Robin Hartwell, a senior music lecturer at Liverpool Hope University, has died aged 75 of heart failure after a long illness. He was known for his gift for original thought, whether designing courses for students or conducting detailed musical analysis.
I met Robin on our first day at Reading University in 1969, and we shared a small bedsit as we embarked on the undergraduate course in music. In the late 1980s, we were reunited as lecturers in the music department at what was then Liverpool Institute of Higher Education (LIHE). Robin played a vital part in developing the curriculum at LIHE and in its transition to become Liverpool Hope University in 1995.
He had a gift for original thought, which came through whether designing an introductory course in study skills for students or in highly detailed work in musical analysis. His lectures combined valuable insights with humour. He had a passion for the work of Karlheinz Stockhausen and regularly attended the composer's courses in Kürten, Germany. In recent years, he developed a website that draws together much of his composition and writings.
Early life and education
Born in Edinburgh, Robin was the second of three children of Winifred (nee Forman), who worked for the Family Planning Association, and Bob Hartwell, a TUC press officer, who met through their membership of the Labour party. Robin's early musical experience came through the choir in the local parish church, which was run by Betty Roe, a professional pianist, organist, singer and composer. Under her influence, he started composing.
At 11, he went to Quintin grammar school in St John's Wood, a largely unhappy experience. However, thanks to an enterprising art teacher who provided tickets for pupils, Robin started to attend Proms concerts. He began piano lessons but had mixed success as an instrumentalist, and because of this, he was prevented from taking A-level music. Moving to Chiswick Polytechnic, he enrolled on a full-time music course, and his interest in contemporary music flourished. He became an early member of Cornelius Cardew's controversial Scratch Orchestra, open to allcomers regardless of their musical training.
University and career
At Reading University, Robin reignited his interest in choral singing and continued his exploration of the new. The arrival of Christopher Wintle to the staff proved highly significant – Wintle brought the most recent developments in composition and musical analysis, and these were to remain at the heart of Robin's musical thinking for the rest of his life.
After studies at Southampton and Sussex universities, and part-time posts at Keele and Liverpool universities, he joined LIHE, where he would remain until retirement as senior lecturer in 2012.
In 1996, he married Jolande van Bergen, who survives him, as do his siblings, Gregory and Jennifer.
