Davies, Sir Peter Maxwell (1934-2016), was a British composer and conductor. His compositions, known for their progressive quality, are written in a distinctive modern idiom. He mainly used techniques adapted from early music. Davies wrote many works for the Fires of London, a musical group of which he became the director in 1971. It disbanded in 1987.
Davies was born on Sept. 8, 1934, in Manchester, England. He was educated there, in Italy, and in the United States. After a period of teaching, he went to live in Orkney. Deeply influenced by the story of Saint Magnus, a ruler of the Orkneys, Davies set to music the Hymn to St. Magnus in 1972 and wrote an opera, The Martyrdom of St. Magnus, in 1977. He directed the St. Magnus Festival, an art festival in Orkney, from 1977 to 1986. His other works include Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969), a theater piece depicting the insanity of King George III, and Taverner (1970), an opera about the Tudor composer John Taverner. Davies’s instrumental works include St. Thomas Wake: Foxtrot for Orchestra on a Pavan by John Bull (1969). He also wrote the music for the movies The Devils and The Boyfriend (both 1971), symphonies, concertos for various instruments, and some choral pieces.
Davies became associate conductor and composer of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in 1985. He was knighted in 1987. In 1997, he was appointed president of the Society for the Promotion of New Music, an organization committed to encouraging emerging composers in the United Kingdom. In 2004, Davies was appointed Master of the Queen’s Music, an honorary position given to a distinguished musician, usually a composer. Davies died on March 14, 2016.
