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Anthony Phillips
(b. 1951) is a composer,
guitarist
and pianist
who is known as a prolific writer of music for film and television as
well as a recording artist. He was a founding member alongside
Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks of the band Genesis with
whom he recorded the albums From Genesis To Revelation and Trespass.
After leaving the group in 1970, Anthony
studied orchestration and harmony externally at the Guildhall School of
Music and Drama in London and on passing his LGSM exams, he taught music
at Reeds School and Peper Harrow whilst continuing to compose and record
in his home studio.
Anthony
marked his return to the commercial music scene with the release of his
debut solo album The Geese & The Ghost in 1977 (which featured
contributions from Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins) and since then has
created a large and diverse output as a recording artist. As well as
album releases such as Wise After The Event, Sides, 1984, Slow
Dance and Field Day, he has to date also released eleven
albums in the eclectic Private Parts & Pieces series and four
volumes in the Missing Links series. Amongst other
projects, he collaborated with Harry Williamson on the large-scale
instrumental work Tarka and he also co-wrote the stage musical
Alice with Richard Scott.
Seventh Heaven,
the collaboration between Anthony and composer/orchestrator Andrew Skeet
which features a collection of acoustic and orchestral portraits, was
featured as CD of the week on Classic FM in the UK.
Whilst Anthony
continues to release solo albums to critical acclaim, increasingly his
music has also been much in-demand for film and television.
Commissions have included scores for both dramas and documentaries
including ITV's six-part series Lifeboat and Midway: Island of Life for
the BBC's Natural World strand. In
collaboration with percussion virtuoso and flautist Joji Hirota, he has
written and recorded music for over a dozen Survival programmes,
including the award-winning Land of Dragons and Creatures of
the Magic Water.
Anthony
has also established himself as one of the most prolific and successful
composers of library music, with tracks from his extensive output
in this field
being regularly featured on commercials, films and television series
throughout the world.
2014 saw Anthony renewing his association with Cherry Red Records via
the Esoteric Recordings label who have re-issued his back catalogue.
Harvest of the Heart, a five CD deluxe box set anthology which
celebrates Ant's rich musical heritage by featuring recordings made
between 1969 and the present day was released in November 2014 to
wide-spread acclaim. Subsequent re-releases have included the
Definitive Edition of Ant's debut solo album The Geese & The Ghost (a
three disc set which includes a stunning 5.1 surround sound mix of the
album), Private Parts & Pieces I - IV (a deluxe clamshell box set
of the first four albums in that series) and deluxe editions of the
albums Wise After The Event, Sides and 1984, all of which
feature new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes.
The quality and impact of the Esoteric reissues was confirmed when the
series won the Storm Thorgerson Grand Design Award at the Progressive
Music Awards in September 2016. Further releases in the series
have included
Private Parts & Pieces V - VIII
and
Private Parts & Pieces IX - XI (deluxe
clamshell box sets of the other albums in that series), a deluxe edition
of the instrumental album
Slow Dance
(which features a new 5.1 surround sound mix) and an expanded edition of
the song-based release
Invisible Men.
Further reissues have included the 2005 acoustic album
Field Day
and
Seventh Heaven,
with both titles including a new 5.1 surround sound mix of the
respective albums.
Other titles in the reissue series include
Missing Links I - IV
(which brings together the four albums in the series of the same name
together with
Extra Missing Links,
a 27 track CD of rare and previously unreleased material) and
Archive Collection Volumes I & II
(which includes an additional CD of the previously unreleased
Masquerade Tapes).
Expanded editions of
Wildlife
(which further showcases Anthony's collaborations with percussionist and
flautist Joji Hirota) and Gypsy Suite (written and recorded with Harry
Williamson) are the latest additions to the Esoteric re-releases.
January 2018 saw the world premiere performances of Anthony's
composition Gemini for two
pianos by the internationally renowned soloist Martha Argerich with
pianist Gabriele Baldocci.
The piece, which is dedicated to Martha, was developed into a duet by
Anthony in collaboration with Gabriele and was performed at concerts in
Valencia and Barcelona.
In addition to the reissues of his extensive back catalogue October 2019
saw the release of Strings of
Light, Anthony's first new solo album in seven years.
Strings of Light is a
collection of instrumental guitar work which features twenty-four pieces
spanning two CDs utilising the many beautiful and rare guitars in Ant's
collection. After a seven year absence of new recorded work,
Strings of Light was a
welcome return and a fine addition to his extensive body of work.
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