Music, Metaphor and Modernism: Barrie Gavin’s Composer Portraits

The Royal Philharmonic Society has described the series of composer portraits created by Barrie Gavin as ‘an unprecedented legacy and treasure trove for musicians and curious listeners alike to discover’. These profiles are characterized by their commitment to music of living composers, but also to a repertoire that has become increasingly marginalized in arts coverage in the half century or so since Gavin’s first portrait. This article examines Gavin’s contribution to the filmic presentation of musical modernism of the past 50 years and, in particular, explores his use of creative visual metaphors as a tool for interpretation.