dodgson, who wrote prolifically for guitar composing many works for Julian Bream and John Williams, also paying tribute to one of his favourite composers Leoš Janáček. The duo received the Principal’s Prize at the Birmingham Conservatoire and graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with Distinction and the Performance Diploma in 2016. Programme Dodgson – Promenade Janáček – In The Mists (arr. Bovey) Rameau – Pieces de Clavecin (arr. Vickers/Bovey) Dodgson – Riversong
Mar
17
Fri
2023
7:30 pm Sonata for Four @ Barnes Music Festival
Sonata for Four @ Barnes Music Festival
Mar 17 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Sonata for Four @ Barnes Music Festival
Shining new light on an old treasure. This Barnes Music Festival concert centres around ‘A Beautiful Object’: the harpsichord, with a new work of that same name by a rising figure on the contemporary music scene, composer Héloïse Werner. Auspiciously absent at the start, the harpsichord is introduced with music of its main era, in an arrangement that links its celebrated past to the present. With Héloïse’s piece, then follows an exciting journey of discoveries. Stephen Dodgson’s Sonata has beautiful serenade-like character, with its last movement a nod to the harpsichord’s illustrious past, guiding us back in time again to[...]
May
16
Tue
2023
11:30 am Sungbin Cho – solo and chamber g... @ Royal Academy of Music
Sungbin Cho – solo and chamber g... @ Royal Academy of Music
May 16 @ 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Sungbin Cho – solo and chamber guitar works @ Royal Academy of Music
Exceptional young guitarist Sungbin Cho, winner of the London International Guitar Competition in 2021, performs his final recital at the Royal Academy of Music: a complete concert of Dodgson guitar works. Programme Partita no. 1 Fantasy-Divisions Guitar Quintet (with the Asaka Quartet) Guitar Concerto (with orchestra) Graduating with a BMus from the Korea National University of Arts, Sungbin Cho subsequently served in the Republic of Korea Air Force where he completed his two-year military service before entering the Royal Academy of Music to undertake an MA in Performance, with Michael Lewin. He is the first Korean national to play classical guitar[...]
Jul
17
Mon
2023
7:30 pm Mēla Guitar Quartet – Change-Rin... @ Luton Music Club
Mēla Guitar Quartet – Change-Rin... @ Luton Music Club
Jul 17 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Mēla Guitar Quartet – Change-Ringers @ Luton Music Club | England | United Kingdom
Join the Mēla Guitar Quartet in a wonderfully eclectic evening hosted by the Luton Music Club featuring Stephen Dodgson’s Change-Ringers alongside works by Philip Houghton and Laura Snowden and arrangements of Bach, Debussy, Ravel, Glinka, Milhaud, Bizet, Sain-Saëns, and Brubeck and Desmond. The quartet recently recorded Change-Ringers as part of a delightful collection of Dodgson guitar chamber works. Programme Camille Saint-Saëns – Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah arr. Bovey Claude Debussy – Deux Arabesques arr. Tarlton Andante con Moto; Allegretto Scherzando Phillip Houghton – Opals (1995) Black Opal; Water Opal; White Opal J.S. Bach – Organ fugue BWV 578 arr. Mēla Mikhail Glinka – Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture arr.[...]
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