Sophie Viney

Sophie Viney
Born1974 (age 49–50)[1]
United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
Education
Occupation(s)Composer, arranger & teacher
Known forMissing God
Notable work
  • Sonatina in 7 & 5
  • Music of the Spheres
  • Kingdom of Heaven
  • A Time to Dance
Websitesophiesnotes.com

Sophie Viney (born 1974) is an English composer and arranger.[1][2] Her compositions have been performed at significant venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall and St. Martin-in-the-Fields and her music has featured in the Spitalfields Festival and the Brighton Festival.[3] In February 1999, Viney received critical acclaim in The Times for her work Music of the Spheres which was described as "eerily conjured".[4] Her choral work Missing God was commissioned under the Society for the Promotion of New Music's Adopt a Composer programme and performed by the London Oriana Choir in 2003.[5] She has written for the Philharmonia and has also written for theatre groups such as Watford Palace Theatre, and Barbican Studio Theatre.[3] On 7 March 2015, Sonatina in 7 and 5 was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of a programme aired on the eve of International Women's Day.[6] Her music is influenced by phenomena ranging from the wedding chant of Masai warriors to passages from scripture.[5][7]

Biography

Viney began composing around the age of 7 or 8[8] and in the years that followed, developed her craft to the extent that she gained entry to the Royal College of Music studying composition with Jeremy Dale Roberts and Simon Bainbridge.[1] Whilst studying for her BMus[9] she also studied piano and conducting.[1] After graduating, she undertook postgraduate study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Robert Saxton where she gained a Master of Music in composition. Viney has received awards for composition, amongst them, the Adrian Cruft prize and the Sullivan and Farrer prize and she was awarded a Fellowship by the Arts Council to facilitate the researching of her opera on a theme inspired by the Gaarder novel, Through a Glass Darkly.[3]

Selected works

  • A Time to Dance[1]
  • Dartmoor Theme[10]
  • Detective Theme[10]
  • Kingdom of Heaven[10]
  • Missing God[5]
  • Music of the Spheres[4]
  • Norfolk Suite (Three movements)[11]
  • Sonatina in 7 & 5[6]
  • To The Seaforths[10][12]

Arrangements

  • Ting-a-ling (Reprise)[10]
  • We Know Where They Are[10]
  • When This Bloody War is Over[10][12]

Music for theatre

  • All's Well that Ends Well[3]
  • Monster Song (from The Wild Things show)[10]
  • Staring Magic (from The Wild Things show)[10]
  • Wild Rumpus Dance (from The Wild Things show)[10]

Music for film

  • Voyage instrumental track (used by Vagabonds Cinema)[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Sophie Viney "A Time to Dance"". SPNM (Society for the Promotion of New Music). Retrieved 7 November 2020. Sophie Viney (b. 1974) studied Composition, Piano and Conducting at the Royal College of Music...
  2. ^ "Sophie Viney – Composer & Arranger". sophiesnotes.com. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "Biography - Sophie Viney". britishmusiccollection.org.uk. British Music Collection. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b Milnes, Rodney (10 February 1999). "Thoms on the lark". The Times. London. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Partington, Angela (11 March 2003). "One enchanted evening". The Guardian (UK). London. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Hear and Now". radiotimes.com. Radio Times. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Sophie Viney "A Time to Dance"". SPNM (Society for the Promotion of New Music). Retrieved 8 November 2020. Although complete in its own right, the work is part of a series currently being written based on the book of Ecclesiastes 3:1–8.
  8. ^ "Sophie Viney – Composer & Arranger". Official Website. Retrieved 8 November 2020. I have composed music for as long I can remember, probably from about the age of 7 or 8.
  9. ^ "Voice and Composition". bedmod.co.uk. Bedford Modern School. Retrieved 8 November 2020. Sophie Viney MMus (Comp) GSMB, BMus RCM (Composition).
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Sophie Viney". soundcloud.com. Soundcloud. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  11. ^ "Ahead of Their Time: Women Composers Throughout History". angloamericanduo.com. The Anglo-American Duo. Retrieved 8 November 2020. Sophie Viney: A Norfolk Suite
  12. ^ a b "Theatre Choice: What Then Was War". The Bedford Independent. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2024. It has been fascinating sourcing text via local historian Richard Galley for one of the original compositions To The Seaforths – a poem written by an anonymous Bedford woman in 1915 about 5th Battalion (Territorial) Seaforth Highlanders stationed in Bedford.