Groundbreaking Composer Harrison Birtwistle Dies at 87

Composer Harrison Birtwistle, from Britain, congratulates Conductor Pierre Boulez from France and the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, on Thursday, Sept 16, 2004, at the Lucerne Festival in the KKL Culture and Congress Centre in Lucerne, Switzerland. (AP)

Harrison Birtwistle, the creator of daringly experimental modern music who was recognized as one of Britain’s greatest contemporary composers, has died at 87.

Birtwistle’s publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, said he died Monday at his home in Mere, southwest England. No cause of death was given.