John Harle (born 20 September 1956) is an English saxophonist, composer, educator and record producer.[1] He is an Ivor Novello Award winner and has been the recipient of two Royal Television Society awards.
John Harle | |
|---|---|
 Harle in 2001 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 20 September 1956 |
| Origin | Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
| Genres | Hybrid, Pop, Classical |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Saxophone |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Labels | Universal, EMI Classics, Decca, Argo, Unicorn-Kanchana, Hannibal, Sospiro |
| Website | www |
Biography
editHarle was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. Following his education at the Royal College of Music in London and, as a French Government Music Scholar, in Paris with Daniel Deffayet, he won the Amcon Award of The American Concert Artists Guild. In his early years, he was a member of the band of composer Michael Nyman and orchestrator for film composer Stanley Myers, expanding from that into scoring for film and television. In the 1990s, he began a career as saxophonist and composer, both artistically and commercially.
Harle composed the theme tune and music for the BBC TV series Silent Witness.[2] In May 1998, Harle was the castaway on BBC Radio 4's long-running Desert Island Discs programme, with the BBC describing him as "the most-recorded saxophonist in the world".[3]
Harle served as artistic advisor to Paul McCartney for six years, and has collaborated with Elvis Costello, Herbie Hancock and Elmer Bernstein.[citation needed]
In addition to his own prolific recording, Harle has contributed directly or indirectly to a number of charting songs and albums by others.[4] A jingle he wrote for Nissan in 1993 became the basis of a charting pop single by Jazzie B.[clarification needed] His album Terror and Magnificence (1996) featured Elvis Costello, Sarah Leonard and Andy Sheppard. He contributed to the charting album Standing Stone (1997) by Paul McCartney.[citation needed]
Harle has also been an educator, serving at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in the late 1980s as a professor of Saxophone and Chamber Music.[4] He is currently Professor of Saxophone at the Guildhall School.[5]
In 2012, the Royal Television Society awarded Harle its "Music: Original Score" award for his composition for BBC 2's programme Lucian Freud: Painted Life, describing it as "An excellent, challenging and original score that perfectly complements Freud's powerful imagery".[6] It also won the 2013 British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) Ivor Novello Award for "Best Television Soundtrack".[7]
In October 2013, on BBC Radio 3's In Tune programme, Harle talked about his recently released album Art Music, the composition of which was inspired by his favourite paintings.[8]
Harle appeared with Marc Almond on BBC Radio 4's Front Row in February 2014 to discuss their collaborative work about Gothic London, The Tyburn Tree (Dark London).[9] Harle was a guest on the same programme in November of that year, to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Adolphe Sax by assessing the contribution of Sax's invention, the saxophone.[10]
Harle has written a reference book, The Saxophone: The Art and Science of Playing and Performing, published in May 2017.[11]
Personal life
editHarle has two sons: writer and curator Matthew Harle, and Mad Decent composer and producer Danny L Harle.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Gilbert, Jenny (2 March 1996). "Fantastic read". The Independent. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
- ^ "John Harle & Marc Almond". Barbican. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ "Desert Island Discs: John Harle". BBC Online. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
- ^ a b Lewis, Uncle Dave. "Artist Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ "Professor John Harle FGSM ARCM (Hons) | Guildhall School of Music & Drama".
- ^ "RTS Announces Winners For Craft & Design Awards 2011/2012". Royal Television Society. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
- ^ "2013 Winners". The Ivors. Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
- ^ "Matthew Barley, Brook Street Band, John Harle". BBC Online. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
- ^ "Marc Almond and John Harle; Willy Russell on Liverpool's Everyman Theatre; Gary Shteyngart". BBC Online. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
- ^ "Interstellar, Nick Hornby, John Harle, Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes". BBC Online. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
- ^ Harle, John (1 May 2017). The Saxophone: The Art and Science of Playing and Performing. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0571539628.