Wikipedia

Tom Smail

Tom Smail (born 1964) is a British composer who lives and works in the United Kingdom.[1]

Career

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To commemorate the demise of London's Routemaster Bus in 2005, Smail wrote an orchestral work, Requiem for the Routemaster. The Times called it 'evocative'[2] and it was included in the BBC's flagship Midweek programme.[3]

Smail gained further attention for his Fairy Tales, performed nationally in the UK by the English Touring Opera.[4] In 2005, a CD of two pieces, Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty, narrated by Harry Enfield, was released on Sanctuary Classics.[5]

In August 2013 Smail premiered Soon at Riverside Studios, a chamber opera co-written with his wife Alba Arikha.[6][7]

Further premieres of his work were featured in Tatler[8] and the Standard[9] in 2013.

In 2014, Smail wrote the music for a Royal Court production, a trilogy of Samuel Beckett plays featuring Lisa Dwan.[10] The production had runs at the Royal Court,[11] The Duchess Theater[12] and the Southbank Centre.[13] This was followed by an international tour which started at BAM and ended at the Barbican.[14][15]

In January 2015 Love, Loss and Chianti, featuring Christopher Reid and Robert Bathurst, with music for viola and cello by Smail, had a two-week run at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester.[16]

In August 2018 Forgotten Voices of the Great War was performed at the Petworth Festival in August 2018,[17] with text from the eponymous book by Max Arthur.

Tom's second opera, Blue Electric, premièred at the Playground Theatre, Latimer Road in October 2020.[18] ‘I leave this performance in a state of inspiration’,[19] said the Younger Theatre. Directed by Orpha Phelan, it is based on the critically acclaimed fragmented memoir, Major/Minor, by his wife, Alba Arikha.[20] A 40-minute, work-in-progress version of this, directed by Hugh Hudson was performed at the 2018 Tête-à-Tête festival.[21][22][23]

His latest piece, Morias, will be premiered at the Benaki Museum's Pireos building in October 2024.[24]

Smail has also written for film and television. His most recent film, Last Words,[25][26] directed by Jonathan Nossiter, was selected for the Cannes Film Festival in 2020.[27]

He wrote the music for the 2017 British Museum commissioned documentary on the Japanese artist Hokusai.[28]

Personal life

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Smail is married to the writer, Alba Arikha. They live in London.[29]

References

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  1. ^ "Tom Smail". Universal Edition. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  2. ^ "Tributes of the week". www.thetimes.com. 2024-09-01. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  3. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Midweek". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  4. ^ Web, UK Theatre. "Tour archive for English Touring Opera - Red Riding Hood (Concert). 13th May 2008-13th May 2008 [TOUR]". UK Theatre Web. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  5. ^ "SANCTUARY – Berkshire Record Outlet". Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  6. ^ "Soon". Tête à Tête. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  7. ^ "Soon: New Chamber Opera by Tom Smail (part of the Tete-a-Tete Opera Festival)". www.compositiontoday.com. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  8. ^ Tatler (2013-01-25). "Tom Smail concert evening". Tatler. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  9. ^ "Drama at the Chelsea recital". Evening Standard. 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  10. ^ "Production of Rockaby | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  11. ^ "Not I, Footfalls, Rockaby". Royal Court. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  12. ^ "IndieLondon: Lisa Dwan's Beckett trilogy transfers to W/E - Your London Reviews". www.indielondon.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  13. ^ "Not I/Rockaby/Footfalls, Southbank Centre". Culture Whisper. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  14. ^ Sulcas, Roslyn (2014-09-24). "Suffering for Her Art, and Beckett". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  15. ^ Billington, Michael (2015-06-03). "Not I, Footfalls, Rockaby review – Lisa Dwan's breathtaking Beckett trio". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  16. ^ "Theatre review: Love, Loss and Chianti at Minerva Theatre, Chichester". British Theatre Guide. 2015-01-27. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  17. ^ "Forgotten Voices of the Great War speak again at Petworth Festival". Sussex World. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  18. ^ "Blue Electric proves an innovative way to present opera despite Covid restrictions – Seen and Heard International". seenandheard-international.com. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  19. ^ Collins, George (2020-10-29). "Review: Blue Electric, The Playground Theatre". A Younger Theatre. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  20. ^ "Blue Electric at the Playground Theatre". Opera Today. 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  21. ^ "Blue Electric". Tête à Tête. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  22. ^ Willson, Flora (2018-08-09). "Tête à Tête opera festival review – brave and baffling new operatic worlds". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  23. ^ Hugill, Planet. "Musical memoir: Tom Smail's Blue Electric at Tête à Tête". Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  24. ^ Smail, Tom (2024-03-11). "Morias | Tom Smail | Music". Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  25. ^ Last Words (2020) - IMDb. Retrieved 2024-09-01 – via www.imdb.com.
  26. ^ contact@cinezik.org, Benoit Basirico-. "Last Words (2020) - la BO • Musique de Tom Smail • Soundtrack • :: Cinezik.fr". www.cinezik.org. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  27. ^ "LAST WORDS". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  28. ^ Wheatley, Patricia (2017-06-20), Hokusai: Old Man Crazy to Paint (Documentary, Biography), Ascanio Branca, Andy Serkis, retrieved 2024-09-01
  29. ^ "Alba Arikha: Samuel Beckett was my godfather - and all I could do was". Evening Standard. 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
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