Composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies has been awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal.
The RMCM alumnus was presented with the award – one of classical music’s highest honours – at his home in the Orkney Islands by RPS Council Member (and RNCM Honorary Member) Sally Groves MBE.
He said: ‘I am absolutely delighted and couldn’t be more honoured to receive the RPS Gold Medal. That’s the one I wanted!’
The society added: ‘It is the brilliance of his writing, the searing power of his imagination, the vivid theatricality and the quality of craftsmanship that engage us with the music of Peter Maxwell Davies…[he] has redefined what it means to be a composer and inspired new generations of musicians. We applaud him for his generosity of spirit and are proud to present him with the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal.’
Sir Peter is the 102nd recipient of the RPS Gold Medal since its foundation in 1870 in celebration of the centenary of the birth of Beethoven (London’s Philharmonic Society commissioned Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and enjoyed a close association with the composer). He now joins an extraordinary list of composers who have been awarded accolade, including Brahms, Delius, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Sibelius, Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Kodály, Prokofiev, Olivier Messiaen, William Walton, Malcolm Sargent, Arthur Bliss, Benjamin Britten, Michael Tippett, Lutoslawski, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Ligeti, Elliott Carter, Henri Dutilleux, and, most recently, György Kurtág.
