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OLIVER SODEN
researcher, broadcaster, writer, scholar
www.oliversoden.co.uk
Address: Flat 507, Colorado Building, Deals Gateway, London, SE13 7RD
Email: oliversoden@cantab.net Mobile: 07909 575109
Landline: 020 8691 0142
Education
University of Cambridge, BA (Hons) English, Double First (2008-2011)
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Austin Dobson Prize (best university performance in compulsory elements of Tripos)
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Newnes Prize for English (best college performance in Part II)
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Foundation Scholarship
Research Work
Crux Productions, dir. John Bridcut – variously full- and part-time position, since 2013

Sole researcher for numerous documentaries by award-winning production company,
directed by John Bridcut, including The History of the BBC (forthcoming 8-part documentary
series, BBC2, tx 2022); Janet Baker; Sir Colin Davis in his own words (winner Grierson
Award, best arts documentary); George III; The Queen at 90.

Conducted research visits in the homes of, and organised and attended filmed interviews
with, various interviewees (such as David Attenborough, Joan Bakewell, Janet Baker).

Role included research into life and career of numerous performers, royal figures, the
history of large institutions, etc. Research in BBC archives, British Library, London Library,
museums and archives in England, Germany and America.

In charge of copyright clearance, filming schedule, cash float; liaising with filming locations,
archivists, etc.
BBC 4, ‘The Quizeum’ – part-time position, Jan 2014

Researched and set questions for quiz-show fronted by Griff Rhys-Jones, set in and
focussing on the collections of various national museums. Attended filming sessions,
looked after participating guests.
BBC Radio 3, ‘Private Passions’ – part-time position, since Feb 2014

Permanent part-time position, researching and organising music, guests and recordings for
long-running BBC Radio 3 programme presented by Michael Berkeley
T. S. Eliot: Collected Poetry, Faber and Faber, 2015

Assisted editors Christopher Ricks and Jim McCue to compile a definitive list of the
recordings Eliot made of his own poetry, involving research in the British Library Sound
Archive, and discussion with the Harvard Vocarium and Library of Congress.
‘Britten 100 Birthday weekend’, BBC Radio 3, 22-24 November 2013, prod. David Papp

Research in BBC ‘Fabric’ Archive

Selected music for broadcast, entered broadcast schedule information into BBC database
Oliver Soden CV - 2015
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Literary assistant to RSC founder-director John Barton CBE – part-time, since 2012

Weekly visits to John Barton, working with him on editing his publication of Greek plays,
Tantalus (published January 2014)
Publications
Books
Tantalus by John Barton, edited by Oliver Soden, Oberon Books (January 2014)

Editorial assistant for two years to RSC founder-director, John Barton CBE.

Made ready for publication John Barton’s life-time’s project: the ten-play cycle, Tantalus, a
completion of the lost Greek plays.
Tippett’s A Child of Our Time – A Singer’s Guide

Fifty-page booklet made available to 500 singers, performing Tippett’s oratorio, A Child of
Our Time, at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the A Choir of Our Time project.
Forthcoming Book Chapters
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‘Tippett, Eliot, and Madame Sosostris’, in The Edinburgh Companion to Literature and
Music, ed. Delia da Sousa Correa (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016)

‘Michael Tippett and Morley College’, in Morley: 125th Anniversary Portrait, ed. Janet Sacks
(London: Third Millennium Publishing, 2015)
Articles


'The Clarion Airs of Michael Tippett and Christopher Fry', Musical Quarterly, 97 (2014), 616660
‘An Unknown Bird in the Early Faber Nest’ (with Jim McCue), Notes & Queries 61 (1),
March 2014

‘Tippett & Eliot’, Tempo 67 (266), October 2013, 28-53
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‘Michael Tippett, Morley College, and A Child of Our Time’, June 2013, Morley College: A
Choir of Our Time. Published online: http://achoirofourtime.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2013/04/Michael-Tippett-and-Morley-College-3.pdf

‘Tippett’s Time Has Come’, Gramophone, July 2013, p. 41
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‘A Composer of Our Time’, BBC Proms Guide, April 2013, pp. 44-47
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‘Five Quartets’, liner note, Tippett: The Complete String Quartets (Wigmore Live CD), 2015

Prefatory note, Tippett, arr. Manning, Time Past, Time Present, Time Future (Schott,
London, 2015), i.
Reviews

Make a Joyful Noise: Renaissance Art and Music at Florence Cathedral, edited by Gary
Radke, Yale University Press – review, The Art Newspaper, July 2015

Renaissance Art and Music at Florence Cathedral, ed. Gary M. Radke – review, The Art
Newspaper, January 2015

Thomas Schuttenhelm, The Orchestral Music of Michael Tippett – review, Cercles, 34 (July
2014)

Art and Music in Venice, edited by Hilliard T. Goldfarb, Yale University Press – review, The
Art Newspaper, January 2014
Oliver Soden CV - 2015
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
The Cambridge Companion to Michael Tippett, edited by Kenneth Gloag and Nicholas
Jones, Cambridge University Press – review, Tempo 67 (265), pp 88-92, July 2013

‘Vermeer and Music: the Art of Love and Leisure’ – review, The Art Newspaper, June 2013
Programme Notes - Tippett
Royal Opera House et al, English Touring Opera

Tippett, King Priam (Spring, 2014)
Wigmore Hall, ‘Tippett Retrospective’

Tippett, The Blue Guitar, Piano Sonata No. 4, Songs for Achilles, String Quartet No. 4, 17
January 2014

Tippett, The Heart’s Assurance, Boyhood’s End, String Quartet No. 1, String Quartet No. 2,
Wigmore Hall, 3 December 2013
BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall

Tippett, Concerto for Double String Orchestra, 20 August 2013

Tippett, arr. Bowen, Fanfare No. 5 from The Mask of Time, 20 August 2013

Tippett, The Midsummer Marriage (and synopsis), 16 August 2013
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Tippett, A Child of Our Time, 1 August 2012
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‘Michael Tippett’, Composer Profile, 13 July 2012, et seq.
BBC Symphony Orchestra, ‘Tippett Series’, Barbican Centre
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Tippett, Symphony No. 1, 17 May 2013
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Tippett, Symphony No. 4, 12 April 2013
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Tippett, Symphony No. 3, 1 March 2013
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Tippett, Triple Concerto, 19 October 2012
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‘Michael Tippett’, Composer Profile, 19 October 2012, et seq.
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Tippett, A Child of Our Time, ‘A note on the libretto’, 23 March 2012
Berlin Philharmonic, Philharmonie, Berlin
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Tippett, A Child of Our Time, programme advisor, 25-27 April 2013
Morley College at Royal Festival Hall: ‘A Choir of Our Time’, 29 June 2013
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‘Morley College and A Child of Our Time’
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Tippett, A Child of Our Time
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Holst, The Planets
Programme Notes – other
BBC Symphony Orchestra – Family Notes (for children)

Include for works by Britten, Debussy, Schumann, Haydn, Mozart, Honegger, Dusapin,
Martinu, Rozsa, Liszt, Rimsky-Korsakov, Sibelius, Rachmaninov, Nielsen, Beethoven,
Rouse, Foulds, Whitacre, Rossini, et al.
Oliver Soden CV - 2015
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Broadcasts
Twenty Minutes: Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage, Proms Plus Intro, 16 August 2013

Guest, with Michael Berkeley and Paul Webster, to discuss Tippett’s first opera. Host
Louise Fryer, prod. Helen Garrison.

Live discussion, plus audience Q&A, Royal College of Music

Broadcast BBC Radio 3, available on iPlayer and as downloadable Podcast
Twenty Minutes: Proms Plus Literary, Michael Tippett, 1 August 2013

Guest, with Ivan Hewett, to discuss Tippett’s correspondence, reading, and writing. Host
Rana Mitter, prod. Laura Thomas. Selected and performed excerpts from Tippett’s
correspondence and publications.

Live discussion, plus audience Q&A, Royal College of Music

Broadcast BBC Radio 3, available on iPlayer and as downloadable Podcast
‘A Choir of our Time’ – documentary, dir. Tim Marrinan, August 2013

Interviewed for documentary chronicling the community choirs’ performance of Tippett’s
oratorio A Child of Our Time at the Royal Festival Hall; discussion included the
circumstances of the work’s composition, and its relevance to community performance.
Lectures and Symposia
B12 Warehouse, Birmingham Opera Company, April 2014

Curated and spoke at afternoon conference, Breaking the Ice: A National Symposium,
linked to the company’s production of Tippett’s opera The Ice Break.
Cambridge Arts Theatre, May 2014
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Pre-performance talk, Tippett’s King Priam
Royal Opera House, February 2014
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Pre-performance talk, Tippett’s King Priam
‘Tippett Study Days’ – Wigmore Hall, London, November 2013

Organised and presented 3-day conference on ‘Chamber Music of Sir Michael Tippett’ to
large audience at the Wigmore Hall

Lectures: ‘Michael Tippett: An introduction’; ‘Tippett and Britten’; ‘Tippett’s second piano
sonata’; ‘The Heart’s Assurance’.
Goldsmith’s College, London University

Graduate Seminar, ‘Words for music in Tippett’s King Priam’, 1 October 2013
London University, Institute of English Studies

‘“Cross-dressed allusion” between Tippett and T. S. Eliot’, 22 November 2012
Oliver Soden CV - 2015
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Musical Performances
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Tippett: Piano Sonata No. 2, Britten: Sonatina Romantica, Leighton: Sonatina No. 2 – Piano
recital, 27 June 2011, Clare College, Cambridge

Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2, soloist – May 2008, Lancing College, West Sussex

ABRSM Piano Grade 8, Distinction; ABRSM Oboe Grade 8, Distinction
Voice Work
Readings to accompany talks include

Lecture on Handel’s Semele (St George’s, Hanover Sq), 10 March 2015.
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Lectures on Handel’s Deborah and Israel in Egypt, April 2014
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Lecture on Handel’s L’Allegro, London Handel Institute, 16 April 2013

Handel House Concert with readings (Brook St, W1), 10 March 2013

Stanley Sadie Memorial Lecture (Savile Club, W1), 6 February 2013

Handel House Exhibition Introduction (Brook St, W1), 2 December 2012
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Lecture on Handel’s Messiah (Arts Club, W1), 24 April 2012
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Lecture on Handel’s Messiah (St John’s, Smith Square), 10 December 2011
Radio Voice-overs include

Voices from the Old Bailey [various]
BBC Radio 4, prod. E Burke

Amanda Vickery on Men – 2 episodes [reader]
BBC Radio 4, prod. E Burke

Twenty Minutes: ‘Judas Maccabeus’ [reader]
BBC Radio 3, prod. M. Smith

Twenty Minutes: ‘Handel’s Henry’ [reader]
BBC Radio 3, prod. M. Smith
Television Voice-over

‘Delius: Composer, Lover, Enigma’
BBC4, dir. John Bridcut
Audiobooks

‘The Invisible College’ – educational audiobook
‘Invisible College’

The English Teacher, R. K. Narayan (unabridged)
Calibre
Oliver Soden CV - 2015