Stanley Bate

Full biography Stanley Bate

Stanley Bate (12 December 1911 - 19 October 1959) was an English composer and pianist. He studied composition with Harold C. Lake and piano with Douglas Durston , and began writing incidental music for theatre director Michel Saint-Denis. In 1928, he wrote an opera: a Christmas prelude in one act, "L'Enfant Prodigue," which was performed in London in 1929. Bate had a significant output of orchestral and chamber music, and two of his cello concertos have been recorded.

Coupling Arnold Bax with Stanley Bate is an interesting and unique concept. Graham Parlett quotes the composer writing to cellist Beatrice Harrison : "... have you seen the latest three concertos? Holst A major, Rubbra in G, and Bate in C." The album 'Bax & Bate Cello Concertos' features his Cello Concerto created in 1953. The fluency of his writing in the concerto suggests that the composer had a natural empathy with the solo instrument's lyrical and declamatory nature.

Bate was married to the composer and critic Peggy Glanville-Hicks until their divorce in 1948 , and after which he moved to the United States, where he taught at Juilliard School in New York.

In addition to his musical endeavors, Stanley Bate was also an accomplished painter, and his artwork can be found for sale at various galleries and auction houses.