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Robert Kemsley ( Robin) Orr (2 June 1909 – 9 April 2006) was a Scottish organist and composer.
After World War II he became a lecturer at Cambridge and a professor at the Royal College of Music, then Gardiner Professor of Music at Glasgow University from 1956 to 1965. While in Glasgow he worked with Alexander Gibson to set up the Musica Viva contemporary music festival, promoting the work of (among others) Stockhausen, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Iain Hamilton, Thea Musgrave, and Orr himself.Wilson, Conrad. Alex: The Authorised Biography of Sir Alexander Gibson (1993) Gibson also asked Orr to help him form Scottish Opera in 1960, and Orr served as the founding chairman between 1962 and 1976.
He returned to Cambridge in 1965 as Professor of Music, a post he held until his retirement in 1976 (later Emeritus). Kemp, Ian. 'Robin Orr at 90', in The Musical Times, Spring 1990, pp. 11-17 He was made a CBE in 1972. Obituary, Daily Telegraph, 15 May 2006 Robin Orr married Margaret Mace, the daughter of Egyptologist Arthur Cruttenden Mace, in December 1937. They had three children. In 1979 they divorced and Orr married again, to Doris Winny-Meyer.McLeod, John. 'Orr, Robert Kemsley [Robin]' in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography An "entertaining if somewhat personally reticent" autobiography, Musical Chairs, was published in 1999. Obituary, The Times, 17 April 2006 WorldCat
He was not related to Buxton Orr (1924-1997) – also a Scottish composer.
A CD of his orchestral music, including the Italian Overture (1952), From the Book of Philip Sparrow for soprano and strings setting John Skelton (1969), Rhapsody for string orchestra (1958) and Journeys and Places for soprano and orchestra setting Edwin Muir (1971) was issued in 2000 to mark the composer's 90th birthday. Robin Orr, Orchestral Works, reviewed at MusicWeb InternationalKemp, Ian. 'Robin Orr at 90: Age of Gold' in Musical Times No 1866, Spring 1999, p 11-17 A further CD of his chamber music, including Max Rostal's historic 1948 recording of the Sonatina for violin and piano (1941), as well as other archive recordings of the Violin Sonata (1947), Serenade for string trio (1948, rev. 1989) and Duo for violin and cello in one movement (1953, rev. 1965), was issued for the centenary in 2009. Robin Orr, Centenary Tribute, reviewed at MusicWeb International The chamber music shows a growing maturity of compositional technique and intensity of feeling, especially after the war (for instance in the slow dolente movement of the 1947 Violin Sonata). The Serenade shows the growing influence on Central European expressionism on his music. The Duo for violin and cello is so dense it sometimes sounds almost like a string quartet.Magil, Joseph. Review of Guild 2350 in American Record Guide, May/June 2010, p 130
The Sinfonietta Helvetica (1990) was his final orchestral work. It written in Switzerland, where he had a second home near Klosters, to mark the 700th anniversary of the Swiss confederation. It was first performed at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 6 December 1991 by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Feodor Glushchenko.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Radio Times, issue 3545, 21 November 1991, p 104
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Categories: 1909 Births, 2006 Deaths, Scottish Classical Composers, Scottish Opera Composers, British Male Opera Composers, Alumni Of Pembroke College, Cambridge, English Classical Organists, Fellows Of St John's College, Cambridge, Academics Of The University Of Glasgow, Commanders Of The Order Of The British Empire, Alumni Of The Royal College Of Music, People From Brechin, Honorary Members Of The Royal Academy Of Music, People Educated At Loretto School, Musselburgh, Scottish Renaissance, 20th-century British Organists, 20th-century Scottish Male Musicians, Professors Of Music, British Male Classical Organists, 20th-century British Musicologists
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