Tributes flood in for David Bedford

BASCA was very sad to learn that David Bedford, composer, BASCA director and Chairman of our Classical & Jazz Executive, passed away on Saturday 1st October following a short illness. Our thoughts are with his family.

We have received a number of tributes for David in the last 24 hours, some of which can be seen below. If you would like to leave a tribute for David, please email BASCA staff members Nicola Riches and Lucy Oliver.

We will be posting more tributes here as we receive them and will also run something in our magazine, The Works, to be published in November.

I am totally shocked by this tragic news. My sincerest condolences go to his family - their only consolation could be that more people than they can imagine will be utterly devastated by the loss to the music profession and his very presence amongst our fraternity.
Brian Willey

It would be impossible to list all he's done for music, but I'll particularly remember a visit he paid to us in Colchester about 20 years ago, to judge a composition competition, when he spent a spare half hour playing table tennis in the garden with our then eight-year-old son. A lovely, characterful, caring man.
Alan Bullard

I am devastated by this very sad news. What a great loss he is to us all, he is going to be truly missed by everyone. We had been friends and colleagues for over forty years and I cannot believe he is no longer with us!
Paul Patterson

David was the second person I met when I joined the APC back in 1991. I was impressed because I'd first seen him in action conducting the LSO for old proggers Camel's performance of The Snow Goose at the Albert Hall in 1975. He came on wearing an open necked shirt and brandishing a glass of red wine. Cool conductor, I thought.
Mark Fishlock

David was such a lovely and dedicated man, not just to his music, but to BASCA and PRS and MCPS. I for one, will really miss him, his amazing input to the boards, and his humour.
Life seems to pass us all FAR too quickly, but at least David has left a true legacy behind. His friends at the classical section have lost a great fighter for their cause.
Alan Parker

I'm very saddened by the news. We knew David was ill but not how close to the end he really was. A great friend to us all, and to music.
George T Nicholson

David was a great Musician and a great and selfless man. His memory lives on. My condolences go to his family and friends. RIP David. Respect.
Doug Flett

I am in a state of shock about David Bedford's passing along with you all. He will be sorely missed. David was such a wonderfully talented, broad-minded musician that to me represented the voice of reason on many occasions. I wish his wife, children and family most sincere condolences for their great loss.
Shirley Thompson

I am truly saddened to hear of the passing of my friend David Bedford. His support for my music in the early 1970s, before Tubular Bells was successful, gave me the will to carry on making instrumental music even when my work was rejected by all record companies. He was a great composer and wonderful human being. Thanks so much David.
Mike Oldfield

I did see David a couple of weeks ago, and although he looked frail he was as sharp and lucid as he’d always been, and I was looking forward to seeing him at the next BASCA meeting. He was totally committed to the cause of concert composers right to the end – we must celebrate his life soon.
Adam Gorb

I got to know David through his music. His earliest Universal Edition scores used to be in every university music library around the beginning of the ‘70s. Like most of my generation, we studied his scores, extended techniques, the notation. Later I ended up conducting numerous performances of Albion Moonlight, Balloon Music. Years later, it was a great privilege to meet him, and serve on the same committee as him. It is a very, very sad day. He will always be remembered. He was one of the leading lights of the British avant-garde – as that other great composer of the time Morton Feldman on his return to the USA in 1967 said:
“…Aside from Bedford, Cardew and a few others of that group, I didn’t meet composers in England. I met people who wrote music, but when they weren’t in the pay of the BBC they referred to themselves only as students or teachers….”
“… They are making their own scene in England, very much as Cage and the rest of us made ours here in America back in the fifties. If anything, they have more swagger, they’re more out of a movie than we were. Can’t you just see Cardew, Tilbury and Bedford making that night train across the Channel to Warsaw? Cardew in his Victorian ulster, Tilbury in that black raincoat he wears, Bedford in a leather jacket… three conspirators right out of Eric Ambler, on their way to represent England at one of the most important avant-garde music festivals in Europe!”
Sinan Savaskan

The first time I met David Bedford we sat together on a panel judging entries in a "Find a National Anthem for Gibraltar” competition. Quite a weird gig for a “leading light of the British avant-garde" to undertake. One of the anthems was sung by its composer accompanying himself on a harmonium. Unfortunately he’d recorded it on a cassette player which he had placed the on the floor. Somewhat mercifully, the song was almost entirely drowned out by the sound of the bellows... I seem to recall that David scored that entry quite highly. What a brilliant bloke.
Gary Osborne

As a long-time friend and co-PRS director of David Bedford, I was shocked to hear of his sudden death. David was a man of great integrity and sincerity. As PRS chairman, his sense of fair-play and even-handedness sometimes brought him into conflict with his fellow ‘Classical’ contemporaries, but he stuck to his guns for the benefit of the membership as a whole. He was a good guy. It’s a sad day.
Mitch Murray

David was a top chap and will be much missed. I first met him when he orchestrated Camel's "Snow Goose" in 1975 during my Decca days doing international press, and we always had a quick catch-up at BASCA and other industry events. He was the quintessential English gent, modest but highly talented and with a keen understanding of our industry. RIP.
David Stark

I feel so sad today to hear of David Bedford's passing. The uk classical music world has lost a great champion and his friends a caring, genuine individual who worked tirelessly for the benefit of his fellow composers. My sincere condolences to his wife and family.
David F Golightly

I was astonished to hear that David has died - he seemed eternally young with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and a brilliant musical brain, that could leap across all musical genres. I will miss his great warmth and friendship and send my deepest condolences to his family. We should name some kind of fund or support system for composers after him, since he did so much for our profession.
Roxanna Panufnik

I was decimated to hear the sad news of David Bedford. Such a lovely man who will be sorely missed in our business. God rest his soul...and his beautiful talent.
Les Reed


I can't believe that David has passed away - what a terrible shock, and what a loss to British music!
Other people have already mentioned his place in the development of the British 'alternative' modernist school from the early '60s onwards. His music of that time was remarkable for its daring, and its influence on a new generation. Later on of course, he became more mainstream, but he never lost that slightly eccentric, off-the-wall quality which separated his music from others.
I must also pay tribute to the remarkable service he gave on behalf of British composers and song writers through his many years on the PRS Board, including a spell as Chairman, his influence in helping to start up the PRS Foundation, and latterly as Chairman of the Classical and Jazz Committee of BASCA. I was also on the PRS Board for most of the time he was, and I shall never forget how patiently he coped as Chairman, as did Andrew Potter before him, with all the storms that gathered over the Classical Music Subsidy debacle, followed by the Classical Music tariffs issue, and many more.  He received a lot of flack from the Classical Music world for that, as if he had betrayed them. But as someone who was there, all I can say is that it all might have been much worse without his wisdom, his behind the scenes discussions with opposing parties, and his handling of the debates at the Board.
David was a passionate advocate for British music, its composers and song writers. His own musical tastes spread across many different genres, and to each he brought his own inimitable brand of professionalism, craft, and invention. He will be sorely missed by us all.
Edward Gregson

I was truly shocked and deeply saddened to hear the news of our dear friend and colleague David Bedford. Apart from his talent and musical contribution to the industry, as a person, I found him to be utterly candid and a man of true integrity. I cannot believe he will not be at the next PRS for Music Board meeting or Benevolent Fund meeting or the many committees we shared. I will miss his views and suggestions and, above all, I shall miss him. I send his family my heartfelt condolences at this very sad time.
Lynsey De Paul

Very sad news indeed. Another real gentleman bites the dust. He was a true mensch.
My condolences to his family. RIP.
Roger Greenaway


I first heard David's  music - Piece for Mo - on Radio 3 when I was still at school. Our first actual meeting was at a concert my trio gave in Burgh House back in 1980. I was down to play Piano Piece 1 a few items in. When we walked out into the hall I caught sight of him sitting calmly in the front row - no prior warning! It was only after the concert was over that he came and introduced himself and was altogether typically modest and charming. The rest is history. Very much later we coincided in Huddersfield when 'Sun paints rainbows' was first performed (by a wind orchestra of truly monstrous proportions!) What a lovely man! We'll miss him so much.
George T Nicholson

Mike Oldfield 's remarks remind me of when we played, with Lol Coxhill, with Kevin Ayers decades ago. We had  such fun together. Kevin allowed us such freedom, anarchy even, all just about held together by the wit and charm of his songs. In particular, I remember a David Bedford solo  for which he simply placed a brick (painted pillar-box red, I think I remember) on the organ keyboard. Full volume. With all our racket around it, I thought it sounded great! With all his musical erudition, David could have pulled rank on us, but he just wasn't like that. Happy memories.
Robert Wyatt

I was in Spain for a European Composers' Forum meeting when I heard the news this week.  It is a tribute both to David's music, and also to his work for composers and songwriters over many years, that everyone round the table - fellow composers from all over Europe - knew, admired and liked him and wanted to join in recognising his immense achievement.  I am proud to say that David was also a good friend of mine, and that I shall personally miss his kindness and generosity, his wit and charm, his genuine interest in other people, as much as his wise counsel in committee matters.
David Stoll

I had started to know David well, through BASCA meetings, and other occasions, mainly Bristol meetings of the Severnside Composers Alliance. He always made time to talk to me, and offer encouragement, and I will miss his presence deeply at future occasions.
Frank Harvey

I admired David Bedford all my life, initially from his concerts with Rick Wakeman in the 70s, then knowing him as a composer's champion in PRS and BASCA meetings. A hugely professional, likeable composer who took his success and 'paid it forward'. He will be much missed.
Neil Brand

It's only today that I've known about David's passing but wish to pay tribute to a wonderful man, and especially for his interest in deaf children. He wrote two pieces for "Music and the Deaf" - "Stories from the Dreamtime" in 1992 which was premiered at the Huddersfiedl Contemporary Music Festival - and "Gods, Goddesses and Magical Creatures" which he wrote specially for our Deaf Youth Orchestra in 2007. The latter was quite a challenge as we asked for a piece for complete beginners, but David came up with a fantastic work and it was a huge pleasure to welcome him to the rehearsals and the concert. He was such an inspiring figure and I'm so gratefuil to have known him and worked with him.    

Paul Dr Paul Whittaker OBE

I was totally stunned to hear of the sad news of my dear friend David.
I can't find the words to say how much David has meant to me  - he was a remarkable man.
I was lucky to spend 5 years of my life with him in the late 80s/early 90s -years I shall never forget.
My heart goes out to Allison, all his seven children  and all his relatives.
To quote Kenneth Patchen - who he admired " something very beautiful got lost and wandered away as beautiful things always do..."
Katherine Walter (née Howard)