Ronald Center

Ronald Center (2 April 1913 – 18 April 1973) was a Scottish composer. Biography Center was born in Aberdeen where he studied piano under Julian Rosetti and organ under Willan Swainson. In 1943 he moved to Huntly, Aberdeenshire as music master of Huntly Gordon School for a period of six years, before turning to private teaching and composition. He remained in Huntly for the rest of his life, and was conductor of the Huntly Choral Society. In 1944 his symphonic poem The Coming of Cuchulain was given by the Scottish Orchestra under Warwick Braithwaite. From then onwards his works began to be regularly broadcast by the BBC, particularly in their Modern Scottish Composers series. He performed many of his song settings with his wife Evelyn. Works Center composed a symphony, the symphonic poem The Coming of Cuchulain, works for string orchestra, three string quartets, the cantata Dona Nobis Pacem (along with other choral pieces), and piano works including sets of Preludes, a Sonata and a Suite. His music draws on Scottish folk idioms, particularly the coronach and the reel. He has also been sometimes styled “the Scottish Bartok”. In 2013 Toccata Classics initiated a survey of his instrume