Keith Burstein
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Keith Burstein is a British composer.
Burstein is known for his outspoken commitment to 'New Tonalism' - a musical philosophy of reclaiming and reasserting the legitimacy of tonality in contemporary music (following a century of academic and cultural concentration on atonality). New Tonalism acknowledges the philosophy and reasoning behind the original atonal experiments of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern and others, but strongly questions the dominance of these and related forms in contemporary classical music and in modern music critical theory.
Burstein previously made his name as a conductor and commissioner of contemporary music - primarily as founder of chamber ensemble The Grosvenor Group. This ensemble existed between 1983 and 1993 and performed works by Schoenberg, Webern, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Harrison Birtwistle. Edward Elgar, Brian Ferneyhough, Oliver Knussen, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Luciano Berio among others. However, Burstein's growing and sincere interest - as a composer - in reassessing and reincorporating tonality into contemporary music had altered his priorities by the early 1990s. (Several Grosvenor Group members went on to join the Chamber Orchestra of Europe)
Burstein is known for a strong commitment to humanism, and for his outspokenness on political issues. This is expressed in the subject matter of several of his works, including 'The Year's Midnight - A Meditation on the Holocaust' (2000) and the opera 'Manifest Destiny' (2004), which deals with the issue of contemporary Middle-Eastern suicide bombers and the ongoing 'War on Terror'.
Keith Burstein is also well-known for several high-profile court cases relating to the defense of his musical integrity. These include a well-publicized victory over News International[1].
Major works (other than those already cited) include 'A Live Flame (in memoriam John Smith MP)', 'Missa Brevis' (written for the nine-hundredth anniversary of Norwich Cathedral), and 'Requiem For The Young' (written for the victims of the Marchioness disaster).
