after studies at the royal manchester college of music (now the royal northern) and in munich, with composers humphrey proctor-gregg, thomas pitfield, harald genzmer and others (; ; ), he embarked upon a career as both a composer and a virtuoso pianist (; ). guy rickards considers mccabe's early works to have been overlooked because he was perceived as a pianist rather than a composer . one of his early successes was the orchestral song cycle "notturni ed alba" (1970), based on a set of poems in medieval latin about the theme of night (; ), which was described in "gramophone" as "an intoxicating creation, full of tingling atmosphere and slumbering passion" (quoted in }}). his concerto for orchestra (1982) brought him international recognition , but it was not until the 1990s that he came to be viewed primarily as a composer, with the successes of the piano work "tenebrae" (1992–93), which marked the deaths in 1992 of musicians sir charles groves, william mathias and stephen oliver, and was written for barry douglas; his fourth symphony, "of time and the river" (1993–94); and his third ballet "edward ii" (1995) , which won the 1998 barclays theatre award .