William Bennett
William Bennett was a renowned flutist with a broad repertory that stretched from standard works to obscurities, from the Baroque to rock and contemporary music. He was also a significant educator.
Bennett was born in London on February 7, 1936. His full name was William Ingham Brooke Bennett, and he sometimes used the initials WIBB as his name. He took up the recorder at age eight at boarding school and switched to the flute at 12. In London, Bennett studied at the Guildhall School of Music, and he avoided conventional military service by signing up for a three-year stint with the Scots Guards band. At 21, Bennett earned a scholarship that enabled him to travel to Paris for lessons with Jean-Pierre Rampal and later Marcel Moyse. Back in Britain, Bennett landed the position of principal flute with the BBC Northern Orchestra, and he has held orchestral or guest positions with a variety of English orchestras, including the London Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, and the English Chamber Orchestra. In 1989, Bennett released the album Celebration for Flute & Orchestra, the first of his catalog of about 100 albums.
Bennett toured widely as a soloist and chamber player. His chamber music partners included two harpsichordists, George Malcolm and Osian Ellis, at a time when small-group music by Baroque composers was not so commonly played. Bennett also performed or recorded with Yehudi Menuhin, the Grumiaux Trio, and I Musici and, from time to time, with artists outside classical music such as Jimi Hendrix and Wynton Marsalis. He premiered works by 19th century flute composers, including Ferdinand Ries, Bernhard Romberg, and Paul Taffanel, as well as a variety of contemporary works written for him by such composers as William Mathias, Richard Rodney Bennett, and Raimundo Pineda. Bennett's recordings cover the standard flute repertory and appeared on a wide variety of labels, including Decca, London, and Hyperion. Bennett had a long career as a teacher at the Musikhochschule Freiburg in Germany and the Royal Academy of Music in London, and he was in demand for master classes in many countries. In 1995, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire, and in later life, he received many other honors. Bennett died in London on May 11, 2022.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Harp Concertos
Concertos - Released by Signum Records on 18 Oct 2010
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Telemann: Recorder Suite; 2 Double Concertos
Michala Petri, William Bennett, Klaus Thunemann, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Iona Brown
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Dec 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto; Concerto for Flute and Harp
Emma Johnson, William Bennett, Osian Ellis, English Chamber Orchestra, Raymond Leppard
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Orchestersuiten Nr.1-4
William Bennett, Thurston Dart, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Wind Chamber Music - Schubert: String Quintet
Arthur Grumiaux, William Bennett, Pierre Pierlot, George Pieterson
Chamber Music - Released by Decca Music Group Limited on 1 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Concertos for Oboe
Neil Black, Carmel Kaine, William Bennett, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 23 Mar 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Flute Concertos Nos.1 & 2; Concerto for Flute & Harp
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Concertos for Violin & Flute
Carmel Kaine, William Bennett, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 4 Dec 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hommages
Margaret Fingerhut, Margaret Cable, Kenneth Sillito, William Bennett, Clifford Benson
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Celebration for Flute and Orchestra
William Bennett, English Chamber Orchestra, Steuart Bedford
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Il Gardellino - Vivaldi: Flötenkonzerte (Inspiration)
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 20 Mar 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scarlatti, A.: 6 Sinfonie di Concerto Grosso
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc: Flute Sonata
William Bennett, Clifford Benson
Chamber Music - Released by Camerata Tokyo on 16 Jun 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J. S Bach: The 6 Flute Sonatas
William Bennett, George Malcolm, Michael Evans)
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ferdinand Ries & Andreas Jakob Romberg: Quintets for Flute and Strings
William Bennett, Mile Kosi, Novsak Trio
Classical - Released by Jecklin on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concert Live at Nova Hall (Live)
William Bennett, Clifford Benson
Chamber Music - Released by Camerata Tokyo on 2 Sep 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
'Pot-Pourri' for flute & guitar
William Bennett, Simon Wynberg
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Lonely Heart
Olivia Van Goor, William Bennett
Jazz - Released by Olivia Van Goor on 5 Aug 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo