Alfred Nieman

Alfred Nieman was born 1913 or 1914 in London (Great Britain) to a Russian father and a Polish mother who fled from the Russian Revolution shortly before his birth. Alfred Nieman was encouraged to music by his mother and he showed talent, but the family was large and always short of money. For that reason Alfred Nieman had to quit school at the age of 14 and start to earn money to support the family. He first worked as a relief pianist in a silent film theatre. To overcome the boredom of countless repetitions of the film scores, Alfred Nieman started to improvise the accompaniments. A musician from the cinema orchestra suggested he study at the Royal Academy of Music. So he entered a competition and tied with Moura Lympany for the Ada Lewis Scholarship. That was the start for his studies in composition (under Benjamin Dale) and piano (under York Bowen and Claude Pollard). During his studies Alfred Nieman won several prizes and scholarships, among them the Corder Prize for composition and the MacFarren Gold Medal for piano.
During World War II Alfred Nieman did not have to fulfil active duty due to health issues, and so became part of the entertaining service for soldiers (ENSA) as an arranger and performer. This continued after the war for the BBC. In 1947 the pianist Irene Kohler performed his Piano sonata No.1 at the concert of the International Society for Contemporary Music. This was heard by Edric Cundell, the prinicipal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama who - as a result - offered Alfred Nieman a position as piano and composition professor. Alfred Nieman accepted and remained in this position until his retirement. In his lectures Alfred Nieman pioneered the use of improvisation as a means of teaching composition. This approach did not only attract musicians but also music therapists and since the 1960s Alfred Nieman was also involved in the development of music therapy and the activities of the British Society for Music Therapy. Further interest of him were the National Association for Gifted Children or the Society for Psychic & Psychological Research.
Alfred Nieman died on 7 March 1997 in London (Great Britain).

The work catalogue of Alfred Nieman has a strong emphasis on chamber music. He composed two Piano sonatas, a Chamber sonata for piano, violin and cello, other piano music, Chromotempera for cello and piano, Tongs and Bones for trombone solo, a Rilke song cycle for voice and string quartet, other songs, as well as choir works.

In my possession is the autograph manuscript of the song "Concerning adoration" for voice and piano by Alfred Nieman. The work sets a poem by Dilys Laing to music. The manuscript is not dated, therefore it is uncertain when the work was composed. I have no information about a performance of the work.