Sir Harrison Birtwistle (born 1934) is one of the most challenging, original, and controversial musicians of his generation. Though angular and modern, his work nevertheless is indebted to tradition. Birtwistle composes music for a variety of ensembles, but remains best known for his stage operas. His most famous opera is perhaps his massive medieval work Gawain (1991).

Harrison Birtwistle, the son of Frederick and Margaret Harrison Birtwistle, was born on July 15, 1934, in the Lancashire industrial town of Accrington in northern England. Interested in music early on, Birtwistle began taking clarinet lessons at the age of seven with a local bandmaster. Soon thereafter, he joined the Accrington military band and later played for local drama society performances. Although he had few encounters with contemporary music and little access to classical scores as a child, Birtwistle started composing his own music at around age eleven. "I think what I'd always wanted to...