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Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s is thrilled to present the Medals and Militaria Auction at 399 Strand which will take place on Wednesday 17 September 2025. Highlights of the auction include a very special collection of items awarded to the late British composer and pianist John McCabe CBE. Comprising his CBE medal alongside two Ivor Novello awards (1976/77 and 2014), the collection will be sold as a single lot estimated at £1,500 – 2,000.
John McCabe’s first Ivor Novello was awarded for the “Best theme song from TV or Radio” for his work on the TV show “Sam” (1976/77). In 1985 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to British music. And in 2014 he was awarded his second Ivor Novello – the prestigious Classical Music Award.John McCabe was a celebrated British composer and pianist who created works in many forms, including symphonies, ballets and solo works for the piano. He served as Director of the London College of Music from 1983 to 1990 and was praised by Guy Rickards as “one of Britain’s finest composers in the past half-century.” Born in Liverpool in 1939 to an Irish father and a German/Finnish mother, McCabe was badly burned in an accident as a child and as a result was home-schooled for eight years. During this time, the house was filled with music – much influenced by his mother, a talented amateur violinist – which no doubt inspired his future career. By the age of 11 he had composed 13 symphonies, and he subsequently attended the Liverpool Institute.
McCabe began his formal studies in composition at Manchester University with Humphrey Procter-Gregg and then with Thomas Pitfield at the Royal Manchester College of Music (now the Royal Northern College).
Later, he continued at the Munich Hochschule für Musik, studying with German composer Harald Genzmer among others. Alongside his burgeouning career as a pianist, he composed several acclaimed symphonies and series, including his Concerto for Orchestra, which brought him international recognition, however it was not until the 1990s that he came to be primarily viewed as a composer, with the successes of the piano score Tenebrae (1992-3), his 4th symphony Of Time and the River, and his 3rd ballet Edward II (1994). He worked in almost every genre, however large-scale forms lie at the heart of his catalogue, with seven symphonies, two dozen concertante works and eight ballet scores to his name, in addition to numerous concerti, with a style that evolved throughout his life.
John McCabe married Monica Smith, a former head of the Sittingbourne Music Society, in 1974 was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2012 but continued to compose music during his treatment. He died in February 2015. A compilation of his letters to performers and other composers, compiled by his wife, was published in 2024.
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