View source for Stephen Oliver (composer)

{{Short description|English composer (1950–1992)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
'''Stephen Michael Harding Oliver''' (10 March 1950 &ndash; 29 April 1992) was an English [[composer]], best known for his [[opera]]s.

==Early life and education==
Oliver was born on 10 March 1950 in [[Chester]], a son of Charlotte Hester (née [[Girdlestone]]; born 1911), a religious education adviser, and Osborne George Oliver (b. 1903), an electricity board official.  His maternal great-grandfather was [[William Boyd Carpenter]], a [[Bishop of Ripon (modern diocese)|Bishop of Ripon]] and a court chaplain to [[Queen Victoria]].<ref name=oxfr1>{{Cite ODNB|url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/51267| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170730125131/http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/51267| archive-date=30 July 2017|first= Adam| last=Pollock| date=2004 |title=Oliver, Stephen Michael Harding (1950-1992), composer | chapter= The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography| pages= ref:odnb/51267|publisher=OUP  | doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/51267|accessdate=2016-10-02}}</ref>

Oliver was educated at [[St Paul's Cathedral School]], [[Ardingly College]] and at [[Worcester College, Oxford]], where he read music under [[Kenneth Leighton]] and [[Robert Sherlaw Johnson]]. His first opera, ''[[The Duchess of Malfi (opera)|The Duchess of Malfi]]'' (1971), was staged while he was still at Oxford.

==Career==
Later works include incidental music for the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] (including ''[[The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (play)|The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby]]''), a [[musical theater|musical]], ''[[Blondel (musical)|Blondel]]'' (1983; with [[Tim Rice]]), and over forty operas, including ''Tom Jones'' (1975), ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1984) and ''[[Timon of Athens]]'' (1991). Oliver also wrote music for television, including several of the BBC's Shakespeare productions (''Timon'' among those), the soundtrack to the 1986 film ''[[Lady Jane (1986 film)|Lady Jane]]'', and some chamber and instrumental music.

He was a good friend of [[Simon Callow]] who commissioned the piece ''[[Ricercare]] No. 4'' for vocal quartet [[Cantabile (group)|Cantabile]].
He also composed the score for the thirteen-hour [[The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)|radio dramatisation]] of [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien's]] ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', first broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]] in 1981. The work <!--had an attractive and memorable main theme--> combined a main theme with many <!--effective--> sub-themes, all composed within the English pastoral tradition. <!--The music embodied the spirit of Tolkien's work very well.-->

In [[Tony Palmer (director)|Tony Palmer]]'s film ''[[Wagner (film)|Wagner]]'' (1982–83), Oliver can be seen playing the part of conductor [[Hans Richter (conductor)|Hans Richter]] and conducting in the pit of Richard Wagner's theatre at [[Bayreuth]].

==Other activities==
Oliver was a frequent guest on BBC Radio 4's light discussion programme ''[[Stop the Week]]''.

==Death and legacy==
He died in London on 29 April 1992, aged 42, of [[AIDS]]-related complications.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kozinn |first=Allan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/07/arts/stephen-oliver-42-a-composer-of-operas-and-theater-music.html |title=Stephen Oliver, 42, a Composer Of Operas and Theater Music |work=New York Times |date=1992-05-07 |accessdate=2017-07-08}}</ref> 

In 2006, Oliver's archive of original scores and papers was presented to the [[British Library]] by his family.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

His nephew is comedian and TV host [[John Oliver (comedian)|John Oliver]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Kamp |first=David |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/01/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-facts |title=John Oliver Is Horrified by Massages and Is a "Committed Coward": What You Should Know About the Host of *Last Week Tonight* |publisher=Vanity Fair |date=2014-01-02 |accessdate=2016-10-02}}</ref>
===Stephen Oliver Trust===
<!---redirects target this section, including Stephen Oliver Trust and Stephen Oliver Prize. Stephen Oliver Award targets the Countess of Munster article.--->
{{for|the award started in 2006|Stephen Oliver Award}}
Oliver left most of his estate [[trust fund|in trust]], to further the work he had already been doing during his life, helping to fund small-scale opera companies and young composers of opera. In March 1993 the Stephen Oliver Trust was established, which was enlarged by several large donations and [[covenant (law)|covenants]]. Trustees include conductor [[Jane Glover]] and composer [[Jonathan Dove]]. The stated aims of the trust are:<ref name=so>{{cite web | title=News | website=Stephen Oliver  | url=https://stephenoliverorg.wordpress.com/news-2/ | access-date=15 January 2022| date=2017}}</ref>
*to encourage the creation, promotion and performance of contemporary opera; and
*to encourage young people working in contemporary opera.

The trust established the Stephen Oliver Prize, a biennial award of £10,000 launched in 1994, awarded to given to a young composer for a new work of [[comic opera]]. Launched in 1994, there were two prizes awarded, with the first awarded to [[David Horne (composer)|David Horne]] for ''Travellers'', and the second in 1996 to [[Tim Benjamin (composer)|Tim Benjamin]], for ''The Bridge''. The trust worked with other organisations to bring the two composers' operas to the stage in June 1998, as part of the 1998 [[Covent Garden Festival]].<ref name=so/>

After the competitions, the trust turned its attention to supporting compositions and occasional performances by contemporary opera companies. In 2006, the trustees decided to lodge the capital funds within the [[Countess of Munster Musical Trust]], which administers the [[Stephen Oliver Award]], as well as other funding to young musicians.<ref name=so/>

==Work list==
===Opera and music theatre===
The following operatic or musical theatre works were performed, according to Grove. Libretto is by the composer unless otherwise given:<ref>Cole, Hugo. Stephen Oliver. ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]''. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997, work list p666.</ref>
* ''All the Tea in China'' (1969) one act, libretto by [[L. du Garde Peach]]
* ''Slippery Soules'' (1969, revised 1976) 50 minutes
* ''A Phoenix too frequent'' (1970) one act, libretto [[Christopher Fry]]
* ''[[The Duchess of Malfi (opera)|The Duchess of Malfi]]'' (1971, revised 1978) three acts, based on the play by [[John Webster]]
* ''The Dissolute Punished'' (1972) four one-act operas
* ''The Donkey'' (1973) one act, libretto [[David Pountney]]
* ''Three Instant Operas'' (1973)
* ''Past Tense'' (1974) two one-act operas
* ''Bad Times'' (1975) 8 minutes
* ''Tom Jones'' (1975) three acts, after the novel by [[Henry Fielding]]
* ''The Great McPorridge Disaster'' (1976) one act
* ''The Waiter's Revenge'' (1976) 20 minutes
* ''The Garden'' (1977) one act
* ''Jacko's Play'' (1980) one-act operetta
* ''A Man of Feeling'' (1980) 20 minutes, based on short story by [[Arthur Schnitzler]]
* ''Sasha'' (1982) three acts, based on play by [[Alexander Ostrovsky]]
* ''[[Blondel (musical)|Blondel]]'' (1983) two-act musical, libretto [[Tim Rice]]
* ''Britannia Preserv'd'' (1983) one act, libretto [[A. N. Wilson]]
* ''The Ring'' (1984) one act, after ''[[Coronation Street]]''
* ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1984) two acts, after [[Madame Le Prince de Beaumont]]
* ''The Exposition of a Picture'' (1986) 35 minutes
* ''Waiting'' (1987) one act
* ''Mario And The Magician'' (1988) one act, after [[Thomas Mann]]
* ''Timon of Athens'' (1990) two acts, after Shakespeare
* ''Commuting'', a wordless opera premiered 1996<ref>Jeal, Erica. Stephen Oliver Trilogy Cantabile at the Covent Garden Festival. May 30. ''Opera'', August 1996, p.978-979.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{citation |last1=Holden |first1=Amanda |last2=Blyth |first2=Alan |authorlink2=Alan Blyth |title=The Viking opera guide |publisher=Viking |year=1993 |isbn=0-670-81292-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780670812929 }}
*"Friendships in Constant Repair": perspectives on the life and work of Stephen Oliver.  {{ISBN|978-1-84876-534-4}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.stephenoliver.org/ Official Stephen Oliver website]
* {{IMDb name|0647006|Stephen Oliver}}
* Composer page at [http://www.chesternovello.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2431&State_2905=2&composerId_2905=1160 ChesterNovello.com]
* BBC Shakespeare
* [http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/music/2012/11/stephen-oliver-archive-at-the-british-library.html The Stephen Oliver Archive at the British Library]
* {{Gutenberg author|id=4013}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Stephen}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Ardingly College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford]]
[[Category:20th-century English classical composers]]
[[Category:English agnostics]]
[[Category:Musicians from Chester]]
[[Category:AIDS-related deaths in England]]
[[Category:People educated at St. Paul's Cathedral School]]
[[Category:English male classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century English male musicians]]

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