John Andrew Howard Ogdon (January 27, 1937–August 1, 1989) was an English pianist and composer. January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Pianist Claudio Arrau, Carnegie Hall, 1954. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ...

Ogdon was born in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, and attended Manchester Grammar School, before studying at the Royal Manchester College of Music (the predecessor of the Royal Northern College of Music) between 1953 and 1957. His tutor there was Claud Biggs. As a boy he had studied with Iso Elinson and after leaving college, he further studied with Gordon Green, Denis Matthews, Dame Myra Hess, and Egon Petri — the latter in Basle, Switzerland. Map sources for Mansfield Woodhouse at grid reference SK540632 Mansfield Woodhouse is a small town about 2 km north of Mansfield itself, in Nottinghamshire, UK. It lies about 4 km south of Shirebrook. ... Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. ... The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is an independent boys school (ages 11-18) in Fallowfield, Manchester, England. ... Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music or RNCM is a conservatoire in Manchester, England. ... English pianist and musicologist (1919 - 1988) Denis James Matthews was born in Coventry on 27th February 1919, the son of a motor salesman. ... Myra Hess Dame Myra Hess (February 25, 1890 – November 25, 1965) was a British pianist. ... Egon Petri (March 23, 1881 - May 27, 1962) was a classical pianist. ... Basel (English traditionally: Basle [ba:l], German: Basel [ba:z@l], French Bâle [ba:l], Italian Basilea [bazilE:a]) is Switzerlands third most populous city (188,000 inhabitants in the canton of Basel-City as of 2004; the 690,000 inhabitants in the conurbation stretching across the...

He won First prize at the London Liszt Competition in 1961 and consolidated his growing international reputation by winning another first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1962, jointly with Vladimir Ashkenazy. The International Tchaikovsky Competition is one of the most prestigious classical music competitions in the world. ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2007)    - Density 10,469,000   8537. ... Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (sometimes transliterated Ashkenazi) (Russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович А́шкенази) (born July 6, 1937) is a conductor and, more notably, a pianist. ...

John Ogdon was able to play most pieces at sight and had committed a huge range of pieces to memory. He enjoyed stretching his vast talents to their limit and attempted such monumental tasks as a complete recording of Rachmaninov's works for piano, which was released in 2001. He recorded all ten Scriabin sonatas early in his career. In more familiar repertoire, he revealed deep musical sensibilities. Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Russian: , Sergej Vasil’evič Rachmaninov, 1 April 1873 (N.S.) or 20 March 1873 (O.S.) – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. ... Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (Russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин; sometimes transliterated as Skryabin) (6 January 1872 – 27 April 1915) was a Russian composer and pianist. ...

His own compositions include piano works, chamber music, a string quartet and a piano concerto. A planned symphony based on the works of Herman Melville and a comic opera were left unfinished. Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, essayist and poet. ...

Ogdon's health was never good, and his physical constitution was not strong enough to carry the burden of his enormous talent. A gentle giant, known and loved for his kindness and generosity, he found it hard to say no and was pushed beyond his strength. He experienced a severe breakdown. His illness was never fully diagnosed, but was thought to be schizophrenia (possibly inherited from his father) or manic depression. Ogdon spent some time in hospital and in general needed more nursing than it was possible to provide while touring. Manic depression, with its two principal sub-types, bipolar disorder and major depression, was first clinically described near the end of the 19th century by psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin, who published his account of the disease in his Textbook of Psychiatry. ...

In 1983, after emerging from hospital, he played at the opening of the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. In 1988 he released a five-disc recording of an interpretation of Sorabji's Opus Clavicembalisticum, shortly before he died of pneumonia, brought on by undiagnosed diabetes. Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (August 14, 1892 – October 15, 1988) was a British composer, music journalist and pianist. ... Opus Clavicembalisticum is a solo piano piece composed by Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, completed on June 26, 1930 at 1:30 P.M.. It is characterized by its four (sometimes five) hour duration and its extreme demands upon the pianist. ... Pneumonia is an illness of the lungs and respiratory system in which the alveoli (microscopic air-filled sacs of the lung responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere) become inflamed and flooded with fluid. ... This article is about the disease that features high blood sugar. ...

The BBC made a film about his life titled Virtuoso, based on his biography, written by his wife and fellow-pianist, Brenda Lucas Ogdon. John Ogdon was played by Alfred Molina, who won a Best Actor award from the Royal Television Society for his performance. The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is one of the largest broadcasting corporations in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of more than £4 billion. ... Molina as Dr. Octopus in Spiderman 2 (2004) Alfred Molina (born May 24, 1953) is an English actor. ... The Royal Television Society is a British-based society for the discussion, analysis and preservation of television in all its forms, past, present and future. ...

External links

• allmusic.com biography
• The John Ogdon Foundation