United Kingdom on Music Theory Print

A. J. Potter

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Archibald James Potter (22 September 1918 – 5 July 1980) was an Irish composer and teacher, who wrote hundreds of works including operas, a mass, and four ballets, as well as orchestral and chamber music. Early years Potter was born in Belfast to a Presbyterian family who, oddly, lived on the Falls Road, a republican (Catholic) stronghold. His father was a church organist and piano tuner who was blind since childhood. His mother was, in Potter’s own words, “a raging alcoholic”. The young Potter escaped a rather grim childhood when he went to live with an aunt in Kent, England. Possessed of a good voice and natural musical ability, Potter was accepted as a treble by the world-famous choir of All Saints, Margaret Street. In 1933, after four years as a chorister, he was sent to Clifton College, Bristol. From there he went to the Royal College of Music on a scholarship and studied composition under Vaughan Williams. World War II interrupted Potter’s music education, and he left college to serve with the London Irish Rifles in Europe and the Far East. After the war Potter settled in Dublin, where he continued his studies at Trinity College Dublin, gaining a Doctorate in Music in 1953. A

Aaron Williams (composer)

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Aaron Williams (1731–1776) was a Welsh teacher, composer, and compiler of West Gallery music, active in Britain during the 18th century. Life Williams was probably born in Caldicot, Monmouthshire, the son of William Morgan. He served as clerk of the Presbyterian Scots Church, London Wall. Publications Williams’s publications include: * The Universal Psalmodist, 1763 (2nd ed., 1764; 3rd ed., 1765; 4th ed., 1770) * Daniel Bayley , The Royal Melody Complete, 3d ed., Boston, 1767 (an unauthorized compilation of music from William Tans’ur’s Royal Melody Complete and Williams’s Universal Psalmodist; subsequent editions, entitled The American Harmony, or Universal Psalmodist, were issued by Bayley in Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1769, 1771, 1773 and 1774). * Royal Harmony; or, The Beauties of Church Music, ca. 1765 * Psalmody in Miniature, 1769 (2nd ed., in 3 books, 1778; supplements added in 1778 and 1780; 3rd ed., in 5 books, 1783) * The New Universal Psalmodist, 1770 (6th ed., 1775) * An Ode or Anthem for the New Year, 1770 * Two New Anthems for Christmas-Day, 1770 * Comfort ye, my people: A new Christmas anthem, 1775 * British Psalmody, London, ca. 1785 These publications included se

Achille Simonetti

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Achille Simonetti (12 June 1857 – 19 November 1928) was a prominent Italian violinist and composer, mainly resident in England and Ireland. He was mainly known as a chamber musician and teacher. Life Born in Turin on 12 June 1857, Simonetti left his family in Bologna (this can be gleaned from his letter to Mr Hill (of Hills and Sons) written in 1922, ) and completed his studies under Francesco Bianchi, Eugenio Cavallini, Giuseppe Gamba, Charles Dancla (regarded as the last exponent of the classical French school of violin playing), and Camillo Sivori, the last pupil of Niccolo Paganini. Simonetti died aged 71 in London on 19 November 1928. Career Simonetti came to England in 1891, embarking on a career as chamber musician. He became part of the first London Trio, an endeavour which occupied him from 1901 to 1912, along with cellist William Whitehouse and pianist Amina Goodwin. From 1912 to 1919, he was a professor of violin at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, ;Chamber music * Allegretto Romantico in D minor for viola and piano (published 1897) * Andante mélancolique for violin (or cello) and piano * Ballata in C minor for viola and piano (published 1897) * Berceuse for violin and

Adam Pounds

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Adam Pounds (born ) is a British composer and conductor, mostly active in Cambridge. Biography Adam Pounds is the first living British composer recorded by the Sinfonia of London and its conductor, John Wilson. Born in Walthamstow, in London, to Edward Pounds and Annie Pounds (née Crisp)., he moved to Cambridge with his wife, Dinah Pounds, and their two children, in 2000. Education As a child, Pounds was a chorister at St Michael’s Church, in Walthamstow. Pounds continued his studies at Goldsmiths’ College, graduating with a BMus (Hons) degree. In 2002, Pounds began studying for a MEd at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where his research focused on the decline of classical music provision in state schools. During his studies at Trinity Hall, Pounds joined the choir of Great St Mary’s, the University Church. He subsequently founded the Academy of Great St. Mary’s at the University Church in Cambridge, where some of his later works have received their debut. Pounds also conducts the Stapleford Choral Society. Between 2015 and 2021, then again from 2024, Pounds also served as the chairman of the Lennox Berkeley Society, which encourages the performance, study, recording and broadcast of his

Adela Maddison

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Katharine Mary Adela Maddison, née Tindal (15 December 1862 (1811–76) On 4 October 1882 at Marylebone parish church, she married barrister and former footballer Frederick Brunning Maddison (1849–1907); the ceremony was repeated on 14 April 1883 at Christ Church, Lancaster Gate, London, where her status as a minor was correctly recorded. Maddison and her husband were prominent figures in the London music scene starting around 1890, alongside patrons such as Mabel Batten and Frank Schuster. From around 1894, Maddison and her husband played a major part in encouraging and facilitating Gabriel Fauré’s entry onto the London musical scene. was a success. She continued to compose opera and songs, and to produce concerts, into the 1920s. From the early 1920s, Martha Mundt lived in Geneva, having joined the secretariat of the International Labour Organization (ILO) as an information officer on the strength of the recommendation of leading German socialist Eduard Bernstein to the ILO director, Albert Thomas. Mundt became the ILO’s officer dealing with employment issues for women and children, and the ILO’s liaison with feminist organisations. She represented the ILO at a number of internatio

Adelina de Lara

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Adelina de Lara OBE (23 January 1872 – 25 November 1961) was a British classical pianist and composer. Early life She was born Lottie Adelina Preston in Carlisle, Cumberland on 23 January 1872 to parents George Matthew Tilbury (aka Preston) of Southampton and Anna de Lara. Her grandfather was David Laurent de Lara, a Dutch-born illuminator, who, according to Adelina de Lara, was the son of the Spanish Count Laurent de Lara. Her mother was the sister-in-law of Sir Landon Ronald. She was given the performing name of Adelina de Lara after a visit to a music shop with her father, to secure her first engagement. The music shop proprietor considered the name Adelina Preston far too ‘English’ to perform under and thus suggested her mother’s maiden name as a suitable replacement. She first appeared in public at the age of six, and gave recitals throughout the UK until the age of twelve. Career She was educated at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt under Iwan Knorr, and studied piano with Fanny Davies and Clara Schumann, whose work she championed for most of her life. She was close friends with Johannes Brahms through her studies. As an adult, Adelina de Lara performed in public for the fir

Adiescar Chase

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Adiescar Chase is an English multi-instrumentalist and composer. She composed the soundtrack of the Netflix series, Heartstopper. Early life and education Adiescar is from Bedford, England. Without her knowledge, her mother enrolled her in the “Sound and Music Summer School” course at the Purcell School for Young Musicians. She earned a master’s degree in Composition for Film and Television at the National Film and Television School in 2021. She sound sampled the face of a leaf, converting the data into an electronic sound. Heartstopper marked her first project after graduating from the National Film and Television School. She read the webcomic prior to composing and was given direction to have her music complement the pre-existing songs used. She would play chords on her keyboard, then add riffs on a synthesiser, then add sound effects. Some of the tracks, including the titular one, aided the “Heartstopper moments” by further emphasizing the feeling of electricity and excitement. In 2024, Adiescar, along with Claude Samard Polikar, accompanied Jarre at several events, including the Starmus Festival concert in Bratislava, the Les Francofolies de La Rochelle concert on the French Na

Adrian Batten

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Adrian Batten (c. 1591 – c. 1637) was an English organist and Anglican church composer. He was active during an important period of English church music, between the Reformation and the English Civil War in the 1640s. During this period the liturgical music of the first generations of Anglicans began to diverge significantly from music on the continent. Among the genres developed during this period by Batten and other Anglican composers was the ‘verse anthem’, in which sections alternate between the full choir and soloists, underlain and unified by an independent organ accompaniment. Early life Batten was born in Salisbury, and was a chorister and subsequently an organ scholar at Winchester Cathedral, where he studied under John Holmes. (The date of his birth is uncertain, but since Holmes, Batten’s organ instructor, left that post in 1602 when his chorister pupil would have been about twelve years of age, Batten must have been born in about 1590. Most sources give the year as 1591.) Batten remained with the cathedral choir after his voice had changed, as evidenced by graffiti carved into the wall of Bishop Gardiner’s chantry that reads “Adrian Battin: 1608”. Career In 1614, Batten

Adrian Jack

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Adrian Frederick Joseph Jack (16 March 1943 – June 2026) was a British composer. Life and career Adrian Frederick Joseph Jack was born in Datchet, near Slough, Buckinghamshire, England, on 16 March 1943. He was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School, Northwood (1954–1960), and the Royal College of Music, London (1961–1964), where he studied composition with Peter Racine Fricker, fugue and orchestration with Gordon Jacob, piano with Antony Hopkins and organ with John Birch. From 1967 to 1969 he studied composition and electronic music with Włodzimierz Kotoński at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw, Poland. Jack started composing at the age of 13. He later studied at the Royal College of Music. The main conscious influence at that time was Messiaen. Hearing Boulez’s “Le marteau sans maitre” brought a new atonal complexity to his music, replaced by an austere paring-down following his discovery of Edgard Varèse. He actually wrote to Varèse to ask if he could study with him in New York and received a letter of refusal, not very long before Varèse died in November 1965. For the next 20 years, Jack composed somewhat intermittently, but his works included “Holly Bush”, written in Po

Adrian Johnston (musician)

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Adrian Johnston (born 1961) is an English musician and composer for film and television scores, who resides in London and Samois-sur-Seine. Early life and education Born in the county of Lancashire, Johnston attended the University of Edinburgh, studying English. He has been a drummer in bands including Moles for Breakfast, The Waterboys, the Wanglers, Combo Zombo, and The Mike Flowers Pops. Career During his twenties, Johnston travelled the world providing music accompaniment to silent films at film festivals. He later scored productions for the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Johnston’s first film score was for the 1996 Thomas Hardy adaptation Jude. He has also composed original scores for The Turn of the Screw (1999), Becoming Jane, a 2007 film about Jane Austen, and the 2008 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. In 2008, he was awarded a BAFTA for the score of the BBC film Capturing Mary. Johnston’s score for Charles Sturridge’s mini-series Shackleton won a 2002 Primetime Emmy. In 2009, he scored the British science-fiction procedural TV series Paradox. He composed the theme music for the BBC detective series Zen, which won him a 2011 RTS

Adrian Sutton

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Adrian Geoffrey Sutton (15 August 1967 – 10 October 2025) was a British composer, best known for his theatre music but also widely known for his symphonic and chamber music for the concert hall. He composed the scores for a series of well received National Theatre productions, including War Horse (2007) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (2011). In September 2022, Sutton was diagnosed with an incurable cancer from which he died in 2025. Life and career Sutton was born on 15 August 1967 in Tenterden near Ashford, Kent. His family then moved to Zimbabwe and later to South Africa where he grew up. Before his success at the National Theatre, Sutton spent 15 years as a composer of “applied music”, especially music for television commercials. Sutton was introduced to his brother, the theatre director Tom Morris. That led to a commission from the National Theatre in 2005 to write the score for Helen Edmundson’s “play with music” Coram Boy, for which Sutton adapted and extended the music of Handel. The score for War Horse two years later is interspersed with simple folk songs on which Sutton collaborated with John Tams. The orchestral sections combine an English folk idi

Alan Bush

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Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed prolifically across a range of genres but struggled through his lifetime for recognition from the British musical establishment, which largely ignored his works. From a prosperous middle-class background, Bush enjoyed considerable success as a student at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in the early 1920s and spent much of the decade furthering his compositional and piano-playing skills under distinguished tutors. A two-year period in Berlin from 1929 to 1931, early in the Nazi Party’s rise to power, cemented Bush’s political convictions and moved him from the mainstream Labour Party to the Communist Party of Great Britain, which he joined in 1935. He wrote several large-scale works in the 1930s and was heavily involved with workers’ choirs, for whom he composed pageants, choruses and songs. His pro-Soviet stance led to the BBC temporarily banning his music in the early years of the Second World War, and his refusal to modify his position in the pos

Alan Rawsthorne

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Alan Rawsthorne (2 May 1905 – 24 July 1971) was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex. Early years Alan Rawsthorne was born in Deardengate House, Haslingden, Lancashire, to Hubert Rawsthorne (1868–1943), a well-off medical doctor, and his wife, Janet Bridge (1877/8–1927). Despite what appears to have been a happy and affectionate family life with his parents and elder sister, Barbara (the only sibling), in beautiful Lancashire countryside, as a boy Rawsthorne suffered from fragile health. Although he did at various times attend schools in Southport, much of Rawsthorne’s early education came through private tutoring at home. Despite his childhood aptitude for music and literature, Rawsthorne’s parents tried to steer him away from his dreams of becoming a professional musician. As a result, he unsuccessfully tried to take on degree courses at Liverpool University, first in dentistry and then architecture. Concerning dentistry, Rawsthorne is on record as having said “I gave that up, thank God, before getting near anyone’s mouth”, while his friend Constant Lambert quipped “Mr Rawsthorne assures me that he has given up th

Alan Richardson (composer)

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Alan Richardson (29 February 1904 – 29 November 1978) was a Scottish pianist and composer. Biography Richardson was born in Edinburgh, where he worked for some time as a pianist for the BBC before going to London to study piano and composition, from 1929 to 1930, with Harold Craxton at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1931 he undertook a concert tour of Australia and New Zealand. He was accompanist for violinist Carl Flesch from 1936 to 1939. Richardson married renowned oboist Janet Craxton, the daughter of his teacher Harold Craxton, in 1961. He was appointed Professor of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music in 1960, a position he held until his death in 1978. Richardson composed many pieces for piano, as well as some chamber music, including several works for the oboe which he wrote for his wife. He made a recording of his Sussex Lullaby with the viola player Watson Forbes and also dedicated his brief Intrada for viola and piano to Forbes. Richardson died, aged 74, in London. Selected works : Richardson’s compositions are largely published by Augener Edition, Comus Edition, Oxford University Press, the Scottish Music Centre and Tobias Broeker. ;Vocal music * Animal Nursery Rhymes, f

Alan Ridout

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Alan Ridout (9 December 1934 – 19 March 1996) was a British composer and teacher. Life Born in West Wickham, Kent, England, Alan Ridout studied briefly at the Guildhall School of Music before commencing four years of study at the Royal College of Music, London with Herbert Howells and Gordon Jacob. He was later taught by Michael Tippett, Peter Fricker and (under a Dutch government scholarship) Henk Badings. He went on to teach at the Royal College of Music, the University of Birmingham, the University of Cambridge, the University of London, and at The King’s School, Canterbury. He also broadcast musical talks on the radio. Alan Ridout lived for much of his life in Canterbury, but after a serious heart attack in 1990 he moved to France, settling in the town of Vitré, Brittany, before moving on to Caen at the very end of his life. Music Ridout’s style is mostly tonal, though in younger life he wrote some microtonal works. His works include church, orchestral and chamber music, often intended for amateurs and children. Much of the church music came out of a collaboration between Ridout and Allan Wicks, organist and master of the choristers at Canterbury Cathedral which began in 1964.

Alan Shacklock

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Alan Albert Shacklock (born 20 June 1950) is an English musician, composer, arranger and recording producer, who lives and works in Nashville, Tennessee. His 1972 song “The Mexican” as performed by Babe Ruth is considered influential in the early development of b-boying and hip-hop culture. Life and career Alan Shacklock was born in London and began playing guitar as a child. His first band was The Juniors, which included the Rolling Stones’ guitarist Mick Taylor and Jethro Tull bassist John Glascock. He then joined Chris Farlowe’s Thunderbirds. Shacklock later completed classical guitar and lute studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating with a master’s degree in music. Well-noted for never being seen without a hat, in 1969 Shacklock played in a band called the Gods, and in 1971 formed the band Babe Ruth. He worked as the group’s songwriter and producer from 1971 to 1975, and then left to work as a solo songwriter and record producer. He has received four Grammy Award nominations, and has produced a number of silver, gold and platinum recordings for artists, including Mike Oldfield, Bonnie Tyler, Jeff Beck (of the Yardbirds), Meat Loaf, the Alarm, the Look, Roger

Alan Wilson (composer)

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Alan J. Wilson (26 May 1947 - 4 April 2026) was a British composer of church music. Professional career He was born in 1947, in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, UK. He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. He studied piano with Phyllis Sellick, harpsichord with Dr. Thorntam Lofthouse, and composition with John Lambert. He attended composition masterclasses with Nadia Boulanger. He went on to study at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he studied keyboard with Gustav Leonhardt. From 1974 to 1986 he was Director of Music at the Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury, for which he wrote many choral works. In 1976, he became Director of Music at Queen Mary College, University of London. There, he composed ‘The Palace of Delights’ and ‘The Harmony of the Spheres.’ He conducted research to restore and edit songs from the Queen Mary College, including the ‘Westfield Songbook,’ and set writings of Constance Louisa Maynard to music, including ‘The Downs’ as well as several poems and hymns. In 1986, he became Organist and Director of Music at the Bow Bells Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, London. There, he researched music by William Babell and John Stanley and composed ‘2015 Requiem.’ Du

Alastair King (composer)

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Alastair King (born 1967) is a British composer and conductor, perhaps best known for his musical contributions to film and television. He frequently collaborates with composers Charlie Mole, Geoff Zanelli, Nicholas Hooper and Rupert Gregson-Williams by either conducting for them or acting as an orchestrator or both. Biography King studied music at Bath College of Higher Education, graduating in 1991. He then undertook postgraduate study at Birmingham University and the University of Kansas. His work Hit the Ground (Running, Running, Running) was the only European entry in the final of the composing competition Masterprize 2001. In addition to his concert works, King has composed music for various films, including Shrek, Chicken Run, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and television programmes, including the FIFA World Cup 2002, The Last Detective, Second Nature and William and Mary. King’s most recent roles include conducting and orchestrating on Doctor Who for Murray Gold and Segun Akinola. He replaced Ben Foster after his departure in 2015 and took on the full role for Series 10. He left the show after the 2017 Christmas special Twice Upon a Time, then returned in 2021 f

Albert Ketèlbey

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Albert William Ketèlbey (; born Ketelbey; 9 August 1875 – 26 November 1959) was an English composer, conductor and pianist, best known for his short pieces of light orchestral music. He was born in Birmingham and moved to London in 1889 to study at Trinity College of Music. After a brilliant studentship he did not pursue the classical career predicted for him, becoming musical director of the Vaudeville Theatre before gaining fame as a composer of light music and as a conductor of his own works. For many years Ketèlbey worked for a series of music publishers, including Chappell & Co and the Columbia Graphophone Company, making arrangements for smaller orchestras, a period in which he learned to write fluent and popular music. He also found great success writing music for silent films until the advent of talking films in the late 1920s. The composer’s early works in conventional classical style were well received, but it was for his light orchestral pieces that he became best known. One of his earliest works in the genre, In a Monastery Garden (1915), sold over a million copies and brought him to widespread notice; his later musical depictions of exotic scenes caught the public imag

Albertus Bryne

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Albertus Bryne (variants: Albert Bryan; Albert Brian) (ca. 1621 – 2 December 1668) was an English organist and composer. Biography His teacher was John Tomkins, organist of St Paul’s Cathedral, a role in which he succeeded his teacher in 1638. He was dismissed from the post by the Puritans and, during the Commonwealth, taught the harpsichord. He returned to St Paul’s at the Restoration but was not granted a request to be made organist of the Chapel Royal, Whitehall. He took up a post at Westminster Abbey after the Great Fire of London, and was succeeded by John Blow upon his death in 1668. He continued to receive a salary from St. Paul’s until his death. According to Anthony Wood, he was buried in the cloisters at Westminster Abbey, but his grave has not been found. He was respected in his time as ’that famously velvet fingered Organist’ (J. Batchiler, The Virgin’s Pattern, 1661) and ‘an excellent musician (Wood). He was one of the finest English harpsichord composers of the time and exerted a significant influence on later composers. His suites are among the earliest surviving English examples with four movements. Albertus Bryne II His son, also called Albertus, worked with him at

Alec Roth

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Alec Roth (born 1948) is an English composer. He is best known for his collaboration with Vikram Seth to produce the opera Arion and the Dolphin in 1994 based on the myth of Arion. Roth studied music from 1976 as a mature student at Durham University, having previously completed a science degree at the University of Nottingham. He earned a doctorate from Durham in 1986. His thesis was entitled New composition for Javanese gamelan. Works, editions and recordings * California Songbook - settings of poems written by Vikram Seth when he was living on the West Coast of the US * Sometime I Sing - settings for solo voice and guitar, including: My Lute and I; Dark Night; 3 Night Songs; Autumnal; English Folk Songs; Lights Out. Mark Padmore, Morgan Szymanski piano. Signum Records, 2013 * Earth and Sky (2000) - A choral work for children’s choir, percussion, and piano on an entirely monosyllabic text by Vikram Seth. A BBC Proms commission, it was first performed by the Finchley Children’s Music Group, Joanna MacGregor (piano), and Ensemble Bash, conducted by Nicholas Wilks at Royal Albert Hall in London on July 18, 2000. According to Roth, “In keeping with the millennial theme, a piece prese

Aleksander Kolkowski

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Aleksander Kolkowski (born 1959 in London) is a British musician and composer whose work combines instruments and machines from the pioneering era of sound recording and reproduction (Stroh violins, wind-up Gramophones, shellac discs and wax-phonograph cylinders) to make live mechanical-acoustic music. He lives and works in London, England. About Kolkowski studied music at the University of London, Goldsmiths College, violin with Clarence Myerscough at the Royal Academy of Music. Taught by John Tilbury, Hugh Davies and in 1982 participated in seminars and performances directed by John Cage. In the late 1970s, Kolkowski played on the then burgeoning punk rock scene in London, featuring on the records of Henry Badowski, an early member of The Damned, a British multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer, who was a member of several punk rock bands in the 1970s. Kolkowski played violins on Badowski’s post punk album, Life Is a Grand…, alongside sometime Generation X (band) guitarist, James Stevenson (musician) and Dave Berk, drummer with Johnny Moped, an early Stiff Records punk rock band from the late 70s’ first wave of punk in England. Over the past 25 years he has worked inte

Alex Prior

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Alexander Prior (born 5 October 1992) is a British composer and conductor who is the music director of the Eugene Symphony. He studied from the age of 13 to 17 at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was Chief Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra from 2017 to 2022, appointed at the age of 23. In September 2022, the Edmonton Symphony and Prior released a video of Ian Tyson’s Four Strong Winds. Alex has also been a champion of music by younger living composers, especially the music of Nicole Lizée, Gabriella Smith, Vivian Fung, and Alissa Cheung. Life and career Prior was born in London to a British father and a Russian-Ukrainian mother, who is a direct descendant of Konstantin Stanislavski. Prior began composing at the age of eight and by his early teens had written 40 works, including symphonies, concertos, two ballets, two operas, and a requiem for the children of Beslan. At an early age, he began piano lessons. He later enrolled in the junior department of the Royal College of Music. At 13, he entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory where he studied composition with Boris Tishchenko and opera and symphonic conducting with Alexander Alexeev (a pupil of Hans Swarowsky).

Alexander Goehr

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Peter Alexander Goehr (; 10 August 1932 – 26 August 2024) was a German-born English composer of contemporary classical music and academic teacher. A long-time professor of music at the University of Cambridge, Goehr influenced many notable contemporary composers, including Thomas Adès, Julian Anderson, George Benjamin and Robin Holloway . Born in Berlin, Goehr grew up in London surrounded by musicians, including his father, the conductor Walter Goehr. Goehr emerged as a central figure in the Manchester School of post-war British composers, including Peter Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle, in his early twenties. He joined Olivier Messiaen’s masterclass in Paris in 1955. Back in England and working for the BBC, he experienced an international breakthrough in 1957 with his cantata The Deluge in 1957, conducted by his father Walter Goehr. He composed Little Symphony in 1963 as a memorial to his father, arriving at a serialism that allowed expressive freedom. He combined avant-garde techniques with elements from music history in works of many genres including the Piano Trio (1966), his first opera, Arden Must Die (1966), the music-theatre piece Triptych (1968–1970), the orchestral

Alexander Goldscheider

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Alexander Goldscheider (born 22 June 1950) is a Czech-born British composer, music producer, writer, computer specialist and photographer. Life and career He read music at Charles University in Prague, and received a PhD for his analysis of the music of The Beatles in 1975. Initially a music writer, critic, and radio/club DJ (1968–73), he moved into songwriting and music production, becoming a staff producer at Supraphon (1976–79), where he produced a number of pop, rock, and jazz LPs of Czech singers and bands. He pioneered the use of synthesizers in Czechoslovakia and his music was released by Panton Records and Supraphon, used on TV and in films. He moved to London in 1981, recorded two solo albums (Themes for a One-Man-Band Vol. 1 & 2), and in 1983 worked at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop producing his own music for radio, TV, and films. Goldscheider then co-founded a music and computer company Romantic Robot, which initially designed and sold hardware (Multiprint, Videoface, Multifaces 1, 2, 3, 128 and ST) and published software (Music Typewriter, Trans-Express, Genie, Wriggler) for ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Atari ST computers. Romantic Robot became a recording label in 1991

Alexander Mackenzie (composer)

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Sir Alexander Campbell Mackenzie KCVO (22 August 1847 – 28 April 1935) was a Scottish composer, conductor and teacher best known for his oratorios, violin and piano pieces, Scottish folk music and works for the stage. Mackenzie was a member of a musical family and was sent for his musical education to Germany. He had many successes as a composer, producing over 90 compositions, but from 1888 to 1924, he devoted a great part of his energies to running the Royal Academy of Music. Together with Hubert Parry and Charles Villiers Stanford, he was regarded as one of the fathers of the British musical renaissance in the late nineteenth century. Life and career Mackenzie was born in Edinburgh, the eldest son of Alexander Mackenzie and his wife, Jessie Watson née Campbell. He was the fourth musician of his family. His great-grandfather was an army bandsman; his grandfather, John Mackenzie, was a violinist in Edinburgh and Aberdeen; his father was also a violinist, the conductor of the orchestra in the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, and editor of The National Dance Music of Scotland. Mackenzie’s musical talent emerged early: at the age of eight he was playing nightly in his father’s orchestra. Sh

Alfonso Ferrabosco III

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Alfonso Ferrabosco (junior) (died 1652) was an English composer and court musician. Biography Alfonso was the son of Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger (d. 1628), who was probably the ‘Master Alphonso Ferrabosco’ who sang in ‘a Hymenœi’ on Twelfth Night 1606, on the occasion of the marriage of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, with Lady Frances, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk. He succeeded his father as one of the ‘viols’ in the king’s band in March 1627–1628, and, together with his brother Henry, was appointed to the place of musician in ordinary. The two brothers probably held jointly the post of composer in ordinary (see below). Alfonso died in 1652 and was buried at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, on 14 July 1652. His brother Henry Ferrabosco died around 1658, and their shared post as musician, was filled by Thomas Bates, who seems to have gained by the division of labour practised by his predecessors, as he is given £50 and £40 yearly. The brothers were succeeded in the post of composer in ordinary by Dr. William Child, who was appointed on 4 July 1661 “in the roome of Alfonso Ferrabosco and Henry Ferrabosco, deceased”; he, however, only received a grant of £40 a year. Works

Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger

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Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger (c. 1575 – March 1628) was an English composer and viol player of Italian descent. He straddles the line between the Renaissance and Baroque eras. Biography Ferrabosco was born at Greenwich, the illegitimate son of the Italian composer Alfonso Ferrabosco the elder. His mother might have been Susanna Symons, whom Alfonso the elder later married. Ferrabosco the younger was left under the guardianship of Gomer van Awsterwyke, a member of Queen Elizabeth I’s court. Although Alfonso the elder asked for Alfonso the younger to be sent to him in Italy, where he had moved with his wife, the Queen insisted that he stay in England. Ferrabosco remained in Gomer van Awsterwyke’s care until Awsterwyke’s death in 1592. At this time he started a long career as a court musician. After the Union of the Crowns he became the private music tutor of Prince Henry and a groom of privy chamber, with a salary of £50. Ferrabosco was paid for “making the songs” for Anne of Denmark’s masque, The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses, performed in January 1604. Ferrabosco collaborated with Ben Jonson on several projects, including The Masque of Blackness (1605), and wrote music for sever

Alfred Gaul

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Alfred Robert Gaul (30 April 1837 — 13 September 1913) was an English composer, conductor, teacher and organist. Life and career Gaul was born in Norwich, where he studied under Zechariah Buck. By the age of nine he was a chorister at Norwich Cathedral, and at the age of seventeen he was appointed as the organist of the parish church at Fakenham. In 1859 he moved to Birmingham, where at the age of twenty two he was appointed organist at St. John’s Church, Ladywood. later becoming Professor of Orchestration and Composition at the school. In 1887 he succeeded William Cole Stockley as conductor of the Walsall Philharmonic Society. He taught singing and harmony at the King Edward VI High School for Girls At the time of Gaul’s death in 1913 it was the most performed work of English choral music in history, The Holy City and his earlier cantata Ruth (1881) were also popular in the United States. In 1914, following the composer’s death, his Executors published an announcement in The Musical Times to the effect that they were :“prepared to grant licences to approved applicants (under certain restrictions) to orchestrate Gaul’s The Bard of Avon for a public performance; and are further prep

Alfred Novello

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Joseph Alfred Novello (12 August 1810 – 17 July 1896) was an English music publisher. He was the eldest son of Vincent Novello, and the creator of Novello and Company Ltd as a revolutionary force in music publishing. Life J. Alfred Novello was born in London, the eldest son of the famous organist and composer Vincent Novello, who was the father of eleven children; two died in infancy, two survived infancy but died in childhood, and a son died in early manhood. One son and five daughters survived to carry on the family musical tradition. In 1811 Vincent Novello founded the music publishing firm Novello & Co which carries his name, as he issued sheet music on a subscription basis from his own house and continued to do so until his son J. Alfred Novello took over the business in 1829 at the early age of nineteen. Before this business venture, Alfred, as a bass singer, had done some professional singing. In 1836 Novello began publishing The Musical World, a periodical that was the first weekly devoted to music; its publication continued until 1891. In 1842 Novello acquired Mainzer’s Musical Times and Singing Circular. This formed the basis of The Musical Times and Singing Class Circula

Alfred Whitehead

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Alfred Ernest Whitehead (10 July 1887 – 1 April 1974) was an English-born Canadian composer, organist, choirmaster, music educator, painter, whose works are held in a number of important private collections, and an internationally recognized authority in the field of philately. His The Squared-Circle Cancellations of Canada received its third edition shortly after his death. Whitehead’s music is tonal and sometimes modal; his output of motets and anthems was extensive and he took particular pride in the anthems Alleluia, Sing to Jesus (with organ accompaniment),Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem, Now God Be with Us, and O Light Beyond Our Utmost Light, the short motets Bread of the World, Grant Us Grace, and Almighty God, Whose Glory. Leo Sowerby, a leading American cathedral organist-composer, described Whitehead’s Benedicite, based on the Gregorian Tonus peregrinus, as the “best Benedicite” he knew. Whitehead’s eight-part motets Watch Thou, Dear Lord (words by St Augustine) and Love Unknown, the Brahmsian organ Prelude on Irby, and his many short carols for Christmas, are also noteworthy. Early life and education Whitehead was born in Peterborough, England, where he received his early mu

Algernon Ashton

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Algernon Bennet Langton Ashton (9 December 1859 – 10 April 1937) was a British composer, pianist, and Professor of piano at the Royal College of Music 1884–1910. Ashton was born in Durham. He studied at the Leipzig Conservatory as a pupil of Carl Reinecke and Theodor Coccius. He later studied at Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt under Joachim Raff. Modern recordings of four of the highly virtuosic piano sonatas and two cello sonatas have been released. The Tarantella for clarinet, Op. 107, has also been recorded. In later years Ashton became well known for his many letters to English newspapers concerning the upkeep of the graves of distinguished people. These letters were published in two volumes - Truth Wit and Wisdom and More Truth Wit and Wisdom published by Chapman & Hall. Ashton was also well known for keeping a daily diary for the majority of his life from the age of 15 running to some 58 volumes. The diaries and the unpublished works are believed to have been destroyed during the Blitz when his family home was hit by German bombs. Recordings * Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1, Leslie De’ath, Dutton Epoch CDLX 7248 (2010) ** No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 164 (published 1925) ** No. 5 in

Alice Mary Smith

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Alice Mary Smith (married name Alice Mary Meadows White; 19 May 1839 – 4 December 1884) was an English composer. Her compositions included two symphonies and a large collection of choral works, both sacred and secular. Biography Smith was born in London, the third child of a relatively well-to-do family. She showed aptitude for music from her early years and took lessons privately from William Sterndale Bennett and George Alexander Macfarren, publishing her first song in 1857. In November 1867, the year of her marriage to a lawyer, Frederick Meadows White, she was elected Female Professional Associate of the Royal Philharmonic Society. In 1884 she was elected an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music. The same year, after a period of illness in which she went abroad to try to recover, she died of typhoid fever in London and was buried in Highgate Cemetery. Music Smith was a prolific composer, writing for a diverse range of ensembles. Among her chamber compositions are four piano quartets, three string quartets and a clarinet sonata (1870), perhaps the first British example, anticipating sonatas by Swinnerton Heap, Prout, Tovey and Stanford. Her orchestral compositions includ

Alice Verne-Bredt

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Alice Barbara Verne-Bredt (née Würm; 1864–1958) was an English piano teacher, violinist and composer. Three of her sisters were also noted pianists: Adela Verne, Mathilde Verne and Mary Würm (who returned to Germany and retained the original family name). Life and career The sixth of ten children, Her father, a music teacher who specialised in zither, violin, and piano, worked as an organist. Her mother was a violinist who taught her the violin from a very early age. Later in her childhood she moved to London, where she lived all her life, Alice wanted to become a singer, but typhoid fever affected her voice. It was recorded in 2005 by the Summerhayes Piano Trio. Chamber music * Cello Sonata * Phantasie Piano Trio (1908) – performed at the Aeolian and Bechstein Halls on 25 January 1912. * Phantasie Piano Quartet (1908) (unpublished) * Phantasie Piano Quintet (no date, unpublished) * Piano Trio, No. 2 * Piano Trio, No. 3 * Wiegenlied (lullaby) for violin and piano (1911) Piano music * Arrangement of Pavane: from King Henry VIII’s Pavyn (1924) * Four easy inventions for young pianists (1920) ** Musical box ** The little drum ** Concert study ** The doll’s promenade * Polacca (Polka)

Alicia Adélaide Needham

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Alicia Adélaide Needham (née Montgomery; 31 October 1863 – 24 December 1945) was an Irish composer of songs and ballads. A committed suffragette, she was the first woman to conduct at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and the first female president of the National Eisteddfod of Wales (in 1906). Life Needham was born in Oldcastle, Co. Meath, daughter of John Wilson Montgomery (1834-1911), master of the Bailieborough Workhouse and a clerk to the poor law board of guardians; he was also an antiquarian, contributing to local newspapers on the subject, and produced some books of poetry, becoming known as the “Bard of Bailieborough”. The family subsequently lived at Downpatrick in County Down. She went to boarding school in Derry for four years and spent the following year in Castletown, Isle of Man. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, first for one year only (most likely the academic year 1880–1): piano with the Irish pianist and composer Arthur O’Leary, harmony and counterpoint with Francis William Davenport and occasionally with George Alexander Macfarren and Ebenezer Prout. It is not clear what she did in the intervening three years before she resumed her studies in 188

Alissa Firsova

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Alissa Firsova (Russian: Алиса Фирсова; born 24 July 1986) is a Russian-British classical composer, pianist and conductor. Biography Born in Moscow to the composers Elena Firsova and Dmitri Smirnov, she moved to the UK in 1991. In 2001 she won the BBC/Guardian/Proms Young Composer Competition with her piano piece “Les Pavots”. She graduated from Purcell School as a composer and pianist in 2004, and Royal Academy of Music as a pianist in 2009, where she also developed her conducting studies with Paul Brough. In 2009 she entered the Conducting Postgraduate Course in Royal Academy of Music under the tuition of Colin Metters. Her piano teachers included Tatiana Kantorovich, Valéria Szervánszky, James Gibb, Simon Mulligan, Hamish Milne, Ian Fountain, and Stephen Kovacevich. Among her composition teachers were Jeoffrey Sharkey, Richard Dubugnon, Jonathan Cole and Simon Speare. She also participated in workshops and master classes with composers Nicholas Maw, Simon Holt, Anthony Gilbert, David Bedford, David Matthews, and Mark-Anthony Turnage. She had her Wigmore Hall debut in May 2009, followed by a Royal Albert Hall debut playing Stravinsky’s Les Noces in the Proms festival in August. H

Alistair Hinton

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Alistair Richard Hinton (born 6 October 1950) is a Scottish composer and musicologist with a focus on the works of his friend Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji. He is the curator of the Sorabji Archive. Career and works Hinton, a native of Dunfermline, Fife, began studying music at the age of eleven; following the advice of Benjamin Britten, he studied at the Royal College of Music, where Humphrey Searle and Stephen Savage were among his teachers. Although he began composing at an early age, he later destroyed most of his pre-1985 output. His Op. 1 was a piano sonata (1962); although part of it was lost soon after it was written, the composer responded to a private request in 2020 to reconstruct it. His other compositions include sonatas, variations and other works for piano, a violin concerto (dedicated to Jane Manning), songs (amongst them settings of Rabindranath Tagore, Hinton’s Opp. 7 and 9), works for the organ, a string quintet (for two violins, viola, cello, double-bass and soprano, and lasting for 2 hours and 45 minutes in performance), and a Sinfonietta. They include homages to Karol Szymanowski (Szymanowski-Etiud, Op. 32, for 18 wind instruments), Richard Strauss (Passeggiata S

Allardyce Mallon

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Allardyce Mallon is a Scottish composer, conductor, repetiteur and pianist. He was born in Hong Kong in 1965, moving to Scotland at age nine. He was educated at University of Edinburgh, University of Surrey and Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, then subsequently studied piano and conducting at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1990 to 1994. Mallon’s style of composition has evolved over the last two decades. His early style was strongly influenced by his teachers Kenneth Leighton and James MacMillan, along with a number of American composers among them John Adams and William Schuman. His more recent work has crossed disciplines and has been permeated by influences spanning contemporary architecture, theatre and traditional diatonic elements. His “Visions and Interludes”, premiered in Chicago in 1997, demonstrates architectonic elements as represented by sonic structures. His many compositions include his 2008 Alba Song for Panpipes and Orchestra, which has been performed by the Volgograd Philharmonic Orchestra (VDE Gallo). Mallon also demonstrates great skills at arranging and orchestration. For the Meiningen Opera he arranged Poulenc’s L

Alma Deutscher

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Alma Elizabeth Deutscher ( ; born 19 February 2005) is a British composer, pianist, violinist and conductor. A child prodigy, Deutscher composed her first piano sonata at the age of five; at seven, she completed the short opera, The Sweeper of Dreams, and later wrote a violin concerto at age nine. At the age of ten, she wrote her first full-length opera, Cinderella, which had its European premiere in Vienna in 2016 under the patronage of conductor Zubin Mehta, and its U.S. premiere a year later. Deutscher’s piano concerto was premiered when she was 12. She has lived in Vienna, Austria, since 2018. She made her debut at Carnegie Hall in 2019 in a concert dedicated to her own compositions. Background and education Alma Elizabeth Deutscher was born on 19 February 2005, in Basingstoke, England. She is the daughter of literary scholar Janie () and linguist Guy Deutscher. Deutscher also has a younger sister, Helen Clara. She began playing piano at the age of two, followed by violin at three. Her strong affinity to music was apparent from an early age. She could sing in perfect pitch before she could speak, and she could read music before she could read words. She received a little violin

Alun Davies (guitarist)

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Alun Davies (born 27 July 1942) is a Welsh guitarist, studio musician, recording artist, and composer who rose to fame primarily with his supporting guitar work and backing vocals as accompanist for English musician Cat Stevens from early 1970 to 1977. Prior to his association with Stevens, Davies co-wrote, sang, and played on two albums: in 1963, with Jon Mark (known then as John Michael Burchell), and in 1968, as a member of the band Sweet Thursday with Mark, keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, Harvey Burns and Brian Odgers, when folk-rock music was still in its infancy. When their label declared bankruptcy, Davies was invited to join Cat Stevens as a session musician, who was attempting to change his sound and advance in the music world. Davies’ experience, similar tastes in the emerging folk-rock genre, and capabilities with guitar and voice placed him in a pivotal role in Stevens’ career, resulting in hit songs and a string of RIAA platinum certified breakthrough albums. Two such albums, Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat, propelled Stevens to stardom and a stellar musical career, and solidified a friendship between the two men. Davies, who recorded a solo album after a f

Alun Hoddinott

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Alun Hoddinott CBE (11 August 1929 – 12 March 2008) was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition. Life and works Hoddinott was born in Bargoed, Glamorganshire, Wales. His first major composition, the Clarinet Concerto, was performed at the Cheltenham Festival of 1954 by Gervase de Peyer with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir John Barbirolli. This brought Hoddinott a national profile, which was followed by a string of commissions by leading orchestras and soloists. These commissions continued up to his death, and he was championed by some of the most distinguished singers and instrumentalists of the 20th century. These include singers such as Dame Margaret Price, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Sir Thomas Allen, Jill Gomez, Sir Geraint Evans and more recently Claire Booth, Helen Field, Gail Pearson and Jeremy Huw Williams. Instrumentalists have included Ruggiero Ricci, Mstislav Rostropovich, Dennis Brain, Osian Ellis, Cecil Aronowitz, Nia Harries, Roger Woodward and John Ogdon to name a few, and more recently euphonium player David Childs, cellist Kathryn Price, trombonist Mark Eager and song pianist Andrew Matthews-Owen. Hoddinott was prolific, writi

Alwynne Pritchard

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Alwynne Pritchard (born 1968, Glasgow) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Bergen, Norway. She is of Scottish, Welsh, English, Polish and Irish heritage. Alwynne is the daughter of the composer Gwyn Pritchard. She studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London and has a Master’s degree in Musicology and a PhD in Composition from the University of Bristol. Her work combines her skills as a composer, singer, actor, physical performer and violinist with her interest in text, costume and video. Alwynne’s performances, compositions and installations have been presented around the world and in 2005 her electro-acoustic composition Decoy, created at the Experimentalstudio des SWR in Freiburg for the Donaueschingen Musiktage, received the special prize given by the Foundation Ton Bruynèl, STEIM and the Foundation GAUDEAMUS. In 2019, she was nominated by BIT Teatergarasjen for the Bergens Tidende Audience Award (Publikumspris) and in 2024, her work Counting Backwards was nominated for Work of the Year (Årets Verk) by the Norwegian Society of Composers. In 2016, Alwynne was awarded the commission to create a fanfare or ‘marker’ to celebrate the opening of the University of B

Amanda Aldridge

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Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge, also known as Amanda Ira Aldridge (10 March 1866 – 9 March 1956), was a British opera singer and teacher who composed love songs, suites, sambas, and light orchestral pieces under the pseudonym of Montague Ring. Born into an artistic family, the Aldridge legacy included her father who was a successful African-American Shakespearian actor, Ira Frederick Aldridge. He was dubbed the ‘African Roscius’ when he first starred as Othello at the Royalty Theatre in London. Her mother, Amanda Brandt, was a Swedish opera singer. Amanda’s sister, Luranah Aldridge was a star operatic contralto in Europe and the United States. Aldridge studied voice under Jenny Lind and George Henschel at the Royal College of Music in London, and harmony and counterpoint with Frederick Bridge and Francis Edward Gladstone. Career After completing her studies, Aldridge worked as a concert singer, piano accompanist, and voice teacher. A throat condition ended her concert appearances, and she turned to teaching and published about thirty songs between the years 1907 and 1925 in a romantic parlour style, as well as instrumental music in other styles. Among her pupils were the child

Ambrose Lupo

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Ambrose, Ambrosius or Ambrosio Lupo (died 10 February 1591) was a court musician and composer to the English court from the time of Henry VIII to that of Elizabeth I, and the first of a dynasty of such court musicians. He is thought to have been born in Milan, though he and his family lived in Venice for a while just before being called to England. He and five other viol players, including Alexandro and Romano Lupo, were summoned to England by Henry in November 1540, to bring English music up to speed with music on the continent. Ambrose, also known as ‘Lupus Italus’ and de Almaliach, was the longest-serving of the group. Ambroso da Venezia was cited as a music-player of the Queen of England by the testimony of Orazio Cogno before the Venice Inquisition on 27 August 1577 regarding his recent stay in England with Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Cogno stated Ambroso has two children and had married in England, even though, as Cogno stated he has heard, he has a wife living in Venice whom he sends money. He also stated that Ambroso wanted to teach him the doctrine of heretics and to read heretical books. Living in the parish of St Alphege, Cripplegate, he was granted leases on la

Amelia Lehmann

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Amelia Lehmann (née Chambers) (3 February 1838 – 1 April 1903 ) was a British composer and arranger of art songs and popular ballads, many of which she published under the pseudonym “A. L.”. She was also considered a gifted singer and was the first singing teacher of her daughter Liza Lehmann. Among her other students of voice was the soprano Evangeline Florence. Several of her works were performed at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts between 1897 and 1928, and her song “When love is kind” was recorded by Ada Forrest for Pathé Records. Lehmann Spent some of her life living in Rome, Italy. In 1861, after a lengthy courtship, she married the painter Rudolf Lehmann. Their daughter Liza wrote in her memoirs: My mother certainly had extraordinary gifts, but suffered all her life from quite abnormally developed diffidence. As a girl, she was so musical that her father declared she did not require lessons! It was, therefore, not until after her marriage that she began to study music seriously. I have met most of the artists of my day, and I have never met any one so naturally gifted as my beloved mother. She had a lovely voice, and studied singing with several vocal teachers of renown; bu

Amy Woodforde-Finden

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Amy Woodforde-Finden (1860 – 13 March 1919) was a composer who is best known for writing the music to “Kashmiri Song” from Four Indian Love Lyrics by Laurence Hope. Biography Amy Woodforde-Finden was born Amelia Rowe Ward in 1860 at Valparaíso, Chile, the youngest daughter of American parents, Alfred and Virginia Worthington Heath Ward. Alfred served as a US Consul after being recommended by Balie Peyton, US Ambassador to Chile under President Zachary Taylor. Her father died in 1867 and her mother moved the family to London, where Virginia became a naturalized British citizen in 1873. Around that time Amy displayed a skill for composition and became a student of Carl Schloesser and Amy Horrocks. Her early work, published as Amy Ward, though promising, was received only tepidly. At the age of 34, she married Brigade-Surgeon Woodforde-Finden, who served during the Second Afghan War and Third Burmese War with the Bengal establishment of the Indian Medical Service; they lived in India for several years, and during her time there she wrote and published what would become her most famous pieces: Kashmiri Song (1902) and A Lover in Damascus (six songs, 1904, text Charles Hanson Towne). Ka

Andi Spicer

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Andrew John Preston “Andi” Spicer (1959 – 30 April 2020) was an English electroacoustic classical music composer who used electronics (see Electronic Music) in his compositions. The composer was also a writer and journalist. He has contributed to The Wall Street Journal and The Gramophone as a reviewer, and has written for many international newspapers, magazines and news agencies, including Dow Jones Newswires, The Associated Press, The Independent, The Financial Times and The Observer. His music is published by Edition Tre Fontane in Münster, Germany. History and influences Spicer was born in Birmingham, England. He studied economics at Aston University in Birmingham and pursued a career in journalism, while composing and performing free form improvised music (see free improvisation). He lived in Johannesburg, South Africa between 1996 and 2003, working as a foreign correspondent for major US and British newspapers, after which he moved back to England. He lived in Brighton from 2013, and was a member of the New Music Brighton and London Forum collectives of composers in the UK. His compositions have been featured at the Brighton Festival, Soundwaves Festival, Huddersfield Contem

Andrew Carter (composer)

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Andrew Carter (13 December 1939 – 5 January 2026) was an English composer, pedagogue, conductor and arranger. Carter conducted choral concerts in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. As a singer at York Minster, he founded the Chapter House Choir and conducted them for 17 years. He was known for choral works such as an arrangement of the carol “A maiden most gentle”, his Benedicite and a mass for the tercentenary of St Paul’s Cathedral in London. His compositions have been described as well-crafted accessible music building on tradition, with strong melodies respecting the texts. His mother was an amateur pianist, and several family members were bell-ringers. At Leeds, he was taught by James Clifford Brown and Philip Wilby. He then moved to York and joined the York Minster choir, External links * * * Andrew Carter Naxos *

Andrew Downes (composer)

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Andrew Downes (20 August 1950 – 2 January 2023) was a British classical composer. He was head of the School of Composition and Creative Studies at Birmingham Conservatoire from 1992 until 2005. His compositions have been performed and broadcast internationally. Early life Downes was born in Handsworth, Birmingham. He attended St. John’s College, Cambridge, on a scholarship, receiving his master’s degree in composition. at the Royal College of Music. He kept working as a freelance composer. and 4, BBC TV, France Musique, Italian TV, Austrian Radio, Dutch Radio, and his Centenary Fire Dances were first performed for the City of Birmingham’s Centenary Festival of Fireworks and Music. song cycles for Sarah Walker and the tenor John Mitchinson broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and anthems for the BBC 4 Daily Service. He wrote Mela Kamavardhani for Indo-Jazz Fusions musicians in Calcutta, Delhi, and Bombay, and Fanfare for Madam Speaker for the installation of Betty Boothroyd MP as Chancellor of the Open University in 1994. which was premiered at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham, by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Suite for Brass Sextet written for the Czech Philharmonic Brass Sextet. He died

Andrew Gant

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Andrew John Gant (born 6 August 1963) is a British composer, singer, author, teacher and Liberal Democrat politician. He was organist, choirmaster and composer at Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal from 2000 to 2013, and has published several books on musical subjects. Gant serves as a Liberal Democrat Councillor on both Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council. He was the party’s parliamentary candidate for The Cotswolds constituency at the 2017 general election and for the Staffordshire Moorlands constituency at the 2019 general election. In 2022 he was elected to the Cabinet of Oxfordshire County Council with the Highways Management portfolio. He is the husband of Katherine Willis, Baroness Willis of Summertown. Education Gant attended Radley College before going on to read music and English at St John’s College, Cambridge. He was a choral scholar and sang in the college choir under George Guest. He subsequently studied composition with Paul Patterson at the Royal Academy of Music and completed his PhD at Goldsmiths College, University of London. *O Sing Unto the Lord: A History of English Church Music (2015) *Music: Ideas in Profile (2017) *Johann Sebastian Bach: A Very Brief

Andrew Hugill

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Andrew Hugill (born 1957) is a British composer, writer and academic. He is both a professor of music and a professor of creative computing. He directs the Creative Computing programme at University of Leicester. Biography Andrew Hugill studied composition with Roger Marsh at the University of Keele between 1976 and 1980, and in 1983 he founded the ensemble “George W. Welch”. He began lecturing at Leicester Polytechnic in 1986, working alongside Gavin Bryars and Dave Smith, eventually becoming subject-leader for the BA Performing Arts: Music. He taught composition, performance and music history. He founded the Music, Technology and Innovation programme in 1997 at De Montfort University and taught Creative and Negotiated Projects, Musicianship and Internet Music. In 2006 he founded the Institute of Creative Technologies and was its director until 2012. In 2013, he set up Creative Computing at Bath Spa University. In 2018, he founded the Creative Computing programme at University of Leicester. Hugill is a Principal Fellow and a National Teaching Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Hugill has had a huge impact on the views of Aural Diversity. Compositions Hugill’s compositions inc

Andrew Poppy

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Andrew Poppy (born 29 May 1954, Kent) is an English post-minimal composer, pianist, and record producer. Life and work Poppy studied at Goldsmiths College in the 1970s. In 1981 he was a founder member of minimalist ensemble The Lost Jockey and composed several pieces for them as well as playing piano. He wrote the orchestral score for Force the Hand of Chance, the debut album by Psychic TV which was released in 1982. In 1984 he signed to ZTT Records after Paul Morley heard a cassette he had sent the label. Discography *Cadenza and Matters of Theory from the self-titled LP by The Lost Jockey (1982, Les Disques du Crepuscule) *Crude Din from “Professor Slack” EP by The Lost Jockey (1982, Operation Twilight 10"; reissued 1983, Battersea Records 12") *The Beating of Wings (1985, ZTT) *Alphabed (1987, ZTT) *Recordings (1992, Bitter and Twisted Records) *Ophelia/Ophelia (1995, Impetus) *Rude Bloom (1995, ArtGallery / Wotre Music) *Time at Rest Devouring Its Secret (2000, Source Research Recordings) *Another Language (with Claudia Brücken ex. Propaganda singer) (2005, There (there)) *Andrew Poppy on Zang Tuum Tumb - comprises The Beating of Wings, Alphabed, Under the Son (previously unrel

Andrew Wilson-Dickson

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Andrew Wilson-Dickson (born 1946) is a British composer, pianist and an authority on early music practice. Biography Wilson-Dickson was born in London on 20 January 1946. He attended Marlborough College where in a school music competition he was spotted by Sydney Watson who offered him a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford, in spite of unfavourable A-level results. He turned this down in favour of an exhibition to Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he received piano lessons from Lamar Crowson and John Lill. Later he held the post of organ scholar at York Minster where he studied the organ with Nicholas Danby and Francis Jackson. He was appointed as one of the first members of staff of the newly formed University of Leicester music department in 1970. In 1984 he was appointed to the staff of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama where his focus on period music led to the creation there of an Early Music Department in 1999. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the college in 2005. Now semi-retired, he divides his time between his homes in Cardiff and the south of France. He is the brother of the voice and dialect coach Julia Wilson-Dickson. Composition He began composition at schoo

Andrzej Panufnik

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Sir Andrzej Panufnik ( pronounced : ; 24 September 1914 – 27 October 1991) was a Polish composer and conductor. He became established as one of the leading Polish composers, and as a conductor he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra after World War II. He also served as Principal Conductor of the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra. After his increasing frustration with the extra-musical demands made on him by the country’s regime, he defected to the United Kingdom in 1954, and took up British citizenship. In 1957, he was appointed chief conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, a post he relinquished after two years to devote all his time to composition. In 1984, he became an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music and in 1991 the composer received a British knighthood for his services to music. Biography Childhood and studies Panufnik was born in Warsaw, the second son of a violinist mother and an amateur (but renowned) violin-maker father. From an early age he was torn between an interest in music and a fascination with the mechanics of aeroplanes. His grandmother gave him piano lessons, but although he showed talent his stu

Andy Hunter (DJ)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Andy Hunter (born 23 April 1974) is a British Christian DJ and electronic dance music artist. Born in Leicester and starting his career in the drum and bass scene of Bristol during the 1990s, he has continued to release new music, releasing his 14th album in 2019. Biography Hunter, professionally known as Andy Hunter°, was born in Leicester, England, on 23 April 1974. He became involved in music in his early days of adolescence, and later became interested in sound engineering in the 1990s. He worked with Suede and The Wonder Stuff. In 1992, he joined New Generation Music and Mission as a travelling engineer and moved to Bristol—the scene that was breaking drum and bass. In 1997, Andy formed a band named “Trip” with lead programmer Martin King and several other production partners. In 1999 Trip released an album called Cultural Shift. In the following years, Hunter worked in the studio, producing techno music. In fall of 2002, his work culminated into the album Exodus, which Hunter released on Nettwerk. Early in 2005, Hunter released a six-track album, Life. He gained attention from Rolling Stone magazine, which praised his first album, Exodus, and from appearances in video games (

Angela Morley

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Angela Morley (born Walter Morley Stott, 10 March 1924 14 January 2009 ) was an English composer and conductor who became familiar to BBC Radio listeners in the 1950s under the name of Wally Stott. Morley provided incidental music for The Goon Show and Hancock’s Half Hour. She attributed her entry into composing and arranging largely to the influence and encouragement of the Canadian light music composer Robert Farnon. Morley transitioned in 1972 and thereafter lived openly as a transgender woman. Morley won three Emmy Awards for her work in music arrangement. These were in the category of Outstanding Music Direction, in 1985, 1988 and 1990, for Christmas in Washington and two television specials starring Julie Andrews. Morley also received eight Emmy nominations for composing music for television series such as Dynasty and Dallas. She was twice nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Song Score: first for The Little Prince (1974), a nomination shared with Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, and Douglas Gamley; and second for The Slipper and the Rose (1976), which Morley shared with Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. She was the first openly transgender

Angharad Davies

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Angharad Davies is a Welsh violinist and composer, known for her work in the field of free improvisation, her use of prepared violin (using techniques similar to the prepared piano), her extensive discography and collaborative work with other musicians. Early life and education Davies was born in Aberystwyth, Wales, and grew up in a musical household, playing in local brass bands alongside her father and brother. Her father was an amateur trumpet player and her brother is Rhodri Davies, now known as an improvising harpist. Career Davies has collaborated on improvised projects with musicians and artists including Tarek Atoui, Tony Conrad, Laura Cannell, Jack McNamara, Roberta Jean and J.G.Thirlwell. Davies is also active in the field of contemporary composition and is a frequent member of the ensemble Apartment House. Davies’ composed works include Solo Violin and Four Bass Amps, in which the violin is deconstructed during the performance of the piece, and the orchestral work I ble’r aeth y gwrachod I gyd…?, which was commissioned by the 2019 London Contemporary Music Festival. She has been commissioned by Explore Ensemble, and GBSR Duo. Davies has also collaborated with French comp

Angy Palumbo

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Angelo Palumbo (died 1960) was an Italian musician, composer and music teacher, mainly active in London. As a musician and teacher Palumbo was a specialist of various fretted instruments, and his advertisements in the trade journal B.M.G. shows that he taught guitar as well as banjo, mandolin and violin playing. He himself also played several of these instruments as a member of “Troise and his Mandoliers”, a band led by fellow Italian immigrant Pasquale Troise (1895–1957). This band recorded frequently and also made regular radio appearances. British-American banjoist John A. Sloan (born 1923) was one of Palumbo’s pupils as a youngster and witnessed that Palumbo was an excellent but also very temperamental musician. As composer During his career, Palumbo composed several numbers. His 6/8 March It’s Up To You (lyrics: Arthur Beale) from 1940 became familiar to Swedish audiences by being used in the soundtracks for two of the popular films about private eye Hillman in 1958 and 1959. In more recent years his Petite Bolero for Mandolin & Guitar has appeared on the CD Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and the Latin Trilogy – Music from the Novels of Louis de Bernières. In addition to the numbe

Ann Mounsey

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Ann Mounsey or Ann Sheppard Mounsey or (after her marriage) Ann Mounsey Bartholomew was born on 17 April 1811 and died on 24 June 1891. She was well known in London as a teacher, conductor, and organist. As a composer, she published songs, hymns, partsongs, large-scale choral works, and many pieces for the piano and the organ. Life Mounsey was born at 21 Old Compton Street, Soho, London, the eldest child of Thomas Mounsey, a licensed victualler, and his wife, Mary, née Briggs. Her younger sister, Elizabeth Mounsey (1819–1905) also became a professional musician. In 1824 the family settled in Shoreditch, London. Ann’s early music education was undertaken at the renowned piano academy of Johann Bernhard Logier where in 1820 her talent for composition was noted by the composer Louis Spohr during a visit there. most memorably was in 1845 when she performed as accompanist at Crosby Hall, London, for the premiere of the choral work Hear My Prayer (for soprano solo, chorus and organ) by Felix Mendelssohn. Conductor From 1843 to 1848 Ann Mounsey ran ““The Crosby Hall Sacred Concert”” an innovative public concert series of six concerts per season. Composers featured included, Henry Purcell,

Ann Valentine

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Ann Valentine (11 January 1762 – 13 October 1842 or 13 October 1845 Her father John Valentine (1730–91) was a great-nephew of the composer Robert Valentine. John Valentine was a composer, music teacher, and musician. Another uncle, Henry Valentine, was an oboist and ran a music shop in Leicester. Ann’s younger sister Sarah (1771–1843) was an organist at St Martin’s Church in Leicester from 1800, and composed at least one work, The British March and Quickstep for the Pianoforte. These concerts were promoted by the new construction of organs. Ann would play organ concertos, and harpsicord lessons by Handel. In 1790 she published a set of ten sonatas for harpsichord or piano with violin or flute accompaniment. She continued to publish music, although only some of it has survived; the ten sonatas and an arrangement of the strathspey Monny Musk are available in a modern edition. When her father died in 1791 she would continue in his work, however she chose to compose more music for “ladies” that being piano music unlike what her father had composed. *Le cheval de course, a Favorite Divertimento for the Piano Forte *Ye Gentlest Gales. Written by a Lady on the Death of Mr. Henry Kirk Whit

Anne Dudley

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Anne Jennifer Dudley (née Beckingham; born 7 May 1956) is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the BBC Concert Orchestra’s first Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genres, as a film composer, and was one of the core members of the synth-pop band Art of Noise. In 1998, Dudley won an Oscar for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score for The Full Monty. In addition to over twenty other film scores, in 2012 she served as music producer for the film version of Les Misérables, also acting as arranger and composing some new additional music. Career Dudley was born in Chatham, Kent. She attended Eltham Hill Grammar School for Girls. She graduated with a master’s degree in music from King’s College London in 1978. Trained as a classical performer, she moved into the competitive commercial field as a session musician, where her professional relationship with Trevor Horn began. In 1982, Dudley contributed to the ABC album The Lexicon of Love, produced by Horn. She went from fleshing out keyboard parts to scoring the album’s orchestrations (which were, according to Horn, her first-ever string arrangements) and also co-writing

Anne Lovett (musician)

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Anne Lovett is a French pianist and composer residing in London. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music and King’s College London. She released her first album, Beyond (and Below), in 2012 under the record label Discovery Records, and is now being distributed worldwide. The record comprises the artist’s own piano works, an unusual artistic gesture in the contemporary classical world where most virtuoso performers tend to perform other composers’ music. She released an album with violinist Giovanni Guzzo in 2013 on the label Champs Hill Records. In October 2018, The Eleventh Hour was released on the label 1631 Recordings and published by Faber in London. She was joined on the album by the London Contemporary Orchestra as well as Oliver Coates on cello. The Guardian described the album as “a soulful elegy for a Britain which has lost its bearings.” “Nocturne with Oliver Coates” was featured in a Burberry campaign and For Now on The Fix for ABC Studios in the U.S. In 2020, Lovett was commissioned to write Infinity, a new work for British vocal ensemble Voces8. It was released on Decca Classics in August 2021. Discography *Beyond (and Below) (2012) *French Violin Sonatas (2014) *The

Annie Patterson

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Annie Wilson Patterson (27 October 1868 – 16 January 1934) was an Irish organist, music educator, writer, composer, and arranger. Life Annie Patterson was born in Lurgan, County Armagh, Ireland, and was related through her mother’s family to Lord Macaulay. She made her debut performance in Dublin at age fifteen, studied at Alexandra College and the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin (with Robert Prescott Stewart), and received her doctorate in 1889, becoming the first Irish or British woman to hold a Doctorate of Music. After she completed her studies, she became an examiner for the Royal University of Ireland and worked as an organist and conductor of the Dublin Choral Union and the Hampstead Harmonic Society. In 1897 she co-founded the Feis Ceoil festival in Dublin. The Dr. Annie Patterson Medal is awarded in her honor at the festival. In 1909 Patterson took a job as organist at St. Anne’s in Shandon, County Cork. Patterson composed sacred and secular cantatas, orchestral works and songs based on Irish themes. She also wrote poetry, essays, short stories as well as professional articles and books on music. She published articles in The Girl’s Own Paper in England and a series

Anthony Bernard

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Anthony Bernard (25 January 18916 April 1963) was an English conductor, organist, pianist and composer. Early life Anthony Bernard’s birth was registered as Alan Charles Butler in West Ham, then classified as Essex, in early 1891. His mother was Rosetta Ann Casselden, who had married Alfred Charles Butler, a coal-merchant (son of Henry Butler, also a coal-merchant) four years earlier on 21 September 1887. Bernard changed his name by deed poll in 1919 according to the National Archives. Further family research has uncovered that Bernard was the illegitimate child of Casselden and the Edwardian band leader Thomas Bidgood. Another of Bidgood’s sons was the dance band leader Harry Bidgood, also known as Primo Scala. In the 1901 census, Casselden was not living with her husband; she declared herself to be Rosetta Barnard and her 10-year-old son Alan Charles Butler to be “Allan Barnard” who was born in New York. Prior to cohabiting with Bidgood, she had three more sons (1893 - Thomas George who died in infancy; 1896 - Thomas Walter; and 1898 - Henry James), all were registered as “Barnard” (Harry Bidgood was Henry James Barnard). Thomas Walter was registered with Butler as the mother’s n

Anthony Burgess

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John Anthony Burgess Wilson (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange remains his best-known novel. Burgess produced a number of other novels, including the Enderby quartet, and Earthly Powers. He wrote librettos and screenplays, including the 1977 television mini-series Jesus of Nazareth. He worked as a literary critic for several publications, including The Observer and The Guardian, and wrote studies of classic writers, notably James Joyce. A versatile linguist, Burgess lectured in phonetics, and translated Cyrano de Bergerac, Oedipus Rex, and the opera Carmen, among others. He was nominated and shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1973. Burgess also composed over 250 musical works; he considered himself as much a composer as an author, although he achieved considerably more success in writing. Biography Early life Burgess was born on 25 February 1917 at 91 Carisbrook Street in Harpurhey, a suburb of Manchester, England, to Irish Catholic parents, Joseph and Elizabeth Wilson. He described his background as lower middle class; growing up during the

Anthony Gilbert (composer)

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Anthony Gilbert (26 July 1934 – 5 July 2023) was a British composer and academic, long associated with the Royal Northern College of Music. He also taught for extended periods as head of composition at the New South Wales State Conservatorium. His works, many of them for larger chamber ensembles, were published by Schott and University of York Music Press. Several of them were written for particular musicians, who performed and recorded them. He wrote a memoir, published in 2021. Biography Gilbert, who was born in London on 26 July 1934, trained initially as a translator, then studied composition privately with Mátyás Seiber, piano with Denis Holloway at Trinity College, and composition with Alexander Goehr and Anthony Milner at Morley College. He also studied with Gunther Schuller at Tanglewood. He worked for the London branch of Schott, beginning as a warehouseman and later chief editor of contemporary music, and head of production. Tim Benjamin, Martin Butler, Simon Holt, Adam Johnson, Paul Newland, Priti Paintal, Janet Owen Thomas, James Saunders Jane Antonia Cornish and Ian Vine. Gilbert was an active committee member of the Society for the Promotion of New Music, the music se

Anthony Hedges

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Anthony J. Hedges (5 March 1931 – 19 June 2019) was an English composer, the son of children’s writer Sidney Hedges. Life Hedges was born in Bicester, Oxfordshire, and studied music at Keble College Oxford, where his tutors included Thomas Armstrong. While on National Service for two years at Catterick (from 1955) he was a member of the Band of the Royal Signals Regiment. From 1957 he was a music lecturer at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow, and from 1962 a lecturer at The University of Hull (1962–94) where he was awarded an Hon.DMus. During his time in Glasgow he also contributed regular reviews and articles on music to The Glasgow Herald, The Scotsman, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph. Works Hedges is often regarded primarily as a light-music composer due to the large number of recordings of his light orchestral music, such as the Four Miniature Dances (1967) and the popular Kingston Sketches of 1969. But such works in fact represent only a small portion of his overall output. He also published a considerable amount of educational music. The record label Divine Art has signed pianist Adam Davis to record the complete piano music of Anthony Hedges. Volume 1, to b

Anthony Holborne

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Anthony Antony Holborne Holburne (c. 1545 – 29 November 1602) was a composer of music for lute, cittern, and instrumental consort during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Life An “Anthony Holburne” entered Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1562, and it is possible that this person is the same as the composer. A Londoner of the same name was admitted to the Inner Temple Court in 1565, and again this may have been the same person. It is certain, however, that the composer was the brother of William Holborne and that he married Elisabeth Marten on 14 June 1584. On the title page of both his books, he claims to be in the service of Queen Elizabeth. He died of a “cold” in November 1602. He was held in the highest regard as a composer by his contemporaries. John Dowland dedicated the first song I saw my lady weepe in his Second Booke to Holborne. His patron was the Countess of Pembroke, Mary Sidney. In the 1590s, he entered the service of Sir Robert Cecil, the 1st Earl of Salisbury. His brother was William Holborne. Six of William’s madrigals were included in the Cittarn Schoole. Music His first known book was the Cittarn Schoole of 1597, consisting of compositions for the cittern. The prefac

Anthony Moore

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Anthony Moore (also known as Anthony More) (born 13 August 1948) is a British experimental music composer, performer and producer. He was a founding member of the band Slapp Happy, worked with Henry Cow and has made a number of solo albums, including Flying Doesn’t Help (1979) and World Service (1981). As a lyricist, Moore has collaborated with Pink Floyd on two of their albums: A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994), and contributed music to the instrumental “Calling” from The Endless River (2014). He contributed lyrics to Richard Wright’s Broken China (1996), worked with Kevin Ayers on various projects and also contributed lyrics to Trevor Rabin’s Can’t Look Away (1989) and Julian Lennon’s Help Yourself (1991). For a fuller list of works and more recent activity since 2010 to date see Biography Anthony Moore’s musical career began when he met Peter Blegvad, while both were students at St Christopher School, Letchworth. They played in various bands, including Slapp Happy (the name was a reference to Blegvad’s then-girlfriend) and the Dum-Dums. After school Moore studied Indian classical music with Viram Jasani in 1969, and went on to compose his first film

Anthony Payne

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Anthony Edward Payne (2 August 1936 – 30 April 2021) was an English composer, music critic and musicologist. He is best known for his acclaimed completion of Edward Elgar’s third symphony, which gained wide acceptance into Elgar’s oeuvre. Payne is particularly noted for his chamber music, much of which was written for his wife, the soprano Jane Manning, and the couple’s new music ensemble Jane’s Minstrels. Initially an unrelenting proponent of modernist music, by the 1980s his compositions had embraced aspects of the late English romanticism, described by his colleague Susan Bradshaw as “modernized nostalgia”. Born in London, Payne first seriously studied music at Durham University. His professional career began around 1969 with his first major work, the staunchly modernist Phoenix Mass for choir and brass band. He continued to write choral and vocal works, almost exclusively to British poets. From his 1981 chamber work A Day in the Life of a Mayfly on, he synthesised modernism with the English romanticism of Elgar, Delius and Vaughan Williams. Two orchestral commissions for The Proms, The Spirit’s Harvest (1985) and Time’s Arrow (1990) were well received. After his successful comp

Anthony Powers

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Anthony Powers (born 13 March 1953) is a British composer of classical music. He has received a number of commissions, including the BBC and the Three Choirs Festival Society and a number of individuals, while his works have been performed both in Great Britain and abroad. He was shortlisted for a British Composer Award in 2003. Life Born in London, England, Powers took private tuition from Elisabeth Lutyens and Harrison Birtwistle between 1969 and 1971, and also with Nadia Boulanger in Paris from 1972 to 1973. From 1973 to 1976 he studied at the University of York for a DPhil in Composition under David Blake and Bernard Rands. Following the completion of his studies, Powers taught at Dartington College of Arts for two years and was composer-in-residence at Southern Arts. In 1987 he moved to a position at Cardiff University, where he became composer-in-residence in 1990 and Professor of Composition from 2004 until 2010. He was Chairman of the Association of Professional Composers between 1995 and 1997. Powers has written over sixty works, including four string quartets, two symphonies, a cello concerto, a horn concerto, as well as many choral and chamber works. He has also done set

Anthony Whittaker

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Anthony John Whittaker-Mahoney (born 1968) is an English composer. His first musical experiences were in the local church choir age 7 and as a tenor recorder player; he did not begin formal study of the piano until 1982 with Peter Wild. Lessons with Ann Bond on the organ followed in 1986. After acquiring the LRAM diploma in 1989, ARCO and LTCL in 1991, he graduated from the University of London in 1994 BMus (hons). Composition became increasingly important for Whittaker during the 1990s where he composed for staff and students at the Performing Arts department of Liverpool Community College. His MMus and PhD degrees are from the University of Liverpool where he studied with James Wishart (1957–2018) https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2018/apr/15/james-wishart-obituary and the American composer, Ben Hackbarth.Notoriety came in 2000 with the SPNM http://www.spnm.org.uk/ performance of Drift for six pianos which was performed alongside Steve Reich’s music for 6 pianos; the principal pianist was Joanna MacGregor. Choral music became important after this time;Agnus Dei (TTBB) received performances in Berlin and Montreal. A Litany also for TTBB was performed at the International Eis

Anthony Young (musician)

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Anthony Young (January 1683 – 8 May 1747) was an English organist and composer. He was part of a well-known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists during the 17th and 18th centuries. Biography Anthony Young was born sometime during January 1683 in the Covent Garden area of London and was baptised on the following 11 February. Born into a musical family, his initial studies were with his father alongside his younger brother Charles Young, who would also become a successful organist and minor composer. As a boy he sang as a chorister at the Chapel Royal until March 1700. Music historian Charles Burney wrote that Anthony was organist at St Katherine Cree from 1702 to 1706, but modern scholarship makes this seem unlikely. He did, however, hold the post at St. Clement Danes from 1707 until his death in London in 1747. Anthony was by all accounts a fantastic organist and highly regarded among his peers. Along with Edward Purcell (eldest son of Henry Purcell), Thomas Arne, William Boyce, Johann Christoph Pepusch, and George Frideric Handel, he was a founder member of the Royal Society of Musicians in 1739. Several of Young’s nieces also had su

Antoinette Kirkwood

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Antoinette Adell Mahoney Kirkwood (26 February 1930 - 28 January 2014) was an English composer born in London, with Irish family connections. Early life Kirkwood studied music with Claud Biggs at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, and then piano and composition with Dorothy Howell and cello with Paul Tortelier at the Royal Academy of Music in Westminster. She often accompanied her mother, the soprano Rome Lindsay. Career Radio Éireann broadcast Kirkwood’s Symphony, op. 8, composed in 1953. From 1957 until 1961, Kirkwood was the founder and conductor of the St Columba’s Orchestra, associated with St Columba’s Church, Pont Street. On 28 April 1960 the conductor Kathleen Merritt organized and conducted a Wigmore Hall concert of ‘Contemporary British Women Composers’, featuring music of Kirkwood alongside some of that of Ina Boyle, Ruth Gipps, Dorothy Howell, Elizabeth Maconchy, and Grace Williams. For four years beginning in 1969, Kirkwood was a member of the executive committee of the Composers’ Guild of Great Britain. Works Kirkwood composed orchestral concert works, theatre music and two ballet scores, as well as instrumental and chamber pieces (including a cello sonata an

Antony le Fleming

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Antony R le Fleming (born 1941 in Wiltshire, England) is an English composer of classical music. He is a former student of Raymond Leppard, Herbert Howells and Malcolm Arnold. The bulk of his composition is choral. Career Le Fleming served as a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral and later studied music at the University of Cambridge. He was appointed Director of Music at Abingdon School from 1968 until 1974. He started composing his most significant works in the 1980s. His works include Four Partitas for string orchestra, Nocturnes for chamber choir and piano quintet, Serenade for strings, Magnificat for soprano, chorus, and chamber orchestra, and Cantate Domino for double choir, organ and orchestra. In 2000, he was commissioned by the Exeter Chamber Choir to set words by Hilaire Belloc and Heinrich Hoffmann for chorus, piano and orchestra. Matilda, drawn from one of the Cautionary Tales for Children by Belloc, was described by the composer as “mixing in the somewhat acidic taste of Hoffmann with the misadventures of ‘Matilda’ and ‘Henry’ while allowing the exemplary C A Fortescue to have the final say.” Reviewing it for the BBC Music Magazine website, Terry Barfoot wrote that le Fle

Armstrong Gibbs

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Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (10 August 1889 – 12 May 1960) was an English composer. Though best known for his choral music and, in particular, songs, Gibbs also devoted much of his career to the amateur choral and festival movements in Britain. Although his music is rarely played today he attained a high level of popularity in his lifetime. His slow waltz “Dusk” for orchestra and piano earned him more royalties than any of his other works combined. It was requested by Princess Elizabeth to be performed on her 18th birthday. Biography Early years and education Gibbs was born in Great Baddow, a village near Chelmsford in Essex, Whitehead, died on 12 August 1891 when Gibbs was only two, having given birth to a stillborn son. While Gibbs had many privileges in his childhood owing to his father’s wealth, he was deprived of any permanent mother figure, having been raised by a nurse and five maiden aunts in three month rotations. Gibbs’s childhood was further troubled by his father’s method of child-rearing; he sought to “toughen up” his son by making him sleep in the attic, forcing him to ride and jump a pony at the age of six, and throwing him into deep water in order to learn to swim. This m

Arnold Bax

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Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral music. In addition to a series of symphonic poems, he wrote seven symphonies and was for a time widely regarded as the leading British symphonist. Bax was born in the London suburb of Streatham to a prosperous family. He was encouraged by his parents to pursue a career in music, and his private income enabled him to follow his own path as a composer without regard for fashion or orthodoxy. Consequently, he came to be regarded in musical circles as an important but isolated figure. While still a student at the Royal Academy of Music Bax became fascinated with Ireland and Celtic culture, which became a strong influence on his early development. In the years before the First World War he lived in Ireland and became a member of Dublin literary circles, writing fiction and verse under the pseudonym Dermot O’Byrne. Later, he developed an affinity with Nordic culture, which for a time superseded his Celtic influences in the years after the First World War. B

Arnold Cooke

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Arnold Atkinson Cooke (4 November 1906 – 13 August 2005) was a British composer, a pupil of Paul Hindemith. He wrote a considerable amount of chamber music, including five string quartets and many instrumental sonatas, much of which is only now becoming accessible through modern recordings. Cooke also composed two operas (still unperformed), six symphonies and several concertos. Education Cooke was born at Gomersal, West Yorkshire, into a family of carpet manufacturers. As a child, Cooke learned to play the piano, and later the cello, and began composing by the age of 7 or 8. He was educated at Streete Preparatory School, Repton School and at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he read history, taking Part 1 of his Tripos in 1927, earning his B.A. He changed to read music with his composition teacher E. J. Dent. At Cambridge, Cooke continued to play the cello in the CUMS orchestra and in a string quartet. He was President of the Cambridge Musical Society from 1927 to 1928. In 1929, he gained his Music degree and went to Berlin where he studied composition and piano at the Berlin University of the Arts under Paul Hindemith. Hindemith’s composition class also included Harald

Arthur Bliss

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Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was British composer and conductor. Bliss’s musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he quickly became known as an unconventional and modernist composer, but within the decade he began to display a more traditional and romantic side in his music. In the 1920s and 1930s he composed extensively not only for the concert hall, but also for films and ballet. In the Second World War, Bliss returned to England from the US to work for the BBC and became its director of music. After the war he resumed his work as a composer, and was appointed Master of the Queen’s Music. In Bliss’s later years, his work was respected but was thought old-fashioned, and it was eclipsed by the music of younger colleagues such as William Walton and Benjamin Britten. Since his death, his compositions have been well represented in recordings, and many of his better-known works remain in the repertoire of British orchestras. Biography Early years Bliss was born in Barnes, a London suburb now, but then in Surrey, the eldest of three sons of Francis Edward Bliss (1847–193

Arthur Butterworth

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Arthur Eckersley Butterworth, (4 August 1923 – 20 November 2014) was an English composer, conductor, trumpeter and teacher. While playing with the band, he caught his trombone in tram tracks and, discouraged by the accident, changed to the trumpet. His music teacher at North Manchester Grammar School, Percy Penrose, gave him much encouragement but his parents and headmaster tried to dissuade him from a full-time career. Five years in the wartime Army gave him little scope for music-making but Butterworth more than made up for it afterwards. In 1939, however, he won the Alexander Owen Scholarship for young brass players and had his first work played in public by the Wingates Band conducted by Granville Bantock. At the time, Butterworth was unaware of Bantock’s fame, or that he was a friend of Jean Sibelius, whom Butterworth revered, but Bantock was nevertheless encouraging. At the Royal Manchester College of Music (now the Royal Northern College of Music), Butterworth studied composition with Richard Hall and also learned the trumpet and conducting. He studied composition with Ralph Vaughan Williams after writing to the composer in 1950, requesting lessons. he also played as a freel

Arthur Elwell Fisher

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Arthur Elwell Fisher (29 May 1848 – 2 June 1914) was an English composer, organist, violist, violinist, and music educator who was primarily active in North America. His compositional output includes String Trio in G, Opus 54, a Rhapsody for violin and orchestra, a Thanksgiving Cantata, several works for solo piano and solo violin, choral works, and roughly 100 songs. His works were published in Canada by I. Suckling & Sons and A. & S. Nordheimer Co., in England by Ashdown, Curwen Press, and Novello, and in the United States by Century, Oliver Ditson and Company, G. Schirmer, and Summy-Birchard Music. Early life and education Fisher was born in England. He studied the violin at the Conservatoire de Paris and with Henry Holmes (1839–1905) in London. Career Fisher worked as a church organist in Liverpool during the 1870s. In 1879 he emigrated to Canada, and assumed the post of organist at St George’s Church in Montreal, while giving organ lessons privately. He left there in 1882 to pursue studies at Trinity College in Toronto where he earned a Bachelor of Music in 1887. He also earned associates diplomas from Trinity College of Music and the Royal College of Organists in 1889 through

Arthur Phillips (musician)

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Arthur Phillips (1605 – 27 March 1695) was an English musician and composer. He was organist of Magdalen College, Oxford, and Heather Professor of Music at the University of Oxford. He converted to Catholicism and resigned his positions in 1656 to travel to France to become organist to Queen Henrietta Maria, widow of the executed King Charles I. Life and career Arthur Phillips, from Winchester, Hampshire, was admitted to New College, Oxford, aged 17 in 1622. He was appointed organist of Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1639 (following an appointment as organist of Bristol Cathedral the previous year) and gained his Bachelor of Music degree in 1640. Phillips joined the Catholic Church and resigned from his Oxford positions in 1656. After the monarchy was restored in 1660, he returned to England to live in Harting, Sussex, where he owned some land; he died there on 27 March 1695. Compositions Phillips wrote instrumental and vocal music. His surviving instrumental music, held in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, consists of some variations for keyboard, and some ensemble pieces. References

Arthur Somervell

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Sir Arthur Somervell (5 June 18632 May 1937) was an English composer and educationalist. After Hubert Parry, he was one of the most successful and influential writers of art song in the English music renaissance of the 1890s–1900s. According to Michael Hurd, his most important work is found in the five song cycles, particularly his settings of Tennyson in Maud (1898) and Housman in A Shropshire Lad (1904). Career He was born in Windermere, Westmorland, the son of Robert Miller Somervell and his wife. His father was a shoe manufacturer who served as a JP, of “Hazelthwaite” at Windermere (1821-1899). The Somervell (originally Somerville) family came from Scotland, settling in London in the 1700s. Somervell’s brother, Colin Somervell, became a shoe-manufacturer like their father and later served as High Sheriff of Westmorland in 1916. Colin’s son, Maj. Arnold Colin Somervell, O.B.E., served in this office in 1936; later, other members of the Somervell family also served. Somervell was initially educated at Uppingham School and King’s College, Cambridge, where he studied composition under Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. From 1883 to 1885 he studied at the High School for Music, Berlin,

Arthur Sullivan

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Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. His works include 24 operas, 11 major orchestral works, ten choral works and oratorios, two ballets, incidental music to several plays, and numerous church pieces, songs, and piano and chamber pieces. His hymns and songs include “Onward, Christian Soldiers” and “The Lost Chord”. The son of a military bandmaster, Sullivan composed his first anthem at the age of eight and was later a soloist in the boys’ choir of the Chapel Royal. In 1856, at 14, he was awarded the first Mendelssohn Scholarship by the Royal Academy of Music, which allowed him to study at the academy and then at the Leipzig Conservatoire in Germany. His graduation piece, incidental music to Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1861), was received with acclaim on its first performance in London. Among his early major works were a ballet, (1864), a symphony, a cello concerto (both 1866), and his Overture di Ballo (1870). To supplement the income from his concert works he wrote hymns, parlour ball

Arthur Wills (musician)

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Arthur William Wills OBE (19 September 1926 – 30 October 2020) was an English musician, composer and professor, born in Coventry. He was director of music at Ely Cathedral from 1958 to 1990 and also held a professorship at the Royal Academy of Music in London from 1964 until 1992. He toured extensively as a recitalist in Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. He also broadcast, appeared on television and made many recordings, both as a soloist and with Ely Cathedral Choir. Works Wills composed prolifically for the organ and choir. His ensemble works include a concerto with strings and timpani, a concerto for guitar and organ and a symphonic suite, entitled “The Fenlands”, for brass band and organ. His choral concerto, “The Gods of Music”, for organ, chorus and brass with percussion ensemble was commissioned for the biannual keyboard festival of the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, in 1992. Wills’s secular music includes seven song cycles, and an opera, Winston and Julia, based on the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. His book Organ appeared in the Menuhin Music Guide Series in 1984, with a second edition in 1993 and a third reprin

Arthur Wood (composer)

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Arthur Henry Wood (24 January 1875 – 18 January 1953) was an English composer and conductor. Wood is known for his 1924 work “Barwick Green”, the signature theme for the BBC Radio 4 series The Archers. Wood initially learnt to play the violin, before later learning to play the flute and piccolo which became his primary instruments. Petticoat Fair, and Fancy Fair, the latter two dating from about 1918. Apart from “Barwick Green”, his works are now rarely performed. The couple had five children including Peggy Ann Wood, an actress, director and theatre manager. Wood moved to live in London in 1903, and in 1907 moved into 20, Arlington Gardens in Chiswick, Middlesex (present-day London). In 2012 Wood’s grand-daughter led an unsuccessful campaign to have a blue plaque erected on the building, which has been converted into flats. Notes References External links * *Item about Woods on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, 24 June 2011, at 18m27s. By chance, the clip begins with the final seconds of the evening’s The Archers, so Barwick Green is heard.

Augusta Holmès

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Augusta Mary Anne Holmès (16 December 1847 – 28 January 1903) was a French composer of Irish descent. In 1871, while living with the poet Catulle Mendès, Holmès became a French national and added the accent to her last name. She also published music under the name Hermann Zenta. She wrote the texts to almost all of her vocal music herself, including songs, oratorios, the libretto of her opera La Montagne noire and the programmatic poems for her symphonic poems including Irlande and Andromède. Biography Holmès was born in Paris, the only child of Charles William Scott Dalkeith Holmes (17 July 1797 - 19 December 1869), originally from Youghal, Ireland, and Tryphina Anna Constance Augusta Shearer (1811–1858). Camille Saint-Saëns was among the many artists - musicians, poets, painters - who became enamoured of her and fell in love with her, eventually proposing marriage, but he was turned down. Later, he wrote of Holmès in the journal Harmonie et Mélodie: “Like children, women have no idea of obstacles, and their willpower breaks all barriers. Mademoiselle Holmès is a woman, an extremist.” Like other female composers from the nineteenth century including Fanny Mendelssohn, Holmès publi

Avril Anderson

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Avril Anderson (born 10 June 1953) is an English music educator and composer. She has composed for orchestra, choir, chamber ensemble, solo instruments, and organ. She worked at the Royal College of Music in London, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame in London. Anderson is co-director of contemporary music ensemble Sounds Positive. Biography Avril Anderson was born in Southsea, Hampshire, England in 1953. In 1972 she entered the Royal College of Music where she studied with Humphrey Searle and John Lambert. Anderson won the Cobbett Prize for composition, and her music has been performed in Europe, Australia and the United States. Anderson has directed educational projects, and took a position at the Royal College of Music in 2001. She is co-artistic director with her husband David Sutton-Anderson of contemporary music ensemble Sounds Positive, which has performed more than a hundred premieres of works by British composers. Anderson was Composer-in-Residence for the Young Place London Contemporary Dance School from 1990 until 2000. She is an adjunct professor at University of Notre Dame, London programme, where she has taught since 1997. Works Anderson has c

Avril Coleridge-Taylor

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Gwendolen Avril Coleridge-Taylor (8 March 190321 December 1998) was an English pianist, conductor, and composer. She was the daughter of composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and his wife Jessie (née Walmisley). Personal life Gwendolen Avril Coleridge-Taylor was born in South Norwood, London, the daughter of composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and his wife Jessie Walmisley, who had met as students at the Royal College of Music. She had an older brother, Hiawatha. On 19 April 1924, Coleridge-Taylor married Harold Dashwood, in the Croydon parish church. She initially composed and conducted using her first name and maiden surname. After their divorce she dropped her first name, thereafter going as Avril Coleridge-Taylor professionally. In the 1930s she was living at The Studio, 4A Hill Road in St John’s Wood. Coleridge-Taylor was invited on a tour of South Africa in 1952, during the period of apartheid, arriving on the inaugural flight of de Havilland’s Comet passenger jet from Croydon to Johannesburg. Originally she was supportive of, or neutral to the South African apartheid system; she was taken as White and was mostly White-European in ancestry. When the South African government learned t

Barry Guy

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Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London, England) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music under Buxton Orr, and later taught there. Other activities Guy has also written for other large improvising ensembles, such as the NOW Orchestra and ROVA (the piece Witch Gong Game inspired by images by the visual artist Alan Davie). His current improvising activities include piano trios with Marilyn Crispell and Agusti Fernandez. He has also recorded several albums for ECM, which often focus on the interface between improvisers and electronics, including his work in Evan Parker’s Electro-Acoustic Ensemble and his own Ceremony. Guy’s session work in the pop field includes playing double bass on the song “Nightporter”, from the Japan album Gentlemen Take Polaroids. He is married to the early music violinist Maya Homburger. After spending some years in Ireland, they now live in Switzerland. They run the small label Maya, which releases a variety of records in the genres

Basil Harwood

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Basil Harwood (11 April 1859 – 3 April 1949) was an organist and composer in the English church music tradition, best known today for his liturgical works, particularly his anthem O How Glorious is the Kingdom (1898) and his Service in A flat (1892), which still remain popular in English churches. He wrote numerous hymn tunes, several of which became well-known including Luckington (“Let All the World in Every Corner Sing”) and Thornbury (“O Jesus I Have Promised” and “Thy hand, O God, has guided”). Early life Basil Harwood was born on 11 April 1859 at Woodhouse, Olveston, Gloucestershire, the youngest child of Edward Harwood (1818–1907), a banker. His mother Mary, née Sturge (1840–1867), was of Quaker extraction, and Harwood was brought up in that faith until a switch to Anglicanism in 1869 following his father’s second marriage. Education As a boy, Harwood attended Walton Lodge preparatory school in Clevedon, followed in 1864 by Charterhouse. In 1876 he won a scholarship to Trinity College, Oxford, where he was placed in the second class in classical moderations (1879) and the third in modern history (1881). He took his music degree (BMus) in 1880, studying with C. W. Corfe, then

Bayan Northcott

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Bayan Peter Northcott (24 April 1940 – 13 December 2022) was an English music critic and composer. Biography Born in Harrow on the Hill, London to Roy and Cecilia Northcott (née Venning) on 24 April 1940 he was educated at Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith. Northcott read English at Oxford University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford in 1962. He then taught English from 1964 to 1970 at Chichester High School For Boys. Subsequently he read music at the University of Southampton, where his instructors included Goehr and Jonathan Harvey. Northcott earned a BMus degree from Southampton in 1971. He mentored other composers such as Robin Holloway and Julian Anderson. Northcott served as a music critic for the New Statesman, for The Sunday Telegraph from 1976 to 1986, He also wrote on music for Tempo and BBC Music Magazine. He was a director of the independent recording company NMC. He died in London on 13 December 2022, aged 82. Compositions As a composer, Northcott’s output was modest and mainly scored for small forces. Choral pieces include Hymn to Cybele (1983, performed at the 2010 Proms), the Four Votive Antiphons, Op. 7 (2003, a cumulative cycle), and Canticle: T

Benedict Mason

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Benedict Mason, born on 23 February 1954, is a British composer. Mason was educated at King’s College, Cambridge (1971–75) and took a degree in film-making at the Royal College of Art (1975–78). He did not turn to composition until his early 30s, but his first acknowledged work, Hinterstoisser Traverse (1986), attracted attention from the European new music scene. His early works are decidedly postmodern in inclination, with considerable use of stylistic irony (some commentators have noted in these works a similarity to the music of Mauricio Kagel). Mason then developed an interest in polyrhythmic music, and in works such as his Double Concerto one can hear a stylistic affinity to the later works of György Ligeti. More recent works have concentrated on the spatial dimension of music, such as in his Music for European Concert Halls series, and sometimes have come close to installation art. Mason has composed in different genres, and his soccer opera Playing Away, with a libretto by Howard Brenton, was commissioned by the Munich Biennale and premièred there in 1994 by Opera North. References ;Sources * * Further reading *Kennedy, Michael (2006). The Oxford Dictionary of Music, *Toop,

Benjamin Britten

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Early years#

Britten was born in the fishing port of Lowestoft in Suffolk, on the east coast of England on 22 November 1913, the feast day of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. He was the youngest of four children of Robert Victor Britten and his wife Edith Rhoda, née Hockey. Robert Britten’s youthful ambition to become a farmer had been thwarted by lack of capital, and he had instead trained as a dentist, a profession he practised successfully but without pleasure. While studying at Charing Cross Hospital in London he met Edith Hockey, the daughter of a civil service clerk in the British Government’s Home Office. They were married in September 1901 at St John’s, Smith Square, London. The consensus among biographers of Britten is that his father was a loving but somewhat stern and remote parent. Britten, according to his sister Beth, “got on well with him and shared his wry sense of humour, dedication to work and capacity for taking pains.” Edith Britten was a talented amateur musician and secretary of the Lowestoft Musical Society. In the English provinces of the early 20th century, distinctions of social class were taken very seriously. Britten described his family as “very ordinary middle class”, but there were aspects of the Brittens that were not ordinary: Edith’s father was illegitimate, and her mother was an alcoholic; Robert Britten was an agnostic and refused to attend church on Sundays. Music was the principal means by which Edith Britten strove to maintain the family’s social standing, inviting the pillars of the local community to musical soirées at the house. When Britten was three months old he contracted pneumonia and nearly died. The illness left him with a damaged heart, and doctors warned his parents that he would probably never be able to lead a normal life. He recovered more fully than expected, and as a boy was a keen tennis player and cricketer. To his mother’s great delight he was an outstandingly musical child, unlike his sisters, who inherited their father’s indifference to music, while his brother, Robert, though musically talented, was interested only in ragtime. Edith gave the young Britten his first lessons in piano and notation. He made his first attempts at composition when he was five. He started piano lessons when he was seven years old, and three years later began to play the viola. He was one of the last composers brought up on exclusively live music: his father refused to have a gramophone or, later, a radio in the house.

Benjamin Burrows

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Dr Benjamin Burrows (20 October 1891 – 28 January 1966) in Leicester, England) was an English organist, pianist, music teacher, inventor, composer of art songs and instrumental music. He was known as a modest man and one of the finest teachers of his times. Biography Burrows was born in Leicester, England. He was the son of Benjamin Harper Burrows (1864–1915), a scholar and teacher of some repute, who played violin, viola and later cello, and was closely involved with the Leicester Orchestral Union from 1884 until his death. His mother was Mary Elizabeth (born Gray 1867) who was an excellent pianist. His sister was violinist, teacher and orchestra conductor Grace Burrows. He was born at 12 College Street, Leicester and attended Alderman Newton’s Boys School. He tutored students in organ and composition up to PhD level for 27 years. He was known to be generous, sympathetic and encouraging. Music Burrows is best known for his art songs. Under the influence and friendship of Jane Vowles, a soprano to whom he taught theory, he composed 93 songs in 21 months. After her parents insisted on her abandoning studies with him, Burrows wrote only one more song (in 1953). His songs have been co

Benjamin Dale

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Benjamin James Dale (17 July 188530 July 1943) was an English composer and academic who had a long association with the Royal Academy of Music. Dale showed compositional talent from an early age and went on to write a small but notable corpus of works. His best-known composition is probably the large-scale Piano Sonata in D minor he started while still a student at the Royal Academy of Music, which communicates in a potent late romantic style. Christopher Foreman has proposed a comprehensive reassessment of Benjamin Dale’s music. Dale married one of his students, the pianist and composer Kathleen Richards in 1921. Early life and education Benjamin Dale was born in Upper Holloway, Islington, London, to Charles James Dale, a pottery manufacturer from Staffordshire, and his wife, Frances Anne Hallett, daughter of a furniture manufacturer from Clerkenwell. His father, who had migrated first to Derbyshire and then to London, was a director of the Denby Pottery Company and London manager of James Bourne & Son. He was also a self-taught but enthusiastic amateur musician, church organist and Methodist hymn tune writer who nurtured the Finsbury Choral Association (attracting composers such

Benjamin Frankel

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Benjamin Frankel (31 January 1906 – 12 February 1973) was a British composer. His best known pieces include a cycle of five string quartets, eight symphonies, and concertos for violin and viola. He was also notable for writing over 100 film scores and working as a big band arranger in the 1930s. During the last 15 years of his life, Frankel also developed his own style of 12-note composition which retained contact with tonality. Biography Frankel was born in London on 31 January 1906, the son of Polish Jewish parents. He began to learn the violin at an early age, showing remarkable talent; at age 14, his piano-playing gifts attracted the attention of the American pianist and teacher Victor Benham (1867–1936) who persuaded his parents to let him study music full-time. He spent six months in Germany in 1922, then returned to London, where he won a scholarship from the Worshipful Company of Musicians and attempted his first serious compositions while earning his income as a jazz violinist, pianist and arranger. Known then as Ben Frankel, his jazz work can be heard on recordings by Fred Elizalde’s band. He also played violin with Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans. By the ear

Benson Taylor

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Benson Taylor (born Mark Davison) is an English composer, songwriter, record producer, and humanitarian. He is best known for his music in The Big Bang Theory, Orange is the New Black, London Fields, and the eighth highest-grossing Mexican film of all time The Perfect Dictatorship. In November 2016, Taylor was awarded an honorary doctorate for services to humanitarian causes and music. He founded A Remarkable Idea in 2017, a sub label of Universal Music, located in Santa Monica, California & London. Taylor has collaborated with, and produced a range artists for the label, including MOBO-winning jazz quartet Kairos 4Tet, The Halle Orchestra, Mercury Prize-nominated Maxïmo Park and Kele Okereke, Bloc Party, Good Charlotte’s Billy Martin, Pulled Apart by Horses, Robot Koch, Lack of Afro, Benoît Pioulard, Freddie Cowan, Bo Ningen, James Brown, and Menace Beach. Taylor won the “Best Original Music” award at the 2014 Monaco International Film Festival. In 2018, he scored and produced the music to Mathew Cullen’s thriller adaptation of the Martin Amis novel, London Fields, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Amber Heard, Jason Isaacs, Cara Delevingne, Theo James and Johnny Depp. In 2020, he scor

Bernard Barrell

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Bernard Clements Barrell (15 August 1919 – 2 January 2005) was an English musician, music educator and composer. Biography Bernard Barrell was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, and studied at Trinity College of Music, London. He served in World War II and returned to England, where he took various teaching appointments in Hollesley Bay Borstal, Ipswich schools, the Suffolk Rural Music School and the Workers’ Educational Association. He served as conductor of the Woodbridge Orchestra and as an adjudicator for the British Federation of Musical Festivals. He married composer Joyce Howard Gedye. Selected works Orchestra * Hommage à Ravel, Suite for small orchestra, Op.1 (1938) * Diversions on an Original Theme for string orchestra, Op.2 (1938) * Sarabande for small orchestra, Op.4 (1939) * Four Studies for string orchestra, Op.8 (1951) * Fugue for string orchestra, Op.11 (1954) * East Anglian Holiday Overture, Op.14 (1956) * A Carol Prelude for string orchestra and 3 recorders, Op.17 (1958) * Festival Voluntary for string orchestra and 3 recorders, Op.18 (1959) * Meditation on an Old French Melody for small orchestra, Op.27 (1960) * Two Christmas Preludes for recorders and string orchestra, Op

Bernard Gates

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Bernard Gates (23 April 1686 in The Hague – 15 November 1773 in North Aston) was an English composer, and a bass singer employed by Handel in his oratorios. He was director of the choir at Westminster Abbey from 1740 to 1757. Surviving music, in a conservative style, includes six anthems and a morning service. Life He was the second son of Bernard Gates, gentleman, of St. Margaret’s, Westminster. His name appears in the list of children of the Chapel Royal in 1702. At the end of 1708 he was sworn a gentleman of the Chapel Royal in the place of J. Howell, who died on 15 July in that year. He held the sinecure office of tuner of the regals at court, and was a member of the choir of Westminster Abbey. At some time before 1732 Gates was made master of the children of the Chapel Royal. On 23 February 1732 Handel’s Esther was performed at Gates’s house in James Street, Westminster, by the children of the chapel. The same singers sang the work at a subscription concert at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, and again at the room in Villiers Street, York Buildings. In 1734 Gates seceded from the Academy of Vocal Music, taking the children of the chapel with him. He had been a prominent member of

Bernard Naylor

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Bernard Naylor (November 22, 1907 – May 19, 1986) was an English and Canadian composer, conductor and organist. Early life Bernard James Naylor was born in Cambridge, England, on November 22, 1907. His father, Edward Naylor, was an English composer. Career In 1930, he received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Oxford. In the 1920s, and studied with Gustav Holst, John Ireland and Vaughan Williams at The Royal Conservatory of Music. He became an organ scholar at Exeter College during the late 1920s and early 1930s. In the 1930s, He founded the Little Symphony of Montreal in 1942 and composed in Montreal for five years. After singing in the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir for a year, in the 1950s he again returned to England. He taught at both at the University of Oxford and the University of Reading. He returned to Canada in 1959 and spent the rest of his life there with his wife, continuing to compose, first in Winnipeg and then in Victoria in 1968, despite retiring officially in 1964. In 1980, he received honorary doctorates of law from both the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba. He and his wife, donated art to the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Death On May 19, 198

Bernard Rands

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Bernard Rands (2 March 1934 – 4 March 2026) was a British and American contemporary classical composer and professor. He composed orchestral works and chamber music, often with a vocal element, and a series of Memos for solo instruments. His Canti del Sole for tenor and orchestra received the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1984. He taught at Harvard University from 1988 to 2005. Life and career Rands was born on 2 March 1934. He studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse, and with Luigi Dallapiccola and Luciano Berio in Milan. He taught at the University of California, San Diego, the Juilliard School, Yale University, and Boston University. Rands was married to American composer Augusta Read Thomas. Works Rands’s music was published by Schott. The publisher maintains works and their performances on its website. Opera *Belladonna (1999) *:opera in two acts, with a libretto by Leslie Dunton Downer, commissioned by the Aspen Festival. Première: 1999, Aspen Music Festival, Colorado *Vincent (c. 1973–2010) *:opera based on the life of Vincent van Gogh, with libretto by J. D. Mc

Bernard Rose (musician)

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Bernard William George Rose (9 May 1916 – 21 November 1996) was a British organist, soldier, composer, and academic. A graduate of Cambridge University, he is best known for his compositions of Anglican church music; his Preces and Responses, for use in the Anglican services of Mattins and Evensong, is widely performed. He served as a soldier in the Second World War, and went on to become a noted choir master and music tutor, counting among his pupils the composer Kenneth Leighton, musicians Professor Roger Bray, Professor David Wulstan and Harry Christophers, and actor Dudley Moore. Education Bernard Rose was at Salisbury Cathedral School and sang as a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral from 1925 to 1931. There, he also studied the organ under Walter Galpin Alcock and was appointed as an assistant organist at the cathedral aged just 15. From 1933 to 1935, Rose studied at the Royal College of Music where he continued his organ studies under Alcock. In 1935, he won the organ scholarship to St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, beating Edward Heath to the position. At Cambridge, Rose studied under Hubert Middleton and Edward Joseph Dent from 1935 to 1939. He saw action in the North Africa

Bernard Stevens

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Bernard (George) Stevens (2 March 1916 – 6 January 1983) was a British composer who first became known to the wider public when he won a newspaper composition prize for a ‘Victory Symphony’ post-war in 1946. The broader success was not sustained, but Stevens went on to become a respected composer and teacher at the Royal College of Music, using traditional forms for his compositions while extending his essentially tonal harmonic language towards serialism. Early career Born in Stamford Hill, London, Stevens grew up in Essex, and received his first musical education at Southend High School, where his teacher was Arthur Hutchings. Called up for war service in 1940, he was rejected for a combat role due to his poor eyesight, so he served in the Royal Army Pay Corps. While there, he composed his Piano Trio and his Violin Sonata, Op. 1, written for his wife Bertha, a violin teacher whom he married in 1941. The sonata attracted the attention of Max Rostal, who commissioned a Violin Concerto, which Stevens also wrote during his army service. In 1946 his First Symphony, entitled Symphony of Liberation, won first prize in a competition sponsored by the Daily Express newspaper for a ‘Victory

Berthold Goldschmidt

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Berthold Goldschmidt (18 January 190317 October 1996) was a German Jewish composer who spent most of his life in England. The suppression of his work by Nazi Germany, as well as the disdain with which many modernist critics elsewhere dismissed his “anachronistic” lyricism, stranded the composer in the wilderness for many years before he was given a revival in his final decade. Life Goldschmidt was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1903. His musical career began in earnest during the heyday of the Weimar Republic. While studying philosophy at the University of Hamburg, he was encouraged by the Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni to write music. In 1922, Goldschmidt entered the Berlin Hochschule für Musik and joined Franz Schreker’s composition class, where his fellow pupils included Ernst Krenek, Alois Hába, Felix Petryek, and Jascha Horenstein. He also studied conducting, played freelance for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 1923, coached the choir for the Berlin premiere of Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder. In 1925, Goldschmidt achieved his first major success with his Passacaglia, Op. 4, which earned him the prestigious Mendelssohn Prize. Hailed as one of the brightest hopes of

Bertram Luard-Selby

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bertram Luard-Selby (12 February 1853 – 26 December 1918) was an English composer and cathedral organist. As an organist, he served in Salisbury Cathedral and Rochester Cathedral. As a composer, he wrote prolifically for the church, the concert-hall and the theatre. Family Luard-Selby was born at Ightham Mote, Kent, to Robert Luard-Selby (1800−1880) and his second wife Lewis Marianne Selby. His father was the brother of Lt.-Col. John Luard and the uncle of the antiquarian Henry Richards Luard and Lt.-Gen. Richard George Amherst Luard. His half-brother Charles was married to Caroline Mary Luard, the victim of an unsolved murder. Life and works Luard-Selby studied the organ at the Leipzig Conservatoire under Carl Reinecke and was appointed organist at, successively, St. Barnabas, Marylebone, and Highgate School (1876); Salisbury Cathedral (1881); St John’s Church, Torquay, 1884; and St. Barnabas, Pimlico, 1887. He was appointed organist of Rochester Cathedral on the death of the incumbent, John Hopkins, in 1900, He was the musical editor of Hymns Ancient and Modern, published in 1904. He also gave chamber music concerts in London in the 1880s. At the Three Choirs Festival of 1877, Lu

Bettina Walker

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Bettina or Bessie Walker (1837 – 4 February 1893) was an Irish pianist and composer. She wrote a memoir of her musical education, published in 1890. Biography Walker was born in Dublin, the daughter of physician William Augustus Walker, who died in 1838. Her mother encouraged her study of music, but opposed Walker’s hopes of a career as a pianist. Walker studied in the 1870s, first with William Sterndale Bennett in London and Carl Tausig in Berlin and Giovanni Sgambati in Rome. In 1883 she came to Weimar and continued her studies with Franz Liszt. She also studied under Ludwig Deppe, Xaver Scharwenka and Adolf Henselt. She advertised herself as an “honorary associate of the St. Cecilian Academy of Rome.” After Henselt’s death in 1889 she settled in Fulham, London, where she taught her piano methodology, but died four years later, in 1893, in her sixties. memoirs, My Musical Experiences (1890), in which she details her numerous encounters with important musicians. “The book is pleasantly written with perfect freshness and innocence and freedom from affectation,” commented one reviewer. Critics compared Walker’s book to Amy Fay’s Music Study in Germany (1880), an American woman’s mem

Betty Roe

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Eileen Betty Roe MBE (30 July 1930 – 19 May 2026) was an English composer, singer, vocal coach and conductor. Life and career Eileen Betty Roe was born in North Kensington, London, England on 30 July 1930. Her father was a fishmonger at the Shepherd’s Bush Market, and her mother was a bookkeeper. Roe took piano lessons from the age of six with local teacher Madam Dorina. She began writing music and arrangements in her teens during World War II when assisting with choirs at the local church. As a Junior Exhibitioner she studied piano with Fiona Addie, Muriel Dale, and Sadie MacCormack, and cello with Alison Dalrymple at the Royal Academy of Music, but left school in 1947 and took a job as a filing clerk. She continued at the Royal Academy in 1949, studying piano with York Bowen, cello with Alison Dalrymple, and voice with Jean McKenzie-Grieve. She continued her study of singing with Clive Carey, Roy Hickman, Peter van der Stolk, and Margaret Field-Hyde, and studied composition with Lennox Berkeley. In the 1950s Roe became involved with a drama group where she began writing for musicals. She also worked as a sessions singer with London ensembles, and in light entertainment with celeb

Big George

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

George Webley (29 May 1957 – 7 May 2011), better known by the stage name Big George, was a British musician, composer, bandleader and broadcaster who has been described as one of Britain’s most successful theme music writers. Early life Webley was born in Clapham, London. His aunt Vera was the fan club secretary for Frankie Laine, who was Webley’s godfather on 1 June 1957. His first introduction to music was when Donald Swann attended his primary school to play to all the pupils after the school’s music teacher died. Webley later said “From the first moment he lifted the piano lid, I knew the direction my life was going to take.” Webley left school at the age of 14 to go on the road with a showband. He became friends with and regularly accompanied Herbie Flowers in his late teens after writing to the bassist for advice and was a session bass player until the age of 30. Music career Webley became a musical director for EMI at 30 and produced dozens of chart records. In 1989 he became bandleader on Jameson Tonight with Derek Jameson and Shane Richie. He composed or arranged the theme music for the television programmes Have I Got News for You, The Office, Room 101, and The Graham Nor

Bill Hopkins (composer)

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George William Hopkins (5 June 1943 – 10 March 1981), known as Bill Hopkins, was a British composer. He also published music criticism, mostly under the name G. W. Hopkins. Biography Hopkins was born in Prestbury, Cheshire, and educated at Hillcrest Grammar School and Rossall School, Lancashire; his mother’s disability meant she was unable to look after him, and he was raised by aunts. Studies with Luigi Nono at Dartington Summer School consolidated his interest in serialism; subsequently he studied at Oxford University with Edmund Rubbra and Egon Wellesz. In 1964 he went to Paris in order to study with Olivier Messiaen, and with an ambition to meet Jean Barraqué. Returning to England, he supported himself as a music critic in London and then, after moving first to Tintagel, Cornwall and subsequently to Peel, Isle of Man, by translation and writing music criticism. He married Clare Gilbert in 1972. Subsequently, he taught at Birmingham University and University of Newcastle upon Tyne before succumbing to a heart attack, in Chopwell, near Newcastle, at the age of 37. His few pupils included the British composers Paul Keenan and Patrick Ozzard-Low. Career Hopkins’ music is published

Bill Whelan

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William Michael Joseph Whelan (born 22 May 1950) is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, “Riverdance”, was a seven-minute piece of original music accompanying a new take on traditional Irish stepdance that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze for Irish traditional music and dance. The corresponding soundtrack album earned him a Grammy. “Riverdance” was released as a single in 1994, credited to “Bill Whelan and Anúna featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra”. It reached number one in Ireland for 18 weeks and number nine in the UK. The album of the same title reached number 31 in the album charts in 1995. Whelan has also arranged a symphonic suite version of Riverdance, with its premiere performed by the Ulster Orchestra on BBC Radio 3 in August 2014. A studio recording was released on CD (on the RTÉ lyric fm label) in 2018. Whelan is second cousin to British-Irish comedian, Jimmy Carr. Biography Whelan is a native of Limerick city, and was educated at Crescent College. He gained his Bachelor of Civil Law degree at University College Dublin in 1973 and then we

Billy Mayerl

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William Joseph Mayerl (31 May 1902 – 25 March 1959) was an English pianist and composer who built a career in music hall and musical theatre. Best known for his syncopated novelty piano solos, he wrote over 300 piano pieces, many of which were named after flowers and trees, including his best-known composition, “Marigold” (1927). He also ran the successful School of Syncopation, for whose members he published hundreds of his own arrangements of popular songs. He also composed works for piano and orchestra, often in suites with evocative names such as the Aquarium Suite (1937), comprising “Willow Moss”, “Moorish Idol”, “Fantail”, and “Whirligig”. Early life and education Mayerl was born in 1902 on London’s Tottenham Court Road, near the West End theatre district. His father, a violin player, attempted to introduce him to the violin age of four, but failed. After noticing his affinity to the piano, he started him with piano lessons. By age seven he was studying at the Trinity College of Music, paid for with a series of scholarships. His first major concert was at age nine, playing Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto. In his teens, he supplemented these lessons by accompanying silent movies

Bishop Simms

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Bishop Simms (1767 – 30 January 1829) was an English organist and composer. Background He was born in 1767, the eldest son of John Simms of Staffordshire. Many of his siblings were also musicians in the Midlands. He was appointed as organist of St Philip’s Church, Birmingham in succession to Joseph Harris who was appointed to Worcester Cathedral. Bishop Simms was also organist of St. Mary’s Chapel in Birmingham He was a violinist, and one of the orchestra at the Birmingham Festivals from 1805. In 1809 he gave the opening recital on the new Elliot organ in the Church of St John the Baptist, Bromsgrove. His brother, James Simms, was then the organist at this church for some 45 years. He died in Birmingham in 1829, and his post at St Philip’s Church, Birmingham was filled by his nephew. Appointments *Organist of St. Mary’s Chapel, Birmingham *Organist of St Philip’s Church, Birmingham 1803 - 1829 Compositions In 1810 he published an adaptation of Haydn’s chorus, The Heavens are Telling, from his oratorio, The Creation. References

Bob Chilcott

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Robert Chilcott (born 9 April 1955) is a British choral composer, conductor, and singer, based in Oxfordshire, England. He was a member of the King’s Singers from 1985 to 1997, singing tenor. Early life and early career Chilcott was born in Plymouth, Devon, in 1955. While still young, he relocated with his family to a new home near Watford, Hertfordshire. Although his family was not musical, he joined the local church choir, where the assistant organist was Andrew Davis. Chilcott sang in the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, both as a boy and as a university student, when he conducted the voluntary Choral Society, which included many singers from other colleges. He performed the Pie Jesu of Fauré’s Requiem on the 1967 King’s College recording. Composer Chilcott is well known for his compositions for children’s choirs, including Can You Hear Me?, which he has conducted in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, and the Czech Republic. In 2008, Oxford University Press published his Aesop’s Fables for SATB and piano (“The Hare and the Tortoise”; “The Mountain in Labour”; “The Fox and the Grapes”; “North Wind and the Sun”; “The Goose and the Swan”). Chi

Bramwell Tovey

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Bramwell Tovey (11 July 1953 – 12 July 2022) was a British conductor and composer. Life and career Tovey was educated at Ilford County High School, the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London. His formal music education was as a pianist and composer. Whilst at the Royal Academy, he also became a tuba player, studying with John Fletcher. During his student years he conducted several broadcasts on the BBC, and also played in the London Symphony Orchestra at the Salzburg Festival. Tovey was appointed a staff conductor of London Festival Ballet at the age of 22, working with Léonide Massine on a production of Parade, Ronald Hynd on Nutcracker and Sanguine Fan and with Rudolf Nureyev on Romeo and Juliet. In 1978 he became Music Director of Scottish Ballet, conducting Peter Darrell’s major ballets including Cheri and Five Rückert Songs (with Janet Baker). During this period he also conducted several British orchestras and appeared as pianist in Elite Syncopations. Between 1989 and 2001, he was the music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and was instrumental in establishing the city’s annual New Music Festival, which began in 1992. Tovey became music director of the

Brian Easdale

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Brian Easdale (10 August 1909 – 30 October 1995) was a British composer of operatic, orchestral, choral and film music, best known for his ballet film score The Red Shoes of 1948. Life Easdale was born in Manchester, and was educated at Westminster Abbey School and the Royal College of Music, where he was a pupil of Armstrong Gibbs (composition) and Gordon Jacob (orchestration). By the 1930s Easdale was living in London, in a Hampstead bed-sit. His downstairs neighbour, the poet Louis MacNeice, suggested to him that he should work for John Grierson’s GPO Film Unit, where MacNeice’s fellow poet W. H. Auden was already working alongside the young composer Benjamin Britten. Easdale also worked with Britten at the Group Theatre just before the war. Called up early in the war, he was assigned to the Crown Film Unit and sent on special assignment to Information Films of India. While there he became interested in Indian music (in particular the music of Nepal) and its instruments, and also formed a friendship with Rumer Godden, author of Black Narcissus. On his return to the UK this connection helped win him the task of composing the score for the film of the novel in 1947. Percussion ins

Brian Elias

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Brian Elias (born 30 August 1948) is a British composer. Biography Brian Elias was born in Bombay, India, and has lived in the U.K. since he was thirteen years old. After studying at the Royal College of Music under Humphrey Searle and Bernard Stevens he undertook private studies with Elisabeth Lutyens. His first major orchestral work L’Eylah was premiered at the BBC Proms in 1984. He has since had his works performed and recorded extensively by leading orchestras and soloists including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Britten Sinfonia, Jane Manning, Roderick Williams, Natalie Clein, and the Jerusalem Quartet. Elias collaborated with Kenneth MacMillan on his final ballet The Judas Tree, premiered in 1992 at the Royal Opera House. He has won two British Composer Awards - the first for his 2010 work Doubles, and the second for his 2013 work Electra Mourns. Elias was featured in a Wigmore Hall retrospective in April 2021. He has taught composition at the Royal Academy of Music and the Purcell School, and his students have included Joby Talbot and Darren Bloom. His works are published by Chester Music. Compositions Orchestral * L’Eylah: commissioned by the BBC for the 1984 Proms. The BB

Brian Ferneyhough

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and the University of California, San Diego; he teaches at Stanford University and is a regular lecturer in the summer courses at Darmstädter Ferienkurse. He has resided in California since 1987. Life Ferneyhough was born in Coventry and received formal musical training at the Birmingham School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music from 1966 to 1967, where he studied with Lennox Berkeley. Ferneyhough was awarded the Mendelssohn Scholarship in 1968 and moved to mainland Europe to study with Ton de Leeuw in Amsterdam, and later with Klaus Huber in Basel. Between 1973 and 1986 he taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, Germany, where his students included Toshio Hosokawa, Joël-François Durand, Roger Redgate, Alessandro Melchiorre, Giulio Castagnoli, Kaija Saariaho, Joël Bons (winner of the 2021 Grawemeyer Award), Hans-Ola Ericsson, and Rodney Sharman. The Royan Festival of 1974 saw the premiere of Cassandra’s Dream Song, the first of

Brian Jackson (conductor)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Brian Jackson (born 26 December 1943) is a British-Canadian conductor, organist and pianist. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1974. Until 2012 he was Principal Pops Conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Orchestra London, and the Victoria Symphony. Early life and education Anthony Brian Jackson was born in Penzance, Cornwall, England. He began performing as a concert pianist at age 6 and as an organist at the age of 12. He attended Clifton College in Bristol, and also started conducting choirs and orchestras as a teenager. He also served as the organist-choirmaster at St John’s Anglican Church in Peterborough, Ontario from 1968 to 1971 and taught on the music faculty at Trent University. He studied conduction from 1971 to 1973 with Karel Ančerl and Victor Feldbrill in Toronto, Richard Lert in Los Angeles, and Hans Swarowsky in Vienna. He was awarded the Heinz Unger Award in 1972. In 1974, he received a grant from the Canada Council, which allowed him to study conducting further in Detmold, West Germany. From 1973 to 1974 and 1976 to 1977, Jackson served as director of music at the Erskine and American Church in Montreal. He also taught during that time at Concordi

Brian Newbould

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Brian Newbould (born 26 February 1936) is an English composer, conductor and author who has conjecturally completed Franz Schubert’s Symphonies D 708A in D major, No. 7 in E major, No. 8 in B minor (“Unfinished”), No. 10 (“Last”) in D major, Piano Sonata in C major, D 840, Quartettsatz, D. 703 and String Trio, D. 471. He was educated at Gravesend Grammar School, and earned a BMus degree with top honors from the University of Bristol. Schubert’s Eighth Symphony The first two movements of Schubert’s Eighth or “Unfinished” Symphony, an Allegro moderato in B minor and an Andante con moto in E major, completed in the Autumn of 1822, were sequestered by Anselm Hüttenbrenner in Graz after Schubert had sent them to him in full score in fulfillment of a commission by the Graz musical society. They were not discovered and conducted until 1865, when Johann Herbeck visited the aging Hüttenbrenner and persuaded him to show him, and lend him, the MS of the legendary rumored missing Schubert B minor Symphony in return for promising to conduct a still unperformed overture of Hüttenbrenner’s. The last pages of the Schubert MS contained a sketch of the projected third movement (a scherzo in B major

Bushra El-Turk

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Bushra El-Turk (born 1982 in London, UK) is a British composer and contemporary music educator of Lebanese parents. Named by the BBC as “one of the most inspiring 100 Women of today”, she has written numerous compositions for live concerts, dance, theatre and multi-media performances, performed and broadcast on radio and television by prestigious musicians in various countries of Europe and the Middle East. Life and career El-Turk studied composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for five years. In 2017, she graduated with a PhD in Musical Composition at the University of Birmingham, having been supervised by Michael Zev Gordon, with her thesis focused on the relation of Middle-Eastern and Western classical music. Up to 2023, her more than 60 musical works include a wide variety of styles and influences. Among others, she has composed vocal music for soloists and choirs, accompanied by piano, non-western musical ensembles or symphony orchestra. Her works often integrate musical traditions and musicians from different cultural backgrounds. They have been performed in live performances, film scores and programmes on radio and TV, and often include elements of dance, thea

Byttering

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Byttering (also Bytering, Bytteryng, or Biteryng; ) was an English composer during the stylistic transitional from medieval to Renaissance music. Five of his compositions have survived in the Old Hall Manuscript, where the musicologist Peter Wright contends they “form a small yet distinctive corpus of work notable for its technical ambition and musical accomplishment”. Identity and career Extremely little is known of Byttering, whose name is variously spelled as Bytering, Bytteryng, and Biteryng. The musicologist Margaret Bent has suggested he was Thomas Byteryng, though his identity remains uncertain. Byteryng was a canon at Hastings Castle between 1405 and 1408, and was a rector somewhere in London in 1414. There is no information on the composer in the Old Hall Manuscript other than that his surname is attached to several pieces. Those pieces stand out from many of the works in the manuscript by their relatively advanced stylistic traits. Music Byttering’s surviving music includes five compositions: three mass sections—two Glorias and a Credo—a motet and an antiphon. The latter, Nesciens Mater, is “famous for its remarkable camouflaging of the plainsong by means of transposition

C Duncan

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Christopher Duncan (born 29 July 1989) is a Scottish composer and musician. His compositions have been featured on various television programmes, including Waterloo Road, and have been performed by Icebreaker and the Sirens of Titan choir. His first solo single, “For”, was released in December 2014. He is currently signed to Bella Union. His debut album Architect was nominated for the 2015 Mercury Music Prize. In October 2016, he released his second album The Midnight Sun. On 18 January 2019 Duncan announced his third album, Health, would be released on 29 March 2019. On the same day, he released the first single from Health, “Impossible”. Health was produced by Elbow’s Craig Potter at Blueprint Studios at Salford, Manchester, and will be Duncan’s first album he did not record and produce entirely by himself. The album was shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year Award 2019. Life and career Duncan’s parents are both classical musicians. He initially took up piano and viola as instruments, but playing with bands in his teenage years, he also learned to play guitar, bass and drums. He enrolled in Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

C. W. Orr

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Charles Wilfred Leslie Orr, generally known as C. W. Orr (31 July 1893 – 24 February 1976), was an English composer. He is particularly noted for his songs, though his output was small. He wrote only 35 songs in 82 years, 24 of them setting words by A. E. Housman. Biography Born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, shortly after the death from tuberculosis of his father (who was a captain in the Indian Army), he learnt the piano and studied music theory as a child. He was attracted to the singing of Elena Gerhardt, whom he heard sing in London and developed an interest in lieder, especially those of Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann. After reading Ernest Newman’s book on the composer Hugo Wolf he determined to become a songwriter, which occupation he pursued through study at the Guildhall School of Music with Orlando Morgan. He was attracted to the music of Frederick Delius after approaching him at a London restaurant in 1915 and Delius became his mentor, helping him with his early compositions. He also came to know Philip Heseltine (Peter Warlock), who helped him in publishing his early songs. He married in 1929 and moved to Painswick, Gloucestershire, to get away fro

Caleb Simper

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Caleb Simper (12 September 1856 – 28 August 1942) was an English composer and church organist. He gained fame for his prolific output of choral cantatas, anthems and organ works, which were widely performed and sold in their millions. His straightforward, sometimes simplistic and over sentimental style was written with amateur performance in mind, and can be compared to that of his close contemporary, John Henry Maunder. Career Simper was born in the village of Barford St Martin, Wiltshire, the son of a shoemaker. After a period in Worcester, where he worked in a music shop that was owned by the Elgar family. He moved in the 1890s to Barnstaple where he spent the remainder of his active life working as a composer, and as choirmaster and organist at St Mary Magdalene’s Church. He produced a prodigious amount of Anglican church music and organ pieces, written in an unsophisticated, popular style and aimed at small parish choirs and unskilled organists. Although ignored if not derided by critics, his anthems in particular became widely popular and were sold by his publisher under the slogan “Sung throughout the civilized world”. He composed over 160 anthems under his own name and many

Cameron Sinclair (composer)

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Cameron Sinclair is a Scottish composer, conductor and percussionist based in London. Education He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the University of Sussex, studying composition with Martin Butler and Jonathan Harvey. He works with orchestras including the Philharmonia, Glyndebourne and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Career In 2001 he was awarded an International Fellowship from the Arts Council of England to become Artist in Residence at Cittadellarte, an institution in Northern Italy dedicated to cross-disciplinary work directed by world-renowned visual artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. He collaborated with other members of Unidee to create new work based on Pistoletto’s philosophy of ‘art at the centre of a responsible transformation of society ‘, which was exhibited at Mukha in Antwerp, the Shedhalle in Zurich and for Cittadellarte’s Arte al Centro exhibitions in Biella and Turin. He was director of the Vietato L’Accesso Festival, which took place in Biella, Italy, in September 2003. The festival was devised in collaboration with visual artists, architects, environmentalists and local food producers. The series of events - including Sinclair’s participative c

Capel Bond

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Capel Bond (14 December 1730 – 14 February 1790) was an English organist and composer. Life and career He was born in Gloucester, the son of William Bond and the younger brother of painter and japanner Daniel Bond (1725–1803). He received his education at the Crypt school with his uncle, Rev. Daniel Bond, and at the age of twelve became apprentice to the organist of Gloucester Cathedral, Martin Smith. He left for Coventry in 1749, where he became organist of two large churches, St Michael and All Angels (later Coventry Cathedral), and, in 1752, Holy Trinity Church, Coventry. He married Ann Spooner, the daughter of Abraham Spooner and his second wife, Anne Birch, at Holy Trinity in 1768. Anne’s cousin Sarah Sebright (6th Baroness Sebright and mother of Henrietta, 2nd Countess Harewood) said of Capel Bond “I had seen Miss Spooner’s marriage in the news and never was more surprised how careful ought people to be that have Daughters who they admit into their families. I should have thought no man less formidable than Mr. Bond.” Such was his ‘superior merit and regular attendance’ that he was awarded an additional £10 per annum as a ‘Compliment’ from 1770. He did much to encourage music

Carl Hardebeck

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Carl Gilbert Hardebeck or Carl G. Hardebec (10 December 1869 – 10 February 1945) was a British-born Irish composer and arranger of traditional music. Biography Hardebeck, whose father was German and mother was Welsh, was born in Clerkenwell, London. He lost his sight when he was a baby. He attended the Royal Normal School for the Blind in London (1880–1892) where, under his teacher Frederick Corder (a professor from the Royal Academy of Music), he showed a marked aptitude for music. In 1893, at the age of twenty-four, he moved to Belfast, where he opened a music store, but the venture failed, and he became the organist of a small parish in the city, the Holy Family Church, Wellington Place. He entered an anthem, O God of My Salvation for contralto and chorus, for the 1897 Dublin Feis Ceoil and won; on this occasion he heard folk song arrangements of Charles Villiers Stanford and others for the first time. At the 1901 Feis Ceoil, he again won a prize, this time for a large cantata, The Red Hand of Ulster. In 1914 Mary Reavy, Hardeback’s wife died. In 1919, he was to become the director of the music school in Cork and became the first professor of Irish music at University College Co

Cecil Coles

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Cecil Frederick Coles (7 October 1888 – 26 April 1918) was a Scottish composer who was killed on active service in World War I. Life and career Coles was born in Tongland, near Kirkcudbright, to Frederick Coles and Margaret Coles (née Blacklock), and was educated at George Watson’s School, Edinburgh. In 1907 he went to the London College of Music on a scholarship. He later studied at the University of Edinburgh and Stuttgart Conservatory. On completion of his studies, he became assistant conductor to the Stuttgart Royal Opera and was organist of St. Katherine’s, an English church in the city. In 1912, he married Phoebe Relton at St Saviour’s Church, Brockley Rise, London, and took his wife back to Germany; the couple returned to the UK the following year. When World War I broke out, he joined the Queen Victoria’s Rifles and became their bandmaster. While on active service, he sent manuscripts home to his friend Gustav Holst. He was killed by German sniper fire on the Western Front, while helping recover casualties. He was buried at Crouy. Holst dedicated his composition, Ode to Death Op. 38, to Coles. Coles’ work was “rediscovered” in a 2001 recording. His music was used as the ope

Cecil Forsyth

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Cecil Forsyth (30 November 1870, in Greenwich – 7 December 1941, New York City) was an English composer and musicologist. Career He studied at the University of Edinburgh and at the Royal College of Music (with Charles Villiers Stanford and Hubert Parry), and played viola in various London orchestras (including the Queen’s Hall Orchestra) while establishing himself as a composer. In 1914 he moved to the US and took up a position at the music publishers H.W. Gray, who also became his publisher. He continued to compose and secure performances in the US, though mostly with choral societies and glee clubs. and repeated in 1904 and 1906. According to Lewis Foreman, it is “possibly the first full blown concerto for viola by a British composer”. (York Bowen’s Viola Concerto followed in 1907). There is a modern recording by Lawrence Power and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Chanson Celtique (1906) for viola and piano, also achieved some popularity and was later orchestrated. The orchestral suite Four Studies from Victor Hugo also had its debut at the Proms in 1905. There were two comic operas, Westward Ho! and Cinderella, both produced in London at the Savoy Theatre, and a setting of

Cecil Gray (composer)

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Cecil William Turpie Gray (19 May 1895 – 9 September 1951) was a Scottish music critic, author and composer. Biography Born in Edinburgh, he took an arts degree at the University of Edinburgh and studied composition privately with the Anglo-Canadian composer Healey Willan. From there he developed his career as editor, music critic, and author. Gray first met Philip Heseltine (another writer/critic who also composed music under the name Peter Warlock) at the Café Royal in the spring of 1916 and they were soon sharing a studio – 2 Anhalt Studios, close to Battersea Park. This led to Gray’s first musical venture, the co-sponsoring with Heseltine in 1917 of a concert of works by the then completely unknown composer Bernard van Dieren. Three years later Gray co-founded the early music periodical The Sackbut, also with Heseltine. Gray subsequently worked as music critic for publications including The Daily Telegraph, The Manchester Guardian, and The Morning Post, and occasionally for the Radio Times and The Listener. His first published book, A Survey of Contemporary Music, was published in 1924, and was notable for its contrary opinions. Frank Howes, The Times chief music critic, pointe

Cécile Hartog

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Cécile Sarah Hartog (1857–1940) was an English composer and pianist, born in London. She was the daughter of French school teacher, author and editor Marion Moss Hartog, and her husband Alphonse Hartog, and her siblings were the artist Héléna Arsène Darmesteter, natural historian Marcus Hartog, mathematician Numa Edward Hartog, and the chemist Philip Hartog. The mathematician and engineer Hertha Ayrton was her cousin. She studied music with Charles Salaman, and later at the Royal Academy of Music, where she took the gold medal for composition in 1889 and had a piano quartet performed, as well as an orchestral Andante and Gavotte. Her teachers there and elsewhere included Frederick Cowen, Woldemar Bargiel, Oscar Beringer, and (in Berlin) Karl Klindworth. She was active as a soloist and sometimes conductor from the 1880s until the First World War. She also taught harmony at the Maida Vale High School for Girls in London. While conducting the orchestra for the play Beethoven’s Romance at the Royalty Theatre on 1 December 1894, the sleeve of her muslin dress was set alight by one of the lamps on her music desk. A member of the orchestra managed to extinguish it quickly with an opera cl

Cecilia Maria Barthélemon

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Cecilia Maria Barthélemon (1 September 1767 – 5 December 1859) Early life Cecilia Maria Barthélemon was born in 1767. Her mother, Maria Barthélemon, was a singer and composer, and her father, François-Hippolyte Barthélemon, was a violinist and a singer. From a young age, Barthélemon learned to sing and play the harpsichord, piano, organ, and harp from her parents. Until 1788, she studied harpsichord, piano, and organ with Johann Samuel Schröter. in 1771–1772, while Barthélemon was an infant, her parents brought her on tour to Dublin. In 1776, the family toured Germany, France, and Italy, where Barthélemon sang for the King of Naples and the Queen of France. Professional life Barthélemon debuted in London as a singer on 3 March 1779 at the Haymarket Theatre, where she sang an Italian duet with her mother. Her next large-scale performance was in April 1782, when she played the part of First Fairy in the musical “The Arcadian Pastoral.” Her father led the orchestra and her mother directed the off-stage chorus. At a benefit concert for her father in April 1784, Barthélemon played a piano concerto after Act I of Thomas Arne’s opera Eliza. Her father accompanied her on the viola d’amore.

Cecilia McDowall

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Cecilia McDowall (born 1951 in London, England) is a British composer, particularly known for her choral compositions. Life and career Born in London, McDowall attended Grey Coat Hospital School and read music at the University of Edinburgh, continuing her studies at Trinity College of Music in London and later completing an MMus in composition. She studied with Joseph Horovitz, Robert Saxton and Adam Gorb. She has won many awards and has been short-listed seven times for the British Composer Awards. In 2014 she won the British Composer Award for her choral piece Night Flight. Her publisher since 2010 has been Oxford University Press. Since 2015, she has been Visiting Composer in Dulwich College, London. In 2015, she served on the panel for a Women Composers Competition of The Arcadian Singers of Oxford. She lives in Chiswick. Music McDowall’s music has been commissioned and performed by both professional and amateur choirs. A commission from the Portsmouth Festival Choir, The Shipping Forecast, gained her national media attention in June 2011. The work draws together the poetry of Seán Street, the psalm ‘They that go down to the sea in ships’, and the words of the Shipping Forecas

Cedric Thorpe Davie

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Cedric Thorpe Davie OBE (30 May 1913 – 18 January 1983) was a musician and composer, most notably of film scores such as The Green Man in 1956. A high proportion of his film and documentary music and his concert pieces have a Scottish theme. Life He was born in Lewisham in south London, the son of Thorpe Davie, a music teacher and choir master. The family moved to Glasgow early in his life and he attended the High School of Glasgow. He studied at the Scottish National Academy of Music in Glasgow and the Royal Academy of Music in London. In London he studied piano with Egon Petri and Harold Craxton, and horn with Aubrey Brain. His composition teachers were Ralph Vaughan Williams, Eric Thiman and R. O. Morris. In 1935 he travelled to both Helsinki and Budapest for further training under Yrjo Kilpinen and Zoltán Kodály, returning to Glasgow in 1936 where he began lecturing in music. Early works include the Piano Trio in C minor (1932), the Phantasie Quartet (1935), the one act opera Gammer Gurton’s Needle (1936) and the Concerto for Piano and Strings (1944). He was involved in the newly created Edinburgh Festival in the 1950s, and oversaw production of important new Scottish musical w

Charles Ambrose

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Charles Ambrose (1791 – 17 February 1856) was an English organist, composer, choir director, and music educator who was active in his native country during his early career and later in Canada. Ambrose was the organist-choirmaster at Chelmsford Cathedral during the 1820s and 1830s. Early life Ambrose was born in England, where he trained as an organist. Career In 1837 he emigrated to Canada where he settled with his wife Sophia and his children on a farm just outside Guelph, Ontario. He was appointed organist-choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral in Hamilton in 1845, a position he held up until his death 11 years later. He also actively taught the piano and organ privately throughout his career. Ambrose’ compositional output was small, consisting of a few sacred works and pieces for solo organ and piano. His most notable work is Three Grand Sonatas for piano which was published in 1825; a copy of which is held in the collection at the Library and Archives Canada. Ambrose died in Hamilton, Ontario in 1856 at the age of 65. He was the father and teacher of composer and organist Robert Ambrose and the grandfather of composer and organist Paul Ambrose. References

Charles Ancliffe

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Charles William Ancliffe (25 July 1880 – 20 December 1952) was an Irish-born composer of light music, chiefly remembered for his salon piano music, genre dance pieces, light character pieces and his “Nights of Gladness” waltz. Early life and education Ancliffe was born on 25 July 1880 at Curragh Camp, Kildare, Ireland. His father, John Benjamin Ancliffe (1854–1916), was bandmaster of the 2nd Battalion Suffolk Regiment from 1884 and the 2nd Battalion Somerset Light Infantry from 1894 until he was discharged in 1908. When aged 11, he was organist at the military church in Secunderabad where his father was stationed. At the age of 15 in 1896 he joined the 2nd Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry in Guernsey as a boy bandsman. He studied at the Royal Military School of Music in Kneller Hall (1899–1900), graduating at the age of 20 having been awarded the gold baton for composition for a suite called “Gipsy Pictures”. Career Ancliffe followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a bandmaster himself; from 11 December 1900 he was bandmaster of the First Battalion, South Wales Borderers, seeing much service in India (1901–1910). In 1902 he joined the Freemasons. In 1903, when he was

Charles Avison

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Charles Avison (; 16 February 1709 (baptised)9 or 10 May 1770) was an English composer during the Baroque and Classical periods. He was a church organist at St John The Baptist Church at St John the Baptist Church, in Newcastle. According to The New Grove Dictionary, he was also born in this city. while others claim that he was the seventh of ten children. Regardless, Avison was born into a family with a high rate of infant mortality, as many of his siblings died at a young age. His education may have included an apprenticeship with a local merchant named Ralph Jenison, a patron of the arts, and later a Member of Parliament, as well as further study of music. The local composer William Shield, who was born south of the River Tyne in Swalwell, County Durham, studied under Avison. Avison was married to Catherine Reynolds on 15 January 1737. The couple had nine children, of whom only three – Jane, Edward, and Charles – survived to adulthood. Edward succeeded his father as both the director of the Newcastle Musical Society and the St Nicholas’s organist after his father’s death. Charles was also an organist and composer. Compositions Description Avison’s best-known compositions are his

Charles Godfrey (bandmaster)

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Charles Godfrey (November 22, 1790, Kingston-upon-Thames – December 12, 1863, London) was an English bandmaster, drummer and bassoonist, and the founder member of an extensive musical family. He began his career as a drummer in the band of the 1st Royal Surrey Militia. From 1813 he played in the band of the Coldstream Guards as a bassoonist. He was appointed director of this band in 1825. He served in that position until 1834 when he was discharged from military duty, but continued to direct the group as a civilian musician. In 1831 Godfrey was appointed musician-in-ordinary to King William IV. He was editor of the first English publication devoted to military music, Jullien’s Military Journal. His other son was the bandmaster Dan Godfrey who was the father of the bandmaster and Bournemouth conductor Daniel Eyers Godfrey. Musical family * Charles Godfrey (1790–1863) **Daniel Godfrey (1831–1903), bandmaster, Grenadier Guards ***Daniel Eyers Godfrey (1868–1939), conductor, founder of the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra ****Dan Godfrey III (1893–1935), BBC Manchester (1920s), first full-time conductor of the BBC Wireless Orchestra **Fred Godfrey (1837–1882), bandmaster, Coldstream Gua

Charles Harford Lloyd

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Charles Harford Lloyd (Thornbury, 16 October 1849 – Eton, 16 October 1919) was an English composer who became a well-known organist in his time. His most successful area was organ and choral works but he wrote three clarinet pieces for his friend Randle Fynes Holme (1864–1957), (a talented amateur musician), a number of chamber works, a Festival Overture for orchestra, an organ concerto with orchestra and a number of songs for voice and piano. He served as organist and choir-master at Gloucester Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, Eton College Chapel and organist at the Chapel Royal. His most frequently performed works today are his settings of the Anglican Church liturgy. He had a lifelong friendship with Hubert Parry. Early years Charles Harford Lloyd was born on 16 October 1849 to a Gloucestershire solicitor, Edmund Lloyd. Charlie, as his intimates called him, began to play the piano at an early age, receiving his first instruction from a governess. When he was ten years old, he played the organ at the neighbouring church of Rangeworthy, where his brother-in-law was the vicar as well as another nearby village of Falfield. He attended the grammar school of his native to

Charles Hylton Stewart

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Arthur Charles Lestoc Hylton Stewart (21 March 1884 – 14 November 1932 ) was an English organist and composer. Early life and education The son of the Rev. Charles Henry Hylton Stewart and Florence Hope Dixon, Stewart was born at Chester and educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford. Like his younger brother Bruce, he was an organ scholar at Peterhouse, Cambridge. Career After teaching music at Sedbergh School from 1907 to 1908, Stewart composed several works for the organ and for choirs, including the tune “Rochester” for the hymn ‘Light of the lonely pilgrim’s heart’ by Sit Edward Denny (New English Hymnal 399). Family In 1917 Stewart married Gladys Maud Priestley Inglis, the daughter of Charles John Inglis and granddaughter of Dr. James Inglis. References

Charles John Frederick Lampe

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Charles John Frederick Lampe (173910 September 1767) was an English composer and organist, and the son of composer John Frederick Lampe and the singer Isabella Lampe (maiden name of Young). Biography Charles Lampe was born in London, one year into his parents’ marriage. His father was a successful composer of stage music and his mother was a celebrated soprano who often appeared in her husband’s operas. Isabella was also a part of the well-known Young family of musicians. Charles was named after his grandfather, Charles Young, who was a notable organist and composer. His great uncle, Anthony Young, was also a notable organist and composer. Charles’s Aunt Cecilia (1712–1789), was one of the greatest English sopranos of the eighteenth century and the wife of composer Thomas Arne. His Aunt Esther was a well-known contralto and wife to Charles Jones, a successful music publisher in England during the eighteenth century. Three of his cousins, Isabella, Elizabeth, and Polly Young were all successful singers, and his cousin Michael Arne was a successful composer. In 1758 Charles succeeded his grandfather Charles as organist at All Hallows, Barking-by-the-Tower, a post which he held until

Charles Kensington Salaman

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Charles Kensington Salaman (3 March 1814 – 23 June 1901) was a British Jewish composer, pianist, and writer. He was the composer of more than one hundred settings of Hebrew texts for the West London Synagogue, as well as numerous songs in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin, and Greek. Biography Early life Charles Salaman was born in 1814 at 11 Charing Cross, London, the eldest son and one of the fourteen children of Alice () and Simeon Kensington Salaman. He was the brother of Rachel, Rose Emma, Annette, and Julia Salaman. Salaman showed musical talent from a young age, and began to play the violin when seven, but after a year left it for the piano. He had his first lessons on the piano from his mother, and was soon placed under the tutelage of Stephen Francis Rimbault. He elected a candidate for admission to Royal Academy of Music at the age of ten, but his mother decided that he should remain at school to pursue general studies. He nonetheless studied independently under Charles Neate, William Crotch, and Henri Herz. As a boy Salaman played duets with Franz Liszt and came to know Muzio Clementi. His first public appearance was at Gesualdo Lanza’s concert at Blackhea

Charles Legh Naylor

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Charles Legh Naylor (14 October 1869 – 22 November 1945) was a composer and organist based in Harrogate. Life He was the son of John Naylor and Mary Ann Chatwin. His father was organist of York Minster from 1883 to 1897. He was educated at St Peter’s School, York and later he was awarded a first class degree in music from Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1890. He married Ada Emily Binns in Scarborough in 1902, and they had one daughter, Carolina Mary Naylor, in 1905. Appointments *Organist at Emmanuel College, Cambridge 1889–1892 *Deputy organist at York Minster 1891–1892 *Organist at St. Peter’s Church, Harrogate 1892 –1902 *Conductor of the Kursaal Orchestra, Harrogate 1902–1911 *Organist of All Souls, Blackman Lane, Leeds 1911–1917 *Organist at St. Peter’s Church, Harrogate 1917–1935 Compositions He was the musical advisor to the Methodist School Hymnal and composed 50 tunes for it. He also composed: *psalm chants *Communion Service in D 1883 *O Perfect Love 1889 *Where sunless Rivers weep 1892 *Lead Kindly Light 1895 *God that Madest Earth and Heaven 1896 *Through the Day thy love has spared us 1898 *Ye Mariners of England. 1900 *We sing a song of Christmas-time 1909 *Will God in

Charles Nicholson (flautist)

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Charles Nicholson (1795–1837), was a Liverpool-born flautist and composer, who performed regularly in London. He was soloist at many of the Philharmonic Society Concerts from 1816-1836, and first flautist with the principal theater orchestras. He toured extensively in Britain, but never on the Continent. Besides giving classes to many students, he wrote tutors for flute-playing which were published throughout the 19th century. Nicholson used a flute made by George Astor & Co., a London-based firm operating from c1778 to c1831. His father, also a celebrated flautist, modified the instrument, lining the headpiece with metal, enlarging the embouchure and toneholes with a view to making the flute’s tone more powerful, yet still delicate, permitting the usual fingerings in the third octave, facilitating glides and vibratos. Once his bravura style on the modified flute had become accepted in London, he licensed several London flute makers such as Clementi & Co., Astor, Rudall and Rose, and Potter to produce the ‘Nicholson’s Improved’. The structure of his new flute favoured flat keys such as E flat, A flat, and F and C minor. Nicholson’s variations on Roslin Castle, in F minor which he w

Charles Turner (English composer)

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Charles Turner (1907 – 1977) was an English composer and part-time spy, who took the last recorded British pre-World War II photographs of Adolf Hitler. Born in the early 1900s, Turner’s life changed when his father died and his godfather Henry Pelham, 7th Duke of Newcastle took care of the young boy. Turner attended Worksop College, the public school endowed by the Duke of Newcastle. He gained a place at Cambridge university to study music. In the late 1920s into the 1930s he became a broadcast composer and fluent German speaker. In 1934 Turner made the first of a series of annual visits to the Wagner festival in Bayreuth in Bavaria. In 1938 the British secret service MI5, convinced war was imminent, needed to urgently examine and assess the German threat. Approached by mutual friend Alan Angles, later of the War Office and Directorate of Ministry of Aircraft Production, Turner was recruited to infiltrate Hitler’s entourage at the 1939 Bayreuth Festival. Registered as a guest of the Führert, Turner was hosted by Dr Fritz streit Chairman of the Bavarian Chamber of Commerce, through whom he received an invitation to follow the Führer’s itinerary on Wednesday 26 July 1939. This unexp

Charles Villiers Stanford

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Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was educated at the University of Cambridge before studying music in Leipzig and Berlin. He was instrumental in raising the status of the Cambridge University Musical Society, attracting international stars to perform with it. While still an undergraduate, Stanford was appointed organist of Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1882, aged 29, he was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, where he taught composition for the rest of his life. From 1887 he was also Professor of Music at Cambridge. As a teacher, Stanford was sceptical about modernism, and based his instruction chiefly on classical principles as exemplified in the music of Brahms. Among his pupils were rising composers whose fame went on to surpass his own, such as Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. As a conductor, Stanford held posts with the Bach Choir and the Leeds Triennial Music Festival. Stanford composed a substantial number of concert works, including seven symphonies, but his be

Charles Williams (composer)

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Charles Williams (8 May 1893 – 7 September 1978) was a British composer and conductor, contributing music to over 50 films. While his career ran from 1934 through 1968, much of his work came to the big screen as stock music and was therefore uncredited. Biography Williams was born in London as Isaac Cozerbreit in 1893. He began his career as a freelance violinist in theatres, cinemas and symphony orchestras and later studied composition with Norman O’Neill at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1933, he went to Gaumont British Films as composer and stayed there until 1939. He composed for many British films and radio shows and after the end of World War II, he became the conductor of the new Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra. Later, he formed his own Concert Orchestra. He died in Findon Valley, Worthing, West Sussex, aged 85. Light music compositions He composed many orchestral pieces and marches for his ensembles, which were recorded in the “Mood Music” category of light music and during the 1950s became familiar as film and television signature themes, often in his own recordings: * “Blue Devils” is a popular march and Williams’ first success as a composer. It was originally published as "

Charles Wood (composer)

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Charles Wood (15 June 1866 – 12 July 1926) was an Irish composer and teacher; his students included Ralph Vaughan Williams at Cambridge and Herbert Howells at the Royal College of Music. He is primarily remembered and performed as an Anglican church music composer, but he also wrote songs and chamber music, particularly for string quartet. Early life and education Born in Vicars’ Hill in the Cathedral precincts of Armagh, Ireland, Charles was the fifth child and third son of Charles Wood Sr. and Jemima Wood. The boy was a treble chorister in the choir of the nearby St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Church of Ireland). His father sang tenor as a stipendiary ‘Gentleman’ or ‘Lay Vicar Choral’ in the Cathedral choir and was also the Diocesan Registrar of the church. He was a cousin of Irish composer Ina Boyle. Teaching career He began teaching harmony and counterpoint at Selwyn College. In 1889 he attained a teaching position at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, first as organ scholar and then as fellow in 1894, becoming their first director of music and organist. He was instrumental in the reflowering of music at the college, though more as a teacher and organiser of musical events than a

Charles Young (musician)

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Charles Young (September 1686 – 12 December 1758) was an English organist and composer. He was part of a well-known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Biography Charles Young was born sometime during September 1686 in the Covent Garden area of London and was baptised on 7 October of the same year. Born into a musical family, his initial studies were with his father alongside his elder brother Anthony Young, who would also become a successful organist and minor composer. He became a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral in the late 1690s where he sang for over a decade. In 1713, Young was appointed organist of All Hallows, Barking-by-the-Tower, where he remained until his death in 1758. His grandson, Charles John Frederick Lampe, replaced him as organist at All Hallows after his death. As a composer, Young wrote music mostly for the Church of England. He was not prolific, producing only a handful of anthems and some organ preludes. He also composed a few vocal art songs. His reputation lies more on his skills as an organist and he was regarded as one of the finest players in England during

Charlie Chaplin

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Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, singer, film editor and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered one of the film industry’s most important figures. His career spanned more than 75 years, from his childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977. Chaplin’s childhood in London was one of poverty and hardship. His father was absent and his mother struggled financiallyhe was sent to a workhouse twice before the age of nine. When he was 14, his mother was committed to a mental asylum. Chaplin began performing at an early age, touring music halls and later working as a stage actor and comedian. At 19, he was signed to the Fred Karno company, which took him to the United States. In 1914, Chaplin gained widespread popularity through his appearances in Keystone Studios films. He soon introduced and adopted the Tramp as his screen persona. He directed his own films and continued to hone his craft as he moved to Essanay Studios, where the Tramp persona was developed emotionally in The Tramp (1915). He then at

Charlotte Bray

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Charlotte Bray (born 1982) is a British composer. Her work has been performed by The Royal Opera, London Sinfonietta, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and BBC Symphony Orchestra. Biography Charlotte Bray was born in 1982 and raised in High Wycombe. She then completed a Master of Music with Distinction in composition at the Royal College of Music, where she studied with Mark-Anthony Turnage. She participated in the Britten–Pears Contemporary Composition Course in 2007 with Oliver Knussen, Colin Matthews, and Magnus Lindberg and studied at Tanglewood Music Center in 2008. resulting in a piano quartet commission for Cheltenham Music Festival for which she wrote Replay. She was also winner of the 2014 Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Prize. Bray was appointed Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/Sound and Music Apprentice Composer-in-Residence for 2009/10, during which time violinist Alexandra Wood and the BCMG premiered her violin concerto Caught in Treetops under conductor Oliver Knussen. Her orchestral work Beyond a Fallen Tree (a UBS Soundscapes: Pioneers commission)was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding on 23 May 2010. Her song cycle Verre de Venise (fo

Cheryl Frances-Hoad

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Cheryl Ann Frances-Hoad (born 1980) is a British composer. Early life Frances-Hoad began composing at the age of eight while studying cello and piano at the Yehudi Menuhin School. She graduated from Gonville and Caius College (Cambridge University) with a Double 1st in 2001 and an MPhil (with Distinction) in Composition, also at Cambridge. Composer She has had two ballets choreographed by Lynn Seymour and Geoffrey Cauley; the second was performed by Scottish Ballet in the Britten Theatre, London. Her commissions include works for the BBC, the Surrey Philharmonic, the Manchester International Cello Festival, the Chard Festival of Women in Music, the Bass Club, Bass Fest and the Almeida Festival. In 2000 the Cambridge Music Festival commissioned a work to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death, which was performed by the Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra and conducted by Nicholas Daniel. In November 2001 Frances-Hoad had her first chamber opera, broken lines: sonata for opera, premiered by the New Cambridge Opera Group, as part of the Britten@25 Festival, with generous funding from the R.V.W. Trust. June 2002 saw two premieres: the Spitalfields Festival commission (a

Chris de Souza

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Christopher Edward de Souza (born 6 June 1943) is an English composer, teacher, music director, broadcaster, opera producer and author. He has presented programmes on BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and World Service. Education and career Chris de Souza is a graduate in music from Bristol University (1966) and a graduate of the Directors’ Course of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. From then on De Souza produced over 100 operas around the world, Since 1966 he wrote and performed several compositions like 8 Epithalamia for Organ, Maharajahs, The Ides of March, Children of the Light. In 1977 he devised the Liszt Festival of London editing and directing the first modern performance of Franz Liszt’s opera Don Sanche. and Discovering Music on BBC Radio 3 and Sky Digital. As a presenter his own programme Tuning Up, focusing on young musicians, won a Silver Medal at the New York Radio Festival in 1992. He has also presented on TV, BBC World Service, and broadcasts classical channels for many airlines. De Souza is an author of classical music guides like Looking at music, Listening to Music, The Kingfisher Young People’s Book of Music, and wrote articles to The Listener, Music and Musicians, Musica

Chris Newman (artist)

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Chris Newman (born 1958 in London) is an English-born contemporary composer, painter, author and performance artist. He lives in Berlin. Biography Newman is an experimental interdisciplinary artist using the medium of music, painting, video, drawing and literature. From 1976 to 1979 he studied music at King’s College London, taking a Bachelor of Music. During this time he met the Russian poet Eugene Dubnov and started to translate Russian poets (Osip Mandelstam, Velimir Khlebnikov), this process of translating proving important for his later work (e.g. from one medium to another / from life to art). Started writing own poems in 1979. Moved to Cologne, Germany, in 1980 to study with Mauricio Kagel (New Music, Theatre / Video) at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. First public performance singing own songs in 1982. Founded chamber-punk rock band Janet Smith in 1983; met Morton Feldman in 1984. First concerts and video showings: Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; Theater am Turm, Frankfurt; Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne; Cooper Union, New York. Started to paint in 1989, which led (from 1994) to the two medium installations; in recent years presented paintings in a more sculptural a

Christian Darnton

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Philip Christian Darnton (born Philip Christian von Schunck; 30 October 1905 – 14 April 1981), also known as Baron von Schunck, was a British composer and writer. Amongst his admirers was Vaughan Williams. Early life and family He was born in Leeds as Philip Christian von Schunck, the son of Mary Gertrude Illingworth (1871–1952) and John Edward, Baron von Schunck (1869–1940), a landowner who renounced his title before the First World War. Christian’s paternal grandfather, Edward, Baron von Schunck, had been born in Leipzig, part of an old German family that had, since 1715, held a Barony in the Holy Roman Empire (Freiherr). He settled in Britain and married Kate Lupton, who had been born into the progressive, land-owning and political Lupton family and educated at the school of her relative Rachel Martineau. Edward died in 1889. Kate survived him until 1913, the eve of the First World War, and insisted in her will that their only son – John Edward, Baron von Schunck – change his surname to that of her father, Darnton Lupton, the former Mayor of Leeds. Thus he and his children dropped the noble von Schunck name in favour of the family name Darnton-Lupton; the surname Darnton was acq

Christian Henson

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Christian Henson is a British composer, primarily working on television and film soundtracks. He has also soundtracked video games, and is the co-founder of Spitfire Audio with fellow composer Paul Thomson. Henson has been nominated for a BAFTA and an Ivor Novello Award for his music. Early life Henson is the eldest son of actors Una Stubbs and Nicky Henson. His half-brother Keaton Henson is also a composer. His uncle was the farmer and television presenter Joe Henson and Adam Henson is his cousin. His great-uncle was the cricketer Geoffrey Howard. His great-great-grandfather was Sir Ebenezer Howard, founder of the garden city movement and the first garden cities Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City. His paternal grandfather was the English actor and comedian Leslie Henson, who was perhaps best known for founding the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) during the Second World War. As a child, Henson acted in the 1980 film Never Never Land. After attending Holland Park Comprehensive in the 1980s, Henson worked for three years as a baker, with a home studio that he used in his spare time. He suffered a brain haemorrhage at 25, gave up his bakery job and moved into music a

Christopher Bochmann

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Christopher Consitt Bochmann (born November 8, 1950) is a British-born composer, conductor, music teacher, arranger and orchestrator who has lived and worked in Portugal since 1980. Known for composition, teaching and conducting, he is Professor Emeritus of the University of Évora in Portugal, from which he retired in 2020. Early years and studies Bochmann was born in 1950 in Chipping Norton, West Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. As a child, he sang in the choir of St.George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. At age 16, he studied with French musician and teacher Nadia Boulanger in Paris before attending the University of Oxford, New College, where he studied with conductor and choirmaster David Lumsden, composer and pianist Kenneth Leighton, and composer, pianist and music scholar Robert Sherlaw Johnson. His works cross multiple genres, with a detailed overview provided on his website. Compositions include: * 4 String Quartets * 4 Wind Quintets * 21 essays for solo instruments * 7 Canzonas for various ensembles * 11 Letters to composer friends for piano * Lament (2001) * Symphony (2005) * Cicero Dixit (2006) * Opera: Corpo e Alma (2008) * Um leve tremor (2019) * Concerto for orchestra (2019)

Christopher Bowers-Broadbent

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Christopher Bowers-Broadbent (born 13 January 1945) is an English organist and composer. Biography Christopher Bowers-Broadbent was born in Hertfordshire UK on 13 January 1945. He was a boy chorister in the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge under Boris Ord and then briefly under David Willcocks. While at King’s, he played violin and piano. During his teenage years he was a pupil at Berkhamsted School where he first began to learn the organ under Dr Kenneth Abbott. After Berkhamsted School Bowers-Broadbent went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music where his principal studies were organ with Arnold Richardson (organist of the West London Synagogue and Wolverhampton Town Hall), and composition with Richard Rodney Bennett. Christopher Bowers-Broadbent is the father of musician Harry Broadbent. Compositions Choral *1968 Four Lovescapes, canticles (E. E. Cummings) *1972 Worthy is the Lamb, cantata *1974 The Hollow Man (T. S. Eliot) *1975 Rhymes without Reason, four songs (Mervyn Peake) *1976 The Story of Cars, a short cantata *1978 Deo Gratias, a motet *1981 The Quarry, a short cantata (W. H. Auden) *1989 Jubilate-Cantate *1999 Holy Communion service for Gray’s Inn Canticles Evenin

Christopher Brown (British composer)

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Christopher Roland Brown (born 17 June 1943) is a British composer. Career He was born in Tunbridge Wells. and from the age of 9 he was a chorister at Westminster Abbey. He studied under director of music David Lepine at Dean Close School, Cheltenham, and then at the Royal Academy of Music with Lennox Berkeley, and with Boris Blacher at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. He was also a choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge between 1962 and 1965. His pupils there and at Cambridge included Kit Armstrong, Charlotte Baskerville, Dominy Clements, Jonathan Pitkin and John Webb. He is a composition supervisor at the University of Cambridge and has been active as conductor (of the Huntingdonshire Philharmonic, Cambridge Players, New Cambridge Singers and Dorset Bach Cantata Club), choral trainer and examiner. Music Much of his work has been choral or vocal, including Three Shakespeare Songs (1965), Elegy (1967, for speaker, soloists, chorus and brass quintet), the Herrick Songs (1971), Hodie Salvator Apparuit (1971, described by Rob Barnett as “one of the finest extended choral items in the British repertoire” and performed by Stephen Wilkinson with the BBC Northern Singers), and Mas

Christopher Edmunds

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Christopher Montague Edmunds (26 November 1899 – 2 January 1990) was an English composer, academic and organist who lived and worked in Birmingham. Edmunds was born in Small Heath, Birmingham. After serving as a young soldier in the war, he studied music with Granville Bantock at the Birmingham School of Music and went on to teach there from 1929 under Bantock. In 1945 he became Principal of the School (following Dr A.K. Blackall who had succeeded Bantock in 1934), a position he held until 1956. He was organist and choirmaster at Aston Parish Church from the 1930s until 1957. His most popular composition remains the Sonatina for recorder and piano which has always stayed in print. A song, The Bellman was performed twice at The Proms, in 1929 and 1931. But he also composed widely for the choral festival movement in the 1920s and 1930s, and produced two significant works foreshadowing the war: the B minor Piano Sonata and the Symphony No 2. The Sonata was premiered by Tom Bromley in Birmingham in May 1938. It was recorded for the first time in 2021 by Duncan Honeybourne. Lewis Foreman has called the Second Symphony “a notable example of music responding to the challenges of the war i

Christopher Fox (composer)

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Christopher Fox (born 10 March 1955) is an English composer and writer on music. Biography He studied at the universities of Liverpool, Southampton and York, where his teachers included Hugh Wood and Jonathan Harvey. He received a PhD in composition from the University of York in 1984. From 1984 to 1994 he was a member of the composition staff at the Darmstadt New Music Summer School. He is currently Professor in Music at Brunel University, a post he took up in 2006. His music is widely performed, broadcast and recorded. He is also a prolific writer on music. In addition to concert works, Fox has collaborated with artists on gallery works, and with the poet Ian Duhig on a “musical box”. An important aspect of Fox’s music is its stylistic breadth—whilst his principal considerations may seem to be with systems music and adopting a systematic approach, his music also serves a political function, is deeply rooted in the post-war Darmstadt traditions of applying psychological and intellectual models to the structure and content of music and at the same time exists in a world of diverse musical attitudes, including references to the popular arts, to historical music and to cross-cultural

Christopher Gibbons

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Christopher Gibbons (bapt. 22 August 1615 – 20 October 1676) was an English composer and organist of the Baroque period. He was the second son, and first surviving child of the composer Orlando Gibbons. Life and career Background Christopher Gibbons was born into an already very musical family, established by his grandfather, William, who was head of the town waits in Oxford and Cambridge. Christopher Gibbons’ uncles Edward, Ellis and Ferdinand furthered their family’s reputation as successful musicians themselves, with Ellis and Edward becoming composers and the latter receiving a Bachelor of Music from Cambridge and serving as the master of the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. The family’s legacy was cemented by Christopher’s father, Orlando, who became by far the most famous and successful composer and musician of the family. Early life Christopher Gibbons was born to Orlando and Elizabeth () in Westminster where he was baptized on 22 August 1615 at St Margaret’s. While his exact day of birth is unknown, although it was likely only a few days before his baptism as early baptisms were common practice. He was probably named after Orlando’s friend and patron Sir Christopher Hatt

Christopher Gordon (composer)

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Christopher John Gordon (born 1956) is an English-born Australian composer and politician best known for his film scores, but has also received major classical commissions. His film scores include, Ladies in Black (2018), Mao’s Last Dancer (2009), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) and On the Beach (2000). Political career In 2016, Gordon ran for the Arts Party in the City of Ryde based seat of Bennelong, achieving 1.08% of the vote. In 2017, he was elected as councillor on the East Ward of the City of Ryde for the Greens and was chosen as deputy mayor, serving a single term in 2017–2018. Gordon sought re-election for a second term on Council on 4 December 2021, but was unsuccessful. Awards and nominations Gordon has won national awards for composition, both in Australia and overseas. - 1998 Moby Dick (Christopher Gordon) APRA Awards: Best Television Theme - rowspan=“3” 2000 rowspan=“3” On the Beach (Gordon) Australian Screen Music Awards: Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie - Australian Screen Music Awards: Best Original Title Theme for a Series, Serial or Mini-Series - Australian Screen Music Awards: Best Soundtrack Album - 2001 When Good Ghouls Go Bad (

Christopher Gunning

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Christopher Gunning (5 August 1944 – 25 March 2023) was an English composer of concert works and music for films and television. Early life Gunning was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on 5 August 1944, the younger of two sons. He grew up in Hendon, northwest London. His father was a pianist and educator from South Africa, and his mother had been one of his father’s pupils. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where his tutors included Edmund Rubbra and Richard Rodney Bennett. Career Film and television Gunning’s film and television compositions received many awards, including the 2007 BAFTA Award for Best Film Music for La Vie en Rose, as well as three additional awards for Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Middlemarch, and Porterhouse Blue. He also won three Ivor Novello Awards, for the TV miniseries Rebecca, and the film scores for Under Suspicion (1991), and Firelight (1997). His other film scores included Goodbye Gemini (1970), Hands of the Ripper (1971), Ooh… You Are Awful (1972), the film version of Man About the House (1974), In Celebration (1975), Rogue Male (1976), Charlie Muffin (1979), Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981), Knights of God (1987), When the Whal

Christopher Hobbs

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Christopher Hobbs (born 9 September 1950) is an English experimental composer, best known as a pioneer of British systems music. Life and career Hobbs was born in Hillingdon, near London. He was a junior exhibitioner at Trinity College London, then was Cornelius Cardew’s first student at the Royal Academy of Music from 1967. Hobbs worked with Cardew and Christian Wolff: he joined AMM, appearing on two albums: The Crypt and Laminal. In 1969, Hobbs was a member from the first meeting of the Scratch Orchestra, and, as its youngest member, designed the Scratch Orchestra’s first concert, at Hampstead Town Hall on 1 November 1969. His early composition Voicepiece, part of his Verbal Pieces group, was used often enough to be called a Popular Classic in the Scratch Orchestra nomenclature. As experimental music was hard to come by, Hobbs gathered sheet music from friends and founded the Experimental Music Catalogue in 1968 as a distribution centre. Various pieces were eventually grouped into a series of Anthologies according to themes: the Verbal Anthology (of text-notation music), Keyboard, and Educational Anthologies are typical. These anthologies published works mainly by British experim

Christopher Shaw (composer)

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NOTOC Christopher Shaw (30 July 1924 – 27 September 1995) was a British composer. Shaw was born and lived in London, and studied at New College, Oxford, from 1942 through 1944 with R. O. Morris and Herbert Kennedy Andrews. He died while on holiday at Gatehouse of Fleet, Galloway, Scotland, aged 71. Recordings of A Lesson from Ecclesiastes, Music, when soft voices die, To the Bandusian Spring and Peter and the Lame Man were issued on Argo Records in 1975. Selected works * Piano Sonata (1945) * Ode to Evening, cantata, high voice (1948) * Concerto for Orchestra (1948-9) * Clarinet Sonata (1949) (fp. Colin Davis) *Croagh Patrick, cantata for speaker, contralto, baritone, strings and timpani (1950) * Four Poems by James Joyce for high voice, flute, harp and string quartet (fp. November 1956) * Concerto for Strings * Inventions for Piano (1955) * The Shepherd’s Wonder for chorus (1956) * Seven Folk Songs from the Island of Chios (1958) * No Room at the Inn, carol, published Novello (1961) * A Lesson from Ecclesiastes (1963) * Three Poems by D.G. Rosetti (1963) * Peter and the Lame Man for soli, chorus and orchestra (1964-7, rev. 1970) * Music, when soft voices die for chorus (1972)

Christopher Simpson (musician)

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Christopher Simpson (1602/1606–1669) was an English musician and composer, particularly associated with music for the viola da gamba. Life Simpson was born between 1602 and 1606, probably at Egton, North Yorkshire. He was the eldest son of Christopher Sympson, a Yorkshireman, who is usually described as a cordwainer but who was also the manager of a theatre company patronised by wealthy Yorkshire Catholics. It is thought that Sympson senior may have preferred to portray himself at times as a simple craftsman, rather than a high-profile Catholic sympathiser, at a time when Catholics were harshly persecuted in England. There is a theory (put forward by Urquhart) that Christopher Simpson (junior), the musician, could have been the same Simpson (or Sampson) who was educated as a Jesuit in continental Europe and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1629. However, Simpson’s death in 1669 is at odds with the evidence that the Jesuit Simpson lived until 1674. Simpson fought in the English Civil War, on the Royalist side and, in 1642, was a quarter-master in the army of the Earl (later Duke) of Newcastle. Following the siege of York, Simpson took refuge at the manor of Sir Robert Bolles (16

Christopher Slaski

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Christopher Slaski (born 3 September 1974) is a composer who has created music for films, television, theatre and live performance. He is a past recipient of the award for Best Young European Film Composer presented by the World Soundtrack Academy in Ghent and in 2017 his score for A Good American was nominated for best music by the Austrian Film Academy. He is a member of the European Film Academy. Early life and education Slaski holds a music degree from Cambridge University and a postgraduate in composition from London’s The Royal Academy of Music. He also attended master classes by Ennio Morricone at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena, Italy and studied conducting with Lawrence Leonard. Career Slaski has written scores for feature films, including Kevin Spacey’s Beyond The Sea, The Pianotuner Of Earthquakes, the Spanish romantic-comedy Semen, una historia de amor, The Asylum, and the thriller Proyecto Dos. In 2009 he scored the Goya-nominated The Shame, by Spanish writer-director David Planell and in 2011 Rue Huvelin. Slaski’s score for the Spanish-French film Cuadrilatero, performed by the Brodsky Quartet, won awards at four international film festivals. In 2011 he won the

Christopher Tambling

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Christopher Tambling (13 May 1964 – 3 October 2015) was a British composer, organist and choirmaster. From 1997 to 2015 he was Director of Music at Downside School and organist and Choirmaster of the Schola Cantorum at Downside Abbey, leading the choir to international success. Life He received his musical education from Malcolm McKelvey at Christ’s Hospital in Horsham, Sussex and at St Peter’s College, Oxford. He later became the city organist and conductor of the Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of Glenalmond College in Perth, Scotland. His organ pupils have gone on to continuing success, including scholarships to Oxford and Cambridge. Tambling died in Somerset in 2015 and was survived by his wife and two sons, both of whom are professional musicians. Works Tambling established himself as a composer and arranger of choral and organ works especially, well beyond the borders of his country. His compositions are often characterized by a romantic, expressive and an easy to get style. His main publisher in the UK was Kevin Mayhew and in German-speaking countries Dr. J. Butz. Tambling published books for students of various instruments, including a hugely successful 4 four-volume

Christopher Tye

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Christopher Tye (c. 1505before 1573) was an English Renaissance composer and organist. Probably born in Cambridgeshire, he trained at the University of Cambridge and became the master of the choir at Ely Cathedral. He is noted as the music teacher of Edward VI and was held in high esteem for his choral music, as well as chamber works such as his 24 polyphonic In nomines. It is likely that only a small percentage of his compositional output survives, often only as fragments; his Acts of the Apostles was the only work to be published in his lifetime. He ceased composing when he was ordained, returning to Ely Cathedral and later becoming rector of Doddington, Cambridgeshire. Today, he is perhaps best known for the hymn “Winchester Old”, based on a theme from Acts of the Apostles, which forms the basis of the most commonly performed version in the United Kingdom of “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks”. Beginnings Little is known about Tye’s origins. Cambridge University records for the academic year 1536–37 indicate that he received the degree of Bachelor of Music after “a study of ten years in the musical art”; from this it is supposed that Tye was born around 1505 (making him a dir

Christopher Whelen

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Christopher Whelen (17 April 1927 – 18 September 1993) was an English composer, conductor and playwright, best known for his radio and television operas. Because much of his work was written for specific theatre productions in the 1950s, or directly for broadcast in the 1960s to the 1980s, little of it survives today, though a number of his scores and related papers have been deposited in the British Library. Life Whelen was born in London into a musical family. He became a chorister at New College, Oxford, attended Worksop College (studying piano and ‘cello) and then at the Birmingham and Midland School of Music (now the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) between 1944 and 1946 (studying clarinet and composition). After two years National Service in the RAF he secured conducting lessons with the Austrian émigré Rudolf Schwarz, newly appointed to the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, subsequently becoming his Assistant Conductor. Already interested in Celtic culture (particularly Yeats), the music of Arnold Bax became a central influence for Whelen after hearing a performance of Tintagel. A correspondence began in 1947, which led to a close friendship until Bax’s death in 1953. It was a

Claire Liddell

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Elizabeth Claire Liddell (born 24 May 1937) is a Scottish pianist and composer. She was born in Glasgow and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow and the Royal College of Music in London with William Lloyd Webber. In The Kinding Fire Liddell sets 12 songs by Robert Burns using the original airs to which he set his verses, with her accompaniments. An LP recording was issued in 1974 with Liddell on piano. She has also written educational music and text books, including The Book of Keyboard Harmony (1979) and So you Want to Play by Ear (1980). Works Liddell is known for arrangements of Scottish folk songs and poetry to music. Her selected works include: *The Kindling Fire, 12 Burns songs (1974) *Five Orkney Scenes (1975), song cycle, text George Mackay Brown *Orphead: A Spell for Rain (1978), text George Mackay Brown * Three Ballads (1989), settings of J.C. Mathieson from French poetry *Ca’ the yowes for soprano and piano * The Rhythm of Life (1985) song cycle for female voice and piano, text Alice Meynell *Melody and Country Style for Violin and Piano *Three Piano Pieces References External links * Catriona Hewitson sings ‘The Beachcomber’ from Five Orkn

Clara Angela Macirone

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Clara Angela Macirone (20 January 1821 – 1914) was an English pianist and composer who published her music as C. A. Macirone. Born in London, she was the daughter of Italian musicians; her mother was also a pianist (a pupil of Charles Neate) and her father was an amateur tenor. She began her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in 1839 under Cipriani Potter, W H Holmes, Charles Lucas and others. She later took a position teaching at the Academy. Macirone was a pioneer in the musical education of women as both a teacher and writer. She held teaching positions at Aske’s School for Girls in Hatcham (1872-8) and at the Church of England High School for Girls, Baker Street. She contributed articles to The Girl’s Own Paper and The Argosy. Macirone died in London in 1914. Works Selected works include: *Suite for piano and violin in E minor * Rondino in G for piano *By the Waters of Babylon, anthem (sung at Canterbury, Ely and elsewhere) *Te Deum and Jubilate *Benedictus *Footsteps of Angels, choral *Come to Me, Oh Ye Children (Text: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) *Fare thee well! and if for ever (Text: George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron) *Hesperus (Text: Edwin Arnold after Sappho) *The Ba

Clarence Barlow

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Clarence Albertson Barlow Of English, Portuguese, and French colonial descent, he wrote his first compositions in 1957. He studied piano, music theory and natural sciences. In 1965 he received a science degree from Calcutta University, as well as a Licentiate Diploma in piano from Trinity College of Music in London. From 1966 to 1968 he taught music theory and worked as a conductor at the Calcutta School of Music. In 1968 Barlow relocated to Cologne, where he studied electronic music and composition at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Herbert Eimert, Vinko Globokar, Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1968 to 1970) and Karlheinz Stockhausen (1971 to 1973). From 1971 to 1972 he also studied at the Institute of Sonology of Utrecht University, where he began to use computers as an aid for compositions. Career Barlow was one of the founders of Initiative Musik und Informatik Köln in 1986. He taught at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse from 1982 to 1994. In 1988 he was the director of music at the International Computer Music Conference in Cologne. From 1990 to 1994, Barlow was the artistic director of the Institute of Sonology, at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where he also taught in the compos

Claudia Molitor

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Claudia Molitor (born 1974) is an English-German composer based in Brighton, East Sussex, England. Biography Born in Germany, Claudia Molitor studied Music and Media at University of Sussex. After an MA in Music at City University London, she completed her PhD in Composition at the University of Southampton in 2004 (her supervisor was Michael Finnissy). She currently lectures in music at City University London. Work Molitor can best be described as a conceptual composer. However, she has composed works for more traditional ensembles, such as Apartment House, and for orchestra (awarded a Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award). A fair number of her more recent ‘works’ are collaborations with composer-performers, such as Lemon Drizzle (a duo she formed with Sarah Nicholls) and site-specific works including Singing Bridge for a walk over Waterloo Bridge from Somerset House to the National Theatre in London, and Sonorama for the train journey between London’s St Pancras railway station and Margate. Molitor is inspired by a wide range of music and composers including Pauline Oliveros, to whom her piece Auricularis Superior (commissioned by Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival) is de

Clement Harris

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Clement Hugh Gilbert Harris (8 July 1871 – 23 April 1897) was an English pianist and composer who studied in Germany and died fighting in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. Biography Clement Harris was born on 8 July 1871 in Wimbledon, London, into a family of ship-owners. His siblings included Sir Austin Edward Harris, who became a noted banker, Frederick Leverton Harris, a British Member of Parliament, and Walter Burton Harris, a journalist, writer, traveller and socialite who achieved fame for his writings on Morocco. He was educated at Harrow School, and subsequently studied music in Frankfurt, where he was a piano pupil of Clara Schumann. Friendship with Siegfried Wagner Harris became intimate friends with Siegfried Wagner after meeting him in 1889 at a soirée at the house of Edward Speyer. Becoming restless after spending the summer of 1891 in Bayreuth with Siegfried, Harris proposed taking a free trip to the far East on one of his father’s ships. In 1892, Siegfried travelled to London where Harris introduced him to Oscar Wilde. Harris is described as a protegé of Wilde’s for whom Harris would perform Richard Wagner transcriptions. Wilde liked to talk with Harris about “the most

Colin Gibson (musician)

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Patrick Colin Gibson (born 21 September 1949, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland) is an English bass player and composer. Career Gibson and guitarist John Turnbull were childhood friends and played together in a band called The Primitive Sect, with Bob Sergeant on organ. In summer 1966, Gibson and Turnbull joined unsigned Newcastle band The Chosen Few, who had released two singles the previous year written by their then vocalist and guitarist Alan Hull, later of Lindisfarne. With Graham Bell joining on vocals, the band changed its name to Skip Bifferty and secured gigs in London. The band then secured a deal with RCA Records in summer 1967 under manager Don Arden and went on to release three singles: “On Love” which made a minor chart appearance, “Happy Land” and “Man in Black” produced by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. Despite being championed by John Peel, with a handful of “Top Gear” appearances, RCA seemed oblivious to their popularity. An album, Skip Bifferty, was recorded at Decca Studios West Hampstead, but withheld by RCA for almost a year before its release in 1968 and later as a double set The Story of Skip Bifferty (Castle Music, 2003), by Sanctuary Records, along with

Colin Matthews

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Colin Matthews, OBE (born 13 February 1946) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Noted for his large-scale orchestral compositions, Matthews is also a prolific arranger of other composer’s music, including works by Berlioz, Britten, Dowland, Mahler, Purcell and Schubert. Other arrangements include orchestrations of all Debussy’s 24 Préludes, both books of Debussy’s Images, and two movements—Oiseaux tristes and La vallée des cloches—from Ravel’s Miroirs. Having received a doctorate from University of Sussex on the works of Mahler, from 1964–1975 Matthews worked with his brother David Matthews and musicologist Deryck Cooke on completing a performance version of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony. Early life and education Matthews was born in London in 1946; his older brother is the composer David Matthews. He read classics at the University of Nottingham, and then studied composition there with Arnold Whittall, and at the same time with Nicholas Maw. In the 1970s he taught at the University of Sussex, where he obtained a doctorate for his work on Mahler, an offshoot of his long collaboration with Deryck Cooke on the performing version of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony. During this p

Colin Mawby

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Colin Mawby (9 May 1936 – 24 November 2019) was an English organist, choral conductor and composer. From 1961 he was Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral. Later he served as choral director at Radio Telefís Éireann and as artistic director of Chamber Choir Ireland, then known as the National Chamber Choir. He composed extensively for the liturgy, with an output including over fifty masses and five song cycles. His mother died when he was three, and he was among the first choristers when Westminster Cathedral choir school reopened in January 1946. Under George Malcolm, the boys sang fourteen or fifteen services a week and undertook ten hours of rehearsals, learning plainchant and polyphony. The choir performed in Rome in 1963 and again in 1970 for the canonisation of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, when it became the first ensemble other than the Sistine Choir to sing a papal mass in St Peter’s Basilica. Mawby retired to East Anglia in 2001 but later divided his time between London and Dublin. He served as composer in association with St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Dublin. His Ave verum corpus for choir became widely performed, and his setting of Psalm 23 gained wider recognit

Colin McAlpin

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Colin McAlpin (9 April 1870 – 13 May 1942) was an English composer of songs, operas and ballet music, an organist and a writer of critical essays on music. Life Colin McAlpin was born in 1870, at 15 Gallowtree Gate, Leicester, England. He was the fourth child of a clothier John William McAlpin, and his German wife Marie Louise (née Gerdes). His elder siblings were Kenneth, Donal and Janet, and his younger brothers Alan and John. McAlpin published his first composition when he was only 15 and at Wellingborough School: a song called The Cuckoo published in the Midland Musical Journal. At the age of 16 he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Music to study harmony with Francis William Davenport and organ playing with Charles Steggall, and after three years he acquired silver medals in both areas of study. In 1892 Robin Hood, his first dramatic work, was performed at Wellingborough School and that year he was appointed organist and choirmaster at Kensington Presbyterian Church. In 1897, King Arthur, an opera in three acts, commissioned by impresario Herbert Marshall, was performed by the Leicester Philharmonic Society under H. S. Ellis. In that year three of McAlpin’s Ten Songs were pe

Colin Ross (composer)

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Colin Archibald Campbell Ross (1911–1993) FRCO was an organist, pianist, conductor and composer. Biography Colin Ross was born in 1911 in Brecon, of Scottish ancestry, the younger son of Archibald Campbell Carne Ross, of Penzance and Brecon, a stockbroker; his elder brother was the linguist Alan S. C. Ross. His organ teacher was J.H.Carden, organist of Brecon Cathedral, whose articled pupil he became at the age of sixteen. In 1930 he moved to Hereford to be articled pupil to Sir Percy Hull at Hereford Cathedral, and in 1935 he was made assistant organist there. He was the first person to hold such a role. It was while at Hereford that Ross met and married his wife Leila Hodges in 1939, according to amateur research by ‘The Artful Dodger’. The couple later had one daughter, Alison. In 1940 he was called up and became a private in the British army. After discharge he went to the Royal Academy of Music in London to study conducting and composition. After a number of appointments, including at St Barnabas’, Tunbridge Wells, he was appointed organist and choir master of St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne, Australia, which he held from 1947 to 1951. This appointment was on the recommendati

Colin Touchin

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Colin Michael Touchin (3 April 1953 – 30 September 2022) Biography Colin Touchin was educated at William Hulme’s Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford. Touchin taught for eight years at Chetham’s School of Music, and for two years was Head of Composition. For over a decade he was Director of Music at the University of Warwick. While in the UK he played in a piano duo with his friend Peter Donohoe. In 2005 he founded and conducted the Spires Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus in Coventry, made up of professional and skilled amateur musicians from the Coventry and Warwickshire area. Spires recorded a CD of his compositions in 2012. He also conducted West Midland Wind Orchestra In Frankfurt he was Chief Conductor of the Lufthansa Orchestra, an ensemble made up of pilots, flight attendants, technicians and office workers who make music in their spare time. In Hong Kong he was musical director of the Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir, the a capella female choir Grace Notes, and guest conductor of the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong and Tak-Ming Philharmonic Winds. His home was in Warsaw, where he died of pancreatic cancer. Selected works * A Beade of Amber (for the National Youth W

Colin Towns

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Colin William Towns (born 13 May 1948) is an English composer and keyboardist. He was noted for playing in bands formed by ex-Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, and later worked extensively in composing soundtracks for film, television and commercials. Learning piano as a child, by the age of 13 he was earning money playing at weddings and birthdays in his neighbourhood of the East End of London. He went on to play in numerous dance bands, jazz ensembles and also became a session musician. His main musical passion is jazz and he has made several well-received albums together with his big band, the Mask Orchestra. He has also founded an independent record label, Provocateur. Career In 1976 he was recruited as keyboardist to replace Mickey Lee Soule in the Ian Gillan Band. Over the time he developed an increasing interest in composing, and Gillan credits the Towns-penned ‘Fighting Man’ as pointing the direction in which Gillan should go. Gillan dissolved the band, with its jazz-rock leanings, and retained only Towns, putting together the rockier Gillan. Encouraged by Gillan, Towns co-wrote many of the songs for the new band. Whilst with the band he used his free time to seek opportunitie

Colin Wark

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Colin Wark (1896 – 1939) was a British composer of film scores, theatre music and light music, born in Ealing, West London and educated at Berkhamsted School. Many of the films he scored were “quota quickies”, mostly low-cost, low-quality, quickly-accomplished films commissioned by American distributors active in the UK or by British cinema owners purely to satisfy the quota requirements. Wark was also the composer of the score for Tulip Time, a comedy with music based on the play The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown by Robert Buchanan (1841-1901) and Charles Marlowe. Tulip Time opened at the Alhambra Theatre in London on August 14, 1935 and ran for 425 performances. In 1932 he was responsible for launching and managing Pasquale Troise and his Mandoliers, an orchestra of about 16 mandolin, accordion, guitar and tuned percussion players that made a series of BBC broadcasts between 1932 and 1933, and which went on to be the most frequently used band on the long-running BBC series Music While You Work (1940-1967). Wark’s light music compositions include the novelty intermezzo Animal Antics, Bouncing Ball (xylophone or piccolo solo), and Chrysanthemums for orchestra and piano. The Wedd

Constant Lambert

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Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founding music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Dame Ninette de Valois and Sir Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in the establishment of the English ballet as a significant artistic movement. His ballet commitments, including extensive conducting work throughout his life, restricted his compositional activities. However one work, The Rio Grande, for chorus, orchestra and piano soloist, achieved widespread popularity in the 1920s, and is still regularly performed today. His other work includes a jazz influenced Piano Concerto (1931), major ballet scores such as Horoscope (1937) and a full-scale choral masque Summer’s Last Will and Testament (1936) that some consider his masterpiece. Lambert had wide-ranging interests beyond music, as can be seen from his critical study Music Ho! (1934), which places music in the context of the other arts. His friends included John Maynard Keynes, Anthony Powell and the Sitwells. To Keynes, Lambert was perhaps the most brilliant man he had ever met; to de Valois he was the greatest ballet conductor and advisor his countr

Cornelius Cardew

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Cornelius Cardew (7 May 193613 December 1981) was an English experimental music composer, and founder (with Howard Skempton and Michael Parsons) of the Scratch Orchestra, an experimental performing ensemble. He later rejected experimental music, explaining why he had “discontinued composing in an avant-garde idiom” in his own programme notes to his Piano Album 1973. which had evacuated to the Carlyon Bay Hotel for the war. His musical career thus began as a chorister. From 1953 to 1957, Cardew studied piano, cello, and composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Career Having won a scholarship to study at the recently established Studio for Electronic Music in Cologne, Cardew served as an assistant to Karlheinz Stockhausen from 1958 to 1960. He was given the task of independently working out the composition plans for the German composer’s score Carré, and Stockhausen noted: As a musician he was outstanding because he was not only a good pianist but also a good improviser and I hired him to become my assistant in the late 50s and he worked with me for over three years. I gave him work to do which I have never given to any other musician, which means to work with me on the s

Craig Armstrong (composer)

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Craig Mackenzie Armstrong (born 29 April 1959) is a Scottish composer of modern orchestral music, electronica and film scores. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 1981, and has since written music for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta. Armstrong’s score for Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet earned him a BAFTA for Achievement in Film Music and an Ivor Novello. He would collaborate with Luhrmann again on his next two films, Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby. His score for the former earned him the 2001 American Film Institute’s composer of the Year award, a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and a BAFTA. Armstrong was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Original Score in 2004 for the biopic Ray. His other feature film scoring credits include Love Actually, Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and The Incredible Hulk. Life and career Armstrong was born in Shettleston, Glasgow, Scotland. He was awarded the Charles Lucas prize and the Harvey Lohr scholarship for composition, the FTCL Fellowship in composition, and also won the GLAA Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 1982. Upon completing h

Cuthbert Hely

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Cuthbert Hely was an English lutenist and composer who was active during the first half of the 17th century. Life Nothing so far is known about his life. It may be assumed, though, that Hely was taught to play the lute by musicians of John Dowland’s generation. If so, Cuthbert Hely may have been born around 1570. It was believed that Hely may have been Lord Herbert’s lute teacher and that he was the compiler of Lord Herbert’s lute book. Both these points seem unlikely, though, as Lord Herbert, by his own account, learned the lute around 1603 “with very little or no teaching,” and Hely’s contributions to Lord Herbert’s lute book are only found in the hand of “Scribe C,” whose entries are the latest in the manuscript, datable to 1639-1640. It is uncertain if the composer is identical with a certain Cuthbert Hely who lived in Ludlow, England, during this era. Works Eight compositions by Cuthbert Hely - four fantasias, three preludes, and a sarabande - are to be found in the lute book owned by Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury. Only one other work of Cuthbert Hely has been known so far, an air in four parts found in GB-Lbl Add.18940, a manuscript source dated to about 1650. Although onl

Cyril Ornadel

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Simon Cyril Ornadel (2 December 192422 June 2011) was a British conductor, songwriter and composer, chiefly in musical theatre. He worked regularly with David Croft, the television writer, director and producer, as well as Norman Newell and Hal Shaper. He was awarded the Gold Badge of Merit by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors for services to British Music and won a total of four Ivor Novello Awards. Life and career Simon Cyril Ornadel was born into a middle-class Jewish family in London, England, and studied at the Royal College of Music. During the 1950s, he was famous for conducting the orchestra for the hit TV show Sunday Night at the London Palladium. “At My Time of Life” from Great Expectations was recorded by Bing Crosby in 1976. Ornadel’s contribution to music for television includes scores for the remake of Brief Encounter (1974) starring Richard Burton and Sophia Loren, Edward the Seventh (1975), which won a BAFTA, starring Timothy West as Edward VII, and the music for the British television science-fiction series Sapphire & Steel (1979). He also conducted music with the London Symphony Orchestra for The Strauss Family, by the eponymous composers,

Cyril Scott

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Cyril Meir Scott (27 September 1879 – 31 December 1970) was an English composer, writer, poet, and occultist. He created around four hundred musical compositions including piano, violin, cello concertos, symphonies, and operas. He also wrote around 20 pamphlets and books on occult topics and natural health. Biography Scott was born in Oxton, Cheshire to Henry Scott (1843-1918), shipper and scholar of Greek and Hebrew, and Mary (née Griffiths), an amateur pianist of Welsh origin. He showed a talent for music from an early age and was sent to the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany to study piano in 1892 at age 12. He studied with Iwan Knorr and belonged to the Frankfurt Group, a circle of composers who studied at the Hoch Conservatory in the late 1890s. At 20, the German poet Stefan George helped Scott organize a performance of Scott’s first symphony. He played his Piano Quartet with Fritz Kreisler, Emil Kreuz, and Ludwig Lebell in St. James’ Hall in 1903. In 1902 he met the pianist Evelyn Suart, with whom he had a long artistic association. She championed his music, premiering many of his works, and introducing him to his publisher, Elkin, with whom he remained for the rest of

Dafydd Llywelyn (composer)

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Dafydd Llywelyn (10 January 1939, in South Wales – 25 March 2013, in Munich) was a Welsh composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. Biography Llywelyn, born in South Wales, received his first piano lessons from his father and later from priests in a monastic boarding school in the Midlands. His other teachers include the British pianist Tom Bromley, Johann Trygvasson (father-in-law of Vladimir Ashkenazy) and Peter Feuchtwanger (nephew of the writer Lion Feuchtwanger). He received an important musical influence from the pianist and later close friend Shura Cherkassky, who showed him the tradition of the old masters’ polyphonic piano playing. He was later significantly inspired by Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen and . In Birmingham and then London he studied music, medicine, criminology and theology, after which he moved to Cologne. He moved to Munich in 1971, and in 1984 until his death lived with his life-partner Hedy Schmitt in the Haidhausen district. When he was three years old, his mother died from leukemia. Later he began to translate and write his thoughts into music. The deep religiosity of his work, which he was already composing in a meditative state since his youth, w

Daniel Bacheler

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Daniel Bacheler, also variously spelt Bachiler, Batchiler or Batchelar, (baptized 16 March 1572 – buried 29 January 1619) was an English lutenist and composer. Of all the English lutenist-composers, he is now credited as probably being the most successful in his own lifetime. Bacheler was born in the Buckinghamshire village of Aston Clinton, a son of Richard Bachelor and his wife Elizabeth (née Cardell). He served an apprenticeship with his uncle, Thomas Cardell, who was a lutenist and dancing-master in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. He worked for Sir Francis Walsingham, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and finally as a groom of the privy chamber for Queen Anne of Denmark, consort of James I. Elizabeth Roche, reviewing a CD of his work for The Daily Telegraph commented on the current neglect of Bacheler’s music, suggesting that one reason is the “difficulty of his ornamental style, including arpeggios, trills, and even the dazzling tremolos that conclude his variations on Monsieurs Almaine”. The Heralds Visitation records show that Bacheler received a grant of arms in 1606. He was buried on 29 January 1618/1619 in St Margaret’s churchyard, Lee, Kent. Bibliography *Bacheler, Dan

Daniel Jones (composer)

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Daniel Jenkyn Jones (7 December 1912 – 23 April 1993) was a Welsh composer of classical music, who worked in Britain. He used both serial and tonal techniques. He is best known for his quartets and thirteen symphonies (some composed in his own system of ‘Complex Metres’) and for his song settings for Dylan Thomas’s play Under Milk Wood. Biography Jones was born in Pembroke in south Wales. His father, Jenkyn Jones, was a composer and his mother a singer, and by the time he was nine years old the young Daniel had himself written several piano sonatas. He attended the Bishop Gore School in Swansea (1924–1931), where his enthusiasm for literature led to a close friendship with the poet Dylan Thomas, and to his going on to study English literature at Swansea University. At this period Jones and Thomas were part of the informal group of aspiring artists who would meet at the Kardomah cafe in Castle Street, Swansea. Other members of the group were the poet Vernon Watkins and the painter Alfred Janes. In 1935 Jones left Swansea to study music at the Royal Academy of Music in London (1935–1938), where his teachers included Sir Henry Wood and Harry Farjeon. In the years leading up to the Sec

Daniel Kidane

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Daniel Kidane (born 1986) is a British composer. His piece “Woke” opened the last night of the 2019 Proms. In 2016 his “Sirens” was one of a group of five short works commissioned by the BBC Philharmonic to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and performed in the Bridgewater Hall. The Guardians reviewer described it as a “propulsive, eclectic piece” which “soaked up influences of jungle, dubstep and R&B sampled from a trawl through the city after dark. “His 2017 work “Zulu” was performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. His “Dream Song” was premiered at the Queen Elizabeth Hall by the Chineke! Orchestra on the re-opening of the hall in 2018 and the 50th anniversary of the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr., and includes words from his “I Have a Dream” speech. The concert was broadcast by BBC Radio 3. The orchestra later recorded the work on their album Spark Catchers. In 2020 he was commissioned by Huddersfield Choral Society to write “We’ll Sing”, with words by Simon Armitage, who worked from a list of words sent by choir members to reflect their experience of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was released on a music video in autumn 2020. In

Daniel Pemberton

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Daniel Pemberton (born 3 November 1977) is an English composer and songwriter. Primarily working in film, television, and video games, he is best known for composing the scores for the films Project Hail Mary and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as well as its sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the latter of which earned him a number of award nominations, including at the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards. He has received recognition for his work in films such as Steve Jobs, Motherless Brooklyn, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Being the Ricardos, The Rescue, Enola Holmes and its sequel Enola Holmes 2 (the latter of which also featured a cameo from Pemberton, portraying an orchestra conducter), as well as the first two entries in the LittleBigPlanet series of games and The Bad Guys film franchise (2022–present). For The Trial of the Chicago 7, Pemberton was nominated for the Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Film Score as well as an Academy Award for Best Original Song alongside Celeste for the song “Hear My Voice”. Early life Pemberton grew up in East Molesey and attended Hampton School. At the age of 12, he completed work experience for the video game magazine

Daniel Purcell

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Daniel Purcell (c. 1664 – buried 26 November 1717) was an English Baroque composer, the younger brother or cousin of Henry Purcell. Biography Like Henry Purcell before him, Daniel Purcell joined the choir of the Chapel Royal at about the age of 14. In his mid-twenties he was appointed organist of Magdalen College, Oxford where he began to compose. In 1695 he moved to London to compose for the theatre providing incidental music for more than 40 plays. One of his first engagements was to complete the concluding Masque for Act V of the semi-opera The Indian Queen, the preceding music for which had been written by Henry Purcell during the early months of 1695. It is unclear whether Daniel Purcell had been engaged because of pressure to complete the score in time for the first performance or as a result of Henry Purcell’s failing health and subsequent death. The performance history of the piece is uncertain, and the first performance may have gone ahead without Daniel Purcell’s contribution. In 1696 he composed the score for the semi-opera Brutus of Alba to a libretto by George Powell. In 1701, he came third in a competition for the best musical setting of William Congreve’s masque, The

Daniel Roseingrave

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Daniel Roseingrave (c.1655 – May 1727) was an English-born organist and composer mainly active in Dublin, Ireland. Roseingrave probably hailed from the area of Gloucester, where he was organist at Gloucester Cathedral (1679–1681) and where he later sent his sons for education. He subsequently became organist at Winchester Cathedral (1682–1692) and Salisbury Cathedral (1692–1698), and finally from 1698 at both Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin and St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, which “marked the beginning of a period of half a century when the Roseingrave family dominated the musical scene at the Dublin cathedrals.” He remained organist at Christ Church until his death in Dublin in 1727; at St Patrick’s his son Ralph joined him from 1719. He composed some church music including a verse anthem Lord, thou art become gracious. His works are often confused with that of his sons; a disentangling of the works of the various Roseingraves in Ireland was in preparation in 2014. His sons Thomas Roseingrave and Ralph Roseingrave were likewise composers and organists. Bibliography *Barra Boydell: Music at Christ Church before 1800: Documents and Selected Anthems (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1999)

Danny L Harle

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Daniel Jack Eisner Harle, better known under the stage name Danny L Harle (born 25 September 1989), is a British music producer and composer. He was formerly signed to the London-based PC Music label and is a member of Dux Content with A. G. Cook. He has produced, composed, and remixed music for a number of artists; most prominently, he executive produced Caroline Polachek’s albums Pang (2019) and Desire, I Want to Turn Into You (2023) and co-produced the albums Radical Optimism by Dua Lipa and Polari by Olly Alexander. Harle released his debut album Harlecore in 2021, followed by Cerulean in 2026, which featured collaborations with Polachek, Lipa, and PinkPantheress. Early life Harle is the son of saxophonist John Harle. He played the cello as a child but did not have a strong interest in music until age 12, when he learned bass guitar after discovering bands like Slipknot and Madness. Harle is privately educated, having attended the £30,000 per annum King Alfred School in Hampstead. He later joined the Royal Academy of Music’s junior jazz group. In 2006, John Harle recorded Daniel’s song “Caesar Hath Wept” with the Duke Quartet. Harle went to Goldsmiths, University of London to s

Dave Hewson (composer)

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David Graham Hewson (born 25 November 1953 in Wandsworth, London, England) is a British composer of scores for television and films. His work includes a collaboration to develop scores for ITV News. Hewson works from his composing studio in East Sussex. At Trinity College of Music, Hewson was a pupil of Richard Arnell. They worked together on films including Dilemma (1981), Doctor in the Sky (1984), Toulouse-Lautrec (1986), and The Light of the World (1989). Hewson has written several works with Brian Sibley. Background and education Hewson began composing at the age of 11, influenced by his primary school music education, which had been based entirely on the Schulwerk. This influence stayed with David and shaped a lot of his much later music. During his time in primary school, he also started to receive piano lessons from the renowned classical concert pianist and teacher Christine Gough. In his late teens he studied composition with Professor Richard Arnell, a former pupil of John Ireland at Trinity College of Music, London, and enrolled in a part-time courses on electronic music with Tristram Cary at the Royal College of Music. After gaining his BEd (Hon) he taught music for six

Dave Smith (composer)

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Dave Smith (born August 19, 1949) is an English composer, arranger and musical performer. Since 1971 he has been associated with the English school of experimental music. Life and career Smith was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. After attending Solihull School, he read music at Magdalene College, Cambridge. In the 1970s, Smith was a member of the Scratch Orchestra and a participant in several composer/performer ensembles. The first of these was a keyboard duo with John Lewis which played minimalist and systemic works by British and American composers (notably including early works by Philip Glass) as well as by themselves. Several concerts with Michael Parsons and Howard Skempton featured at this time, as did a short-lived five-piano group (with Lewis, Michael Nyman, Orlando Gough and Benedict Mason) and an involvement with the People’s Liberation Music group of Laurie Scott Baker, Cornelius Cardew and others. From 1977 he played in John White’s Garden Furniture Music Ensemble alongside Mason and Gavin Bryars: his close association with the music of White, Bryars and Cardew has continued ever since. In the 1980s he was a founder-member of the English Gamelan Orchestra and Li

David Arnold

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is an English film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films (1997–2008), as well as Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996), Godzilla (1998), Shaft (2000), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), Four Brothers (2005), Hot Fuzz (2007), and the television series Little Britain and Sherlock. For Independence Day, he received a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television, and for Sherlock, he and co-composer Michael Price won a Creative Arts Emmy for the score of “His Last Vow”, the final episode in the third series. Arnold scored the BBC / Amazon Prime series Good Omens (2019) adapted by Neil Gaiman from his book Good Omens, written with Terry Pratchett. Arnold is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. Career While attending a Sixth Form College in Luton, Arnold became friends with director Danny Cannon. Cannon initially created short films for which Arnold was asked to write the music. The two made their respective major film debuts with The Young Americans. “Play Dead”, a song from the film with singer Björk, charted No. 12 in the UK. The following year he scor

David Bedford

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter and author Herbert Bedford and the composer Liza Lehmann, and the son of Leslie Bedford, an inventor, and Lesley Duff, a soprano opera singer. From 1969 to 1981, Bedford was Composer in Residence at Queen’s College, London. From 1968 to 1980, he taught music in a number of London secondary schools. In 1996 he was appointed Composer in Association with the English Sinfonia. In 2001 he was appointed Chairman of the Performing Right Society, having previously been Deputy chairman. Early life and career Bedford was born in Hendon, London to Leslie Bedford, the director of engineering for the guided weapons division of the British Aircraft Corporation, and Lesley Duff, a soprano singer who worked with the English Opera Group. He was educated at Lancing College in West Sussex. During this time he worked as a porter at Guy’s Hospital, London. In the mid-60s, he was a music teacher at Whitefield school in Hendon, before joining Queen’s College in London

David Blake (composer)

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David Blake (born 2 September 1936) is an English composer and founder member of the Department of Music at the University of York. Early life and education Blake was born in London. Following national service, he learnt Mandarin Chinese and spent one year in Hong Kong. He went on to read music at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where his teachers were Patrick Hadley, Peter Tranchell and Raymond Leppard. He was awarded the Mendelssohn Scholarship for Composition in 1960, and, uniquely for a British composer of his generation, he went to East Berlin to study with Arnold Schoenberg’s pupil, the Marxist composer Hanns Eisler, as a Meisterschüler of the GDR Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts, Berlin). During this time, he composed the first of his acknowledged compositions – the Variations for Piano and the String Quartet No. 1. Career In 1963, he was awarded the Granada Arts Fellowship at the newly opened University of York, and the following year, with Wilfrid Mellers and Peter Aston, he founded the Department of Music there. He was Lecturer in Music in the Department until 1976 and then succeeded Wilfrid Mellers as Professor. His first important commission came in 1966, fro

David Briggs (English musician)

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David John Briggs (born 1 November 1962) is an English organist and composer. He started his career as a cathedral organist as Assistant Organist at Hereford Cathedral before becoming the organist of Truro and Gloucester Cathedrals. Heavily influenced by Jean Langlais and Pierre Cochereau, Briggs is regarded as one of the world’s finest improvisors, and now works as a concert organist. He is also a composer of choral and organ music and has transcribed many orchestral works for solo organ, as well as many of Cochereau’s recorded improvisations. His daughter is the composer Kerensa Briggs. Early life and training Briggs was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, to John Briggs (d. 1979), an engineer (and cellist), and his wife Jane (a violinist), who had met in 1957 while playing in the Birmingham Hospitals Orchestra. Briggs began improvising on the piano and took lessons at an early age; he was invited to play hymns during assembly at his primary school in Moseley and Christmas carols during services at St Mary’s Church, Moseley. At the relatively early age of 17 Briggs was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO), having studied for the examination with Richard P

David Bruce (composer)

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David Bruce (born 1970) is a British composer and YouTuber. Early life Bruce was born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1970, but grew up in England. He began his undergraduate music studies in 1988 at the University of Nottingham, where his composition tutors included Jim Fulkerson and Nicholas Sackman. He continued at the Royal College of Music from 1991 to 1993, where he obtained a master’s degree in composition, studying with Timothy Salter and George Benjamin. He received a PhD in composition at King’s College London between 1995 and 1999, under the supervision of Harrison Birtwistle. Career Bruce developed an international reputation as a composer. His work is performed by musicians from around the world, including soprano Dawn Upshaw, klezmer pioneer Giora Feidman and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. Upshaw in particular played an important role in bringing Bruce’s music to wider attention. She instigated the commission for his opera A Bird in Your Ear and performed his Piosenki song-cycle at Carnegie Hall and elsewhere. Upshaw was the soloist in a new song-cycle with ensemble, The North Wind was a Woman, commissioned for the Gala opening of the 2009 season by the Chamber Music So

David Dubery

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NOTOC David Dubery (Durban, 1948) is a South-African born British composer, pianist, vocal coach and academic. Dubery has been a music staff tutor at Long Millgate, Elizabeth Gaskell and Didsbury Colleges, Manchester Polytechnic, Metropolitan University, and Manchester School of Music for fourteen years (1972–1986), at the Manchester branch of The Actor’s Centre, Northern Actor’s Centre, and was vocal tutor/staff pianist & musical director for the Northern Ballet School for seventeen years (1986–2003). He also coached tenor Russell Watson. Recordings *David Dubery: Songs & Chamber Music - “Sonatina for Oboe and Piano”. Three Songs to Poems by Robert Graves. Four Songs. Suite from ‘Degrees of Evidence’. “Remember”. Two Stopfordian Impressions. Sonata for Cello and Piano Escapades. Walking Cimbrone. Harlequinade. “Mrs Harris in Paris”. Adrienne Murray (mezzo-soprano with David Dubery piano), John Turner, Paul Janes, Craig Ogden, Peter Dixon, Richard Simpson, Graham Salvage, Richard Williamson. Metier MSV28523 (2011) *David Dubery; Observations. Seventeen songs and a string quartet. Three songs to poems by Douglas Gibson. Full fathom five. Time will not wait. Night Songs. Observat

David Ellis (composer)

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David Ellis (10 March 1933 – 20 April 2023) was an English composer, arranger and music producer at the BBC. Career Ellis was born in Liverpool, attending the Liverpool Institute (where he first met fellow composer John McCabe), and then the Royal Manchester College of Music (1953–57) where his composition teacher was Thomas Pitfield. His contemporaries in Manchester were Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies, Alexander Goehr, Elgar Howarth and John Ogdon. From 1964 Ellis worked as a producer at the BBC, becoming Head of Music for BBC North in 1977. In 1986 he took up the position of artistic director, Northern Chamber Orchestra where he was also composer-in-residence. From the mid-1990s Ellis took up composition full-time. Composition His works include symphonies, concertos (for violin, cello, piano), works for strings (such as the Vale Royal Suite), three string quartets (1980, 1996, 2002) and much other chamber music. Ellis also had a particular interest in composing and arranging works for brass band. His catalogue stretches to 91 opus numbers. In 2004 the Camerata also premiered the String Quartet No 3, op. 70. David Ellis had a wide circle of musical friends, including Ma

David Fanshawe

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David Arthur Fanshawe (19 April 1942 – 5 July 2010) was an English composer and self-styled explorer with a fervent interest in world music. His best-known composition is the 1972 choral work African Sanctus. Life Fanshawe was born in Paignton, Devon in 1942. His father was an officer in the Royal Artillery who played a central role in the planning of D-Day. His father’s stories of military service in India fired Fanshawe’s enthusiasm for travel and adventure. His first ambition was to be an explorer, but when he attended St George’s School, Windsor Castle and Stowe School he discovered a love of music. His severe dyslexia, however, prevented him from reading a musical score and becoming a chorister. including films such as Tarka the Otter (1979) and Dirty Weekend (1993), and TV productions such as the BBC’s Softly, Softly: Taskforce and When the Boat Comes In and also ITV’s The Feathered Serpent, Flambards and The Good Companions. His ethnic field recordings have featured in countless TV documentaries, including Musical Mariner and Tropical Beat, as well as various feature films including Mountains of the Moon, How to Make an American Quilt, Seven Years in Tibet and Gangs of New Y

David Horne (composer)

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David Horne (born 12 December 1970) is a Scottish composer, pianist, and teacher. A resident composer with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic for four years, he has been awarded several commissions. His works have been performed by international calibre artists. As an award-winning pianist, he has performed with leading British orchestras. Biography He was born in Tillicoultry, near Stirling, in 1970. His father played piano (non-professionally) and he started learning the piano at the age of seven. Early in his life his family moved to Norway, his mother’s native country. Aged eleven, he went to St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh to study piano with Audrey Innes and composition with Geoffrey King. In 1989 he moved to Philadelphia to study at the Curtis Institute, where he studied with Ned Rorem. He moved on to Harvard University, where he obtained a PhD in 1999 and became a visiting lecturer, still in his 20s. He has since returned to the United Kingdom and lives in Manchester, where he is Professor of Music and Head of Graduate School at the Royal Northern College of Music. In 2004 he led the New Music/New Media course for the Britten-Pears School. In 2006/07, he was visiting prof

David Jennings (composer)

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David Andrew Jennings is an English composer (born Sheffield, Yorkshire, 30 May 1972). He read music at the University of Durham, studying composition with John Casken (a pupil of Witold Lutosławski) and again at Postgraduate level with Casken at the University of Manchester. Jennings has additionally benefited from regular consultations with Arthur Butterworth (a pupil of Ralph Vaughan Williams). Jennings’ compositions employ a style that combines romanticism with more recent musical developments. His music is known to have been inspired by the works of poets and visual artists, especially English watercolourists from the early 1800s. In 2012, The Divine Art label released a recording of Jennings’ Piano Music performed by James Willshire, which was nominated as one of Music Web International’s Recordings of the Year 2013. Jennings has also composed orchestral, vocal and chamber music. In 2025, Jennings published a Gothic novel, “The Pleasures of Melancholy”. Recorded and published works * Piano Sonata, Op. 1 * Three Sonatinas, Op. 2 * Prelude and Fugue, Op. 6 (Divine Art recording James Willshire) * Three Lyrical Pieces, Op. 17 * Miniature Suite, Op. 18 * A Weardale Rhapsody (2018

David Johnson (Scottish composer)

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Dr David Charles Johnson (27 October 1942 in Edinburgh – 30 March 2009 in Edinburgh) was a Scottish composer and a scholar of 18th century Scottish music. Johnson was “an internationally recognised scholar”, whose work did much to rediscover and reinvent 18th century Scottish music, and set it in its historical context. Johnson’s work concentrated on the music and wider social life of 18th century lowland Scotland, its influences and tastes, and the key musical figures within it. Early life Johnson was born in Edinburgh in October 1942, the eldest of three sons. His father, Sir Ronald Johnson, was a senior civil servant at the Scottish Home and Health Department and organist of the episcopal church of St. Columba’s-By-the-Castle. His mother, Lady Elizabeth, was the Director of the Holst Singers (of Edinburgh) and was organist at Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian. This remains a seminal work in its field and “brought to light the synergy between ‘folk’ and ‘art’ music which existed in Baroque and Classical music of Scotland”. The book also examined music’s position in 18th century Scottish society, and the work of Thomas Erskine, 6th Earl of Kellie, and other notable composers of the per

David Lord (producer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

David Lord (born 1944 ) is an English composer and record producer, known for his work with Peter Gabriel, the Korgis and XTC. Career Lord was born in 1944 in Oxford, England under Richard Rodney Bennett. He worked as a producer for BBC Radio early in his career. for which it was commissioned; the other recorded in 1982 by children from St. Catherine’s British Embassy School, Athens, Greece. He also wrote a piece for Julian Bream and a test piece for a London Symphony Orchestra conductors’ competition. and “I’ll Stand by You” by the Pretenders. He played a Prophet 5 synthesiser on one track, “Just Good Friends”, on the 1983 Peter Hammill album Patience, for which he was also recording engineer. Since around 1970, Lord has lived in Bath, where he formerly operated Crescent Studios, initially in his top-floor flat in Camden Crescent, and subsequently in a building dating from around 1700, at 144 Walcot Street. He closed the studio when a new road was built next to it. Lord has appeared on The South Bank Show, discussing his work producing Peter Gabriel’s fourth, eponymously titled solo album. Conviction In 2015, Lord was convicted of keeping a brothel after admitting making bookings

David Lowe (video game composer)

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David Lowe, also known as “Uncle Art”, is a British composer known for his work on computer games from 1985 to 1998. Lowe gained attention by making music with professional synthesizers (CX5, DX7, RX11 drum machine) for an additional cassette tape distributed with the games Starglider 2 and Carrier Command. His Starglider soundtrack for 16-bit computers (Atari ST and Amiga) was notable for having a 15-second song (a single sound file) with vocals and synthesizers on both versions. The Amiga version’s title music used high-quality instrument sounds before tracker music. Lowe composed and recorded the music for Frontier: Elite II. Games *Buggy Blast (1985, ZX Spectrum) *Rasputin (1986, ZX Spectrum) *Rad-Zone (1986, Amstrad CPC) *Thrust (1986, ZX Spectrum) *Starglider (1987, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Amiga) *Carrier Command (1988, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, audio tape music) *Exceleron (1988, Commodore 64) *Games, The: Summer Edition (Go For Gold) (1988, Amiga, Atari ST) *Galaxy Force (1988, Amiga, Atari ST) *Starglider 2 (1988, Amiga, audio tape music) *International Karate + (1988, Amiga, Atari ST) (Based on Rob Hubbard’s original for the Commodore 64) *After Burner II (198

David Matthews (composer)

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David Matthews (born 9 March 1943) is an English composer of mainly orchestral, chamber, vocal and piano works. Life Matthews was born in London into a family that was musical, though not formally trained; the desire to compose did not manifest itself until he was sixteen, and for a time he and his younger brother Colin Matthews, also a composer, were each other’s only teachers. The start of the ‘Mahler boom’ in the early 1960s, when the works of Gustav Mahler began to enter the regular British repertoire for the first time, provided a tremendous creative impetus for both of them; but although they have sometimes since collaborated as arrangers (in orchestrating seven early Mahler songs, for instance) and as editors (in the published version of Deryck Cooke’s ‘performing version’ of the draft of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony), as composers they have very much gone their separate ways. David Matthews read Classics at Nottingham University and afterwards, feeling himself still too much self-taught, studied composition with Anthony Milner; he was also much helped by the advice and encouragement of fellow British composer Nicholas Maw. Then, for three years, he was associated with Benjamin B

David Moule-Evans

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David Moule-Evans (21 November 1905 – 18 May 1988) was an English composer, conductor and academic. Life Moule-Evans was born in Ashford, Kent, and was educated at the Judd School in Tonbridge before studying at the Royal College of Music in London with Malcolm Sargent and Herbert Howells. While at the Royal College he became friendly with his contemporary Michael Tippett, beating him to gain the Mendelssohn Scholarship in 1928 and continuing studies at Queen’s College, Oxford. Tippett asked him to conduct the first full concert of his own music at the Barn Theatre in Oxted on 5 April 1930. From 1945 to 1974 Moule-Evans returned to the RCM to teach harmony, counterpoint and composition. He married Monica Warden Evans in March 1935 and the couple lived at Claremont, 10 Rose Hill, Dorking in Surrey. Music As a composer Moule-Evans has been largely forgotten today, but during his lifetime he achieved a measure of success. His Concerto for String Orchestra won the Carnegie British Music award in 1928. The Dance Suite, scored for full orchestra with piano, five percussion players and timpani, was completed in December 1930 and received its first performance at a Royal College of Music P

David Nicholls (musicologist)

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David Nicholls (born in 1955) is a British musicologist and composer. Biography Born in Small Heath, Birmingham, Nicholls was a pupil at St. Benedict’s Primary School in Small Heath and subsequently at the King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys, in King’s Heath. He then read Music at St. John’s College, Cambridge, and graduated with a first. In 1986, he completed a Ph.D. at Cambridge, under the supervision of the distinguished British composer Hugh Wood, with a thesis on the compositional techniques of Charles Ives, Henry Cowell, John Cage, and other experimental composers. Between 1984 and 1987, Nicholls was Keasbey Fellow in American Studies at Selwyn College, Cambridge. In 1998, he spent an extended semester at The College of William and Mary in Virginia, United States, as Visiting Professor of Music. From 1987 to 2000, he was Professor of Music and sometime Research Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Keele University. From 2000 to 2013, he was Professor of Music at the University of Southampton. Subsequently he took early retirement due to disenchantment with the tertiary educational system in the UK; he was initially awarded the title of Emeritus Professor of Music, though

David Sawer

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David Sawer (born 14 September 1961) is a British composer of opera and choral, orchestral and chamber music. Biography Sawer was born in Stockport, England. After attending Ipswich School, he studied music at the University of York where he began composing contemporary music-theatre pieces. He directed the UK premiere of Mauricio Kagel’s Kantrimiusik at the ICA, conducted the UK premieres of Mare Nostrum and Szenario, and appeared as solo performer in Phonophonie at the South Bank Centre, London, and in the world premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s Gawain at the Royal Opera House. In 1984 he won a DAAD scholarship to study with Mauricio Kagel in Cologne. Even from this point his career, Sawer’s music tends to define each piece within theatrical terms. Indeed, Sawer has described himself as a “theatre person”. His works often reference the visual arts, and in particular surrealist imagery. For example, his piano piece, The Melancholy of Departure was inspired by the shadowy and irrational perspectives of a De Chirico painting. In 1992 Sawer was awarded the Fulbright-Chester-Schirmer-Scholarship; he won a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award in 1993, an Arts Foundation Fellowship in 1995 and

David Stoll (composer)

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David Michael Stoll (born December 1948) is an English composer and educator. Life and career David Stoll was born in London, and studied composition at Worcester College, Oxford University, and at the Royal Academy of Music. After completing his education, he has worked as a freelance composer for concert, theatrical, and TV/film music. Stoll is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He served as chairman of the Association of Professional Composers. In 1999 he was elected co-chair of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and has also served on the boards of several other music organizations. Stoll has run several school and corporate training programs in creative thinking based on music, and founded the In Tune In Europe seminar and Building Music program for primary schools. Works Stoll is best known for concert and theater work, but composes production music for film, television, and radio, as well. Selected works include: *Cello Concerto, 2000 *The Bowl of Nous, cantata, 1998 *Who, If Not I?, cantata, 1998 *String Quartet, 1998 *Motet in Memoriam for choir *Midwinter Spring for orchestra *False Relations, opera, 1997 *Teller of Tales, musical, 1994 *If I W

David Willcocks

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Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, which he directed from 1957 to 1974, making frequent broadcasts and recordings. Several of the descants and carol arrangements he wrote for the annual service of Nine Lessons and Carols were published in the series of books Carols for Choirs which he edited along with Reginald Jacques and John Rutter. He was also director of the Royal College of Music in London. During the Second World War (1939–1945) he served as an officer in the British Army, and was decorated with the Military Cross for his actions on Hill 112 during the Battle of Normandy in July 1944. His elder son, Jonathan Willcocks, is also a composer. Biography Born in Newquay in Cornwall, Willcocks began his musical training as a chorister at Westminster Abbey from 1929 to 1934, following a recommendation by the then Master of the King’s Music, Sir Henry Walford Davies, to Ernest Bullock. From 1934 to 1938, he was a music scholar at Clifton College, Bristol, where his teacher was Dou

David Wynne (composer)

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David Wynne (2 June 1900 – 23 March 1983) was a prolific Welsh composer, who taught for many years at Cardiff University and wrote much of his best-known music in retirement. The following year, the family moved to Llanfabon, near Cilfynydd, where he attended the local school until the age of 12. For the next two years he worked at a local grocer’s shop, He continued to work there until the age of 25, even after beginning lessons with a local music teacher and organist, Tom Llewellyn Jenkins, himself a minor composer. In 1925 he was awarded a Glamorgan Scholarship to University College, Cardiff, becoming a pupil of Professor David Evans and John Morgan Lloyd; he obtained a B.Mus. degree in 1928. In 1933, he married Eirwen Evans and they settled in Maesycwmmer. In 1938 the University of Wales awarded him a D.Mus. In 1944 he was awarded the Clements Memorial Prize for his First String Quartet, and this effectively launched his career as a leading composer; thereafter he received regular commissions. At the same time, he began using the name David Wynne for professional purposes. He retired from school teaching in 1960. From 1961 to 1971 he taught composition at Cardiff College of Mus

Deborah Mollison

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Deborah Mollison (born 29 May 1958) is a British composer and songwriter, Her work includes the score for the 1999 film East is East. Life and Education Mollison began composing at the age of seven, having received free music lessons at school. From the age of thirteen, she studied composition, piano and flute at the Royal Academy of Music where she won the Else Cross Prize for pianoforte. Whilst undertaking a Master’s degree at Lancaster University, she was inspired and mentored by the composer Elisabeth Lutyens. She then went to UCLA to study with Don Ray, Gerry Immel, Jerry Goldsmith after which she returned to UK to Middlesex University where she received her PhD in music. She has composed for commissions from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Britten Sinfonia. * Earth Story (1998) TV documentary mini-series * Simon Magus (1999) * Secrets of the Ancients (1999) TV documentary mini-series * East Is East (1999) * The Thing About Vince (2000) TV mini-series * What the Romans Did for Us (2000) TV documentary series * The Boys of Sunset Ridge (2001) * Landscape Mysteries (2003) * Souli (2004) * Too Much Too Young (2005) * Violin concerto: Ocean Witness * Horn concerto: Globa

Deirdre Gribbin

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Deirdre Gribbin (born 14 May 1967) is a composer from Northern Ireland. Career Gribbin was born in Belfast. She studied at Queen’s University Belfast where, at the age of twenty, she began to compose. Further studies were in London (at the Guildhall School of Music with (Robert Saxton) and in Denmark (with Per Nørgård). Her first professional success came when her piano piece Per Speculum in Aenigmate won the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival Composition Prize. Subsequent major works have included the piano quartet Jack B. (inspired by the work of the Irish painter Jack B. Yeats), the piano trio How to Make the Water Sound, the opera Hey Persephone!, the violin concerto Venus Blazing, which was directed by Lou Stein with lighting by Jeff Ravitz, and The Binding of The Years, for piano and orchestra. Celestial Pied Piper was published as part of Faber’s Millennium Series. She lived in New York where she was a Fulbright Fellow. Several of her works respond to the political climate of her homeland, such as the ensemble piece Tribe, the orchestral work Unity of Being, which was performed by the Ulster Orchestra as part of the UK WITH NY Festival in New York after 9/11, and her e

Dénes von Buday

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Buday Dénes (Denes von Buday) was a Hungarian composer, born in Budapest. He was a well known composer of both poems and music for films made between 1930 and 1950. Buday studied at the Academy of Music, which is today known as the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where his teacher, Hans von Koessler, held his lectures in German. Work Opera Buday’s only opera, the comedy Loreley, premiered in 1919 in Vienna. Operettas Buday authored many operettas and musical comedies, which were shown on stage between 1916 and 1947. Movie composer References Book Reference * * External links * by Gyula Juhász; the composer is singing and playing the piano * ≈I love you Ágnes with János Sárdy * ≈Hearth could not pour forth with Janka Sólyom

Denis ApIvor

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Denis ApIvor (14 April 191627 May 2004) was a British composer, best known for his ballet score Blood Wedding. He had a parallel career as a consultant anaesthetist. Biography ApIvor (pronounced Ap Ivor) was born in Collinstown, County Westmeath, Ireland, to Welsh parents. He attended Hereford Cathedral School and was a chorister at Christ Church, Oxford, and Hereford Cathedral. Because his parents opposed a career in music, he studied medicine in London, but had also pursued the study of music from an early age. He began his medical studies at the University of Aberystwyth in 1933, moving the next year to University College London. Inspired by hearing the first performance in England of Wozzeck (at the Queen’s Hall, 14 March 1934 conducted by Adrian Boult) and encouraged by Cecil Gray, ApIvor also studied composition privately with Patrick Hadley and Alan Rawsthorne. At the outbreak of World War II he was for a time house physician at the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth, Hampstead. In 1942 he was called up, mostly serving as a war doctor in India. After the war ApIvor continued with his medical career, eventually retiring in 1979 from the Mid Kent Group. But he also returned

Denis King

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Denis Andrew King (born 25 July 1939) is an English composer and singer. He is best remembered as a member of a family ensemble, The King Brothers. Early career: the King Brothers King was born in Hornchurch, Essex, England. — considered to be Britain’s first boy band. Denis played the piano, Mike the guitar, and Tony the double bass. To date, he has created themes and incidental music for over two hundred television series including Within These Walls, If It Moves File It, Dick Turpin, Two’s Company, Minder on the Orient-Express, Lovejoy, We’ll Meet Again and Hannay, where in 2012 he staged an amateur version of his own musical, Wind in the Willows. In 2025, Denis King released a thirteen-part podcast of his memoirs – Key Changes – from child star in the King Brothers to composer for stage and screen, featuring his own music (often with King on the piano), old recordings and archive material. References External links * * Denis King at the Internet Off Broadway Database

Dennis Berry

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Dennis Alfred Berry (21 August 1921 – 21 June 1994) was an English musician, composer, arranger, and producer. His work has been used in film-making and television productions. Early life Born in London, England, Berry was involved in music from the age of fourteen. He played bass, guitar, and saxophone. He also taught himself French, Dutch, Afrikaans, and German. Marriage and family In 1949 he married Netherlands-born Aaltje Wolschryn, and they had one child. He had lived in London until his marriage. Then he and his wife moved to the new town of Stevenage, before building a house on a plot of land (which they bought from Peter Sellers) in the centre of Welwyn Garden City. Career In 1939 Berry joined Francis, Day, and Hunter as a copyist before going on to Boosey & Hawkes as a staff arranger, then to Lawrence Wright and Paxton Music, and finally Peer-Southern. He arranged for Carroll Gibbons, The Squadronaires, and Ted Heath. As Paxton’s representative he was based in Amsterdam, and became staff arranger for the Skymasters Dance Orchestra and freelanced for The Ramblers and the Metropole. He was a correspondent for Variety and Melody Maker. In 1949 he returned to Paxton’s offices

Derek Bell (musician)

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George Derek Fleetwood Bell, MBE (21 October 1935 – 17 October 2002) was a Northern Irish harpist, pianist, oboist, musicologist and composer who was best known for his accompaniment work on various instruments with The Chieftains. As classical composer and virtuoso Bell was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Because he had been misdiagnosed at an early age as having a disease that would lead to blindness, his parents gave him a musical upbringing. He was something of a child prodigy, composing his first concerto at the age of 12. He graduated from the Royal College of Music in 1957. While studying there, he became friends with the flute player James Galway. From 1958 to 1990 he composed several classical works, including three piano sonatas, two symphonies, Three Images of Ireland in Druid Times (in 1993) for harp, strings and timpani, Nocturne on an Icelandic Melody (1997) for oboe d’amore and piano and Three Transcendental Concert Studies (2000) for oboe and piano. He had mastered and held a notable collection of instruments, including various harps, harpsichord, piano, cymbalom, and all the members of the oboe family of instruments (musette, oboe, cor anglais, bass oboe) and th

Derek Bourgeois

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Derek David Bourgeois (16 October 1941 – 6 September 2017) was an English composer. Career Derek Bourgeois was born in Kingston upon Thames in 1941. After receiving his university education at Magdalene College, Cambridge (honours degree and doctorate), Bourgeois spent two years at the Royal College of Music, studying composition with Herbert Howells and conducting with Sir Adrian Boult. In 1980 he began conducting the Sun Life Band (now the Stanshawe Band of Bristol), which was his introduction to brass bands. In 1994 Bourgeois was appointed director of music at St Paul’s Girls School, London, a position previously held by a number of noted composers, including Gustav Holst and Herbert Howells. After retiring from this post in 2002 he and his wife settled in Mallorca. Following her death in 2006, he remarried in 2008 and moved to New York City, but returned to the United Kingdom in 2009. For his Symphony of Winds, the First International Conference for Conductors, Publishers and Composers awarded him with their main commission in 1981. He also chaired Composer’s Guild of Great Britain and served as the artistic director of Bristol Philharmonic Orchestra. He founded the National Yo

Dick Higgins

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Dick Higgins (15 March 1938 – 25 October 1998) was an American artist, composer, art theorist, poet, publisher, printmaker, and a co-founder of the Fluxus international artistic movement (and community). Inspired by John Cage, Higgins was an early pioneer of electronic correspondence. Higgins coined the word intermedia to describe his artistic activities, defining it in a 1965 essay by the same name, published in the first number of the Something Else Newsletter. His most notable audio contributions include Danger Music scores and the Intermedia concept to describe the ineffable inter-disciplinary activities that became prevalent in the 1960s. Life Dick Higgins was the son of Carter Chapin Higgins and Katherine Huntington Bigelow. He was born in Cambridge, England in 1938 into a rather rich family, due to his father owning Worcester Pressed Steel in Worcester, Massachusetts. He grew up with a brother and sister, Mark and Lisa. His younger brother Mark Huntington Higgins was murdered in the Congo in 1960. As a boy, Higgins grew up and was educated in private boarding schools around the New England area, including Worcester, Massachusetts; Putney, Vermont; and Concord, New Hampshire.

Diego Masson

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Diego Masson (born 21 June 1935) is a French conductor, composer, and percussionist. The son of artist André Masson and brother of the singer and actor Luís Masson, Diego Masson was born in Tossa de Mar, Spain. He studied piano and composition at the Paris Conservatoire. Upon graduation, he joined the Domaine Musical as percussionist and began studying conducting with the group’s director, Pierre Boulez. In 1966 he formed Musique Vivante, a group specializing in contemporary music which he still directs. Musique Vivante has introduced many important compositions by French and foreign composers, in particular the music of Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. In 1969 Masson conducted the world première of Stockhausen’s Stop, which is dedicated to him, and the group also took part in the premières of “Setz die Segel zur Sonne” from Aus den sieben Tagen and the 1972 version of Momente. In addition to conducting specialist new-music groups like the Asko Ensemble, Xenakis Ensemble, the Composers Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Alternance, Ensemble Modern, and Musik Fabrik, he has worked with major orchestras including all the BBC Orchestras, Berlin Symphony Orche

Dilys Elwyn-Edwards

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Dilys Elwyn-Edwards (née Roberts; 19 August 1918 – 13 January 2012) was a Welsh-language composer, lecturer and accompanist. Biography Dilys Roberts was born on 19 August 1918 in Dolgellau, Wales. She attended Dr Williams’ School for Girls, a grammar school which educated girls ages 7–18 from 1878 to 1975. She was offered the Turle Music Scholarship at Girton College, Cambridge and the Dr. Joseph Parry Scholarship, from Cardiff University. She elected to study at Cardiff and received her BMus degree. She taught music at her old school, Dr Williams’, Dolgellau, for the next three years. She then received the Open Scholarship in Composition from the Royal College of Music in London and studied composition with Herbert Howells and piano with Kathleen McQuitty there. She moved to Oxford while her husband attended Mansfield College. She taught music from 1946 to 1972. In the 1960s they moved back to Wales, Music She was known for her soft, melodic art songs (Lied) for voice in both Welsh and English. Charlotte Church and Aled Jones have recorded Caneuon y Tri Aderyn (Three Welsh Bird Songs; 1962): Y Gylfinir (The Curlew), Tylluanod (Owls), and her most famous song, Mae Hiraeth yn y Môr

Dmitri Smirnov (composer)

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Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (; 2 November 1948 – 9 April 2020) was a Russian-British composer and academic teacher, who also published as Dmitri N. Smirnov and D. Smirnov-Sadovsky. He wrote operas, symphonies, string quartets and other chamber music, and vocal music from song to oratorio. Many of his works were inspired by the art of William Blake. Career Smirnov was born in Minsk Works Smirnov’s works were published by Hans Sikorski in Hamburg, and G. Schirmer in New York City. * Piano Sonata No. 1 (1967), No. 2 (1980), No. 3 (1992), No. 4 String of Destiny (2000), * Violin Sonata No. 1 (1969), No. 2 (1979), No. 3 “es ist ..” in memory of Oleg Firsov (1998), Sources *Yuri Kholopov: Russians in England: Dmitri Smirnov, Elena Firsova. Article, in: Music From the Former USSR. Issue 2. Moscow: Composer, 1996, pp. 255–303 (in Russian); also in «Ex oriente…I» Ten Composers from the former USSR. Viktor Suslin, Dmitry Smirnov, Arvo Pärt, Yury Kasparov, Galina Ustvolskaya, Nikolai Sidelnikov, Elena Firsova Vladimir Martynov, Andrei Eshpai, Boris Chaikovsky. Edited by Valeria Tsenova (studia slavica musicologica, Bd. 25), Verlag Ernst Kuhn – Berlin. pp. 207–266 (in English) *Gerard McBurne

Dmytro Morykit

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Dmytro Morykit (born 3 December 1956) is a British composer and pianist. Early life and education Morykit was born in Northampton to a Ukrainian father and Italian mother, who were both displaced from their respective countries after World War II. He started playing the piano at five under the tuition of Christina Griffin and later, Graham Mayo. He won the prize for best original composition at the National Student Drama Festival in 1979 when Sebastian Graham Jones first recommended the prize. Clive Wolfe, Director of the NSDA later wrote in The Stage, “Mendelssohn and Co watch out! The new incidental music for the National Student Theatre Company’s Christmas production of Twelfth Night is by 1979 NSDF best music award winner Dmytro Morykit (Nene College). It is strongly melodic with baroque undertones, creating mood and scene.” Career After visiting Richard Demarco in Edinburgh, Morykit made his home there in 1988. He worked on compositions for numerous collaborations with dance and theatre companies. Morykit accompanied Demarco and other artists on a cultural expedition to communist Poland in 1989. Morykit was commissioned by Angus Calder and Amnesty International (Scotland) in 1

Dobrinka Tabakova

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Dobrinka Tabakova (Bulgarian: Добринка Табакова; born 1980, Plovdiv, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian-British composer. Early life and education Dobrinka Tabakova was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, to medical physicists Vassilka and Slavik Tabakov. She won the Jean-Frederic Perrenoud Prize of the 4th International Competition of Music in Vienna when she was 14 years old. She studied at Alleyn’s School London and the Royal Academy of Music in London and graduated from Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD) in London. Afterwards she was awarded a Ph.D. in composition from King’s College, London. She studied composition under Simon Bainbridge, Diana Burrell, Robert Keeley and Andrew Schultz. She has also attended master classes given by John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Alexander Goehr, Olav Anton Thommessen and Iannis Xenakis. Compositional career Dobrinka Tabakova’s “Praise” was sung at St. Paul’s Cathedral to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002. She won the GSMD Lutosławski Composition Prize in 1999 and the Adam Prize of King’s College London in 2007. In 2011 Dobrinka Tabakova was awarded first prize and medal of the Sorel Organization’s choral competition in New York. T

Dominic Lewis

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Dominic Alexander Charles Lewis (born January 29, 1985) is an English film and television composer and singer. He first worked on various music departments for film projects before transitioning into more solo work starting with Free Birds. His other credits include The Man in the High Castle, DuckTales, Peter Rabbit, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Monsters at Work, Bullet Train, My Adventures with Superman, The Fall Guy, Karate Kid: Legends, Nobody 2 and How to Rob a Bank. He also served as the singing voice for Lurch in The Addams Family 2 and for Donald Duck in the DuckTales reboot. Life and career Lewis was born and raised in London, England. Both his parents are musicians and he began learning the cello at age three. He also played the piano and guitar, sang in choirs, formed rock bands, and wrote songs while growing up. He cites his early influences as John Williams, Alan Silvestri, Strauss, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he was classically trained in cello and music composition. During his time there, he was under the mentorship of film composer, Rupert Gregson

Dominic Muldowney

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Dominic Muldowney (born 19 July 1952 in Southampton) is a British composer. Biography Dominic Muldowney studied at the University of Southampton with Jonathan Harvey, at the University of York (with Bernard Rands and David Blake), and privately with Harrison Birtwistle. From 1974 to 1976 he was composer-in-residence to the Southern Arts Association. In 1976 he was invited by Birtwistle to become assistant music director of the Royal National Theatre in London. He succeeded Birtwistle as Music Director in 1981, remaining in that post until 1997. Muldowney’s orchestral music includes a number of concerti (for piano, saxophone, oboe, violin, percussion, trumpet and trombone), many of which explore his fascination with polyrhythms. Other works include Three Pieces for Orchestra (1991), the song cycle Lonely Hearts (1988) and three full-length ballets, including The Brontës (1994). Muldowney’s radio opera The Voluptuous Tango (1996) won the Prix Italia in 1997, and the Gold Award for Best Radio Drama at 1997 Sony Drama Awards, and received its stage premiere in Hoxton New Music Days, London in 2000. Muldowney has written much music for TV, radio and film including The Ploughman’s Lunch

Donald Swann

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Donald Ibrahim Swann (30 September 1923 – 23 March 1994) was a British composer, musician, singer and entertainer. He was one half of Flanders and Swann, writing and performing comic songs with Michael Flanders. Early life Donald Swann was born in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales. His father, Herbert Alfredovich Swann, was a Russian doctor of English descent, from the expatriate community that started out as the Muscovy Company. His mother, Naguimé Sultán Swann (born Piszóva), was a Turkmen-Russian nurse from Ashgabat, now part of Turkmenistan. They were refugees from the Russian Revolution. Swann’s great-grandfather, Alfred Trout Swan, a draper from Lincolnshire, emigrated to Russia in 1840 and married the daughter of the horologist to the tsars. Some time later the family added a second ’n’ to their surname. His uncle Alfred wrote the first biography of Alexander Scriabin in English. The family moved to London, where Swann attended Dulwich College Preparatory School and Westminster School. It was at the latter that he first met Michael Flanders, a fellow pupil. The pair then went their separate ways during World War II, but were later to establish a musical partnership. A lifelon

Donald Tovey

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Sir Donald Francis Tovey (17 July 187510 July 1940) was a British music analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer, conductor and pianist. He had been best known for his Essays in Musical Analysis and his editions of works by Bach and Beethoven, but since the 1990s his (relatively few) compositions have been recorded and performed with increasing frequency. The recordings have mostly been well received by reviewers. Life He was born at Eton, Berkshire, the son of Duncan Crookes Tovey, an assistant master at Eton College, and his wife, Mary Fison. As a child Tovey was privately educated exclusively by Sophie Weisse. She was impressed by his musical gifts evident at an early age and took it upon herself to nurture him. Through her network of associates he was introduced to composers, performers and music critics. These included Walter Parratt, James Higgs and (from the age of 14) Hubert Parry for composition. In 1898, Tovey graduated from Balliol College at Oxford University, where he had studied the classics and developed his interest in music, particularly that of Bach. When Tovey was seven or eight years old, he met violinist Joseph Joachim, another acquaintance of Weisse. T

Dora Bright

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Dora Estella Knatchbull (née Bright; 16 August 1862 – 16 November 1951) was a British composer and pianist. She composed works for orchestra, keyboard and voice, and music for opera and ballet, and as a captain of the Hallamshire Volunteer Rifle Corps. He was an amateur violinist and in 1873 Dora, aged nine, performed alongside him in a benefit concert for his military unit. Charles Dibdin Pitt, who was a son of the dramatist George Dibdin Pitt, was lessee of the Theatre Royal, Sheffield, until his death on 21 February 1866, aged 47, and was succeeded as lessee of that theatre by his widow. Kate Pitt’s works included the plays Not False but Fickle, Noblesse Oblige, Bracken Hollow and Naomi’s Sin. Royal Academy and touring While at the Royal Academy of Music during 1881–89, Thereafter she lived at Babington House in Babington, Somerset, She was also the composer for ballets created with Adeline Genée, Later career and death Bright continued to compose orchestral music into the 20th century: her Variations for Piano and Orchestra was completed during a stay in Paris in 1910. Suite bretonne was performed at the Proms in August 1917. On 28 April 1939 the BBC broadcast her playing from

Doreen Carwithen

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Doreen Mary Carwithen (15 November 19225 January 2003) was a British composer of classical and film music. She was also known as Mary Alwyn following her marriage to William Alwyn. Biography Doreen Carwithen was born at 8 High Street, Haddenham, Buckinghamshire on 15 November 1922, At the age of 16 Doreen Carwithen began composing by setting Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” for voice and piano. In 1938 she began taking cello lessons with Peers Coetmore, and in 1941 she entered the Royal Academy of Music and played the cello in a string quartet and with orchestras. She was a member of the harmony class of William Alwyn, who began to teach her composition. Her first orchestral work, the overture ODTAA (One Damn Thing After Another), was premiered at Covent Garden by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Boult on 2 March 1947. The previous year she had become the first recipient of a J. Arthur Rank Film Scholarship. In 1961 she became William Alwyn’s devoted secretary and amanuensis, becoming his second wife in 1975, adopting Mary Alwyn as her married name, as she disliked the name Doreen, and Mary was her middle name. She later worked as a Sub Professor of

Dorothy Howell (composer)

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Dorothy Gertrude Howell (25 February 1898 – 12 January 1982) was an English composer and pianist. She received the nickname of the “English Richard Strauss” in her lifetime. Early life and education Howell was born in Birmingham, and grew up in Handsworth and Wollescote House, Stourbridge; from a young age, her studies of piano and composition were encouraged by her parents. One of six children, she came from a musical family, and enjoyed playing instruments (mainly violin and piano) and singing together. Her talents were greatly acknowledged by all her teachers at RAM, and she won the Hine Prize for composition of an English Ballad in 1914. Lamia and early success Howell achieved fame with her symphonic poem Lamia (inspired by the Keats poem) which Sir Henry Wood premiered at The Proms on 10 September 1919; McEwen introduced Wood to the work. but after 1940 the piece was neglected until its revival at the 2010 Proms season. It received a centenary performance at the Proms in 2019. Howell dedicated Lamia on its 1921 publication to Wood. Her nickname of “English Strauss” was written in a press review of Lamia ’s first Proms performance. Premiere recordings of Koong Shee, The Rock an

Dorothy Parke

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Dorothy Parke (29 July 1904 – 15 February 1990) was a composer and music teacher from Northern Ireland, noted for children’s works. Early life and education Parke was born in 1904, at Dunfield Terrace in Derry. She studied piano with Ambrose Coviello, and composition with Paul Corder at the Royal Academy of Music in London (LRAM, 1929). Among her pupils were Norma Burrowes, Derek Bell, She also composed a substantial amount of piano and chamber music, many of which remain largely unknown and overlooked. *Wee Hughie *Over The Hills and Far Away References See also

Dougie MacLean

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Dougie MacLean, OBE (born 27 September 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. Described by AllMusic as “one of Scotland’s premier singer-songwriters”, MacLean has performed both under his own name, and as part of multiple folk bands, since the mid 1970s. His most famous pieces include “Caledonia”, which is often dubbed Scotland’s “unofficial national anthem”; and “The Gael”, which became the main theme to the 1992 film The Last of the Mohicans. MacLean’s songs have been covered by numerous popular artists. Aside from his career as a touring singer-songwriter, MacLean founded the Dunkeld Records label and recording studio with his wife Jennifer in 1983. Origins and early work MacLean grew up in the Perthshire countryside, where his father was a gardener. His mother played melodeon, and his father played the fiddle. To support himself in the 1970s, MacLean was a driver for Doc Watson and Merle Watson during their tour around Europe. He maintained a friendship afterward and has appeared at Merlefest. In 1976, MacLean began touring with Scottish folk band The Tannahill Weavers, with whom he also participated in a studio recording. I

Douglas Guest

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Douglas Albert Guest (9 May 1916 – 18 November 1996) was an English organist, conductor, teacher and composer best known for his 1971 anthem for remembrance, For the Fallen. where he studied with Sir Ernest Bullock, among others. He became Organ Scholar of King’s College, Cambridge from 1935 until 1939. Career During the Second World War he served as a Major in the Royal Artillery and was involved in the battle for the liberation of Caen, Normandy. He was ’twice severely wounded’ From there he became Organist of Salisbury Cathedral, a post which he held from 1950 until 1957, before moving to become Organist and Master of the Choristers at Worcester Cathedral. Compositions and awards His most well-known composition is a setting of Lawrence Binyon’s poem, “For the Fallen”, composed in 1971 for the Choir of Westminster Abbey. He also composed music for the organ, including a Voluntary for Easter, composed in 1956. The following year, he wrote Missa brevis. His other appointments have included being professor at the Royal College of Music (1963-1981), In 1975 he was appointed CVO. References External links *Biography (archived) *Obituary

Dru Masters

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Dru Masters (born 29 July 1965) is a British composer, best known for composing television music. He has composed tracks for the British version of The Apprentice and The Unteachables, amongst others. He has also composed music for the television channel ITV4, and a number of advertisements (including PlayStation, Morrisons, Barclaycard and Martini). Early life Born in London, Dru trained at the Purcell School of Music between 1976 and 1983. He played Tenor Saxophone with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra from 1980 to 1982. Music composed for TV * Taskmaster (2015—present) Broadcaster: Dave/Channel 4 * Silk (TV series) (2011) Broadcaster: BBC1 (BBC) * Dispatches (TV series) Broadcaster: Channel 4 * Last Chance Kids Broadcaster: Channel 4 * The Restaurant (UK TV Series) Broadcaster: BBC2 (BBC) * The Apprentice (UK and some international versions, not US) (2005/2006) Broadcaster: BBC2/BBC1 (BBC) * The Unteachables (2005) Broadcaster: Channel 4 * Football Icon (2005) Broadcaster: Sky One (BSkyB) * Are You Younger Than You Think? (2005) Broadcaster: BBC1 (BBC) * Dispatches: MMR What They Didn’t Tell You (2005) Broadcaster: Channel 4 * The Body Of… (2004) Broadcaster: BBC3 (BBC) * Sta

Duncan Druce

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Robert Duncan Druce (23 May 193913 October 2015) was an English composer, string player and musicologist, noted for his interest in early to contemporary music, as well as the music of India. Education and academic life Druce was born in Cheshire in 1939, the son of Robert Druce, a bacteriologist, and Katy Chesters. In 1957, he entered King’s College, Cambridge, which later awarded him a double first in music. Subsequently, he completed a Masters at the University of Leeds and, in 1984 embarked upon a second master’s degree, at the University of York, choosing the music of southern India as the topic of his thesis. In 1991, Druce stood down from his long-standing post as senior lecturer at Leeds University’s Bretton Hall Campus, to continue to work as a performer and composer. Druce lectured in composition part-time at the University of Huddersfield until his death. Druce married Clare Spalding in 1964. The couple had two daughters, Alison and Emily. His wife, daughters, four grandchildren, a great-grandson, and his sister Cathy survived him at the time of his death. In 1984, Druce finished a new completion of Mozart’s Requiem, which was performed at The Proms in 1991. This complet

E. T. Cook

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Edgar Thomas Cook CBE D.Mus. (Cantuar) FRCO FRCM (18 March 1880 – 5 March 1953) was an English organist and composer. Biography Edgar Cook was born in Worcester, England. He was sent to the Royal Grammar School Worcester and began his career as a church organist in 1898. In 1904 he became assistant organist of Worcester Cathedral under Sir Ivor Atkins. He won an Organ Scholarship to The Queen’s College, Oxford where he studied music and obtained his MMus. In 1909 he became organist of Southwark Cathedral in which position he remained until his death in 1953. He was the cathedral’s first organist. He was one of the first organists to broadcast on radio and he became famous for his lunchtime concerts broadcast on the BBC in the 1930s and 1940s. He was awarded the prestigious Lambeth degree of DMus (Cantuar) by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1936 and was created Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1949. He composed choral and organ works including an Evening Service in G. Amongst other honours he was a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, becoming vice-president, and Professor of Music and Fellow of the Royal College of Music. He died in 1953 shortly before the

Eaton Faning

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Joseph Eaton Faning (20 May 1850 – 28 October 1927), known as Eaton Faning, was an English composer and teacher. The son of a music teacher, he became the organist of a church at the age of twelve. He attended the Royal Academy of Music, where his teachers included Arthur Sullivan. He was an outstanding student, winning many awards. He joined the staff of the Academy in 1874 and later taught at the Guildhall School of Music, the Royal College of Music and Harrow School. As a composer, Faning’s works ranged from operettas, including a one-act Savoy Opera, to church music, including a Mass and a Magnificat. He also composed orchestral music including a symphony, and was best known for his songs, of which the most popular was the part-song The Vikings. Biography Early years Faning was born in Helston, Cornwall, where his father, Roger Faning, was a music teacher. Faning received his first instruction in music (piano and violin) from his parents. At the age of five he made his first public appearance at a local function, when he played a violin solo on a tiny fiddle. When he was nine years old, his father died, and the family moved to Ipswich, Suffolk. Faning sang alto in the choir of

Edgar Bainton

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edgar Leslie Bainton (14 February 18808 December 1956) was a British-born, latterly Australian-resident composer. He is remembered today mainly for his liturgical anthem And I saw a new heaven, a popular work in the repertoire of Anglican church music, but during recent years Bainton’s other musical works, neglected for decades, have been increasingly available in commercial recordings. Early life and career Bainton was born in Hackney, London, the son of George Bainton, a Congregational minister, and his wife, Mary, née Cave. Bainton later moved with his family to Coventry and he showed early signs of musical ability playing the piano; he was nine years old when he made his first public appearance as solo pianist. He was awarded a music scholarship to King Henry VIII Grammar School in Coventry in 1891, and in 1896 he won an open scholarship to the Royal College of Music to study theory with Walford Davies. In 1899 he received a scholarship to study composition with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. At college he became friends with George Dyson, William Harris and especially Rutland Boughton, whose friendship and support continued throughout Bainton’s career. Bainton kept a notebook

Edith Swepstone

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edith Mary Swepstone (4 January 1862 – 5 February 1942) was an English composer and music teacher. She studied music at the Guildhall School and later worked as a lecturer at the City of London School. She died in Tonbridge, Kent. Career She studied music at the Guildhall School in London, England In 1895 she was giving music lectures at the City School of London. Though the music is not located, 14 of Swepstone’s orchestral works were presented in a total of 24 performances, between 1899 and 1933. There are only three recorded instances of her orchestral music having been performed elsewhere. The minuet and rondo of her Symphony in G minor were performed in Leyton on 10 March 1887 with the composer conducting the Aeolian Ladies’ Orchestra, and the opening movement at the Guildhall School of Music on 7 December 1889 as part of a concert of student works. Swepstone’s influence is apparent in that, of all the pieces played at the series and written by women, over half were her compositions. Orchestral * Symphony in G minor (1887, first complete performance Bournemouth, 3 February 1902) * Les Tenebres overture (fp. Queen’s Hall, 1897, Bournemouth 1903) * Daramona, symphonic poem (fp.

Edmund Chipp

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Edmund Thomas Chipp (25 December 1823 – 17 December 1886) was an English organist and composer. His compositions were principally church organ music and oratorios. Life and career Chipp was born in London on Christmas Day, 25 December 1823. He was the eldest son of musician (Thomas) Paul Chipp (1793–1870) harpist, principal drummer of his day and chorister of the Chapel Royal, Whitehall. He was educated in the Chapel Royal as a chorister, and later became a member of William IV’s and then Queen Victoria’s private band. He was a Chorister of the Chapel Royal under William Hawes from the age of seven until he was 17. On 28 June 1838 Chipp sang at the coronation of Queen Victoria. Chipp studied the organ under George Cooper (organist at St Paul’s Cathedral and St. James’s Palace d.1838), and violin. He became a Member of the Society of British Musicians in 1842 and of the Royal Society of Musicians in 1848. He was violinist in Her Majesty’s Private Band from 1844, and a violinist in the Philharmonic and other orchestras. In 1859 he obtained a music degree at Cambridge University and became Doctor of Music in 1861, the first to obtain this degree under the professorship of William Ster

Edmund Finnis

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edmund Finnis (born 1984 ) is a British composer of classical and electronic music. His works have been commissioned and performed by orchestras and ensembles including the Britten Sinfonia, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, London Sinfonietta, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; the pianist Clare Hammond and the clarinettist Mark Simpson. He was recipient of a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award in 2012 and is currently a Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, where his notable students have included William Marsey and Robin Haigh. Early life Finnis was born in Oxford, where, as a child, he was a chorister at New College. He received a Leonard Bernstein Fellowship to study at Tanglewood and completed a doctorate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on the subject of distortion in acoustic instrumental music. Finnis also worked as an amanuensis for the composer Jonathan Harvey. They commissioned and premiered several of Finnis’ works, including Across White Air for solo cello with reverb, Between Rain for string orchestra, and the electronic piece Colour Field Painting. Finnis’ duo piece for violin and viola, Brother wa

Edmund Jolliffe

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edmund Jolliffe is a British composer of contemporary classical, choral and commercial music. He has written for television and the concert hall. His music is published by Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Oxford University Press, Stainer and Bell and Banks Music. In 2007 his organ piece “Quiet Rush” was picked as one of the premieres of the year by Classical Music Magazine. It was also played at the Annual Festival of New Organ Music in 2009. In recent years choral composition has become his main focus: In 2019 he won the 40th Ithaca College Choral Composition Competition and the Freudig Singers Choral Composition. His piece ‘Dreaming Figurines’ was voted 3rd from 344 in the Progressive Classical Music Award 2019. Jolliffe graduated from Hertford College, Oxford in 1994 and the Royal College of Music under Academy Award-winner Dario Marianelli. He studied at Dartington International Summer School and completed residencies at Banff Center for the Arts, Canada and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, New Mexico. Jolliffe writes music for television, sometimes with the composer Julian Hamlin. They have composed music for the BBC TV series Who Do You Think You Are?, Sort You

Edmund Rubbra

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edmund Rubbra (; 23 May 190114 February 1986) was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak of his fame in the mid-20th century. The best known of his pieces are his eleven symphonies. Although he was active at a time when many people wrote twelve-tone music, he decided not to write in this idiom; instead, he devised his own distinctive style. His later works were not as popular with the concert-going public as his previous ones had been, although he never lost the respect of his colleagues. Therefore, his output as a whole is less celebrated today than would have been expected from its early popularity. He was the brother of the engineer Arthur Rubbra. Early life He was born Charles Edmund Rubbra at 21 Arnold Road, Semilong, Northampton. His parents encouraged him in his music, but they were not professional musicians, though his mother had a good voice and sang in the church choir, and his father played the piano a little, by ear. Rubbra’s artistic and sensitive nature was apparent from early on. He remembered waking one winter’s m

Edric Cundell

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edric Cundell CBE, (29 January 1893 – 19 March 1961) was a British music teacher, composer and conductor. Early life and academic career Born in London, Edric Cundell came from a musical family: his grandmother worked in Paris as an opera singer and both his parents were talented amateur musicians. He was educated at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School in Hertfordshire, and went on to study at the London Trinity College of Music, taking French horn with Adolf Borsdorf and piano with Henry Richard Bird (1842–1916). As a horn player, Cundell performed in the 1912 Covent Garden Opera season. He served as a lieutenant in the artillery in World War I, during which he wrote the symphonic poem Serbia, which was dedicated to King Alexander of Serbia. In Salonika his unit was attached to the Serbian Army and he was awarded the Serbian Order of the White Eagle for his distinguished conduct. He was appointed conductor of another London-based amateur ensemble, the Stock Exchange Orchestra, in 1924. He took guest conductorships in the United States, South Africa and New Zealand while touring as an examiner. and was noted for conducting many student opera performances there. In 1945, in honour of

Edward Cowie

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Edward Cowie (born 17 August 1943) is an Australian composer, author, natural scientist, and painter. Life Edward Cowie was born in England in 1943, and spent most of his early life in the rural countryside of Suffolk and then the Cotswolds. This first-hand experience of nature was to have a profound influence on his life and work. In 1964, he began composition studies with Alexander Goehr and in 1971 he won a Chopin Fellowship to study with Witold Lutosławski in Poland. He also came under the influence of Michael Tippett, who remained a close friend and mentor. Early recognition came with the 1975 BBC Proms commission Leviathan for large orchestra, and this was followed by a string of festival commissions and recordings. Major works from this period include Gesangbuch (1975-6), the Piano Concerto (1976-7) and Concerto for Orchestra (1982), as well as the opera Commedia (1976-7). In 1983, Cowie was awarded the first Granada Composer Fellowship with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He remained with the orchestra for three years and worked with them as both composer and conductor. He subsequently worked as a conductor with several major orchestras and ensembles in Britain

Edward Elgar

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early years#

Edward Elgar was born in the small village of Lower Broadheath, near Worcester, England, on 2 June 1857. His father, William Henry Elgar (1821–1906), was raised in Dover and had been apprenticed to a London music publisher. In 1841 William moved to Worcester, where he worked as a piano tuner and set up a shop selling sheet music and musical instruments. In 1848 he married Ann Greening (1822–1902), daughter of a farm worker. Edward was the fourth of their seven children. Ann Elgar had converted to Roman Catholicism shortly before Edward’s birth, and he was baptised and brought up as a Roman Catholic, to the disapproval of his father. William Elgar was a violinist of professional standard and held the post of organist of St George’s Roman Catholic Church, Worcester, from 1846 to 1885. At his instigation, masses by Cherubini and Hummel were first heard at the Three Choirs Festival by the orchestra in which he played the violin. All the Elgar children received a musical upbringing. By the age of eight, Elgar was taking piano and violin lessons, and his father, who tuned the pianos at many grand houses in Worcestershire, would sometimes take him along, giving him the chance to display his skill to important local figures. His friend and biographer W. H. “Billy” Reed wrote that Elgar’s early surroundings had an influence that “permeated all his work and gave to his whole life that subtle but none the less true and sturdy English quality”. He began composing at an early age; for a play written and acted by the Elgar children when he was about ten, he wrote music that forty years later he rearranged with only minor changes and orchestrated as the suites titled The Wand of Youth. He worked through manuals of instruction on organ playing and read every book he could find on the theory of music. Elgar began to learn German, in the hope of going to the Leipzig Conservatory for further musical studies, but his father could not afford to send him. Years later, a profile in The Musical Times considered that his failure to get to Leipzig was fortunate for Elgar’s musical development: “Thus the budding composer escaped the dogmatism of the schools.” After a few months, Elgar left the solicitor to embark on a musical career, giving piano and violin lessons and working occasionally in his father’s shop. but Elgar himself, having heard leading virtuosi at London concerts, felt his own violin playing lacked a full enough tone, and he abandoned his ambitions to be a soloist. Elgar coached the players and wrote and arranged their music, including quadrilles and polkas, for the unusual combination of instruments. The Musical Times wrote, “This practical experience proved to be of the greatest value to the young musician. … He acquired a practical knowledge of the capabilities of these different instruments. … He thereby got to know intimately the tone colour, the ins and outs of these and many other instruments.” Elgar regularly played the bassoon in a wind quintet, alongside his brother Frank, an oboist (and conductor who ran his own wind band). In 1882, seeking more professional orchestral experience, Elgar was employed as a violinist in Birmingham in William Stockley’s Orchestra, for whom he played every concert for the next seven years and where he later said he “learned all the music I know”. On 13 December 1883 he took part with Stockley in a performance at Birmingham Town Hall of one of his first works for full orchestra, the Sérénade mauresque – the first time one of his compositions had been performed by a professional orchestra. Stockley had invited him to conduct the piece but later recalled “he declined, and, further, insisted upon playing in his place in the orchestra. The consequence was that he had to appear, fiddle in hand, to acknowledge the genuine and hearty applause of the audience.” Elgar often went to London in an attempt to get his works published, but this period in his life found him frequently despondent and low on money. He wrote to a friend in April 1884, “My prospects are about as hopeless as ever … I am not wanting in energy I think, so sometimes I conclude that ’tis want of ability. … I have no money – not a cent.”

Edward German

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sir Edward German (born German Edward Jones; 17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera. Some of his light operas, especially Merrie England, are still occasionally performed. As a youth, German played the violin and led the town orchestra of Whitchurch, Shropshire. He also began to compose music. While performing and teaching violin at the Royal Academy of Music, German began to build a career as a composer in the mid-1880s, writing serious music as well as light opera. In 1888, he became music director of the Globe Theatre in London. He provided popular incidental music for many productions at the Globe and other London theatres, including Richard III (1889), Henry VIII (1892) and Nell Gwynn (1900). He also wrote symphonies, orchestral suites, symphonic poems and other works. He also wrote a considerable body of songs, piano music, and symphonic suites and other concert music, of which his Welsh Rhapsody (1904) is perhaps best known. German was engaged to finish The Emerald Isle after

Edward Gibbons

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edward Gibbons (bapt. 21 March 1568 – in or before July 1650) was an English choirmaster and composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Born in Cambridge, Gibbons’s youth is completely unknown, but he later received degrees from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. From 1591/92 to 1598 he worked at King’s College, Cambridge, as a lay clerk and choirmaster. During his tenure he married Jane, with whom he had six children. Gibbons’s whereabouts the next few years remain uncertain; he may have lived in Acton, Bristol or Exeter, but by 1607 he was the choirmaster of the Exeter Cathedral, where the choristers included Matthew Locke. By 1609 Gibbons received a special dispensation to become a priest vicar, becoming the head of the college of priest-vicars and succentor. Jane died in 1628, and Edward married Mary Bluet; the family was evicted from their home during the English Civil War, but moved to their estate in Dunsford. A few compositions of Gibbons survive: an organ prelude, two verse anthems, two works for viol consorts, and some sacred music. Of these, commentators have mainly praised the verse anthems, How hath ye City sate solitary and What Strikes the Clo

Edward Harwood (of Darwen)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edward Harwood (of Darwen) (1707–1787) was an English composer of hymns, anthems and songs. His setting of Alexander Pope’s revolutionary The Dying Christian (Vital spark of heav’nly flame) was enormously popular at one time and was widely performed at funerals, of nobility and commoners alike. Biography Edward Harwood was born at Hoddlesden, near Darwen, Lancashire, in 1707. His early training was as a hand-loom weaver, but he subsequently became a professional musician in Liverpool. His first collection of psalmody, A set of hymns and psalm tunes, was published in London in 1781, and a second collection, entitled A Second Set of Hymns and Psalm Tunes was published at Chester in 1786. Both collections were widely well-received. He died a year after publishing his second collection, in 1787. Vital Spark Harwood’s setting of Pope’s ode Vital spark of heav’nly flame was first published in Harwood’s A set of hymns and psalm tunes: it is written in the style of a glee, and in the original publication is written for the most part for three voices (two trebles and bass), with a fourth (tenor) part being added for the last few bars only. It was, however, often arranged for the more usual

Edward Higginbottom

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edward Higginbottom (born 16 November 1946, Kendal) is a music scholar, organist, choirmaster and conductor. Most of his career has been as organist at New College, Oxford, where he led their choir for more than 35 years and produced a large number of choral recordings. Musical biography Before moving on to St Mary’s Church in Warwick, Edward was a chorister at his local parish church where he started playing the organ. and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists. He toured regularly in France at that time as director of the Cambridge University Purcell Society. He was appointed as the Organist and Director of Music at New College, Oxford in 1976. While the main role of the choir is to provide liturgical music for worship, Edward went further, organizing economically viable choir tours and a broad set of musical recordings. By doing so, he “has helped the cause of such institutions through a period when financial constraints and changes in social attitudes have threatened choral foundations”. Retiring from New College in 2014, he continues his musical career as a freelancer. In spite of his retirement, however, he was named in March 2019 as the Director of Chapel Music at

Edward Jakobowski

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Edward Jakobowski (17 April 1856 – 29 April 1929) At age six, he moved to Vienna, Austria, where he lived for some 15 years and was given a musical education. In the late 1870s he lived in Paris for three years. In 1881, he returned to London. Jakobowski’s most successful work by far, Erminie, opened in 1885 in London. It was revived extensively and toured internationally, playing with extraordinary success on Broadway from 1886. None of his other works had more than a short run or two, although many of them toured profitably. Tarantella (1899; libretto: Alfred Murray) and Winsome Winnie (1903). He was one of eight composers who contributed to Pat in 1892. Two short operettas in 1893 with libretti by B. C. Stephenson, The Improvisatore and A Venetian Singer, made little impact. Jakobowski was married twice, the second time in New York in 1895 to Clara Brown, which ended in a London divorce in 1901. In 1902, he was declared bankrupt with debts of £1,090 (£ in adjusted for inflation). He died at the Infirmary, Friern Barnet, north London, in 1929. His estate was valued at 47 pounds, 8 shillings. Notes References *Wearing, J. P. “Jakobowski, Edward or Edouard " in The London Stage, 18

Edward John Hopkins

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Dr. Edward John Hopkins FRCO (30 June 1818 - 4 February 1901) was an English organist and composer. The organist and composer John Larkin Hopkins was his cousin. Life He was born on 30 June 1818 in Westminster. He was the eldest son of George Hopkins, a clarinet player who played with the orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Two of his brothers, John (1822-1900) and Thomas Hopkins (died 1893) also became organists – John at Rochester Cathedral and Thomas at St Saviour’s Church, York. His uncle Edward Hopkins (c1778-1860) was also an outstanding clarinettist and bandmaster of the Scots Guards in 1815. In 1826 he became a chorister of the Chapel Royal under William Hawes and sang at the coronation of King William IV in Westminster Abbey in 1830. At the same time, he sang in the choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, having to manage his double schedule with great dexterity. On Sunday evenings, he would play the outgoing voluntary for his organ teacher Thomas Forbes Walmisley, the father of Thomas Attwood Walmisley, at St Martin’s-in-the-Fields. Islington and in 1841, he became organist at St Luke’s, Berwick St, Soho (demolished 1936). He held that position for two years before becoming organis

Edward McGuire (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edward (“Eddie”) McGuire (born 1948) is a Scottish composer whose work ranges from compositions for solo instruments and voice to large-scale orchestral and operatic works. McGuire studied composition with James Iliff at the Royal Academy of Music in London from 1966 to 1970 and then with Ingvar Lidholm in Stockholm in 1971. Early life McGuire was born and brought up in Possilpark in Glasgow. His father played folk violin and was a member of a male voice choir which sang arrangements of Scottish Gaelic and Irish songs at charity concerts. Career As a student at the Royal Academy of Music McGuire won the Hecht Prize (1968) and the National Young Composers Competition (held in Liverpool University in 1969). A competition organised by the Society for the Promotion of New Music to find a modern test piece for the 1978 Carl Flesch International Violin Competition was won by McGuire with a solo violin piece, Rant. This piece was recently performed for a 65th birthday concert for McGuire organised by the BBC Scottish Symphony Club which was followed by another concert at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Another early success was when String Quartet was selected for the 40th anniversary Barb

Edward Miller (musician)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edward Miller (1731 or 1735 – 1807) was an English musician, composer and historian of Doncaster. He is most noted as the writer of the hymn tunes Rockingham and Galway. Life Miller was the son of a pavior, but left home to study music, from Charles Burney, who was then at King’s Lynn. For a time he was a flautist in Handel’s orchestra. In 1787, he published simultaneously in London and Dublin his ‘Treatise of Thorough Bass and Composition.’ In 1791, he published ‘Thoughts on the present performance of Psalmody in the Established Church of England addressed to the Clergy’ (London), and in 1792 ‘A Letter to the Country Spectator in reply to the author of his 9th Number … by a Professor of Music’ (London and Doncaster), which is a defence of ‘Fiddlers.’ In 1801 he published The Psalms of Watts and Wesley for three Voices for the use of Methodists (London), and in 1804 The History and Antiquities of Doncaster and its vicinity with anecdotes of Eminent Men, with a map, &c. (Doncaster). He was also the author of The Tears of Yorkshire on the death of the Most Noble the Marquis of Rockingham (London, 1782), and Fetis states that he began a translation of J. J. Rousseau’s Dictionnaire d

Edward Naylor

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edward Woodall Naylor (9 February 1867 – 7 May 1934) was an English organist and composer. Naylor was born in Scarborough in 1867. His father, John Naylor, was organist of York Minster. He won a choral scholarship to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he gained a BA in 1887. From 1888 to 1892 he studied at the Royal College of Music. After spending eight years as organist of London churches St. Michael’s Church, Chester Square (1889) and St. Mary’s Church, Kilburn (1896), Naylor returned to Cambridge in 1898, where he became an assistant master at The Leys School and organist of Emmanuel College. Naylor lived in Cambridge until his death in 1934. His most important compositions were for voices; his composition The Angelus, won the Ricordi prize for an English opera. His church music blends elements of 16th to 20th century music. Naylor was considered an authority on Shakespeare and music, and was an early exponent of greater musical authenticity. His son, Bernard James Naylor (1907–1986) was the first composer (1948) living in Canada to employ post-tonal writing in choral music, and was one of the pioneers of a truly contemporary (post-tonal) English (Anglican) cathedral music in t

Edward Purcell (musician)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edward Purcell (1689–1740) was an English organist and composer. Purcell was born in Westminster, London, the only surviving son of English Baroque master Henry Purcell, who died in 1695 when Edward was a small child. When his mother Frances died in February 1706, she stated in her will, and apparently in accordance with her husband’s wishes, that she had given him a good education. She also bequeathed to him music and instruments: “the organ, the double spinnet, the single spinnet”; possibly the instruments her husband had used. Edward became organist of St Clement Eastcheap, in London at the end of 1711, a position he retained for the rest of his life. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to succeed his uncle Daniel Purcell as organist of St Andrew’s, Holborn, on 19 February 1718 and again on 3 April 1719. He eventually became organist at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, on 8 July 1726, concurrent with his post at Eastcheap. He was buried in St Clement Eastcheap near the organ gallery door, and was succeeded as organist there by his son Edward Henry Purcell (d. 1765). Edward Purcell published two songs, though the psalm chants often attributed to him seem to be by an earlier namesake,

Edward Salim Michael

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Edward Salim Michael (1921 – November 2006) was a composer of symphonic music and an author of books on spirituality and meditation. It was to Buddhism that he felt closest, but as his teaching was based on his direct experience, he did not hesitate to quote Christian, Hindu, or Sufi mystics. Biography Edward Salim Michael was born in Manchester, England, but spent his childhood in Iraq, which was then under British rule. He experienced poverty and insecurity. He was approximately twelve years old when his parents left Baghdad for Syria, which was under French rule, then for Egypt and for Palestine, which was not yet Israel and still at that time under British rule. His family returned to London just before World War II. As a British subject, he was enrolled into the Royal Air Force as an airman on the ground, which is how he spent the entire war. Michael was just nineteen years old when he enlisted. He had never been to school, could not read or write and barely spoke English. The Anglican chaplain from his camp took an interest in him and taught him to read and write. The chaplain’s wife, a violist in a string quartet, was surprised at Michael’s ability to memorise music. She dec

Edward White (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edward George White (21 August 1910 – 1994) was a British composer of light music, whose compositions including “The Runaway Rocking-Horse” (1946), “Paris Interlude” (1952), “Puffin’ Billy” (1952) and the signature tune for The Telegoons (1963), became familiar as radio and television theme tunes. Career White was born in London, England, performing also on saxophone and clarinet. White began to compose original pieces - an early success was Desert Star in 1939, recorded by the Jack Harris Orchestra for HMV Records - and set up his own publishing company, Musicus Ltd. He established himself as a composer of light orchestral music after the war, finding regular work with the BBC and with library music publishers, particularly the Chappell Recording Music Library. He composed around 200 pieces including Barbados, Ballet in Blue, Cabana, Caprice for Strings, Clockwork Clown, Effervescence, Fairy on the Fiddles, Ghost Train, Idle Jack, Paris Interlude, Puffin’ Billy, The Roundabout, The Runaway Rocking-Horse, White Wedding and Yodelling Strings. “Puffin’ Billy” “Puffin’ Billy” (1952) is perhaps his most familiar composition, especially in the original recording by Hubert Clifford and t

Edwin Lemare

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Edwin Henry Lemare (9 September 1865 – 24 September 1934) was an English organist and composer who lived the latter part of his life in the United States. He was one of the most highly regarded and highly paid organists of his generation, Biography Edwin H. Lemare was born in Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight on 9 September 1865. His birth year is sometimes erroneously stated as 1866, including in Lemare’s own autobiography Organs I Have Met. He received his early musical training as a chorister and organist under his father (a music seller, also called Edwin Lemare) at Holy Trinity Church. He then spent three years at the Royal Academy of Music from 1876 on a Goss Scholarship, where he studied under Sir George Alexander Macfarren, Walter Cecil Macfarren, Dr Charles Steggall and Dr Edmund Hart Turpin. He obtained the F.C.O. (Fellow of the College of Organists, later to become the Royal College of Organists ) in 1886. He became an organ professor and examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in 1892. After eight years of marriage, they were divorced and Lemare married Elsie Francis Reith. They were divorced in 1909. Lemare left England for the United States where h

Edwin Roxburgh

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NOTOC Edwin Roxburgh (born 6 November 1937) is an English composer, conductor and oboist. Roxburgh was born in Liverpool. After playing oboe in the National Youth Orchestra, he won a double scholarship to study composition with Herbert Howells and oboe with Terence MacDonagh at the Royal College of Music. He also studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Luigi Dallapiccola in Florence. Boulanger once described him as “the new Stravinsky”. After his studies he became principal oboist of the Sadler’s Wells Opera, and as a virtuoso soloist he gave the UK premieres of Luciano Berio’s Sequenza VII and Heinz Holliger’s Cardiophonie. Together with Léon Goossens he wrote the Menuhin Music Guide for the oboe in 1977. He also played with the Menuhin Festival Orchestra. Roxburgh taught composition and conducting at the Royal College of Music, where he founded the RCM’s Twentieth Century Ensemble. In 2004 he became the acting Head of Composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire and from 2005 has acted as visiting tutor in composition and conducting, as well as workshop leader. Among his students are Luke Bedford, Dai Fujikura, Daniel Giorgetti, Helen Grime, Kenneth Hesketh, Rolf

Egon Wellesz

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Egon Joseph Wellesz, CBE, FBA (21 October 1885 – 9 November 1974) was an Austrian, later British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music. Early life and education in Vienna Egon Joseph Wellesz was born on 21 October 1885 in the district of Vienna to Samu Wellesz and Ilona Wellesz (née Lövényi). Although his parents met and married in Vienna, they both originated from Hungary and were Jewish. . As a boy he attended the on where he received a classical education in Greek and Latin. Work as a scholar, lecturer, and composer in Vienna The main focus of Wellesz’s early musicological research was Baroque opera; particularly those by composer Giuseppe Bonno who was the subject of his dissertation at the University of Vienna. He also edited Johann Joseph Fux’s 1723 opera for publication in Adler’s Denkmäler. Many years later Wellesz published a monograph on Fux in 1965. He graduated from the University of Vienna with a degree in musicology in 1908, and his dissertation on Bonno was published the following year. This interest initially arose from dialogues and debates with the Austrian art historian Josef Strzygowski who at this time was putt

Eibhlis Farrell

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Eibhlis Farrell (born 27 July 1953) is a Northern Irish composer. Life Eibhlis Farrell was born in Rostrevor in County Down, Northern Ireland. She began writing music at an early age and studied at Queen’s University, Belfast, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music, and with Raymond Warren at Bristol University, graduating with a Masters in composition. She also studied with Charles Wuorinen and Robert Moevs, and graduated from Rutgers University, New Jersey, with a doctorate. After completing her studies, Farrell worked as a composer and became Head of Music Creative Media at the Dundalk Institute of Technology. Her works have been performed and broadcast internationally. She received the Arts Council of Northern Ireland artist’s residency in the Banff Centre, Canada, in 2007. She is a member of Aosdána, and has served as a member of the Toscaireacht. Selected works ;Orchestral *A Day at the Races (1976) *Popcorn Overture (1977) *Threnody (1979) *Kilbroney Set for traditional Irish instruments and orchestra (1995) ;Band *Fanfare for President Robinson for brass band and timpani (1991) *Soundshock (1992) *Fanfare for brass band and timpani (1993) ;Concertante *Romanza for flu

Elaine Hugh-Jones

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Elaine Hugh-Jones (14 June 1927 – 29 March 2021) was a Welsh pianist, music educator and composer. She was born in London and studied piano with Harold Craxton, Julian Isserlis and with Lennox Berkeley. After completing her studies, she took a position as an accompanist with the BBC, where she worked for 37 years. She also taught music at Malvern Girls’ College. Works Selected works include: *A back view (in Eight Cornford Songs) (Text: Frances Cornford) *Bicker’s Cottage (in Eight Cornford Songs) (Text: Frances Cornford) *Echo (in Six de la Mare Songs) (Text: Walter de la Mare) *Ghosts (in Six de la Mare Songs) (Text: Walter de la Mare) *Night song (in Eight Cornford Songs) (Text: Frances Cornford) *Silver (in Six de la Mare Songs) (Text: Walter de la Mare) *The hare (in Six de la Mare Songs) (Text: Walter de la Mare) *The madman and the child (in Eight Cornford Songs) (Text: Frances Cornford) *The old woman at the flower show (in Eight Cornford Songs) (Text: Frances Cornford) *The ride‑by‑nights (in Six de la Mare Songs) (Text: Walter de la Mare) *The road to Coursegoules (in Eight Cornford Songs) (Text: Frances Cornford) *The watch (in Eight Cornford Songs) (Text: Frances Cornfo

Elena Langer

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Elena Langer (born 1974 in Moscow) is a Russian-born British composer of opera and other contemporary classical music. Her work has been performed at the Royal Opera House, Zurich Opera, Carnegie Hall, Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, Wigmore Hall, Opera national du Rhin, Strasbourg, and Milton Court, Barbican Centre. She studied piano and composition at the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow and composition at the Moscow Conservatoire; in 1999 she moved to London and studied composition at the Royal College of Music (1999–2000) with Julian Anderson and the Royal Academy of Music (2001–03) with Simon Bainbridge. Career In 2002 Langer became the first Jerwood Composer in Association at the Almeida Theatre in London, writing the short operas Ariadne (premiered at the Almeida Opera Festival in 2002) and The Girl of Sand (2003), both settings of librettos by poet Glyn Maxwell. Ariadne was further performed at the Tanglewood Festival and the Britten and Strauss Festival in Aldeburgh in 2009, as well as at the Moscow Conservatoire. In 2009 her song cycle Songs at the Well, base

Elias Parish Alvars

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Elias Parish Alvars (surname sometimes given as Parish-Alvars), (28 February 1808 – 25 January 1849) was an English harpist and composer. He was born as Eli Parish in Teignmouth, Devon; his father was a local organist. His baptismal record at St James’s Church, West Teignmouth, reads: “Eli, son of Joseph and Mary Ann Parish”. Parish gave his first concert in Totnes in 1818 and in 1820 was sent to London to study with Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. In 1822 he applied to the Royal Academy of Music, where Bochsa had been appointed harp professor, but was not accepted, because he could not afford the tuition fees without a scholarship. He was able to continue his lessons with Bochsa by undertaking teaching and playing at dances. He was also later able to study in Paris, and in 1828 studied music in Florence. His last performance was in Vienna, at a concert of his own compositions, in January 1848. On 13 March 1848 riots erupted in Vienna and in April amid the general confusion. Alvars found himself in serious financial straits. His health worsened suddenly and he died, probably of pneumonia, on 25 January 1849. He was buried in the St. Marx Cemetery. References Notes Sources * * * * * Further

Elisabeth Lutyens

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Agnes Elisabeth Lutyens, CBE (9 July 1906 – 14 April 1983) was an English composer. Early life and education Elisabeth Lutyens was born in London on 9 July 1906. She was one of the five children of Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874–1964), a member of the aristocratic Bulwer-Lytton family, and the prominent English architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. Elisabeth was the elder sister of the writer Mary Lutyens and aunt of the 4th Viscount Ridley and the politician Nicholas Ridley. Lutyens was involved in the Theosophical Movement. From 1911 the young Jiddu Krishnamurti was living in the Lutyens’ London house as a friend of Elisabeth and her sisters. At the age of nine she began to aspire to be a composer. In 1922, Lutyens pursued her musical education in Paris at the École Normale de Musique, which had been established a few years previously, living with the young theosophical composer Marcelle de Manziarly, who had been trained by Nadia Boulanger. During her months in Paris Lutyens showed first signs of depression that later led to several mental breakdowns. She accompanied her mother to India in 1923. On her return to Europe she studied with John Foulds and subsequently continued her musical e

Elisabetta de Gambarini

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Elisabetta de Gambarini (7 September 1731 – 9 February 1765) was an English composer, singer, organist, harpsichordist, pianist, orchestral conductor and painter of the 18th century. Elisabetta’s music is considered late Baroque and Classical music. She achieved distinction as an all-around musician, performing on, and composing for a variety of instruments as well as voice. Her compositions were known to reflect that of vocal work instead of instrumental patterns. She was the first female composer in Britain to publish a collection of keyboard music. Some sources describe her voice type as a singer as a soprano, and others as a mezzo-soprano. Family Elisabetta de Gambarini was born 7 September 1731 in Holles Street, St Marylebone, Middlesex, England. She was born to Charles Gambarini (died 1754), Counsellor to the Landgrave of Hessen-Kassel and Joanna (Giovanna Paula) Stradiotti (died 1774). Her father was a nobleman from Lucca, Italy. He published A Description of the Earl of Pembroke’s Pictures in 1731. Her mother was of similar status from Dalmatia. Her mother may have been a tutor to the nobility but it is not certain. Elisabetta was the third of four children. She was the onl

Elizabeth Maconchy

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Dame Elizabeth Violet Maconchy LeFanu (; 19 March 1907 – 11 November 1994) was an English-Irish composer. She is considered to be one of the finest composers Great Britain and Ireland have produced. Biography Elizabeth Violet Maconchy was born in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, of Irish parents and grew up in England and Ireland. Her family moved to Ireland in 1917, where they lived in Howth, on the east coast. The adolescent Maconchy began her musical studies in Dublin, studying piano with Edith Boxhill, and harmony and counterpoint with John Francis Larchet. Those formative years in Ireland were important for Maconchy who considered herself Irish. Throughout her career she was identified as an Irish composer, or as an English composer with Irish influences, by reviewers and commentators. In 1923, at the age of sixteen, she moved to London to enrol at the Royal College of Music. At the RCM Maconchy studied under Charles Wood and Ralph Vaughan Williams. As a student, Maconchy was awarded the Blumenthal Scholarship in 1927, and the Octavia Scholarship of 1930, which allowed her to continue her studies in Prague. Her first public recognition came on 19 March 1930 with a performance of her

Elizabeth Parker (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Elizabeth Parker is a British film and television composer who worked at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 1978 until the workshop’s closure. Biography Parker graduated from the University of East Anglia with a degree in music, after which she completed a master’s degree in electronic music. When she first started working at the BBC she was training to become a studio manager. The BBC Radiophonic Workshop became redundant in the 1990s as electronic music equipment became cheaper, and the workshop was ultimately shut down in 1998. Parker worked at the workshop “right until the very end”. In the final years, the BBC could not justify the expense of upgrading the workshop’s equipment, leading Parker to describe the obsolete workshop in its final days as “horrendous” and “horrible”. * The David Attenborough documentary series The Living Planet. Parker continued to work on various television productions as a freelance composer. She wrote music for the BBC One documentary The Human Body and was commissioned to write new music for the soundtrack of a re-release of the comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. References External links * *

Elizabeth Philp

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Elizabeth Philp (1827 – 26 November 1885) was an English singer, music educator and composer. Philp was born in Falmouth, Cornwall, the eldest daughter of geographer James Philp. She was a protegee of Charlotte Cushman, and studied harmony with German composer Ferdinand Hiller at Cologne. She published a collection How to Sing an English Ballad including sixty songs. In London she was a neighbor and friend of Catherine Hogarth, and part of a community of musicians and writers there. Philp died in London in 1885, aged 58 years, from liver disease Works Philp composed songs and song cycles. Selected works include: *Alone (Text: James Russell Lowell) *Good night, beloved (Text: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) *Inclusion (Text: Elizabeth Barrett Browning) *Insufficiency (Text: Elizabeth Barrett Browning) *O moonlight deep and tender (in Six Songs) (Text: James Russell Lowell) *Serenade (in Six Songs) (Text: James Russell Lowell) *Sweetest eyes (Text: Elizabeth Barrett Browning) *Tell me, the summer stars (Text: Edwin Arnold) *The sea hath its pearls (Text: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow after Heinrich Heine) *The violets of spring (Text: Elizabeth Philp after Heinrich Heine) *When all the worl

Elizabeth Poston

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Elizabeth Poston (24 October 1905 – 18 March 1987) was an English composer, pianist, organist, and writer. Early life and career Poston was born in Highfield House in Pin Green, which is now the site of Hampson Park in Stevenage. In 1914 she moved with her mother, Clementine Poston, to nearby Rooks Nest House where E. M. Forster had lived as a child. Poston and Forster subsequently became good friends. After attending Queen Margaret’s School, York and studying piano with Harold Samuel and organ with Sir Stanley Marchant, She won a prize from the RAM for her one movement Violin Sonata, which was subsequently broadcast by the BBC on 9 July 1928, with Antonio Brosa as soloist and Victor Hely-Hutchinson piano. When she graduated from the RAM in 1925 seven of her songs were published, and in 1928 she published five more. Poston went abroad between 1930 and 1939, where she studied architecture and collected folksongs in Central Europe. She was also a respected performer, premiering Walter Leigh’s Concertino for harpsichord and strings in 1934. Poston’s discussion with Julius Harrison, composer of Bredon Hill which is “witness to the eternal spirit of England”, was aired by the BBC in 194

Elizabeth Stirling

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Elizabeth Stirling - spousal name Elizabeth Bridge - (26 February 1819 – 25 March 1895) was an English organist and composer. Biography Elizabeth Stirling was born in Greenwich, London, into an affluent family. She attended the Royal Academy of Music as a private student (women could not enroll.) There she studied piano and organ at with Edward Holmes and W. B. Wilson, and harmony with James Alexander Hamilton and Sir George Macfarren. At the start of the century, young women were encouraged to play the piano as a social grace. By 1820, with London’s rapid growth, most churches had organs, but skilled pianists were needed. The church became a place where women could earn a small income and still be respected working outside the home. Of the hundreds of female organists in England, Elizabeth Stirling’s name appeared frequently, but her activities were not unique. Ann Mounsey Bartholomew, Elizabeth Mounsey, Oliveria Prescott, Kate Loder, Kate Westrop, Elizabeth Chamberlayne, Eliza Wesley, Ann Stainer and many others were mentioned by name. They wrote organ voluntaries, interludes, choral anthems, and occasionally large works such as cantatas. “England’s nineteenth-century female orga

Ella Spira

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Ella Spira MBE is a Grammy-nominated composer, visual artist and an award-winning theatre producer based in London, England. Spira co-founded the production company Sisters Grimm alongside ex Royal Ballet ballerina Pietra De Mello-Pittman in 2009. Spira writes and composes music for ballet and film, and works as an arranger making dance remixes for popular UK artists, but her main focus remains Sisters Grimm productions. She was born in Gloucester, and was mentored by film composer David Arnold. As a painter, Spira captured landscapes in situ of countries like China, Indonesia, Lapland, France, Albania, UAE, Brazil, Russia, the UK, and Portugal. Her artworks promote respect and appreciation for nature and raise awareness of environmental issues. Achievements In 2008, Spira was nominated for the Channel 4 Talented Newcomers Award for production music, partly as a result of her achievements as a UK delegate for a European Arts Initiative sponsored by the British Council. A year later, she was commissioned to write a series of pieces for the BAFTA/Rocliffe New Writers’ Forum for the 2009 International Screenwriters’ Festival. In the same year, Spira co-founded dance production company

Ellen Dickson

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Ellen (Elizabeth) Dickson (1819 – 4 July 1878), also known as Dolores, was an English ballad composer. She was born in Woolwich, England southeast of London. Ellen was the third daughter of General Sir Alexander Dickson. She had been physically disabled since a young age, and her chosen Latin pseudonym, Dolores, which means sorrows and bodily pains, reflects that aspect of her personal life. Ellen inherited her father’s talents for mathematics and his analytical intellect. She lived most of her life and died in Lyndhurst, England. Musical career Dickson began making her reputation in the late 1850s, composing drawing-room ballads in a style similar to that of Maria Lindsay. She began by setting Longfellow poems in 1854. From then, Dickson published, partly under the name Dolores, a tremendous plethora of songs in renowned London music publishing companies. Approximately 65 songs have survived. These works include settings for poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Adelaide A. Procter, Percy Bysshe Shelly, Alfred Tennyson, and many others. Ellen Dickson achieved a high level of awareness with her song “The Bridge”, lyrics by Longfellow, which was first published by Charles Jefferys in

Elliot Davis (composer)

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Elliot Davis is a British composer, musician and music documentary maker. Biography Davis started his career transcribing musical ideas for Lionel Bart. He then went on to work in the West End of London in a musical capacity on Miss Saigon, Cats, Les Misérables, Blood Brothers and Jesus Christ Superstar. He was musical director for the European premieres of Lucky Stiff, Orpheus and The Demon Headmaster, which premiered at the Pleasance Theatre, London. Davis has also collaborated with Stephen Schwartz (composer of Wicked) on re-scoring and arranging his Broadway smash Pippin. Davis’s musical Best Friends and Butterflies formed part of the 2008 Official Olympic Handover Celebrations from Beijing to London when it was played by the BBC Big band in Concert. The original score Davis composed for the 2010 Druid production of The Sliver Tassie by Sean O’Casey performed at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, was described as providing “an elegiac lilt to O’Caswey’s rousing songs” by Irish Theatre Magazine. For Youth Music Theatre UK he has written three musicals with James Bourne (Busted/Son of Dork): Loserville: The Musical (2009) based on the album Welcome to Loserville; Out There (2011), an

Ellis Gibbons

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Ellis Gibbons (bapt. 30 November 1573 – 14? May 1603) was an English composer of the late Renaissance who was associated with the English Madrigal School. Born in Cambridge to a musical family, Gibbons was the second surviving son of William Gibbons, a town wait. By 1598 he was known to be living in Cambridge’s High ward, and later the Market ward. He owned property in Cambridge and London and probably spent much time there, presumably as a musician of some kind (although this has never been verified). At the age of 28 he became one of only two composers to contribute two pieces to The Triumphs of Oriana, a collection of 25 madrigals published in 1601. These madrigals were Long live Oriana and Round about her ; modern commentators generally favor the latter. No other compositions by Gibbons survive, and some scholars have doubted his authorship of these works, ascribing them to his brothers. Two months after his mother’s death, his career was cut short by his early death in May 1603, leaving behind his brothers Edward, Ferdinando and Orlando, who would become the most famous musician of the family. Orlando’s son, Christopher, was also a noted composer. Life and career Ellis Gibbons

Emánuel Moór

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Emánuel Moór (; 19 February 1863 – 20 October 1931) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and an inventor of musical instruments. Life Moór was born in Kecskemét, Hungary, and studied in Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Between 1885 and 1897 he toured Europe as a soloist and ventured as far afield as the United States. His output of compositions amounted to 151 works including five operas, eight symphonies, four concertos for piano, four for violin, two for cello, a viola concerto and a harp concerto. Included in his works were also a triple concerto for violin, cello, and piano; chamber music; a requiem; and many songs. His three Piano Trios (in D major, op. 74, in C major, op. 81 and in B♭ major, op. 89), have been recorded by the Storioni Trio. They show the influence of Brahms, who befriended Moór. His best-known invention was the Emánuel Moór Pianoforte, which consisted of two keyboards lying one above each other and allowed, by means of a tracking device, one hand to play a spread of two octaves. Two new instruments In 1921 Emánuel Moór sparked a lively controversy in the world of music by presenting two revolutionary inventions in quick succession. First, “a giant violin, one and a

Emma Lomax

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Louise Emily (Emma) Lomax (22 June 1873 – 29 August 1963) was an English composer and pianist. She was born in Brighton, daughter of the curator of Brighton Free Library and Museum. She attended the Brighton School of Music and then the Royal Academy of Music in London studying clarinet, and composition with Frederick Corder. She was a Goring Thomas Scholar from 1907 to 1910 and won the Charles Lucas Medal in 1910, awarded for her Theme and Variations for orchestra. After completing her studies, Lomax became a professor at the Royal Academy of Music (1918-38), and taught at Brighton College. She was a friend and collaborator of English composer and pianist Eleanor Rudall. Much of her music was dramatically inspired, including a series of recitations and dramatic sketches, some with supernatural themes and with orchestral or piano accompaniment. For instance, The House of Shadows, performed at the Royal Academy in 1904, was described as “a poetic play in two Acts which involved several remarkable electric lighting effects devised by the composer “. The Toy Overture, a parody of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, was performed by The Brighton Municipal Orchestra in 1915. Lomax was a member

Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

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Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee (born 1979 in London, England) is an Emmy and Peabody award nominated filmmaker, a composer, an author, and a Naqshbandi Sufi teacher. Emmanuel is the authorized successor of his father Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, a Sufi mystic and lineage successor in the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya Sufi Order. Biography Vaughan-Lee was trained from the age of 15 by his father in the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya Sufi Order. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston to pursue musical studies in acoustic bass, improvisation and composition. After graduating from Berklee in 2001, Vaughan-Lee performed and recorded with numerous jazz artists and released two albums under his own name – Previous Misconceptions (2001 – Emanjazz) and Borrowed Time (2005 – Fresh Sound New Talent). As a filmmaker he has directed and produced numerous award winning films including: The Nightingale’s Song, Aloha Aina, The Last Ice Age, Taste of the Land, Earthrise, Elemental, Yukon Kings, Isle de Jean Charles, Marie’s Dictionary, Soleá, Sanctuaries of Silence, The Atomic Tree, Laugh Clown Laugh and What Would it Look Like. His films have played at festivals including: New York Film Festival, Tribeca Film Fe

Enderby Jackson

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Enderby Jackson (14 January 1827 – 10 April 1903) was an English musician, composer, and the self-described founder of the British brass band competition and the cheap day railway excursion. After training in the family business of candle-making and soap boiling, Jackson became involved in music and learned a variety of instruments. He proceeded to join a dance band, where he witnessed an early brass band competition. In 1851 he arranged a contest in Kingston upon Hull, but his first success came in 1853 at Manchester’s Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, where he helped organise a successful contest of brass bands. He began writing test pieces and in 1860 was approached to run a competition at The Crystal Palace in London. This event proved highly successful, and ran annually until 1863. Following the Crystal Palace contests, he toured the world with a variety of groups and acts, acting both as a manager and musical director. He then retired to Scarborough to paint and write articles on music, and eventually died on Good Friday, 1903. In his articles, he stated that his mission throughout his life was “the propagation of music amongst the working classes”. His mother died during hi

Enid Luff

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Enid Luff (21 February 1935 – 19 February 2022) was a Welsh musician, music educator, and composer. Biography Luff was born in Ebbw Vale, Wales, and trained as a pianist. She was educated at the University of Wales and Cambridge and graduated with a Master of Arts degree. She took time out from her career for a family, and then studied piano at Royal Northern College. A Welsh Arts Council Bursary allowed her to study with Elisabeth Lutyens, Anthony Payne and Franco Donatoni. After ending her musical studies, Luff lived and worked for many years in London, Manchester and Birmingham, where she taught at the University School of Continuing Studies. She founded a music publishing firm with composer Julia Usher called Primavera. Luff resided in Cardiff. She died on 19th February 2022, two days short of her 87th birthday. Works Luff composed a large number of works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, voice, choir and piano orchestra. Selected works include: *1971: Tapestries (for clarinet, viola, cello, piano) *1972: Thanksgiving At Morning Prayer (for choir) *1973: The Bird (for choir) *1973: String Quartet No. 2 *1973: Four Pieces (for piano) *1973: Mixed Feelings (five short mood

Eric Coates

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Eric Francis Harrison Coates (27 August 1886 – 21 December 1957) was an English composer of light music and, early in his career, a leading violist. Coates was born into a musical family, but, despite his wishes and obvious talent, his parents only reluctantly allowed him to pursue a musical career. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Frederick Corder (composition) and Lionel Tertis (viola), and played in string quartets and theatre pit bands, before joining symphony orchestras conducted by Thomas Beecham and Henry Wood. Coates’s experience as a player added to the rigorous training he had received at the academy and contributed to his skill as a composer. While still working as a violist, Coates composed songs and other light musical works. In 1919 he gave up the viola permanently and from then until his death he made his living as a composer and occasional conductor. His prolific output includes the London Suite (1932), of which the well-known “Knightsbridge March” is the concluding section; the waltz “By the Sleepy Lagoon” (1930); and “The Dam Busters March” (1954). His early compositions were influenced by the music of Arthur Sullivan and Edward German, but Coates’s

Eric Fenby

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Eric William Fenby OBE (22 April 190618 February 1997) was an English composer, conductor, pianist, organist and teacher, born in Scarborough, Yorkshire. He is best known for being Frederick Delius’s amanuensis from 1928 to 1934. He helped Delius realise a number of works that would not otherwise have been forthcoming as the composer was too ill to write them down, and between them they devised a way for Fenby to take dictation from Delius. After Delius died in 1934, Fenby worked with Sir Thomas Beecham on a production of the composer’s opera Koanga at Covent Garden and then became a music adviser to the London publishing house Boosey & Hawkes, where he introduced the young Benjamin Britten to the company. From 1964 to 1977 he was professor of harmony at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Fenby composed music of his own, including the film score for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1939 Jamaica Inn, but he was intensely self-critical and destroyed most of his compositions. He retired to his native Scarborough, where he died aged ninety. Life and career Early years Fenby was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, on 22 April 1906, the only son and eldest of three children of Herbert Henry Fenby – an

Eric Fogg

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Charles William Eric Fogg (21 February 190319 December 1939) was an English composer, conductor and BBC broadcaster. His early works were influenced by Igor Stravinsky, where he came under the influence of Sydney Nicholson and Ernest Bullock. His contemporaries there included Leslie Heward and Eric Warr. Fogg went on to study with Granville Bantock in Birmingham On 16 June 1921, his “Chinese suite” The Golden Valley (1919) was premiered by Adrian Boult with the Queen’s Hall Orchestra at the Royal College of Music, in the same concert as the first and only performance of Ivor Gurney’s War Elegy. He joined the BBC in Manchester in 1924 as an accompanist, rising to assistant music director under T H Morrison. In the 1930s he was well known as “Uncle Eric” of the radio programme Children’s Favourites. He succeeded Archie Camden as the conductor of the Manchester Schoolchildren’s Orchestra. In 1934 he moved to London and became musical director of the BBC’s Empire Service (now the BBC World Service), where he founded the Empire Orchestra of 22 players in December 1934. After this time his composition work tailed off due to pressure of other work, which included conducting the Empire Orc

Eric Robertson (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Eric Nathan Robertson (born 6 April 1948) is a Scottish composer, organist, pianist, and record producer who has been primarily active in Canada. A two time Gemini Award winner, he has composed more than 60 film scores and written music for a number of television series in Canada and the United States. He has also written a considerable amount of choral and organ music, sometimes with instrumental or symphonic accompaniment. His works display a strong influence of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Charles Wood, and William O. Minay, the latter of whom he studied with for over 30 years. He has also produced and played on numerous commercial albums by a variety of artists and released several of his own albums of popular songs and film themes under the name Magic Melodies. Life and career Born in Edinburgh, Robertson began his musical training in organ, piano, and music theory in his native city where he was a pupil of E. Francis Thomas, Eric Reid, and William O. Minay. In 1963, at the age of 15, he entered The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) in Toronto, Canada, where he was a student of Charles Peaker (organ) and Samuel Dolin (music composition). He graduated with an associate degree from t

Erik Chisholm

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Erik William Chisholm (4 January 1904 – 8 June 1965) was a Scottish composer, pianist, organist and conductor sometimes known as “Scotland’s forgotten composer”. According to his biographer, Chisholm “was the first composer to absorb Celtic idioms into his music in form as well as content, his achievement paralleling that of Bartók in its depth of understanding and its daring”, which led some to give him the nickname “MacBartók”. He left Queen’s Park School, Glasgow, at the early age of 13 due to ill health but showed a talent for music composition and some of his pieces were published during his childhood. By the time he was 12 he was giving organ recitals including an important one in Kingston upon Hull. The pianist Lev Pouishnoff then became his principal teacher and mentor. In 1927 he travelled to Nova Scotia, Canada, where he was appointed the organist and choirmaster at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, New Glasgow, and director of music at Pictou Academy. A year later he returned to Scotland and from 1928 to 1933 he was organist at St Matthew’s Church, Bath Street, Glasgow, later renamed Renfield St Stephen’s and now St Andrew’s West. In 1933 he was appointed organist at

Erika Fox

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Erika Fox (born 3 October 1936) is a British composer and teacher. Born in Vienna, she grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home. In 1939 at the age of three, Fox emigrated to England as a refugee. There she went on to study composition at the Royal College of Music with Bernard Stevens, and later with Jeremy Dale Roberts and Harrison Birtwistle. Fox was active in modern music circles from the 1970s, working with the Fires of London, the Nash Ensemble, Dartington and the Society for the Promotion of New Music. For two decades she enjoyed considerable success, with works such the Kaleidoscope quartet (for flute, harp, vibraphone and cello, 1983) and her puppet music drama The Bet (1990), which was performed at the Purcell Room, the Almeida Theatre, the Huddersfield Festival and the Norwich Puppet Theatre. Her orchestral work Osen Shomaat was recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2020. David Spielt Vor Saul a new concerto for piano and large ensemble, was commissioned by the BBC and first performed by Julian Jacobson and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Geoffrey Paterson, at City Halls, Glasgow, on 13 January 2022. Her musical style shows the influence of Eastern Europe

Ernest Austin

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Ernest John Austin (31 December 1874 – 24 July 1947) was an English composer, music arranger and editor. Although little-remembered today (he does not even have an entry in the comprehensive New Grove dictionary), Austin’s orchestral music enjoyed some success in its own time, including performances at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts and on BBC Radio during the 1920s. He was a prolific composer of songs, covering a wide spectrum of mood, from serious Shakespearean settings to ballads of both sentimental and robust natures. He found some success writing piano pieces and unison songs for children. He also made piano transcriptions of the work of other composers, a particularly common practice of the time. Life and works He was born Ernest John Austin in Poplar, London (now in the borough of Tower Hamlets), the son of Elizabeth and William Austin, a shirt tailor. Ernest Austin was the younger brother of baritone and composer Frederic Austin (1872–1951). He first worked for the Board of Trade and then pursued a career in business. Largely self-taught, by 1902 he had composed a piano sextet (first performed in 1910) and by the age of about 30 he had turned to music as a career. He wor

Ernest Farrar

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Ernest Bristow Farrar (7 July 1885 – 18 September 1918) was an English composer, pianist and organist. Life Ernest Farrar was born in Lewisham, London, but moved in 1887 to Micklefield in Yorkshire, where his father was a clergyman. The rest of his life was very much centred in the north of England. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School, where he began organ studies. His studies at Durham University did not progress beyond his matriculation. In May 1905 he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. There he studied with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Walter Parratt and began friendships with Frank Bridge and Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer. He also took up several posts as organist in All Saints’ Dresden, St Hilda’s, South Shields and Christ Church, High Harrogate. At Harrogate, he worked closely with local conductor Julian Clifford and took on the 14-year-old Gerald Finzi as a composition pupil. His name is one of the 38 on the War Memorial at the Royal College of Music. Works and legacy Despite his short life, Farrar wrote a large body of music for orchestra, voices and organ. His works include The Blessed Damozel, a Celtic Suite and the song cycle Vagabond Songs. Two orc

Ernest John Moeran

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Ernest John Smeed Moeran (; 31 December 1894 – 1 December 1950) was an Anglo-Irish composer whose work was strongly influenced by English and Irish folk music of which he was an assiduous collector. His oeuvre includes orchestral pieces, concertos, chamber and keyboard works, and a number of choral and song cycles as well as individual songs. The son of a clergyman, Moeran studied at the Royal College of Music under Charles Villiers Stanford before service in the army during the First World War, in which he was wounded. After the war he was a pupil of John Ireland, and quickly established a reputation as a composer of promise with a number of well-received works. From 1925 to 1928 he shared a cottage with the composer Peter Warlock; the bohemian lifestyle and heavy drinking during this period interrupted his creativity for a while, and sowed the seeds of the alcoholism that would blight his later life. He resumed composing in the 1930s, and re-established his reputation with a series of major works, including a symphony and a violin concerto. From 1934 onwards he spent much of his time in Ireland, mainly in the coastal town of Kenmare. In 1945 Moeran married the cellist Peers Coetm

Ernest Shand

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Ernest Shand (born Ernest William Watson; 31 January 1868 – 29 November 1924) was an English performer and composer for the classical guitar, and a music hall singer and actor. Biography Ernest William Watson was born into a musical family in Hull, Yorkshire, his mother having been a piano teacher, his father a music dealer, and his brother an actor. He began his musical education on the violin. He came to the guitar when he discovered a composition for guitar by the Spanish composer Dionisio Aguado. Viewing it as a challenge, he bought a guitar and practised until he could play it. He then became a pupil of Madame Sidney Pratten (1821–1895) who provided him with scores and became the first publisher of his compositions. These apparently impressed her so much that by 1888 she apparently had nothing more to teach him, and that his pieces were superior to hers. Before the age of 30, Shand had already written more than 150 pieces for solo guitar, a guitar concerto (the first from the British Isles) and a tutor (1896). In the United Kingdom, his playing remained unsurpassed until the emergence of Julian Bream in the late 1940s. Despite his success as a composer and performer, the guita

Ernest Tomlinson

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Ernest Tomlinson MBE (19 September 1924 – 12 June 2015) was an English composer, particularly noted for his light music compositions. He was sometimes credited as ‘Alan Perry’. Tomlinson wrote over 100 pieces of library music, thirteen orchestral suites, symphonic works (including symphonic jazz) and music for brass band. At the age of nine he became a chorister at Manchester Cathedral, where he was eventually appointed as Head Boy in 1939. He later attended Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School and at sixteen won a scholarship to Manchester University and the Royal Manchester College of Music. He spent the next two years studying composition until in 1943 he left to join the Royal Air Force, where, although colour-blind, he became a wireless mechanic and saw service in France during 1944 and 1945. He returned to England in 1945 to resume his studies (with Humphrey Procter-Gregg) and graduated in 1947, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Music for composition as well as being made a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and an Associate of the Royal Manchester College of Music. Tomlinson left northern England for London, where he worked as a staff arranger for Arcadia and Mills M

Ernest Walker (composer)

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Ernest Walker (15 July 187021 February 1949) was an Indian-born English composer and writer on music, as well as a pianist, organist and teacher. Biography Ernest Walker was born in Bombay, India, in 1870, where his father was a partner in a merchant firm (his father had also had ambitions to be a writer, and even published two novels under the pseudonym “Powys Oswyn”, but these plans were abandoned). and played for artists such as Pablo Casals, on one occasion in 1898 performing together for Queen Victoria at Osborne House. As late as 1947, Casals wrote to Walker expressing his admiration for the musicianship he had displayed almost 50 years earlier. He also accompanied Joseph Joachim in concert; Joachim later wrote to Walker to express his gratitude for the quality of his playing. and John Stainer’s The Crucifixion, and he dismissed all medieval music as “pre-artistic”. Among Walker’s students were Herbert Murrill, Reginald Jacques, Victor Hely-Hutchinson, Sir Thomas Armstrong, Graham Peel, Sir William McKie, and Gervase Hughes. He resigned as Director of Music at Balliol College to devote himself to composition. In 1942 the Cobbett Gold Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicia

Estelle White

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Elizabeth Estelle White (4 December 1925 – 9 February 2011) was a British composer who wrote over 160 hymns, several Masses, and music for theatre. White grew up in a musical family on Tyneside, where she learned to play the piano, guitar, clarinet and tenor saxophone. Her musical influences included Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and musical theatre. White’s first works were composed during her years as a nun; some were published or copyrighted under the name Sister Estelle, though most were published under the name Estelle White She is best remembered for her school assembly favourite, the hymn Autumn Days. World War II White joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II, when she was 17, and played saxophone with a British army band on many ceremonial occasions, including the 1946 Victory Parade. She also travelled to entertain troops in the Central Mediterranean Force in Palestine and Egypt. After World War II After the war, White trained as a physiotherapist at Newcastle on Tyneside, and worked with children who had cerebral palsy. She acted, directed, painted scenery and composed music for productions at the People’s Theatre in Newcastle before moving to Ontario,

Ethel Barns

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Ethel Barns (5 December 1873 – 31 December 1948) was an English violinist, pianist and composer. She was born in London and entered the Royal Academy of Music at as a teenager, where she studied with Emile Sauret for violin, Ebenezer Prout for composition and Frederick Westlake for piano. Barns made her debut as a violinist at The Crystal Palace in London in 1896, and toured in England and the United States. While on tour, Barns sometimes accompanied prominent opera singer, Adelina Patti. Barns was a member of the first council of the Society of Women Musicians, which was founded in 1911. Barns became a professor at the Royal Academy of Music and died in Maidenhead on 31 December 1948. Early life and career Barns was born in London in the year 1874 (some sources inaccurately list 1880 as her birth year). and Crystal Palace in 1896. *Hindoo Lament (Chanson indienne) (1908) *Concertück (1908) * L’Escarpolette (Swing Song) for violin and piano (1908) *Swing Song And Other Forgotten Treasures By Ethel Barns, Nancy Schechter (violin) and Cary Lewis (piano). Aca Digital (2005) *Idylle. May Mukle, cello; George Falkenstein, piano. Victor Matrix B-15880, 13 April 1915 *Romance and Reverie:

Ethel Leginska

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Ethel Liggins (13 April 188626 February 1970) was a British pianist, conductor and composer. A student of Theodor Leschetizky, she became widely known as the ‘Paderewski of woman pianists’ and (from 1923) established herself as one of the first female conductors. She studied composition with Rubin Goldmark and Ernest Bloch, and conducting with Eugene Goossens, Robert Heger and Gennaro Papi and conducted many of the world’s leading orchestras from the mid-1920s. She was a pioneer of women’s opportunity in music performance, composition and conducting. Education and marriage Ethel Liggins was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England, to Thomas and Annie Peck Liggins. She made her debut as a pianist in London in 1902 at the age of 16. and from 1906 performed in Europe under the stage name Ethel Leginska, at the suggestion of British socialite Lady Maud Warrender (the wife of Sir George Warrender). At that time the best top-class musicians were Polish, hence the Polish-sounding name “Leginska” considered advantageous to the development of the young pianist musical career. In 1907 Leginska married the composer Emerson Whithorne, whom she had met when they both studied in Vienna. They would some

Ethel Mary Boyce

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Ethel Mary Boyce (5 October 1863 – 3 March 1936) was an English composer, pianist and teacher. Boyce was born and resided in Chertsey, Surrey, daughter of Justice of the peace George Boyce (1832–1914). She studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music with Walter Cecil Macfarren and composition with Francis William Davenport. The prizes she won include the Cipriani Potter Exhibition Prize and the Sterndale Bennett Prize for piano playing (both in 1866) and the Charles Lucas Medal for composition in 1889. In 1890 she was appointed associate of the Royal Academy, becoming a composition teacher in 1891, when she gave up public performances as a pianist. Boyce was at one time the fiancée of Edward German, but the engagement was broken off and German never married. She played piano duets with Dora Bright, including a concert performance of Bright’s Variations on an Original Theme of Sir G. A. Macfarren, named for George Alexander Macfarren, their teacher’s brother. Her compositions include an orchestral March in E (1889), the Introduction and Rondo for piano, violin and cello (which won her the Lucas prize, also in 1889), eight pieces for violin and piano (published by Novello) and variou

Ethel R. Harraden

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Ethel Rosalie Glover (; 1857–1917) was an English pianist, composer and music critic. Life Ethel Rosalie Harraden was born in Islington, Middlesex, England, in 1857, the daughter of Rosalie and Samuel Harraden, a London/Calcutta agent, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music. After completing her studies, she worked as a pianist and composer. She married Frank Glover and settled in Leamington Spa. Harraden became interested in composing for the stage, sometimes collaborating with her brother Herbert Harraden. She reviewed for the Leamington Spa Courier, a newspaper owned by her husband. Ethel was the third of six children, including her youngest sister Beatrice Harraden (born in 1864), who became a novelist known for “Ships that Pass in the Night.” Grandchildren: Norah Rigby Childs nee Glover She died on 5 January 1917 at Leamington Spa. Works Harraden composed mostly ballads and stage music. Her works include: *Two Melodies *Tristesse for Cello and Piano (1886, Schott Music) * I go to prove my soul (Text: Robert Browning) (c. 1884) *The Rainy Day (Text: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) *Pearl, cantata *His Last Chance, operetta (1890) *The Lady in Pink, operetta (1891) *The Taboo, op

Ethel Scarborough

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Frances Ethel Scarborough (10 January 1880 – 9 December 1956) was an English pianist, composer, conductor and later a politician. Among her compositions were a Symphony, three piano concertos, solo piano music, choral music and songs. Education She was born in Crouch End,London, the third of seven children of Walter Scarborough, a timber merchant, and his wife Matilda. She studied piano with Oscar Beringer at the Royal Academy of Music, but shifted her focus to composition and began studying at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1906, while studying there, Scarborough’s Piano Concerto in C minor was performed in a concert. One newspaper reported that “in the opinion of the principal of the school, the piece is of exceptional merit”. In 1907 and in 1908 she conducted her own compositions at similar student concerts. She later studied composition and orchestration as a private pupil of Charles Villiers Stanford. In 1907 she was awarded the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ silver medal. Composer and conductor A Symphony, dated 1909, is mentioned in some sources but there is no record of any performance. But in 1912 she conducted the Brighton Municipal Orchestra in a performance o

Ethel Smyth

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Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women’s suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended to be marginalised as a “woman composer”, as though her work could not be accepted as mainstream. the fourth of eight children. While 22 April is the actual date of her birth, Smyth habitually stated it was 23 April, the day that was celebrated by her family, as they enjoyed the coincidence with William Shakespeare’s. Her father, John Hall Smyth, who was a major general in the Royal Artillery, was very much opposed to her making a career in music. The home of her early years was Sidcup Place in Sidcup, then in Kent. From 1867 her family base was Frimhurst, near Frimley Green; from 1894 she lived at One Oak, also in Frimley, before moving in 1910 to Hook Heath on the outskirts of Woking. Her youngest brother was Robert (“Bob”) Napier Smyth (1868–1947), who rose to become a Brigadier in the British Army. Musical career Smyth was a child prodigy. She was a stellar pianist at a very young age and was able to compose her first hymn by the age of 10.

Fanny Arthur Robinson

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Fanny Arthur Robinson (September 1831 – 31 October 1879) was an English pianist, music educator and composer who spent most of her career in Dublin, Ireland. Biography Fanny Robinson was born in Southampton and studied the piano in London with William Sterndale Bennett and Sigismund Thalberg. She performed in Dublin in February 1849 where she met her future husband Joseph Robinson, conductor, composer and chorister at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. They married on 17 July 1849. She appeared as a pianist in London and Paris, and in 1856 made her performing debut in Ireland. She took a teaching position at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in the same year. She remained active as pianist and composer until her early death in Dublin in 1879. Robinson was one of the few female composers of her time whose music was published and performed. Her cantata God is Love was her most frequently performed work during her lifetime; occasionally, excerpts were performed like anthems in the Dublin cathedrals. Her piano music is typical for the Victorian music of her time: very melodic, simple in its harmonic design, yet attractive and well-written for her instrument. Typically of Victorian times, however,

Florence Ashton Marshall

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Florence Ashton Marshall (Mrs Julian Marshall) née Thomas (30 March 1843 – 5 March 1922) was an English composer, conductor and author. Life She was born on 30 March 1843 in Rome, Italy, the daughter of Vicar Canon Thomas of All Hallows Barking by the Tower. Her sisters were the novelist Bertha Thomas (author of The Violin Player, 1880) and the clarinettist Frances Thomas (after 1843-1925). She studied (from the age of 30) at the Royal Academy of Music with William Sterndale Bennett, John Goss and G.A. Macfarren. Thomas married the businessman, writer, and music collector Julian Marshall on 7 October 1864 and had three daughters. She contributed to Grove’s Dictionary, although to a lesser degree than her husband, and published a set of 70 Solfège exercises in 1885. Her most successful composition, with a libretto by her sister Bertha, was the operetta Prince Sprite for treble voices, written in 1891 while she was Head of Music at Dulwich School and published by Novello. She later went on to help found a music school, the Hampstead Conservatoire. She was elected an associate of the Philharmonic Society and conducted the South Hampstead Orchestra for over 30 years. The orchestra was

Florence Aylward

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Florence Aylward (10 March 1862 – 14 October 1950) Aylward began composing at an early age, and her songs began to be performed at local concerts when she was 12. Family life Aylward married Harold Kinder, an architect, in 1881 in Rye, Sussex. *“Vitai Lampada” (1900, words by Henry Newbolt) References External links *Florence Aylward “The Window” from YouTube *The song “Aspiration” on The Art Song Project * https://www.sophie-drinker-institut.de/aylward-florence Markus Gärtner, Art. “Aylward, Florence”, in: Lexikon “Europäische Instrumentalistinnen des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts”, hrsg. von Freia Hoffmann, 2011.

Florence Everilda Goodeve

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Florence Everilda Goodeve (24 May 1848 – 15 January 1916) was an English composer and lyricist, often credited as Mrs Arthur Goodeve. Early and personal life She was born Florence Everilda Knowlys in Heysham, Lancashire. Her father was nephew of Newman Knowlys and her mother was sister of Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood. She was the youngest of four sons and six daughters, one of whom died in infancy. wearing “a simple tulle veil” and attended by seventeen bridesmaids. She accompanied her husband to Calcutta, where he was an advocate in the High Court; they had five children. Music and art Florence evinced a musical talent at an early age and at the age of fourteen she wrote her “Glockenspiel Galop” and several songs. It was heard by Virginia Gabriel who persuaded her to have it published. Altogether she published about 70 songs. Some of her most popular were, “Ah, Well-a-Day,” “The Jovial Beggar,” and “Fiddle and I.” Her later compositions included “Song of the Rivers,” “In the Silver Years,” “I Would Not Love You Less,” “Row, Row,” a boating song, “If Thou Must Love Me,” and “The King’s Wooing,” a baritone song, written for Robert Watkin-Mills. Besides being a musician, Goodeve was an am

Frances Allitsen

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Mary Frances Allitsen (30 December 1848 – 1 October 1912), born Mary Frances Bumpus was an English composer. One of her most popular songs is a setting of Psalm 27, “The Lord is My Light”. Early life Mary Frances Bumpus was born on Oxford Street in London, daughter of bookseller John Bumpus (1817/8-1880) and Emma Louisa (1824/5-1892), née Barton. As a child she was far more inclined to literature than to music; her parents were opposed to a woman entering the musical profession. The family moved to a small village where Frances felt isolated and lonely. She said of that time, “It was impossible to go out walking of an afternoon without it being imputed that I was going to see the young men come in on the train, where the chief subject of conversation was garments, and the most extravagant excitement sandwich parties.” Her family did not support her interest in music and as a result she was discouraged from seeking a formal education in the subject. Her voice failed, however, and she ended her singing career and turned to voice coaching and composing. She took some of her compositions to Thomas Henry Weist Hill, principal of the Guildhall School of Music, and he expressed his regret

Francesco Barsanti

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Francesco Barsanti (1690–1775) was an Italian flautist, oboist and composer. He was born in 1690 in the Tuscan city of Lucca, but spent most of his life in London and Edinburgh. Biography Very little is known about Barsanti’s background. His father may or may not have been the opera librettist Giovanni Nicolao Barsanti (Il Temistocle ) but this has never been proven. He studied law in Padua as a young man, but abandoned it to pursue a career in music. In 1714 Barsanti emigrated to London with Francesco Geminiani, another musician from Lucca who was several years his senior. He played oboe and recorder, and soon obtained a post in the opera orchestra at the Haymarket where Handel’s operas were being produced. Nerici reports that he returned briefly to Lucca in 1717 and again in 1718 to play in the Festival of the Holy Cross, ‘for a very high salary.’ According to Hawkins and other authorities, in 1735 Barsanti left London for Edinburgh in Scotland where he obtained a post as a ‘Master’ with the Edinburgh Musical Society. He stayed in Scotland for eight years, during which time he benefitted from the support (moral if not financial) of the young Lady Erskine (Charlotte Hope) (1720-17

Francesco Berger

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Francesco Berger (10 June 1834 – 26 April 1933) was a pianist and composer. He was a piano teacher and a professor at the Royal Academy of Music. He is mostly remembered as the honorary secretary of the Philharmonic Society for 27 years. Life and career Berger was born in London on 10 June 1834 to Italian parents, but received British nationality as his father was a naturalized Briton. In 1848 he travelled to Trieste from where his father had originated. He wrote an opera (Il lazzarone, ossia La fortuna vien dormendo ) which was performed there when he was seventeen. He received much of his musical education in Germany, where he was taught by Moscheles in a strictly classical tradition, a style of play from which Chopin was later to be the first to break free of. He returned to England in 1855, and in 1864 he married one of the most renowned contraltos of the day, Annie Lascelles. Berger became a professor of music at the Royal Academy of Music and also taught at the Guildhall School. He composed many pieces of music over a long and industrious life. He became a great friend of Charles Dickens and frequently visited him at his house, Gads Hill Place. He wrote a piano primer, Musica

Francesco Geminiani

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Francesco Xaverio Geminiani (baptised 5 December 1687 – 17 September 1762) was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist. BBC Radio 3 once described him as “now largely forgotten, but in his time considered almost a musical god, deemed to be the equal of Handel and Corelli”. Life Born in Lucca, he received lessons in music from Alessandro Scarlatti, and studied the violin under Carlo Ambrogio Lonati in Milan and afterwards under Arcangelo Corelli. From 1707 he took the place of his father in the Cappella Palatina of Lucca. From 1711, he led the opera orchestra at Naples, as Leader of the Opera Orchestra and concertmaster, which gave him many opportunities for contact with Alessandro Scarlatti. After a brief return to Lucca, in 1714, he set off for London in the company of Francesco Barsanti, where he arrived with the reputation of a virtuoso violinist, and soon attracted attention and patrons, including William Capel, 3rd Earl of Essex, who remained a consistent patron. In 1715 Geminiani played his violin concerti for the court of George I, with Handel at the keyboard. In the mid-1720s he became a freemason in London, notably as a leading member of the short-lived lodge Ph

Francis Burt (composer)

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Francis Burt (28 April 1926 – 3 October 2012) was a British composer and academic teacher who spent most of his life in Austria. He was professor of composition at the Musikhochschule Wien, and organised the 1 Long Night of New Sounds concert series at the Vienna Konzerthaus. He composed the ballet Der Golem, operas, orchestral works, and music for ensembles and for voices. Life Born in London, Burt attended St Edward’s School in Oxford in 1944 and 1945 as part of an officer’s training. He completed a course as an engineer at Cambridge University and served as a first lieutenant in Nigeria from 1946 to 1947. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1948 to 1951, where he became a composition pupil of Howard Ferguson. He also attended the Summer School of Music at Bryanston and Dartington. Subsequently, he was a student at the Musikhochschule Berlin, studying composition with Boris Blacher. Burt moved to Vienna in 1956 and was buried at the Vienna Central Cemetery. Awards * 1981: * 1992: Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria. Work Burt’s compositions were inspired by African traditions, such as the drumming of Nigerian Ibo people. It was performed at the

Francis Cutting

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Francis Cutting (c.1550–1595/6) was an English lutenist and composer of the Renaissance period. He is best known for “Packington’s Pound” and a variation of “Greensleeves” called “Divisions on Greensleeves”, both pieces originally intended for the lute. Cutting was employed as a musician for the Howard family, which included Philip Howard, earl of Arundel. Little is known of the composer’s early life, but he had ten children with his wife, Elizabeth, eight of whom appear in the parish registers of St Clement Danes, Westminster, the parish in which Arundel House, the London residence of the Howards, was located. The diplomat William Trumbull compiled a manuscript anthology of lute music which includes works by the Bassano family and Francis Cutting. Thomas Cutting His son, Thomas Cutting, became a distinguished lutenist himself. He worked for Arbella Stuart. In March 1608, Anne of Denmark, Prince Henry, and the courtier John Elphinstone wrote to her at Sheffield to request that Thomas Cutting be sent to the queen’s brother Christian IV of Denmark. Arbella reluctantly agreed. Thomas Cutting subsequently joined Prince Henry’s household. Notes Further reading * Spring, Matthew. The Lut

Francis Edward Bache

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Francis Edward Bache (; 14 September 183324 August 1858) was an English organist and composer. Born at Birmingham as the eldest of seven children of Samuel Bache, a well-known Unitarian minister, he studied with James Stimpson, Birmingham City Organist, and with violinist Alfred Mellon while being educated at his father’s school. He played the violin in the 1846 Birmingham festival, and in 1849 went to London as a private composition student for three years under William Sterndale Bennett In October 1850 Bache became organist of All Saints, Gordon Square. While continuing his studies with Sterndale Bennett, Bache composed concertos, overtures, two operettas, a string quartet and a piano trio along with many piano pieces. He made his debut as a concert performer at Keighley, Yorkshire on 21 January 1851. When he played the Allegro of an unpublished piano concerto of his own in June 1852, Henry Chorley remarked, “We have met with no Englishman for whom we have so long been waiting than Mr. Bache.” In November 1851 Bache went to live with Mellon, who was then living in London, and in 1852 was given a contract by Addison, Hollier and Lucas to write light piano pieces; he turned out the

Francis Forcer the Elder

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Francis Forcer the elder (c.1650–c.1705) was an English composer. Life Forcer is mentioned by Hawkins as the writer of many songs, five of which may be found in Playford’s Choyce Ayres and Dialogues, (bk. ii. 1679, one in the edition of 1681, and two in that of 1683). Some of his music is in the Fitzwilliam Collection, Cambridge, an overture and eight tunes are in the Christ Church Library, Oxford, and a set of instrumental trios, with a jig and gavotte for organ, among the British Museum manuscripts. He was one of four stewards for the celebration of St. Cecilia’s day of 1684. Towards the end of the seventeenth century Forcer became the lessee of Sadler’s Wells music house, garden, and water at Clerkenwell, with one James Miles (about 1697) as his partner. To Miles was assigned the control of the good cheer, the building or “boarded house” becoming known as “Miles’s Music House”, while the waters were advertised as “Sadler’s Wells”. The musical entertainment at such places of resort at that period was said by Hawkins to be hardly deserving the name of concert, i.e., concerted music, for the instruments were limited to violins, hautboys, and trumpets playing in unison, and when a b

Francis Grier

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Francis John Roy Grier (born 29 July 1955 in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia) is an English classical composer and psychoanalyst. Music Francis Grier’s musical journey began at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, where he served as a chorister. He later became the first music scholar at Eton College and went on to be an organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge. During this period he worked under Joseph Cooper, Fanny Waterman and Bernard Roberts, Sidney Campbell and Gillian Weir. Following his studies at Cambridge, where he worked under Sir David Willcocks and Philip Ledger at King’s, he joined Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, as Simon Preston’s assistant. In 1981, at the age of 25, he succeeded Preston as Organist and Tutor in Music. During this time, he recorded numerous pieces and performed on BBC TV and radio as both an organist and chamber music pianist. Additionally, Grier commissioned contemporary composers to create new works for the choir. Throughout his career, Grier has been commissioned to compose works for various cathedral and collegiate foundations. Notably, he created a setting of Psalm 150 as a birthday gift for Queen Elizabeth II in 1996, which was performed at St George

Francis Pigott (composer)

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Francis Pigott ( 1665 – 15 May 1704) was an English Baroque composer and organist. Career He was a choirboy at the Chapel Royal in London from at least August 1678 to Michaelmas 1683. A record at St John’s College, Oxford shows a “Mr Pygott, the organist at St John’s” and although there is no other evidence that he was employed there, he may have replaced Bartholemew Isaack who left the college for Dublin in late 1684. Pigott was appointed organist at Magdalen College, Oxford in January 1686 and returned to London to play the Father Smith organ at the Temple Church in 1688. On the death of Henry Purcell in 1695, Pigott received an “extraordinary” appointment as organist at the Chapel Royal, and was finally sworn in as the First Organist on 24 March 1697, after the death of William Child. Works Pigott has been tentatively identified as the manuscript copyist known as “London A” by his handwriting and by his known association with Henry Purcell and other notable composers of the time. Pigott also collaborated with John Blow, William Croft and Jeremiah Clarke in the production of A Choice Collection of Ayres for the Harpsicorde (London, 1700). Pigott’s setting of the anthem, I was gla

Francis Tregian the Younger

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Francis Tregian the Younger (c. 1574–1618) was a Cornish recusant. Once thought to have been the copyist of a handful of important music manuscripts, his musical activities are the subject of dispute. Biography Francis Tregian was the son of Francis Tregian the Elder and Mary Stourton. He is thought to have been born in about 1574. (The birth year is derived from a household list drawn up in 1594 at the death of his teacher William Allen which referred to Tregian as being 20 years old: “molto nobile, di 20 anni, se colare di ingennio delicessimo dotto in filosofia, in musica et nella lingua latina.” Not only is this the only document suggesting his age but it is also the only document associating him with music.) In 1577 his father was arrested for being a Roman Catholic and sheltering priests. He was imprisoned and dispossessed, and the Tregian family had to leave their manor house in Probus, Cornwall. Tregian’s mother and her children travelled 200 miles to London. She hoped that her brother John Stourton, 9th Baron Stourton, could intercede for her husband. She lodged in Clerkenwell with her mother, who had remarried after her father’s death (her father had been executed). She e

Frank Bridge

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Life Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845–1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a master lithographic printer from a family of cordwainers, and his second wife, Elizabeth (née Warbrick; 1849–1899). He also taught Benjamin Britten. His father “ruled the household with a rod of iron”, and was insistent that his son spend regular long hours practising the violin; when Frank became sufficiently skilled, he would play with his father’s pit bands, conducting in his absence, also arranging music and standing in for other instrumentalists. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London from 1899 to 1903 under Charles Villiers Stanford and others. He played in a number of string quartets, including second violin for the Grimson Quartet and viola for the English String Quartet (along with Marjorie Hayward). He also conducted, sometimes deputising for Henry Wood, before devoting himself to composition, receiving the patronage of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. According to Benjamin Britten, Bridge had strong pacifist convictions, and he

Frank Denyer

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Frank Denyer (born April 12, 1943, in London) is a composer. His music uses a combination of conventional instruments and new, unusual, and structurally modified instruments. Partly due to his studies of non-Western music, much of Denyer’s music is microtonal. Biography Denyer was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral and later studied at the Guildhall in London. In 1966 he co-founded, and was director of, the Society of Hermes, an arts club for new music, painting, poetry and theatre in Shepherds Bush, London. He formed and directed Mouth of Hermes. a professional instrumental ensemble devoted to new and experimental forms of music. He toured widely with the ensemble in Europe, Scandinavia and the U.K. in the years up to 1974, presenting new compositions. During this time he was lecturer in Composition and 20th Century Studies at Hornsey College of Art. This early period culminated in his being a featured composer/performer at the Festival d’Orleans, France, in 1973. Denyer left the UK for a time in 1974 to begin what he calls his “musical travels”, and to undertake his first attempts at ethnomusicological fieldwork (in west Asia and the Kulu Valley in north India). In the summer of

Frank Tapp

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Frank Harold Tapp (1883 – 15 June 1953, often Frank H. Tapp, sometimes Frank W. Tapp) was a British composer, pianist and conductor associated with the City of Bath, where he was the director of the Pump Room concerts between 1910 and 1917. Tapp was an accomplished pianist, and the composer of three symphonies and other orchestral works. Career Frank Tapp was born in Bath, making his first appearance as a pianist when he was only five. He first studied music locally with the organist Sir Percy Buck. He went on to study at the Royal College of Music, where his teachers included Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir Frederick Bridge and Charles Wood as well as John Arthur St. Oswald Dykes (piano) and William Sewell (organ). The Pump Room was (and is) famous for its salon and light music, but Tapp also programmed new and challenging repertoire - such as the first West of England performance of Elgar’s Enigma Variations, his own Symphony No. 1 The Tempest (in 1913), and Schoenberg’s Five Orchestral Pieces. Over sixty symphonies, including all nine of Beethoven’s, were programmed during his time there. He left the orchestra in 1917: some sources say he was sacked for programming the Schoenberg

Franz Reizenstein

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Franz Theodor Reizenstein (7 June 191115 October 1968) was a German-born British composer and concert pianist. He left Germany for sanctuary in Britain in 1934 and went on to have his teaching and performing career there. As a composer, he successfully blended the equally strong but very different influences of his primary teachers, Hindemith and Vaughan Williams. Life Franz Reizenstein’s parents were the well-known physician Dr. Albert Reizenstein (1871–1925) and his wife Lina Kohn (born 1880), both of Nuremberg, Germany. The family was Jewish and counted many professionals, scientists, bankers, and musically inclined people among its members. Reizenstein grew up in Nuremberg and was considered a child prodigy. He composed his first pieces when he was 5, and by the age of 17 he had written a string quartet. His well-to-do and artistic family encouraged him to play chamber music at home. Eventually he was sent to study composition under Paul Hindemith and piano under Leonid Kreutzer at the Berliner Hochschule für Musik. Hindemith’s composition class also included Harald Genzmer, Oskar Sala and Arnold Cooke. Reizenstein remained a lifelong friend of Cooke and kept his Piano Concerto

Fred Frith

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Jeremy Webster “Fred” Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Best known for his guitar playing, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. He was also a member of the groups Art Bears, Massacre, and Skeleton Crew. He has collaborated with numerous musicians, including Robert Wyatt, Derek Bailey, the Residents, Lol Coxhill, John Zorn, Brian Eno, Mike Patton, Lars Hollmer, Bill Laswell, Iva Bittová, Jad Fair, Kramer, the ARTE Quartett, and Bob Ostertag. He has also composed several long works, including Traffic Continues (1996, performed 1998 by Frith and Ensemble Modern) and Freedom in Fragments (1993, performed 1999 by Rova Saxophone Quartet). Frith produces most of his own music, and has also produced many albums by other musicians, including Curlew, the Muffins, Etron Fou Leloublan, and Orthotonics. He is the subject of Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel’s 1990 documentary Step Across the Border. Frith also appears in the Canadian documentary Act of God, which is about the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning. He has contributed to a number of music publications, i

Fred Hartley

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Fred Hartley (1905 – 8 April 1980) was a Scottish rhythm pianist, conductor, composer and arranger of light music best known for his waltz Rouge et Noir. He sometimes composed music under the pseudonym Iris Taylor. Early life Hartley was born in Dundee in 1905, the son of conductor William Hartley director of the Dundee School of Music. He attended the Harris Academy in Dundee, and later attained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. Career Hartley made his first public broadcast as a solo pianist in 1925 and in 1931 went on to form his Novelty Quintet, which regularly made broadcasts on the BBC. In 1946, he was made Head of BBC Light Music. Hartley composed mainly in the light music genre and his compositions were often featured on the BBC Light Programme. In addition to Rouge et Noir, compositions for orchestra include the Scherzetto for Children, The Hampden Roar, Hartley published several of his piano works under the name Iris Taylor, including Dreamy Afternoon, Cuckoo in Love, Twentieth Century Nocturne and Starry Night. Recordings of his compositions and arrangements were issued by the RAF Salon Orchestra in 2023. Personal life Hartley was married to Gwenyth Marjorie.

Freda Swain

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Freda Swain (31 October 190229 January 1985) was a British composer, pianist and music educator. Biography Freda Swain was born in Portsmouth, England, the daughter of Thomas and Gertrude (née Allen) Swain. Her first piano lessons (from age 11) were at the Tobias Matthay Piano School in London, given by Matthay’s sister Dora. Three years later she went to study composition with Charles Villiers Stanford and piano with Arthur Alexander at the Royal College of Music, earning awards including the Sullivan Prize in 1921. Swain married Arthur Alexander in 1921, and before World War II the couple toured South Africa and Australia, lecturing, broadcasting and performing recitals. In 1924 she began teaching at the Royal College and in 1936 she founded the British Music Movement to help promote the efforts of young composers and artists. With her husband she was on the founding board of the Surrey College of Music from the mid-1940s. From 1942 they lived in a bungalow on Chinnor Hill in Oxfordshire. The solo Violin Sonata was premiered by May Harrison at Wigmore Hall on 8 December 1933. Her “Airmail” Piano Concerto, mailed in instalments to her husband Arthur Alexander while he was stuck in

Frédéric Alfred d'Erlanger

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Baron Frédéric Alfred d’Erlanger (29 May 1868 – 23 April 1943 ) was an Anglo-French composer, banker, and patron of the arts. His father, Baron Frédéric Émile d’Erlanger, was a German His mother, Mathilde (née Slidell), was an American. d’Erlanger was born in Paris. (See: Erlanger family tree). He began his musical studies in Paris under Anselm Ehmant, d’Erlanger was described as a “genuine Renaissance man”; he was a noted patron of the arts in London, promoting and financing opera at Covent Garden and acting as a trustee of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He also invested in developing countries, financing department store chains in South America and railways in South Africa. “Baron Fred”, as he was known, was a frequent participant in the regular Thursday musical soirées of the club. The supplement to The London Gazette of 27 February 1918, in records of the partners in the firm Erlangers, records Baron Fred’s home at that time as Park House, Rutland Gate, London. In 1925, d’Erlanger married Catherine, “a French woman of good family”. In 1932, he put his name on the foundation stone of what was then the Musicians’ House, later renamed Merebank House, in what was then fairly op

Frederic Archer

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Frederic Archer (16 June 1838 – 22 October 1901) was a British composer, conductor and organist, born in Oxford. He moved to the US in 1880, where he established the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Education and UK career From the age of eleven he was a chorister at All Saints, Margaret Street, and afterwards studied at Leipzig. He held various musical positions in England and Scotland, including organist at the Panopticon in Leicester Square (succeeding Edmund Chipp), Merton College Oxford and (from 1878) the first organist at the Alexandra Palace in London, where his many public recitals on the original and then on the restored organ (post fire) drew large crowds. He conducted the Glasgow Select Choir between 1878 and 1880, arranging part songs based on Scotch airs for the choir. During this period he was also an Examiner at Glasgow University. New York and Pittsburgh In 1880 he moved to the United States, becoming organist of Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York, and a year later at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation in Manhattan. Author and composer In 1883 Archer founded a music journal, The Keynote, which for a time he edited, and also published several books and numerou

Frederic Bayco

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Frederic Bayco, sometimes spelt Fredric Bayco (1913 – 1970) was an English organist and composer of light music, best known for his Tudor pastiche Elizabethan Masque. Born in London (as Frederick James Baycock) he attended Brighton School of Music, took lessions from organist R H Timberley and composer Eric Thiman, and attained his ARCO. He was later made a fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO). Before the war Bayco was a cinema organist (at the Gaumont, Union Street in Plymouth and on the Gaumont theatre circuit) and began to perform frequent theatre organ recitals, often broadcast by the BBC, at the Dominion Theatre in Tottenham Court Road, London and elsewhere. After war service in the Royal Air Force he became organist and director of music at Holy Trinity Church, Paddington, and also taught organ and musical appreciation at St Gabriel’s College, London from 1948. He was Chairman of the Light Music Society in the 1960s. Elizabethan Masque, a piece looking back on the ceremony and etiquette of the first Elizabethan era in the early years of the second, was composed in 1957. A Scherzo for organ was published by Edwin Ashdown in 1951. Like many composers of the light mus

Frederic Cliffe

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Frederic Cliffe (2 May 1857 – 19 November 1931) was an English composer, organist and teacher. Life Cliffe was born in Lowmoor, near Bradford, Yorkshire. As a youth, he showed a promising musical aptitude and was enrolled as a scholar of the National Training School of Music, the parent of the Royal College of Music, under its first Principal Arthur Sullivan. As well as Sullivan his teachers there included John Stainer, Ebenezer Prout and Franklin Taylor (1843-1919). In 1873 at the age of sixteen he was appointed organist to the Bradford Festival Choral Society. As organist to the Leeds Festival, Cliffe took part in the first performance of Sullivan’s cantata The Golden Legend on 6 October 1886. He was organist to the Bach Choir between 1888 and 1894. From 1884 to 1931 he held the post of Professor of Piano at the Royal College of Music. Their son was the author Cedric Cliffe (1902-1969). He published The Making of Music (1949) and wrote the librettos for operas by Arthur Benjamin, John Joubert and Joan Trimble. Music Cliffe’s career as a composer spanned just two decades, from 1889 to 1910. His principal works were his two symphonies, the first of which was produced by August Mann

Frederic Curzon

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Frederic Curzon (4 September 18996 December 1973) was an English composer, conductor and organist, associated with the theatre, early cinema and light music. He sometimes wrote under the pen names Graham Collett and Harold Ramsay. He moved to the New Victoria Cinema in 1935, and in 1938 gave up salaried employment to concentrate full time on composition. That year he composed the music for the high profile 1939-1949 radio comedy series ITMA (It’s That Man Again), starring Tommy Handley. From 1939 and throughout the war he conducted at Llandudno Pier. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s he continued to perform organ music for frequent broadcasts at the BBC Theatre Organ. He was encouraged as an orchestral concert composer by the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra conductor Dan Godfrey and by the music publisher Ralph Hawkes, and was appointed head of Boosey & Hawkes’s Light Music department, where he was an early contributor of mood music or library music, pre-written, royalty-free cues for newsreels, documentaries, radio and eventually television. Curzon married Gladys Marian Fowler in 1937. - where he died in 1973. Music While there are some songs in the ballad style and some solo piano p

Frederic Hymen Cowen

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Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen (29 January 1852 – 6 October 1935), was an English composer, conductor and pianist. Early years and musical education Cowen was born Hymen Frederick Cohen at 90 Duke Street, Kingston, Jamaica, the fifth and last child of Frederick Augustus Cohen and Emily Cohen née Davis. His siblings were Elizabeth Rose Cohen (b. 1843); actress, Henrietta Sophia Cohen (b. 1845); painter, Lionel Jonas Cohen (b. 1847), and Emma Magnay Cohen (b. 1849). At the age of four years Frederic was brought to England, where his father became treasurer to the opera at Her Majesty’s Opera, now Her Majesty’s Theatre, and private secretary to William Humble Ward, 11th Lord Ward (1817–1885). The family initially lived at 11 Warwick Crescent, London, in the area known as Little Venice. His first teacher was Henry Russell, and his first published composition, Minna-waltz, appeared when he was only six years old. He produced his first published operetta, Garibaldi, at the age of eight. With the help of the Earl of Dudley, he studied the piano with Julius Benedict, and composition with John Goss. His first public appearance as a pianist was as an accompanist in one of his own early songs sung

Frederic Lamond (pianist)

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Frederic Archibald Lamond (28 January 186821 February 1948) was a Scottish classical pianist and composer, and the second-last surviving pupil of Franz Liszt. Early life Lamond was born in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1882, Lamond entered the Raff-Konservatorium, in Frankfurt. He studied under Hugo Heermann (violin), Anton Urspruch (composition), Max Schwarz (piano); then piano with Hans von Bülow, Clara Schumann and Franz Liszt. 17 November 1885 Lamond made his debut in Berlin. Lamond studied with Franz Liszt at Weimar and Rome in 1885, and in London in 1886. In 1886 Lamond also met Johannes Brahms, who coached him in his own works. Lamond also became acquainted with Anton Rubinstein in Germany, hearing him conduct and play many times there, and later in Russia in the 1890s. Career In addition to becoming one of the early champions of Brahms’ piano works, Lamond was considered the primary authority on Beethoven’s piano music before Artur Schnabel, and Breitkopf & Härtel published his edition of the piano sonatas. In 1893 Lamond was invited by Vasily Safonov to Moscow to play Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in B-flat minor, Op. 23, at the request of the composer. While in Russia, he me

Frederick Corder

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Frederick Corder (26 January 1852 – 21 August 1932) was an English composer and music teacher. Life Corder was born in Hackney, the son of Micah Corder and his wife Charlotte Hill. He was educated at Blackheath Proprietary School and started music lessons, particularly piano, early. Later he studied with Henry Gadsby. After that he studied harmony with Claude Couldery. Frederick Corder continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with George Alexander Macfarren (harmony and composition), William Cusins (piano) and William Watson (violin). In 1875, he earned a Mendelssohn Scholarship, which enabled him to study for four years abroad. He spent the first three in the Cologne Conservatory in Cologne, where he studied composition with Ferdinand Hiller and piano with Isidor Seiss. He spent his last year in Milan, without formal instruction. He did however meet Arrigo Boito and Giuseppe Verdi. Upon his return to England, in 1879, he became conductor at the Brighton Aquarium. In August 1884, for a single month, he filled in for William Robinson as a musical director for the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, touring Patience and Iolanthe. Several of his operatic works wer

Frederick Delius

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Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius; ; 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934) was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce. He was sent to Florida in the United States in 1884 to manage an orange plantation. He soon neglected his managerial duties, and in 1886 returned to Europe. Having been influenced by African-American music during his short stay in Florida, he began composing. After a brief period of formal musical study in Germany beginning in 1886, he embarked on a full-time career as a composer in Paris and then in nearby Grez-sur-Loing, where he and his wife Jelka lived for the rest of their lives, except during the First World War. Delius’s first successes came in Germany, where Hans Haym and other conductors promoted his music from the late 1890s. In Delius’s native Britain, his music did not make regular appearances in concert programmes until 1907, after Thomas Beecham took it up. Beecham conducted the full premiere of A Mass of Life in London in 1909 (he had premiered Part II in Germany in 1908); he staged the opera A Village Romeo and Juliet

Frederick Keel

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James Frederick Keel (8 May 18719 August 1954) was an English composer of art songs, baritone singer and academic. Keel was a successful recitalist and a professor of singing at the Royal Academy of Music. He combined scholarly and artistic interest in English songs and their history. His free settings of Elizabethan and Jacobean lyrics helped pioneer the revival of interest in the genre. He was also an active member of the English folksong movement. During World War I, Keel was held in the civilian internment camp at Ruhleben in Germany, where he played an active role in the camp’s musical life, giving many recitals to help boost the morale of his fellow detainees. Keel was one of the few singer-songwriters of English art songs of his day. Among his better-known compositions are settings of Salt-Water Ballads by the poet John Masefield, including “Trade Winds”, the popularity of which has given Keel a reputation for being a “one-song composer”. Biography Early life, education and singing career Frederick Keel was born in London on 8 May 1871, the eldest son of James Frederick and Mary Anne Keel. He attended Wells Cathedral School. After teaching in several preparatory schools, in

Frederick Nicholls Crouch

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Frederick William Nicholls Crouch (30 July 1808 – 18 August 1896) was an English composer and cellist. Early life and Civil War Crouch was born in Marylebone in the city of Westminster, in London. He emigrated to the United States in 1841 and eventually settled in Richmond, Virginia. During the Civil War, Crouch took up arms for the Richmond Grays and the 1st Richmond Howitzers, Confederacy. Music career Crouch was noted as a fine cellist, having played in the King’s Theatre as well as St Paul’s Cathedral in London, before relocating to the United States, but the majority of his compositions were not successful. His most famous song is “Kathleen Mavourneen”. It inspired several films. Clara Mulholland wrote the novel Kathleen Mavourneen published in 1890. Marie Doran wrote the four act play Kathleen Mavourneen published in 1918. He set the poem Donna Dear a by the British poet Katherine Ashton Simpson to music. During his years in the United States, Crouch composed two operas and unsuccessfully tried various musical undertakings (i.e., conducting, singing and teaching). Well traveled after the Civil War, Crouch eventually settled in Baltimore, Maryland. He was married four times, a

Frederick Ouseley

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Sir Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley, 2nd Baronet (12 August 18256 April 1889), was an English composer, organist, musicologist and priest. Biography Frederick Ouseley was born in London, the son of Sir Gore Ouseley, and manifested an extraordinary precocity in music, composing his first piece at the age of three, and writing hundreds more in the following years. He composed two youthful operas, the first of which (Tom and His Mama) was written at the age of seven. His next opera (L’Isola disabitata) was written at the age of eight years and is frequently cited as the most advanced of his juvenilia. In 1844 he succeeded to the baronetcy. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford in 1843, where he graduated BA in 1846 and MA in 1849. He was ordained in the latter year, and, as curate of St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, served the parish of St Barnabas, Pimlico until 1851. He studied composition and the theory of music under Dr. Stephen Elvey at Oxford. Throughout his life, Ouseley experienced a social conflict between his aristocratic heritage and his interest in the performance of Anglican church music, an activity which was seen as beneath someone of his stature. In 1850 he took the d

Frederick Septimus Kelly

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Frederick Septimus Kelly (29 May 1881 – 13 November 1916) was an Australian and British musician and composer and a rower who competed for Britain in the 1908 Summer Olympics. He joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during WWI and, after surviving the Gallipoli campaign, he was killed in action in the Battle of the Somme. Early life Kelly, the fourth son and seventh child of Irish-born woolbroker Thomas Hussey Kelly and his wife Mary Anne (née Dick) was born in 1881 at 47 Phillip Street, Sydney. Kelly was educated at Sydney Grammar School when his family lived in Glenyarrah in Double Bay. He then went with his family to England and was educated at Eton College, where he stroked the school eight to victory in the Ladies’ Challenge Plate at Henley Royal Regatta in 1899. Kelly studied music at Eton under Charles Harford Lloyd and was awarded a Lewis Nettleship musical scholarship at Oxford in 1899. At Balliol College, Oxford (BA, 1903; MA, 1912), he was mentored by Donald Tovey. He was a protégé of Ernest Walker. Rowing Kelly took up sculling while at Oxford and won the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley in 1902, beating Raymond Etherington-Smith in the final. He rowed in the four

Frederick William Wadely

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Frederick William Wadely OBE FRCO (30 July 1882 - 28 May 1970) was an English organist and composer. Background He was born in Kidderminster in 1882, the son of organist William Edward Wadely and Zoe (née Gilbert). He was trained at the Royal College of Music and was then organ scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He married Ethel Muriel Stokes in 1910. They had three children: *Zoe Beatrice Wadely (1912 – 1990) *Michael Wadely (1916 – 1999) *Beryl Wadely He was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal School of Church Music in 1947. Appointments *Organ scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge 1900 – 1903 *Organist of St. Andrew’s Church, Uxbridge 1903 – 1904 *Organist of Malvern Priory 1904 - 1910 *Organist of Carlisle Cathedral 1910 - 1960 List of compositions Church music *Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B flat - 1904 (unpublished) *O whither would ye go? (carol - words by Canon Anthony Deane of Malvern) - Stainer & Bell 1911 *Give peace in our time - Novello 1914 *Peace I leave with you - Stainer & Bell 1914 *The strife is o’er - Stainer & Bell 1916 *There shall come forth a rod - Novello 1917 *If ye then be risen with Christ - Novello 1918 *Three in One and One in Three - Novello

Freya Waley-Cohen

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Freya Waley-Cohen (born 20 February 1989) is a British-American composer based in London. Biography Waley-Cohen grew up in an arts-oriented family. Her mother is the American sculptor Josie Spencer and her father is English theatre manager and producer Stephen Waley-Cohen. Her sister is the violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen. She began playing the violin at the age of three, and at aged 11 enrolled for a composition course at The Walden School, New Hampshire. She studied with Giles Swayne whilst an undergraduate at Cambridge, and then afterwards with Simon Bainbridge and Oliver Knussen at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2016 she was a Composition Fellow at the Tanglewood Festival. Music An early composition was Dark Hour, a piano quintet with clarinet, performed at the Sage Gateshead in May 2013. The choral piece Linea was written specifically for performance inside the Princess of Wales Conservatory glass house at Kew Gardens, an installation as much as a concert piece. It was performed there by the vocal ensemble Reverie in October 2014. Similarly Permutations (2017), for six recorded violins, is also site-specific. It was written to be performed inside a specially constructed building

Gabriel Prokofiev

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Gabriel Prokofiev (born 6 January 1975) is a Russian-British composer, producer, DJ, and founder of the Nonclassical record label and nightclub. He has been nominated for two Ivor Novello Awards and his works have been performed internationally by orchestras such as BBC Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, MDR Leipzig, Buenos Aires Philharmonic and Royal Seville Symphony Orchestra. Early life Gabriel Prokofiev was born in London on 6 January 1975 to an English mother and a Russian father, the artist Oleg Prokofiev, and is the grandson of the composer Sergei Prokofiev. His childhood was creative. He studied piano, horn, trumpet, and sang choral music. Resisting the pressure to embark on a classical career, he instead started writing songs and joined a pop band at age ten. Inspired by the electronic dance music of the 90s but also wanting to compose classical music, Prokofiev decided to focus on the sub-genre of electroacoustic music during his student years. Enticed by the impressive BEAST (Birmingham Electro Acoustic Sound Theatre), founded by the renowned composer Jonty Harrison, Prokofiev studied at the University of Birmingham. He then fo

Gareth Wood (composer)

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Gareth Wood (19502023) was a Welsh double-bassist and composer. Early life and education Gareth Wood was born in Cilfynydd, Pontypridd, Wales on 7 June 1950. He attended Pontypridd Boys’ Grammar School and began playing the double bass. When aged just 12 he was performing in Rhondda clubs, playing the guitar with a pop band. He joined the Glamorgan Youth Orchestra as a double-bassist in 1967, and also played in the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. He then went on to study double bass with John Walton and composition with Dr Frederick T Durrant and Paul Patterson at the Royal Academy of Music. He won there the Lucas Medal for composition and the Eugene Cruft Prize for double bass. He first achieved recognition as a composer in 1975 when his overture Tombstone, Arizona was performed at the Royal Albert Hall during the National Brass Band Festival. He was commissioned to write numerous other pieces for brass band, including Culloden Moor, for the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland, Introduction and Allegro, (used in the Scandinavian Championship in 1978), Hinemoa (by the New Zealand Band Association for their Centenary Championship in 1980), and The Margam Stone (by West Glamorga

Gary Carpenter (composer)

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Gary Carpenter (born 1951) is a British composer, of concert music and film scores, and also operas and musicals. He is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. He was Associate Music Director for the film The Wicker Man, putting together the ensemble Magnet for the occasion. Until 2021, he was a Director of the Ivors Academy. During the 2018-19 season, he was Composer in Association with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Works Orchestra *Satie Variations (1993) *Dadaville (2015) Ensemble *Da Capo (1981) *Die Flimmerkiste (1983) *Ein Musikalisches Snookerspiel (1991) for wind octet *Pantomime (1995) for woodwind orchestra *Distanza (2004) *After Braque (2006) Instrumental * Clarinet Sonata (1991) *Van Assendelft’s Vermeer (2004) for clavichord Dance *Children’s Games (1978) for Jiří Kylián, electronic score, work includes also music from the Kindertotenlieder by Mahler *Interactions (1980) for Christopher Bruce Musical *The Streets of London (1980), libretto by Ian Barnett Opera *The Lost Domain (1984), three acts, libretto by Ian Barnett based on Le Grand Meaulnes *Doggone (1990), one act, libretto by Simon Nicholson *Nyanyu

Gavin Bryars

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Richard Gavin Bryars (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, avant-garde, and experimental music. Early life and career Born on 16 January 1943 in Goole, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, Bryars attended Goole Grammar School. He studied philosophy at Sheffield University but became a jazz bassist during his three years as a philosophy student. The first musical work for which he is remembered was his role as bassist in the trio Joseph Holbrooke, alongside guitarist Derek Bailey and drummer Tony Oxley. The trio began by playing relatively traditional jazz, touring with saxophonist Lee Konitz in 1966, before moving into free improvisation. Bryars became dissatisfied with this when he saw a young bassist (later revealed to be Johnny Dyani) play in a manner that seemed to him to be artificial, and he abandoned improvisation, becoming interested in composition instead. In 1998, the trio reformed briefly, giving two live performances and making recordings. Bryars’s first compositions owe much to the New York School of John Cage (with whom he briefly studied), Morton Feldman, Earle Brow

Geoff Hannan

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Geoff Hannan (born 1972 in London, England) is a British composer and musician born to Irish parents. Education Hanan studied composition privately with Michael Finnissy from 1987 to 1990 before reading Music at the University of Manchester. In 2006 he was awarded a PhD from Royal Holloway, University of London, where, with financial assistance from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, he studied composition with film composer Brian Lock. He has attended a number of composition classes in mainland Europe with composers such as Harrison Birtwistle and Helmut Lachenmann, and participated in Brian Ferneyhough’s composition course at Royaumont Abbey (Fondation Royaumont) in 1994 and 1995. In 1998 he was joint winner of the Gaudeamus International Composers Award; in 2007 he was the recipient of the 5th Marenco International Composition Prize. In 2019 he received an Ivor Novello Composer Award for Pocket Universe. Career In 2008, he won a scholarship to study film composition at the National Film & Television School. His teachers there included Annabelle Pangborn and Peter Howell. He has composed the music for the BAFTA-nominated Take Your Partners and the multi-award-winning Kahan

Geoff Smith (music composer)

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Geoff Smith (born 1966) is an English composer, academic and university Vice Chancellor. He has written and recorded four studio albums, performed internationally and been compared to such composers as Philip Glass and Steve Reich. In August 2019, he became the Vice Chancellor and CEO of Regent’s University London, having formerly served as the Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor of Falmouth University and Head of Music & Performing Arts at Bath Spa University. Education Smith earned his BA in music from the University of Nottingham before an MPhil in Electronic Music from the University of Oxford and a PhD in composition from the University of Huddersfield (where he was supervised by the composer Gavin Bryars). He also holds an MBA in Higher Education Management from the Institute of Education at University College London. Career Along with his wife, singer Nicola Walker Smith (born 1964), he has written and recorded numerous pieces of music and published American Originals (Faber & Faber, 1995); a book of interviews with American contemporary composers such as John Cage, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson and Terry Riley. Although strongly influenced by American composers, much of Smith’s m

Geoffrey Burgon

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Geoffrey Alan Burgon (15 July 1941 – 21 September 2010) was an English composer best known for his television and film scores. Among his most recognisable works are Monty Python’s Life of Brian for film, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Brideshead Revisited for television, the latter two earning Ivor Novello Awards in 1979 and 1981 respectively. He also won BAFTAs for his themes for the remake of The Forsyte Saga and Longitude. Burgon also achieved success and a serious following with vocal, orchestral, concert and stage works. son of Alan Wybert Burgon (died 1983) and Ada Vera, née Isom. He had Huguenot ancestry. He taught himself the trumpet in order to join a jazz band at school (Pewley Grammar School, Guildford). He entered the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with the intention of becoming a professional trumpet player. However, under the direction of his mentor, composer Peter Wishart, he found that he was more interested in composition. Burgon initially supported himself and his family as a freelance jazz trumpeter. At the age of 30 he sold his instruments, except one, and devoted himself to composition. He lived through a lengthy period of poverty before critical succes

Geoffrey Bush

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Geoffrey Bush (23 March 1920 – 24 February 1998) was a British composer, teacher and music scholar. Largely without formal training in composition, he produced a wide range of compositions across different genres, including many songs and works for choirs. He also edited and arranged the works of other composers. Most of his teaching was within the framework of the Extramural Departments at Oxford University and London University. He was a popular broadcaster on BBC music programmes, and the author of several books. Life Early life Bush was born in Kilburn, London, on 23 March 1920, the son of Christopher Bush, a schoolmaster and writer, and his wife Winifred, née Chart (John Warrack’s ODNB biography gives the father’s forenames as “Charles Christmas”). Bush’s parents separated at around the time of his birth, and he never knew his father. He began piano lessons at the age of seven, and the following year became a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral choir school, where he remained until 1933, studying under Walter Alcock and acquiring a lasting love of traditional English church music. He began composing at the age of ten. In 1933 he went to Lancing College, where his early compositio

Geoffrey Grey

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Geoffrey Grey (26 September 1934 – 2023) was a British classical composer. Biography Geoffrey Grey was born in Gipsy Hill and lived on the edge of Dartmoor until the onset of the second world war, when he was sent to Scotland to live with his paternal grandparents. A career as a concert violinist had been envisaged and encouraged by his parents as he had shown a precocious interest in the violin at a very early age. Edinburgh, however, was markedly unfriendly to the English in those days, and its indigenous juvenile population openly hostile to any child with artistic pretensions. In spite of this he eventually went to the Royal Academy of Music and studied violin, composition, piano and conducting. His composition teachers were William Alwyn, Benjamin Frankel and later, in Paris, Nadia Boulanger. In 1959 he went to New Zealand where he freelanced as a violinist for a time until he was appointed Tour Musical Director of the NZ Opera Company. He had a number of early pieces broadcast by the NZBS and returned to England in 1960. He now had a family to provide for and took the job of Director of the Suffolk Rural Music School. This only lasted for a year and then he moved to London wh

Geoffrey Poole

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Geoffrey Richard Poole (born 9 February 1949 in Ipswich, Suffolk) is a contemporary classical composer and educator. His scores range from Western orchestral, choral, vocal, chamber, theatre and contemporary dance genres, to intercultural conceptions featuring Ghanean Drummer, Javanese Gamelan, or Korean traditional performers. Career Poole’s London debut for The King’s Singers, Wymondham Chants, was an immediate hit in March 1971 and has since been toured to almost every country and widely distributed by recordings. Demonstrating the composer’s early assuredness with the English Choral Tradition (enriched by his study of medieval music and the ethos of Benjamin Britten at the University of East Anglia), it led to requests for similar works. However Poole had, by then, undertaken studies with Alexander Goehr and Jonathan Harvey whose modernist influences were handled with increasing assuredness in the instrumental works of the 1970s, notably the Clements Prize-winning piano trio Algol Of Perseus (1973). His first orchestral work, Visions for Orchestra (1974-5) - was considered by Paul Griffiths as “strikingly true to its age … so individual a work that it held its own alongside D

Geoffrey Turton Shaw

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Geoffrey Turton Shaw (14 November 1879 – 14 April 1943) was an English composer and musician specialising in Anglican church music. After Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar, he became a schoolmaster, then a schools inspector, while producing a stream of compositions, arrangements, and published collections of music. He was awarded the Lambeth degree of Doctor of Music. Shaw worked with his brother Martin Shaw, also a composer, while his son Sebastian was a Shakespearean actor who is remembered for the Star Wars role of Anakin Skywalker. Early life Born at Clapham, South London, in 1879, Shaw was the son of James Fallas Shaw, a composer of church music and organist of Hampstead, and the younger brother of the composer Martin Shaw (1875–1958). At Caius, he was an organ scholar, studied with Sir Charles Stanford and Charles Wood, and graduated BA in 1901 and MusB in 1902. Career From 1902 to 1910, Shaw was a music master and Director of Music at Gresham’s School in Holt, a role in which he was succeeded by Walter Greatorex, a fellow Old Derbeian. Steve Benson’s History of Gresham’s School notes: Shaw was an inspector of music in London schools from 1911 to 1940, He was also Insp

George Alexander Macfarren

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Sir George Alexander Macfarren (2 March 181331 October 1887) was an English composer and musicologist. Life George Alexander Macfarren was born in London on 2 March 1813 to George Macfarren, a dancing-master, dramatic author and journalist, who later became the editor of the Musical World, and Elizabeth Macfarren, née Jackson. At the age of seven, Macfarren was sent to Dr Nicholas’s school in Ealing, where his father was dancing-master; the school numbered among its alumni John Henry Newman and Thomas Henry Huxley. His health was poor, however, and his eyesight weak, He was withdrawn from the school in 1823 to undergo a course of eye treatment. One amanuensis was composer Oliveria Prescott. On 27 September 1844, Macfarren married Clarina Thalia Andrae, Her singing translation for the finale text of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the “Ode to Joy”, became its most popular translation in England. She also composed for piano. Emma Maria Macfarren, the wife of another brother, John, was also a pianist and composer. Macfarren was knighted in 1883. and died on 31 October 1887, at his house in Hamilton Terrace, St John’s Wood. Musical career Macfarren began to study music when he was fourteen

George Alexander Osborne

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George Alexander Osborne (24 September 1806 – 16 November 1893) was an Irish composer and pianist. Biography Osborne was born in Limerick. His father, also George, was a music teacher and organist in St Mary’s cathedral. Young George joined him in that profession, becoming organist in St John’s Church, John St. He left Ireland at the age of eighteen for Brussels, where he was appointed music instructor for the eldest son of the Dutch king, and became friends with Charles de Bériot. With de Bériot he was later to compose more than 30 duos for violin and piano, which enjoyed great popularity. In 1830 he fought for the royalists in the Belgian revolution, and after his capture and release he moved to Paris. Here he studied under Johann Peter Pixis, François-Joseph Fétis and Friedrich Kalkbrenner and became friendly with some of the leading musicians of his time including Berlioz and Chopin. In 1843, Osborne settled permanently in London, although he maintained a home in Paris until c.1848, when he encouraged a nervous Chopin during the latter’s tour of England in 1848. and conducted the Amateur Musical Society (from 1852). Osborne died at his home in Regent’s Park, London, at the age

George Augustus Löhr

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George Augustus Löhr (20 April 1821 – 20 August 1897) was an organist and composer based in England. Life Born in Norwich, he was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford where he was a chorister and then at Leipzig University and at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. He then became assistant organist at Norwich Cathedral under the organist Zechariah Buck. He was appointed to St Margaret’s Church, Leicester in 1845, a position he held for the next four decades until his death. He pioneered choral services there and was one of the earliest to promote musical harvest festivals. The church “soon became famous for its choir”. Lohr also established and conducted the Leicester Harmonic Society in 1856. It survived until 1883. From 1881, he was a music professor. Lohr composed the hymn “St Francis”, setting the words “Fountain of good, to own Thy love” by Philip Doddridge. His four part arrangement of Mendelssohn’s “But This Lord is Mindful of His Own” (from the oratorio St Paul) remains in print. He died on 20 August 1897 and is buried in the Welford Road Cemetery in Leicester. His youngest son, Richard Harvey Löhr, was born in Leicester in 1856 and studied at the Royal Academy of M

George Benjamin (composer)

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Sir George William John Benjamin, CBE (born 31 January 1960) is an English composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. Biography Benjamin was born in London and attended Westminster School. He studied piano privately with Marguerite Tury from 1967–1974. He wrote his first composition at the age of nine, and took piano and composition lessons with Peter Gellhorn until age 15, after which Gellhorn arranged for Benjamin to continue his lessons in Paris with Olivier Messiaen, whom he had known for many years. Messiaen was reported to have described Benjamin as his favourite pupil. He then read music at King’s College, Cambridge, studying under Alexander Goehr and Robin Holloway. Benjamin’s orchestral piece Ringed by the Flat Horizon (written for the Cambridge University Musical Society and premiered in Cambridge under the baton of Mark Elder on 5 March 1980) was performed at The Proms that August, while he was still a student, making him the then-youngest living composer to have had music performed at the Proms. The London Sinfonietta and Sir Simon Rattle premiered At First Light two years later. Antara was commissioned by IRCAM for the 10th anniversary of the Pompidou Centre in 1987 and

George Butterworth

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George Sainton Kaye Butterworth, MC (12 July 18855 August 1916) was an English composer who was best known for the orchestral idyll The Banks of Green Willow and his song settings of A. E. Housman’s poems from A Shropshire Lad. He was awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry during the fighting at the Battle of Pozières in the First World War, and died during the Battle of the Somme. Early years Butterworth was born in Paddington, London. Soon after his birth, his family moved to York so that his father, Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth, could take up an appointment as general manager of the North Eastern Railway, which was based there. They lived at “Riseholme,” a house on Driffield Terrace, which later became part of the Mount School. In 2016, the centenary year of Butterworth’s death on the Somme, biographer Anthony Murphy, on behalf of the York Civic Trust, unveiled a blue plaque to his memory at College House, part of the Mount School. Butterworth received his first music lessons from his mother, who was a singer, and he began composing at an early age. As a young boy, he played the organ for services in the chapel of his preparatory school, Aysgarth School. He gained a scho

George Dyson (composer)

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Sir George Dyson (28 May 188328 September 1964) was an English musician and composer. After studying at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London, and army service in the First World War, he was a schoolmaster and college lecturer. In 1938 he became director of the RCM, the first of its alumni to do so. As director he instituted financial and organisational reforms and steered the college through the difficult days of the Second World War. As a composer Dyson wrote in a traditional idiom, reflecting the influence of his teachers at the RCM, Hubert Parry and Charles Villiers Stanford. His works were well known during his lifetime but underwent a period of neglect before being revived in the late 20th century. Life and career Early years Dyson was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, the eldest of the three children of John William Dyson, a blacksmith, and his wife, Alice, née Greenwood, a weaver. Dyson senior was also organist and choirmaster at a local church, and both parents were members of amateur choirs. They encouraged their son’s musical talent, and at the age of 13 he was appointed as a church organist. Three years later he secured an FRCO (Fellowship of the Royal College of Organis

George French Flowers

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George French Flowers (1811 – 14 June 1872) was an English composer and musical theorist. He founded a society to promote counterpoint, and a music school for young singers. Early career Flowers was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, the fourth son of the Rev. Field Flowers. He studied music in Germany with Christian Heinrich Rinck and Franz Xaver Schnyder von Wartensee, and went on to graduate BMus from Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1839. In 1865 he obtained DMus. He was organist successively at the Chapel of the British Embassy in Paris, at St Mark’s Church, Myddelton Square, He was responsible for some contrapuntal and musical reviews in the Literary Gazette about that time, and was author of an analysis of John Goss’s An Introduction to Harmony and Thorough-Bass in the Fine Arts Journal (1847, p. 445 et seq.). His Pictorial Representation of the Science of Harmony, a translation of Basler’s Reisekarte, appeared in 1850, and a poem on Muscular Vocalisation in 1861. The school of vocalization did not endure. Mrs Howard Paul may be cited as having been its most distinguished member. Compositions His compositions include organ fugues and choral fugues. His elaborate first mass, of about 1

George Frideric Handel

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Family#

Handel was born in 1685 (the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti) in Halle, in the Duchy of Magdeburg, then part of Brandenburg–Prussia. His parents were Georg Händel, aged 63, and Dorothea Taust, daughter of Georg Taust, a pastor, and Dorothea Cuno, the niece of Johann Olearius. His father was an eminent barber-surgeon who served the court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Halle was a relatively prosperous city, home of a salt-mining industry, a centre of trade, and a member of the Hanseatic League. The Margrave of Brandenburg became the administrator of the archepiscopal territories of Mainz, including Magdeburg when they converted, and by the early 17th century held his court in Halle, which attracted renowned musicians. Even the smaller churches all had “able organists and fair choirs”, and humanities and the letters thrived (Shakespeare was performed in the theatres early in the 17th century). The Thirty Years’ War brought extensive destruction to Halle, and by the 1680s it was impoverished. However, since the middle of the war the city had been under the administration of the Duke of Saxony, and soon after the end of the war he would bring musicians trained in Dresden to his court in Weissenfels. The arts and music, however, flourished only among the higher strata, of which Handel’s family was not a part. Georg Händel (senior) was born at the beginning of the war and was apprenticed to a barber in Halle at the age of 14 after his father died. When he was 20, he married the widow of the official barber-surgeon of a suburb of Halle, inheriting his practice. With this, Georg determinedly began the process of becoming self-made; by dint of his “conservative, steady, thrifty, unadventurous” lifestyle, he guided the five children he had with Anna who reached adulthood into the medical profession (except his youngest daughter, who married a government official). Anna died in 1682. Within a year Georg married again, this time to the daughter of a Lutheran minister, Pastor Georg Taust of the Church of St Bartholomew in Giebichenstein, who himself came from a long line of Lutheran pastors. George Frideric was the second child of this marriage; the first son was stillborn. Two younger sisters arrived afterwards: Dorothea Sophia, born on 6 October 1687, and Johanna Christiana, born on 10 January 1690.

George H. Hucke

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George H. Hucke (1868 – 20 March 1903) was a musician, playing both violin and mandolin, and he became one of the most popular English composers for the mandolin. He was also the author of an 1893 mandolin method called Forty Progressive Studies for the Mandoline, published by John Alvey Turner. Part of the BMG movement. Hucke died in Hammersmith London. Education Hucke’s father, Heinrich Hucke, of German nationality, was a pupil of Louis Spohr, and was employed for several years as violinist in the Court Orchestra of the Electorate of Hesse, under the conductorship of his teacher. George Hucke and his three brothers were trained in musical instruments by their father from an early age. They were not permitted recreation, meals, or sleep until their tasks were satisfactorily completed. At eight years of age George Hucke came under the instruction of John Hartmann, bandmaster to the Duke of Cambridge; he continued with him for several years and gained practical experience in orchestral work. At age eighteen Hucke was appointed musical amanuensis to Canon Harford, a well-known musical authority at Westminster Abbey, and was employed there until his death at age thirty-five. Mandolin

George Hudson (composer)

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George Hudson ( 1615 – 1672) was an English violinist, lutenist, singer, and composer of Baroque music. In collaboration with Charles Coleman, Hudson composed the instrumental score for The Siege of Rhodes, considered by music historians to be the first English opera. Life According to his contemporary Anthony Wood, Hudson may have begun his career as a dancing master. Though Hudson ultimately lost his position during the power struggles of the Civil War, he maintained a professional presence in London as an instructor of viol and voice. In May 1656, Hudson and several of his colleagues, including Cooke and Lawes, were commissioned by the impresario William Davenant to compose music for First Day’s Entertainment at Rutland House, a moral disputation consisting of music, dance, and declamation. Later that year, Hudson joined the creative team for Davenant’s subsequent work The Siege of Rhodes, for which Hudson co-wrote the instrumental music with Charles Coleman. After the Restoration, Hudson was appointed master of the King’s violins, one of the positions of leadership over which the Master of the King’s Music, Nicholas Lanier, was granted nominal control. Hudson directed the violi

George Kirbye

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George Kirbye (or Kirby; c. 1565 – buried 6 October 1634) was an English composer of the late Tudor period and early Jacobean era. He was one of the members of the English Madrigal School, but also composed sacred music. Little is known of the details of his life, though some of his contacts can be inferred. He worked at Rushbrooke Hall near Bury St Edmunds, evidently as a tutor to the daughters of Sir Robert Jermyn. In 1598 he married Anne Saxye, afterwards moving to Bury St Edmunds. Around this time he probably made the acquaintance of John Wilbye, a much more famous madrigalist, who lived and worked only a few miles away, and whose style he sometimes approaches. In 1626 his wife died, and he is known to have been a churchwarden at St Mary’s Church, Bury St Edmunds during the next several years until his death. Kirbye’s most significant musical contributions were the psalm settings he wrote for East’s psalter, The Whole Book of Psalmes (1592), the madrigals he wrote for the Triumphs of Oriana (1601), the famous collection dedicated to Elizabeth I, and an independent set of madrigals published in 1597. Kirbye was employed by East to arrange tunes featured in his psalter, and it is

George Lloyd (composer)

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George Walter Selwyn Lloyd (28 June 1913 – 3 July 1998) was a British composer. Biography Early life Born in St Ives, Cornwall, of part Welsh, part American ancestry, Lloyd grew up in a very musical family. George’s father, William A. C. Lloyd, was an accomplished amateur flautist and an Italian opera aficionado, writing a biography of Bellini. George Lloyd’s mother played the violin, viola and piano. Both parents were leading members of the St Ives Arts Club and their house was a regular weekly venue for chamber music, so the young composer grew up with music all around him. His maternal grandmother was the American painter Frances (Fanny) Powell who had been an opera singer, and was an early pioneer of the St Ives artists’ colony. As a child George Lloyd suffered rheumatic fever and received most of his education at home. He showed an early attraction to music and began composing at the age of 9. He was trained in the dramatic aspects of opera by his father, who would regularly give him scenes from English plays to set to music. From the age of 14 George studied violin with Albert Sammons and composition with Frank Kitson and Harry Farjeon. He was a student at Trinity College Lon

George Martin

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Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the “fifth Beatle” due to his extensive involvement in each of the Beatles’ original albums. Martin’s formal musical expertise and interest in novel recording practices facilitated the group’s rudimentary musical education and desire for new musical sounds to record. Most of their orchestral and string arrangements were written by Martin, and he played piano or keyboards on a number of their records. Their collaborations resulted in popular, highly acclaimed records with innovative sounds, such as the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Martin’s career spanned more than sixty years in music, film, television and live performance. Before working with the Beatles and other pop musicians, he produced comedy and novelty records in the 1950s and early 1960s as the head of EMI’s Parlophone label, working with Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Bernard Cribbins, among others. In 1965, he left EMI and formed his own production company, Associated Independent Recording. AllMusic has described Martin as the “world’s m

George Posford

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George Posford, born Benjamin George Ashwell (23 March 1906 – 24 April 1976), was an English composer and conductor. Early life Benjamin George Ashwell was born in 1906 in Folkestone, Kent. He was educated at Downside School in Somerset and Christ’s College at Cambridge University. He studied law, but would become known for his musical achievements, after a song he co-wrote with Rodney Hobson was successfully interpolated in an early 1930s touring version of the show Lavender, which pointed him towards a new career. After Cambridge, Ashwell studied composition and orchestration at the Royal College of Music in London. Maschwitz, Posford and Grun also composed Paprika (1938), which flopped, but a revised version, Magyar Melody, ran at His Majesty’s Theatre for 105 performances. To the original score was added “Mine Alone”, composed by Manning Sherwin, which outlived the show. Posford and Harry Parr-Davies composed Full Swing (1940), starring Cicely Courtneidge and Jack Hulbert, which had 468 performances during the London blitz. Posford wrote a number of wartime revues for the duo. During World War II, he was in the Royal Corps of Signals and the London Fire Service. He was subseque

George Rodwell

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George Herbert Buonaparte Rodwell (1800–1852), generally known as G. Herbert Rodwell, was an English composer, musical director, and author. Life The brother of James Thomas Gooderham Rodwell (died 1825), playwright and lessee of London’s Adelphi Theatre, was born in London, 15 November 1800. Despite numerous claims to the contrary in older reference works, Rodwell insisted that his only music teacher had been Henry Rowley Bishop, his most obvious predecessor as a composer for the London theatres. In 1828 Rodwell became professor of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. On the death of his brother James in 1825, Rodwell succeeded to the proprietorship of the Adelphi Theatre; but Frederick Henry Yates with Daniel Terry bought him out very shortly afterwards, at a price of £30,000. Rodwell then mainly occupied himself with directing the music at the theatre, and in composition for the stage. His opera The Flying Dutchman was produced at the Adelphi in 1826, and The Cornish Miners at the English Opera House in 1827. had been performed in 1830. The Covent Garden management tried to anticipate the repertory of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane; and Rodwell, though friendly

George Whyte

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George R. Whyte (born 11 July 1933 in Budapest; died 31 August 2012 in London) was an author, composer, dramatist and art collector. His early education was at Highgate Junior School. A British national of Hungarian Jewish extraction, the Holocaust and the loss of many members of his family in Auschwitz have influenced his creative works which have increasingly focused on the struggle against social injustices especially racism. Career A world authority on the Dreyfus Affair, his Dreyfus Trilogy, created for the Dreyfus Centenary in 1994 has been widely performed and televised. Making extensive use of archival material, he has evolved a powerful dramatic style defined by Götz Friedrich as a ‘Protokol für das Musiktheater’ wherein the drama is heightened by opposing texts, repeatedly sung and declaimed, which confront the listener with an escalation of the moral conflict. His literary work ‘The Dreyfus Affair – A Chronological History’ (publ. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) is recognized as the major reference book on the subject. His latest creation ‘Golem 13’ was the cultural highlight of the Czech Presidency of the European Union (June 2009). It was premiered at the National Theatre of

Gerald Cockshott

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Gerald Wilfred Cockshott (14 November 1915 – 3 February 1979) was an English composer, librettist, writer and teacher. Life and career Cockshott was born in Bristol and educated at Taunton School and the University of Bristol where he received his BA in English. He was a friend of and influenced by the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams with whom he studied privately. A Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, he primarily composed choral music, much of it influenced by the English folk tradition, but also composed two operas and several instrumental works. He had originally written the libretto for the chamber opera Apollo and Persephone for Vaughan Williams, but decided to compose the work himself before showing it to him. Vaughan Williams gave the work his blessing and it was premiered in London in 1954 by the Intimate Opera Company. Apollo and Persephone went on to multiple performances in Europe and North America in the ensuing years. His second opera, A Faun in the Forest, for which he also wrote the libretto premiered in 1959 in Westport, Connecticut. He was also the founder of the Peter Warlock Society and served as its first chairman from 1963 to 1969. Cockshott died in West

Gerald Finzi

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Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was an English composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata Dies natalis for solo voice and string orchestra, and his concertos for cello and clarinet. Life Gerald Finzi was born in London, the son of John Abraham (Jack) Finzi and Eliza Emma (Lizzie) Leverson. Finzi became one of the most characteristically English composers of his generation. Despite his being an agnostic of Jewish descent, several of his choral works incorporate Christian texts. Finzi’s father, a successful shipbroker, died a fortnight before his son’s eighth birthday. Finzi was educated privately. During World War I the family settled in Harrogate, and Finzi began to study music at Christ Church, High Harrogate, under Ernest Farrar from 1915. Farrar, a former pupil of Charles Villiers Stanford, was then aged thirty and he described Finzi as “very shy, but full of poetry”. He found solace in the poetry of Thomas Traherne and his favourite, Thomas Hardy, whose poems, as well as those by Christina Rossetti, he began to set to music. In the poetry of Hardy, Traherne, an

Gerald Hendrie

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Gerald Mills Hendrie (born 28 October 1935; at Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex) is an English scholar, composer, organist, pianist and harpsichordist. Education * Framlingham College, Suffolk, 1949–52, Foundation Scholar * Royal College of Music (RCM), 1952–54, Foundation Scholar, Piano (ARCM in Organ Performing 1953, Piano Teaching 1953, Piano Performing 1954); Gained Sir Walter Parratt prize. * Selwyn College, Cambridge 1954–61, Organ Scholar. (BA 1957, MusB with distinction 1958, MA 1961, Ph.D. 1962); * Royal College of Organists (RCO), FRCO (1956) * Studied at the RCM with Geoffrey Tankard, Harold Darke, William Harris, Herbert Howells; at Cambridge with Thurston Dart and Patrick Hadley; privately with Geraint Jones, John Dykes Bower, Ralph Downes, and André Marchal Locums * Christmas 1955, Acting Assistant Organist, Canterbury Cathedral including first-ever Eurovision Broadcast, ‘Carols from Canterbury’. * 1960-61 Acting Organist and Choirmaster, Norwich Cathedral * During 1962, Acting Assistant Organist, Ely Cathedral Academic posts * Director of Music, Homerton College, Cambridge 1962–3 * Lecturer in Music, University of Manchester 1963–7 * Founding Professor of Music, University of

Geraldine Connor

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Geraldine Connor, PhD, MMus, LRSM, DipEd (22 March 1952 – 21 October 2011), was a British ethnomusicologist, theatre director, composer and performer, who spent significant periods of her life in Trinidad and Tobago, from where her parents had migrated to Britain in the 1940s. Her father was actor, singer and folklorist Edric Connor and her mother was theatrical agent and cultural activist Pearl Connor. Geraldine Connor is best known for having written, composed and directed Carnival Messiah, a spectacular work that “married the European classical tradition of oratorio with masquerade and musical inspiration from the African diaspora”. Early years Geraldine Roxanne Connor was born in Paddington, London, into an artistic Trinidadian family and was the elder child of her parents Edric and Pearl Connor. Spending her early childhood with her grandparents, who were both teachers in Trinidad, Geraldine was schooled at Tranquillity Primary (1960–63) and Diego Martin Government Secondary (1963–68). She then attended Camden School for Girls in London, from 1968 to 1971. She went on to graduate from London’s Royal College of Music in 1974, subsequently returning to Trinidad to continue her s

Geraldine Mucha

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Geraldine Thomson Mucha (5 July 1917 – 12 October 2012) was a Scottish composer. She was born in London and studied at the Royal Academy of Music. She married the Czech writer Jiří Mucha, son of the painter Alphonse Mucha, and in 1945 moved to Prague. She lived there for the greater part of the next sixty years. Early life and education Geraldine Mucha was born in London on 5 July 1917. She was the only child of Marcus Thomson (sometimes spelled Thomsen) who came from Glasgow, and of Maisie Evans, a New Zealander. Marcus Thomson studied at the Royal Academy of Music (R.A.M.) in London between 1902 and 1906 and became a successful baritone singer. In 1920 he was appointed as a singing professor at the R.A.M. where he remained on the staff until the 1950s. Maisie Evans studied music in Leipzig and during the First World War appeared in a leading role in the long running musical success Chu Chin Chow (His Majesty’s Theatre, London, 1916) and later on in Nigel Playfair’s famous production of The Beggar’s Opera (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, 1920). Mucha herself showed an interest in music from a very early age and her father, impressed by her improvisations at the piano, taught her to re

Gerard Francis Cobb

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Gerard Francis Cobb (Nettlestead, Kent, 15 October 1838 – 31 March 1904) was Junior Bursar of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was active as an Anglican layman, organist and amateur composer. Life He was the fourth son of William Francis Cobb, rector of Nettlestead, Kent, and was educated at Marlborough College. He matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1857, graduating B.A. in 1861 and M.A. in 1864. Cobb was an enthusiastic cyclist and was president of the Cambridge University Cycling Club. He was first president in 1878 of the National Cyclists’ Union, originally the Bicycle Union. He died in Cambridge on 31 March 1904. Music Cobb is best remembered for his hymns and settings of Rudyard Kipling’s Barrack-Room Ballads. The poems set by Cobb include “To T. A.” (1892), “The Young British Soldier” Op. 24 No. 1, “Mandalay”, “Route Marchin’” “Soldier, Soldier”, “Fuzzy-Wuzzy” Op. 24 No. 5 (1892) “Troopin’”, “Ford o’ Kabul River” Op. 26 No. 2 (1893) “Danny Deever”, “Shillin’ a Day” “Cells”, “Belts Op. 29 No. 1” “The Widow’s Party”, “Screw-Guns”, “Gunga Din” Op. 29 No. 4, “Oonts” Op. 29 No. 5, “Snarleyow” Op. 29 No. 6, “For to Admire”, “Back to the Army Again”, and “Tommy”. These son

Gilbert Vinter

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Gilbert Vinter (4 May 1909 – 10 October 1969) was an English conductor and composer, most celebrated for his compositions for brass bands. Life Vinter was born in Lincoln. As a youth, he was a chorister at Lincoln Cathedral, and eventually became Head Chorister there. He later became a bassoonist, playing in Thomas Beecham’s newly-formed London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1930, he joined the BBC Military Band, where he did much of his early conducting. It was during that time that he also began to compose. During World War II, Vinter played in The Central Band of the RAF and later led several other RAF bands. He was conductor of the BBC Midland Light Orchestra, and the first principal conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, from 1952 to 1953. In 1960, The Daily Herald newspaper and sponsors of brass band contests, commissioned Vinter to write his first major work for brass band, the result of which was Salute to Youth. Vinter was an adjudicator at the British Open Championships at Belle Vue, Manchester, in 1969 where his Spectrum was the test piece. Midway through the contest, however, he was forced to retire from ’the box’ due to his failing health. His position at the contest on t

Giles Farnaby

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Giles Farnaby (c. 1563 – November 1640) was an English composer and virginalist whose music spans the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque period. Life Giles Farnaby was born about 1563, perhaps in Truro, Cornwall or near London. His father, Thomas, was a Cittizen and Joyner of London, and Giles may have been related to Thomas Farnaby (c. 1575–1647), the famous schoolmaster of Kent, whose father was a carpenter. But it was his cousin Nicholas Farnaby (c. 1560–1630), who may have turned him to music. Nicholas was a virginal maker, at this time a generic word that included the entire family of plucked keyboard instruments: the harpsichord, virginal, muselar and doubtless the clavichord, and it is for these instruments that Farnaby’s compositions are best known. Like his father however, Giles trained as a joiner or cabinet-maker, starting his apprenticeship in about 1583, and gave this trade as his occupation for most of his life. He married Katherine Roane on 28 May 1587, and first lived in the parish of St. Helen’s Bishopsgate, in London. The couple had a daughter, Philadelphia, baptised on 8 August 1591, when the Farnabys moved to the neighbouring parish of St Peter’s, We

Giles Swayne

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Giles Oliver Cairnes Swayne (born 30 June 1946 in Hertfordshire) is a British composer. Biography Swayne spent much of his childhood in Liverpool, and began composing at a young age. He was educated at Ampleforth College and at Cambridge University, where he worked with Raymond Leppard and Nicholas Maw before spending three years at the Royal Academy of Music as a student of Harrison Birtwistle, Alan Bush and, once again, Maw. During the years 1976 to 1977 he attended several of Olivier Messiaen’s classes at the Paris Conservatoire and from 1981 to 1982 made a study visit to the Gambia and southern Senegal – a formative experience he put to creative use as composer-in-residence to the London borough of Hounslow, 1980–83. Together with his second wife, the Ghanaian, Naaotwa Codjoe, he lived in a village near Accra, Ghana, from 1990 to 1996. Swayne is a cousin of Elizabeth Maconchy and Nicola LeFanu. He married violinist Malu Lin in 2002. Selected compositions * CRY, opus 27 for 28 solo voices and electronics, commissioned by the BBC and premiered in 1980 (recorded on the label NMC by the BBC Singers conducted by John Poole) * Magnificat, 1982 * String Quartets 1 – 3 (1971 to 1993) *

Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli

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Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli (c. 9 March 1690/1691, Livorno, Grand Duchy of Tuscany – 1772, London), after 1734 Anglicised to John Stephen Carbonell, was an Italian-born British composer and violinist, who later abandoned his musical career to become a vintner under royal patronage. Life Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli was born in the Italian port city of Livorno to Pietro Carboneu (alternatively Carboneo or Carbonell) and Teresa Cocchi. His year of birth is uncertain, with dates varying from 1690/1691 to 1699/1700. His father was a Frenchman who had immigrated from Aix-en-Provence, Province of Provence, while his mother was a local Leghorner. Not much is known of his early musical education; he was reputedly a pupil of Arcangelo Corelli, although there is little documentary evidence to support this. In 1711 and 1712, he was one of the violinists in the local ensemble during the celebrations of the Feast of Santa Croce in Lucca (13–14 September); on these occasions his name was recorded as “Gio: Stefano Carbonèo”. In 1716–1717 he lived in Venice, where he became acquainted with Antonio Vivaldi. Carbonelli participated in Vivaldi’s operatic productions, playing in the accompanying orches

Godric of Finchale

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Godric of Finchale (or St Goderic) (c. 1065-1070 – 21 May 1170) was an English hermit, merchant and popular medieval saint, although he was never formally canonised. He was born in Walpole in Norfolk and died in Finchale in County Durham. Some of the earliest surviving English songs have been attributed to him. Life Godric’s life was recorded by a contemporary of his, a monk named Reginald of Durham. Several other hagiographies are also extant. According to these accounts, Godric, who began from humble beginnings as the son of Ailward and Edwenna, “both of slender rank and wealth, but abundant in righteousness and virtue”. He began as a peddler and became an entrepreneur. " H e was wont to wander with small wares around the villages and farmsteads of his own neighbourhood; but, in process of time, he gradually associated himself by compact with city merchants." Then he was a ship’s captain and part owner of two ships, one of which may have conveyed Baldwin I of Jerusalem to Jaffa in 1102. After many pilgrimages around the Mediterranean, Godric found himself off the Farne Islands near Lindisfarne and there was inspired to change his life. Godric returned to England and lived at Wols

Goff Richards

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Goff Richards (18 August 1944 – 25 June 2011), sometimes credited as Godfrey Richards, was a prominent Cornish brass band arranger and composer. He was born in Cornwall, He was also a prolific arranger for brass bands, and his works included “Hymns of Praise”, “Shepherd’s Song”, “Over the Rainbow”, “Mack the Knife”, “New York, New York”, “Chanson d’Amour”, “I’ll Walk with God”, and “That’s a Plenty”. He also arranged and composed light orchestral and choral works, and his works have been performed by the King’s Singers, Huddersfield Choral Society, London Brass, Evelyn Glennie and various BBC orchestras. He is also credited to have written the solo piece Demelza (also known as The Maid of the Mist) under the pen name Hugh Nash, originally for E flat tenor horn then later for the soprano cornet. He died on 25 June 2011 in Cheshire, following an illness, at the age of 66. References External links *Publisher’s profile Editions Marc Reift *Biography * Compositions and arrangements by Goff Richards at Obrasso-Verlag * https://cornishnationalmusicarchive.co.uk/content/demelza-by-goff-richards/

Goran Vejvoda

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Goran Vejvoda (; born in 1956 ) is an English-born Serbian composer, sound and visual artist, performance artist, photographer, writer and actor based in France. Early life Son of the Yugoslav diplomat who had managed to parlay his prior communist revolutionary activity (including being a foreign volunteer fighter in the Spanish Civil War as well as prominent Partisan guerrilla fighter during World War II) into a post-war diplomatic career, Goran was born in London during the time his father was stationed there as FPR Yugoslavia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. The family relocated to Rome in 1960 when his father was reassigned to be the ambassador in Italy. In 1967, the family was on the move again, this time to Paris where his father was named as the Yugoslav ambassador to France. Finally, in 1971 his father took an advisory job at the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry, which meant that 15-year-old Goran came to Belgrade. Activity In the early 1980s Vejvoda briefly fronted Annoda Rouge band/project with then-girlfriend Bebi Dol on vocals, Slobodan Trbojevic on bass and Vd on drums. The band never released any official material for commercial exploitation. Later, Vejvoda collaborated o

Gordon Jacob

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Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about music. As a composer he was prolific: the list of his works totals more than 700, mostly compositions of his own, but a substantial minority of orchestrations and arrangements of other composers’ works. Those music he orchestrated range from William Byrd to Edward Elgar to Noël Coward. Life and career Jacob was born in Upper Norwood, London, the seventh son and youngest of ten children of Stephen Jacob, and his wife, Clara Laura, née Forlong. Stephen Jacob, an official of the Indian Civil Service based in Calcutta, died when Gordon was three. One of his older brothers was Archibald Jacob, choral composer, arranger and author of Musical Handwriting (OUP, 1937). Jacob was educated at Dulwich College, and enlisted in the Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) at the outbreak of the First World War. He was taken POW in 1917 after being one of 60 survivors from a battalion of 800. In the prison camp he studied a harmony textbook in the camp library

Gordon Langford

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Gordon Langford (11 May 1930 – 18 April 2017) was an English composer, arranger and performer. He is well known for his brass band compositions and arrangements. He was also a composer of choral and orchestral music, winning an Ivor Novello award for best light music composition for his March from the Colour Suite in 1971. Biography Langford was born in Edgware, Middlesex in May 1930 as Gordon Maris Colman. His father was a precision toolmaker. He was a prodigious child, beginning piano lessons aged five. At nine, one of his compositions received a public performance. He attended Bedford Modern School, and he went on to win a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where he studied piano and composition with Norman Demuth. It was Demuth who suggested that he should change his surname or use a pseudonym. Hence, he changed his name to become Gordon Colman Langford. In 1951, during his army service with the Royal Artillery Band, he made his first BBC broadcast as a solo pianist. After leaving the army, he worked with seaside orchestras, a touring opera company and as a ship’s musician, but it was during the 1960s he came to prominence as a pianist, arranger and composer on BBC progr

Gordon McPherson

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Gordon McPherson (born 1965) is a Scottish composer. McPherson was born in Dundee. He studied at the University of York, England, returning there for his doctorate, continuing with post-doctoral research at the Royal Northern College of Music. McPherson has composed almost 100 pieces (as of 2006). His work has been performed and broadcast widely throughout the world. Recent works have included Kamperduin, a second work for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, commissioned to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the 1797 Battle of Camperdown; Friends in Strange Places, a new chamber work recorded for the inauguration of Dundee Contemporary Arts; a second study for guitar, Miami, premiered at the Wigmore Hall in 1998 and Detours, commissioned by the Hebrides Ensemble. The Baby Bear’s Bed for Icebreaker was premiered in Vienna in October 1999 and has subsequently received performances in Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. It has also been recorded by Icebreaker on their Extraction album. Other recent works include South for the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, a seventh movement for his Handguns, a suite for Psappha, a third string quartet for the Salisb

Gordon Saunders

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Joseph Gordon Saunders MusD (183717 January 1912) was a composer of songs, church music and organ music. He was also a teacher of composition, piano, harmony and counterpoint at the Trinity College of Music. He was known to have conducted ensemble classes. Saunders studied with the organist and composer Edward John Hopkins at the Trinity College of Music, London, where he was one of the seven founding members of the college. As part of his role at the Trinity College of Music, Saunders was an examiner and in 1896 he travelled to Australia and New Zealand to conduct numerous graded music examinations in multiple cities, Adelaide, Melbourne, Ballarat, Tasmania, and Brisbane. He was an associate to the Philharmonic Society. * Memories (1868) – song. Verse by J. C. Harman, Esq. (Ashdown and Parry, London) * I will give thanks. Thanksgiving anthem (1868) * Festal March (1877) * The Lord Is in His Holy Temple – Anthem (printed 1881) * Polish Dance for pianoforte (1892) * Fugue in D-Minor (1897) * Prelude and Fugue (1897) *Saunders, Gordon (1899) Examples in strict counterpoint (old and new), Ewer Novello *Saunders, Gordon (1901) Examples in Strict Counterpoint: Part II *Saunders, Gordon

Grace Williams

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Grace Mary Williams (19 February 1906 – 10 February 1977) was a Welsh composer, generally regarded as Wales’s most notable female composer, and the first British woman to score a feature film. Early life Williams was born in Barry, Glamorgan, the daughter of William Matthews Williams and Rose Emily Richards Williams. Both of her parents were teachers; her father was also a noted musician. She learned piano and violin as a girl, playing piano trios with her father and her brother Glyn, and accompanying her father’s choir. At the County School she began to develop her interest in composition under the guidance of the music teacher Miss Rhyda Jones, and in 1923 she won the Morfydd Owen scholarship to the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire (now Cardiff University), where she studied under Professor David Evans. In 1926 she began studying at the Royal College of Music, London, where she was taught by Gordon Jacob and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Other notable female composers studying with Vaughan Williams at the RCM were Elizabeth Maconchy, Dorothy Gow and Imogen Holst, the daughter of Gustav Holst. In 1930 she was awarded a travelling scholarship, and chose to study with E

Grace-Evangeline Mason

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Grace-Evangeline Mason (born October 1994) is a British composer of contemporary classical music. Early life and education Mason studied composition at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, under Professor Emily Howard and Professor Gary Carpenter, where she held a scholarship and was awarded the Rosamond Prize (2016). She began her studies at the college as a member of their Junior Department, during which time she was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. She won the 2013 BBC Young Composer Competition, formerly known as the BBC Proms Inspire Young Composer Competition, for her piece Convergence, and subsequently became an ambassador for the competition and its workshops in the following years. Following her studies at the RNCM, where she was made an associate in 2021, she studied at Somerville College, Oxford under Professor Robert Saxton and completed her doctorate at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Career In 2017, whilst still an undergraduate at the RNCM, she was co-commissioned by BBC Radio 4’s Front Row programme and The Proms to compose her work entitled River, which was written to celebrate the 300th anniversary of George Frideric Hande

Graham Fitkin

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Graham Fitkin (born 19 April 1963) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. His compositions fall broadly into the minimalist and postminimalist genres. Described by The Independent in 1998 as “one of the most important of our younger composers”, he is particularly known for his works for solo and multiple pianos, as well as for music accompanying dance. Biography Fitkin was born at Crows-an-Wra in west Cornwall on 19 April 1963. His mother, a piano teacher, encouraged his early studies on that instrument. He participated in numerous local ensembles during his childhood, and recalls starting to compose at the piano aged around 8. He later went to the Netherlands to study with the minimalist composer and pianist Louis Andriessen at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. His partner is harpist Ruth Wall, with whom he collaborates in Fitkin Wall. Music Fitkin’s work is broadly classified as minimalist and postminimalist. His works are tonal and frequently complex. Much of his writing is for the piano, including solo and multiple player works. Several of his early works, including Log, Line and Loud, were composed for the six-piano ensemble, Piano Circus. A more recent work for elec

Graham Peel

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Gerald Graham Peel (1877 – November 1937) was an English composer. Life Graham Peel’s father was Gerald Peel, a millionaire Lancashire cotton spinner and magistrate of Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. During his life, Peel was one of the first persons ’to take parties inside prisons to entertain the inmates’, and of unobtrusive character, was later remembered for his generosity. Clothes and jobs for prisoners were provided through Peel with his involvement in the Dorset and Bournemouth Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society. He was a resident of ‘Marden Ash’, Bournemouth on his death, after a year’s illness. A philanthropist, he died leaving £191,499. Many settings were for folk songs and pianoforte solos, His tunes included: ::Almond, wild almond ::Go down to Kew in lilac time ::Her loveliness ::In summer time on Bredon (well regarded, and written c. 1908) References

Graham Reilly

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Graham Reilly is a British composer, known for composing television music in the UK, Europe and US. Based in his HQ Studio, Reilly has scored the music to over 1000 hours of prime time TV and Film productions in the US, UK and Europe, for all the major networks including: BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, SKY UK, Paramount+, Apple TV+. Reilly was mentored by the late Peter Waygood ex-head of Production, Air Edel Associates Ltd (London/USA). Senior Lecturer at The Royal Academy of Music (London), and Chairman of PCAM (Producers & Composers of Applied Music). Reilly has composed music for the TV series Seconds From Disaster which has been shown in over 140 territories worldwide on the National Geographic network of channels. Reel History of Britain presented by broadcaster Lord Melvyn Bragg - performed by the BBC Philharmonic and recorded at BBC Studios Manchester. The Story of Britain - BBC animation series nominated for a BAFTA. Heaven Made - BBC One - wins Royal Television Society (RTS) award for Best Daytime Programme. Dragons’ Den - BAFTA nominated TV series - BBC One/TWO. Columbia’s Last Flight - Seconds From Disaster – National Geog

Graham Waterhouse

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Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, Three Pieces for Solo Cello and Variations for Cello Solo for his own instrument, and string quartets and compositions that juxtapose a quartet with a solo instrument, including Piccolo Quintet, Bassoon Quintet and the piano quintet Rhapsodie Macabre. He has set poetry for speaking voice and cello, such as Der Handschuh, and has written song cycles. His compositions reflect the individual capacity and character of players and instruments, from the piccolo to the contrabassoon. Since 1998, Waterhouse has organised a concert series at the Gasteig in Munich, often playing with members of the Munich Philharmonic. His works have been performed internationally and several have been recorded. He has been awarded prizes for several of his compositions, and has been composer in residence at institutions in European countries. He achieved a PhD from the University of Birmingham in 2018. From 2020, his compositions have been published by Schott. Career Graham Waterhouse was born in London, the son of the noted bassoonist and musicologist William Water

Grant Kirkhope

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Grant Kirkhope (born 10 July 1962) is a Scottish composer and voice actor for video games and film. Some of his notable works include GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, and Perfect Dark, among many others. He has won an Ivor Novello Award for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and a World Soundtrack Award for The King’s Daughter, as well as being nominated for BAFTA, ASCAP, and IFMCA awards. He has also provided the voice for the character Donkey Kong in many of his game appearances. Early life and education Kirkhope was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where his mother, Margaret Kirkhope, worked as a music hall dancer. Kirkhope’s father, Alexander Kirkhope, was works manager of Redpath Brown steel works and was an avid music fan and exposed him to early influences such as Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller. Kirkhope taught himself to play guitar at age 11 and is classically trained in the trumpet. Kirkhope was brought up in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire from the age of five, and attended King James’s School. Kirkhope played in various bands after leaving the Royal Northern College of Music, including Zoot and the Roots along with the saxophonist Snake Davis. Kirkhope also spent ma

Granville Bantock

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Sir Granville Ransome Bantock (7 August 186816 October 1946) was a British composer of classical music. Biography Granville Ransome Bantock was born on 7 August 1868 in London. His father was an eminent Scottish surgeon. His younger brother was the dramatist and film director Leedham Bantock. Granville Bantock was intended by his parents for the Indian Civil Service but he suffered poor health and initially turned to chemical engineering. At the age of 20, when he began studying composers’ manuscripts, at South Kensington Museum Library, he was drawn into the musical world. In 1888, he entered the Royal Academy of Music where he studied harmony and composition with Frederick Corder winning the Macfarren Prize in the first year it was awarded. Early conducting engagements took him around the world with a musical comedy troupe. With his brother Leedham Bantock he wrote a couple of music hall songs which met with some success. He founded a music magazine, The New Quarterly Music Review, In 1934, he was elected Chairman of the Corporation of Trinity College of Music in London. He was knighted in 1930. Among his other better-known works are the overture The Pierrot of the Minute (1908)

Grayston Ives

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Charles John Grayston Ives (born 1948), also known as Bill Ives, is a British composer, singer and choral director. Education and career Ives was a chorister at Ely Cathedral and later studied music at Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he held a choral scholarship. He began his career as a music teacher, before joining the King’s Singers from 1978 to 1985. His voice can be heard on a number of recordings from that period, including Paul McCartney’s Frog Chorus. From 1991 to 2009 he was the organist and choir director at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was also a Fellow and tutor in music. As well as being responsible for the daily musical life of the college chapel, he directed the choir in recordings on the Harmonia Mundi label. The album With a Merrie Noyse, made with the viol consort Fretwork and featuring the works of the English composer Orlando Gibbons, was nominated for a Grammy in 2004. Paul McCartney’s Ecce Cor Meum was written especially for the college choir, and the subsequent EMI recording won the Classical BRIT Award for album of the year in 2007. Other recordings with Magdalen College Choir include Listen Sweet Dove, a selection of Ives’s liturgical works, and Duru

Gregory Rose (musician)

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Peter Gregory Rose (born 18 April 1948) is a conductor, composer, arranger, and music director. He has conducted orchestral, choral and ensemble premieres throughout Europe and the Far East. Musical education and training Gregory Rose studied violin, piano and singing as a young child and was a pupil of Hanns Jelinek (Vienna Academy) and Egon Wellesz (Oxford University), both former students of Arnold Schoenberg, and of his father, Bernard Rose. Conductor Choral Rose’s conducting repertoire ranges from Pérotin (of the Notre Dame school) to premieres which have included his own works. He began conducting choirs whilst a student at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was an ‘Academical Clerk’ (Choral scholar) under the direction of his father, the conductor, composer, scholar and teacher, Bernard Rose. Since then, his choral conducting has included concerts and recordings with Europe’s finest choirs, including the Groupe Vocal de France, the BBC Singers, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Netherlands Kamerkoor, the Westdeutscher Rundfunkchor (West German Radio Chorus) and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. He has conducted many a cappella programmes, including all-Russian works fo

Guirne Creith

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Guirne Creith (born Gladys Mary Cohen; 21 February 1907, in London – 1996) was an English composer and pianist most active in the 1920s and 1930s. She received the Charles Lucas Prize in 1925, having entered the Royal Academy of Music just two years before under the pseudonym Guirne M Creith. A second recording came out in 2026. Works Many of Creith’s manuscripts are missing. Her compositions include four orchestral pieces (only the concerto survives), six works of chamber music (though all six of these are lost and known only from descriptions, so their instrumentation is a matter of conjecture; the Ballade might be for orchestra for example), six songs (five of them published between 1929 and 1956, and the other lost - apparently her only published works), and one ballet (also lost). In all, of these, only her published songs and the violin concerto are known to survive, and the latter only because the manuscript was rediscovered. BBC broadcast listings and newspaper reviews show that Creith’s time in the public spotlight was limited. Her Ballet Suite in Four Movements was broadcast on 8 February 1928, with the composer conducting. The orchestral tone poem May Eve was broadcast o

Gustav Holst

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Gustav Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite The Planets, he composed many other works across a range of genres, although none achieved comparable success. His distinctive compositional style was the product of many influences, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss being most crucial early in his development. The subsequent inspiration of the English folksong revival of the early 20th century, and the example of such rising modern composers as Maurice Ravel, led Holst to develop and refine an individual style. There were professional musicians in the previous three generations of Holst’s family, and it was clear from his early years that he would follow the same calling. He hoped to become a pianist, but was prevented by neuritis in his right arm. Despite his father’s reservations, he pursued a career as a composer, studying at the Royal College of Music under Charles Villiers Stanford. Unable to support himself by his compositions, he played the trombone professionally and later became a teacher—a great one, according to his colleague Ralph Vaughan Williams. Among ot

Guto Puw

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Guto Pryderi Puw (born 1971) is a Welsh composer, university lecturer and conductor. He is considered to be one of the most prominent Welsh composers of his generation and a key figure in current Welsh music. Puw studied music composition at Bangor University with John Pickard, Andrew Lewis and Pwyll ap Siôn. Puw was awarded with a MMus degree in 1996 and a PhD degree in 2002. He was the founding member and conductor for , a Welsh-language choir based in Y Felinheli near Bangor. Puw has received commissions from (amongst others) BBC Radio 3, the Welsh baritone Jeremy Huw Williams, the Bangor New Music Festival and the North Wales International Music Festival. He was a founding member and the artistic director of the Bangor Music Festival, a festival for new music in north Wales founded in 2000. He received the Tlws y Cerddor award from the Welsh Music Guild. Music Welsh links Puw’s music is rooted in the language and literature of Wales, with a particular affinity to the poetry of R. S. Thomas. Welsh titles and settings of poetry in Welsh, such as Mecanwaith, Dawns y Sêr, and … onyt agoraf y drws …, feature in his work. He has won the Composer’s Medal at the National Eisteddfod

Guy Michelmore

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Guy Alford Michelmore (born August 1957) is an English film and television composer and former television news presenter. Early life Guy Alford Michelmore was born in August 1957. Michelmore is the son of BBC presenters Cliff Michelmore and Jean Metcalfe. His mother Jean was the presenter of Family Favourites and Woman’s Hour. His father Cliff was best known for the BBC television programme Tonight. Cliff once interviewed himself, and asked whether either his son or daughter had shown any interest in television – Cliff answered by saying that ten-year-old Guy was “at that point where he is fascinated and interested in all things… even his father’s job!” Michelmore was educated at the independent St John’s School in Leatherhead, Surrey and Pembroke College, Oxford. News presenter Michelmore began reporting on Anglia TV’s About Anglia before joining the BBC programme Newsroom South East in 1993. He left the programme to be replaced by Tim Ewart from ITN. Michelmore famously spilt his drink all over himself and his desk before going into a live link on Newsroom South East. The incident was shown on the BBC’s Auntie’s Bloomers outtakes show. Composer Michelmore is a composer of music

Guy Warrack

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Guy Douglas Hamilton Warrack (6 February 1900 – 12 February 1986) was a Scottish composer, music educator and conductor. He was the son of John Warrack of the Leith steamship company, John Warrack & Co., founded by Guy’s grandfather, also called John. Life and career Warrack was born in Edinburgh. He was educated at Cargilfield Preparatory School and Winchester College, where he played organ in chapel services, arranged House choirs and played timpani in the school orchestra. At Magdalen College, Oxford he studied music under Sir Hugh Allen and Dr Ernest Walker. During his time as a student, he performed as organist at St Columba’s Presbyterian Church in Oxford, as well as in Edinburgh at churches such as St George’s United Free. He continued his studies at the Royal College of Music (RCM) where his professors included Holst and Vaughan Williams (composing) and Adrian Boult (conducting). He won the Foli Prize and the Tagore Gold Medal. Warrack also conducted at the Lyric Hammersmith and assisted Adrian Boult in an opera season at the Royal Court Theatre. He orchestrated the piano music of Fauré for choreographer Andrée Howard’s best known ballet, La Fête étrange, premiered on 23 Ma

Guy Woolfenden

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Guy Anthony Woolfenden (12 July 1937 – 15 April 2016) was an English composer and conductor. He was head of music at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon for 37 years, making music an integral part of over 150 productions there. One of the first productions he was involved with there was The Wars of the Roses cycle of Shakespeare plays produced by Peter Hall and John Barton in 1964, for which he created special instruments. In 1976 he composed the score for Trevor Nunn’s musical version of The Comedy of Errors, which transferred to the Aldwych Theatre in 1977. Similarly, the music composed for the 1982 productions of Henry IV Parts I and II was reused the following year as the suite for wind band Gallimaufry, the first of 15 major wind band pieces. Woolfenden was Artistic Director of the Cambridge Festival from 1986 to 1991. In 1995 he was a founder director of the English Music Festival which became the Stratford on Avon Music Festival. He was the Chairman of the Denne Gilkes Memorial Fund, a charity which supports young musicians and actors. Woolfenden conducted three productions with the Scottish Opera, as well as the first British productions of Nielsen’s Saul a

Gwilym Simcock

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Gwilym Simcock (born 24 February 1981) is a Welsh pianist and composer working in both jazz and classical music. He was chosen as one of the 1000 Most Influential People in London by the Evening Standard in 2009. He was featured on the front cover of the August 2007 issue of the UK’s Jazzwise magazine. Early life Simcock was born in Bangor, Gwynedd. At the age of eleven he attained the highest marks in the country for his Associated Board on both piano and French horn. He studied classical piano, French horn, and composition at Chetham’s School, Manchester, where he was introduced to jazz by pianist and teacher Les Chisnall and bassist and teacher Steve Berry. He studied jazz piano at The Royal Academy of Music, London with John Taylor, Nikki Iles, Nick Weldon, and Geoff Keezer. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music and won the “Principal’s Prize” for outstanding achievement. At the Royal Academy of Music he studied with Milton Mermikides. Career In 2006, he was the first jazz musician to be selected for the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, and this was extended to 2008. It involved broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 as solo performances, and his trio appearance at the Wigm

Gwyneth Herbert

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Gwyneth Herbert (born 26 August 1981) is a British singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Initially known for her interpretation of jazz and swing standards, she is now established as a writer of original compositions, including musical theatre. She has been described as “an exquisite wordsmith” with “a voice that can effortlessly render any emotion with commanding ease” and her songs as being “impressively crafted and engrossing vignette s of life’s more difficult moments”. to Mary and Brian Herbert, she was brought up in Surrey and Hampshire in the south of England. She began playing the piano at the age of three and was writing basic songs at the age of five. She also learned the French horn, achieving Grade 8 by the age of 15. and, for her sixth form studies, to Alton College in Hampshire, where her musical tastes moved more towards jazz. While she was studying at St Chad’s College, University of Durham, she met up with fellow student Will Rutter and together they began to write and perform in the cafés and bars of North East England as a jazz duo called Black Coffee. The Herbert/Rutter song “Sweet Insomnia” featured guest vocals from Jamie Cull

Gyp Mills

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Gyp Mills (born David John Mills, 9 July 1946 – 18 June 2019), also known as Gypsy Dave, was an English sculptor and songwriter. He was first in the public eye as the companion to the singer-songwriter, Donovan. He was also a well-known sculptor with studios in Greece and Thailand. Early years Mills was born in Peckham Rye, London, before moving to Hertfordshire. In his early days in Hertfordshire he became friends with many art students, including Dave Richards, Julian McAllister and Donovan. In 1963 he made a pivotal journey to St. Ives, Cornwall with Donovan. He lost touch with Donovan and moved around the UK including Manchester and Nottingham. In late 1964 Donovan had been signed up to a record label and asked Mills to accompany him on his first tour with his other friends Mac MacLeod and John Lock. Donovan wrote “To Try for the Sun” and “Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)” about his time with Mills. Mills was tour manager for Donovan for many years, and appeared alongside Donovan in the TV film, A Boy Called Donovan. In 1968 they both journeyed to be with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and The Beatles in Rishikesh, India. Mills wrote a few songs which appeared on Donovan’s album, The Hurd

Hamilton Harty

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Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty (4 December 1879 – 19 February 1941) was an Irish composer, conductor, pianist and organist. After an early career as a church organist in his native Ireland, Harty moved to London at about age 20, soon becoming a well-known piano accompanist. The Musical Times called him “the prince of accompanists”. As a composer he wrote throughout his career, many of his works being well received, though few are regularly performed in the 21st century. In his career as a conductor, which began in 1904, Harty was particularly noted as an interpreter of the music of Berlioz. From 1920 to 1933 he was the chief conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he returned to the high standards and critical acclaim that it had enjoyed under its founder, Charles Hallé. His last permanent post was with the London Symphony Orchestra, but it lasted only two years, from 1932 to 1934. During his conducting career, Harty made some recordings with his orchestras. Shortly after his dismissal by the LSO, Harty began to suffer the symptoms of a brain tumour. After surgery, he resumed his career until 1940, but the tumour returned to cause his death at the age of 61. Life and care

Hamish MacCunn

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Hamish MacCunn, né James MacCunn (22 March 18682 August 1916) was a Scottish composer, conductor and teacher. He was one of the first students of the newly founded Royal College of Music in London, and quickly made a mark. As a composer he achieved early success with his orchestral piece The Land of the Mountain and the Flood (1887), and, later, his first opera, Jeanie Deans (1894). His subsequent compositions did not match those two successes, and although he continued to compose throughout his life, he became best known as a conductor and teacher. He held teaching appointments at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music. As a conductor MacCunn served as musical director to the Carl Rosa, Moody-Manners and D’Oyly Carte opera companies, and worked with Thomas Beecham in the latter’s London opera seasons in 1910 and 1915 and on tour. Life and career Early years James MacCunn was born in Greenock, Scotland, the second son of James MacCunn and his wife Barbara, née Neill. It was a musical household: MacCunn senior, a prosperous shipowner by profession, was an amateur cellist; his wife, a former pupil of Sterndale Bennett, sang and played the piano. The parents enco

Hannah Kendall

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Hannah Kendall (born May 1984 in London) is a British composer currently based in New York. Background and career Kendall grew up in Wembley, where her mother is the head teacher in a primary school. Her doctorate was completed at Columbia University in the City of New York with Georg Friedrich Haas and George E. Lewis. Her music is published by Ricordi (Berlin). In 2015, Kendall was noted as one of the “brilliant female composers under the age of 35”. She featured on BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week. All five composers of the week were women and this was part of Radio 3’s International Women’s Day celebrations, which were highlighted in The Guardian. Also in 2015 Kendall won a ‘Women of the Future Award’ in the Arts and Culture category. Her one-man chamber opera The Knife of Dawn, with a libretto by Tessa McWatt and based on the incarceration of political activist Martin Carter in the then British Guiana in 1953 was premiered in 2016 at the Roundhouse. Her piece The Spark Catchers premiered at the BBC Proms in August 2017 and is inspired by the work of poet Lemn Sissay. Kendall returned to the Proms for the delayed first night of live music (due to the pandemic) on 28 August 20

Hans Redlich

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Hans Ferdinand Redlich (11 February 1903 – 27 November 1968) was an Austrian musicologist, writer, conductor and composer who, due to political disruption by the Nazi Party, lived and worked in Britain from 1939 until his death nearly thirty years later. Redlich’s continental years Redlich was born in Vienna, the son of Josef Redlich (1869-1936), then Professor of History at the University of Vienna. He studied piano privately with Paul Weingarten and harmony and counterpoint with Hugo Kauder. He was a student of Carl Orff in Munich after 1921. He was a university student in both cities and studied German literature and musicology. Redlich served as répétiteur for the Berlin-Charlottenburg city opera in 1924–1925 and as opera conductor for the Stadttheater Mainz from 1925 to 1929. From 1929 until 1931, Redlich studied musicology at Frankfurt University where he completed a dissertation on stylistic changes in Claudio Monteverdi’s madrigals. From then until 1937, Redlich resided in Mannheim as a composer and writer. His interest in Monteverdi led to his preparation of a performing edition of the 1610 Vespers, based on Gian Francesco Malipiero’s pioneering collected edition of Montev

Harold Craxton

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Thomas Harold Hunt Craxton (30 April 188530 March 1971) was an English pianist, teacher and composer. Early life Born in London, and growing up in Devizes, Craxton began studying piano with Tobias Matthay and Cuthbert Whitemore in 1907. Career Craxton made a name for himself early in his career as an accompanist, touring for two years with Emma Albani and twelve with Clara Butt, covering Europe, South Africa, America, Canada, the South Sea Islands, Australia and New Zealand. He also had long associations with Nellie Melba, Lionel Tertis, Jacques Thibaud, Elena Gerhardt and John McCormack. In 1919 Craxton became a professor at the Royal Academy of Music. He remained there until 1961, although he continued teaching from his studio long into his later years. Some notable students included Winifred Atwell, Joyce Howard Barrell, Susan Bradshaw, Howard Brown, Mary Chandler, Elaine Hugh-Jones, Peter Katin, Alexander Kelly, Denis Matthews, Noel Mewton-Wood, Hamish Milne, Albert Alan Owen, Patrick Piggott, Alan Richardson, and Thorunn Tryggvason (later Ashkenazy). Craxton was also an active composer. His first published work was “Three Pieces for Pianoforte” (1911). Some of his songs were r

Harrison Birtwistle

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Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include The Triumph of Time (1972) and the operas The Mask of Orpheus (1986), Gawain (1991), and The Minotaur (2008). The last of these was ranked by music critics at The Guardian in 2019 as the third-best piece of the 21st century. Even his compositions that were not written for the stage often showed a theatrical approach. A performance of his saxophone concerto Panic during the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms caused “national notoriety”. Much of his youth was spent roaming the countryside near his home, and his frustration with the disruption of the nature by modern technology would affect his later work profoundly. Other youthful activities included the construction of amateur theatrical sets, and the subsequent imagining of dramas taking place inside them. Birtwistle became proficient enough to play in the local military-style band and also played in the orchestra that accompanied Gilbert and Sullivan productions and the local choral society’s performance

Harry Escott

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Harry Escott (born 9 September 1976) is a British composer living in London. He has composed the scores to several films, including Shame (2011), Hard Candy (2005), A Mighty Heart (2007), and Ali & Ava (2021), for which he won a British Independent Film Award for best music. He is a frequent collaborator with Michael Winterbottom, (The Face of an Angel, The Road To Guantanamo, The Wedding Guest, & Greed), Paddy Considine (Journeyman), Steve McQueen (Shame & Uprising) and Clio Barnard (The Arbor, The Selfish Giant & Dark River). His score for Dark River included a song co-written with PJ Harvey, “An Acre of Land”, released on Cognitive Shift Recordings. He scored Eran Creevy’s action thriller Welcome to the Punch which was executive produced by Ridley Scott and had its cinematic release in 2013. This was the second time he had worked with Creevy, having scored the director’s debut feature, Shifty, for which he received a BIFA nomination in 2008. Escott’s recent television credits include BBC One drama series Roadkill, for which he received a BAFTA award and Steve McQueen’s Uprising for which he won the Royal Television Society award in 2021. He studied music at the Royal College of

Harry Farjeon

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Harry Farjeon (6 May 1878 – 29 December 1948) was a British composer and an influential teacher of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music for more than 45 years. Early life and studies Harry Farjeon was born in Hohokus Township, New Jersey, United States, the eldest son of author Benjamin Farjeon, who was from the East End of London, and Margaret, the daughter of American actor Joseph Jefferson. His parents returned to Britain when he was a baby, and he lived in Hampstead in London for the rest of his life. His younger sister, Eleanor Farjeon (b. 1881), with whom he shared a rich imaginary life, wrote children’s books and poetry, including the hymn, Morning Has Broken. His younger brothers were J. Jefferson Farjeon (b. 1883), novelist, and Herbert Farjeon (b. 1887), writer of theatrical revues. Harry studied music privately with Landon Ronald and John Storer, then in 1895 he entered the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied composition with Battison Haynes and Frederick Corder, and piano with Septimus Webbe. There he was a contemporary of Arnold Bax, York Bowen, Adam Carse, Eric Coates, Benjamin Dale and Percy Hilder Miles. An opera, Floretta, to a libre

Havergal Brian

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William Havergal Brian (29 January 187628 November 1972) was an English composer, librettist, and church organist. He is best known for having composed 32 symphonies—an unusually high number amongst his contemporaries—25 of them after the age of 70. His best-known work is his Symphony No. 1, The Gothic, which calls for some of the largest orchestral forces demanded by a conventionally structured concert work. He also composed five operas and a number of other orchestral works, as well as songs, choral music and a small amount of chamber music. Brian enjoyed a period of popularity earlier in his career and rediscovery in the 1950s, but public performances of his music have remained rare and he has been described as a cult composer. He continued to be extremely productive late into his career, composing large works even into his nineties, most of which remained unperformed during his lifetime. Life Early life William Havergal Brian was born on 29 January 1876 in Dresden, in the Potteries district of Staffordshire, near the Stoke-on-Trent suburb of Longton. He was one of a very small number of composers to originate from the English working class. Brian’s middle name Havergal, by whic

Haydn Wood

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Haydn Wood (25 March 1882 – 11 March 1959) was a 20th-century English composer and concert violinist, best known for his 200 or so ballad style songs, including the popular Roses of Picardy. while Daniel S Wood (1872-1927) was principal flautist with the London Symphony Orchestra from 1910, taught flute at the Royal Academy of Music and composed practice pieces that are still in use today. In 1897, at the Royal College of Music, Haydn Wood studied violin with Enrique Fernández Arbós and composition with Charles Villiers Stanford. In 1901, he was soloist at a special concert commemorating the opening of the Royal College of Music’s Concert Hall. The concert was attended by Joseph Joachim (who had heard him play before) and Pablo de Sarasate. They were so impressed that they sent him to Brussels for study with the renowned teacher César Thomson. Career He then embarked on a world tour, accompanying the Canadian soprano Dame Emma Albani and they continued their association for a further eight years. reportedly selling 50,000 sheet music copies per month and earning a six figure royalty sum The song Love’s Garden of Roses was written in 1915, but didn’t become well known until populari

Heathcote Dicken Statham

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Heathcote Dicken Statham CBE (7 December 1889 - 29 October 1973) was a conductor, composer and organist of international repute. Early life He was the eldest son of Henry Heathcote Statham (1839-1924) and Florence Elizabeth Dicken (1856-1938). His father was an amateur musician who played organ and contributed articles to Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians. From Gresham’s School, Holt, Statham proceeded to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where in March 1908 he was awarded the college’s organ scholarship of £60 a year for three years, before completing his musical education at the Royal College of Music, London. Career He became organist of Calcutta Cathedral 1913 - 1920, then St. Michael’s College, Tenbury 1920 - 1926, then St. Mary’s Church, Southampton 1926 - 1928, and finally of Norwich Cathedral, holding that post from 1928 to 1966. In the choir, Statham’s nickname was ‘Dickey’. As a composer he is best known for his Rhapsody on a Ground for organ (1944) In the 1980s Christopher Palmer arranged The Bells of St Chad’s: Postlude for strings from the final movement of his Four Diversions for organ (1957). He conducted the Norwich Philharmonic Orchestra on some one hu

Helen Chadwick (musician)

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Helen Chadwick is a British composer and singer who has written over 300 songs, mainly for unaccompanied voices. She has ten albums and creates song theatre performances, both solo and with her group. As a singer she has worked with Meredith Monk, Orlando Gough and for the Royal National Theatre. Helen’s recordings to 2005 are included in the Women’s Revolutions Per Minute (WRPM) Collection and Archive at Goldsmiths University of London Special Collections. In 2008 she created, composed and sung in two productions commissioned by the Royal Opera House: Dalston Songs, based on interviews with her neighbours on the theme of home, in collaboration with choreographer Steven Hoggett, and The Singing Circle, featuring the massed voices of several choirs, and choreography by Liam Steel. In 2014 she created War Correspondents, based on interviews with frontline journalists; on this show she again collaborated with Steven Hoggett. Helen composed music for a sound installation at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham, which won the East Midlands Heritage Award (Judges Special Prize) in 2017. In 2002, in collaboration with the Thames Festival, Helen co-founded the mass singing charity project Sing For Wa

Helen Glatz

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Helen Sinclair Glatz (née Hunter) (13 March 1908–15 June 1996) was an English composer and pianist, a pupil of Ralph Vaughan Williams, best known for her teaching at Dartington Hall and the Dartington International Summer School for over 40 years. Life Helen Sinclair Hunter was born in the South Shields, Durham, England. She studied music under Dr. William Gillies Whittaker at Armstrong College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She was the first woman from northern England to win an open scholarship for composition to the Royal College of Music, where she studied under Vaughan Williams and Gordon Jacob. Her contemporaries there included Elizabeth Lutyens, Elizabeth Maconchy and Imogen Holst. She was a Cobbett Prize winner for her Phantasy Trio for strings in 1931. During a composition scholarship in 1933, Hunter travelled to Vienna, Italy, and Budapest, where she studied under Zoltán Kodály and Sándor Vegh. She married linguist Wolf Glatz in Hungary and remained there during World War II until he could secure passage out of the country, fleeing as the Red Army took Budapest. Her pupils included bassoon and oboe player Lindsay Cooper, symphonic composer Philip Sawyers, Benjamin Britten’s music

Helen Hopekirk

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Helen Hopekirk (20 May 1856 – 19 November 1945) was a Scottish-born American pianist and composer, who after the age of 40, lived and worked in Boston, Massachusetts. Life and career Helen Hopekirk was born in Portobello, Edinburgh in Scotland, a daughter of music shop owners Adam and Helen (née Croall) Hopekirk. She studied music with George Lichtenstein and Scottish composer Alexander Mackenzie, and made her debut as a soloist in 1874 with the Edinburgh Amateur Orchestral Society. After other successful performances and the death of her father, she relocated to study composition with Carl Reinecke in Leipzig. After successful debuts in Leipzig and London, she began regular concert tours of Europe. In 1882 Hopekirk married Edinburgh merchant and music critic William A. Wilson (d. 1926), who began serving as her manager. She made her American debut in 1883 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and commenced concert tours in the United States. She planned to continue her studies with Franz Liszt, but after his death studied instead with Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna and Czech composer Karel Navrátil in Prague. She and her husband lived in Vienna until 1892, and then moved to Paris, whe

Helen Parker-Jayne Isibor

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Helen Epega (née Isibor), also The Venus Bushfires (born 1981), is a Nigerian/British opera singer, songwriter, composer, visual and performance artist, who has written and composed the world’s first opera in Pidgin English. Inspired after seeing Wagner’s Parsifal, her Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera was presented in London in July 2015. Biography Born in Ibadan in southwestern Nigeria into a family with five children, Epega is the daughter of a medical consultant and a storybook writer, both of whom were interested in music. She lived in Benin City until moving to London in the 1980s at the age of seven. After attending an all-girls convent school, she graduated in Communications and Media at Brunel University London. She began her career as a rapper then found her voice after becoming interested in politically aware singers such as Fela Kuti and Miriam Makeba. When she was in Ibiza in 2007, she discovered the hang drum, which has since become her favourite instrument. Epega is known as The Venus Bushfires, “a creative collective of one and many”, and has explained the name by saying: “When I was in Benin City in 2008 visiting my grandmother, they’d burned the land. And I asked my moth

Henry Bishop (composer)

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Sir Henry Rowley Bishop (18 November 178730 April 1856) was an English composer from the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He is most famous for the songs “Home! Sweet Home!” and “Lo! Hear the Gentle Lark.” He was the composer or arranger of some 120 dramatic works, including 80 operas, light operas, cantatas, and ballets. Bishop was Knighted in 1842. Bishop worked for all the major theatres of London in his era – including the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Vauxhall Gardens and the Haymarket Theatre, and was Professor of Music at the universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. His second wife was the noted soprano Anna Bishop, who scandalised British society by leaving him and conducting an open liaison with the harpist Nicolas-Charles Bochsa until the latter’s death in Sydney. Life Bishop was born in London, where his father was a watchmaker and haberdasher. At the age of 13, Bishop left full-time education and worked as a music-publisher with his cousin. After training as a jockey at Newmarket, he took some lessons in harmony from Francesco Bianchi in London. In 1804 he wrote the music to a piece called “Angelina”, which was performed at Marga

Henry Carey (writer)

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Henry Carey (c. 26 August 1687 – 5 October 1743) was an English poet, dramatist and composer. He is remembered as an anti-Walpolean satirist and also as a patriot. Several of his melodies continue to be sung today, and he was widely praised in the generation after his death. Because he worked in anonymity, selling his own compositions to others to pass off as their own, contemporary scholarship can only be certain of some of his poetry, and a great deal of the music he composed was written for theatrical incidental music. However, under his own name and hand, he was a prolific songwriter and balladeer, and he wrote the lyrics for almost all of these songs. Further, he wrote numerous operas and plays. His life is illustrative of the professional author in the early 18th century. Without inheritance or title or governmental position, he wrote for all of the remunerative venues, and yet he also kept his own political point of view and was able to score significant points against the ministry of the day. Further, he was one of the leading lights of the new “Patriotic” movement in drama. Carey is famous for his satirical play Chrononhotonthologos. Early life Henry Carey was born in Lond

Henry Erskine Allon

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Henry Erskine Allon (16 October 1864 – 3 April 1897) was an English composer. Biography Henry Erskine Allon was born on 16 October 1864 to the prominent Nonconformist minister Henry Allon (1818–1892) and his wife, Eliza née Goodman. Allon grew up among four sisters and two brothers, and was educated at Amersham Hall in Caversham, Reading. He first attended University College London, and then Trinity College, Cambridge, where he matriculated at in 1882. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts there in 1885. At Cambridge he received an English essay prize and graduated with a third in History. His father tried to get him appointed as an inspector of the university, but was dissuaded from this by his friend Matthew Arnold as he suspected the Tory government in power (whose Lord President had the job of appointing inspectors) would be unlikely to appoint Nonconformist inspectors. (Other composers included in this group were William Wallace, Reginald Steggall, Stanley Hawley and Arthur Hinton). Allon was responsible for about thirty compositions, including six cantatas (among them, “Annie of Lochroyan” and “The Child of Elle”), and a number of solos and sonatas. Allon composed mainly for the p

Henry Farmer

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Henry Farmer (13 May 1819 – 25 June 1891) was a British organist and composer based in Nottingham. Life He was born in Nottingham, the third son of Mr. John Farmer. He was self-taught as a musician, but undertook some study in harmony with Sir Henry Bishop, and tuition under J. Wade Thirlwall. He played violin in the orchestra when Felix Mendelssohn conducted his oratorio Elijah was premiered in Birmingham at the Triennial Music Festival on 26 August 1846. He was organist of High Pavement Chapel in Nottingham from 1839 to 1879, and he was conductor of the Nottingham Harmonic Society from 1866 to 1880. He published a violin tutor early in his life. His Mass in B flat was sketched by him in 1843 and published in 1847. In later life he composed Six Short and Easy Trios for Violin, and an anthem, “I will Sing of the Mercies of the Lord”. He was a member of the Robin Hood Battalion from 7 April 1860 to 30 March 1878, ending up as captain. He married Jane Walker Thompson (1820-1846) on 7 July 1842 in St Mary’s Church, Nottingham. There were three children: *Henry Purcell Farmer (1843-1850) *Kate Neville Farmer (1845-1918) *Arthur Thompson Farmer (1846-1847) He married secondly Anne Bards

Henry Hiles

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Henry Hiles (31 December 1826 – 20 October 1904) was an English composer, organist, writer and music educator. Early life and education Born in Shrewsbury, Hiles was the youngest of six sons and was first taught music by his eldest brother, John Hiles (1810-1882), known as an arranger of organ music and for authoring several catechisms. Much later in life he undertook formal musical studies at the University of Oxford, where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree in 1862 and his Mus.Doc. in 1867. In 1882 he was a founder of the Society of Professional Musicians. Hiles was much in demand as a choral conductor in Manchester, Preston and Warrington, and at the Manchester Athenaeum Musical Society. Composer His compositions include oratorios and cantatas including David (1860), The Patriarchs (1872), Watchfulness (for female voices and orchestra), Fayre Pastoral and The Crusaders. Other works include the “serious glee” Hushed in Death, which was performed by the Manchester Gentlemen’s Glee Club in 1878, church music (including 14 anthems), the operetta, War in the Household (1885), the concert overtures Youth and Harold (1893), and various works for organ, including six impromptus and

Henry Holmes (composer)

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Henry Holmes (7 November 1839 9 December 1905) was a British violinist, composer, and music educator. His compositional output includes a violin concerto, several works for solo violin, five symphonies, a concert overture, two sacred cantatas for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra, and other chamber and choral works. Biography Born in London, Holmes was the 2 year younger brother of violinist and composer Alfred Holmes. Both men studied the violin initially with their father and then at the Spohr’s Violin School. The brothers made their professional debut together when Henry was just eight years old, performing in concert as duettists at the Haymarket Theatre on 13 July 1847. They then toured throughout Europe to much acclaim and violinist/composer Louis Spohr dedicated his three violin duos to them. The brothers parted ways in 1864, with Alfred settling in Paris and Henry remaining in London. Composition His works include two sacred cantatas – Praise Ye the Lord and Christmas Day (Gloucester, 1880), as well as O may I join the choir invisible for baritone solo, chorus and strings. Of the symphonies only the last two have survived. The first (in A, op. 32) was given at the Crystal

Henry Hugh Pierson

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Henry Hugh Pierson (12 April 1815 – 28 January 1873) was an English composer resident from 1845 in Germany. He was born Henry Hugh Pearson and his middle name is sometimes given as Hugo. His original name was Henry Hugh Pearson, in Germany he used Heinrich Hugo Pierson. He had success in his adopted country with his operas and songs but little in his own, and his music is now rarely performed. Life Pierson was the son of a clergyman, Rev. Dr. Hugh Nicholas Pearson. He was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied counterpoint with Thomas Attwood Walmisley. From 1839 to 1844 he studied music in Germany under C. H. Rink, Tomaschek and Reissiger. He also studied in Prague with Václav Tomášek. His amorous adventures included an apparent liaison with Mary Shelley, before he married in 1844. Although elected Reid Professor of Music at Edinburgh University in 1844 he was made to resign when he did not take up his duties and subsequently based himself in Germany. Hubert Parry took lessons with him in 1867. Compositions (selective list) Many of Pierson’s manuscript full and vocal scores, including those of his oratorios and operas, appear not to have survive

Henry Jackman

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Henry Pryce Jackman (born 1 June 1974) is a British film and television score composer, conductor and arranger. He composed music for films such as Monsters vs. Aliens, Kick-Ass and its sequel, X-Men: First Class, Puss in Boots, Captain Phillips, Turbo, Freebirds, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Interview, Pixels, Captain America: Civil War, Kong: Skull Island, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and its sequel, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, Ron’s Gone Wrong, Red One, Smurfs and five Walt Disney Animation Studios films, including Wreck-It Ralph and Big Hero 6. Outside of film, he has also scored television series including The Man in the High Castle, The Comey Rule and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and video games including Battlefield 6, Disney Infinity, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and Just Cause 3. He is also known for collaborating with directors including the Russo brothers, Matthew Vaughn, Rich Moore, Don Hall, Chris Miller, Rob Letterman, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Edward Zwick, Jake Kasdan and Sam Hargrave; conductor Nick Glennie-Smith; scoring mixer Alan Meyerson; and violinist Eun-Mee Ahn. Life and career Jackman was born in Hillingdon, Lo

Henry Lawes

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Henry Lawes (baptised 5 January 1596 – 21 October 1662) was the leading English songwriter of the mid-17th century. He was elder brother of fellow composer William Lawes. Life Lawes was the elder son of Thomas Lawes (died 1640) and Lucris Lawes (born Shephard) was born at Dinton, near Wilton, Wiltshire, just before 5 January 1596. Around 1602 Thomas, a church musician, moved to Salisbury as lay vicar and the family took up residence in the Close. Henry’s three brothers, born in Salisbury, were also able musicians: William, Thomas (1608 – 1666) and John (d 1655). It is presumed that Henry, and subsequently William, sang in the Cathedral choir but there is no direct evidence. Nor is there information about his upbringing or musical training before he appeared in London, probably about 1615. At an early stage in London he was employed by John Egerton, earl of Bridgewater to teach music to his daughters. Unlike his songs (see below), little of his music for the masques survives. The portrait now in the Faculty of Music, Oxford University, is dated around this time, approximately 1642. The English Civil War altered this way of life and affected Henry especially when William was killed i

Henry Ley (organist)

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Henry George Ley (30 December 188724 August 1962) was an English organist, composer, and music teacher. Early life and education Born in Chagford, Devon, Ley was the son of the Rev. Gerald Lewis Henry Ley and Beatrice Emma Hayter-Hames. His father, his maternal grandfather, and several other maternal relatives served as Rector of Chagford. Ley was a chorister at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, a music scholar at Uppingham School, and in 1906 became an organ scholar at Keble College, Oxford. In 1908, he was president of the University Musical Club, and later he was an exhibitioner at the Royal College of Music, where he was a pupil of Sir Walter Parratt and Marmaduke Barton. Career Ley served as organist at St Mary’s, Farnham Royal, from 1905 to 1906 and at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, from 1909 to 1926. He became a professor of organ at the Royal College of Music in 1919 and was precentor of Radley College and Eton College, in charge of the chapel music, from 1926 to 1945. He was an Honorary Fellow of Keble College from 1926 to 1945. He died at Feniton in Devon in on 24 August 1962. Works Ley composed a number of choral works in the Anglican tradition, including anthems and

Henry Litolff

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Henry Charles Litolff (6 February 1818 – 5 August 1891) was a French and British virtuoso pianist, composer of Romantic music, and music publisher born in London. A prolific composer, he is today known mainly for a single brief work – the scherzo from his Concerto Symphonique No. 4 in D minor – and remembered as the founder of the Collection Litolff (today part of Edition Peters), a highly regarded publishing imprint of classical music scores. Biography Litolff was born in London in 1818 to a Scottish mother, Sophie (née Hayes), and a father, Martin Louis Litolff, from Alsace. The father, a violinist, had been previously taken prisoner of war while serving as a band musician in the Napoleonic army during the Peninsular War. His father taught the boy Henry the rudiments of music, and in 1830, when he was twelve, he played for the renowned virtuoso pianist Ignaz Moscheles, who was so impressed that he gave him free lessons starting that same year. Litolff began to concertize when he was fourteen. His lessons with Moscheles continued until in 1835, at the age of 17, Litolff abruptly married 16-year-old Elisabeth Etherington. The couple moved to Melun, and then to Paris. Around 1841, L

Henry Marcellus Higgs

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Henry Marcellus Higgs (1855–1929) was a British composer and performer whose early life and entire career was spent in London. His published output includes not only original instrumental, organ and sacred/secular vocal music but also arrangements of music from popular comtemporary stage works both for solo piano and for ensembles. Early life Henry Marcellus Higgs was one of three children born to organist and composer Marcellus Higgs (1827–88) and his wife Clara, nee Tomlin (c.1829-?). The organist and academic musician James Higgs, was brother to Marcellus. At the time of his birth Henry’s family were living in the parish of St George Hanover Square, London. Henry’s father Marcellus was organist of St James the Less, Westminster, and teacher of music and singing. By 1861 the family had moved to Bessborough Street in the parish of St John Westminster, where Marcellus had been appointed organist of the parish church, developing “considerable private teaching”. Henry and Emmeline settled in Twickenham before moving to Sutton. They had six children: Irene Emmeline Marcella Higgs, William Clapham Marcellus Higgs, Sidney Marcellus Higgs, Ethel Florence Gertrude Higgs, Ernest Henry Marc

Henry Purcell

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Early life#

Purcell was born in St Ann’s Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster, in 1659. From that year onwards the family lived just a few hundred yards west of Westminster Abbey. The father, also Henry Purcell, had an older brother Thomas who was a musician, a gentleman of the Chapel Royal who sang at the coronation of King Charles II of England. The elder Henry had three sons: Edward, Henry and Daniel. The latter, the youngest, also became a prolific composer and after his brother Henry’s death was to write the music for much of the final act of The Indian Queen. After their father’s death in 1664, the infant Henry was placed under the guardianship of his uncle Thomas, who showed him great affection and kindness. Thomas arranged for Henry to be admitted as a chorister and to study first under the composer Captain Henry Cooke, Master of the Children, and afterwards under Cooke’s successor Pelham Humfrey, who had been a pupil of Lully. The composer Matthew Locke was a family friend and, particularly with his semi-operas, probably also had a musical influence on the young Henry. When Henry’s voice broke in 1673, he left his post as a chorister in the Chapel Royal and became an assistant to the organ-builder John Hingston, who held the post of keeper of wind instruments to the King.

Henry Ramsden Bramley

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Henry Ramsden Bramley (4 June 1833 – February 1917) was an English clergyman and hymnologist perhaps best known for his collaborations with the composer Sir John Stainer. Along with earlier 19th-century composers such as William Sandys and John Mason Neale, Bramley and Stainer are credited with fuelling a Victorian revival of Christmas carols with their 1871 publication of Christmas Carols, New and Old, which popularised carols such as “The First Nowell”, “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen” and “The Holly and the Ivy”. By 1871, the second series of 22 carols came out bringing the total to 42. A third series – with 28 carols – was issued in 1878, expanding the collection to 70 carols, second only to R. R. Chope’s Carols for Use In Church in the number of carols it contained. Early life and education Henry Ramsden Bramley was born on 4 June 1833 at Addingham in Yorkshire. He studied at Oriel College, Oxford (1852), and was later made a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1857. Ordination Bramley was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1856, and priest in 1858. He served as Vicar of Horspath in Oxfordshire between 1861 and 1889, and was later Canon and Precentor of Lincoln

Henry Thomas Pringuer

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Dr. Henry Thomas Pringuer DMus(Oxon), BMus(Oxon), FCO (23 February 1852 – 26 October 1930) was an English composer, organist, and one of the first examiners for Trinity College, London. Pringuer became Organist and Master of the Choir at St. Dunstan’s, Canterbury in 1866 at the age of 14. He then served at St. Matthew’s Parish Church Redhill and then for 40 years at St. Mary’s Parish Church Stoke Newington until his retirement due to ill-health in 1919. He subsequently went on to become organist at All Saints Lindfield. Early life (1852–1869) Henry Thomas Pringuer was born on 23 February 1852 at St. Peter’s Place, Canterbury. His parents were Samuel Freemoult Pringuer (1828–1907), a cabinet maker of Canterbury, Kent; and Eliza Hayward (1825–1902) of Blean, Kent. It is likely that the Pringuer family were Walloon refugees, many of whom settled in the Canterbury area. A good portion of the Pringuer family also worshipped in Bethnal Green and Spitalfields, both often considered hubs of Walloon settlements. In 1861, at the age of just nine and a half, Pringuer was appointed organist of a chapel in Canterbury and in 1864, moved to All Saints’ Church. Shortly after, he attained the covet

Henry Twiselton Elliston

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Henry Twiselton Elliston (c. 1801 – 1864), was an English musical composer and inventor. Life Elliston was born in or about 1801, the second son of Robert William Elliston and the nephew of Mary Ann Rundall. He resided during most of his life at Leamington, where his father had formerly leased the theatre. Having decided on adopting music as his profession, he received a careful training, and became a sound theoretical musician, and an able performer on the organ and several other instruments. On his father presenting an organ to the parish church of Leamington, Elliston was elected organist, and held the post till his death. In the subsequent enlargement of the organ he exhibited considerable mechanical ingenuity, and invented a transposing piano on a new and simple plan. He was an early member of the choral society of Leamington, and whilst he was associated with it the society produced the Messiah and other great works during a three days’ musical festival. Elliston himself built the music hall in Bath Street, with his brother William, who emigrated to Australia, he established the County Library. During the time that he and his brother were in partnership they gave concerts on

Herbert Bunning

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George Herbert Bunning (2 May 1863 – 26 November 1937) was an English composer and musical director active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He had one opera produced at Covent Garden, but was better known as a composer of lighter works and incidental music for stage productions. Life and career Bunning was born in London, and educated at Harrow School and Brasenose College, Oxford. On leaving the latter he was commissioned into the British Army as a lieutenant in the Queen’s Own Hussars, serving from 1884 to 1886. and later in Italy (Milan) between 1886 and 1890. He was musical director of the Lyric Theatre, London (1892–1893), and the Prince of Wales Theatre, (1895–1896). In 1902 Bunning’s opera La Princesse Osra was produced at Covent Garden. The libretto was an Anglicised version of a French text based on Anthony Hope’s Ruritanian novel The Heart of Princess Osra, and was ineffective. The Musical Times commented that Bunning’s gifts were lyrical rather than dramatic. In a 2013 survey of opera in Britain between 1875 and 1918, Paul Rodmell cites Saint-Saëns and Massenet as influences on Bunning’s musical style. In addition to La Princesse Osra, Bunning published two orc

Herbert Howells

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Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucestershire, the youngest of six children of Oliver Howells, a plumber, painter, decorator and builder, and his wife Elizabeth. His father played the organ at the local Baptist church, and Herbert showed early musical promise, first deputising for his father, and then moving at the age of eleven to the local Church of England parish church as choirboy and unofficial deputy organist. The Howells family’s precarious financial situation came to a head when Oliver filed for bankruptcy in September 1904, when Herbert was nearly 12. This was a deep humiliation in a small community at the time and one from which Howells never fully recovered. Financially assisted by a member of the family of Charles Bathurst, 1st Viscount Bledisloe, who had taken an interest in the budding musician, Howells began music lessons in 1905 with Herbert Brewer, the organist of Gloucester Cathedral, and at sixteen became his articled pupil at the Cathedral alongside Ivor Novello an

Herbert Hughes (composer)

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Herbert Hughes (16 May 1882 – 1 May 1937) was an Irish composer, music critic and a collector and arranger of Irish folksongs. He was the father of Spike Hughes. Biography Hughes was born and brought up in Belfast, Ireland, but completed his formal music education at the Royal College of Music, London, where he studied with Charles Villiers Stanford and Charles Wood, graduating in 1901. Subsequently, he worked as a music critic, notably for The Daily Telegraph from 1911 to 1932. Described as having an “ardent and self-confident manner”, Hughes is first heard of in an Irish musical capacity (beyond being honorary organist at St Peter’s Church on Antrim Road at the age of fourteen) collecting traditional airs and transcribing folksongs in North Donegal in August 1903 with his brother Fred, F.J. Bigger, and John Campbell. Dedicated to seeking out and recording such ancient melodies as were yet to be found in the more remote glens and valleys of Ulster, he produced Songs of Uladh (1904) with Joseph Campbell, illustrated by his brother John and paid for by Bigger. Throughout his career, he collected and arranged hundreds of traditional melodies and published many of them in his own uniq

Herbert J. Ellis

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Herbert J. Ellis (4 July 1865 – 13 October 1903) was a banjo player, a mandolinist, guitar player and a composer. Music historian Philip J. Bone called him “without question the most fertile English composer and arranger for mandolin and guitar.” He was the author of a banjo method, a guitar method, and a Tutor for Mandolin (1892), which he wrote while still in school. Ellis was born in Dulwich, London, the son of a licensed victualler, and received no musical instruction beyond that given by his mother, who had been a pupil of Sir Julius Benedict; she taught her son the piano and harmony. He became the delighted owner of a banjo as a boy and said that, “Having the infatuation (for the banjo), I learnt several tunes out of my piano tutor, and then occurred to me the idea of writing my own music for it. Gradually growing ambitious, I did not rest until I had written an instruction book, which, in due course saw the light and without being egotistical, I think I can safely say that it was from the advent of my Thorough school that the banjo began to be popular.” *Thorough School for the Mandoline John Alvey Turner, pub., London (1898) *Dallas Tutor for the Banjo, John Dallas and Sons

Herbert Menges

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Herbert Menges OBE (27 August 190220 February 1972) was an English conductor and composer, who wrote incidental music to all of Shakespeare’s plays. Life and career Siegfried Frederick Herbert Menges was born in Hove on 27 August 1902. His father was German and his mother British. His elder sister was the violinist Isolde Menges. Herbert appeared in public as a violinist at the age of four. He later abandoned the violin for the piano, which he studied with Mathilde Verne and Arthur De Greef. After some years the Players evolved into the Brighton Philharmonic Society, a forerunner of the Southern Philharmonic Orchestra, a professional group based in Brighton from 1945 which also gave regular concerts in Portsmouth and Hastings. Menges was a powerful advocate of the regional professional orchestras. He remained the orchestra’s musical director for the remaining 47 years of his life, during which time it became the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra in 1958, and conducted the orchestra 326 times. incidental music for all the plays of William Shakespeare, and numerous plays by other writers. He was associated with the productions of John Gielgud from 1933 onwards. His assistant there for

Herbert Sumsion

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Herbert Whitton Sumsion (14 January 1899 – 11 August 1995) was an English musician who was organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1928 to 1967. Through his leadership role with the Three Choirs Festival, Sumsion maintained close associations with major figures in England’s 20th-century musical renaissance, including Edward Elgar, Herbert Howells, Gerald Finzi, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Although Sumsion is known primarily as a cathedral musician, his professional career spanned more than 60 years and encompassed composing, conducting, performing, accompanying, and teaching. His compositions include works for choir and organ, as well as lesser-known chamber and orchestral works. Biography Training and early career Sumsion was born in Gloucester, a cathedral city on the River Severn. In 1908, at the age of nine, he became a Probationer in the choir at the cathedral there, which was then under the direction of Herbert Brewer. After two years, Sumsion became a full Chorister and sang with the choir until 1914. From 1911 to 1915 he was organist at Ashleworth, a small village six miles from Gloucester, responsible for the church choir and the “organ blower” for a fee of £5 a quarter, qui

Hermann Löhr

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Hermann Löhr (26 October 1871 – 6 December 1943) was an English composer. He was born in Plymouth, the son of Frederic Nicholls Löhr (1844–1888), a composer of songs and piano works. F N Lohr’s piano berceuse Cradle Song, an Idyll was written circa 1875 and dedicated to his twin sons, then four years old: “To my boys Victor and Hermann Frederic Lohr”. Hermann Löhr studied at the Royal Academy of Music, studying piano with Walter Cecil Macfarren and Frederick Westlake and harmony and counterpoint with Frederick Corder. At the academy he won the Charles Lucas medal for composition. He became famous as the composer of many songs. Among notable songs are “Chorus, Gentlemen!” (words by Mark Ambient), “Where my Caravan has Rested” and “The Little Irish Girl” (both with words by Edward Teschemacher), and “Little Grey Home in the West” (words by D. Eardley-Wilmot). His piano works include the intermezzo Autumn Gold (1928) which also exists in orchestrated versions. Löhr died in Tunbridge Wells in 1943. References External links * * Hermann Löhr at Discography of American Historical Recordings * Hermann Löhr at National Jukebox *

Hilda Dederich

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Hilda Dederich (1901–1969) was an English pianist, composer and piano teacher. She was a child prodigy and was the youngest of the pupils of Tobias Matthay. She was taught by Hedwig McEwen at the Tobias Matthay Pianoforte School on Wimpole Street in Marylebone. Dederich stayed at Matthay’s country house during the Second World War and subsequently taught and became a director of the school. In the 1920s Dederich appeared as ‘Aunt Hilda’ on the BBC radio programme Children’s Hour to talk to children about the basics of piano music. In her obituary in The Times, Ivor Newton wrote that Dederich “never knew her once show any concern for her own aggrandisement” and that “among artists such qualities of modesty and altruism are sadly rare”. Her composition “Moonlight Through the Cedar Tree” was recorded by David Reeves and released on his 2000 album Piano Music of the Unknown Impressionists on Fleur de Son. References External links *

Hilda Wilson

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Hilda Wilson (7 April 1860 – 10 December 1918) was a British contralto and composer who also used the name Matilda Ellen Wilson and composed under the name Douglas Hope. Life Wilson was born into a musical family in Monmouth. Her father James Wilson was the bandmaster of the Monmouth Volunteer Corps. Her sister Agnes became a professional contralto, their brother James taught at the West London Conservatoire of Music, another brother, Henry Lane Wilson, (1871–1915), was a pianist, composer and baritone, and a third, W. Stroud Wilson, became a well-known violinist. Hilda’s early years were largely spent in Gloucester, where her family moved when she was four. The following year, a reviewer in The Western Mail wrote: Her vocal range in her early years was unusually wide. She was heard in concert in mezzo soprano and soprano solos, and was invited to sing the soprano part in Haydn’s The Creation before being guided towards a career as a contralto. During the 1880s and 1890s Wilson was a frequent soloist at the Three Choirs Festivals. In addition to singing in the mainstays of the festivals’ repertoire such as Messiah and Mendelssohn’s Elijah and St Paul, she took part in less often he

Howard Blake

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Howard David Blake (born 28 October 1938) is an English composer, conductor, and pianist whose career has spanned more than 50 years and produced more than 650 works. Blake’s most successful work is his soundtrack for Channel 4’s 1982 film The Snowman, which includes the song “Walking in the Air”. He is increasingly recognised for his classical works including concertos, oratorios, ballets, operas and many instrumental pieces. Early life Howard Blake was born in London and grew up in Brighton. His mother played piano and violin, and his father sang tenor in the church choir. At Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School for Boys, from the age of 11 he sang lead roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas and was recognised as a good pianist, but few were aware that he was also writing music. At the age of 18, he won the Hastings Musical Festival Scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied piano with Harold Craxton and composition with Howard Ferguson, but he found himself at odds with his contemporaries in regard to musical style. He virtually stopped composing, instead becoming interested in film, and on leaving the Academy briefly worked as a film projectionist at the Nati

Howard Goodall

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Howard Lindsay Goodall ( ; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was named as a presenter and “Composer-in-Residence” with the UK radio channel Classic FM. In May 2009, he was named “Composer of the Year” at the Classic BRIT Awards. Early life Born in Bromley, Kent, Goodall was educated at New College School, where he was a chorister in the Choir of New College, Oxford. He then went on to Stowe School and Lord Williams’s School. He read music at Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained a first-class degree. Works Popular music In the late 1970s, Goodall was a member of the band Half Brother with his friend Jonathan Kermode. They produced an eponymous LP album, Half Brother, in 1978. Musical theatre Goodall’s 1984 musical The Hired Man, an adaptation of the novel by Melvyn Bragg, won an Ivor Novello award (1985) and TMA Award (2006) award for Best Musical. Professional revivals of The Hired Man in recent years include a UK tour by the New Perspectives Theatre Company in 2008 and a production directed by David Thacker

Howard Skempton

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Howard While Skempton (born 31 October 1947) is an English composer, pianist, and accordionist. Since the late 1960s, when he helped to organise the Scratch Orchestra, he has been associated with the English school of experimental music. Skempton’s work is characterised by stripped-down, essentials-only choice of materials, absence of formal development and a strong emphasis on melody. The musicologist Hermann-Christoph Müller has described Skempton’s music as “the emancipation of the consonance”. Life Skempton was born in Chester and studied at Birkenhead School and Ealing Technical College. He started composing before 1967, but that year he moved to London and began taking private lessons in composition from Cornelius Cardew. In 1968 Skempton joined Cardew’s experimental music class at Morley College, where in spring 1969 Cardew, Skempton and Michael Parsons organised the Scratch Orchestra. This ensemble, which had open membership, was dedicated to performing experimental contemporary music by composers such as La Monte Young, John Cage and Terry Riley, as well as by members of the orchestra itself. One of Skempton’s early works, Drum No. 1 (1969), became one of the “most useful

Hubert Bath

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Hubert Charles Bath (6 November 188324 April 1945) was an English film composer, music director, and conductor. His credits include the music to the Oscar-winning documentary Wings Over Everest (1934), as well as to the films Tudor Rose (1936), A Yank at Oxford (1938) and Love Story (1944). His composition “Out of the Blue” has been used as the theme music of BBC Radio’s Sports Report since the programme started in 1948. Biography Bath was born in Barnstaple, Devon. He sang in the local church choir and in 1899 attended the Royal Academy of Music, studying piano with Oscar Beringer and composition with Frederick Corder. In 1913-14 he conducted Thomas Quinlan’s opera troupe on its world tour, also acting as chorus master. He conducted Madame Butterfly at the London Opera House in July 1915, in a performance that starred Tamaki Miura. After that he established himself as a composer of light operas, including Young England (Birmingham, 1915) and Bubbole (Milan, 1920), extending the genre towards grand opera with Trilby. He went on to compose many film scores (including part of the soundtrack of Alfred Hitchcock’s Blackmail in 1929), marches for brass bands, orchestral suites, theatre

Hubert Parry

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Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918), was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Parry’s first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song “Jerusalem”, his 1902 setting for the coronation anthem “I was glad”, the choral and orchestral ode Blest Pair of Sirens, and the hymn tune “Repton”, which sets the words “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind”. His orchestral works include five symphonies and a set of Symphonic Variations. He also composed the music for Ode to Newfoundland, the national anthem for the Dominion of Newfoundland. After early attempts to work in insurance at his father’s behest, Parry was taken up by George Grove, first as a contributor to Grove’s massive Dictionary of Music and Musicians in the 1870s and ’80s, and then in 1883 as professor of composition and musical history at the Royal College of Music, of which Grove was the first head. In 1895 Parry succeeded Grove as head of the college, remaining in the post for the rest of his life. He was concurrently Heather Professor of Music at the University of Oxford from 1900 to 1908. He wrote

Hugh Aston

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Hugh Aston (also spelled Asseton, Assheton, Ashton, Haston; 1485 – buried 17 November 1558) was an English composer of the early Tudor period. While little of his music survives, he is notable for his innovative keyboard and church music writing. He was also politically active, a mayor, Member of Parliament, and Alderman. Biography Hugh Aston was born in Leicester in or around 1485. His father was Alderman Robert Aston, a Senior Burgess of Leicester’s South Ward. Hugh’s subsequent musical education points to the likelihood that his early years were spent as a boy chorister, probably in the Choral College and Hospital of the Annunciation of St Mary in the Newarke, (The Newarke College). This was near the ‘South Ward’ represented by his father, beside the south gates of medieval Leicester. At the time it was one of the most prestigious of England’s provincial choral institutions. A musically gifted boy such as Hugh would begin in the choir aged around 8, and would be one of six boys singing plainsong and newer polyphonic pieces at the daily services, alongside the choir of male professional singers. Hugh could have joined the choir school in 1493 and remained there as an additional l

Hugh Davies (composer)

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Hugh Seymour Davies (23 April 1943 – 1 January 2005) was an English musicologist, composer, and inventor of experimental musical instruments. History Davies was born in Exmouth, Devon, England. After attending Westminster School, he studied music at Worcester College, Oxford from 1961 to 1964. Shortly after he travelled to Cologne, Germany, to work for Karlheinz Stockhausen as his personal assistant. For two years, he assembled and documented material for Stockhausen’s compositions and was a member of his live ensemble. From 1968 to 1971, Davies played in The Music Improvisation Company. The group’s guitarist Derek Bailey later wrote that “the live electronics served to extend the music both forwards and backwards (…) Davies helped to loosen what had been, until his arrival, a perhaps too rarified approach”. He was also a member of the group Gentle Fire, active from 1968 to 1975, which specialised in the realisation of indeterminate and mobile scores, as well as verbally formulated intuitive-music compositions (such as Stockhausen’s Aus den sieben Tagen) and in the performance of its own Group Compositions. Davies invented musical instruments that he constructed from household it

Hugh Shrapnel

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Hugh Shrapnel (born Birmingham, England, 1947) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Biography Shrapnel was born in 1947 in Birmingham. From 1966 to 1969 he studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music with Norman Demuth and Cornelius Cardew and oboe with Margaret Eliot winning the Lady Holland Prize for composition. Shrapnel’s music is characterised by its lyricism, its wide range of musical influences including folk music, music hall, jazz and the sound of bells, a deep identification with the natural world, a liking for unorthodox instrumental line ups and a strong feeling for place and community. Musical enthusiasms/influences include: the English Renaissance composers, Schubert, Schumann, Sibelius, Mahler, Stravinsky, Satie, Webern, Ives, Terry Riley, Charles Mingus. John White and Cornelius Cardew. Shrapnel’s music has been widely performed in Britain, America, Canada and Germany. As a student Shrapnel composed serial works influenced by Webern and Boulez but through Cornelius Cardew became drawn to experimental music. He played the oboe in the first British performance of Terry Riley’s In C in 1968, in the same year joining Cardew’s experimental music

Humphrey Procter-Gregg

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Humphrey Procter-Gregg (31 July 1895 – 13 April 1980) was an English composer and academic. Career He was born in Kirkby Lonsdale and educated at King William’s College on the Isle of Man and at Peterhouse Cambridge, where he was organ scholar. He studied music with Charles Villiers Stanford (among his last pupils), Charles Wood and Julius Harrison at the Royal College of Music in London and gained a studentship at La Scala in Milan. After graduating, he went on to work at various opera houses (including Covent Garden, Thomas Beecham’s British National Opera Company and Carl Rosa) as stage manager, producer or manager. In 1936 Procter-Gregg became Reader in Music at the University of Manchester, founding the Chair of Music as Emeritus Professor in 1954 and retiring in 1962, when he was succeeded by Hans Redlich. Hope recalled him as “very old fashioned. He just about got as far as Delius, but nothing beyond that”. Peter Maxwell Davies was even more dismissive: “Procter-Gregg hated anything by Stravinsky or Bartok, and referred to Beethoven as that dreadful German bow-wow. I went there to do composition, but he disliked me so much and he disliked the music I wrote so much and I disl

Humphrey Searle

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Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was an English composer and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late Romanticism and modernist serialism, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences, Franz Liszt, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, who was briefly his teacher. As a writer on music, Searle published texts on numerous topics; he was an authority on the music of Franz Liszt, and created the initial cataloguing system for his works. Biography Searle was the son of Humphrey and Charlotte Searle and, through his mother, a grandson of Sir William Schlich. He was born in Oxford where he was a classics scholar before studying—somewhat hesitantly—with John Ireland at the Royal College of Music in London, after which he went to Vienna on a six-month scholarship to become a private pupil of Anton Webern, which became decisive in his composition career. Searle was one of the foremost pioneers of serial music in the United Kingdom, and used his role as a producer at the BBC from 1946 to 1948 to promote it. He was General Secretary of the International Society for Contemporary Music from 1947 to 1949. He accepted this post with the encouragement of the new preside

Huw Watkins

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Huw Thomas Watkins (born 13 July 1976 ) is a British composer and pianist. Born in South Wales, he studied piano and composition at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, where he received piano lessons from Peter Lawson. He then went on to read music at King’s College, Cambridge, where he studied composition with Robin Holloway and Alexander Goehr, and completed an MMus in composition at the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Julian Anderson. Huw Watkins was awarded the Constant and Kit Lambert Junior Fellowship at the Royal College of Music, where he used to teach composition. He is Honorary Research Fellow at the Royal College of Music. He is married to fellow composer Helen Grime. Career In 1999, the Nash Ensemble premiered Watkins’ Sonata for Cello and Eight Instruments, which had been commissioned by Faber Music. The review in The Times declared that “at 22, Huw Watkins is already a composer to be reckoned with”. The work has since been performed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in London, Paris, Copenhagen and Aldeburgh under the direction of Sakari Oramo and Peter Rundel. In 2000, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales gave the first performance of Watki

Iain Bell

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Iain Bell (born 1980) is an English composer whose output is predominantly of vocal works, namely opera, art song or orchestral song. Life and career Bell was born in London. His first opera, A Harlot’s Progress, to a libretto by Peter Ackroyd, premiered on 13 October 2013 at the in Vienna, conducted by Mikko Franck and directed by Jens-Daniel Herzog. The cast included Marie McLaughlin as Mother Needham and Nathan Gunn as James Dalton. The lead role of Moll Hackabout was created by German coloratura soprano Diana Damrau for whom the composer has written a great deal of music. Bell’s second opera is an adaptation of Charles Dickens’s own one-man version of his novella A Christmas Carol commissioned by Houston Grand Opera where it received its world premiere in December 2014, directed by the British actor, director and writer Simon Callow, sung by the American tenor Jay Hunter Morris. It had its UK premiere at Welsh National Opera in a new production by Polly Graham in December 2015. Bell’s third opera is an adaptation of the 1937 First World War epic poem In Parenthesis by David Jones. It was commissioned by Welsh National Opera and received its world premiere in May 2016 at the Wal

Iain Burnside

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Iain Burnside is a Scottish classical pianist and accompanist, and an occasional presenter on BBC Radio 3. Following study at Merton College, Oxford, the Royal Academy of Music and the Chopin Academy, in Warsaw he became a freelance pianist, specialising particularly in song repertoire. He has collaborated with many singers, and was particularly close friends with the late soprano Susan Chilcott. Burnside is the godfather of Chilcott’s son, Hugh, and following her death in 2003 became his legal guardian. Other singers he has worked and recorded with include Dame Margaret Price, Galina Gorchakova,Lawrence Brownlee, Rosa Feola and Roderick Williams, with whom he has recorded the complete Finzi baritone songs,. After presenting the Cardiff Singer of the World competition, he became a presenter on Radio 3, for many years fronting the weekly song-orientated show Voices for which he won a Sony Radio Award. Later he began presenting the Sunday morning programme. He has also written various musical plays: A Soldier and a Maker on the life of Ivor Gurney, premiered in 2012 and later broadcast on. BBC Radio 3; Shining Armour on Clara Schumann; Why does the Queen Die? and Swansong on Franz Sc

Iain Chambers (musician)

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Iain Chambers is an English composer, producer and performer. Iain has composed and performed since the 1990s. He formed the duo Bow Mods with Philip Clayton Smith, releasing an album and 2 EPs on Drunken Records. He produced programmes at BBC Radio 3 between 1999 and 2007, including Andy Kershaw and Late Junction. With Kershaw he made programmes in Algeria, Mali, Corsica and Sardinia, winning a Gold award for best Specialist Music Programme at the Radio Academy Awards in 2003. In 2003, with Radio 3 colleagues Felix Carey and Philip Tagney, he co-founded musique concrète collective Langham Research Centre. The trio sought to breathe new life into experiments with reel-to-reel tape, producing two editions of Between The Ears: Gateshead Multistorey Carpark, and guest+host=ghost written by and starring Peter Blegvad, and featuring Nick Cave. In 2005 the trio were joined by Robert Worby, and began to perform new realisations of work by John Cage, Alvin Lucier, Christian Wolff and others, using their instrumentarium of obsolete analogue equipment, alongside their own new music made from the same sources. Iain won a second Radio Academy award for his 2011 radiophonic drama written by Pet

Iain Hamilton (composer)

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Iain Ellis Hamilton (6 June 1922 – 21 July 2000) was a prolific Scottish composer of ten operas, four symphonies, four string quartets and much more. He worked in the United States for twenty years. Career Hamilton was born in Glasgow and educated in London, where he became an apprentice engineer. He remained in that profession for the next seven years, studying music in his spare time. In 1947 he won a scholarship to attend the Royal Academy of Music for three years, studying composition with William Alwyn and piano with Harold Craxton. Simultaneously he earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of London (1950), and he was later awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Glasgow (1970). In 1951 Hamilton became a lecturer at both Morley College and the University of London, posts he held until 1960, when he moved to New York. There he was appointed Mary Duke Biddle Professor at Duke University, North Carolina. In 1971 he was also appointed to the Cramb lectureship at the University of Glasgow. He returned to London in 1981, but struggled to regain a place in the mainstream of UK musical life, although his orchestral work Commedia was performed at the

Ian Kellam

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NOTOC Ian Kellam (1933 – 24 November 2014) was a British composer of church music and theatre music. Kellam was born in Sheffield and was a chorister at Sheffield Cathedral under Reginald Tustin Baker, organist. He went on to study with Herbert Sumsion at Gloucester Cathedral, and then with Howard Ferguson at the Royal Academy of Music. He taught privately, and at the London College of Music, where his students included Roger Marsh. He composed a series of nine choral orchestral cantatas (the last in 2001), many smaller choral works for the church, and settings of the morning and evening canticles. Eighteen of his hymn tunes were collected in the volume Sing Praise to God (2005). Kellam wrote theatre music for the Royal Shakespeare Company, for the Chichester Festival and for Joan Littlewood. His music was used in productions staged in Moscow, Paris and New York. The Young Visitors, a musical based on the book by Daisy Ashford with a book by Michael Ashton and music by Kellam, was produced in 1968 at the Piccadilly Theatre, where it ran for 68 performances. There were also stage works for children, including The Journey, with a libretto by David Gribble. Balaam, for children’s

Ian Livingstone (composer)

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Ian Paul Livingstone (born 4 July 1969, in London) is a British composer for television, films and video games. He jointly won an Ivor Novello Award in 2011 for a video game score for Napoleon: Total War. He is best known as the composer of the F1 video game series. He was classically trained from the age of five and has a background as a pop/dance music producer, band member and session musician. He is a graduate of Salford University. Work Video games Television and film He has composed for television for: * Big Fat Gypsy Weddings * The Great British Sewing Bee * The Repair Shop * Francesco’s Mediterranean Voyage The Expendabelles Other He has also produced songs, advertising jingles, movie scores and orchestrations. He also worked with Nokia during 2000 to 2004, creating polyphonic arrangements of monophonic ringtones, including the Nokia tune, References External links *Ian Livingstone’s web-site

Ian Vine

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Ian Vine (born 3 January 1974 in Portsmouth, England) is a British composer. Vine grew up in Libya and Hong Kong. He studied composition at the Royal Northern College of Music with Anthony Gilbert and privately with Simon Holt. There are traces Near and Far Eastern modalities as well as gestural and formal elements in his music. SIRI (1997), for solo percussion with electronics, uses a rhythmic and structural language found in the highly ritualised percussion music of Japan and Korea. writing on water (1999-), commissioned by Matthew Herbert and released on the Accidental label, is an expanding collection of short (sometimes only 20 seconds long) works using recorded acoustic instruments; and shadow grounds (1999), commissioned by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival for the ensemble recherche as part of their In Nomine Broken Consort Book, a three-minute non-miniature of suspended sound. His three black moons (1999), commissioned by the London Sinfonietta, was described by The Guardian, ‘…the most striking piece takes its title from an Alexander Calder mobile - its magical floating sonorities had a Feldmanesque beauty.’ The Guardian has written of him that “Vine’s music,

Ian Whyte (conductor)

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Ian Whyte (13 August 1901 – 27 March 1960) was a Scottish conductor and composer, and founder of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Born in Dunfermline, Whyte studied in London, and was a pupil of Stanford and Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music. which Warrack conducted for the first ten years. Whyte took over as conductor in 1945 and stayed until 1960. He appointed young assistants to help with the orchestra that went on to be very influential in their own right: Alexander Gibson, Colin Davis and Bryden Thomson. His own considerable output of compositions and arrangements includes the ballet Donald of the Burthens (produced at Covent Garden in 1951), influenced by Scottish themes and folk tunes. The Scottish Music Information Centre holds 668 Whyte manuscripts, mostly unplayed. He died in Glasgow, March 27, 1960. Selected works Opera * Comala * The Forge * The Tale of the Shepherds Ballet *Goblin Haa * The Trout * Donald of the Burthens Orchestral * Symphony No. 1 (1949) * Symphony No. 2 * Edinburgh, symphonic poem (1945) * Tam O’Shanter, symphonic poem * The Rose Garden, symphonic poem * The Treadmill, overture * Oragif, overture * Concert Overture * Dunfermlin

Ian Wilson (composer)

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Ian Wilson (born 26 December 1964) is an Irish composer. Career Wilson was born in Belfast, studied violin and piano, and graduated with a DPhil in composition from the University of Ulster at Jordanstown in 1990, where he was a research fellow, 2000–3. He has been a composer-in-residence with Leitrim County Council and was music director of the Sligo New Music Festival from 2003 to 2011. He received the Macaulay Fellowship from the Arts Council of Ireland in 1992, and in 1998 he was elected to Aosdána, Ireland’s academy of creative artists. Since 2009, he has been a post-doctoral research fellow at Dundalk Institute of Technology, investigating aspects of traditional (ethnic) Irish performance practice as a basis for new works of art music. Wilson’s music has been performed at the BBC Proms, Venice Biennale, ISCM World Music Days and the Ultima Festival in Oslo and by such diverse groups as the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the pianist Hugh Tinney and many others. He has recorded many albums, including two releases for Diatribe Records. Recordings Bibliography * Axel Klein: Die Musik Irlands im 20. Jahrhundert (Hildesheim:

Ignacy Jan Paderewski

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Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; 6 November 1860 or 1859 – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer, philanthropist, and statesman. As a politician and diplomat, Paderewski was vital to securing international recognition of the newly formed Second Polish Republic in 1919. A musical virtuoso, he rose to prominence as a musician and composer in the late 1880s and toured widely in Europe and the United States. He wrote orchestral, instrumental, and vocal works and an opera, Manru (premiered 1901), which remains the only opera by a Polish composer performed by the Metropolitan Opera. Paderewski’s renown allowed access to influential political and cultural circles in the West. During World War I, he largely suspended concert touring to focus on political advocacy and fundraising, working with organizations such as the Polish National Committee in Paris and relief initiatives in Britain and the United States. In the United States, he met President Woodrow Wilson and contributed to efforts that helped make an independent Poland part of the postwar settlement. In newly independent Poland, Józef Piłsudski appointed Paderewski prime minister and minister of foreign affairs (January–December 191

Ignatius de Orellana

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Ignatius Antonio de Orellana (October 14, 1860 – March 19, 1931) was a British violinist and composer. He became a conductor of theatre orchestras and an arranger of music for the theatre. Life Orellana was born in St Helier in Jersey, where his grandfather Ignacio de Orellana, originally from Spain, had settled by 1841. He studied the violin in London. Early compositions He composed a string quartet and a string trio, which were published in 1888. In the same year his Six Melodic Studies for Pianoforte were published; a reviewer in The Musical World commented that they “are an attempt to combine tuneful interest with the pursuit of various technical objects, and in this the composer has been in great measure successful.” In 1890 his Twenty-four Melodic Studies for Pianoforte were published; a reviewer in The Musical World commented, “The term ‘melodic’ is justified by the tunefulness of each of the numbers…. All are pleasingly distinctive in character and well harmonised, and they should attract tolerably advanced players.” Orchestral leader and conductor Orellana became lead violinist of London theatre orchestras, and from about 1900 was a conductor of operettas and an orchestr

Ignatius Sancho

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Charles Ignatius Sancho (c. 1729 – 14 December 1780) was a British writer, composer and abolitionist. Born on a slave ship in the Atlantic Ocean, Sancho was sold into slavery in the Spanish colony of New Granada. After his parents died, Sancho’s owner took the two-year-old orphan to Britain and gave him to three sisters living in Greenwich, where he remained for eighteen years. Unable to bear being a servant to them, Sancho ran away to Montagu House in Blackheath, London where John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu taught him how to read and encouraged Sancho’s budding interest in literature. After spending some time as a butler in the household, Sancho left and started his own business as a shopkeeper, while also starting to write and publish various essays, plays and books. Sancho quickly became involved in the nascent British abolitionist movement, which sought to outlaw both the slave trade and the institution of slavery itself, and he became one of its most devoted supporters. Sancho’s status as a property-owner meant he was legally qualified to vote in a general election, a right he exercised in 1774 and 1780, becoming the second known British African to have voted in Britain afte

Ilan Eshkeri

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Ilan Eshkeri (born 7 April, 1977) is a British composer known for his concert music, film scores and artist collaborations. Early life Eshkeri was born in London. During his childhood, he learned to play the violin and guitar. Eshkeri attended Leeds University, where he studied music and English literature. During this time he also apprenticed with film composers Edward Shearmur, Michael Kamen and music producer Steve McLaughlin. Career His extensive catalogue of film and TV scores include Still Alice, Stardust, The Young Victoria, Layer Cake (film), Shaun The Sheep and David Attenborough’s Natural History Museum Alive. Eshkeri has collaborated with artists David Gilmour, Annie Lennox, Take That, KT Tunstall, Tim Wheeler, Amon Tobin and Nick Hodgson (Kaiser Chiefs) among others. He recently worked with the European Space Agency on music for astronaut Tim Peake’s Principia mission. In addition, he has conducted his own works at The Louvre in Paris, the Rudolfinum in Prague and conducted a specially commissioned work called Reliquary for the Burberry 2016 Autumn fashion show in London. In 2012, Eshkeri was commissioned to write a composition for a photo exhibition at The Louvre in Pa

Imogen Holst

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Imogen Clare Holst (; 12 April 1907 – 9 March 1984) was a British composer, arranger, conductor, teacher, musicologist and festival administrator. The only child of the composer Gustav Holst, she is particularly known for her educational work at Dartington Hall in the 1940s, and for her 20 years as joint artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival. In addition to composing music, she wrote composer biographies, much educational material and several books on the life and works of her father. From a young age Holst showed precocious talent in composing and performance. After attending Eothen School and St Paul’s Girls’ School, she entered the Royal College of Music, where she developed her skills as a conductor and won several prizes for composing. Unable to follow her initial ambitions to be a pianist or a dancer for health reasons, Holst spent most of the 1930s teaching, and as a full-time organiser for the English Folk Dance and Song Society. These duties reduced her compositional activities, although she made many arrangements of folksongs. After serving as an organiser for the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts at the start of the Second World War, in 1942 she b

Inglis Gundry

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Inglis Gundry (8 May 1905 – 13 April 2000) was an English composer, novelist, musicologist, music pedagogue and writer. He is particularly remembered for his operas and for his numerous books; not only on music, but on a broad array of historical subjects. For five decades he lectured on music appreciation for WEA London and also taught on the music faculties at the University of Cambridge, the University of London, and the University of Surrey. Early career and wartime Born in Wimbledon to parents of Cornish descent, Gundry had a passion for Cornish culture and played an instrumental role in preserving Cornish folk songs and carols with the publication of Canow Kernow: Songs and Dances of Cornwall (1966). He had previously been named a bard of the Gorsedh Kernow in 1952. Gundry was educated at Rokeby and Mill Hill School, where he was scholar. Following this, Gundry studied classics and philosophy at Balliol College, Oxford, law at Middle Temple, and worked for a few years as a barrister before pursuing music studies at the Royal College of Music in 1935 where he was a pupil of Gordon Jacob (orchestration), R. O. Morris (counterpoint), and Ralph Vaughan Williams (composition). He

Isobel Waller-Bridge

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NOTOC Isobel Noeline Waller-Bridge (born 23 April 1984) is an English composer who is known for her scores for film, television, and theatre, along with her works for electronic music and contemporary classical music. Early life and education Born Isobel Noeline Waller-Bridge on 23 April 1984, she is the daughter of Theresa Mary Waller-Bridge (née Clerke), an employee of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, and Michael Cyprian Waller-Bridge, founder of the electronic trading platform Tradepoint. She has two younger siblings: Jasper and Phoebe. The family from which Waller-Bridge descends were landed gentry of Cuckfield, Sussex. On her father’s side, she is a descendant of the Revd Sir Egerton Leigh, 2nd Baronet, and a distant relative of politician and author Egerton Leigh; her maternal grandfather was Sir John Edward Longueville Clerke, 12th baronet, of Hitcham, Buckinghamshire. Waller-Bridge earned an bachelor’s degree in music from Edinburgh University, and a master’s degree from King’s College London. She was also awarded a scholarship from the Royal Academy of Music, where she received another diploma. Career Waller-Bridge composed the soundtrack for the BBC comedy-drama

Ivan Hewett

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Ivan Hewett is a British music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Since 2009 he has been the chief music critic for British newspaper The Daily Telegraph. Hewett has a particular interest in contemporary classical music, which was the topic of his 2003 book Music: Healing the Rift. He is also active as a radio and television presenter. Life and career Ivan Hewett studied music at the University of Oxford, receiving a Master of Arts. He then attended the Royal College of Music to study music composition, and wrote music for television commercials for a year. Throughout the 1980s and in to the 1990s, Hewett unsuccessfully attempted to start a music festival, did research for the Man and Music programme, on Granada TV, and assisted with Jonathan Miller’s TV performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion. By the 1990s, Hewett began presenting on music for the BBC Radio 3; from 1993 to 2002 he led the weekly programme “Music Matters”. Since 2009, he has been chief music critic for British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, having succeeded Geoffrey Norris. His interests include the composition, reception and harmony of contemporary classical music. His interests in modern music

Ivan Moody (composer)

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Ivan Moody (11 June 1964 in London – 18 January 2024 in Lisbon) was a British composer and musicologist. Moody was active as a conductor, having directed ensembles such as Voces Angelicae, the Kastalsky Chamber Choir (United Kingdom), Capilla Peña Florida (Spain), Cappella Romana (United States), the Choir of the Cathedral of St George, Novi Sad (Serbia), the KotorArt Festival Choir (Montenegro), the Orthodox Choir of the University of Joensuu (Finland) and Ensemble Alpha (Portugal); and as a widely published musicologist. His research interests included the music of Eastern Europe, especially 20th century and contemporary music from Russia and the Balkans, the music of the Orthodox Church in the modern era, music and spirituality, music as theology, Serbian church music, the aesthetics of Modernism and Postmodernism and their intersection with Orthodox church music and the musical culture of the Mediterranean. Ivan Moody’s music is recorded on the Hyperion, ECM, Sony, Challenge, Telarc, Gothic, Oehms, Orange Mountain, Linn and Cappella Romana labels. Early life Ivan Moody was born in London on 11 June 1964. He studied composition at Royal Holloway College, in London and privately

Ivor Gurney

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Ivor Bertie Gurney (28 August 1890 – 26 December 1937) was an English poet and composer. Born and raised in Gloucester, he suffered from bipolar disorder through much of his life and spent his last 15 years in psychiatric hospitals. Critical evaluation of Gurney has been complicated by this, and also by the need to assess both his poetry and his music. Gurney himself thought of music as his true vocation: “The brighter visions brought music; the fainter verse”. Life Ivor Gurney was born at 3 Queen Street, Gloucester, in 1890, as the second of four surviving children of David Gurney, a tailor, and his wife Florence, a seamstress. He showed musical ability at an early age. He sang as a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral from 1900 to 1906, when he became an articled pupil of Herbert Brewer at the cathedral. There he met fellow composer Herbert Howells, who became a lifelong friend. Alongside Gurney and Howells, Brewer’s third pupil at this time was Ivor Novello, then known as Ivor Davies. He also enjoyed an enduring friendship with the poet F. W. Harvey, whom he met in 1908. The adults of most significance in Gurney’s early life were the Rev. Alfred H. Cheesman, and two sisters, Emily

Jack Beaver

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Jack Beaver (27 March 1900 – 10 September 1963) was a British film score composer and pianist. Beaver was born in Clapham, London. He studied at the Metropolitan Academy of Music, Forest Gate and then at the Royal Academy of Music under Frederick Corder. After graduating he worked for the BBC. In the early 1930s he played with the Michael Doré Trio and wrote some concert pieces, including the three movement Sonatina for piano. He also contributed music and arrangements for various BBC radio drama and music features, including most of the radio adaptions of films produced by Douglas Moodie, throughout the 1930s and 1940s. As (like Charles Williams) a member of the Gaumont–British Pictures composing team from the 1930s he was a prolific composer of film scores - around 40 scores between 1932 and 1947 - though many of his contributions were not credited. These included scores for the Secrets of Life series of documentaries produced between 1934 and 1947. He wrote music for Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (1935), and composed the pseudo piano concerto Portrait of Isla from the score for the 1940 Edgar Wallace film The Case of the Frightened Lady. This is perhaps the first example of a

Jack Westrup

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Sir Jack Allan Westrup (26 July 1904 – 21 April 1975) was an English musicologist, writer, teacher and occasional conductor and composer. Biography Jack Allan Westrup was the second of the three sons of George Westrup, insurance clerk, of Dulwich, and his wife, Harriet Sophia née Allan. He was educated at Dulwich College, London 1917–22, and at Balliol College, Oxford. He first read classics in which he gained first class honours in moderations (1924) and second class honours in literae humaniores (1926). He gained his B.Mus. degree in 1926, and a Master of Arts in 1929. In 1925, with William Henry Harris, he staged the first complete performance in modern times of Claudio Monteverdi’s opera L’Orfeo (but only over certain obstacles presented by Sir Hugh Allen ), and in 1927 he produced the first British performance of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. (In February 1975 he was present at a new production of Orfeo to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the University Opera Club.) He was a music critic for The Daily Telegraph 1934–39, and also editor of the Monthly Musical Record 1933–45. From 1959 to 1976 he was editor of Music and Letters (Oxford University Press). He gave class

James Chater

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James Chater is a British composer and musicologist born in Henley-on-Thames in 1951. He studied music at the University of Oxford, taking the BA in 1973 and the D.Phil. in 1980. His thesis, Luca Marenzio and the Italian Madrigal, 1577–1593, was published as a book (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press) in 1981. He is the author of many articles on secular music in Italy in the late 16th century; these have appeared in Early Music, the Journal of American Musicology, Journal of Musicology, Music & Letters, The Musical Times, Notes, the Rivista italiana di musicologia, Il saggiatore musicale, Studi musicali and other periodicals and Festschrifts. In his writings several previously anonymous madrigal texts are identified, and the intimate ties between poets, musicians and patrons are explored. Chater was a Fellow of the Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies (Villa I Tatti, Florence) from 1981–82. From 1982 to 1986 James Chater taught history of music at the University of Wales (Aberystwyth), Washington University in St. Louis (USA), the University of Victoria (BC, Canada) and the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). From 1986 to 1997 he was English-language Editor of

James Clarke (composer)

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James Clarke (born in October 1957) is an English composer sometimes associated with the New Complexity school. According to fellow English composer and music scholar Christopher Fox, in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, “After studying at Southampton University and City University, London, Clarke was awarded a Finnish Government Scholarship to study composition with Usko Meriläinen in Helsinki.” In 1979, with his colleague Richard Emsley, Clarke co-founded the new music ensemble, Suoraan, “a small band of outstanding specialist performers” based in London “which dedicatedly promoted the music of, centrally, Iannis Xenakis but also younger British and European composers such as Michael Finnissy and James Dillon.” Yet, as Christopher Fox points out, “for much of his career Clarke’s work has attracted most attention beyond the British Isles, including significant performances at the International Gaudeamus Music Week and the ISCM World Music Days.” In addition, he “has led composition courses at the Time of Music Festival in Viitasaari, Finland, where he was featured composer in 2000, and at the Festival junger Künstler Bayreuth.” ;Collaboration with Harold Pinter comm

James Dillon (composer)

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James Dillon (born 29 October 1950) is a Scottish composer who is often regarded as belonging to the New Complexity school. Dillon studied art and design, linguistics, piano, acoustics, Indian rhythm, mathematics and computer music, but is self-taught in composition. Dillon was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Honours include first prize in the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 1978, the Kranichsteiner music prize at Darmstadt in 1982, and an unprecedented five Royal Philharmonic Society composition awards, most recently for his chamber piece Tanz/Haus: triptych 2017. The recording of his chamber opera, Philomela, won the Grand Prix de l’Académie du Disque Lyrique 2010. Dillon taught at Darmstadt from 1982 to 1992, and has been a guest lecturer and composer at various institutions around the world. He taught at the University of Minnesota School of Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 2007 to 2014. Selected works His major works include choral and vocal music, including the cycle L’évolution du vol (1993) and the opera Philomela (2004), the orchestral works helle Nacht (1987), ignis noster (1992), Via Sacra (2000), and La navette (2001), as well as a violin concerto for Thomas

James Douglas (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

James Douglas (4 July 1932 – 1 February 2022) was a Scottish composer, accompanist, conductor, recording artist, and organist. Douglas was born in Dumbarton, Scotland. He was based in Edinburgh, but he moved to live in North West Scotland in 2006. Douglas has composed a wide variety of music: instrumental, choral, organ, flute, orchestral, wind, brass, and violin. Life and career Douglas was born on 4 July 1932. He was educated in Edinburgh, Paris, Munich, Salzburg and London (LRAM and ARCM), and made his debut at Wienersaal (Mozarteum), Salzburg, in 1951. Douglas worked as a solo piano and organ recitalist and as an accompanist for vocal masterclasses throughout Europe, and he was deputy organist at St. Thomas’ Church in Edinburgh from 1948 to 1950. From 1953 to 1963, he was Director of Music at Nicolson Square Church in Edinburgh, then in Mayfield Church in Edinburgh, from 1963 to 1969, at Reid Memorial Church in Edinburgh from 1969 to 1973, and at Christ Church in Edinburgh from 1986 to 1991. He was part of the music staff of the Edinburgh Academy from 1967 to 1979. Douglas was director of the Ensemble ‘The Glorious Company’ from 2004. Records were made exclusively for Caritas R

James Holland (percussionist)

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James Holland (12 February 1933 – January 2022) was an English orchestral and solo percussionist, principal percussionist at the BBC Symphony Orchestra from the 1970s until the 1990s. Born in Ilford, Holland first took up percussion as an Army cadet at the age of 13. He went on to study with Peter Allen (timpanist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra), Max Abrams (drum kit) and Charles Donaldson at Trinity College of Music. After three years of National Service in the RAF Central Band he joined the London Philharmonic in 1956, and then the London Symphony Orchestra in 1959. In 1962 he succeeded his teacher Charles Donaldson as principal percussionist at the LSO. He stayed with the orchestra until 1972, when he became principal percussionist at the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the recently appointed chief conductor Pierre Boulez. Holland was heavily involved in contemporary music. In the 1960s, with David Johnson, he was co-founder of the London Percussion Ensemble. He also played regularly with the London Sinfonietta from its foundation in 1969. He worked closely on percussion matters with many contemporary composers, including Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Benjamin Britten, Olive

James MacMillan

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Sir James Loy MacMillan (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor. Early life and education MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is James MacMillan, a carpenter, and his mother is Ellen MacMillan (née Loy). He studied musical composition at the University of Edinburgh with Rita McAllister and Kenneth Leighton, obtaining a BMus degree in 1981, and later at Durham University with John Casken, where he completed a PhD in Composition in 1987. At Durham he was a member of the College of St Hild and St Bede as an undergraduate student and the Graduate Society while studying for his doctorate. He was a lecturer in music at the Victoria University of Manchester from 1986 to 1988. After his studies, MacMillan returned to Scotland, composing prolifically, and becoming Associate Composer with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, often working on education projects. As a young man he was briefly a member of the Young Communist League. The work’s international acclaim spurred more high-profile commissions, including a percussion concerto for fellow Scot Evelyn Glennie: Veni, Veni, Emmanuel.

James Nares (composer)

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James Nares (19 April 1715 – 10 February 1783) was an English composer of mostly sacred vocal works, though he also composed for the harpsichord and organ. Life Nares was born in Stanwell, although soon after his family moved to Oxfordshire. His brother was a justice, Sir George Nares. He began his career as Deputy Organist of St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, and was later appointed Organist of York Minster in 1735. He married soon after that. before returning to the Chapel Royal in 1756 to become organist and composer to George III, succeeding Maurice Greene. *Six Fugues for Organ, 1772 *Three Easy Harpsichord Lessons, 1778 *A Treatise on Singing, 1778 *The Royal Pastoral, 1778 *Collection of Catches, Canons and Glees, 1778 *Six Organ Fugues, 1778 *Second Treatise on Singing, with a set of English duets, 1778 *Twenty Anthems, 1778 *A Morning and Evening Service and Six Anthems, 1788 Sources * James Nares. Il Principio or a Regular Introduction to playing on the Harpsichord or Organ, a Facsimile of the Original Edition of 1760 with Introduction Notes by Robin Langley, London, Oxford University Press, 1981. Notes References Sources * External links * James Nares at the Nares g

James Oswald (composer)

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James Oswald (baptised 21 March 1710 – 2 January 1769) was a Scottish composer, arranger, cellist, and music publisher, who was appointed as Chamber Composer for King George III and also wrote and published many Scottish folk tunes. Life Oswald was born in Crail, Scotland in 1710, being baptised on 21 March, and died in Knebworth, Hertfordshire on 2 January 1769. In London Oswald eventually set up his own publishing house and published the Caledonian Pocket Companion, a collection of Scottish folk tunes, some with his own variations. This ran to 12 volumes and many editions. Like many others whose works feature in the Wighton Collection in Dundee, he was a member of “The Temple of Apollo”, a secret musical society of composers in London along with Thomas Erskine, 6th Earl of Kellie, John Reid, Charles Burney and others. Oswald’s first wife, Mary Ann, died in 1756. He married Leonora Robinson Lytton after she was widowed in 1762. Leonora was the aunt of Richard Warburton Lytton. Compositions He wrote variations of popular Scottish folk tunes, arranged these for the fiddle and composed other original tunes in the same genre. He published his chamber works under the nom de plume “Dott

James Saunders (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

James Saunders (born 1972) is a British composer and performer of experimental music. He is Professor of Music and Head of the Centre for Musical Research at Bath Spa University. Early life Born in Kingston upon Thames, England, Saunders studied at the University of Huddersfield (1991–94) and then with Anthony Gilbert at the Royal Northern College of Music (1994–96). In 1998, he was a participant at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse where he was awarded a scholarship prize. He participated again in 2000 and 2002. Career In 2001, he was a selected composer at the Ostrava New Music Days. He held composition residencies at the Experimental Studio fur Akustische Künst in Freiburg in 2003 and 2007. His music has been played at international festivals, including Bludenz Tage fur zeitgemäßer Musik, Brighton Festival, BMIC Cutting Edge, Borealis, Darmstadt, Donaueschingen Festival, Gothenburg Arts Sounds, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Inventionen Berlin, The Kitchen, Music We’d Like to Hear, Ostrava New Music Days, Rainy Days, Rational Rec, Roaring Hooves, Spitalfields_Music, SPOR, Ultima, and Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik Saunders’ music has been performed internationally by en

James Stevens (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

James Stevens (5 May 1923 – 26 June 2012) was an English composer of symphonic, operatic and avant-garde orchestral music, including film and television scores, as well as pop music of the 1960s. Career Stevens was born in London, where he studied initially with Benjamin Frankel in his exclusive class at the Guildhall School of Music. There he won several prestigious awards including the Royal Philharmonic Prize for his First Symphony; the Wainwright Scholarship for “composer of the year”; and a French Government Bursary which took him across the Channel to study with Darius Milhaud at the Paris Conservatoire. There he met Nadia Boulanger, who made him one of her star pupils who received Saturday evening tuition free of charge. He also enjoyed an open invitation to Arthur Honegger’s classes. Stevens commenced his extensive film career while still a student and was acclaimed at the Ealing Studios, where he constantly devised new film music techniques which are now standard practice. Unusually, Stevens never confined himself to one particular musical genre, and took many opportunities to take part in pop music, jazz, films, television scores, and musicals. His musical Mamízelle Nitou

James W. Tate

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James William Tate (30 July 1875 – 5 February 1922) was an English songwriter, accompanist, composer and producer of revues and pantomimes in the early years of the 20th century. After working in the United States for five years, he returned to London in 1897 where he became Musical Director at the Carl Rosa Opera Company and then at Wyndham’s Theatre. In 1898 he toured as the conductor for Lottie Collins, whom he married in 1902. After Collins’s death in 1910, Tate married Clarice Mayne in 1912; he had been her accompanist since 1906. He composed numerous music hall songs during these years, and had songs interpolated in shows. Julian Wylie formed a partnership with Tate, creating and producing pantomimes and revues just before the First World War, as well as musicals such as High Jinks (1916). He continued to write the music for popular songs, including several in The Maid of the Mountains and sometimes full scores for shows such as The Beauty Spot (1917). Wylie and Tate continued to produce revues and pantomimes, while Tate continued to write songs. The Wylie-Tate company continued through the 1920s and into the 1930s despite Tate’s death, and Wylie continued to use Tate’s music

James Wilson (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

James Wilson (27 September 1922 – 6 August 2005) was an Irish composer. Though born in England, Wilson was a resident of Ireland for over 50 years. Early life Wilson was born in Islington, London. His father, a chemist, died when James was only four days old, leaving his widowed mother to bring up three sons alone. Without any family background in music (the only real interest was his mother’s slight interest in playing the piano), Wilson began piano lessons in 1931 (at the age of nine), continuing them until 1938. While in his early teens, Wilson attended many operas which fostered his interest in music. After school, and without any formal higher education, Wilson entered the Civil Service after having passed their entrance exam. He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, from 1942 till 1946. Having finished his military service, Wilson began attending weekly musical composition classes at the Trinity College of Music in London. It was around this time that he left the Civil Service to pursue a full-time career in music. In 1948 he moved to Ireland, where he had been stationed in the latter part of his naval service. Musical work Wilson was a largely self-taught com

James Wood (musician)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

James Wood (born 27 May 1953 in Barton-on-Sea, England) is a British conductor, composer of contemporary classical music and former percussionist. Wood studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris from 1971 to 1972 before going on to study music at Cambridge University, where he was organ scholar of Sidney Sussex College from 1972 until 1975. After graduating from Cambridge he went on to study percussion and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, London, from 1975 until 1976. After a further year studying percussion privately with Nicholas Cole, Wood embarked on a triple career as percussionist, composer and conductor. Career In 1977 he was appointed conductor of the Schola Cantorum of Oxford, a post which he held until 1981, and immediately following this he founded the New London Chamber Choir, of which he was principal conductor for twenty-six years until moving to Germany in 2007. New London Chamber Choir (NLCC) During his time with NLCC he pioneered a large amount of little-known choral music from a wide range of composers, including Iannis Xenakis, Tona Scherchen, Toru Takemitsu, Eric Bergman, Harrison Birtwistle, Lili Boulanger, Ruth Crawford, Luigi Dallapiccola, Fra

Jan Faulkner

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Jan Faulkner (1953 – 14 December 2013) was a British percussionist, composer and music teacher. She played in the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, taught music at Wells Cathedral School and wrote compositions for beginners in percussion, double bass, and songs for children to sing on visiting historical places. She was an examiner for musical boards and taught international percussionists. Her music continues to be taught, in the UK and internationally. Also freelance percussionist Alun McNeil-Watson, who was the first percussionist to be awarded a gala concert whilst at Wells, and went on to win awards as an international concert performer, and is also director of Box9Drumline. She commissioned works through the National Association of Percussion Teachers, including pieces by Peter R. Barclay, who has performed in major arenas such as O2 Arena with Andrea Bocelli. He worked with fellow ex-pupil Kim Foster on a piece dedicated to Faulkner. Faulkner composed beginners pieces for percussion, which also had simple accompaniment, for teachers who were not pianists. and prepared the timpani, snare drum and tune percussion syllabus, working with Michael Skinner and colleague, Jayne Obrado

Jane Bianchi

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Jane Jackson became Jane Bianchi and later Jane Bianchi Lacy (1776 – 19 March 1858) was a British soprano singer in London and Oudh, India. She was also a good pianist, painter and linguist. and published again, possibly in 1812. On 12 March 1806, the Austrian composer Joseph Woelfl published “Six English Songs” which he dedicated to Bianchi. She and Francesco had a daughter who died aged five, shortly after her husband took his own life. He and their daughter were buried in the old Kensington Church, now St Mary Abbots, Kensington. Bianchi married again to another singer named William Lacy. Her English husband had trained in Italy and was a bass singer. In 1813 she again sang at the Concerts of Antient Music where she was paid £126 (see illustration). She had sung at that concert in 1800 when she was “Miss Jackson”. They left England and sailed for Calcutta in 1818 where they stayed for seven years performing at the court of Oudh. At the time the King of Oudh was Saadat Ali Khan II. Whilst she was away she published an unseen work by her first husband in 1820/1821. Bianchi died in Ealing in 1858. Her second husband survived her. References External links *

Jane Joseph

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Jane Marian Joseph (31 May 1894 – 9 March 1929) was an English composer, arranger, and music teacher. She was a pupil and later associate of the composer Gustav Holst, and was instrumental in the organisation and management of various of the music festivals which Holst sponsored. Many of her works were composed for performance at these festivals and similar occasions. Her early death at age 34, which prevented the full realisation of her talents, was considered by her contemporaries as a considerable loss to English music. Holst first observed Joseph’s potential when he was teaching her composition at St Paul’s Girls’ School. She began to act as his amanuensis in 1914, when he was composing The Planets, her special responsibility being the preparation of the score for the “Neptune” movement. She continued to assist Holst with transcriptions, arrangements and translations, and was his librettist for the choral ballet The Golden Goose. During her short professional life she became an active member of the Society of Women Musicians, was the prime mover behind the first Kensington Musical Competition Festival, and helped to found the Kensington Choral Society. She also taught music at

Jane Mary Guest

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Jane Mary Guest, also known as Jenny Guest and later as Jane Mary Miles, (c. 1762 – 20 March 1846) was an English composer and pianist. A pupil of Johann Christian Bach, and initially composing in the galante style, and which were also published in Paris in 1784 and Berlin in 1785. On 29 August 1789 she married Abram or Abraham Allen Miles, an accountant, in London. During the 1790s she taught and gave performances in Bath, including at concerts directed there by Venanzio Rauzzini, who was another of her teachers. One of the concerts was a private concert for Joseph Haydn in which she improvised on a theme of Haydn’s. She also wrote some unpublished concertos which do not seem to have survived. In 1804 she became the piano tutor of Princess Amelia, the youngest daughter of George III, and in 1806 to the Prince Regent’s daughter Princess Charlotte of Wales. However Amelia died in 1810 after years of illness, while all of Charlotte’s staff were fired in 1814 by her father. Guest remained Charlotte’s tutor at least until that time. Her husband Abram died in 1832 and she died on 20 March 1846 in Blackheath, London, where she had been living with her daughter Louisa. She was buried with

Jane Savage

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Jane Savage (born 1752/1753, died 1824) was an English harpsichordist and composer. She was the daughter of English musician and composer William Savage (c. 1720–1789) and his wife Mary Bolt Savage. It is likely that Jane Savage accompanied her father from his estate near Tenterden in Kent to London in 1780 or 1781 and lived in Red Lion Square, Holborn. Most of her music was published in this period. In 2020, Hymn for Christmas Day, an anthem setting the text “While shepherds watched their flocks by night”, composed in around 1785 and performed by the Asylum for Female Orphans in London, was rediscovered and published by the Church Music Society. It is the earliest known example of an anthem for the Church of England to have been written by a female composer. After her father and mother died, Savage married merchant R. Rolleston in about 1790. It is unclear whether she continued her career in music. She did not publish any compositions in her married name. Works Selected works include: *Six Sonatas for Harpsichord or Piano (1783) *Six Rondos for the Harpsichord or Pianoforte, Opus 3 (1786) * Strephan and Flavia, A Favourite Cantata (voice and keyboard instrument) (1786) * A Favouri

Jane Sloman

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Jane Sloman (b. Ipswich, 15 December 1824, d. after 1850) was an English composer, pianist, and vocalist who had an active concert career in the United States during the 1840s. She is best known for writing the songs “Roll on, Silver Moon”, “Forget Thee”, and the “Maiden’s Farewell.” Her music was also published under the name Jane Sloman Torry. Early life Sloman was a child prodigy, distinguishing herself on piano from an early age under the tutelage of Louise Dulcken, Queen Victoria’s piano teacher. She made multiple appearances at the British royal court and played informally with the violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini and the gifted pianist Sigismond Thalberg. In 1839, she moved to the United States as one of the only female piano virtuosos in the country. Sloman gave piano lessons to a few students before she made her American concert debut. She was among the first generation of professional women composers that emerged in the 1850s, including Augusta Browne, Marion Dix Sullivan, Faustina Hodges, and Susan Parkhurst. Her last known concert took place on February 18, 1850. Songs and Compositions Sloman wrote both popular songs and compositions. Her work ranged from simple pop tun

Jane Stirling

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jean (“Jane”) Wilhelmina Stirling (15 July 1804 – 6 February 1859) was a Scottish amateur pianist who is best known as a student and later friend of Frédéric Chopin, who dedicated Nocturnes, Op. 55 to her. She took him on a tour of England and Scotland in 1848, and took charge of the disposal of his effects and manuscripts after his death in 1849. Life Jane Stirling was born Jean Wilhelmina Stirling as the youngest of 13 children of John Stirling of Kippendavie, at Kippenross House, near Dunblane in Perthshire, and was descended from a noble Scottish family. Her father died when Jane was 12, and her mother died when she was 16. perhaps in 1842 She became his pupil immediately. Chopin does not mention her until 1844. However, whether Chopin intended this collection to serve as a basis for a revised collected edition of his music is an open question. She also became his secretary, agent and business manager. She arranged his concert at the Salle Pleyel on 16 February 1848, and also attended to the heating, the ventilation, and the flowers. The concluding item of the concert was the Barcarolle in F-sharp major, but Chopin was too exhausted to complete the final section. After managing

Jane Wang (composer and musician)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jane Wang is a composer, music improvisor, and plays the double bass, toy piano, piano, cello, and various other musical instruments. Wang participated in the ~chromatik d zabu.tmp vs. Vox Novus project and is a member of CDZ. She was selected for the 60x60 project multiple times. Jane Wang composed and performed music for Hanne Tierney’s How Wang-Fo Was Saved and Ms. Tierney’s Man, the Flower of All Flesh The design team, including Jane Wang, were nominated for the 2005 Henry Hewes Design Award. Jane Wang composed and performed solo bass pieces for Hanne Tierney including in 2019, 18 Stanzas Sung to a Tatar Whistle at FiveMyles Performances have been presented at the Wanas Exhibition in Sweden, the International Festival of Puppet Theatre, BAM Next Wave Festival, the Sculpture Center and FiveMyles Gallery in New York City, the Beograd International Theatre Festival in Yugoslavia, and Ms. Tierney’s Obie-award-winning Salome (with Sabir Mateen) at five myles and the International Festival of Puppet Theatre. She composed the music for Danny Swain’s 3000 Miles to Blue and Renita Martin’s Five Bottles In A Six Pack at The Theater Offensive (Boston), Cherry Lane Theatre (NYC) and Jump-S

Janet Beat

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Janet Eveline Beat (born 17 December 1937) is a Scottish composer, music educator and music writer. Life Janet Beat was born in Streetly, Staffordshire, England and studied piano privately and horn at the Birmingham Conservatoire (formerly the Birmingham School of Music) before reading music at Birmingham University, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1960. In 1968 she gained a Master of Arts from Birmingham University. After completing her studies, she took a position teaching music with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Her music has been performed internationally. She is one of the women pioneers in electronic music composition in Great Britain for her earliest musique concrete pieces belong to the late 1950s. Daphne Oram was helpful and encouraging here. The influences on her music are diverse and include non-European music as well as the sounds of nature and industry. The use of music technology allowed her to make sonic explorations and the use of microtonality. These influences also enriched her writing for acoustic instruments as in “Study of the Object no 3” (1970) for unaccompanied voices, a graphic score she calls sound sculpture, She is an Honora

Janet Graham

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Janet Christine Graham (born 4 June 1948) is an English composer, music educator and music therapist. Life Graham was born in Consett, County Durham, and studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music from 1966 to 1970 with James Iliff. After her time at the Royal Academy of Music, she began teaching piano at the Mid Hertfordshire Music Centre while continuing to compose and study with Elisabeth Lutyens. In 1978,two of her pieces were selected for the BBC Young Composers’ Forum. Works Selected works include: * Pieces for organ: No.1, Prelude * Pieces for organ: No.2, Lament * Pieces for organ: No.3, Toccata * North East Hauntings. 1. Snow Sky * North East Hauntings. 2. Sea Mist * North East Hauntings. 3. Lullaby for Lost Skylines * North East Hauntings. 4. Red Dust * Quartet for flute, violin, viola and cello * Evening Flights * Soliloquium * This Great and Wide Sea * Persephone * Crux * Epitaphs * Diversitas * Atque in perpetuum * Cras amet * When I Was Young * The Light * Ca’ Hawkie through the water * Cradle Song * Eighty Notes for James * Quest * Earth Cry * Tractor and Plough * From Dusk to Dawn * Two Winter Songs * Two Christmas Motets * Until the Sunset Hour * Iris * Heca

Janet Owen Thomas

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For the Australian mathematician and educator, see Janet Thomas. Janet Owen Thomas (29 January 1961 – 5 June 2002) was a British composer and organist. Early life and education Owen Thomas was born on Merseyside to parents of Welsh and German heritage. and the composer Robert Saxton. She received a scholarship to travel to Hamburg, where she briefly studied with composer György Ligeti, whose organ music she later wrote an article about. The period in Hamburg led to Owen Thomas being commissioned by to write the solo organ piece Rosaces (1984), which was subsequently widely performed and published by Novello. It was during this time that she wrote a music theatre piece, The Condom Tester’s Lament, for speaker and electronics. She went on to take advanced composition studies with Anthony Gilbert at the Royal Northern College of Music. In 1991, the BBC Proms presented the UK premiere of Rosaces. Owen Thomas was the youngest composer whose music was featured in that year’s festival, and the work went on to be played in over a dozen countries. Style In her obituary for Owen Thomas, fellow composer Nicola LeFanu described the former’s musical style as follows: The hallmark of her style i

Jasdeep Singh Degun

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jasdeep Singh Degun (born 9 September 1991) is a British sitar player and composer from Leeds. He is signed to the Real World Records label, on which he released his debut album, Anomaly. In May 2022, he became artist-in-residence at Opera North, and in 2024, was made the first Innovate Fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music. Degun is the first sitar player to be awarded a Royal Philharmonic Society Best Instrumentalist Award. Early life Jasdeep Singh Degun was introduced to Indian classical music at primary school and began training in vocal music with Shrimati Gunwant Kaur. He was in the school choir and learnt piano. At 15, Degun started learning to play the sitar under Ustad Dharambir Singh MBE, a pupil of Ustad Vilayat Khan. Growing up, Degun was a member of Tarang and the South Asian Music Youth Orchestra, established by Dharambir Singh, which brought together classical musical traditions from across India. In 2011, Degun featured in the three-part BBC Two series Goldie’s Band: By Royal Appointment which culminated in a performance in Buckingham Palace before Prince Harry. As a participant of the programme, Degun was supported by mentors Guy Chambers, Soweto Kinch, Ms

Jean-Baptiste Loeillet of London

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jean-Baptiste Loeillet of London (18 November 1680 – 19 July 1730), was a Flemish composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is called the London Loeillet to distinguish him from another famous composer, his cousin Jean-Baptiste Loeillet of Ghent. Life and career Jean-Baptiste Loeillet was born in Ghent, then in the Spanish Netherlands. He had a younger brother, Jacques Loeillet, who was also a composer. He had a cousin, also named Jean-Baptiste Loeillet. The distinction between the London Loeillet and the Ghent Loeillet was made to differentiate the cousins. In 1705, after his studies in Ghent and Paris, he moved to London and became known as John. His works were published by John Walsh in London under the name of John Loeillet. He published trio and solo sonatas, as well as two collections of harpsichord lessons. Loeillet was able to play the recorder, flute, oboe, and harpsichord. He was successful as a teacher of the harpsichord. He played woodwind in the Queen’s Theatre in the Haymarket and held musical gatherings every week at his home. His performances were well received in London, and he was responsible for introducing Arcangelo Corelli’s 12 Concerti Grossi to Londoner

Jean-Paul Maunick

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jean-Paul Edouard Maunick (born 19 February 1957, Mauritius), known by his stage name Bluey is a British guitarist, bandleader, composer and record producer. He has led the British acid jazz band Incognito since its formation in 1979. With Incognito, he has released fifteen studio albums as well as a number of live albums, remix albums and compilation albums. Prior to forming Incognito, Bluey was an original member of the group Light of the World. His record production credits include artists such as Paul Weller, George Benson, Maxi Priest and Terry Callier; he has also collaborated with Stevie Wonder. Maunick formed STR4TA with Gilles Peterson and released the album Aspects on Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings label in March 2021. Solo career He released his solo debut album Leap of Faith in March 2013. Neil Kelly of PopMatters said of the album, “An undoubtedly listenable creation, Bluey has blended the club-infused soul-jazz sounds that made him famous with the sensibility of an elder statesman, which he is.” Personal life He is the son of the Mauritian poet Edouard Maunick and Armande Mallet. He was born in Mauritius, and moved to the United Kingdom when he was nine years old. D

Jeffrey Ching

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Jeffrey Ching (, born 4 November 1965) is a contemporary classical composer. He was born in the Philippines, to Chinese parents. He is married to the operatic soprano Andión Fernández and has two children. His opera was given in the Theater Erfurt in 2009. Selected works *Concerto da camera *Horologia sinica *Kunstkabinett *Notas para una cartografía de Filipinas *Terra Kytaorum *Symphony No. 1 in C major (prem. 1981) *Symphony No. 2, “The Imp of the Perverse” *Symphony No. 3, “Rituals” *Symphony No. 4, “Souvenir des Ming” *Symphony No. 5, “Kunstkammer” References Further reading * Hila, Antonio C. “Understanding the Early Music of Jeffrey Ching: An Erudite Composer”, Unitas, Vol. 75, No. 3, Sept. 2002, pp. 454–75. ISSN 0041-7149 * Programme brochure for Weltblech concert, Berlin, 9 January 2001. * Programme brochure for the Kammerorchester Berlin IV. Abonnementkonzert, Berlin, 1 March 2006. * Xu, Jing (徐靜). “Zhuang Zuxin: Meilidi xuanlü rensheng” (庄祖欣: 美丽的旋律人生), Guangming ribao (光明日報), 15 September 2006. * Orosa, Rosalinda L. “Ching Amazes”, The Philippine Star, 28 October 2006. * Programme brochure for Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra concert, Shanghai International Arts Festival,

Jennifer Margaret Barker

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Jennifer Margaret Barker (born 6 May 1965 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish-American classical composer and pianist. Her compositional style is highly influenced by the landscape, culture and musical heritage of Scotland. She is Professor Emerita of Composition and Theory at the University of Delaware. Her music has been recorded on the Naxos Records, Composers Recordings Inc., New World Records, Albany Records, Meyer Media and PnOVA Recordings labels. She is published by Boosey & Hawkes, Theodore Presser Company, Vanderbeek & Imrie Ltd., Southern Percussion and McKenna-Keddie Publishing. Biography Raised in Blanefield, Stirlingshire, Barker studied composition with Scottish composer, John Maxwell Geddes at the University of Glasgow (B.Mus. Hons.), before crossing the Atlantic for graduate studies with American Pulitzer prize-winning composers Melinda Wagner and George Crumb at Syracuse University (M.M.) and the University of Pennsylvania (A.M., Ph.D.) respectively. She also worked with British composers Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Judith Weir on the 1992 Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Young Composers Course in Orkney, and with American composers Daniel Strong Godfrey and Jay Reis

Jeremiah Clarke

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674 – 1 December 1707) was an English baroque composer and organist, best known for his Trumpet Voluntary, a popular piece often played at wedding ceremonies or commencement ceremonies. Biography The exact date of Clarke’s birth has been debated. The Dictionary of National Biography states that Clarke “is said to have been born in 1669 (though probably the date should be earlier).” Most sources say that he is thought to have been born in London around 1674. Clarke was one of the pupils of John Blow at St Paul’s Cathedral and a chorister in 1685 at the Chapel Royal. Between 1692 and 1695 he was an organist at Winchester College, then between 1699 and 1704 he was an organist at St Paul’s Cathedral. He later became an organist and ‘Gentleman extraordinary’ at the Chapel Royal, his friend. the Prince of Denmark’s March, which is commonly called the Trumpet Voluntary, written in about 1700. From c. 1878 until the 1940s the work was attributed to Henry Purcell, and was published as Trumpet Voluntary by Henry Purcell in William Spark’s Short Pieces for the Organ, Book VII, No. 1 (London, Ashdown and Parry). This version came to the attention of Sir Henry J. Wood, who

Jeremy Filsell

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jeremy Daniel Filsell (born 10 April 1964) is a British pianist, organist and composer who has served as director of music at Christ Episcopal Church in Bradenton, Florida since September 2025. He previously held similar positions in the United Kingdom and the United States, including at Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, in New York City from 2019 to 2025. Biography Having played piano and organ from a young age, Filsell was a student at Stivichall Primary School and Blue Coat Church of England School in Coventry. He was a Limpus prize winner for the Royal College of Organists examination, which he took when he was 19, and a silver medalist of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. He studied music at Oxford University, where he was an organ scholar at Keble College, studying with Nicolas Kynaston and Daniel Roth. He went on to study piano with David Parkhouse and Hilary McNamara at the Royal College of Music and Martin Hughes at the University of Surrey. He won second prize in the 1993 St Albans International Organ Competition. He has particular interest in English piano music and French organ music. He plays in a piano trio with Oliver Lewis, violin, and Neil Heyde, cello, and a p

Jessie Seymour Irvine

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Jessie Seymour Irvine (26 July 1836 – 2 September 1887) was the daughter of a Church of Scotland parish minister who served at Dunottar, Peterhead, and Crimond in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. She is best known for being the likely composer of the hymn tune “Crimond”, which is commonly used as the music for the hymn “The Lord’s My Shepherd”. Irvine is referred to by Ian Bradley, in his 1997 book Abide with Me: The World of Victorian Hymns, as standing “in a strong Scottish tradition of talented amateurs who tended to produce metrical psalm tunes rather than the dedicated hymn tunes increasingly composed in England.” Early life Jessie Seymour Irvine was born in Dunottar in the north-east of Scotland in 1836. She was the daughter of Rev Alexander Irvine, a Church of Scotland minister. Rev Irvine moved to different church appointments in the north-east of Scotland, serving at Dunottar, Peterhead and Crimond. “Crimond” composition While Rev Irvine was serving at Crimond Church, his teenage daughter Jessie was undertaking training as an organist at the nearby town of Banff. According to some accounts, she composed a tune in 1871 for the metrical version of Psalm 23, “The Lord’s My Shepherd”,

Jim Parker (composer)

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James Mavin Parker (18 December 1934 – 28 July 2023) was a British BAFTA-winning composer. Career After graduating as a silver medallist at the Guildhall School of Music, Parker played with orchestras and chamber groups in London as well as being a key part of The Barrow Poets for whom he provided both original instrumental music and music to accompany the performance of a wide range of poetry spoken or sung by the rest of the band. This music was played on a variety of instruments including the bass cacofiddle, a homemade sort of double bass with knobs on, invented and played by William Bealby-Wright, while Parker mostly played oboe and cor anglais. Parker subsequently concentrated on composing and conducting. He had early success with a series of recordings in which he set the poems of the British Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman to music; Banana Blush, Late Flowering Love (both 1974), Sir John Betjeman’s Britain (1977) and Varsity Rag (1981). The albums, in which the poet recited his own words and the composer conducted a small group of musicians, have continued to be held in high regard by listeners and critics. These and subsequent records, including Captain Beaky and His Band,

Jimmy Dale (musician)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jimmy Dale (23 October 1935 – 20 May 2017) was a British-born Canadian arranger, composer, conductor, organist, and pianist. He was active as a music director for both Canadian and United States television during the 1970s and 1980s. He has also composed several film and television scores and written a number of TV theme songs and jingles. He has also worked as an arranger and pianist for both performances and recordings with several notable artists. Life Born James Edwin Dale in London, Dale immigrated to Canada with his family in 1947 at the age of 11. He attended The Royal Conservatory of Music for two years where he was a pupil of pianist Alma Allen. He also studied music theory and music composition privately in Toronto with Gordon Delamont. and former professional racing car driver and racing team owner Jeremy Dale. Death Dale died on 20 May 2017 in Naples, Florida, at the age was of 81. Work as a composer and arranger As a composer, Dale has written several film and television score, including the music for B.S. I Love You, Crunch, The Execution of Raymond Graham, and Breakfast with Les and Bess. He has also written music for the theatre, including writing the orchestrations

Joan Mary Last

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Joan Mary Last (12 January 1908 – 9 October 2002) was an English music educator, author and composer born in Littlehampton, Sussex. She studied piano with Mathilde Verne and York Bowen, making her debut as a pianist at the Aeolian Hall in London in 1926. From 1959 she taught music at the Royal Academy of Music. From 1960 she was also an examiner for the Associated Board and an adjudicator for the British Federation of Music Festivals. She toured extensively, conducting piano teaching workshops in the United States, Canada, Africa, Scandinavia, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Last never married, and died in Worthing Hospital, aged 94. Her address in Littlehampton was Surya, 11, St Mary’s Close. References External links * ‘Who Said Mice’, from the collection Cats (1964) * Downland (suite, 1949), performed by Tim Manger

Joan Trimble

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Joan Trimble (18 June 1915 – 6 August 2000) was an Irish composer and pianist from Ulster. She studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in London, and she and her sister performed for many years as a piano duo. In later years she inherited her father’s newspaper, becoming its proprietor and editor. Early life Joan Trimble was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh (now Northern Ireland) to William Egbert Trimble, the proprietor of The Impartial Reporter, one of Ulster’s regional newspapers, and Marie Dowse from Dublin. Joan grew up in a musical household; her mother was a solo violinist from a Dublin family of musicians, from which all eleven children had attended the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and her father was a bass-baritone and a noted collector of folksong. She attended Enniskillen Royal School for Girls and was the school’s first Head Girl. Joan studied composition with John F. Larchet and won a scholarship to the University of Dublin, from where she graduated with a BA degree in 1936. and studied piano with Annie Lord and music at Trinity College Dublin (BA 1936, BMus 1937). In 1936, the tenor John McCormack chose her to play piano solos

Joby Talbot

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Joby Talbot (born 25 August 1971) is a British composer. He has written for a wide variety of purposes, with a broad range of styles, including instrumental and vocal concert music, film and television scores, pop arrangements and works for dance. He is known, to sometimes disparate audiences, for quite different works. Prominent compositions include the a cappella choral works The Wishing Tree (2002) and Path of Miracles (2005); orchestral works Sneaker Wave (2004), Tide Harmonic (2009), Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity (2012) and Meniscus (2012); the theme and score for the popular BBC Two comedy series The League of Gentlemen (1999–2002); silent film scores The Lodger (1999) and The Dying Swan (2002) for the British Film Institute; film scores The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Son of Rambow (2007) and Penelope (2008). Works for dance include shorter works Chroma (2006), Genus (2007), Fool’s Paradise (2007), and Chamber Symphony (2012); and four full-length narrative ballet scores, commissioned by The Royal Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada and The Australian Ballet, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (2011, revived 2012 and 2013), The Winter’s Tale (2014), Like Wate

Joe Cutler

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Joe Cutler (born London, 17 December 1968) is a British composer who grew up in Neasden and studied music at the Universities of Huddersfield and Durham, before receiving a Polish Government Scholarship to study at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland. He has taught composition at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire since 2000, and since 2005 he has been the Head of Composition there. In 2015 he was made Professor of Composition. He is also the co-founder of the instrumental ensemble Noszferatu. Influence During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Cutler, like many of his generation, including Americans composers Michael Gordon and David Lang, and British composer Steve Martland, was influenced by the minimalist music of Louis Andriessen. Like Andriessen, Cutler rejected the atonal inheritance of Arnold Schoenberg in favour of the more rhythmically driving music of Igor Stravinsky. In these early works, Cutler showed influences ranging from Minimalism and Andriessen to 1980s avant-garde modernism and even the rhythmic aspects of the New Complexity movement. This is seen in such works as Epitaph for Nebula (1989) and Blast! (1992), where atonality and complicated driving rhythms

Johann Baptist Cramer

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Johann (sometimes John) Baptist Cramer (24 February 1771 – 16 April 1858) was an English pianist, composer and music publisher of German origin, born in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the son of Wilhelm Cramer, a famous London violinist and conductor, one of a numerous family who were identified with the progress of music during the 18th and 19th centuries. Biography Cramer was born in Mannheim and was brought to London as a child, where he worked for most of his musical career, Legacy Cramer was one of the most renowned piano performers of his day. He met Beethoven in Vienna, initiating a mutually rewarding relationship, while renewing his friendship with Haydn. After 1800, he was based almost exclusively in England. Following the successful example of his former teacher Clementi, he also became a successful music publisher in London. His many compositions take second place to his pianistic prowess; Beethoven considered him the finest pianist of the day from the standpoint of pure technical perfection. In 1818 Cramer was a founding member of the Regent’s Harmonic Institution, a music publishing firm established with the intent of raising funds for the Royal Philharmonic Society and

Johann Christian Bach

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Johann Christian Bach (5 September 1735 – 1 January 1782) was a German composer of the Classical era and the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach received his early musical training from his father, and later from his half-brother, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in Berlin. After his time in Berlin he made his way to Italy to study with the famous Padre Martini in Bologna. While in Italy, J.C. Bach was appointed as an organist at the Milan Cathedral. In 1762 he became a composer to the King’s Theatre in London where he wrote a number of successful Italian operas and became known as “The English Bach”. Bach is responsible for the development of the sinfonia concertante form. He became one of the most influential figures of the classical period, influencing compositional styles of prolific composers like Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. There are two others named Johann Christian Bach in the Bach family tree, but neither was a composer. Life Johann Christian Bach was born to Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena Bach in 1735 in Leipzig, Germany. His father, Johann Sebastian Bach, instructed him in his early musical training. After his father’s death, he moved to Berlin to pur

Johannes Alanus

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Johannes Alanus () was an English composer. He wrote the motet Sub arturo plebs/Fons citharizancium/In omnem terram. Also attributed to him are the songs “Min frow, min frow” and “Min herze wil all zit frowen pflegen”, both lieds, and “S’en vos por moy pitié ne truis”, a virelai. O amicus/Precursoris, attributed simply to “Johannes”, may be the work of the same composer. Identity As with many medieval composers, there is some confusion as to Alanus’s identity. For the composer represented in the Old Hall Manuscript, who has sometimes been conflated with Johannes Alanus, see Aleyn. The composer of Sub Arturo plebs, is identified as Jo.Alani and referring to J.Alani Minimus. He has been identified with Dominus Johannes Aleyn (or John Aleyn), who was a chaplain for the chapel of Edward III of England and later Canon of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle from 1362 until his death in 1373. He received many other favors which indicate royal patronage, probably from Queen Philippa of Hainault. Sub Arturo plebs Sub Arturo plebs/Fons citharizancium/In omnem terram is an ars nova mensuration motet with a different text in each voice. The “triplum”, or third voice, is on a text which names

John Abell

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Abell (1653 – after 1724) was a Scottish countertenor, composer and lutenist. Life and career John Abell was born in 1653 in Aberdeenshire and by 1 May 1679 he had become a member of the Chapel Royal. He was listed as a singer, lutenist and violinist for King Charles II. He was sent to Venice by the king as an example of a high quality English voice, returning by 1682. Between 1679 and 1688, he received large amounts of money from the king to study. During this time he graduated from Cambridge with a MusB and married Lady Frances Knollys on 29 December 1685. During the Glorious Revolution of 1688 he fled to continental Europe, where he won fame and wealth by his singing. There are several anecdotes relating to his travels from this time, several from the writings of Hawkins. however, he declined. In Kassel he was made Intendant of Music (1698–1699), before returning to England around 1700, where in 1701 he performed the title role in Daniel Purcell’s The Judgment of Paris: in the following year his coronation song for Queen Anne, Aloud proclaim the cheerful sound, was performed. He also gave public and private concerts, and taught music. Furthermore, he wrote and compiled song

John Abram

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Abram (born 1959) is an Anglo-Canadian composer best known for his work with electroacoustic music. Born in England, Abram became interested in music when he was six; he began composing in his teenage years. He took composition lessons with Roger Marsh and Peter Dickinson at Keele University, also studying the recorder with Alan Davis; since that time he has also studied composition with Vic Hoyland, Bernard Rands, and Boguslav Schäffer. Abram graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree, earning his master’s in composition in 1982. Upon leaving school, he moved to London, where he helped found the new music ensemble George W. Welch. In 1984 Abram was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship. This allowed him to travel to the University of Victoria in Canada, where he studied composition with Rudolf Komorous and electroacoustic music with Doug Collinge. For his PhD, he composed an anti-opera based on The Aeneid. In addition, he directed the music school’s Collegium Musicum for two years and taught composition for one. He was granted awards from the college in 1985 and 1987. From 1986 to 1988 he served as the associate director and conductor of the Open Space Gallery’s Open Sp

John Alcock (organist, born 1740)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Alcock ( 28 January 1740 – 30 March 1791) was an English organist, who composed several songs between 1770 and 1780. Biography John Alcock was born around 1740, to Margaret Alcock, née Beaumont (1711–1792), and John Alcock (1715–1806), himself a famous composer and organist. He was born in Plymouth, Devon and baptised there on 28 January 1740. He learned to play the organ through his father’s position as organist and master of the choristers at Lichfield Cathedral, working under him as a chorister. By the age of twelve he was deputising for his father on occasion. and “Expressly Composed for the use of Country Choirs”, stating his position as “Batchelor in Music and Organist of Walsall” on the title page. Those of Alcock’s published works, noted by the Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland, are ‘Arise, O Lord, and Lift Up’ and ‘The Lord is King’. References External links *

John Amner

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John Amner (1579–1641) was an English composer. A composer of sacred works, Amner was born in Ely and had a close association with Ely Cathedral, even before his employment there as Informator choristarum (1610–1641), through his relatives Michael and Ralph Amner, who were both lay clerks there. He received his Bachelor of Music from Oxford with the support of the Earl of Bath in 1613, and also from Cambridge in 1640. He was employed as both an organist and clergyman at the Cathedral after he obtained his first degree. He was subsequently ordained to the diaconate, later becoming vicarius (minor canon). In 1615, he published a collection entitled Sacred Hymnes of 3, 4, 5 and 6 parts for the Voyces and Vyols, which represents most of his known works. His other works include Preces (both for five voices), four settings of the daily canticles, several simple four-part anthems, slightly more complex five-part anthems, and verse anthems. Roughly a dozen of these works were recorded in the 1990s, and many were performed by the choir of Ely Cathedral, including Blessed be the Lord God; Hear, O Lord; Have mercy; I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live; My Lord is hence removed and laid

John Banister (composer)

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John Banister (1630 – 3 October 1679) was an English musical composer and violinist. Early life Banister was the son of one of the waits (municipal musicians) of the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and that profession he at first followed. His father was his first instructor, and he arrived at such proficiency on the violin that Charles II became interested in him and sent him for further education to France. On his return, Charles appointed him to the post of leader of his own band, vacated by the death of Thomas Baltzar in 1663. Court life About 1666–1667 he is said to have been dismissed by the king for an impertinent remark concerning the appointment of French musicians to the royal band. This seems to be referred to in Pepys’s Diary, dated 20 February 1666 – 1667, although Banister’s name occurs in a list of the King’s Chapel in 1668. Concerts On 30 December 1672, he inaugurated a series of concerts at his own house, which are remarkable as being the first lucrative concerts given in London. One peculiarity of the arrangements was that the audience, on payment of one shilling, were entitled to demand what music they wished to be performed. These entertainments continued to

John Barnett (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Barnett (15 July 1802 – 16 April 1890) was an English composer and writer on music. Life Barnett was the eldest son of a Prussian Jew named Bernhard Beer, who changed his surname on settling in England as a jeweller. According to some he was a cousin of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. Barnett was born at Bedford, and at the age of eleven sang at the Lyceum Theatre stage in London. His good voice led to his being given a musical education, and he soon began writing songs and lighter pieces for the stage. In 1834 he published a collection of Lyrical Illustrations of the Modern Poets. His opera The Mountain Sylph – with which his name is nowadays most associated – received a warm welcome when produced at the Lyceum on 25 August 1834, as the first modern English opera, and was given over 100 performances, which was an unusual success. It was followed by Fair Rosamond in 1837, and Farinelli in 1839, to librettos by his younger brother Charles Zachary Barnett, but Barnett never again achieved the success that he had enjoyed with The Mountain Sylph. Disappointed with his reception as a composer, Barnett retired to the country. He had a large connection as a singing-master at Cheltenh

John Barry (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Barry Prendergast (3 November 1933 – 30 January 2011) was an English composer and conductor of film music. Born in York, Barry spent his early years working in cinemas owned by his father. During his national service with the British Army in Cyprus, Barry began performing as a musician after learning to play the trumpet. Upon completing his national service, he formed a band in 1957, the John Barry Seven. He later developed an interest in composing and arranging music, making his début for television in 1958. He came to the notice of the filmmakers of the first James Bond film Dr. No, who were dissatisfied with a theme for James Bond given to them by Monty Norman. Noel Rogers, the head of music at United Artists, approached Barry. This started a successful association between Barry and the Bond series that lasted for 25 years. Barry composed the scores for eleven of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1987, as well as arranging and performing the “James Bond Theme” for the first film in the series, 1962’s Dr. No. He wrote the Grammy- and Academy Award-winning scores to the films Dances with Wolves (1990) and Out of Africa (1985), as well as the scores of The Scarlet Letter (

John Bennet (composer)

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John Bennet (c. 1575 – after 1614) was a composer of the English Madrigal School. Little is known for certain of Bennet’s life, but his first collection of madrigals was published in 1599. Life Bennet’s madrigals include “All creatures now” as well as “Weep, o mine eyes”. The latter is an homage to John Dowland, using part of Dowland’s most famous piece, “Flow, my tears”, also known in its pavane form as . Bennet’s life is mostly undocumented. Bennet did however leave behind evidence that his impact is great. Bennet dedicated his madrigal volume, These First Fruits of My Simple Skill the Endeavors of a Young Wit to Ralph Assheton in 1599. Assheton held civic office in both Lancashire and Cheshire, he was dedicated as a token for favours received. It seems probable, therefore, that Bennet came from the north-west of England, and was born about 1575 to 1580. ** I wander up and down ** Weep silly soul disdained AKA: Mourn silly soul disdained ** So gracious is thy sweet self AKA: So lovely is thy dear self ** Let go, why do you stay me AKA: My dear, why do you stay ** Come, shepherds, follow me ** I languish to complain me ** Sing out, ye nymphs AKA: Sing loud, ye nymphs; Shout loud,

John Bennett (composer)

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John Bennett (or Bennet; c. 10 March 1735, Liverpool – September 1784, in London) was an English organist and composer. Biography Details of Bennett’s life are limited, but it is known that he married one Sarah Everett in 1756 in Holborn and died in September 1784. He was buried on 24th of that month, after serving as organist at St Dionis Backchurch, Fenchurch Street in London, for over thirty years. He had outlived his wife who was buried on 15 April 1778. Both were buried at the church. Charles Burney notes that he had been a pupil of Johann Christoph Pepusch and that he ‘knew the rules of counterpoint very well’. Pearce, writing admittedly later in 1907, claims that Bennett was “an organist of sufficient talent to attract G. F. Handel to his performances”. As was fairly typical in the eighteenth century, he was a diverse musician; he played the organ and the viola, taught the harpsichord, and performed at The Drury Lane Theatre as a singer in the chorus and as a dancer. Burney notes that he had ‘played the tenor = viola and occasionally was a Chorus singer and figurante in processions’. According to Thomas Mortimer’s The Universal Director (1763) and the title page of Bennett’s

John Bevan Baker

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John Stewart Bevan Baker (3 May 1926 – 24 June 1994) was a British composer, born in England, but a longtime resident of Scotland. Biography He was born in Staines, Middlesex, to an English father, Bevan Braithwaite Baker FRSE (1890-1963), a professor of mathematics at Royal Holloway, University of London, and a Scottish mother, Margaret Stewart Barbour, of Edinburgh. John was the youngest of five children. He went to preparatory school at the Downs School in Herefordshire, and in 1939 he went up to Blundell’s School in Devon on an art scholarship. He fulfilled his war service from 1944 to 1946 as a Bevin Boy at a coal mine at Newbiggin in Northumberland. In 1946 he entered the Royal College of Music to study organ and composition. His tutors included Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gordon Jacob. In 1949 he became an assistant to the organist of Westminster Abbey. He stayed in this position for two years, and then devoted himself to giving lectures for the WEA and freelance organ playing in London. In 1958 he moved north to Aberdeen to take the position of city carillonneur at the Kirk of St Nicholas in the city centre. In Aberdeen he met June Findlay, whom he married in 1960. They woul

John Blackwood McEwen

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sir John Blackwood McEwen (13 April 1868 – 14 June 1948) was a Scottish classical composer and educator. He was professor of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, from 1898 to 1924, and principal from 1924 to 1936. He was a prolific composer, but made few efforts to bring his music to the notice of the general public. Life and career Early years John Blackwood McEwen was born in Hawick in 1868, the son of James McEwen and his first wife, Jane, née Blackwood. James McEwen was a Presbyterian minister; he moved to a church in Glasgow, where his son grew up. McEwen gained an MA degree from Glasgow University in 1888, between then and 1891 he studied music while working as a choirmaster, first in Glasgow and later at Lanark parish church. In 1891 he moved to London to gain wider musical experience, and by 1893 he had composed two string quartets, three symphonies, a Mass and other works. In that year he entered the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he studied with Ebenezer Prout, Frederick Corder and Tobias Matthay. While a student at the RAM McEwen won the Charles Lucas medal, and had his First String Quartet played at one of the academy’s concerts. Two years

John Blow

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Blow (baptised 23 February 1649 – 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist of the Baroque period. Appointed organist of Westminster Abbey in late 1668, his pupils included William Croft, Jeremiah Clarke and Henry Purcell. In 1685 he was named a private musician to James II. His only stage composition, Venus and Adonis (ca. 1680–1687), is thought to have influenced Henry Purcell’s later opera Dido and Aeneas. In 1687, he became choirmaster at St Paul’s Cathedral, where many of his pieces were performed. In 1699 he was appointed to the newly created post of Composer to the Chapel Royal. Early life and education Blow was probably born in the village of Collingham, Nottinghamshire. The parish registers at Newark record the baptisms of Blow and of his brother and sister, the marriage of his parents, and the burial of his father. The register of degrees at Lambeth notes that in 1677, on taking his doctorate, Blow said that his birthplace was ’the faithful borough of Newark’. As he was baptised on 23 February 1649, he was likely born only a short while before. As a boy, he was selected as a chorister of the Chapel Royal, and distinguished himself by his proficiency in mus

John Browne (composer)

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John Browne (1453–c. 1500) was an English composer of the Tudor period, who has been called “the greatest English composer of the period between Dunstaple and Taverner”. Despite the high level of skill displayed in Browne’s compositions, few of his works survive; Browne’s extant music is found in the Eton Choirbook, in which he is the best-represented contributor, and the Fayrfax Manuscript. His choral music is distinguished by innovative scoring, false relations, and unusually long melodic lines, and has been called by early music scholar Peter Phillips “subtle, almost mystical” and “extreme in ways which apparently have no parallel, either in England or abroad.” His O Maria salvatoris - unusual at the time of composition in that it is set in eight-part polyphony - was highly regarded during his lifetime, and was placed at the front of the Eton Choirbook. Though comparatively few in number compared with his continental contemporaries, Browne’s works are expressively intense and often lengthy, several lasting a quarter of an hour or so to perform. Many of the composers in the Eton Choirbook are represented only in this manuscript, due to the dissolution of the monasteries and wides

John Bull (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Bull (1562/63 – 12/13 March 1628) was an English composer, organist, virginalist and organ builder. He was a renowned keyboard performer of the virginalist school and most of his compositions were written for this medium. Life and career Bull’s place of birth is uncertain. In an article published in 1952, Thurston Dart presumed that Bull’s family originated in Somerset, where it is possible the composer was born. It was the 17th-century antiquarian Anthony Wood who first proposed that he was related to the Bull family of Peglich, Somerset, but in 1959 Dart wrote that Bull was probably the son of a London goldsmith…. Then, in the second edition of his Calendar of the Life of John Bull, Dart proposed Hereford as a third possibility. More recent research by Susi Jeans suggests that Bull was born in the Radnorshire parish of Old Radnor within the Diocese of Hereford, although no birth records have yet been discovered. Bull’s appointment as organist of Hereford Cathedral in 1582 lends credence to this diocese being his place of birth: it was customary at this time for organists to return to their home cathedrals after training in London (cf: Thomas Morley). In 1573 he joined the ch

John Buller (composer)

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John Buller (7 February 1927 – 12 September 2004) was a British composer. Career John Buller was born in London on 7 February 1927. His musical career began as a chorister at St Matthew’s, Westminster. Although the BBC accepted a work of his in 1946, he opted to earn his living as an architectural surveyor. Buller returned to music in his thirties, taking an external London University BMus in 1964 after private study with Anthony Milner. He gave up his surveying work in 1974 and from then was a full-time composer. Perhaps his best known work is Proença (1977) for electric guitar, mezzo-soprano and orchestra, which was selected by the 1978 International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. Other works include The Mime of Mick, Nick and the Maggies (1978), The Theatre of Memory (1981), the opera Bakxai (1992), Bacchae Metres (1993) and Illusions (1997). In his obituary for John Buller in the Guardian, Martin Wainwright wrote, ‘…John’s discovery of Joyce fuelled him for most of his creative life, and I think what became fundamental to everything he composed was the Joycean notion that imagination is nothing but extended memory, that the commonplace of our musical or aural consciousness is

John Caldwell (musicologist)

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John Anthony Caldwell (born 6 July 1938) is an English musicologist and composer. Life Caldwell was born in Bebington, Cheshire and studied the organ at the Matthay School of Music in Liverpool, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists in 1957. He studied at Keble College, Oxford, obtaining his B.A. in 1960, B.Mus. in 1961 and D.Phil. in 1965. For his doctorate, he transcribed and edited a manuscript of English liturgical organ music from between 1548 and 1650. He was an assistant lecturer at Bristol University from 1963 to 1966, before returning to Oxford University as a lecturer in 1966, holding this position until 1996 when he was appointed a Reader. He was a Fellow of Keble College from 1967 to 1992. He became a senior research fellow of Jesus College, Oxford in 1999 and given the title of Professor by the University Distinctions Committee. He became an Emeritus Fellow on his retirement in 2005. His main areas of interest are medieval and Renaissance music, music theory and keyboard music. In one of his late articles dedicated to early witnesses of Western modal music and music theory he suggested to consider modality not to be bound up with 8 “standard” church tones

John Casken

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John Arthur Casken (born 15 July 1949) is an English composer. Casken was born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. While at Barnsley Grammar School in the 1960s his music teacher played a recording of Berg’s Violin Concerto, which had a lasting influence. He studied composition at the University of Birmingham with John Joubert and Peter Dickinson. He attended the Warsaw Academy of Music between 1971 and 1972, where he studied with Andrzej Dobrowolski but also met and became friends with Witold Lutosławski. He has lectured at the universities of Birmingham (from 1973) and Durham (from 1981), and between 1992 and 2008 he was Professor of Music at the University of Manchester. Casken’s students include Michael Alcorn, David Jennings and James MacMillan. Casken lives in Northumberland. He has acknowledged the landscape as a significant influence on his work. Works such as the orchestral Orion Over Farne (1984), the unaccompanied choral work To Fields We Do Not Know (1985), (described as “a Northumbrian elegy”), the orchestral song-cycle Still Mine (1992), the ensemble piece Winter Reels (2010) and the choral Uncertain Sea (2014) have all drawn inspiration from Northumberlan

John Christmas Beckwith

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John Christmas Beckwith (25 December 1759 – 3 June 1809) was an English organist and composer. Life Beckwith was born in Norwich on 25 December 1759, son of Edward Beckwith (1734–1793). His father and uncle were lay clerks at Norwich Cathedral. He was for many years pupil and assistant successively of the organist and composer William Hayes, and his son Philip Hayes, at Magdalen College, Oxford. As an organist he took very high rank in his day. He had many pupils, including the organist Zechariah Buck, the composer Stephen Codman, the singer Thomas Vaughan and the writer on music Edward Taylor, who said of him: “I have never heard Dr. Beckwith’s equal upon the organ either in this county or in Germany. … Neither is this my opinion only, but that of every competent judge who has heard him”. In Norwich, Beckwith was much involved in “musical meetings”, usually held in St Peter Mancroft; they supported charities, some of which he was associated with as a founder. In 1794 he was appointed organist of St Peter Mancroft. He took both the Mus. Bac. and Mus. Doc. degrees at Oxford in 1803, and in 1808 succeeded Thomas Garland as organist of Norwich Cathedral. Beckwith died of a stroke on 3

John Christopher Smith

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John Christopher Smith (born Johann Christoph Schmidt; 17123 October 1795) was an English composer who, following in his father’s footsteps, became George Frideric Handel’s secretary, student and amanuensis. Life John Christopher Smith was the son of Johann Christoph Schmidt (John Christopher Smith Sr.) (died 1763), Handel’s first copyist in London. His father, known to Handel from Halle, was summoned from Germany in 1716. He brought his family to London around 1720. John Christopher Smith Jr. had a few lessons from Handel and Johann Christoph Pepusch but studied mostly with Thomas Roseingrave. He later became Handel’s secretary, musical assistant and amanuensis, when blindness prevented Handel from writing or conducting in his later years. The last year when Handel conducted performances of his oratorios was 1752. Handel fell out with Smith Sr. in the 1750s, but remained on good terms with the son. From 1753 to the composer’s death in 1759, Smith conducted Handel’s oratorios that were to be performed in those years. Handel bequeathed to Smith the keyboard instruments in his house at 25 Brook Street and his manuscripts. There was interest in reproducing Handel’s music mechanically,

John Collett (composer)

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John Collett (c1735-1775) was an English violinist and composer. He is credited with composing the first British four movement symphony. He later moved to Aberdeen, Scotland and then Edinburgh, where he remained for the rest of his life. There he was associated with the Edinburgh Musical Society and became a member of the Cape Club. He set fellow Cape Club member Robert Fergusson’s words to a cantata, Ode on the Rivers of Scotland (1772, now lost). Another substantial cantata, The Birthday Cantata for Andrew Crosbie, was composed in Edinburgh the following year, and has survived. His Six Solos for the Violin (with harpsichord thoroughbass) were published around 1758. He wrote pantomime theatre music for David Garrick’s The Hermit (at Drury Lane in 1766), and songs for the Vauxhall pleasure gardens. His Six Symphonies or Overtures, op. 2, dedicated to Thomas Earl of Kelly, were published in 1766, and like Kelly’s symphonies they reflect the Mannheim Style popular at the time. Number 3, originally the overture to the burletta Midas, presented at Covent Garden in February 1764, became well known. References

John Coprario

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John Coprario (c. 1570–80 – c. June 1626), also known as Giovanni Coprario or Coperario, was an English composer, viol player and teacher. Life and career According to later commentators, such as John Playford and Roger North, he changed his name from either Cowper or Cooper to Coperario in the early 17th century (at least as early as February 1601), although he himself spelled his name “John Coprario”. Anthony Wood said he changed his name after an extended visit to Italy, and though he is documented as having visited the Low Countries in 1603, evidence confirming his presence in Italy has not been found. Among Coprario’s works are fantasias, suites, and other works for viols and violins, and two collections of songs, Funeral Teares (1606) and Songs of Mourning: Bewailing the Untimely Death of Prince Henry (1613). Coprario wrote songs for The Somerset Masque performed on 26 December 1613. He also penned a treatise on composition, Rules how to Compose (c. 1610–1616). Ninety-six fantasias for three up to six voices, most of them in two Oxford and Royal College of Music collections, were known to exist by Coprario (as of 1946). Meyer also notes that most of Coprario’s five- and six-p

John Dowland

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John Dowland (c. 1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as “Come, heavy sleep”, “Come again”, “Flow my tears”, “I saw my Lady weepe”, “Now o now I needs must part”, and “In darkness let me dwell”. His instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and with the 20th century’s early music revival, has been a continuing source of repertoire for lutenists and classical guitarists. Life and career Very little is known of Dowland’s early life, but it is generally thought he was born in London. Sources put his birth year as 1563, based on his own written statements about his age. Irish historian W. H. Grattan Flood claimed that he was born in Dalkey, near Dublin, but no corroborating evidence has been found either for that or for Thomas Fuller’s claim that he was born in Westminster. One piece of evidence points to Dublin as his place of origin: he dedicated the song “From Silent Night” to ‘my loving countryman Mr. John Forster the younger, merchant of Dublin in Ireland’. The Forsters were a prominent Dublin family at the time, providing several Lord Mayors to the city. In 1580 Dowl

John Dunstaple

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John Dunstaple (or Dunstable; c. 1390 – 24 December 1453) was an English composer whose music helped inaugurate the transition from the medieval to the Renaissance periods. The central proponent of the Contenance angloise style (), Dunstaple was the leading English composer of his time, and is often coupled with William Byrd and Henry Purcell as England’s most important early music composers. His style would have an immense influence on the subsequent music of continental Europe, inspiring composers such as Du Fay, Binchois, Ockeghem and Busnois. Information on Dunstaple’s life is largely non-existent or speculative, with the only certain date of his activity being his death on Christmas Eve of 1453. Probably born in Dunstable in Bedfordshire during the late 14th-century, Dunstaple was associated with Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and Joan of Navarre, and, through them, St Albans Abbey. Another important patron was John, Duke of Bedford, with whom Dunstaple may have travelled to France. Dunstaple’s surviving music is exclusively vocal, and frequently uses isorhythms, while pioneering the prominent use of harmonies with thirds and sixths. Life and career Nothing is known for certain

John Eacott

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John Eacott (born 19 December 1960) is a British jazz trumpeter and composer. Life Beginnings, early influences John Eacott was born in Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom. His father Kenneth Eacott was a pianist, arranger and composer. His mother Joy Pocock was a dancer and drummer in the family band, in which John started playing trumpet aged seven. In the mid 1970s the family moved to Hayling Island where a lifelong love for the sea, sailing and navigation took hold. It was here where he was introduced to free jazz, leading him to meet Mark Lockheart. In the 1980s John Eacott got a ‘Psion Organiser’ and started to experiment with computer programming. Working Life (1982 – present) On graduating from Sussex University, England, in 1982 BA Music, Eacott’s career as a musician started with anarchic jazzers Loose Tubes (trumpet, composer), post-industrial metal bashers Test Dept (trumpet, arranger, composer), Roman Holliday, acid jazz group Vibraphonic, and as a trumpeter with a diverse array of artists including Damon Albarn, Goldie, Stereo MCs, The The, Georgie Fame, Terry Edwards and the Scapegoats. He performed with Loose Tube (30 Years Anniversary concerts), and regularly plays

John Eccles (composer)

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John Eccles (1668 – 12 January 1735) was an English composer. Born in London, eldest son of professional musician Solomon Eccles and brother of fellow composer Henry Eccles, John Eccles was appointed to the King’s Private Music in 1694, and in 1700 became Master of the King’s Musick. In the latter year he finished second in a competition to write music for William Congreve’s masque The Judgement of Paris (the winner was John Weldon). Eccles was very active as a composer for the theatre, and from the 1690s wrote a large amount of incidental music including music for Congreve’s Love for Love, John Dryden’s The Spanish Friar and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Jointly with Henry Purcell he wrote incidental music for Thomas d’Urfey’s Don Quixote. He became a composer to Drury Lane theatre in 1693 and when some of the actors broke off to form their own company at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in 1695, he composed music for them as well including for John Dennis’s Rinaldo and Armida. Eccles also wrote music for the coronation of Queen Anne and a number of songs. Many of his most famous songs, such as “I burn, I burn” were composed for the actress-singer Anne Bracegirdle to perform. Recognizing Ecc

John Farmer (composer)

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John Farmer (c. 1570c. 1601) was an important composer of the English Madrigal School. He was born in England during the Elizabethan period, and was also known by his skillful settings for four voices of the old church psalm tunes. His exact date of birth is not known – a 1926 article by Grattan Flood posits a date around 1564 to 1565 based on matriculation records. Farmer was under the patronage of the Earl of Oxford and dedicated his collection of canons and his late madrigal volume to his patron. In 1595, Farmer was appointed organist and master of children at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and also, at the same time, organist of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. In 1599, he moved to London and published his only collection of four-part madrigals, which he dedicated to Edward de Vere. His Lord’s Prayer is performed widely throughout many churches and cathedrals, mostly in Britain. It is included in Volume 2 of Oxford Choral Classics, published by Oxford University Press. Giles Farnaby dedicated a pavan to him, included in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book as Farmer’s Paven (no. CCLXXXVII). Farmer’s Divers & Sundry Waies was the source of the fugues in Michael Maier’s book, Atalanta

John Foster (composer)

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John Foster (1752–1822) of High Green in the parish of Ecclesfield, West Riding of Yorkshire was a coroner and amateur musician. He composed two books of sacred music in a 19th-century classical style published between 1817 and 1822, Sacred Music and A 2d Collection of Sacred Music. Both books were published in York by Samuel Knapton (the father of the organist and composer Philip Knapton). They comprise 17 settings of metrical psalm and hymn texts (8 in the first book and 9 in the second), with orchestral and keyboard accompaniments, and are dedicated to Richard Lumley-Saunderson, 6th Earl of Scarbrough. There are copies of both books in the Sheffield Local Studies Library. Foster is now best known as the composer of a tune known as Old Foster, to which the words While shepherds watched their flocks by night are sung in the South Yorkshire pub carolling tradition (for example, at the Fountain Inn at Ingbirchworth). A version of the tune is also sung at Castleton, Derbyshire, where it is known as Prince of Orange and used with the words Hark, the glad sound! the Saviour comes, by Philip Doddridge. The tune was originally published in A 2d Collection of Sacred Music as a setting of

John Foulds

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John Herbert Foulds (; 2 November 1880 – 25 April 1939) was an English cellist and composer of classical music. He was largely self-taught as a composer, and belongs among the figures of the English Musical Renaissance. A successful composer of light music and theatre scores, he directed his principal creative energies into more ambitious and exploratory works that were particularly influenced by Indian music. Suffering a setback after the decline in popularity of his World Requiem (1919–1921), he left London for Paris in 1927, and eventually travelled to India in 1935 where, among other things, he collected folk music, composed pieces for traditional Indian instrument ensembles, and worked in radio and became Director of All India Radio in Delhi in 1937. Foulds was an adventurous figure of great innate musicality and superb technical skill. Among his best-known works are Three Mantras for orchestra and wordless chorus (1919–1930), Essays in the Modes for piano (1920–1927), the piano concerto Dynamic Triptych (1927–1929), and his ninth string quartet Quartetto Intimo (1931–1932). Biography John Foulds was born in Hulme, Manchester, England, on 2 November 1880, the son of a bassooni

John Francis Barnett

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John Francis Barnett (16 October 183724 November 1916) was an English composer, pianist and teacher. Life John Francis Barnett was born on 16 October 1837 at St John’s Wood, London. His father was Joseph Alfred Barnett (1810-1898), a professor of music, and his uncle was the composer John Barnett. John Francis carried on the traditions of the family as a composer and teacher. He obtained a Queen’s Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, London, in 1849 studying under William Sterndale Bennett and developing into an accomplished pianist. In 1857 he travelled to Leipzig to study composition and piano, playing Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor at a Gewandhaus concert on 22 March 1860. His teachers at the Conservatoire in Leipzig were the great pianist Ignaz Moscheles (who had been a pupil of Beethoven), Moritz Hauptmann, Julius Rietz and Louis Plaidy. Whilst at Leipzig, Barnett formed a close friendship with his fellow-student Arthur Sullivan. Returning to London in 1860, Barnett enjoyed a successful career as a pianist for some years but concentrated increasingly on composition and teaching. He played Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto at a New Philharmonic Society concert i

John Gardner (composer)

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John Linton Gardner, CBE (2 March 1917 – 12 December 2011) was an English composer of classical music. Early life John Gardner was born in Manchester, England and grew up in Ilfracombe, North Devon. His father Alfred Linton Gardner (born 1882, Ilfracombe died 10 April 1918, France) was a local physician and amateur composer who was killed in action in the First World War. His grandfather was John Twiname Gardner, also a general practitioner and composer. His mother, Emily Muriel Pullein-Thompson, was the sister of Captain Harold J “Cappy” Pullein-Thompson, who was the father of Josephine, Diana and Christine Pullein-Thompson and their brother, the playwright Denis Cannan. Gardner was educated at Eagle House School, Sandhurst, Wellington College and Exeter College, Oxford, where he was the Hubert Parry organ scholar. An important figure in his early life was Hubert J. Foss of Oxford University Press, who published the Intermezzo for Organ in 1936 and introduced him to the composer Arthur Benjamin, to whom Gardner dedicated his Rhapsody for Oboe and String Quartet (1935). This work had its first performance at the Wigmore Hall in February 1936. The String Quartet No. 1 (1938) was bro

John Goss (composer)

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Sir John Goss (27 December 1800 – 10 May 1880) was an English organist, composer and teacher. Born to a musical family, Goss was a boy chorister of the Chapel Royal, London, and later a pupil of Thomas Attwood, organist of St Paul’s Cathedral. After a brief period as a chorus member in an opera company he was appointed organist of a chapel in south London, later moving to more prestigious organ posts at St Luke’s Church, Chelsea and finally St Paul’s Cathedral, where he struggled to improve musical standards. As a composer, Goss wrote little for the orchestra, but was known for his vocal music, both religious and secular. Among his best-known compositions are his hymn tunes “Praise, my soul, the King of heaven” and “See, Amid the Winter’s Snow”. The music critic of The Times described him as the last of the line of English composers who confined themselves almost entirely to ecclesiastical music. From 1827 to 1874, Goss was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music, teaching harmony. He also taught at St Paul’s. Among his pupils at the academy were Arthur Sullivan, Frederic Cowen and Frederick Bridge. His best-known pupil at St Paul’s was John Stainer, who succeeded him as organist

John Greaves (musician)

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John Greaves (born 23 February 1950) is a Welsh bass guitarist, pianist and composer who was a member of Henry Cow and has collaborated with Peter Blegvad. He was also a member of progressive rock band National Health and jazz-rock supergroup Soft Heap, and has recorded several solo albums, including Accident (1982), Parrot Fashions (1984), The Caretaker (2001) and Greaves Verlaine (2008). Biography Greaves was born in Prestatyn and grew up in Wrexham in northeast Wales. At the age of 12, he was given a bass guitar by his father, a Welsh dancehall bandleader, and within six months, he was playing in his father’s orchestra. He continued playing in the orchestra for four years, during which time its varied musical styles gave Greaves valuable musician and arranger skills. He was educated at Grove Park Grammar School in Wrexham from 1961 to 1968. In 1968 Greaves entered Pembroke College, Cambridge to study English. While at Cambridge, he met members of the burgeoning English avant-rock group Henry Cow in 1969. The band had been established the previous year by fellow Cambridge students Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson and had undergone numerous personnel changes up to that point. They we

John Hanboys

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John Hanboys, also John Hamboys and possibly J. de Alto Bosco (fl. 1370), was a medieval musical theorist from England. Biography Very little is known of the life of Hanboys. He may have come from one of the villages of Little or Great Hautboys in Norfolk. In the attribution of one version of the treatise Summa super musicam he is called ‘doctoris musice reverendi’. It has been assumed that because he was called ‘reverend’, may have been a monk or friar, but this uncertain. Traditionally authors followed the earliest biographical source John Bale’s Illustrium maioris britanniae scriptorum (Summary of the Writers of Britain) (1548), which uses the spelling ‘Hamboys’ and indicates he received a liberal education from an early age, but was chiefly devoted to the study of music. That he was eloquent and accomplished, and after studying for many years in ’the school of his land’ he was given the degree of doctor of music. He adds that he was ’the most noted man of his day in England’ and that he came to prominence in 1470 in the reign of Edward IV (r.1461-83). More recently Brian Trowell has argued that he can be identified with J. de Alto Bosco, the Latin title of a musician mentioned

John Hardy (composer)

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John Hardy (born 1957) is an English-born composer who has been commissioned by the Arts Council/National Lottery, the BBC, Welsh National Opera and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, among others. His work includes opera, choral and orchestral pieces, site-specific theatre events and film. Hardy studied at Hereford Cathedral School, Oxford University and Guildhall School of Music & Drama before directing music at Cardiff Laboratory Theatre, Edington Festival then Welsh performance group Brith Gof, whose 1988 production Gododdin was performed with percussion group Test Dept and described by The Independent as “elemental, wild and exhilarating… an exceptional achievement.” In 1994 Hardy won the first of his five BAFTA Cymru awards for the soundtrack to Hedd Wyn, an Oscar-nominated film about the Welsh poet. At this time he began collaborating with playwright Ed Thomas, composing music for Song From A Forgotten City (1995), House of America (1996), Gas Station Angel (1998) and Stone City Blue (2004). Music Theatre Wales commissioned and in 1994 premiered Flowers, a chamber opera described as “rich and evocative” by Opera, “communicating… the whole gamut of human emotions” by The

John Hebden

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John Hebden (1712–1765) was a composer and musician in 18th century Great Britain. Little is known of Hebden’s life. He was baptized on 21 July 1712 at Spofforth, near Harrogate in Yorkshire, the son of ‘John Hebdin’ of Plompton. He was orphaned when young but was fortunate enough to receive an excellent education, including musical tuition. He lived most of his life in York. In 1732, he married Mary Prestland. Their first son, John, born in 1733, survived only a short time. A second son was baptized in 1736, but Mary died shortly afterwards, in 1737. Hebden was left with the responsibility of bringing up his small son and working long hours earning enough to live. When Hebden was dying, he arranged for money to be left in trust for his son, to be released in only small amounts. Around 1742, Hebden moved to London, and when composer Thomas Arne enlarged the orchestra at Vauxhall Gardens in 1745, he became the principal cellist and bassoonist. It is also known that he played in a performance of Messiah directed by George Frideric Handel himself, to raise money for the Foundling Hospital. Hebden was principally an orchestral player and as such his social status and his income would h

John Hilton the younger

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John Hilton (ca. 15991657) was an English early Baroque composer. He is best known for his books Ayres or Fa-Las for Three Voices and Catch That Catch Can. Life Hilton was born about 1599 in Cambridge. His father was probably the church musician and composer John Hilton the elder, who died in Cambridge in 1609. Ayres or Fa-Las for Three Voices This book of music is largely overlooked by scholars. Many think the pieces are of low quality, while others are surprised that they do not get more attention. It is not known who composed the texts to the Ayres or Fa-Las. Most of the songs are about love. Published in 1627, it represented one of the last publications of English song until John Playford’s Musical Banquet of 1651 (the one exception being Walter Porter’s Madrigales and Ayres of 1632). Notes References *HOASM: John Hilton (2) *Journal of Seventeenth Century Music *Catch That Catch Can (Pepys’ Diary)

John Hopkins (composer)

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John Hopkins (born in 1949, at Polegate in East Sussex) is a British composer. Education Hopkins studied at University College Cardiff. There his teachers included Alun Hoddinott and Arnold Whittall. He also took composition lessons with Peter Maxwell Davies. He graduated in 2000 from University of Sussex with a D.Phil. Career Hopkins was elected as a regional composer-in-residence by the Eastern Arts Association (now Arts Council England East) in 1979. After several teaching positions, including being co-ordinator of Practice-Based Studies at the Faculty of Music (University of Cambridge), and Director of Studies for Music at Homerton College, Cambridge, he is now Composer in Residence at Homerton College, Cambridge. Works His For the Far Journey (1981) was commissioned and premièred by the Geminii Ensemble and has been described as illustrating characteristics of Hopkin’s music, namely ‘attractive textures and effective pacing’. White Winter, Black Spring is a composition for two voices and large instrumental ensemble; Hopkins used poems by Robert Lowell for this work commissioned by the BBC. Some major pieces * For the Far Journey (1981) * The Magic Mountain (1983) * White Winte

John Ireland (composer)

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John Nicholson Ireland (13 August 187912 June 1962) Ireland entered the Royal College of Music in 1893, studying piano with Frederic Cliffe, From 1897 he studied composition under Charles Villiers Stanford. In 1896 Ireland was appointed sub-organist at Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, London SW1, and later, from 1904 until 1926, was organist and choirmaster at St Luke’s Church, Chelsea. Ireland began to make his name in the early 1900s as a composer of songs and chamber music. His Violin Sonata No. 1 of 1909 won first prize in the Cobbett Competition. Even more successful was his Violin Sonata No. 2: completed in January 1917, he submitted this to a competition organised to assist musicians in wartime. The jury included the violinist Albert Sammons and the pianist William Murdoch, who together gave the work its first performance at Aeolian Hall in New Bond Street on 6 March that year. As Ireland recalled, “It was probably the first and only occasion when a British composer was lifted from relative obscurity in a single night by a work cast in a chamber-music medium.” The work was enthusiastically reviewed, and the publisher Winthrop Rogers offered immediate publication (the first editi

John Jenkins (composer)

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John Jenkins (c. 1592–c. 1678), was an English composer of the early Baroque period. He was born in Maidstone, Kent and died in Kimberley, Norfolk. Biography Little is known of his early life. The son of Henry Jenkins, a carpenter who occasionally made musical instruments, he may have been the “Jack Jenkins” employed in the household of Anne Russell, Countess of Warwick in 1603. The first positive historical record of Jenkins is amongst the musicians who performed the masque The Triumph of Peace in 1634 at the court of King Charles I. Jenkins was considered a virtuoso on the lyra viol. Charles commented that Jenkins did “wonders on an inconsiderable instrument.” When the English Civil War broke out in 1642 it forced Jenkins, like many others, to migrate to the rural countryside. During the 1640s he was employed as music-master to two Royalist families, the Derham family at West Dereham and Hamon le Strange of Hunstanton. He was also a friend of the composer William Lawes (1602–1645), who was shot and died in battle at the siege of Chester. Around 1640 Jenkins revived the In Nomine, an archaic form for a consort of viols, based upon a traditional plainsong theme. He wrote a notable

John Kenny (trombonist)

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John Kenny (born 1957) is a British trombonist, carnyxplayer and composer. Career Kenny is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He received the Gaudeamus International Interpreters Award in 1983 and the International Trombone Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Kenny was part of the team which created the modern reconstruction of the Carnyx horn and has subsequently performed and recorded on the instrument. References External links *Carnyx & Co. *Warwick Music - John’s Publisher *Thank you, John Kenny …for an open-ended life-long collaboration. *

John Lely

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John Lely (born Norwich, England, in 1976) is a British experimental composer, improvising musician and curator based in London, UK. His music has been commissioned and performed by musicians including Apartment House, Quatour Bozzini, the violinist Mira Benjamin, the harpist Rhodri Davies and the pianist John Tilbury, and has been broadcast on BBC Four, BBC Radio 3 and Resonance FM. He is co-curator, with the composer Tim Parkinson, of the concert series Music We’d Like to Hear, which has run since 2005 and co-author with fellow composer James Saunders of the book Word Events: Perspectives on Verbal Notation, a study of text scores, which was published by Continuum/Bloomsbury in 2012. Education Lely studied at Goldsmiths, University of London, with Roger Redgate, Dave Smith and John Tilbury, and privately with Michael Parsons. In 2007, he was a resident student at Ostrava Days and from 2008 to 2010 he was a researcher at Bath Spa University. From 2003 to 2008, he taught composition and creative strategies at Goldsmiths, and experimental sound at Chelsea College of Arts. Style Lely’s music is influenced by an older generation of British experimental composers, such as John White an

John Lodge Ellerton

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John Lodge Ellerton (11 January 1801 – 3 January 1873) was an English composer of classical music. Life Ellerton was born in Cheshire with the name of John Lodge. He attended Rugby School and graduated with an MA from Brasenose College, Oxford University in 1828. Between 1829 and 1831 he studied under in Rome, where he wrote 7 operas in Italian. In 1837 he adopted the name of Ellerton and on 24 August that year married Henrietta Barbara Lumley, the sister of the 8th Earl of Scarbrough. His English opera “Domenica” was produced at Drury Lane in 1838, but this was unsuccessful; his oratorio Paradise Lost (op. 125; for soloists (SSAATTTBB), chorus (SATB) and orchestra.), published in 1857, had more critical success although apparently few performances. His Mass in D appeared in 1843: a reviewer wrote, “This is the composition of an amateur, and evidently one who has studied in the right school… it is by no means a discreditable work, nor undeserving of attention. The Kyrie is well conceived, but contains many passages that remind us of Haydn…. The fugue, Cum Sancto Spiritu is well written, but smacks rather much of Mozart’s spirited effusions to the same words. The same may be sai

John Lugge

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John Lugge (c.1580 – 1647–55) was an English organist and composer, who spent most of his musical career at Exeter Cathedral.

John Lunn

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John Lunn (born 13 May 1956) is a Scottish composer, known for the music from the series Downton Abbey and for many other television and movie soundtracks. Early life and education Lunn was born in May 1956. His father was a saxophonist in a jazz band. Lunn graduated from Glasgow University, where he studied 12-tone techniques. He has cited among his musical influences John Cage, Milton Babbitt, and György Ligeti, as well as Miles Davis. Lunn was also a member of “systems music” band Man Jumping, an early 1980s “jazz-pop-worldbeat fusion ensemble”, where he played bass and keyboard.". He took a short course in computer music at MIT, and assembled his own computerised compositional system, using Cubase software. Career Television He began composing for BBC Scotland in the late 1980s, with Beatrix: The Early Life of Beatrix Potter (1990) and The Gift (1991). His work also includes music for the television series Hamish Macbeth (1995–1997), Lorna Doone (2000), North Square (2000), Madame Bovary (2000), Cambridge Spies (2003), Bleak House (2005), Hotel Babylon (2006), Little Dorrit (2008), Downton Abbey (2010–2015), Waking the Dead (2011), The White Queen (2013), Shetland (2013), Grant

John Mahon (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Mahon (also Mahone, Mahoon; 1749–1834) was an Irish composer, clarinetist, violinist, and viola player. Life Mahon was born in Oxford into an Irish family of musicians. His father William Mahon * Duets (4) for 2 Clarinets: No. 4 in B Flat Major * Duets (4) for 2 Clarinets: No. 1 in F Major References Further reading * A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800. pp. 56–57 External links * * Mahon family * John Mahon * Mahon Clarinet CDH55261 [SH]: Classical CD Reviews - December 2006 MusicWeb-International * Oxford Music

John Marsh (composer)

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John Marsh (31 May 1752 – 31 October 1828) was an English gentleman, composer, diarist and writer born in Netherseal, Derbyshire, England. A lawyer by training, he is known to have written more than 350 compositions, including at least 39 symphonies. While today known primarily for his music, he also had strong interest in other fields, including astronomy and philosophy, and wrote books about astronomy, music, religion, and geometry. Life and career Marsh lived in Dorking, Gosport, Romsey, Salisbury and Canterbury before settling in Chichester in 1787 until his death in 1828. As a concert organizer, he was responsible for the music making in the towns and cities where he worked, especially in Chichester, where he led the subscription concerts for some 35 years. Marsh was perhaps the most prolific English composer of his time. His own catalogue of compositions lists over 350 works, of which he lists 39 symphonies. Of these, only the nine that Marsh had printed are extant, together with three one-movement finales. His style owes much to Handel and Corelli and it is close to other composers of the time, such as William Boyce. Many of his works are also reminiscent of early Haydn symp

John McCabe (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John McCabe (21 April 1939 – 13 February 2015) was a British composer and pianist. He created works in many different forms, including symphonies, ballets, and solo works for the piano. He served as director of the London College of Music from 1983 to 1990. Guy Rickards praised him as “one of Britain’s finest composers in the past half-century” and “a pianist of formidable gifts and wide-ranging sympathies”. Early life and education McCabe was born in Huyton, Liverpool on 21 April 1939. His father was an Irish physicist and his German/Finnish mother, Elisabeth Herlitzius, was an amateur violinist. McCabe was badly burned in an accident when he was a child and was home schooled for eight years. During this time, McCabe said that there was “a lot of music in the house”, which inspired his future career. He explained “My mother was a very good amateur violinist and there were records and printed music everywhere. I thought that if all these guys – Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert – can do it, then so can I!”. By the age of 11 McCabe had composed 13 symphonies, but he later suppressed them, believing they were not good enough. He subsequently attended the Liverpool Institute. Personal life

John Merbecke

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John Marbeck, Merbeck or Merbecke (c. 1510) was an English choral composer and theological writer whose musical setting of the early Anglican liturgy standardised the sung Anglican service until the late 20th century. He is also known today for his setting of the Mass, Missa Per arma justitiae. Life Probably a native of Beverley in Yorkshire, Merbecke appears to have been a boy chorister at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, and was employed as an organist there from about 1541. Two years later he was convicted with four others of heresy and sentenced to be burnt at the stake, but received a pardon owing to the intervention of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, who said he was “but a musitian”. An English Concordance of the Bible which Merbecke had been preparing at the suggestion of Richard Turner, was however confiscated and destroyed. A later version of this work, the first of its kind in English, was published in 1550 with a dedication to Edward VI. In the same year, Merbecke published his Booke of Common Praier Noted, intended to provide for musical uniformity in the use of the First Prayer Book of Edward VI. This set the liturgy to semi-rhythmical melodies partly adapted from

John Metcalf (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Metcalf MBE (born 1946) is a Welsh-Canadian composer. He has worked in many forms, including large-scale operas, choral and orchestral works, and chamber music, both instrumental and vocal. His music is tonal, and is often rhythmically complex, with much use of polyrhythms. Biography John Metcalf was born in Swansea in 1946, and spent his childhood on the Gower Peninsula, at Reynoldston and Penmaen. When he was six, the family moved to Cardiff, where his father had taken a new job. He was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham. He intended to read classics at university, but he sent a composition to the composer, Alun Hoddinott, who encouraged him to instead study music at Cardiff University. Following graduation, he went on to study composition with the Australian Don Banks, and electronic music with Hugh Davies in London. In 1971 he became director of music at Atlantic College, near Llantwit Major in Glamorgan, also directing the associated St Donat’s Arts Centre as well as the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, which he founded in 1969, developing a lively policy of encouraging performances of contemporary music. In 1977-8 he spent a year in the United States on a UK-USA Bicent

John Milton (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Milton (1562–1647) was an English composer and father of poet John Milton. His compositions were mostly religious in theme. A financial worker by trade, he also wrote poetry. He lived in London for most of his life. Biography Early in his life he converted to Protestantism and his own Roman Catholic father, Richard Milton, subsequently disowned him. He moved to London around 1583 to work as an apprentice scrivener. His work largely pertained to business matters; often working as a moneylender or a financial broker. He registered with the Company of Scriveners on 27 February 1599. Soon after this he started a family, marrying Sara Jeffrey (c. 1572–1637) and living in Bread Street, London, with her parents. Records show the couple had six children, three of whom reached adulthood. The three surviving children were Anne, John Milton (the poet) and Christopher Milton (a judge who was later awarded a knighthood). Milton’s work made the family so prosperous that they could afford to employ private tutors of classical languages for their sons and later send them to school and university. This affluence also meant that his eldest son, John Milton, never had to work and thus spent his

John Mundy (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Mundy (or Munday) (before 1555 – 29 June 1630) was an English composer, virginalist and organist of the Renaissance period. Life and works The son and pupil of the eminent composer William Mundy, he was organist at Eton, and succeeded John Marbeck after his death in 1585 as organist at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. He received a bachelor of music degree from the University of Oxford in 1586, and his doctorate in 1624. In 1585 he was appointed joint organist of Westminster Abbey with Nathaniel Giles, a post he maintained until his death in 1630. Mundy was one of the earliest English madrigalists. He published a volume of Songs and Psalms in 1594, and contributed a madrigal, Lightly she whipped o’er the dales, to The Triumphs of Oriana (1601), a compilation of madrigals by Thomas Morley in honour of Queen Elizabeth I. He composed sacred music in English and Latin, including music for the Book of Common Prayer, and is represented in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book by five pieces, including a magnificent set of variations on the popular song Goe from my window and a whimsical but fine miniature, Munday’s Joy. He also wrote a setting of the recusant Chidiock Tichborne’s poem My prime

John Palmer (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Palmer (born 1959) is a British composer, pianist, musicologist and university professor. His compositions are published by Composers Edition. Life John Palmer began his music career as a pianist in the mid-seventies. In the 1980s he continued his piano studies with Grazia Wendling and Eva Serman at the Lucerne School of Music (Musikhochschule Luzern), where he also studied composition with Edison Denisov and Vinko Globokar. He continued his composition studies in London at Trinity College of Music, Royal Holloway, University of London and at City University London where he obtained a PhD titled “Formal Strategies in Composition” in 1994. Further studies include composition with Vinko Globokar at the Dartington Summer School and privately with Jonathan Harvey, Analysis with Jonathan Cross at the University of Bristol, and Conducting with Alan Hazeldine at the Guildhall School of Music And Drama in London. Since 1987 Palmer has written more than 130 compositions for opera, music theatre, orchestral, instrumental, vocal, chamber music, and electroacoustic music. Several of Palmer’s early compositions have been archived in the British Music Collection, a national database of Brit

John Pickard (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Pickard (born 11 September 1963) is a British classical composer. Biography Pickard was born in Burnley, Lancashire, England. He studied music and composition at the University of Wales, with Welsh composer William Mathias, and later in the Netherlands with Louis Andriessen and in 1989 was awarded a PhD in composition from the University of Wales. Since 1993 he has taught at the University of Bristol, where he is Professor of Composition and Applied Musicology, and was Head of Music between 2009 and 2013, and again between 2017 and 2018. Pickard is also conductor of the University of Bristol Symphony Orchestra and Choral Society. Pickard has composed a number of critically well-received orchestral and instrumental works, among them six symphonies and a number of symphonic works, including perhaps his best-known piece, The Flight of Icarus, which the San Francisco Chronicle called “a translucent and achingly lovely memorial to the fallen Icarus … a serious contender for the most exciting musical premiere of 2006”. His orchestral writing has been highly praised: in March 2008 The Times commented that “his orchestral mastery is total”, while, in April 2008 The Guardian describe

John Pitts (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Pitts (sometimes credited as John Michael Pitts) is a British composer, born in Surrey in 1976. Pitts studied music at Bristol and Manchester Universities, and specialises in music for piano solo or multiple hands. He was winner of the Philharmonia Orchestra Martin Musical Scholarship Fund Composition Prize 2003, and twice SPNM-shortlisted. Composer of the album of piano music “Intensely Pleasant Music: 7 Airs & Fantasias and other piano music”. His setting of O Little Town of Bethlehem features on The Naxos Book of Carols sung by Tonus Peregrinus, and his hymn Thy Way, Not Mine is included in Hymns and Songs of the Church, another Naxos recording of Tonus Peregrinus. Composer of “Are You Going?” for piano six hands, Pitts curated two Severnside Composers Alliance concerts of music for piano triet by living composers. He is the younger brother of the British composer Antony Pitts. Notes

John Powell (film composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Powell (born 18 September 1963) is an English music composer and music conductor. Based in Los Angeles, California since 1997, Powell has composed music for over 70 feature films, including Face/Off, the Bourne franchise, Happy Feet and its sequel Happy Feet Two, United 93, X-Men: The Last Stand, Wicked and its sequel Wicked: For Good, Evolution, Drumline, Hancock, The Call of the Wild, Bolt, That Christmas, Thelma the Unicorn, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, ten DreamWorks Animation films, eight Blue Sky Studios films and three Illumination films. Powell’s work on Happy Feet, Ferdinand, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Wicked, and the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon have earned him six Grammy Award nominations. Additionally, he earned two Academy Award for Best Original Score nominations for the original How to Train Your Dragon and Wicked. Powell was a member of Hans Zimmer’s music studio, Remote Control Productions, and has collaborated frequently with other composers from the studio, including Harry Gregson-Williams on Antz, Chicken Run, and Shrek, and Zimmer himself on Chill Factor, The Road to El Dorado, and the first two Kung Fu Panda films. He has also collaborat

John Purser (musician)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Purser (born 1942) is a Scottish composer, musicologist, music historian and playwright. Purser was born in Glasgow. He initiated the reconstruction that commenced in 1991 of the Iron Age Deskford Carnyx, producing a replica that was first played in 1993 by trombonist John Kenny. Purser’s book Scotland’s Music, published in March 1992 (new edition October 2007), was a major reference work on musical history from the Bronze Age to the present. It was followed by a thirty-programme radio series of the same title, written and presented by him, which was broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland and totalled 45 hours, with recordings commissioned for the series including reconstructions of early music and works by many little-known composers. A double CD was subsequently produced with a small selection of the music. and John Thomson. ‘Consider the Story’, a privately released disc of Purser’s music, was released in 2021. It includes the song cycle Six Sea Songs (1966, setting words by the composer’s father J W R Purser), the Kalavrita string quartet (1981), and the Sonata for Trombone and Piano (2001). Purser’s plays include the radio play Carver about Robert Carver, the 16th-century Scotti

John Pyke Hullah

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Pyke Hullah (27 June 1812 – 21 February 1884) was an English composer and teacher of music, whose promotion of vocal training is associated with the singing-class movement. He worked with Charles Dickens and knew Felix Mendelssohn. Life and career Hullah was born at Worcester. He was a pupil of William Horsley from 1829, and entered the Royal Academy of Music in 1833. He wrote an opera to words by Dickens, The Village Coquettes, produced in 1836; The Barbers of Bassora in 1837; and The Outpost in 1838, the last two at Covent Garden. From 1839, when he went to Paris to investigate various systems of teaching music to large masses of people, he identified himself with Wilhem’s system of the fixed “do,” in contrast to the moveable “do” of the Tonic sol-fa. His adaptation of Wilhem’s system was taught with enormous success from 1840 to 1860. His first-ever lesson was given at the Battersea College for training teachers (now University St Mark and St John Plymouth), in 1840, at the instigation of educationalist and college Principal James Kay Shuttleworth. His pupils included William Carter and Edmund Hart Turpin. In 1847 a large building in Long Acre, called St Martin’s Hall, was

John Rae (musician)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Rae (born 8 June 1966) is a Scottish jazz drummer, composer, and band leader. Early life and career John Rae was born in Edinburgh on 8 June 1966 to Scottish parents Margaret and Ronnie Rae. Rae was brought up in the Sighthill area of the city before moving to Livingston as a teenager. He attended St. Kentigern’s Academy, Blackburn in West Lothian. John and his other five siblings were encouraged by their father and mother, both jazz musicians and educators, to pursue a career in music from an early age. When he was fourteen he attended a weekly jazz workshop under the drumming tutelage of Bill Kyle and Mike Travis. There he met saxophonist Tommy Smith. Under Smith, they won the Edinburgh International Jazz Festival Best Group award in 1981 and a year later Rae won Best Group under his own name. Rae was soon performing around Edinburgh and Scotland in a quartet with Tommy Smith. In 1982 he recorded for the first time on Smith’s debut recording Giant Strides in a trio format featuring Rae, Smith and bassist Alan Taylor. Rae then went on to tour and perform around Europe with a group under the musical direction of Johnny Keating and spent the next three years living and playing

John Ravenscroft (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Ravenscroft (c. 1665 – 12 October 1697), also known as Giovanni Ravenscroft and Giovanni Rederi, was an English violinist and composer of the Baroque era, who moved to Rome. He was possibly a pupil of Arcangelo Corelli, by whom he was strongly influenced, and around the middle of the 18th century some of Ravenscroft’s trio sonatas were misattributed to Corelli. He is not to be confused with the English wait John Ravenscroft (fl. c. 1730). Biography Ravenscroft was born c. 1665, in London. He moved to Rome, where in 1695 he published his Opus 1 under the name “Giovanni Ravenscroft, alias Rederi, Inglese”. He died in Rome on 12 October 1697, leaving a collection of 5 violins and 44 paintings. the Amsterdam printer Michel-Charles Le Cène published nine of the sonatas from Ravenscroft’s Opus 1 with a spurious Corelli opus number of 7. See also *Robert Valentine (composer), Ravenscroft’s English contemporary who also moved to Rome. Notes References * * * * * * External links *

John Reading (copyist)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Reading (c. 1685/86 – 2 September 1764) was an English composer, organist and copyist (his name, like the town, is pronounced “Redding"a spelling variant of his name which occurs in several documents). His greatest importance lies in his work as a transcriber, arranger, and copyist of a wide variety of music. Life Little is known of John Reading’s early life. He was probably the son of the composer and organist John Reading (c. 1645–1692) who from 1681 until his death was organist and Master of the Choristers at Winchester College. The younger Reading received the best possible musical training, being a chorister of the Chapel Royal, where he was taught by John Blow. He would almost certainly have sung at the funerals of Henry Purcell and Queen Mary. It was tradition, when the choristers’ voices broke, for the Chapel Royal to find them their first appointment. Reading was placed as organist at Dulwich College, a position he held for two years (1700–1702), after which he moved to Lincoln Cathedral, becoming Master of the Choristers there in 1703, a post that his father had previously held. By 1708 he was organist of St John’s, Hackney in London, a position he held for some 20 y

John Redford

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Redford (c. 1500 - died October or November 1547) was a major English composer, organist, and dramatist of the Tudor period. From about 1525 he was organist at St Paul’s Cathedral (succeeding Thomas Hickman). He was choirmaster there from 1531 until his death in 1547. Many of his works are represented in the Mulliner Book. Redford is notable as one of the earliest composers, rather than improvisers, of organ music, having notated a significant quantity of keyboard music, all of it liturgical in function, based on plainchant melodies; a few vocal works by him also survive. As he held the post of Almoner and Master of the Choristers, Redford was responsible for the arrangement of the choristers performances, including writing and directing plays and interludes. The most celebrated of these entertainments is the morality play, The Play of Wyt and Science (written ca 1530-1550), which exists in one manuscript in the British Library (MS 15233). However, the first five pages of the manuscript are missing; there is no way to know how much is lost. Redford also wrote a number of poems, including the 23 verse Nolo mortem peccatoris, which was set to music by Thomas Morley, who was a la

John Rippiner Heath

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Rippiner Heath (4 January 1887 - 23 December 1950 ) was a British composer, violinist and physician who lived and worked for most of his life in Wales. Life Heath was born in Birmingham the son of Professor Robert Heath, principal of Birmingham University’s Mason College. He was educated at Clifton College before studying medicine at Trinity College, Cambridge. As a musician he was largely self taught, though he led many string quartets for the University Musical Club. In 1913 he became a medical practitioner in Barmouth, Wales. Returning to his Barmouth practice after the war, Heath became associated with musicians including Alfred Perceval Graves, Joseph Holbrooke and Granville Bantock. In April 1919, A P Graves’ son, the poet Robert Graves, asked Heath to set his poems for children (The Penny Fiddle) to music, but the music never materialised. In 1922 he established and became the conductor of the Barmouth Choral Union, a choir which entered choral competitions around the country. He wrote for the Meirion Welsh Ballet Company and helped organize the Harlech Festival, whose driving force was Walford Davies. Heath continued to practice as a doctor until a few days before his

John Rogers Thomas

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John Rogers Thomas (March 26, 1829 – April 5, 1896) was an American composer, pianist, and singer of Welsh descent. Biography Thomas was born in Newport, South Wales, on 26 March 1829. A baritone and composer, he first came to America with the Sequin English Opera Company and became interested in the music of America that was developing. He sang and toured with Bryant’s Minstrels and settled in New York City. He wrote more than one hundred popular American songs during the nineteenth century of which his most popular were The Cottage by the Sea (1856), Old Friends and Old Times (1856), Bonny Eloise—The Belle of Mohawk Vale (1858), Tis But a Little Faded Flower (1860), When the War Is Over, Mary (1864), Beautiful Isle of the Sea (1865), Croquet (1867), Eilleen Allanna (1873), and Rose of Killarney (1876). Thomas occasionally published material under the pseudonyms Charles Osborne, Arthur Percy and Harry Diamond. In addition to song writing, Thomas composed three larger works; The Picnic (1869), a children’s operetta with a libretto by George Cooper ; The Lady in the Mask (1870), an operetta with a libretto by George Cooper; and Diamond Cut Diamond (1876), a parlor opera in one act.

John Rutter

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Sir John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. He founded the Cambridge Singers who premiered and recorded many of his works for his own label Collegium Records. His compositions, extended pieces for choir and orchestra, such as Requiem and Magnificat, and many choral works including For the beauty of the earth, Christmas Carol and A Clare Benediction, are popular, especially in the UK and the United States. He is known for Christmas carols, in both arrangements of traditional melodies and new compositions, and Carols for Choirs anthology series compiled with David Willcocks. Biography Born in London on 24 September 1945 , the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, Rutter grew up living over the Globe pub on London’s Marylebone Road. He was educated at Highgate School, where fellow pupils included John Tavener, Howard Shelley, Brian Chapple and Nicholas Snowman. As a chorister there, Rutter took part in the first (1963) recording of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem under the composer’s baton. He then read music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the choir. Rutter

John Sanders (musician)

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John Derek Sanders OBE, FRCO (23 November 1933 – 23 December 2003) was an English organist, conductor, choir trainer and composer. He was organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1967 to 1994, and director of the Three Choirs Festival from 1968 to 1994. Education Born in Wanstead, Essex, he attended Felsted School on a music scholarship, where he had his first organ lessons. In 1950 he began two years study at the Royal College of Music leading to his ARCM diploma. This was followed by a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Cambridge where Sanders was an organ scholar at Gonville and Caius College and was influenced by Patrick Hadley. Early career National Service in the Royal Artillery followed his graduation, but even here Sanders found opportunities for orchestral conducting. Following his retirement, Gloucester Cathedral granted him the title of Organist Emeritus. Retirement gave Sanders more time to pursue composition (although he continued his work at Cheltenham until 1997). He also moved away from Gloucester – to Upton Bishop, near Ross-on-Wye – where he continued to play the organ in the parish church. Late in 2003 the Guild of Church Musicians marked his contribution

John Sheppard (composer)

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John Sheppard (also Shepherd, c. 1515 – December 1558) was an English composer of the Renaissance. Biography Sheppard was probably born around 1515, judging from his statement in 1554 that he had been composing music for twenty years. Nothing certain is known about his early life. The first sighting of him occurs at Thaxted in Essex, in June 1541 when he married the recently widowed Jane Ewen or Evan. He was then probably in his mid-twenties. It is not known whether he held a musical position in the church of St John the Baptist, Thaxted. He then served as informator choristarum at Magdalen College, Oxford continuously from Michaelmas 1543 to sometime between March and Michaelmas 1548. Sheppard next appears in a list of the Gentleman of the Chapel Royal who sang at the funeral of King Edward VI in August 1553; he may have joined the chapel directly after his departure from Oxford, but, because of a gap in Chapel Royal records from 1547, this cannot be proved. He appears to have remained active at the chapel up to the year of his death since he was awarded liveries for both the funeral of Queen Mary and the coronation of Elizabeth I. In 1554 he supplicated, apparently unsuccessfully

John Stafford Smith

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John Stafford Smith (bapt. 30 March 175021 September 1836) was an English composer, church organist, and early musicologist. He was one of the first serious collectors of manuscripts of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and a friend of his son Johann Christian Bach. Smith is best known for writing the music for “The Anacreontic Song”, which became the tune for the American patriotic song “The Star-Spangled Banner” following the War of 1812, and in 1931 was adopted as the national anthem of the United States. Early life and education John Stafford Smith was born in Pitt Street, Gloucester on March 13, 1750 and was baptised in Gloucester Cathedral, England, on 30 March 1750, the son of Martin Smith, organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1743 to 1782. He attended the Gloucester cathedral school, where he became a boy-singer. He furthered his career as a choir boy at the Chapel Royal, London, and also studied under Dr William Boyce. He married Elizabeth Boyce, the daughter of Dr William Boyce, at St Philip & St Jacob Church, Bristol, on 25 November 1775. Career By the 1770s he had gained a reputation as a composer and an organist. He was elected as a member of the select Anacreontic Socie

John Stainer

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of The Crucifixion, still heard at Passiontide in some Anglican churches), was very popular during his lifetime. His work as choir trainer and organist set standards for Anglican church music that are still influential. He was also active as an academic, becoming Heather Professor of Music at Oxford. Stainer was born in Southwark, London, in 1840, the son of a schoolmaster. He became a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral when aged ten and was appointed to the position of organist at St Michael’s College, Tenbury, at the age of sixteen. He later became organist at Magdalen College, Oxford, and subsequently organist at St Paul’s Cathedral. When he retired owing to his poor eyesight and deteriorating health, he returned to Oxford to become Professor of Music at the university. He died unexpectedly while on holiday in Italy in 1901. Early years John Stainer was the eighth of nine children born to William Stainer and his wife Ann (née Collier) on 6 June 1840. At least three of the children died in infancy, and John was much younger than his brot

John Stanley (composer)

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Charles John Stanley (17 January 1712 Old Style – 19 May 1786) was an English composer and organist. Biography John Stanley was born in London on 17 January 1712. At about the age of two, he fell on a marble hearth with a china basin in his hand, an accident which left him almost blind. He began studying music at the age of seven. Under the guidance of Maurice Greene, composer and organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral, he studied “with great diligence, and a success that was astonishing” (Burney). At the age of nine he played the organ, probably as an occasional deputy, at All Hallows, Bread Street. When he was eleven years old, Stanley was appointed organist to the church at a salary of £20 per annum. When he was fourteen “in preference to a great number of candidates” (Burney) he was chosen as organist at St Andrew Holborn, and at the age of seventeen became the youngest person ever to obtain the Bachelor of Music degree (B.Mus.) from the University of Oxford. In 1734 he was appointed organist to the Society of the Inner Temple, a position which he held until his death in 1786. It was at the ancient Temple Church that his brilliant playing upon the organ and harpsichord attracted the

John Tavener

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer of choral religious works. Among his works are The Lamb (1982), The Protecting Veil (1988), and Song for Athene (1993). Tavener first came to prominence with his cantata The Whale, premiered in 1968. Then aged 24, he was described by The Guardian as “the musical discovery of the year”, while The Times said he was “among the very best creative talents of his generation”. During his career he became one of the best known and popular composers of his generation, most particularly for The Protecting Veil, which as recorded by cellist Steven Isserlis became a best-selling album, and Song for Athene which was sung at the funeral of Princess Diana. Tavener wrote the composition A New Beginning to commemorate the Millennium celebrations on New Year’s Eve, 1999, during the opening of the Millennium Dome in London. Tavener was knighted in 2000 for his services to music and won an Ivor Novello Award, and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Sarum College in 2001. Early life and education Tavener was born on 28 January 1944 in Wembley, London. His parents ran a family building firm At the age of 12, Tavener

John Taverner

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John Taverner (c. 1490 – 18 October 1545) was an English composer and organist, regarded as one of the most important English composers of his era. He is best-known for Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas and The Western Wynde Mass, and Missa Corona Spinea is also often viewed as a masterwork. Career Nothing is known of Taverner’s activities before 1524. He appears to have come from the East Midlands, possibly being born in Tattershall, Lincolnshire, but there is no indication of his parentage. According to one of his own letters, he was related to the Yerburghs, a well-to-do Lincolnshire family. The earliest information is that in 1524, Taverner travelled from Tattershall to the Church of St Botolph in nearby Boston, as a guest singer. Two years later, in 1526, Taverner became the first Organist and Master of the Choristers at Christ Church, Oxford, appointed by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. The college had been founded in 1525, by Cardinal Wolsey, and was then known as Cardinal College. Immediately before this, Taverner had been a clerk fellow at the Collegiate Church of Tattershall. In 1528, he was reprimanded for his (probably minor) involvement with Lutherans, but escaped punishment for bein

John Taylor (Unitarian hymn writer)

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John Taylor (30 July 1750 – 23 June 1826) was an entrepreneur, poet and composer of both secular (political) songs and hymns from Norwich, England. Early life John Taylor was born to Richard (1719–1762) and Margaret Taylor (née Meadows, 1718–1781), and was baptised in the parish of St. George’s Colegate, Norwich. Richard Taylor was a local manufacturer and son of Dr. John Taylor. At age eight, Taylor was sent to study with a businessman in the village of Hindolveston. Politics He developed an interest in local politics, joining the Whig party as a radical reformer, emerging as their leader in Norwich. He made social contact with HRH Duke of Sussex, the Duke of Albemarle, and Mr Coke, Squire of Holkham Hall (later Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester), who was nationally known as an agriculturalist. Taylor first sung his song The Trumpet of Liberty at the famous Whig banquet at Holkham Hall on 5 November, 1788 to celebrate the centenary of the English Revolution. The Duke of Sussex “called on Taylor” to sing his song again on January 20, 1820 at “a great public dinner at St Andrews Hall, Norwich”. On this occasion, “old John Taylor of Norwich” was reluctant to perform: “No please your

John Thomas (harpist)

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John Thomas (1 March 1826 – 19 March 1913) was a Welsh composer and harpist. The bardic name Pencerdd Gwalia (Chief of the Welsh minstrels) was conferred on him at the 1861 Aberdare Eisteddfod. Life He was born in Bridgend on Saint David’s Day, son of a tailor, also named John Thomas, a clarinetist in the amateur town band. He was the eldest of seven children, four of whom also played the harp, most notably his brother Thomas Thomas. John Thomas started off by playing the triple harp, which had three rows of strings. At the age of 14, through the influence of Ada Lovelace, (Lord Byron’s daughter), he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Music in London. His teachers there included Cipriani Potter for composition and John Balsir Chatterton for harp. He eventually married twice, both times to former students. His first wife, Alice Ann Keate, died in 1880, two years after their marriage; he married Joan Francis Denny in 1885. In 1872, he was appointed harpist to Queen Victoria. Publications *1862 Welsh Melodies, with Welsh and English Poetry, vols. 1 & 2, by John Jones (Talhaiarn) & Thomas Oliphant. Author: John Thomas. *1870 Welsh Melodies, with Welsh and English Poetry, vol. 3, by J

John Thomson (composer)

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John Thomson (28 October 1805 – 18 May 1841) was a Scottish classical composer. He was born in Sprouston, Roxburghshire, the son of Andrew Mitchell Thomson, the minister of Sprouston Church. Life and career Thomson studied in Germany with a letter of introduction to the Mendelssohn family, and his Drei Lieder were published in Leipzig in 1838. John Purser contends that we have to look to Schumann to find anything comparable to these songs published two years before Schumann composed any songs in his mature style. The first song, Keiner von den Schönheit Töchtern, is based on the poem There be none of beauty’s daughters by Byron, set in German by Thomson to match the other songs. Thomson became the first Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh in 1838. As a musicologist he edited the Vocal Melodies of Scotland, and he was one of the first conductors to provide his audience with a programme of his concerts giving a critical analysis of the works to be performed. His other compositions included a fine bagatelle for solo piano, a six-part Glee With Whispering Winds, three operas, a flute concerto and a flute quartet, and concert arias. However his career was cut short by

John Valentine (composer)

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John Valentine (7 June 1730 – 10 September 1791) was an English violinist, violist and composer. Biography John Valentine was born in Leicester, England, the son of John Valentine and his wife Sarah. By 1759 John Valentine owned and operated a music shop on New Bond Street in Leicester, which he later moved to other locations. He sold instruments and music and taught lessons in various instruments including keyboard and horn. Valentine performed at concerts in the area mostly as a violinist or violist, and played in the Handel Commemoration concerts in memorial for George Frederic Handel in London in 1784. John Valentine was a member of a musical family in Leicester. He was the great-nephew of composer Robert Valentine. John’s son Thomas Valentine (1759 – c. 1800) was also a violinist, who performed in the Handel Commemoration and in the London area for at least a decade. John’s uncle, Henry Valentine, played oboe and also operated a music shop in Leicester. John Valentine married Tabitha Simpson (b. 1728) in 1755 and they had six children, including Sarah, John, Charles and Ann. Ann Valentine was a composer with work available in modern editions. Sarah (1771–1843) served as an org

John Vallier

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John Vallier (1 October 1920 – 11 June 1991) was an English classical pianist and composer who was known for his thunderous technique and beautiful singing tone, and was especially admired for his interpretations and performances of Chopin and Schumann. He could trace his musical ancestry in an eminently distinguished line back to the Romantic Era of the 19th century. He was born in 1920 and was only four years old when he appeared in public for the first time, at London’s Wigmore Hall. His last solo recital at London’s Royal Festival Hall was attended by HM The Queen Mother. Musical education Vallier’s mother was the pianist Adela Verne, the finest woman pianist of her time and herself a contemporary and even rival of Paderewski, whose teacher Leschetizky was a pupil of Czerny who taught Liszt. Vallier’s aunt and principal teacher was Mathilde Verne, through whose famous piano school in London passed the young Vallier as well as the pianists Solomon and Moura Lympany, and even socialite Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Mathilde Verne was herself the finest pupil of Clara Schumann, from whom she inherited a direct insight into her husband Robert S

John Veale

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John Douglas Louis Veale (15 June 1922 – 16 November 2006) was an English classical composer. Early career He was born in Shortlands, Bromley, Kent; his father, the civil servant Douglas Veale, later served as Registrar of the University of Oxford (1930–1958) and received a knighthood. Discovering Sibelius and Shostakovich, and receiving encouragement from William Walton, Sir Hugh Allen and Humphrey Searle, he decided to become a composer, taking some lessons from Egon Wellesz. Veale sketched out his first symphony during the war while serving in the Army’s Education Corps. After demobilisation he returned to Corpus Christi for more composition lessons with Wellesz and counterpoint and harmony with Thomas Armstrong. While there he began composing incidental music for Oxford University Dramatic Society productions, in which Kenneth Tynan and Lindsay Anderson were involved. Between 1949 and 1951 he won a scholarship to study in California with Roger Sessions and Roy Harris (the latter’s only English pupil). The Symphony No. 1 was premiered by Sir John Barbirolli at the Cheltenham Music Festival in 1952. The Clarinet Concerto had its premiere at the Royal Festival Hall in 1954, conduc

John W. Duarte

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John William Duarte (2 October 1919 – 23 December 2004) was a British composer, guitarist and writer. Career Duarte was born in Sheffield, England, but lived in Manchester from the age of six months. It was only in 1969 that he finally abandoned chemistry in favour of full-time dedication to music, after having been persuaded by Len Williams, father of John Williams. His only formal musical education consisted of jazz guitar lessons with Terence “Terry” Usher Duarte taught at the London-based Spanish Guitar Centre, which Williams senior had founded and where the young John Williams studied with him for a period of three years before entering the Royal College of Music. Williams acknowledged the early influence of Duarte by including his transcriptions of Bach cello suites in his first recordings, along with Variations on a Catalan Folk Song, Op. 25, one of the most enduring and most recorded of Duarte’s compositions. He sustained several lasting friendships with great musicians, including a 39-year-long relationship with Andrés Segovia and another with Ida Presti, who died prematurely at the age of 42. Duarte edited “Tríptico” by Venezuelan guitar composer Antonio Lauro, who, in 19

John Ward (composer)

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John Ward (1590–1638) was an English composer. He trained as a singer in Canterbury, where he was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral. He then moved to London where he produced religious and secular works, and he also appears to have maintained a residence in Essex. Ward’s compositions, some of which were published in his lifetime, consist of madrigals, works for viol consort and Anglican church music (services, and anthems). His madrigals are remarkable for their fine texts, broad melodic lines and originality. Biography Ward was born in Canterbury and baptised 15 February 1590 at St Mary Bredman. He was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral and likely King’s scholar at Canterbury Grammar School 1604–7. He appears to have stayed in Canterbury until at least 1607 and then went to London where he served Sir Henry Fanshawe (1569–1616) as a musician. It is not known how the two men came into contact, although it has been noted that Lady Fanshawe was from Kent. Sir Henry was an amateur musician, and Ward’s compositions suggest that he enjoyed hearing religious and secular music at home. Between 1610 and 1612 the music also reflects the connection of Sir Henry to Henry Frederick, Prince o

John Webb (composer)

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John Webb (born 1969) is an English composer. Biography He was educated in Essex where he started playing the piano and viola. He began to compose at 14, and two years later attended Colchester Institute. Here he studied piano with Frank Wibaut and composition with John Joubert at the Birmingham Conservatoire. As a founding member of the Thallein Ensemble, he performed works by Berio, Messiaen, Finnissy, Ives and Schnittke. In his final year he completed a dissertation on Schnittke’s polystylism and was the soloist in his piano concerto. After graduating from Birmingham Conservatoire with a first class degree, he studied for three years at the Royal Academy of Music with Christopher Brown. In his last year he was Leverhulme Composition Fellow and won the major composition prizes; he graduated with MMus and DipRAM. He went on to develop contacts with period instrument performers and has written works for ‘old’ instruments which have recently been revived, including viols, harpsichord (commissions by Gary Cooper and Trevor Pinnock), and baroque orchestra. He lectures at Birmingham Conservatoire and runs education projects for English National Opera, The Stables, Milton Keynes and the

John Weldon (musician)

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John Weldon (19 January 1676 – 7 May 1736) was an English composer. Life Born at Chichester in the south of England, he was educated at Eton College, where he was a chorister, and later received musical instruction from Henry Purcell. By 1694 Weldon had been appointed organist of New College in Oxford and became well known in the musical life of that city, writing music for masques as well as performing his organist duties. Some believe he set Shakespeare’s play The Tempest to music in 1695, although others attribute that to Henry Purcell. Weldon moved to London and in 1701 took part in a competition to set Congreve’s libretto The Judgement of Paris to music. Perhaps surprisingly, Weldon’s setting was chosen over contributions by his older, more experienced and better-known competitors, Daniel Purcell (younger brother of Henry), John Eccles and Godfrey Finger. Even more curiously, Purcell’s and Eccles’s scores were later published by John Walsh. Weldon’s however was not and remains in manuscript, though the lack of recognition of his relatively new name may also have played a part. There is some evidence to suggest that the judges of the competition were not entirely impartial, tho

John White (composer)

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John White (5 April 1936 – 4 January 2024) was an English experimental composer and musical performer. He invented the early British form of minimalism known as systems music, with his early Machines. Life and career John White was born in Berlin to an English father and German mother. The family moved to London at the outbreak of war. Originally a sculptor, White decided on a composition career when he heard Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie. He studied composition at the Royal College of Music from 1955 to 1958 with Bernard Stevens and piano with Arthur Alexander and Eric Harrison. He also took analysis classes privately with Elisabeth Lutyens. Upon graduation, White became the musical director of the Western Theatre Ballet, and then professor of composition at the Royal College of Music from 1961 to 1967. He was a skilled pianist and tuba player and has written extensively for both instruments. In the 1960s and 1970s he was closely associated with English experimental composers such as Cornelius Cardew and Gavin Bryars, and a participant in the Scratch Orchestra. His Royal College of Music pupils have included Roger Smalley, Brian Dennis and William York. White’s association with

John Wilbye

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John Wilbye (baptized 7 March 1574 – September 1638) was an English madrigal composer. Early life and education The son of a tanner, he was born at Brome, Suffolk, England. (Brome is near Diss, Norfolk.) Career Wilbye received the patronage of the Cornwallis family of Brome Hall. Wilbye was employed for decades at Hengrave Hall, near Bury St Edmunds, where he seems to have been recruited in the 1590s by Elizabeth Kitson who was married to the property’s owner, Sir Thomas Kitson (or Kytson). The Kitsons also had a long association with the composer Edward Johnson, who was more than twenty years older than Wilbye, and began working at Hengrave in the 1570s. As well as working in Suffolk, Wilbye was involved with the music scene in London, where the Kitsons kept a town house (first in Austin Friars and from about 1601 in Clerkenwell). His first book of madrigals was published in London in 1598. The 30 madrigals are described as “newly composed”. The publication was dedicated to Sir Charles Cavendish, whose first wife had been a Kitson. Wilbye remained in contact with his printer Thomas East. In 1600 Wilbye and Edward Johnson took on a proofreading job for East, the first edition of Dowla

John Woolrich

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John Woolrich ( ; born 1954 in Cirencester) is an English composer. Biography Woolrich has founded a group (the Composers Ensemble), a festival (Hoxton New Music Days), and has been composer in association with the Orchestra of St John’s and the Britten Sinfonia. His collaborations with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group led to his appointment in 2002 as Artist-in-Association. He was guest Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival in 2004 and Associate Artistic Director of the festival from 2005 to 2010. From 2010 to 2013 Woolrich was both Artistic Director of Dartington International Summer School and Professor of Music at Brunel University. From 2013 to 2016 he was Artistic Director of Mirepoix Musique in France. He is currently an Associate Artist of the Gulbenkian Arts Centre, iCCi, University of Kent. A number of preoccupations thread through his music: the art of creative transcription —Ulysses Awakes, for instance, is a re-composition of a Monteverdi aria, and The Theatre Represents a Garden: Night is based on fragments of Mozart—and a fascination with machinery and mechanical processes, heard in many pieces including The Ghost in the Machine and The Barber’s Timepiece. T

Johnny Douglas (conductor)

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John Henry Douglas (19 June 1920 – 20 April 2003) was an English composer, pianist, musical director, conductor, and string arranger primarily working with film scores and orchestras. He recorded more 500 tracks for Decca Records, over 80 albums for RCA Records, and provided music for 36 films during his career. He was nominated for a BAFTA for his soundtrack for the 1970 film The Railway Children and led RCA’S Living Strings for many years. Dungeons & Dragons, The Incredible Hulk, In Douglas’ early years, the family moved to Bermondsey, another district of London, where his mother May was a housewife and his father John was later an alderman for the West Bermondsey Council. He showed an innate talent for music at a very young age; by two and a half, he could play a song he had heard on one of his father’s records on the piano. * The Traitors (1962) * Crack in the World (1965) Bert Ambrose, June Bronhill, Max Bygraves, Susan Hampshire, Frankie Howerd, Barbara Leigh, Mantovani, Frankie Vaughan, Eric Winstone, and Jimmy Young References External links * * Dulcima Records, his record label

Jolyon Brettingham Smith

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Jolyon Brettingham Smith (9 September 1949 – 17 May 2008) was a British composer, conductor, performer, author, and radio presenter, and a university teacher at the Berlin University of the Arts. Life and work Brettingham Smith was born in Southampton. His first employment, after he left school in 1966, was as a teacher at a London boarding school for children with learning difficulties. He then went on to study philosophy at the University of Cambridge as well as musicology and composition at Heidelberg and Berlin, where he was a pupil of the Korean-born composer Isang Yun. Between 1970 and 1980 he played viola in the Gruppe Neue Musik Berlin and the NO SET Improvisation Ensemble. From 1973 until 1978 Brettingham Smith was artistic assistant professor at the Free University of Berlin. The Bielefeld Opera House engaged him as guest conductor for their 1975 season. In 1976 he began teaching as a full professor at the Berlin University of the Arts. From 1978 Brettingham Smith began working as a writer and presenter for a number of public broadcasting organizations in Germany: he became well known for his presentation over many years of such radio programmes as Klassikforum on WDR, Kl

Jon Opstad

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Jon Opstad (born 1983) is a British composer. His work spans music for film and television, contemporary dance, concert music and album projects. He has collaborated with other artists, such as Max Richter. Opstad is classically trained, having studied music at Cambridge University, before graduating with an MA in film composition from the National Film and Television School. In television, Opstad is best known for his scores for dark dramas such as Netflix’s Bodies and Black Mirror. His score with Max Richter for Elisabeth Moss thriller The Veil was acclaimed by IndieWire as one of “The Best TV Scores of 2024”. Opstad’s 2014 contemporary dance score Ignis was nominated for a British Composer Award (since rebranded as Ivors Classical Awards) for “Best Stage Work”. Tracks from Ignis have been used extensively in other productions, with the composition “Ignis IV” featuring in the trailer for Hollywood feature film Ad Astra, a trailer for Amazon Prime series The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, and the drama series The Veil. The track “Ignis I” was featured in the opening episode of Paramount drama series The Man Who Fell To Earth. In 2021, Opstad was featured as an answer to a ques

Jonathan Battishill

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Jonathan Battishill (May 1738 – 10 December 1801) was an English composer, keyboard player, and concert tenor. He began his career as a composer writing theatre music but later devoted himself to working as an organist and composer for the Church of England. He is considered one of the outstanding 18th century English composers of church music and is best remembered today for his seven-part anthem Call to Remembrance, which has long survived in the repertoires of cathedral choirs. Biography Battishill was born in London. Beginning at the age of nine, he sang as a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral initially under the direction of composer Charles King. After his voice broke he studied organ, music composition, and singing under William Savage, almoner and master of the choristers. He became a highly skilled organist and was particularly talented at extempore playing; a skill that soon attracted attention and led to his appointment as William Boyce’s deputy at the Chapel Royal. During the mid-1750s he began appearing as a tenor soloist in London concerts. One of his earliest engagements was on 16 March 1756 in a concert of Handel’s Alexander’s Feast at the Great Room, Dean Street, wh

Jonathan Blewitt

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Jonathan Blewitt (19 July 1782 – 4 September 1853) His father, Jonas Blewitt (died 1805), was a distinguished organist in the late 18th century, author of A Complete Treatise on the Organ, and Ten Voluntaries and Twelve Preludes for the organ. He was educated by his father and his godfather Jonathan Battishill, and he is said to have received some instruction from Joseph Haydn. At the age of eleven he acted as deputy to his father, and subsequently he held several appointments as organist in London. He was also organist at Haverhill, Suffolk, and at Brecon, where he remained for three years. In about 1808 he returned to London for the production of an opera he had written for Drury Lane, but the theatre was burnt down before the work was produced. In 1810 he was appointed organist at Sheffield Cathedral. Ireland In 1811 Blewitt moved to Ireland, where he was a private organist of Lord Cahir. He was appointed organist of St. Andrew’s, Dublin; in 1813 he became composer and director of music at the Theatre Royal. He was appointed by the Duke of Leinster as organist to the Freemasons of Ireland. When J. B. Logier came to Ireland to introduce his system of music teaching, Blewitt joine

Jonathan Dove

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Jonathan Dove (born 18 July 1959) is an English composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (now Birmingham Opera Company), including in 1990 an 18-player two-evening adaptation of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen for CBTO. He was Artistic Director of the Spitalfields Festival from 2001 to 2006. Dove was born in London; both his parents were architects. He studied music at the University of Cambridge, under Robin Holloway, and afterwards worked as a freelance arranger and accompanist until 1987, when he was employed by Glyndebourne Opera. In 1998 Dove was joint winner of the Christopher Whelen Award for his work in the fields of theatre music and opera. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to music. In 2024 Dove’s opera Itch received an Ivor Novello Award nomination for Best Stage Work Composition at The Ivors Classical Awards. In November 2025 Dove won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Community and Participation Composition for his opera Uprising. Productions Productions of

Jonathan Goldstein (composer)

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Jonathan Goldstein (27 September 1968 – 25 August 2019) was an English music composer for film, television, advertising, theatre, and live events. His work encompassed a range of contemporary classical styles with orchestral, jazz, electro-acoustic, and world influences. Early life and education Goldstein’s father was an orchestra conductor and composer in London’s West End. Following in his father’s footsteps, Goldstein began composing in school and studied music at the University of Birmingham. In 2013, his Magical Moments reached No.1 in the Official UK Classical Charts, where it stayed for three weeks over Christmas, ahead of J. S. Bach. Film music In his early career, Goldstein assisted the film music orchestrator Christopher Palmer, on the soundtrack orchestrations for Cape Fear, directed by Martin Scorsese and re-recordings of classic film scores including Bernard Herrmann’s music for Scorsese’s Taxi Driver performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Elmer Bernstein. He subsequently scored several short films including the BAFTA-nominated Candy Bar Kid which was screened at more than 100 festivals worldwide, and the BAFTA-nominated Sunny Spells, winner of an

Jonathan Harvey (composer)

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Jonathan Dean Harvey (3 May 1939 – 4 December 2012) was a British composer. He held teaching positions at universities and music conservatories in Europe and the United States. Life Harvey was born in Sutton Coldfield, and studied at St John’s College, Cambridge, eventually obtaining a PhD. He also took private lessons with Erwin Stein and Hans Keller on the advice of Benjamin Britten. In 1969, he took up a Harkness Fellowship at Princeton University. In the 1980s, Harvey produced music at IRCAM after receiving an invitation from Pierre Boulez to work there. IRCAM is known for speech analysis and in this piece, special technology was developed to allow the analysis of speech to be realized in an orchestral context, using complex algorithms which can process multiple combinations possible in an orchestra setting. The program Orchidée computed such analyses and provided orchestrations for the composer. From 2005 to 2008, Harvey held the post of Composer in Association with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, he was Composer in Residence at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. He died, aged 73, in Lewes, from motor neuron disease. Speakings received six votes in a 2

Joseph Barnby

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Sir Joseph Barnby (12 August 183828 January 1896) was an English composer and conductor. Life Barnby was born at York, as a son of Thomas Barnby, who was an organist. Joseph was a chorister at York Minster from the age of seven. His voice broke at the age of fifteen and he studied for two to three years at the Royal Academy of Music under Cipriani Potter and Charles Lucas. He was narrowly beaten by Arthur Sullivan in competition for the Mendelssohn Scholarship. In 1862 he was appointed organist of St Andrew’s, Wells Street, London, where he raised the services to a high degree of excellence. It was at St Andrew’s that in 1864, Barnby and the choir performed two anthems by Alice Mary Smith; this is believed to be the first time that liturgical music composed by a woman was performed in the Church of England. He was conductor of “Barnby’s Choir” from 1864, at first giving concerts at St James’s Hall and afterwards at Exeter Hall. In 1871 he was appointed, in succession to Charles Gounod, conductor of the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society, a post he held till his death. Meanwhile, he had left St Andrew’s for a similar position at St Anne’s, Soho. In 1875, he was precentor and director

Joseph Gibbs (composer)

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Joseph Gibbs (23 December 169812 December 1788), was an English composer. He was not prolific, but he was not entirely unknown. Biography Gibbs was born in Dedham, Essex to John Gibbs and Judith Gibbs. He had an older brother, Edward, born four years before. Little is known of his life, until 1748, when he was appointed organist at the Church of St. Mary-le-Tower, Ipswich, and his first published work, Eight solos for violin with a thorough bass, appeared. Only one other work (six quartettos) is known to have been published in the remaining forty years of his active musical life. The purchase of a Gainsborough in 1928 by the National Portrait Gallery created a renewed interest in Joseph Gibbs. This painting of Gibbs was hitherto unknown and handed down through generations of Gibbs’s family who were the only ones aware of its existence. Ipswich had a lively Music Club in which Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788) was a keen and passionate member. It is during this period that Gainsborough painted a portrait of his friend Joseph Gibbs. In the background of this portrait are two volumes. One is titled Corelli and the other Gem (presumably Francesco Geminiani). Acknowledgement of these name

Joseph Horovitz

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Joseph Horovitz (26 May 1926 – 9 February 2022) was an Austrian-born British composer and conductor best known for his 1970 pop cantata Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo, which achieved widespread popularity in schools. Horovitz also composed music for television, including the theme music for the Thames Television series Rumpole of the Bailey, and was a prolific composer of ballet, orchestral (including nine concertos), brass band, wind band and chamber music. He considered his fifth string quartet (1969) to be his best work. Biography Horovitz was born in Vienna, Austria, into a Jewish family who emigrated to England via Belgium in 1938 to escape the Nazis. His father was the publisher Béla Horovitz, the co-founder in 1923, with Ludwig Goldscheider, of Phaidon Press. His sister was the classical music promoter Hannah Horovitz (1936–2010). When he was about 6 or 7, he attended the Vienna Conservatorium. After completing his schooling at The City of Oxford High School Horovitz studied music and modern languages at New College, Oxford, where his teachers included R. O. Morris, Percy Scholes, Bernard Rose and Egon Wellesz. He later attended the Royal College of Music in London, study

Joseph Kemp (organist)

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Joseph Kemp (1778–1824) was an English musical composer, organist and teacher. He is noted as an early proponent of teaching music in classes and the playing of exercises by students. In 1810, at the Russell Institution Kemp began a series of lectures on musical education in which he advocated the teaching of music in classes and the playing of exercises by pupils in concert. On account of failing health he returned with his wife and family to his native city, and resided there until 1824, with the interruption of a visit to France in 1818–21. He had founded a musical college at Exeter in 1814. A journey to London in April 1824 proved too fatiguing for Kemp, then in a weak state of health, and he died in his lodgings on 22 May. He had married in 1805, and left at his death his widow, two sons, and one daughter. Works Kemp published two pedagogical works: # Upwards of 100 cards, containing more than 500 points in music, connected with the new system of musical education (1810–19) # The new system of musical education, being a self instructor and serviceable companion to music masters (c. 1821) His compositions include: # Op. I., twelve songs, London, 1799, which show some originalit

Joseph Phibbs

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Joseph Phibbs (born 25 April 1974) is an English composer of orchestral, choral and chamber music. He has also composed for theatre, both in the UK and Japan. Since 1998 he has written regularly to commissions for Festivals (including for Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Presteigne, and Three Choirs), for private sponsors, and for the BBC, which has broadcast premieres of his orchestral and chamber works from the Proms and elsewhere. His works have been given premieres in Europe, the United States and the Far East, and he has received awards, including a British Composer Award (for Rivers to the Sea), and a Library of Congress Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation Award. Musicians performing his work include Evelyn Glennie, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leonard Slatkin, Sakari Oramo, Vasily Petrenko, Gianandrea Noseda, and the Belcea Quartet. Musical training Joseph Phibbs was born in London, the son of actors Giles Phibbs and Mary Gillingham. A pianist and cellist, he started composing at the age of ten, and from 1988 to 1992 attended the Purcell School for Young Musicians with the assistance of a scholarship from Suffolk County Council. During this time he received tuition in composition from Param Vir

Josephine Troup

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Emily Josephine Troup (7 July 1853, Woodberry Down, London – 11 April 1913, Saltwood, Kent) was an English composer of songs and works for piano and violin. She founded a scholarship for female students studying orchestral composition at the Royal Academy of Music, in London, in 1905. Family and early life Josephine was the youngest daughter of Susanna and John Troup, a jeweller and watchmaker, of Essex Lodge, Clapton, England. According to her obituary, Her early years were spent among Unitarian surroundings where it is thought she probably acquired the habit of industry that led her to develop so fully her exceptional musical and literary gifts, and the keen sense of duty that made her ever anxious to use them as a means of social service. Career Troup was an active member of the South Place Ethical Society, contributing to its newsletters and participating in fundraising activities, and among the earliest members of the West London Ethical Society. Selected works Orchestral * ‘March of the Workers’ for soprano, bass solo, chorus and orchestra. Chamber * Romanza in C for string quartet Six sketches for violin and piano pub. by Ascherberg, Hopwood & Crew Ltd *Kleines Wiegenlied (1

Joyce Howard Barrell

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Joyce Howard Barrell (née Gedye; 26 November 19176 December 1989) was an English composer. She studied with Benjamin Burrows and Harold Craxton for piano and Grace Burrows for violin, and then worked as composer, as a guitar teacher and as a piano accompanist. She married composer Bernard Clements Barrell in 1945. She composed about ninety works, specialising in works for children and chamber music. Life Barrell was born Joyce Howard Gedye, on Bouverie Avenue in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England in 1917. Her father was a bank manager for Lloyds Bank, and the family moved around to Bridgwater, Somerset in 1920, then Exeter in 1926 and lastly settled in Leicester. After completing her studies, Barrell worked as composer and as a guitar teacher and piano accompanist until 1985. She married composer Bernard Clements Barrell in 1945, and they lived in Suffolk. Barrell also worked to promote music, singing and music teaching throughout East Anglia with her husband. Her music was published by Anglian, MSM, Occumuse, and Schauer and May, among others. Her archives are held at Britten Pears Arts Archive. Selected works Barrell composed mainly chamber music and music for children, but also inclu

Judith Bailey (composer)

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Judith Margaret Bailey (18 July 1941 – 16 March 2025) was a Cornish clarinettist, composer and conductor. Bailey was born in Camborne, Cornwall. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1959 to 1963. From 1971 she worked as a composer and conductor. Bailey conducted the Southampton Concert Orchestra and Petersfield Orchestra (where she succeeded Kathleen Merritt in 1972) for almost 30 years before returning to her native Cornwall around 2001 where she conducted the Cornwall Chamber Orchestra and the Penzance Orchestral Society. Bailey died on 16 March 2025 in Cornwall after a short illness. Selected works *Trencrom, symphonic poem, 1978 *Symphony, 1981 *Symphony, 1982 *Seascape, for women’s chorus, woodwind trio and orchestra, 1985 *Penwith, overture, 1986 *Fiesta for orchestra, 1988 *Concerto for clarinet and strings, 1988 *Havas for orchestra, 1991 *Joplinesque for wind band *Festive Concert Piece for wind band References External links *

Judith Bingham

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Judith Bingham (born 21 June 1952) is an English composer and mezzo-soprano singer. She was a member of the BBC Singers from 1983 to 1995. She is a fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music. Bingham won the 1977 BBC Young Composer Award, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2020 for services to music. Early life and education Bingham was born on 21 June 1952, in Nottingham. Her parents are Jack Bingham and Peggy Bingham (née McGowan). She was educated at High Storrs Grammar School for Girls in Sheffield, and began learning singing from bass John Dethick from the age of 16. Bingham attended the Royal Academy of Music from 1970 to 1973, where she received the Principal’s Prize for Music in 1972 and was elected as an associate in 1997. Her teachers included Malcolm MacDonald, Eric Fenby, Alan Bush and John Hall (composition) and Jean Austin-Dobson (singing). She was a member of the BBC Singers from 1983 to 1995, and has composed music for them and the Finchley Children’s Music Group. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Aberdeen in 2018. *Chartres (orchestral), 1988 *Beyond Redemption (orchestral), 1994–5 *The Temple at Karnak (o

Judith Weir

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Dame Judith Weir (born 11 May 1954 ) is a British composer. She served as Master of the King’s Music from 2014 to 2024. Appointed by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir was the first woman to hold this office. Early life Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish parents from Aberdeen. It was a musical household, with her father playing the trumpet and her mother the viola; the family moved house to Harrow and she began to play the oboe in her early teens. and subsequently with Robin Holloway at King’s College, Cambridge, graduating in 1976. Career The first of her works to be heard professionally was Where the Shining Trumpets Blow, given by the New Philharmonia in 1974. At the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow, Weir served as Guinness composer-in-residence from 1988 to 1991. her musical language is fairly conservative, with a “knack of making simple musical ideas appear freshly mysterious”, and, later in her career, explained that pleasure in listening and curiosity guide her choices. Her first stage work, The Black Spider, is a one-act opera that was premiered in Canterbury in 1985, loosely based on the short novel of the same name by Jeremias Gotthelf. She has subse

Jules Buckley

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Julian “Jules” Buckley (born 8 January 1980) is an English conductor, composer, and arranger. Career In 2004, Buckley and producer/manager Chris Wheeler co-founded the Heritage Orchestra, with the intention of featuring an orchestra in a music club setting. In 2008, Buckley became principal guest conductor of the Metropole Orkest, a jazz and eclectic music orchestra based in Hilversum, in the Netherlands, and chief conductor from 2013. In 2020, he became Creative Artist-in-Residence with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and stood in as presenter of the BBC Radio 3 programme Classical Fix, in place of Clemency Burton-Hill, who suffered a brain haemorrhage in January 2020. Collaborations Buckley has worked with the WDR Big Band; José James and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Patrick Watson and the Orchestre National d’Île de France; and arranged and conducted Caro Emerald’s album The Shocking Miss Emerald and Jacob Collier’s album Djesse Vol. 1. Other collaborations have included projects with Gregory Porter; Tori Amos; Markus Stockhausen; Emilie-Claire Barlow; Michael Kiwanuka; Louis Cole; Jonathan Jeremiah; Basement Jaxx; Massive Attack; Arctic Monkeys; John Cale; Paul Weller; Emeli S

Julia Usher

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Julia Usher (born 1945) is an English musician, project animateur and composer, and is known for musical theater. Besides composing, she also works as a music therapist. Biography Julia Usher began music studies at York University and Cambridge, and studied under Robert Sherlaw Johnson. She graduated with a Master of Arts degree and afterward lived and worked in London. In 1980 Usher set up the composer-publishing firm Primavera with Welsh composer Enid Luff. Usher was a founding member of Women in Music in 1987, and she has worked with ensembles including Sounds Positive, the New London Wind Ensemble, the Nash Ensemble, E2K, Ivor Bolton and Inter Artes. In the 1980s, Usher collaborated in a series of cross-arts projects with the sound sculptor and painter Derek Shiel. In 1999 Usher moved to Colchester and since 2001 has concentrated on developing works within community arts projects in North Essex. Usher has worked as Composer in Residence with the Colchester Youth Chamber Orchestra. As part of the Lullaby Project in Colchester she recorded, transcribed, and translated songs (with the help of the contributors) to provide English versions of traditional folk songs from different cu

Julian Anderson

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Julian Anderson (born 6 April 1967) is a British composer and teacher of composition. Biography Anderson was born in London. He studied at Westminster School, then with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music, with Alexander Goehr at Cambridge University, privately with Tristan Murail in Paris, and on courses given by Olivier Messiaen, Per Nørgård and György Ligeti. From 2000 to 2004 he was Head of Composition at the Royal College of Music, and from 2004 to 2007, Fanny P. Mason Professor of Music at Harvard University. He is currently Professor of Composition and Composer in Residence at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was Composer-in-Association with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 2001 to 2005 and Daniel R. Lewis Fellowship Composer with the Cleveland Orchestra from 2005 to 2007. From 2002 to the end of the 2010–11 concert season, he was artistic director of the ‘Music of Today’ concert series run by the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. From 2013 to 2016 he was Composer in Residence with Wigmore Hall. Anderson was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to music. Music Anderson’s former

Julian Clifford

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Julian Seymour Clifford (London, 28 September 1877 – Hastings, 27 December 1921) was an English conductor, composer and pianist particularly associated with the orchestras at Harrogate and Hastings, which he carried to a high level of accomplishment, introducing new works by English composers and encouraging soloists of national standing to perform in the provinces. His wife was a soprano singer. After his early death his example was followed by their son, also Julian Clifford (born 1903), who was a composer and a conductor working for Decca Records in early days, and championed works by English composers. Julian Clifford senior Clifford (the son of Thomas Clifford of Tonbridge, Kent ) was educated at Ardingly College, Tonbridge School, the Leipzig Conservatory (under Józef Śliwiński and Sir Walter Parratt) and the Royal College of Music. After terms as conductor of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Yorkshire Permanent Orchestra in Leeds, he became musical director to the Corporations of Harrogate (Yorkshire) and Hastings (Sussex). He frequently conducted in London, and was considered a particularly fine conductor of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s music. Clifford performed his

Julian Philips

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Julian Philips is a British composer. Philips’ works have been performed at major music festivals, including The Proms, Tanglewood, Three Choirs Festival, at the Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre and Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Music Hall and by international artists such as Gerald Finley, Dawn Upshaw, Sir Thomas Allen, the Vertavo String Quartet, the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, the BBC orchestras and the Aurora Orchestra. He has had a number of broadcasts and was the subject of a BBC Wales TV documentary In 2007, Philips was presented with an Honorary Fellowship from the Guildhall School, and subsequently conferred with a Professorship. Early life Philips was born in Wales in 1969, brought up in Warwickshire, studied Music at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, completing his doctorate at Sussex University. Career Philips took up the post of Head of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2004 transforming the Guildhall Composition Department while also establishing a series of flag-ship projects, most notably a Doctoral Composer-in-Residence scheme, and an MA in Opera-Making & Writing, both in association with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. For over a decade, P

Julian Wagstaff

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Julian Wagstaff (born 1970) is a Scottish composer of classical music, musical theatre and opera. Born in Edinburgh, Wagstaff originally studied German language and politics, and graduated from the University of Reading in 1993. Wagstaff worked as a translator and interpreter in the German language before turning to music as a profession in the late 1990s. His interest in language and political history continues to be reflected in much of his music and in his theatre libretti. He came to public attention with the musical John Paul Jones (2001), based on the life of the Scots-born sailor and hero of the American Revolution. Premiered in Edinburgh in 2001, this was the first of the composer’s works to reach a significant audience. In it, Wagstaff’s eclectic compositional style (which frequently involves the integration of several different styles within one work) began to emerge. John Paul Jones was revived as a concert version in 2010 in association with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The composer began to study musical composition at the University of Edinburgh with Professor Nigel Osborne in 2001, earning a master’s degree in music in 2002 and a PhD in 2008. Wagstaff’s specific i

Julius Benedict

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Sir Julius Benedict (27 November 1804 – 5 June 1885) was a German-born composer and conductor, resident in England for most of his career. Life and music Benedict was born in Stuttgart, the son of a Jewish banker, and in 1820 learnt composition from Johann Nepomuk Hummel at Weimar and in 1821 from Carl Maria von Weber at Dresden; it was Weber who introduced him in Vienna to Beethoven on 5 October 1823. In the same year, he was appointed Kapellmeister of the Kärnthnerthor theatre at Vienna, and two years later in 1825, he became Kapellmeister of the San Carlo theatre at Naples. It was here he gave piano lessons to the young prodigy Theodor Döhler. In Naples his first opera, Giacinta ed Ernesto, premiered in 1827, and another, written for his native city, I Portoghesi in Goa, was given there in 1830; neither of these was a great success, and in 1834 he went to Paris, leaving it in 1835 at the suggestion of Maria Malibran for London, where he spent the remainder of his life. In 1836 he was given the conductorship of an operatic enterprise at the Lyceum Theatre, and brought out a short opera, Un anno ed un giorno, previously given in Naples. In 1838 he became conductor of the English o

Julius Harrison

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Julius Allan Greenway Harrison (26 March 1885 – 5 April 1963) was an English composer and conductor who was particularly known for his interpretation of operatic works. Born in Lower Mitton, Stourport in Worcestershire, by the age of 16 he was already an established musician. His career included a directorship of opera at the Royal Academy of Music where he was a professor of composition, a position as répétiteur at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conductor for the British National Opera Company, military service as an officer in the Royal Flying Corps, and founder member and vice-president of the Elgar Society. Life and career Early years Harrison was born in 1885 in Lower Mitton, Stourport in Worcestershire. and his wife, Henriette Julien née Schoeller, a German-born former governess. He was educated at a dame school in Stourport, Harrison’s setting won the first prize at the Norwich Musical Festival, adjudicated by Frederick Delius, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Ernest Walker. The Times commented on the inadequacy of the libretto, and praised Harrison’s orchestration and melodies but complained that the work was “a series of pictures of unbridled passion devoid of all that o

Justin Connolly

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Justin Riveagh Connolly (11 August 1933 – 29 September 2020) was a British composer and teacher. Life Justin Connolly was born on 11 August 1933 in London. He was the son of John D’Arcy-Dawson, a journalist and author, and his wife Barbara (née Little). He changed his surname from D’Arcy-Dawson to that of his father’s biological father in his early 20s. He was educated at Westminster School, went on to national service in the Army, and briefly studied law at the Middle Temple before deciding on a career in music. From 1958 he studied at the Royal College of Music – composition with Peter Racine Fricker, piano with Lamar Crowson and conducting with Sir Adrian Boult – graduating with a BMus degree. At the same time he had informal contact with Roberto Gerhard. From 1963 to 1965 he attended Yale University on a Harkness Fellowship, where he studied with Mel Powell. He subsequently taught at Yale for 18 months before returning to the UK in 1967. He taught for many years at the Royal College of Music, later moving to the Royal Academy of Music, retiring from teaching in 1995. Justin Connolly died on 29 September 2020, in London. Compositional career His music is published by Novello & C

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji

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Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (born Leon Dudley Sorabji; 14 August 1892 – 15 October 1988) was an English composer, music critic, pianist and writer. His music, written over a period of seventy years, ranges from sets of miniatures to works lasting several hours. One of the most prolific 20th-century composers, he is best known for his piano pieces, notably nocturnes such as Gulistān and Villa Tasca, and large-scale, technically intricate compositions, which include seven symphonies for piano solo, four toccatas, Sequentia cyclica and 100 Transcendental Studies. He felt alienated from English society by reason of his homosexuality and mixed ancestry, and had a lifelong tendency to seclusion. Sorabji’s mother was English and his father a Parsi businessman and industrialist from India, who set up a trust fund that freed his family from the need to work. Although Sorabji was a reluctant performer and not a virtuoso, he played some of his music publicly between 1920 and 1936. In the late 1930s, his attitude shifted and he imposed restrictions on performance of his works, which he lifted in 1976. His compositions received little exposure in those years and he remained in public view mainly

Kalitha Dorothy Fox

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Kalitha Dorothy Fox (1894 – 11 August 1934) was an English composer. She was born in London to wealthy parents. Her mother died in 1905, and a year later, aged 11, she composed the solo piano piece Affliction – on the death of my mother, which was published by Augener. The arrangement - credited to ‘L.L’ - may have been by Liza Lehmann. A set of her mature compositions was published by Maurice Senart in the 1920s and 1930s, and there were occasional performances - her Suite for String Orchestra was heard in London in 1925, her substantial Piano Trio (lasting 40 minutes) was performed at a Society of Women Musicians concert at 74 Grosvenor Street, London on 10 July 1926, and her Viola Sonata was broadcast from Bournemouth on 21 November 1927. Another trio, for flute, viola and piano, was performed at Grosvenor Street on 9 July, 1932. There are modern recordings of her Chant Élégiaque, op. 6 for cello and piano, and of her Viola Sonata, op, 7. Fox suffered from ill-health and a nervous disposition throughout her life. A number of half-finished manuscripts were found in her luggage. The death and inquest received considerable attention in the newspapers. Her estate was valued at £13,6

Karl Jenkins

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Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins, His maternal grandfather was a Swedish sailor who settled in Wales after meeting his future wife at a local market. Between the ages of two and five, Jenkins lived in Gävle, Sweden, and continued to visit in subsequent years. Jenkins attended Gowerton Grammar School, studied music at Cardiff University, and then commenced postgraduate studies in London at the Royal Academy of Music. Early career: Graham Collier’s group and Nucleus For the bulk of his early career, Jenkins was known as a jazz and jazz-rock musician, playing baritone and soprano saxophones, keyboards and oboe, an unusual instrument in a jazz context. He joined jazz composer Graham Collier’s group and later co-founded the jazz-rock group Nucleus, which won first prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1970. In 1971, Jenkins collaborated with Linda Hoyle on her album Pieces of Me, co-writing 8 of the 11 tracks, playing piano and oboe, as well as arranging and conducting the orchestra. Soft Machine In 1972, Jenkins joined the Canterbury jazz fusion rock band Soft Machine, playing saxophone, oboe and flute along with keyboard instruments. The group played venues including The Proms, Carnegie

Kate Loder

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Kate Fanny Loder, later Lady Thompson, (21 August 1825 – 30 August 1904) was an English composer and pianist. Biography Ancestry Kate Loder was born on 21 August 1825, within Bath, Somerset where the Loder family were prominent musicians. Her father was the flautist George Loder. According to Grove, her mother was a piano teacher born Fanny Philpot, who was the sister of the pianist Lucy Anderson. However, genealogical research suggests Kate’s mother was Frances Elizabeth Mary Kirkham (1802–50), daughter of Thomas Bulman Kirkham (1778–1845) and Marianne Beville Moore (c.1781 – 1810). Kate was also the sister of conductor and composer George Loder, Royal Academy of Music Kate Loder studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Her performance of Mendelssohn’s G minor piano concerto at the Hanover-square Rooms on 27 May 1843, when she was aged 17, may have been her public debut. The following year, in 1844, aged just 18, she became the first female professor of harmony at the Royal Academy. Marriage On 16 December 1851 at St Marylebone Church, Westminster, she married the eminent surgeon Henry Thompson (Kt. 1867. Bt. 1899, ‘of Wimpole Street’). After her marriage she gradually gav

Kate Whitley

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Kate Whitley (born 1989) is an English composer, comedian and pianist. Career She is classically trained and studied music at King’s College, Cambridge. Her music is recorded by NMC Recordings and her debut release, I am, I say was released in 2017. It was described as “unpretentious and appealingly vigorous music” and “an excellent introduction to her sonic world”. She won a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Special Award in 2014. Her music has been broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and performed as part of the BBC Proms. In 2017, Whitley was commissioned by Radio 3 to compose a piece for International Women’s Day, setting the words of Malala Yousafzai’s 2013 speech to the UN. The piece, called Speak Out, was premiered on 8 March 2017 in the Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Chorus of Wales alongside the children’s choir Cor y Cwm, conducted by Xian Zhang. In July 2022 a new oratorio, Our Future In Your Hands was performed at the Buxton Festival, with an orchestra of young musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music and a choir drawn from local schools. The text, by Laura Attridge, voices climate change concerns from the point of view of young people.

Kate Williams (pianist)

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Kate Williams is a British jazz pianist and composer who formed the jazz ensemble Kate Williams Quartet with saxophonist Steve Kaldestad, flautist Gareth Lockrane, bassist Oli Hayhurst and drummer David Ingamells, among others. She has performed with many notable UK artists, including Chris Biscoe, Tina May, Henry Lowther, Jim Mullen, John Etheridge, Stan Sulzmann, Julian Siegel, Tim Whitehead and Karen Sharp. Early life and education Kate Williams was born in London, England, into a musical family. Her mother is a classical pianist and her father is the guitarist John Williams. Discography * 2011: Made Up * 2012: Smoke And Mirrors * 2016: Four Plus Three References External links *

Katharine Emily Eggar

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Katherine Emily Eggar (5 January 1874 – 15 August 1961) was an English pianist and composer. Eggar was born and died in London, England, the daughter of Thomas Eggar and Katherine MacDonald. Eggar was active member of the feminist movement especially in terms of opportunities for women in music. At the inaugural meeting of the Society of Women Musicians, Eggar stated, “The conventions of music must be challenged. Women are already challenging conventions in all kinds of ways… We believe in a great future for women composers.” (Katherine Emily Eggar, at the inaugural meeting in 1911 of the Society of Women Musicians which she helped found) Life She studied piano in Berlin at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory with Klindworth, Brussels at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique with De Greef, and London, and studied composition with Frederick Corder at the Royal Academy of Music, Graduating in 1895. At 19 she became the first woman to perform her own chamber works at a London public concert. With singer Gertrude Eaton and musicologist Marion M. Scott, she co-founded the Society of Women Musicians in London in 1911 and served as its president in 1914–1915. Eggar ran fortnightly meeting

Katherine Dienes

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Katherine Dienes also known as Katherine Dienes-Williams (born in Wellington, 10 January 1970) is a New Zealand-born organist, conductor and composer. In January 2026 it was announced that she was stepping down from her role as Organist and Master of the Choristers at Guildford Cathedral, having been appointed Director of Music at Winchester Cathedral with effect from September. At Guildford she was the first woman to hold the most senior musical post in a Church of England cathedral. Early career and education Dienes was born and educated in Wellington, New Zealand, and studied for a BA in Modern Languages and a BMus at Victoria University, Wellington. She was organ scholar at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Wellington from 1988 to 1991 when she was appointed Assistant Organist there. She also acted as Assistant Conductor of the Wellington Youth Choir and appeared as a soloist with Wellington Youth Orchestra. Dienes came to England in 1991 to take up the post of organ scholar at Winchester Cathedral and Assistant Organist at Winchester College. Appointments Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick Dienes was appointed Director of Music St Mary’s, Warwick, in 2001 where she directed and train

Kathleen Richards

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Kathleen Dale née Richards (29 June 1895, London – March 3, 1984, Woking) was an English composer, pianist, musicologist and translator. She used the name Kathleen Richards for her compositions, but from 1921 used her married name Kathleen Dale for recitals, broadcasts and authorship until the end of her life. Early life and marriage Kathleen Richards was educated at St Felix School in Southwold, Suffolk. She studied piano privately with York Bowen from 1914 and later (from 1924) with Fanny Davies. She also studied composition privately with Benjamin Dale from 1914. In 1916 she performed her Pastoral with the American violinist Olga Rudge, who became a lifelong friend. York Bowen included some of her songs (sung by his wife Sylvia) in an Aeolian Hall recital on July 4, 1916, and he performed her short piano piece A Dance in Spring at the same venue on 14 March 1919. She became Kathleen Dale by marriage to her former teacher, the pianist and composer Benjamin Dale, in 1921. They sometimes performed as a piano duet. The marriage ended in separation in 1930. Composer and author As a composer, her Minuet, Gavotte and Fugue for small orchestra was included in a Patron’s Fund rehearsal a

Keff McCulloch

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Keff McCulloch (born 8 July 1954 ) is an English composer best known for his electronic music for Doctor Who in the late 1980s. In 1987, he was employed by producer John Nathan-Turner to arrange the Doctor Who theme music for the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy. The theme, drawing on the original composed by Ron Grainer and arranged by Delia Derbyshire, was used for three years until the series was cancelled by the BBC in 1989. The new theme music was accompanied by new titles and logo. McCulloch also contributed incidental music scores to six stories during the McCoy era, namely: Time and the Rani; Paradise Towers; Delta and the Bannermen; Remembrance of the Daleks; Silver Nemesis; Battlefield; and also the later Dimensions in Time and Shada. McCulloch also played a role on screen as one of the Lorells (a backing group) in Delta and the Bannermen (1987). Alongside his work on Doctor Who, McCulloch was a musician and sound engineer, touring with many bands and engineering and producing singles and albums for artistes including Acker Bilk, Johnny Logan and Russ Abbot. He also composed and recorded the incidental music for the video release of the film White Mischief. References Exte

Keith Burstein

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Keith Burstein born 1957 as Keith Burston (the anglicised form adopted by his father of the surname, which Burstein later dropped) is an English composer, conductor and music theorist with Jewish family origins. He is noted for his fervent championing of tonal music as a valid contemporary composing style. Musical approach and philosophy (including theory of “Super Tonality”) Keith Burstein’s early musical approach was informed by the culture of atonalism in which he was educated at the Royal College of Music, and his early compositions were written in the atonal style. Burstein made a dramatic shift towards composing tonally during the late 1980s. In a 2002 interview with The Independent newspaper, he reflected “What had happened to me was a sort of Damascene conversion, I suppose. I suddenly saw that atonalism was a dead end. Once you accept that melody is everywhere, and always has been, in folk music and pop and rock, you see that it’s not reactionary to write a tune.”. He began pursuing tonal composition and reinvestigating more traditional forms such as requiems, church chorales and brass band music. Although both Burstein (and various critics) have sometimes dubbed his style

Keith Tippett

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Keith Graham Tippetts (25 August 1947 – 14 June 2020), known professionally as Keith Tippett, was a British jazz pianist and composer. According to AllMusic, Tippett’s career “…spanned jazz-rock, progressive rock, improvised and contemporary music, as well as modern jazz for more than half-a-century”. He held “an unparallelled place in British contemporary music,” Early life Born in Southmead, Bristol, England, Tippett was the son of an English father who was a policeman and an Irish mother named Kitty. He wrote music dedicated to her after she died. He was the oldest of three siblings and went to Greenway Secondary Modern school in Southmead. As a child he played piano, church organ, cornet, and tenor horn. At fourteen he formed his first band, KT Trad Lads, with school friends Richard Murch, Mike Milton, Terry Pratt, and Bob Chard, and Eric Condell performing traditional jazz. He formed a modern jazz trio in Bristol and played regularly at the Dugout Club in Park Row, Bristol. Music career In 1967, Tippett moved to London to pursue a career in music, taking menial jobs while performing in jazz clubs. He also contributed as a session musician to the band’s subsequent two albums

Ken Howard (composer)

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Kenneth Charles Howard (26 December 1939 – 24 September 2024) was an English songwriter, lyricist, author and television director. Early years Howard was born in Worthing, West Sussex, on 26 December 1939. His father, Harry Howard, was a lawyer who founded the London law firm Howard, Kennedy & Rossi. His mother, Betty, was a concert pianist. He was evacuated with his brother Alan to Cleveland, Ohio, during World War Two and returned to London after the war. From 1947 to 1956 he attended University College School (UCS) in London, where he became friends with Alan Blaikley, and from 1956 to 1957 he attended Aiglon College in Villars, Switzerland. After a year working with Granada Television in London, he went to Edinburgh University where he read Social Anthropology. He was cast as a singer, together with fellow London student Eva Hermann, in Varsity Vanities of 1959 and they became known as a vocal duo called “Eva and Ken” They won a weekly slot in Scottish Television’s musical show Jigtime, singing songs from around the world, and recorded for Fontana Records. Howard graduated with an MA degree and began working with BBC Television’s drama department in White City, London. a critic

Kenneth Hesketh

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Kenneth Hesketh (born 20 July 1968) He studied at the Royal College of Music, London, with Edwin Roxburgh, Joseph Horovitz and Simon Bainbridge between 1987 and 1992 and attended Tanglewood in 1995 as the Leonard Bernstein Fellow where he studied with Henri Dutilleux. After completing a master’s degree in composition at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, a series of awards followed: the Shakespeare Prize scholarship from the Toepfer Foundation, Hamburg at the behest of Sir Simon Rattle, an award from the Liverpool Foundation for Sport and the Arts, and on his return to London in 1999, Hesketh was awarded the Constant and Kit Lambert Fellowship at the Royal College of Music, with support from the Worshipful Company of Musicians. Musical style Hesketh’s work is notable for its colourful orchestration, dense harmony and a highly mobile rhythmic style. His early work found its stimuli in extra-musical ideas. Several early works have their origins in medieval symbolism and iconography, notably three pieces for chamber ensemble: Theatrum (1996), Torturous Instruments (1997-8, after Hieronymous Bosch’s depiction of Hell from The Garden of Earthly Delights), and The Circling Canop

Kenneth J. Alford

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Frederick Joseph Ricketts (21 February 1881 – 15 May 1945) was an English composer of marches for band. Under the pen name Kenneth J. Alford, he composed marches which are considered to be great examples of the art. He was a bandmaster in the British Army, and Royal Marines director of music. Conductor Vivian Dunn called him “The British March King”. Alford’s frequent use of the saxophone contributed to its permanent inclusion in military bands. His best known work is the “Colonel Bogey March”. Early life and education Ricketts was born on 21 February 1881, the fourth child of Robert and Louisa (née Alford) Ricketts in the Thameside hamlet of Ratcliff, within the parish of Shadwell in London’s East End. Born within the sound of Bow Bells (the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside), Ricketts had Cockney birthright. His London ancestry can be traced back to the early 18th century: his father was a coal merchant in Ratcliff on the north side of the Thames near Limehouse. On 9 December 1884, a fifth child, Randolph Robjent, was born to the Ricketts family, who, like his elder brother, was to become well known in military musical circles, under the pseudonym Leo Stanley. Ricketts’s fat

Kenneth Leighton

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Kenneth Leighton (2 October 1929 – 24 August 1988) was a British composer and pianist. His compositions include church and choral music, pieces for piano, organ, cello, oboe and other instruments, chamber music, concertos, symphonies, and an opera. He held academic appointments in the Universities of Leeds, Oxford and Edinburgh. Biography Leighton was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, on 2 October 1929, to parents of modest means, who noted his musical ability as a child and enrolled him as a chorister at Wakefield Cathedral. Encouraged by his mother and cathedral staff (who helped obtain a piano) he began to play the piano at primary school and progressed precociously. In 1940, he gained a place at the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, played at school assemblies and concerts, and composed settings of poetry for voice and piano and solo piano pieces (including the Sonatina Op.1a, 1946, his first published work). While still at school (in 1946) he obtained the Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music (LRAM) in piano performance, aged 16. With the benefit of a State scholarship to study classics at University, Leighton was admitted to the Queen’s College, Oxford in 1947, where he also won

Kerensa Briggs

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Kerensa Rosie Joanne Briggs (born 1991) is a British composer, primarily of choral and organ music. In 2022 she began a three-year term as composer-in-residence with the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus in Missouri, USA. Family and education Briggs was born in Truro, Cornwall, in 1991, while her father, David, was organist and master of the choristers at Truro Cathedral. After her father moved to Gloucester Cathedral, she sang in the youth choir there. She attended The King’s School in Gloucester from 1995 to 2002 and later studied music at the University of Bristol. Afterwards she sang with the Choir of King’s College London, where she held a choral scholarship and was awarded a Master of Music degree in composition. She became composer-in-residence at Godolphin and Latymer School. Briggs’s music, which is inspired by the Anglican choral tradition, Gregorian chant, early music and jazz, has been performed at St Paul’s Cathedral and the Sistine Chapel and has been broadcast on BBC Radio and Classic FM by ensembles such as the Tallis Scholars and the BBC Singers. and by the choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge, under the direction of Anna Lapwood. Briggs has been described as writing in a

Kevin MacNeil

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Kevin MacNeil (born 20th century) is a Scottish novelist, poet, screenwriter, lyricist, playwright and educator. Early life and education MacNeil was born and raised on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Career Artistic collaborations MacNeil has collaborated with Hebridean musician Willie Campbell. In 2011, they released the album Visible From Space together. Teaching and fellowships MacNeil has undertaken teaching posts and writing residencies in Sweden (Uppsala University), Bavaria (Villa Concordia), Shetland, the University of Edinburgh, and Kingston University. He has held the Hawthornden Fellowship and was Inaugural Recipient of the Iain Crichton Smith Bilingual Writing Fellowship. He has been a judge for the Highland Book Prize, the Wigtown Poetry Prize and the Scottish Book Trust New Writers’ Award. He is a remote mentor and on-site residential short-course tutor for the Moniack Mhor Writers’ Centre. In 2017, he began a post at the University of Stirling, where he works as a tutor and supervisor for both undergraduate and postgraduate creative-writing–degree programs. Awards * Tivoli Europa Giovani International Poetry Prize Works As author * Poetry collection: Love a

Keyna Wilkins

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Keyna Wilkins is an Australian/British composer-musician. Her compositions are published and distributed by Wiripang Music. Wilkins was a finalist in the Australian Music Centre and APRA AMCOS 2021 Art Music Awards in the category Award for Excellence in Experimental Music, for “recording and developing new projects in 2020”. She was also a finalist in the 2018 Art Music Awards, in the category Award for Excellence by an Individual, for her “activities in original art music throughout 2017 as a composer-musician including releasing three original albums”. Wilkins is passionate about supporting refugees being detained in Immigration Detention. In 2021 she collaborated with visual artist and poet Jalal Mahamede, who is currently being held in Brisbane’s immigration detention centre. They have released an album, featuring original music by Wilkins and poetry by Mahamede. Education Wilkins holds a Master of Music Composition from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Her thesis is titled Astronomical Phenomena in Music Composition and explores “the astronomical phenomena in music composition”. Prior to moving to Australia, Wilkins studied at Bristol University (UK) where is obtained a MA

Lady Arthur Hill

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Annie Jessie Fortescue Harrison (30 December 1848 – 12 February 1944), also known as Annie, Lady Hill and Lady Arthur Hill, was an English composer of songs and piano pieces. She composed two operettas that were staged in London, but is best known as the composer of the 1877 popular ballad In the Gloaming. The song was adopted as the regimental march of the 2nd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers. Life Harrison was born in Calcutta, British India, the daughter of James Fortescue Harrison, MP of Kilmarnock (other sources record her birth as taking place in Crawleywood, Sussex in 1851). She was composing solo piano pieces, such as The Elfin Waltzes, by the age of 13. In 1865, the family moved to Crawley Down, Sussex, where her father built a mansion called Down Park. Her most popular song was “In the Gloaming” (1877), with lyrics by Meta Orred was written a year earlier, when she was considering a marriage proposal from widowed Lord Arthur Hill. Musicologist Derek B. Scott reports that as soon as Arthur Hill heard the song, he was desperate to marry Annie Harrison. His first wife had died shortly after the birth of their son, a year into their marriage. Harrison married Lord Arthur in 187

Lady Mary Dering

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Lady Mary Dering (née Mary Harvey; baptised 3 September 1629 – 7 February 1704) was an English composer of the Baroque period. Three of her songs were included in the Select Ayres and Dialogues (1655), a collection published by Dering’s teacher Henry Lawes. Life The daughter of Daniel Harvey and Elizabeth Kynnersley, Mary Harvey was baptised in Croydon on 3 September 1629, and therefore probably born within a day or two of that. Daniel Harvey was a wealthy London merchant and member of the Levant Company, his eldest brother being the anatomist William Harvey. Mary Harvey was sent to Mrs. Salmon’s school in Hackney, London, where her friends included Mary Aubrey (later her sister-in-law, and niece of John Aubrey) and poet Katherine Philips (the Matchless Orinda). In 1645, she married her cousin and father’s former apprentice, William Hauke; this was without her father’s consent, and it was quickly annulled. The man her father arranged for her to marry, and whom she did on 5 April 1648, was Sir Edward Dering. The marriage turned out well; the couple produced seventeen children (seven of whom died young), as well as poems and music. Despite bearing so many children, Dering outlived he

Landon Ronald

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sir Landon Ronald (born Landon Ronald Russell) (7 June 1873 – 14 August 1938) was an English conductor, composer, pianist, teacher and administrator. In his early career he gained work as an accompanist and répétiteur, but struggled to make his way as a conductor. In the absence of operatic or symphonic work he made his living as a conductor and composer in West End shows in the late 19th and early 20th century. With the foundation of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1904 his career began to flourish, and by 1908 he was well-enough established to be chosen to succeed Thomas Beecham as conductor of the New Symphony Orchestra in London. Ronald was an early enthusiast for recording, and was associated with the Gramophone Company (later part of EMI) from 1900 for the rest of his life. From 1910 until shortly before his death, Ronald was principal of the Guildhall School of Music in London. He modernised the curriculum and raised its standards to compete with the leading musical training establishments the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. Life and career Early years Ronald was born in Kensington, London, the illegitimate son of Henry Russell, singer, songwriter and

Larry Goves

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Larry Goves (born 1980 in Cardiff, Wales) is a British composer. A PhD student at the University of Southampton, his tutor is Michael Finnissy. In addition to Undergraduate and Postgraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, he has studied privately with Richard Barrett and Simon Holt. He has received commissions from the Nash Ensemble, the London Sinfonietta, the BBC Philharmonic and many others. He is a founder and performer with the ensemble the House of Bedlam. His music has been broadcast by BBC Radio 3. The chamber piece walking underground (2000) was recorded by the London Sinfonietta on the NMC label, as has his solo oboe piece the tentacles of memory (2003), released on Dutton Epoch. Goves has been serving as Head of School of Composition at the Royal Northern College of Music since 2023. In 2011, Goves’ work Virtual Airport was nominated for the Chamber-Scale Composition Prize at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards. In 2023 Goves received an Ivor Novello Award nomination at The Ivors Classical Awards 2023. Crow Rotations for soprano, flute/alto flute, alto saxophone, cello and electronics was nominated for Best Small Chamber Composition. References Ex

Laura Rossi

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Laura Rossi is a British composer of film and concert works. Originally from Devon, she graduated with a master’s degree from the London College of Music, having previously studied at the University of Liverpool. Work Her credits include scores for films including Paul Andrew Williams’s London to Brighton and The Cottage, Song for Marion and The Eichmann Show. Rossi has scored music for many silent films such as Silent Shakespeare and Jane Shore for the British Film Institute. She was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum in 2006 to write an orchestral score to accompany the digitally restored 1916 film The Battle of the Somme. In the centenary year, 100 live orchestral screenings of the film with Rossi’s score took place worldwide to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle. In 2014, Rossi’s work Voices of Remembrance, inspired by ten of World War I’s most famous poems, was recorded with the Chamber Orchestra of London with readings by Vanessa Redgrave and Ralph Fiennes. Rossi is working as a lecturer in Film Music at the London Film Academy. Filmography * Hurricane (2018) *The Eichmann Show (2015) * Unfinished Song (2013) * The Battle of the Ancre (2012) * Song for Marion (2012

Laurence Crane

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Laurence Crane (born 1961 in Oxford) is a British composer of contemporary classical music. Career Laurence Crane is closely associated with the ensemble Apartment House, who have given over 40 performances of his works. Some performances they have given include Riis (1996) and John White in Berlin (2003). He has written a considerable amount of piano music. Pianists who have performed his work include Michael Finnissy, Thalia Myers and John Tilbury. His piece Octet was shortlisted for the 2009 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards in the Chamber-Scale Composition category, along with works by Harrison Birtwistle and Karlheinz Stockhausen. In 2017, he won the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards for Artists 2017. In the same year, his piece Omloop Het Ives for bass flute and string quartet was nominated for the British Composer Awards. In 2021, Juliet Fraser, in association with Oxford Lieder Festival and Musica Sacra Maastricht, commissioned Crane to write a new piece that responds to the work of marine biologist Rachel Carson. The commission, Natural World for soprano and piano/sampler keyboard, won the Small Chamber Ivor Novello Award in 2022. Commenting on the piece, the jury added

Laurie Johnson

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Laurence Reginald Ward Johnson (7 February 1927 – 16 January 2024) was an English composer and bandleader who wrote scores for dozens of film and television series, described as “one of the most highly regarded arrangers of big-band swing and pop music” in England. Early career, theatre and KPM Johnson was born in Hampstead, London, England on 7 February 1927. He studied at the Royal College of Music, where his tutors included Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams. One of his first major projects was as composer and music director in a musical adaptation of Henry Fielding’s Rape Upon Rape, entitled Lock Up Your Daughters (1959). The score, with lyrics by Lionel Bart, won an Ivor Novello Award. It opened the new Mermaid Theatre in 1959 and was later revived at the Mermaid in 1962, transferring to the West End in 1963. Johnson’s other stage work included music for the Peter Cook revue, Pieces of Eight (1959), and The Four Musketeers (1967), starring Harry Secombe. At the sessions Johnson produced two styles of music: light orchestral and big band jazz. He was also house conductor for KPM in the 1960s. The Trend Setters, recorded for KPM in 1960, was used as the theme tune for th

Lennox Berkeley

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Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley CBE (12 May 190326 December 1989) was an English composer. Biography Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in Oxford, England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of Sir James Charles Harris, former British consul in Monaco, and Royal Navy Captain Hastings George FitzHardinge Berkeley (1855–1934), the illegitimate and eldest son of George Lennox Rawdon Berkeley, the 7th Earl of Berkeley (1827–1888). He attended the Dragon School in Oxford, going on to Gresham’s School, in Holt, Norfolk and St George’s School in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. He studied French at Merton College, Oxford, graduating with a fourth class degree in 1926. While at university he coxed the college rowing eight. He became an honorary fellow of Merton College in 1974. In 1927, he went to Paris to study music with Nadia Boulanger, as her first English student. There, Berkeley became acquainted with Francis Poulenc, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger and Albert Roussel. Berkeley also studied with Maurice Ravel, often cited as a key influence in Berkeley’s technical development as a composer. In 1936, he met Benjamin Britten, also a former pu

Leo Smith (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Joseph Leopold Smith (26 November 1881 – 18 April 1952) was an English composer, writer, music critic, music educator, and cellist who was primarily active in Canada. His compositional output consists of works for cello, piano, choir and orchestra (most notably An Ancient Song and A Summer Idyll) and a considerable amount of chamber music (most notably String Quartet in D, Sonata in E Minor and A Horse Race Ballad). Early life in the UK Smith was born in Birmingham. A child prodigy, he began studying cello at a very young age with W.H. Priestley in Birmingham and then later with Carl Fuchs in Manchester. His first professional cello recital was given at the Birmingham Town Hall in 1890 when he was just 8 years old as part of the Harrison Concert series. Since then he performed actively in concerts as both a soloist and a chamber musician. Eventually he pursued further training at the Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Manchester (UM) where he was a pupil of Henry Hiles. While at the UM, he became a member of the Hallé Orchestra and eventually played in the orchestra at the Royal Opera House for five years. He notably performed under the batons of Béla Bartók, Cla

Leon Parris

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Leon Parris (born 1 February 1981) is an English writer, composer, and actor. Early life and education Parris was brought up in Bedford, England, and was educated at the Bedford Modern School. Career Musical theatre * Bananaman (London, 2017) ** Scary Musical – standIN’OVATION, Waterfront Hall, Belfast (2010) * Epic Musical – standIN’ OVATION, Belfast (2010) * The Famous Five – Tabard Theatre in Chiswick, directed by Russell Labey (2009) * Wolfboy – adaptation of Brad Fraser play, directed by Russell Labey, previews at Tabard Theatre and run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2009) **Wolfboy – off-West End staging at Trafalgar Studios London (2010) * Stig of the Dump – directed by Russell Labey (2008) * Monte Cristo – with Jon Smith, Birmingham Hippodrome (2005) * The Fallen – Bedford Modern School (1999) Acting roles class=“wikitable” - !width=20 Year !width=200 Title !width=135 Role !width=120 Director !width=130 Playwright !width=200 Theatre - 1988 A Christmas Carol Young Scrooge . . Mermaid Theatre * 2000 winner – The Really Useful Group Award for Most Promising Young Writer: Going Once (2000) * 2000 winner – The Mercury Workshops Award * 2001 recipient – £10,000 Cameron Mackintosh

Leonard N. Fowles

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Leonard Nowell Fowles (6 October 1870 – 18 January 1939) was an English organist and choirmaster, classical music composer, arranger, teacher, adjudicator and conductor, best remembered for his hymn tunes “Golders Green” and “Phoenix”. Early years and education Fowles was born on 6 October 1870, at Portsea Island near Southsea, Hampshire, to Helen Nowell and Albert Godwin Fowles. His father, a native of the Isle of Wight, was a highly regarded professor of music and a free church organist; his mother was born on Jersey, the Channel Islands. His was a musical family. Fowles’ paternal aunt, Miss Margaret Fowles, was organist and choir director at the important post of St. Michael’s Church, Hyde, the Isle of Wight, and thereafter served as the conductor of the Letchworth Orchestral Society, Letchworth Garden City. His younger brother Bernard Fowles was also a noted musician. Fowles was raised in comfortable circumstances. Having mastered the keyboard and the violin, at the age of fourteen Fowles went to study at the Brussels Conservatory. In 1887, he was awarded the Whitcomb Scholarship for solo violin at the Royal College of Music. He studied at Oxford in the years 1896-1899. In Nove

Leonel Power

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Leonel Power (also spelled Lionel, Lyonel, Leonellus, Leonelle; Polbero), c. 1380–1445, was an English composer of the early Renaissance. Along with John Dunstaple he was a dominant figure of 15th-century English music. Mainly a composer of motets and of sections of the Mass, he is the best-represented contributor in the Old Hall Manuscript. Occasionally he is referred to by his Christian name only. Life and career Very little is known about Power’s life. Documents dating from the early 1440s refer to him as a native of Kent. Stylistic analysis of his music, as well as his probable age during his known appointments, show that he may have been born between 1370 and 1385. A suggestion that Power was of Irish origin, which appeared in W.H.G. Flood’s 1905 A History of Irish Music, is usually discounted by modern scholars, since Flood is not known to have had any other sources on Power’s life than are currently available. The earliest dated reference to Power refers to him as instructor to the choristers of the household chapel of Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence. The duke died in 1421; the next reference to Power is from 1423: on 14 May he joined the fraternity of Christ Churc

Leopold Spinner

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Leopold Spinner (26 April 1906 – 12 August 1980) was an Austrian-born, British-domiciled composer and editor. Biography Spinner was born of Austrian parentage in Lemberg (now Lviv, Ukraine, Lwów, Poland during the interwar period). From 1926 to 1930 he studied composition in Vienna with Paul Amadeus Pisk and afterwards began to attract international attention with works which were performed at the ISCM Festivals or awarded prizes. From 1947 he worked as a music-copyist and arranger for Boosey & Hawkes, In 1958 he succeeded Erwin Stein as editor at Boosey & Hawkes, later becoming Chief Editor. He remained with Boosey & Hawkes until his retirement in 1975. His skills and exactitude were highly praised by Stravinsky. Compositions From 1926 to his death in London in 1980 Spinner steadily and painstakingly built up an individual body of work, Michael Graubart has championed Spinner’s music in articles and performances. In 1982 he conducted the first performances of two works from 1971 in London: The Wind Sonata, Op. 23 and the Two Songs, Op. 24 for soprano and six instruments. Malcolm Hayes highlighted the unusual scoring of the Wind Sonata (D clarinet, oboe, horn and bassoon), and its

Leopold Wenzel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Léopold de Wenzel (23 January 1847 – 21 August 1923), also known as Leopold Wenzel, was an Italian-born conductor and composer, known for his ballets and contributions to Edwardian musical comedies, who spent most of his career in Britain. Biography Born in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Wenzel spent most of his career working in London, with the exception of some years spent in Paris. Wenzel was appointed as musical director, music arranger and ballet composer at the Empire Theatre of Varieties in London in 1889, where he wrote and arranged numerous ballets. Later, he conducted at the Gaiety Theatre in London until 1913. In addition to ballets, his many works include art songs, orchestral works, and operas in the late Victorian era and early Edwardian period. Some of his songs were incorporated into Edwardian musical comedies. He died in Asnières, near Paris, on 21 August 1923. Selected works Ballets with choreographer Katti Lanner at the Empire: *A Dream of Wealth (1889) *Cécile (1890) *Dolly (1890) *Orfeo (1891) *By the Sea (1891) *Nisita (1891) *Versailles (1892) *Monte Cristo (1896) *An Artist’s Model, an Edwardian musical comedy (1895) (additional numbers) Notes Referen

Leslie Stewart (writer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Leslie Stewart (born 23 May 1949, Benghazi, Libya) is a British-based film and TV screenwriter, playwright and director. Background Born Leslie George Gannagé-Stewart, he co-wrote the song “Mistletoe and Wine”, which earned Cliff Richard the 1988 Christmas number one. His television script writing work includes Monarch of the Glen, Holby City, Love Bytes, Down to Earth, Casualty, As If, Peak Practice, and the 1987 film, Two of Us, for the BBC’s Scene series. In 1976, Stewart co-wrote his first musical, Shoot Up at Elbow Creek. He also wrote The Little Match Girl, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s short story, for Richmond’s Orange Tree Theatre, which contained the song “Mistletoe and Wine.” HTV assisted in the production of the play for television in 1986. Having worked extensively in music, writing for, among others, the jazz-rock outfit Swegas, Consortium and Cliff Richard, and producing artists including Jeff Baker, Stewart continues to work as a lyricist, currently with the American blues musician, Johnny Mars. Stewart is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and A

Lilian Elkington

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Iris Lilian Mary Elkington (15 September 1900 – 13 August 1969) was an English pianist and composer. She studied piano, organ and composition (with Sir Granville Bantock) at the Birmingham and Midland School of Music and began her musical career as a pianist, performing piano concertos and solo pieces at Birmingham Town Hall and in Bournemouth and Harrogate. Howard Carr conducted a second performance 15 months later, on 21 December 1922 in Harrogate. During the 1920s it was played fairly often around the Midlands area. Marriage By 1924 she had formed a duo with the violist and violinist Arthur Kennedy, whom she met while studying in Birmingham. A pupil of Rowsby Woof at the Royal Academy of Music, Kennedy later played with various BBC orchestras. After her marriage to Kennedy in August 1926 she gradually withdrew from both composing and performing, except as a local church musician. She made occasional appearances in BBC radio broadcasts of recitals from Birmingham between 1925 and 1929, including a performance of works by Liszt, Chabrier, Chopin and Dohnanyi in April 1926. She was organist at the Sacred Heart Church in Aston (where she was also married), at Abbey Church in Erdingt

Lindsay Cooper

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Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians. She collaborated with a number of musicians, including Chris Cutler and Sally Potter, and co-founded the Feminist Improvising Group. She wrote scores for film and TV and a song cycle Oh Moscow which was performed live around the world in 1987. She also recorded a number of solo albums, including Rags (1980), The Gold Diggers (1983), and Music For Other Occasions (1986). Cooper was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the late 1970s, but did not disclose it to the musical community until the late 1990s when her illness prevented her from performing live. In September 2013, Cooper died from the illness, in London, at the age of 62. Her classical training interested the group as they were continually looking for new musical directions. In spite of having just had all four wisdom teeth extracted, she immediately joined the band in the studio to record their second album Unrest (1974). However, following their European tour supporting C

Lindsay Sloper

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lindsay Sloper (full name Edward Hugh Lindsay Sloper; 14 June 1826 – 3 July 1887) was an English pianist and composer. Life Sloper was born in London in 1826. After studying the piano in London under Ignaz Moscheles, he went, around 1841, to Aloys Schmitt in Frankfurt, and later to Georg Jacob Vollweiler in Heidelberg and Xavier Boisselot in Paris. He remained in Paris until 1846, when he returned to London. He appeared occasionally as a pianist at the concerts of the Musical Union (1846) and the Royal Philharmonic Society (1849), of which he subsequently became a member. He claimed to have taught Jane Stirling, and to have introduced her to Frédéric Chopin. A reviewer of a concert in 1847 (one of many of his concerts reviewed in The Musical World) wrote: “Mr. Sloper’s powers of expression and unerring mechanism were more finely developed in the Sonata Apassionata of Beethoven than in any other part of the programme. The last movement was taken with extraordinary rapidity, but the energy, precision and finish of the performer’s style were preserved throughout with undiminished power.” As his teaching connection grew, his public appearances waned. That same year the child prodigy pi

Liza Lehmann

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Elisabetha Nina Mary Frederica Lehmann (11 July 1862 – 19 September 1918) was an English soprano and composer, known for her vocal compositions. Her father was the German painter Rudolf Lehmann, and her mother was Amelia (A.L.) Chambers, a music teacher, composer and arranger. Lehmann “grew up in an intellectual and artistic atmosphere” The same year, she wrote a voice study text, Practical Hints for Students of Singing. Leslie was the father of the conductor Steuart Bedford and the composer David Bedford. Lehmann completed her memoirs in 1918 and died, shortly after completing them, Music After her performing career ended in 1894, Lehmann concentrated on composing music for the rest of her life. and Bird Songs (1907), with words attributed to “A.S.”, thought to have been Alice Sayers, the family nurse. She became known for her art songs, parlour songs and other works in the following years. Many of her songs are for children, ranging from the sweet and trivial “There are fairies at the bottom of our garden” to the melodically and harmonically passionate “Stars” in The Daisy-Chain. Her tenor song “Ah, moon of my delight” from In a Persian Garden has been recorded through the years

Lola Rae

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rachel Akosua Funmilola Garton (born 20 January 1991), professionally known as Lola Rae, is a Nigerian-born British-Ghanaian singer, songwriter and dancer. She gained recognition following the release of her debut single, “Watch My Ting Go”, which received critical acclaim and thus earned her a nomination for the Most Promising Female Act to Watch at the 2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. Growing up and education Lola Rae was born to a British father and a Ghanaian mother in Obalende, a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria. She attained her primary and secondary school education at St. Saviour’s School, Ikoyi, and Lekki British International High School, Lagos, respectively. She, however left Nigeria for England at the age of 15 to complete her university education at Central Saint Martins, where she studied fashion textiles. Career Lola Rae’s entertainment career started as a dancer when she was joined the dancing group “Mystikal” in 2010. Mystikal Dancing Group auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent, where Rae sang in the competition, and judge Simon Cowell singled Mystikal Dancing group out at the semi-final. At the end of the competition, the group (Mystikal) was signed to Syco for a year. Ra

Lord Berners

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners (18 September 188319 April 1950), also known as Gerald Tyrwhitt, was a British composer, novelist, painter, and aesthete. He was also known as Lord Berners. Biography Early life and education Berners was born in Apley Hall, Stockton, Shropshire, in 1883, as Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt, son of The Honorable Hugh Tyrwhitt (1856–1907) and his wife Julia Mary (1861–1931), daughter of William Orme Foster, Apley’s owner. His father, a Royal Navy officer, and aide- dewas rarely home. house near Wrexham. Berners was educated by the local curate. in spite of her own artistic inclinations . Berners later wrote, “My father was worldly, cynical, intolerant of any kind of inferiority, reserved and self-possessed. My mother was unworldly, naïve, impulsive and undecided, and in my father’s presence she was always at her worst”. Berners father became ill in 1906 , and died in 1907 Berners never got along with his step-father. Berners was first educated at home by governesses and then enrolled at the boarding school Cheam School His inheritance included Faringdon House, in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, which he initially gave to his mother and her second husband;

Loré Lixenberg

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Loré Lixenberg is a British mezzo-soprano and sound artist, active in contemporary and experimental music. She received the John Cage Award in 2025. Career She studied composition with Andy Vores, Robert Saxton and John Woolrich and attended masterclasses with Peter Maxwell Davies. She studied voice with Nicole Tibbels, David Mason, Elisabeth Soderstrom, Galina Vishnevskaya and Martin Isepp. Her experiments in voice extend to physical artworks, direction, and voice/theatre compositions that encompass film/physical theatre/new technologies and the theatre of objects. Lixenberg co-directs the experimental artspace La Plaque Tournante with composer Frédéric Acquaviva in Berlin. As a classically trained mezzo-soprano she has worked and performed the music of Georges Aperghis, Helmut Oehring, Frédéric Acquaviva, György Ligeti, Phill Niblock, Pauline Oliveros, Earle Brown, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Harrison Birtwistle, Beat Furrer, Maurice Lemaître, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Jocelyn Pook, Peter Maxwell Davies, György Kurtág, Denis Dufour, Bernard Heidsieck and Trevor Wishart as well as interpreted the works of Luciano Berio, Isidore Isou, Nam June Paik, Gil J. Wolman, Luigi Nono, Salvatore Scia

Loren Gold

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Loren Gold is an American keyboardist, vocalist, music director, and songwriter. He is known for his work as a touring keyboardist with prominent rock and pop acts, including Don Felder, Kenny Loggins, Roger Daltrey, The Who, Chicago, and Rush. As a music director, Gold has led world tours for artists such as Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Hilary Duff, and American Idol winner Taylor Hicks (for whom he co-wrote the song “The Runaround”). In 2010, he worked on the Who’s halftime show at Super Bowl XLIV. Career history Music director Gold toured in fall 2003 as the keyboard player for Hilary Duff, and continued as her musical director until 2007. In winter 2007, Gold co-wrote with the Canadian songwriter James Renald the first single for the American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, entitled “The Runaround”. Television and national performances of “The Runaround” took place starting in December 2006. Gold became the musical director and keyboard player for Taylor, touring extensively in 2007. Daltrey’s band, No Plan B, also opened for Eric Clapton on several dates during 2010. At the show of October 12, 2009, in Seattle, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder joined the band on stage for performances of

Lorne Balfe

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lorne Balfe (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish composer of film, television, and video game scores. Early life and education Balfe was born in Inverness, Scotland. He went to Fettes College in Edinburgh, where he had a music scholarship. Career A veteran of Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions, Balfe’s scoring credits include the films Megamind, Penguins of Madagascar, Home, Terminator Genisys, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, The Lego Batman Movie, Mission: Impossible – Fallout and its sequel Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Bad Boys for Life and its sequel Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Black Widow, Black Adam, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Gran Turismo, and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, as well as the video games Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Assassin’s Creed III, Crysis 2, Skylanders, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He has also scored the television series The Bible, Marcella, The Crown, and Genius, the latter for which he earned a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music. He also collaborates with the directors Michael Bay, Chris McKay, Christopher McQuarrie, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Mikael

Louis Levy

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Louis Levy (20 November 1892 – 18 August 1957) was an English film music director and conductor, who worked in particular on Alfred Hitchcock and Will Hay films. He was born in London and died in Slough, Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire). Early life As a child Louis Levy played the violin, beginning with a toy violin that his father bought him at the age of seven. He later became the pupil of Guido Papini but due to his parents’ limited means, ended his studies with Papini and began a period of self-study. This led to him gaining a scholarship at the London College of Music. Papini refused to allow Levy to study under anyone else, so resumed his tuition, this time free of charge. Career He started his career in 1910, arranging and performing music for silent films. He became the head of the music department for all Gainsborough Pictures productions from 1933 onwards. The rich sounds emanating from his large orchestra are all the more impressive when one realises that electrical sound industry was barely ten years old. He worked in particular on Alfred Hitchcock and Will Hay films, directing the music for The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes. Levy later had a long running BBC radio seri

Louis N. Parker

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Louis Napoleon Parker (21 October 1852 – 21 September 1944) was an English dramatist, composer and translator. Parker wrote many plays, developing a reputation for historical works. His 1911 play Disraeli is one of his best known, written as a vehicle for the actor George Arliss who later won an Academy Award for his performance in the 1929 film adaptation, itself based on his earlier 1921 silent film version. In the 1900s, he staged a series of historical pageants: Sherborne Pageant (1905), the Warwick Pageant (1906) and the Bury Pageant (1907), huge productions involving 800–900 participants. Their success inspired a wave of “pageantitis” in England, including several more by Parker. Biography He was born in Calvados, France, the son of the American Charles Albert Parker, who was a grandson of American congressman and judge Isaac Parker, and the Englishwoman Elizabeth Moray. The father was absent at his birth, and the attending French neighbours were so convinced the newborn would not survive that they christened the child immediately. Parker grew up in several continental European countries. As an adult, he was fluent in Italian, French, and German. He was educated at Freiburg a

Lucy Ward (musician)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lucy Victoria Ward is an English singer-songwriter from Derby, England. She performs, with a voice described as expressive and powerful, traditional English folk songs as well as her own material. Three of her albums, Adelphi Has to Fly, Single Flame and I Dreamt I Was a Bird, have been critically acclaimed and have each received four-starred reviews in the British national press. Early life and education The youngest of six children, Lucy Ward grew up in Littleover, Derbyshire. She went to St Peter’s Junior School in Littleover, and Littleover Community School. set to a tune by Lucy Ward. “Alice in the Bacon Box”, a song written by Ward in the style of a traditional folk song, tells the story of Derbyshire hermit Alice Grace (1867–1927) from Little Eaton who, on being evicted from her cottage, lived in a box previously used for storing bacon, which had been given to her by the local butcher. The album was critically acclaimed and received a four-starred review in The Guardian. I Dreamt I Was a Bird Ward’s third album, I Dreamt I Was a Bird, was released by Betty Beetroot Records on 2 October 2015. It received a four-starred review in The Daily Telegraph Pretty Warnings Ward’s four

Luigi Cherubini

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Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 September 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest living composer of his era. Cherubini’s operas were heavily praised and interpreted by Rossini. Early years He was born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini in Florence in 1760. There is uncertainty about his date of birth. Although 14 September is sometimes stated, evidence from baptismal records and Cherubini himself suggests 8 September is correct. Perhaps the strongest evidence is his first name, Maria, which is traditional for a child born on 8 September, the feast-day of the Nativity of the Virgin. From opera to church music After Les deux journées, Parisian audiences began to favour younger composers such as Boieldieu. Cherubini’s opera-ballet Anacréon was an outright failure and most stage works after it did not achieve success. Faniska, produced in 1806, was an exception, receiving an enthusiastic response, in particular by Haydn and Beethoven. Les Abencérages (1813), an heroic drama set in Spain during the last days of

Luke Bedford

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Luke Bedford (born 25 April 1978) is a British composer. He studied composition with Edwin Roxburgh and Simon Bainbridge at the Royal College of Music, and won the Mendelssohn Scholarship in 2000. This was followed by post-graduate study with Simon Bainbridge at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2007 Bedford signed to Universal Edition London. Awards include the 2000 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize for composers under 29 and the 2004 BBC Radio 3 Listeners’ Award at the British Composer Awards. In 2007, Bedford became the first compositional recipient of a Paul Hamlyn Artists’ Award since David Sawer in 1993. 2007 also saw him receive a nomination for the Royal Philharmonic Society large-scale composition prize, for his song cycle On Voit Tout En Aventure. In 2008, Bedford received his second British Composer Award for his 2007 orchestral work Wreathe. In 2012, he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize. Bedford was the Wigmore Hall’s first ever Composer-in-Residence, from 2008-2011. In 2015 his work for large orchestra, Instability, was premiered at the Proms, and in October 2017 his Concerto for Saxophone Quartet & Orchestra had its premiere at the Berlin Philha

Luke Flintoft

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Luke Flintoft (1680 - 3 November 1727), was an English clergyman and composer. Flintoft was a chorister in the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, and took the degree of BA at Queens’ College, Cambridge in 1700. He was appointed priest-vicar at Lincoln Cathedral in 1704. He remained there until 1714. On 4 December 1715 he was sworn as a gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and is described in the ‘Cheque Book’ as ‘from Worcester,’ which therefore was probably his birthplace. On 9 July 1719 he was appointed reader in Whitehall Chapel, and was subsequently made a minor canon of Westminster. He died on 3 November 1727, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. Flintoft’s Chant His claim to a place in musical history depends upon the question whether a certain ‘double chant’ in G minor, attributed to him, is or is not the first specimen of the kind in existence. The arguments for and against this will be found in ‘Notes and Queries,’ 3rd ser. x. 206, xi. 267, 391, and 445. Flintoft’s Chant, described as “perhaps the most beautiful chant ever composed”. References Bibliography

Lydia Kakabadse

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Lydia Kakabadse (born 1955) is a British composer of vocal, choral and chamber music. Her musical style is tonal and modal with influences from chant and early polyphony, Orthodox liturgical music and other non-western music. It also incorporates the Arabic scale with traditional Western harmonies. Her choral piece Odyssey was commissioned by the Hellenic Institute of Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2015 she was commissioned to write a choral piece, I Remember Two short pieces were performed at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester Cathedral in 2019, and her chamber work Concertato was performed at the Chatsworth Arts Festival later the same year. Her chamber work Russian Tableaux was broadcast by BBC Radio 3 to mark International Women’s Day in 2015 and 2017. Compositions Kakabadse’s work includes: * Arabian Rhapsody Suite * As I Sat at the Café * A Vision * Cantica Sacra * Cantus Planus * Concertato * Courage * Dance Sketches * Eldorado * Haunted Houses * I Remember * Kontakia * Odyssey * Recitativo Arioso + Variations * Russian Tableaux * Sancte Ioseph * Spectre of the Maiden Scorned * Spellbound * The Coachman’s Terror * The House Where I was Born * The Mermaid * The

Lyell Cresswell

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lyell Richard Cresswell (13 October 1944 – 19 March 2022) was a New Zealand composer of contemporary classical music. He was the younger brother of philosopher Max Cresswell. Cresswell studied in Wellington, Toronto, Aberdeen and Utrecht and lived and worked in Edinburgh from 1985 on. Although he lived more than half his life away from New Zealand, he regarded himself as a New Zealander. Early life and education Cresswell was born in Wellington in 1944, the younger brother of Max Cresswell; his family belonged to the Salvation Army. In 2001, the Scottish Arts Council granted him the Creative Scotland Award and commissioned a work, in collaboration with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, exploring the issues of exile and identity. His composition Shadows Without Sun combines elements of oratorio, opera, music theatre and cantata. It requires orchestra, singers, speaking voices and recorded voices. The work intertwines the story of exiles living in both Scotland and New Zealand with the story of Cassandra. The Money Man, 2010, was written in collaboration with librettist Ron Butlin with whom Cresswell regularly worked. Cresswell found inspiration from visual arts and literature. Awards

Madeleine Dring

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Madeleine Winefride Isabelle Dring (7 September 1923 – 26 March 1977) was an English composer, pianist, singer, and actress. Life Madeleine Dring spent the first four years of her life at Raleigh Road, Harringay, before the family moved to Streatham. She showed talent at an early age and was accepted into the junior department of the Royal College of Music where she began on her tenth birthday. She was offered scholarships for violin and piano and chose violin. She studied piano as a secondary instrument, with RCM students guiding her studies for the first several years. As part of their training, all of the students performed in the children’s theatre under the guidance of Angela Bull. Dring formally began composition studies at the junior department with Stanley Drummond Wolff in 1937, in 1938 with Leslie Fly, and worked with Sir Percy Buck for the next two years. Near the end of her studies, she was assigned to Lilian Gaskell for piano studies. She continued at the Royal College for senior-level studies where her composition teacher was Herbert Howells. She had occasional lessons with Ralph Vaughan Williams (an official substitute for Howells). She dropped the violin study after

Malcolm Arnold

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer and conductor. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music for brass band and wind band. His style is tonal and rejoices in lively rhythms, brilliant orchestration, and an unabashed tunefulness. He wrote extensively for the theatre, with five ballets specially commissioned by the Royal Ballet, as well as two operas and a musical. He also produced scores for more than a hundred films, among these The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), for which he won an Oscar. Early life Malcolm Arnold was born in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, After seeing Louis Armstrong play in Bournemouth, he took up the trumpet at the age of 12, and the trumpet with Ernest Hall. In 1941, he joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra After a season as principal trumpet with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, he returned in 1946 to the London Philharmonic, Arnold died at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Norwich, on 23 September 2006, aged 84, after suffering from a chest infection. That same day his last work, T

Malcolm Lipkin

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Malcolm Lipkin (2 May 1932 – 2 June 2017) was an English composer. Early life and career Malcolm Leyland Lipkin was born in Liverpool. While a schoolboy at Liverpool College, he studied the piano privately with Gordon Green from 1944 to 1948, and theory with Dr. Caleb Jarvis. In 1949 he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, where he continued his piano studies with Kendall Taylor until 1953, as well as harmony and counterpoint with Bernard Stevens. Lipkin began his compositional career writing music for his instrument. He played his Second Piano Sonata to Georges Enesco at the 1950 Bryanston Summer School of Music, where he also took composition lessons from Boris Blacher. From 1954 to 1957 Lipkin studied composition with Mátyás Seiber and later read music externally at London University for his B.Mus. under the guidance of Dr. Anthony Milner, eventually being awarded the degree of D.Mus.Lond for his published, reviewed, publicly performed works. His first major success was the Violin Sonata No 1 (1957), which received over 100 performances within a year of its composition. This was written for the violinist Yfrah Neaman and premiered by Neaman and Howard Fergu

Malcolm Riley

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Malcolm Riley (born 9 June 1960) is a British composer and author most associated for his work as a scholar of the work of Percy Whitlock. Early life and education Riley was born in Northallerton, North Riding of Yorkshire, England. Educated at Harrogate High School, he gained an organ scholarship to Christ’s College, Cambridge. Career Riley’s composition, De Temporibus Canticum (‘Take That Willy for a Walk’), was commissioned by Cranbrook Choral Society to celebrate the Millennium and gave its first performance in December 2000. Riley was also commissioned to write a celebratory piece to open Maidstone Symphony Orchestra’s 100th season, titled “Fairmeadow – An Overture for Maidstone”, first performed on 16 October 2010. He has performed at Derby Cathedral and Bridlington Priory. He was Director of Music at Cranbrook School from 1985 to December 2011. Riley is also the author of two books concerning organist and composer Percy Whitlock. His first, “Percy Whitlock - A Biographical Study” was published to critical acclaim, as was the “Percy Whitlock Companion”, a collection of letters and diary extracts of the early 20th-century composer. He left Invicta Grammar School in Maidstone i

Maleek Berry

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Maleek Shoyebi (born 11 August 1987), professionally known as Maleek Berry, is a British-Nigerian record producer and recording artist. After his break into the spotlight in 2012, Maleek Berry was nominated as “Music Producer of the Year” at the 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. Maleek Berry has worked with prominent artists such as Wizkid, Davido, Wale, Fuse ODG, Runtown and Iyanya. In 2017 the Starboy Label signed act was nominated in the Best Male category of the annual MOBO Awards. Discography Singles As featured artist Production discography Awards and nominations References External links *

Marc Canham (composer)

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Marc Canham is a British composer of music for film and video games. In 2008, he scored Far Cry 2, and in 2020, he composed the film score to I Care A Lot, for which he received an ASCAP award. Canham has collaborated with several artists including Iggy Pop, Nathan Johnson, Philip Glass, Baaba Maal, Bryan Mantia, and Paul Hartnoll. On creating music, Canham stated that he wanted to deliver emotion through a “sound palette” of combinations of sounds, textures, and ensembles of instruments, then letting loose with melodies and motifs. For I Care A Lot, Canham claims to have created the score from the script, as opposed to the film. Nimrod Productions Along with Richard Aitken and others, Canham founded Nimrod Productions Limited in 2000, a music production company in Oxfordshire, UK. Nimrod has provided orchestral soundtracks for The Getaway, Black Monday, Gran Turismo 4 and Driver versions 2 and 3. It was dissolved in 2019 and succeeded by Nimrod Sound as Rich Aitken’s mix company. Nimrod Studio Orchestra Canham founded the Nimrod Studio Orchestra (NSO) in 2002, a commercial session orchestra which has been behind game scores including 24: The Game, Killzone 2, and Act of War: Direc

Margaret Lucy Wilkins

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Lucy Wilkins (born 13 November 1939) is an English music educator and composer known for opera. Biography Margaret Lucy Wilkins was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, England, and began composing at age twelve. She studied composition at Trinity College of Music in London with Gladdys Puttick and continued her education at the University of Nottingham where she earned her BMus. She continued studying composition there with James Fulkerson and earned her AMusD in 1995. Her compositions have been performed in Brazil, Bulgaria, China, France, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, the UK, and the US. Wilkins taught music theory and piano in St. Andrews from 1964 to 1976, and lectured on composition and women in music at the University of Huddersfield from 1976 to 2003. She also taught at Queen’s University in Belfast as Maude Clarke Visiting professor in 1995. Wilkins co-founded the Scottish Early Music Consort (1969) and later founded the new-music ensemble Polyphonia (1989), serving as music director from 1989 to 1993. She has been a member of professional organizations including the executive committee of the British

Margaret Rizza

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Margaret Rizza (born 1929) is an English composer, primarily of church music. She taught singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1977 to 1994. Life Margaret Rizza was born in 1929 into a musical family, where her mother played piano and her father was the organist for his local parish church. She attended the Royal College of Music from age 17 to study piano, at which she admits she was not particularly proficient. However, she soon switched to studying singing, and completed her training first at the National School of Opera in London and then at Siena and Rome in Italy, after which she pursued a career as an opera singer, using the name Margaret Lensky, for 25 years. During this time she sang at many of the leading venues for opera, working with conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten and Igor Stravinsky. * Choral Works (Mysterium amoris) Gaudete Ensemble, Eamonn Dougan. Naxos References

Maria Frances Parke

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Maria Frances Parke (26 August 1772 – 31 July 1822) was an English soprano, pianist and composer of keyboard works. Parke was born in London. Her father was the oboist John Parke, while her uncle was the oboist and composer William Thomas Parke. She is known to have played the harpsichord for a concert in 1781. with whom she is sometimes confused. As soprano soloist, Parke performed at the Handel Commemorations, at the Hanover Square Rooms, and at the Salomon concert series (1791–1795) in which Joseph Haydn also participated. Haydn directed a symphony at one of her benefit concerts. Her compositions, performed at the Vauxhall Gardens, included keyboard and vocal works. The Three Grand Sonatas for the piano forte with additional keys, op. 1, were published in 1799. In 1815 she married John Beardmore, following which she retired from music. She died in London in 1822. Works Selected works include: *A Divertimento and Military Rondo for the Piano *Grand Sonata in F Major for Solo Piano *Grand Sonata in E-flat Major for Solo Piano *Grand Sonata in D Major for Solo Piano References External links *

Maria Hester Park

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Maria Hester Park (née Reynolds) (29 September 1760 – 7 June 1813) was a British composer, pianist, and singer. She was also a noted piano teacher who taught many students in the nobility, including the Duchess of Devonshire and her daughters. Biography Before her marriage, Maria Hester Park gave four well-received performances, mostly in the Oxford area, on both the piano and the harpsichord. Her first public appearance was at the age of twenty-two as Maria Hester Reynolds in the Hanover Square concert series with a concerto on the harpsichord. She played a Clementi duet with Jane Mary Guest on 29 April 1783, a concerto at Willis’s Rooms in March 1784 and a performance as Mrs Park (“late Reynolds”) in May 1791. she ended her career as a performer, although she earned even more fame as composer and teacher. Her marriage appears to have been happy; several of her husband’s love poems to her still exist. She corresponded with Joseph Haydn, who, on 22 October 1794, sent her a sonata of his composition (Hob. XVI:51) and a thank you letter in exchange for two of her pieces. She died in Hampstead, London at the age of 53, after many years of ill health. The Parks had five daughters and a

Maria Lamburn

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Maria Lamburn (Madalena, Maria Madalena, Galé Ritonic; Born 26 November 1960) is a British composer and musician whose style uses large scale instrumental scores. Education * Royal Academy of Music 1978–80 * Goldsmiths College 1980–83 * Guildhall School of Music and Drama 1983-84 Career Lamburn’s debut album Murmur, funded by the Arts Council of England, was recorded for the jazz label Babel Label in 1999. Her next two albums, Heaven on Earth (2006) and Taith Amser (2006) are of songs; Taith Amser received a Creative Wales award, Arts Council of Wales to tour these albums with imagery by photographic journalist Rhodri Jones. After graduating from Goldsmiths and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where her compositional output included scores dealing with experimental graphics, minimalism, sonic collage and visual arts improvisation, Maria won the Cornelius Cardew Prize for Composition, in 1982. Her style includes idiosyncratic in rhythm, line and harmony, and is characterised by an interest in perception which has led her to find potentials for interaction, response, and interpretation – such as field research at the Greenham Common anti-nuclear campaign (1986), setting up a wome

Maria Linnemann

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Maria Catharina Linnemann (born 1947) is a British composer and music teacher, based in Germany, who wrote mainly music for classical guitar including pieces for beginners. Life and career Linnemann was born in Amsterdam but grew up in England. She studied piano, violin, and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London from 1966 to 1970. She moved to Germany in 1971, working as a music teacher. Among her compositions are musicals for children and music for puppet theatres. Her main publisher is Casa Ricordi. External links * * “Musik ist meine Sprache” - Maria Linnemann im Interview (interview, in German) egta.ch March 2022

Marian Arkwright

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Marian Ursula Arkwright (25 January 1863 – 23 March 1922) was an English composer, pianist and string player (viola and double bass). She was one of the first women in England to earn a Bachelor of Music degree (in 1895), and the first woman to earn a doctorate in music, which she gained in 1913. Arkwright worked as an orchestral musician, composer and conductor, and received a prize for an orchestral work from The Gentlewoman. Life Marian Arkwright was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England on 25 January 1863, a descendent of Richard Arkwright, the inventor of the Spinning Jenny. Her brother was the musicologist Godfrey Edward Pellew Arkwright. Arkwright studied piano with Bernhard Althaus (1831–1917) and also took piano lessons from Charles Hallé. She also studied double bass with Charles Henry Winterbottom and composition with J.S. Liddle, organist at Newbury. She was awarded the L.R.A.M. in 1891, earned a Bachelor of Arts in music at Durham University in 1895, and a doctorate in music at the same university in 1913, After completing her studies, she worked as an orchestral musician and composer and conducted orchestras including the Newbury Amateur Orchestral Union. In 1906 she rece

Marjory Kennedy-Fraser

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marjory Kennedy-Fraser (1 October 1857 – 22 November 1930) was a Scottish singer, composer and music teacher and supporter of women’s suffrage and pacifism. According to Ray Perman, Kennedy-Fraser “made a career of collecting Gaelic songs in the Hebrides and singing her own Anglicized versions of them.” Biography Marjory Kennedy was born in Perth to a well-known Scottish singer, David Kennedy and his second wife, Elizabeth Fraser. As a child she used to accompany her father on his tours in Scotland and abroad, playing the piano while he sang. Various of her siblings were also professional musicians, and three of them —Lizzie (soprano), Kate (contralto) and James (baritone) — died in the fire that burnt down the Théâtre municipal of Nice, France, in 1881. Her youngest sister Jessie married the pianist and teacher Tobias Matthay. Their father David Kennedy died aged 61 in 1886 in Ontario, Canada, while on a tour. She became an extra-academical student at the University of Edinburgh school of Music, gathering a collection of Breton and Gaelic folksongs from 1882 onwards, which were later published. In 1887, she married her mother’s younger cousin, the mathematician Alexander Yule Fras

Mark Bowden (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mark Bowden (born 1979) is a British composer of classical music. Biography Bowden studied composition with Richard Steinitz at the University of Huddersfield before completing a master’s degree at the Royal College of Music where he studied with Julian Anderson. He has received commissions from the London Sinfonietta, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Ulster Orchestra, and Welsh National Opera amongst others and his music has been broadcast by BBC Radio 3. With Anna Meredith and Emily Hall he created the Camberwell Composers’ Collective. Bowden has received awards and prizes for his music including the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize, a British Composer Award, and an Ivor Novello Awards nomination for his saxophone concerto Sapiens. Bowden was the first composer-in-residence at Handel House Museum and, with fellow composers in the Camberwell Composers’ Collective, was New Music Associate at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge from 2008-2010. He was the 2011–2012 Music Fellow at Rambert Dance Company. Bowden was Resident Composer at BBC National Orchestra of Wales from 2011 to 2015 and Director of Composition at Royal Holloway, University of L

Mark Edgley Smith

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Mark Edgley Smith, also written Mark Edgley-Smith (20 March 1955 – 26 July 2008) was a British composer. He was born in Wimbledon and educated at Tiffin School, Kingston upon Thames. It was at Tiffin that he began to compose seriously, and he later went to study music at the Queen’s College, Oxford. Mark Edgley Smith had a daughter, Anna February Edgley-Smith (born 25 February 1983), and a son, Milo Henry Edgley-Smith (born 4 May 1999). He died in Cheltenham, aged 53. Chronological list of compositions many juvenilia omitted *Go-round for brass quintet, Op.1 (1976, revised 1983) *Campanile for flute, harp and harpsichord, Op.2 (1976) *Magnificat and Nunc dimittis English text for three equal voices, Op.3 (1975) *Occasional fanfare for brass, piano and percussion (1976, orch. 1983) *Quinta essentia for brass sextet, Op.4 (1977) *Fire festival for mixed chamber choir, Op.5 (1977-8) *The House of Sleep John Gower for mezzo and 9 instruments, Op.6 (1982-3) *Six starsongs for children’s voices, piano and percussion, Op.7 (1983) *In nomine for 6 instruments, Op.8 (1983) *Planh for small orchestra, Op.9 (1984) *Panic relation for clarinet and piano, Op.10 (1985) *Vancouver songbook, Volum

Mark London

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mark London (born 30 January 1940) is a Canadian-born British soundtrack composer, songwriter and music producer. He is perhaps best known as composer of the song “To Sir with Love”. History Mark London was born in Montreal, Quebec, and initially worked as a comedian following a move to London. He first achieved prominence in 1967 as the composer of the melody to “To Sir With Love”, the title song from James Clavell’s movie of the same name, starring Sidney Poitier, Judy Geeson and Lulu. The song, co-written with lyricist Don Black, was recorded by Lulu and released as a single in the US, becoming the Billboard Year-End Top Single for 1967. Also in 1967, London was the composer, with Mike Leander, of the soundtrack to the movie Privilege, starring Paul Jones. London also acted in the film. The other soundtrack credit during this period was the score for Maximilian Schell’s First Love (1970). London also produced Lulu’s 1978 album, Don’t Take Love For Granted. London was married Lulu’s longtime manager, Marion Massey. London also co-write the soundtrack for seven series of animation films, for children 1 to 6 years old. He also co-wrote the music for Channel One, the first cable new

Mark Slater (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mark Andrew Slater (born 1 April 1969) is a British film composer, conductor, cellist and pianist. He is the composer for the film Flatland, 400 Years of the Telescope., and numerous planetarium fulldome films. He lives in Tokyo, Japan and is a professor of film music at Andvision International Music School, Tokyo. Slater is a sponsored artist of the Make Art Not War Foundation. Early years Slater was born on 1 April 1969 in Reigate, Surrey. His musical background includes a father who is a professor of music and conductor, a degree from the London College of Music and five years as a cathedral chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Slater appeared on Central TV in 1982 as a treble soloist on A Ceremony of Carols filmed as a follow-up to an album issued by ASV Records and on the 1984 Decca release of the Messiah performed by the Academy of Ancient Music. In 1998, Slater made his debut at Dorking Halls, Surrey as a solo pianist performing Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. Slater’s “crisp” piano playing was compared to Gershwin in a performance of Rhapsody in Blue. A composition by Slater written for a fund raising concert in 1999 for Kosovo War refugees ‘Tempus Fugit’ made a "

Mark Thomas (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mark Thomas (9 April 1956 – 19 July 2023) was a British composer. He is known for his work on Twin Town (1997), The Final Curtain (2002), Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004) and The Magic Roundabout (2005), and doing the theme and music for the animated children’s television series Shaun the Sheep. His music for TV series Episodes gained him a nomination for the 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music. Early life Thomas was born in 1956 in Penclawdd on the Gower Peninsula. He attended Gowerton Grammar School, and studied music composition and orchestration at university. References External links * Archived on 21 July 2023 * Mark Thomas at BFI * *

Mark-Anthony Turnage

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Mark-Anthony Turnage (born 10 June 1960) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Life and career Mark-Anthony Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex on 10 June 1960. His initial musical studies were with Oliver Knussen, John Lambert, and later with Gunther Schuller. He also has been strongly influenced by jazz, in particular by the work of Miles Davis, and has composed works featuring jazz performers, including John Scofield, Peter Erskine, John Patitucci, and Joe Lovano. Turnage has composed numerous orchestral and chamber works, and three full-length operas. Greek, composed with the encouragement of Hans Werner Henze and first performed in 1988 at the Munich Biennale, is based on Steven Berkoff’s adaptation of Oedipus Rex. The Silver Tassie, first performed in 2000, is based on the play by Seán O’Casey. Anna Nicole, with a libretto by Richard Thomas and first performed in 2011, relates the rise and fall of Playboy model and media celebrity Anna Nicole Smith. His opera for family audiences, Coraline, is based on the dark fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman, and was staged by The Royal Opera at the Barbican Theatre in 2018. His operas have been performed around the world in

Marmaduke Barton

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Marmaduke Barton FRCM (29 December 186524 July 1938) was an English pianist, composer and teacher at the Royal College of Music for almost 50 years. Career Marmaduke Miller Barton was born in Manchester, the son of a United Methodist Free Church minister, He was educated at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London under one of the first 50 scholarships. His teachers were John Francis Barnett (piano) and Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. He met Hamish MacCunn at this time and the two became lifelong friends. He made piano duet arrangements of two of MacCunn’s orchestral works, and some smaller works were dedicated to him. He and MacCunn played piano duets in some student concerts. In 1888 he was awarded a travelling scholarship, enabling him to study with the Franz Liszt pupil Bernhard Stavenhagen in Weimar. and also appeared at the Albert Hall, the Proms (he played the Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor on 11 October 1911 under Sir Henry Wood), and in the provinces. He gave frequent solo recitals in London, and he toured South Africa and the Netherlands. and some piano pieces. His students included: Marion Scott, Cyril Rootham, Clara Butt, Lloyd Powell, and the entertainer Anna Russ

Martha Llwyd

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Martha Llwyd (1766 – 16 October 1845), born Martha Williams, was a Welsh poet and Methodist hymnwriter. Due to health problems, Llwyd was unable to walk. She was carried aloft in her chair. Early life Martha Williams was born at Nantbendigaid Farm in Cynwyl Elfed, Carmarthenshire. Her family moved to Y Felin farm in the neighbouring parish of Llanpumsaint when she was a baby. She was regularly visited by the Methodist leader and fellow hymnwriter William Williams Pantycelyn to discuss their work, and it is alleged that some of her hymns were published under his name. Very little of Martha Llwyd’s work remains, and most of her hymns have been lost to posterity. Some of Llywd’s hymns were published in 1925, as recalled by John Evan Davies (Rhuddwawr). Another descendant is Dafydd’s mother, poet Menna Elfyn. Personal life In 1785 Martha Williams married Dafydd Llwyd, a local blacksmith and prominent member of the village’s Methodist community. The couple lived together in the centre of the village and had nine children, six boys and three girls, born between 1787 and 1807. The rigours of raising such a large family took its toll on her health and with time she became unable to walk. N

Martin Peerson

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Martin Peerson (or Pearson, Pierson, Peereson) (between 1571 and 1573 – December 1650 or January 1651 and buried 16 January 1651) was an English composer, organist and virginalist. Despite Roman Catholic leanings at a time when it was illegal not to subscribe to Church of England beliefs and practices, he was highly esteemed for his musical abilities and held posts at St Paul’s Cathedral and, it is believed, Westminster Abbey. His output included both sacred and secular music in forms such as consort music, keyboard pieces, madrigals and motets. Life and career From Peerson’s will and the March marriage registers, it appears that he was the son of Thomas and Margaret Peerson of March, Cambridgeshire, in England. It is believed that Martin Peerson was born in the town of March between 1571 and 1573, as records show that his parents married in 1570, but a “Margaret Peersonn” was married in 1573. It therefore seems that Thomas Peerson died a few years after 1570 and that Martin’s mother remarried. In the 1580s, Peerson was a choirboy of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London under organist Thomas Mulliner. Subsequently, he came under the patronage of the poet Fulke Greville. On May Day in 160

Martin Shaw (composer)

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Martin Edward Fallas Shaw (9 March 1875 – 24 October 1958) was an English composer, conductor, and (in his early life) theatre producer. His over 300 published works include songs, hymns, carols, oratorios, several instrumental works, a congregational mass setting (the Anglican Folk Mass), and four operas including a ballad opera. Biography Shaw delighted in describing himself as a cockney, a title he could claim under Samuel Rowlands’ definition of one born within the sound of the Bow Bells. Born 9 March 1875, he was the eldest of nine children, son of the Bohemian and eccentric James Fallas Shaw (1842–1907), composer of church music and organist of Hampstead parish church and Charlotte Elizabeth Shaw, née James (1850–1912). He was the elder brother of the composer and influential educator Geoffrey Shaw and the actor Julius “Jules” Brinkley Shaw (born in 1882, Clapham, Surrey now South West London), whose career was cut short by the First World War – he was killed in March 1918. He studied under Charles Villiers Stanford at the Royal College of Music, together with a generation of composers that included Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Herbert Howells, Samuel Coleridge-Taylo

Martindale Sidwell

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Professor Martindale Sidwell FRCO (23 February 1916 – 20 February 1998) was an English organist, composer and teacher. Life John William Martindale Sidwell was born in Little Packington, Warwickshire on 23 February 1916, the son of John William Sidwell, a musician, and Mary Martindale. At the age of seven, he joined the choir at Wells Cathedral, and later became assistant organist. He was awarded ARCO in 1936 and FRCO in 1938. During the Second World War he served firstly with the North Somerset Yeomanry and later with the Royal Engineers. Invalided out he became temporary organist at Holy Trinity Church, Leamington Spa and director of music at Warwick School. Sidwell studied at the Royal Academy of Music with C.H. Trevor. He composed one piece which remained unpublished in his lifetime, a Festal Jubilate for choir and organ. A number of Anglican chants by him are still in the repertoire of some Cathedrals and major churches. He was one of the editors of Secular and Sacred Music published in 1966. In 1944 he married Barbara Hill, a pianist and harpsichordist. He died on 20 February 1998 in London. Appointments *Sub Organist at Wells Cathedral 1932 - ? *Assistant Organist at Wells C

Mary Ann Wrighten

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Mary Ann Wrighten Pownall, née Mary Matthews, (b. 1751, d. 12 August 1796) was an English singer, actress and composer. Life Mary Ann Matthews was born in England of a jeweler father and shop-keeper mother. She was apprenticed to organist Charley Griffith where she learned music, and made her debut on the stage at about age 15. She married actor James Wrighten in about 1769 in Birmingham, and the couple came to London to work in Drury Lane, where she quickly became successful as a singer and actress with Garrick and Sheridan at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. The couple had two daughters, Mary and Charlotte. They divorced in 1786 in a public scandal, and Mary Ann Wrighten emigrated to the United States to work for theater manager John Henry. Her first American appearance was at the Southwark Theater in Philadelphia in 1792, billed as Mrs. (Hugh) Pownall. She also appeared in New York City, and settled in Charleston, where she died during a yellow fever epidemic in 1796. Mary Ann Powell was scheduled to sing a concert on August 6th, 1796, and after she and her family were expected to return to England. However, on August 2nd Mary Ann discovered her daughter Charlotte had married theat

Mary Anne à Beckett

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Mary Anne à Beckett (29 April 1815 – 11 December 1863) was an English composer, primarily known for opera. She was the wife of the writer Gilbert à Beckett, who provided the libretti for two of her operas. Their children included the writers Gilbert Arthur à Beckett and Arthur William à Beckett. Her theatrical connections included her brother, the actor and producer impresario Augustus Glossop Harris, and his eldest son, also an impresario, Sir Augustus Harris. Biography Mary Anne à Beckett was born in London, the eldest daughter of Joseph Glossop and his wife, Elizabeth, née Feron. Among their other children was the future actor and producer Augustus Glossop Harris, whose elder son was the impresario Sir Augustus Harris. Glossop, a man of doubtful financial means, was at various times lessee of the Royal Coburg Theatre (now called the Old Vic), and manager of La Scala, Milan, and the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. In January 1835 Mary Anne married Gilbert à Beckett, a writer and magistrate. They had two daughters and four sons, including Gilbert Arthur à Beckett and Arthur William à Beckett. Mary Anne à Beckett composed songs, piano pieces, incidental music, and three operas: Agnes S

Mary Augusta Wakefield

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Mary Augusta Wakefield (19 August 1853 – 16 September 1910) was a British composer, contralto, festival organiser, and writer. Biography Early life Wakefield was born in Kendal, where her paternal ancestors had been members of the Quaker community before converting to Anglicanism. Her parents William Henry Wakefield and Augusta Hagarty Wakefield had four sons (including the cricketer William Wakefield) and two other daughters. Her mother was from an Irish-American background. In the 1860s her father took over the family business, which included a bank and a gunpowder mill. In 1868, he built Sedgwick House a few miles outside Kendal. (The family gunpowder mill started in Sedgwick in the 18th century, but production had moved to a new site in 1850). As a child, Wakefield learned traditional border folksongs from her nurses, which she later included in her collection Northern Songs. As a teenager she was sent to a finishing school in Brighton. She studied music in London with Alberto Randegger and George Henschel, and in Rome with Giovanni Sgambati. Later life Wakefield corresponded with and visited many musicians and writers, including Lucy Broadwood, J. A. Fuller Maitland, Herbert O

Mary Dickenson-Auner

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Mary Dickenson-Auner (24 October 1880 – 25 May 1965) was an Irish violinist, composer, and music teacher. She wrote symphonies, oratorios, operas, and chamber works, with some of her early works appearing under the pseudonym Frank Donnell. During her career as a professional violinist, she performed the world premiere of Béla Bartók’s Violin Sonata No. 1 and also worked with Arnold Schoenberg. Early life and education Mary Frances Dorothea Dickenson was born in Dublin, Ireland, to a well-connected Irish family. Her mother was Mary Frances MacDonnell, the daughter of Hercules Henry Graves MacDonnell, a rector of Trinity College and cofounder of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. * Dreyfus, Kay, Margarethe Engelhardt-Krajanek, and Barbara Bold: Die Geige war ihr Leben. Drei Geigerinnen im Portrait (Strasshof: Vier Viertel Verlag, 2000), pp. 99–231.

Mary Louisa White

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Mary Louisa White (2 September 1866 – January 1935) was a British composer, pianist, and educator who invented a Letterless Method of musical notation. Her parents were Robert and Louisa Makin White. Mary Louisa, known to her family as “Louie,” was the oldest of their four children. She also had a half brother and a half sister from her father’s first marriage. White studied music with John Farmer in London, and gave frequent concerts in London and Paris, including at the Steinway Hall in London. She taught piano at Kensington High School at the turn of the 20th century, and worked at the Girls’ Day School Trust with her sisters Jessie and Winnie from 1902 to 1903. At the time, Kensington High School was administered by the Girls’ Day School Trust. White invented the “Letterless Method” of teaching music to beginners. The Letterless Method used metal clefs, rings, disks, and black and white buttons for notes, which children could manipulate for tactile learning. White’s papers, including scrapbooks about her musical career created by her mother and sisters, are archived at University College, London. Her compositions were published by Joseph Williams and Alfred Novello, both of Lon

Mary Lucas

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Mary Lucas (born Mary Anderson Juler, 24 May 1882–14 January 1952), sometimes referred to as Mary Anderson Lucas, was an English composer and pianist. Biography Her father Henry Juler (1842-1921) was a doctor, and her mother Amy Margaret Churchill Anderson (1860-1922). She was one of five children, growing up in London and (from 1891) Chipstead in Surrey. In 1899 she studied piano at the Dresden Conservatory with Carlo Albanesi, then (1900-1903) at the Royal Academy of Music, and later in life, during the 1920s, she returned to education, studying composition at the Royal College of Music with Herbert Howells and R.O. Morris. She married entrepreneur and inventor Ralph Lucas in 1903, and their son Colin became a noted architect. During the 1920s and 1930s they were living a 10, St Germans Place, Blackheath, London SE13. They later moved to Cookham in Berkshire. Music Lucas gave up composition for over 25 years after she married in 1903 and had a family (two sons and a daughter), but returned in the late 1920s, when the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra performed her Rhapsody (1928) and Fugue (1929). The Stratton String Quartet championed her music, performing her quartets for the Lon

Mary Wurm

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Mary J. A. Wurm (her surname was originally Würm) (18 May 1860 in Southampton – 21 January 1938 in Munich) was an English pianist, conductor, and composer. Life and career Wurm was born as Mary Josephine Agnes Würm in England, the sister of Alice Verne-Bredt, Mathilde Verne, and Adela Verne. She lived in Stuttgart as a child, but later returned to London. She studied music in Frankfurt am Main at the Hoch Conservatory, where she joined Olga Radecki in the first composition class the Conservatory opened to women. Her teachers included Clara Schumann, Joachim Raff, Elisabeth Caland and Charles Villiers Stanford. Wurm became a noted pianist, and in 1898 founded and conducted a women’s orchestra in Berlin. She wrote a piano school according to Caland´s teachings. Her nephew was John Vallier. In 1914, Verne published a Practical Preschool collection to be used as teaching material at Elisabeth Caland in Hannover. Works Selected works include: *Mag auch heiss das Scheiden brennen *Christkindleins Wiegenlied aus des Knaben Wunderhorn (Text: Des Knaben Wunderhorn) *Wiegenlied im Sommer (Text: Robert Reinick) *Praktische Vorschule zur Caland-Lehre, Hannover 1914 Further reading Caland, Elis

Matthew Jones (musician)

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Matthew Jones (born 1974) is a British violist, violinist and composer primarily known for his international performance work as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. He is also a professor of viola and head of chamber music at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and runs an in-demand performance health consultancy practice. He is fluent in Italian. Biography Jones was born in Swansea, Wales, and began studying violin at the age of five. After graduating with a first class degree in mathematics from the University of Warwick, he studied violin at the Royal College of Music in London and viola privately with violist Rivka Golani. Performing career Hailed by The Strad magazine as “a worthy successor to Lionel Tertis” and winner of the prize for the most promising British entrant at the 2003 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, Jones is violist of the Bridge Duo (viola and piano), the Debussy Ensemble (flute, viola and harp) and violinist with Ensemble MidtVest (an innovative ten-piece ensemble based in Denmark). He can frequently be seen performing in major international concert venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall in London,

Matthew King (composer, born 1967)

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Matthew King (born 1967) is a British composer, pianist, and educator. His works include opera, piano and chamber music, and choral and orchestral pieces. He has been described by Judith Weir, Master of the Queen’s Music, as “one of Britain’s most adventurous composers, utterly skilled, imaginative, and resourceful." Matthew King has a YouTube channel called ‘The Music Professor’. Operas Several of King’s pieces incorporate a community component, combining amateurs and young people with professionals. King’s first chamber opera, The Snow Queen, was composed for the British soprano Jane Manning and her virtuoso ensemble Jane’s Minstrels. The Snow Queen was described by one reviewer as “music of distinctive beauty with disarming theater sense.” The opera Jonah, with a libretto by Michael Irwin (author), was commissioned by the Canterbury Festival and first produced in Canterbury Cathedral in 1996; the dramatic cantata Gethsemane was premiered by Florilegium at the Spitalfields Festival in 1998; the Brunel (opera project), featured on BBC Radio 4’s Setting Brunel to Music in October 2003. The community opera On London Fields (libretto by Alasdair Middleton), and winner of a Royal Phil

Matthew Locke (composer)

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Matthew Locke (c. 1621 – August 1677) was an English Baroque composer and music theorist. Biography Locke was born in Exeter and was a chorister in the choir of Exeter Cathedral, under Edward Gibbons, the brother of Orlando Gibbons. At the age of eighteen Locke travelled to the Netherlands, possibly converting to Roman Catholicism at the time. Locke, with Christopher Gibbons (the son of Orlando), composed the score for Cupid and Death, the 1653 masque by Caroline-era playwright James Shirley. Their score for that work is the sole surviving score for a dramatic work from that era. Locke was one of the quintet of composers who provided music for The Siege of Rhodes (1656), the breakthrough early opera by Sir William Davenant. Locke wrote music for subsequent Davenant operas, The Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru (1658) and The History of Sir Francis Drake (1659). He wrote the music for the processional march for the coronation of Charles II. Locke’s treatise on music theory, Melothesia, was published in 1673. The title page describes him as “Composer in Ordinary to His Majesty, and organist of her Majesty’s chapel”—those monarchs being Charles II and Catherine of Braganza. Locke also

Matthew Taylor (composer)

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Matthew Taylor (born 6 December 1964) is an English composer and conductor. Biography Taylor was born in London and attended the Junior Royal Academy of Music. He first studied composition with Robin Holloway at Queens’ College, Cambridge University and later at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at the Royal Academy of Music. He later continued his composition training with Robert Simpson and Sir Malcolm Arnold. As a conductor he trained with Robin Page, Vilém Tauský, and with Leonard Bernstein at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik festival. Taylor appeared as Guest Conductor with the English Chamber Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, European Community Chamber Orchestra and St Petersburg State Academic Orchestra and has recorded for Hyperion Records and Dutton. Matthew Taylor has conducted first performances of pieces by Robert Simpson, Vagn Holmboe, David Matthews and James Francis Brown. Taylor’s compositions, which include six symphonies, eight string quartets and a considerable body of other chamber music, have been performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, John McCabe, Martyn Brabbins, Geo

Mátyás Seiber

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Mátyás György Seiber (, sometimes given as Matthis Seyber; 4 May 1905 – 24 September 1960) was a Hungarian-born British composer who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1935 onwards. His work linked many diverse musical influences, from the Hungarian tradition of Bartók and Kodály, to Schoenberg and serial music, to jazz, folk song, and lighter music. Early life Seiber was born in Budapest. His mother, Berta Patay, was a well known pianist and teacher, so the young Seiber gained considerable skill with that instrument first. At the age of ten, he began to learn to play the cello. After attending grammar school, where he was regarded as “outstanding” in mathematics and Latin according to the almanacs of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, he studied the cello and composition from 1918 to 1925, and composition with Zoltán Kodály from 1921 to 1925. For his degree, he wrote his String Quartet No. 1 (in A minor). Pieces composed at this time, such as the Serenade for Six Wind Instruments of 1925, show him combining traditional Hungarian folk tunes with the forms of Western art music. Seiber submitted his Serenade to a composition contest in Budapest shortly after its completion. W

Maude Valérie White

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Maude Valérie White (1855 – 1937) was a French-born English composer who became one of the most successful songwriters of the Victorian period. Early years Although born near Dieppe in Normandy to upper middle-class parents, White and her family moved to England when she was only one year old. She spent her childhood in Heidelberg, Paris, and England, and played the piano from an early age. At seventeen she had already composed her first song. She studied composition with Oliver May while in London, and counterpoint and harmony with W. S. Rockstro while living in Torquay. In 1876 White went to the Royal Academy of Music after she finally persuaded her reluctant mother to allow her to pursue music as a career. While at the academy she studied composition with George Alexander Macfarren, and set poems written in English, German, and French. White was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Mendelssohn Scholarship, which she received in 1879. Her father died while she was a child, but when White’s mother died in 1881, White was devastated, and went to Chile to be with her sister and to recuperate and recover her health. Upon returning to London in 1882, she thrust herself into a

Maurice Besly

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Edward Maurice Besly (1888–1945) was an English composer, conductor, schoolteacher, organist, and arranger best known for his popular ballads, The Second Minuet and Time, You Old Gipsy Man. More ambitious vocal pieces were the Four Poems Op 24, Charivaria (5 songs), and his setting of Christina Rossetti’s The shepherds had an angel for soprano solo and chorus. Besly was born in Normanby, Yorkshire, and was educated at Tonbridge School and Caius College, Cambridge. After a short stage career he studied music at the Leipzig Conservatorium under Teichmüller, Schreck, and Krehl. From 1912 to 1914 he was a music-master at Tonbridge School, returning there after World War I as Assistant Music Master. In 1919 he became director of music and organist of Queen’s College, Oxford (1919–1926), and subsequently took over the Oxford Orchestral Society from Sir Hugh Allen. He gave his first concert in London with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1923, and conducted the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, and the Scottish Orchestra for a portion of the season in 1924. He was sometime Director of the Performing Rights Society. In his latter years he worked in legal practice as a solicitor and notary publi

Maurice Greene (composer)

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Maurice Greene (12 August 1696 – 1 December 1755) was an English composer and organist. He was an admirer and friend of George Frideric Handel. Biography and works He was born in London, the son of a cleric, Thomas Green(e) (1648–1720) who was a chaplain of the Chapel Royal, and his wife Mary Shelton (d. 1722). He became a choirboy at St Paul’s Cathedral under Jeremiah Clarke and Charles King. He studied the organ under Richard Brind, and after Brind died, Greene became organist at St Paul’s. With the death of William Croft in 1727, Greene became organist at the Chapel Royal, and in 1730 he became Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge. In 1735 he was appointed Master of the King’s Musick. At his death, Greene was working on the compilation Cathedral Music, which his student and successor as Master of the King’s Musick, William Boyce, was to complete. Many items from that collection are still used in Anglican services today. Greene wrote in the prevailing Georgian England, particularly longer verse anthems, of which Lord, Let Me Know Mine End, is a representative example. In it, Greene sets the text using a polyphonic texture over a continuous instrumental walking bass,

Max Richter

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Max Richter (; ; born 22 March 1966) is a German-born British composer and pianist. He works within postminimalist and contemporary classical styles. Richter is classically trained, having graduated in composition from the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Academy of Music in London, and studied with Luciano Berio in Italy. Richter arranges, performs, and composes music for stage, opera, ballet, and screen. He has collaborated with other musicians, as well as with performance, installation, and media artists. He has recorded eight solo albums, and his music is widely used in cinema. As of December 2019, Richter has passed one billion streams and one million album sales. Richter has been called a “major figure of contemporary music” and his work has been described as “transcending genres” by the former controller of BBC Radio 3, Alan Davey. His 2004 album, The Blue Notebooks, has been called “one of the best classical works of the century”. Early life and career Richter was born in Hamelin, Lower Saxony, West Germany. He grew up in Bedford, England, United Kingdom, and his education was at Bedford Modern School and Mander College of Further Education. He had piano lessons and music

Melanie Ruth Daiken

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Melanie Ruth Daiken (27 July 1945 – 25 June 2016) was an English conductor, composer and music educator. She taught at the Royal Academy of Music and became Deputy Head of Composition in 1986. Her compositions have been performed on radio and she was commissioned to write an opera by the Edinburgh Festival. Life She was born in London, the daughter of a Canadian mother and Leslie Daiken, a Russian-Jewish writer from Ireland. She began violin lessons at an early age, and studied piano with Vivian Langrish and composition with Hugh Wood at the Royal Academy of Music. After completing her studies, she took a teaching position with the Royal Academy of Music and became Deputy Head of Composition in 1986. Daiken also taught at Morley College and London University. Works *Eusebius, opera *Playboy of the Western World, opera *Mayakovsky and the Sun, opera References

Melville Cook

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Alfred Melville Cook (18 June 1912 – 22 May 1993) was a British organist, conductor, composer and teacher. Early life and education Cook was born in Gloucester. He was a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral (1923–1928) and articled pupil there under Herbert Sumsion (1929–1932). He also studied with Herbert Brewer and Edward Bairstow. He held the ARCO (1931) and the FRCO with the Harding Prize (1931). He studied at Durham University, receiving the B.Mus. in 1934 and D.Mus. in 1940. Career Cook was assistant organist of Gloucester Cathedral (1932–1937) and was also organist of All Saints’ Church, Cheltenham (1935–1937). In 1937 or 1938, aged 25, he was appointed choirmaster and organist at Leeds Parish Church. (See also Choir of Leeds Parish Church). During the war he served with the Royal Artillery in the Orkney Islands, East Africa, India and the Far East, and it was during this period that he met his wife Marion in Scotland. By 1946 he had returned to Leeds, during which time he performed on national radio both as a solo organist and choirmaster. He worked as director of the Parish Church Choir where he broadened the musical repertoire of Leeds Parish Church, introducing more unaccom

Michael Alcorn

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Michael Peter Alcorn (born 22 January 1962) is a full-time academic and current Director of the School of Music and Sonic Arts at Queen’s University, Belfast and a partite composer. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Michael Alcorn studied at the University of Ulster and completed a PhD in composition with John Casken at the University of Durham. In 1989 he was appointed composer-in-residence at Queen’s University, Belfast, where he continues to teach in the School of Music. He is particularly active as a promoter of new music technologies and was appointed director of SARC, the Sonic Arts Research Centre based at Queen’s University, Belfast, in 2001. He has been a visiting composer at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University, and at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. His compositional activities range from music for conventional instruments to works for live or taped electro-acoustic performance. His music has been performed and broadcast in the UK, Europe, North and South America and the Far East. He serves as the Musical Director of Downshire Brass. References External links *Sonic Arts at Queens University *Home Page *Downshire Bras

Michael Arne

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Michael Arne (c. 174014 January 1786) was an English composer, harpsichordist, organist, singer, and actor. He was the son of the composer Thomas Arne and the soprano Cecilia Young, a member of the famous Young family of musicians of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Like his father, Arne worked primarily as a composer of stage music and vocal art song, contributing little to other genres of music. He wrote several songs for London’s pleasure gardens, the most famous of which is Lass with the Delicate Air (1762). A moderately prolific composer, Arne wrote nine operas and collaborated on at least 15 others. His most successful opera, Cymon (1767), enjoyed several revivals during his lifetime and into the early nineteenth century. Biography Early life and career Michael Arne was born most likely in 1740 in the Covent Garden area of London. Music historian Charles Burney, a close friend of the Arne family, indicates that he was Thomas Arne’s natural son but there is some speculation among modern scholars that he may have been adopted. There is no record for Michael Arne at St Paul’s, Covent Garden, where most of the Arne family were christened. His father, Thomas Arne, was the

Michael Berkeley

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Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton (born 29 May 1948) is an English composer, broadcaster on music and non-party political member of the House of Lords, speaking as an advocate for the arts, contemporary music and music education. Early life Berkeley is the eldest of the three sons of Elizabeth Freda (née Bernstein) (1923–2016) and the composer Sir Lennox Berkeley. He was educated at The Oratory School, in Woodcote, and Westminster Cathedral Choir School. He was a chorister at Westminster Cathedral, and he frequently sang in works composed or conducted by his godfather, Benjamin Britten. Berkeley studied composition, singing and piano at the Royal Academy of Music. He also played in a rock band, Seeds of Discord. His orchestral works include Flames (RLPO/Atherton 1981), Gregorian Variations (Philharmonia/Pittsburgh/Previn 1984), Secret Garden (LSO/Davis, Barbican 1997) and The Garden of Earthly Delights (NYO/Rostropovich, Proms 1998) plus concerti for clarinet, violin, oboe, ‘cello and organ. He has written three operas. Baa Baa Black Sheep (libretto by David Malouf) is based on the childhood of Rudyard Kipling and was recorded by the Opera North Chorus and E

Michael Christian Festing

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Michael Christian Festing (29 November 1705 – 24 July 1752) was an English violinist and composer. His reputation lies mostly on his work as a violin virtuoso. Biography Michael Christian Festing was born in London to parents John and Elizabeth Festing and christened at St Anne’s Church, Soho, on 17 December 1705. Some evidence suggests that his family had ties to Gros Festin, near Stralsund in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Michael’s brother, John Festing, was a flautist and oboist who amassed a sizeable fortune through teaching music. His brother is most likely the musician depicted in William Hogarth’s painting The Enraged Musician (1741, now in the Tate Britain, London). Festing first studied violin with Richard Jones and then later became a pupil of Francesco Geminiani. He made his professional debut on 6 March 1723 performing a concert at Hickford’s Room, London. Not too long after that, Festing met a young Thomas Arne at the gallery of the Italian Opera to which Festing had access although Arne, still a boy, officially did not. Music historian Charles Burney wrote that Arne had crept into the gallery dressed as a liveryman to gain access to the fine collection of musical s

Michael Costa (conductor)

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Sir Michael Andrew Angus Costa (14 February 180829 April 1884) was an Italian-born conductor and composer who achieved success in England. Biography He was born as Michele Andrea Agniello Costa in Naples, into a family of Sephardic Jewish descent. He studied there with his father, at the Real Collegio di Musica, and later with Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli. In his youth, as throughout his life, he wrote a great quantity of music, including operas, symphonies and cantatas, all of which have long since passed into oblivion. In 1829, he visited the Birmingham Music Festival to conduct Zingarelli’s Cantata Sacra, a setting of some verses from Isaiah ch. xii. This was the occasion of his memorably inauspicious début. The intention was that Costa should rehearse and conduct the work, but J. B Cramer and Thomas Greatorex elbowed him out and was instead engaged as a tenor soloist in another concert. Unfortunately, both the work and Costa’s singing met with ferocious criticism: " This cantata is one of the most tame, insipid things we were ever doomed to hear: a heap of commonplace trash from the first to the last note. After twaddling in B flat for half an hour, he ventures for a few bars int

Michael East (composer)

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Michael East (or Easte, Est, Este) (c. 1580–1648) was an English organist and composer. He was a nephew of London music publisher Thomas East (c. 1540–1608), although it was once thought that he was his son. In 1601, East wrote a madrigal that was accepted by Thomas Morley for publication in his collection The Triumphs of Oriana. In 1606, he received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Cambridge and in 1609 he joined the choir of Ely Cathedral, initially as a lay clerk. Elias Ashmole was a chorister at Lichfield, and later recalled that “Mr Michael East … was my tutor for song and Mr Henry Hinde, organist of the Cathedral … taught me on the virginals and organ”. East’s exact date of death is not known, but he died at Lichfield. His will was written on 7 January 1648 and proved on 9 May 1648. It mentions his wife Dorothy, daughter Mary Hamersly, and a son and grandson both named Michael. Thurston Dart is quoted as saying, “despite some slipshod part-writing, they are among the best five-part consorts of the time”. Works East was one of the most published composers of his era ; he published seven groups of compositions: * Groups 1 and 2: madrigals for three and five voi

Michael F. Robinson

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Michael Finlay Robinson (3 March 1933 – 18 February 2026) was an English composer, musicologist and academic best known for his scholarly work on Italian opera, particularly Neapolitan opera of the 17th and 18th centuries. Life and career Robinson was born in Gloucester on 3 March 1933. He earned Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from New College, Oxford. In October 2009 he obtained the Oxford Doctor of Music degree by examination. In 1965, he emigrated to Canada to join the Music Faculty at McGill University in Montreal as Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1967. Returning to the United Kingdom in 1970, he joined the Music Department at University College, Cardiff (now Cardiff University) as Lecturer, becoming Senior Lecturer in 1976 and Professor in 1991. He served as Head of Department from 1987 to 1994, retiring in 1994 and being named Professor Emeritus in 1995. Robinson’s research interests included 17th and 18th century Neapolitan music, opera studies, the sociology of music, opera house management, and theoretical aspects such as the concept of time in music. His research was supported by grant

Michael Finnissy

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Michael Peter Finnissy (born 17 March 1946) is an English composer, pianist, and pedagogue. An immensely prolific composer, his music is “notable for its dramatic urgency and expressive immediacy”. Although he rejects the label, he is often regarded as one of the foremost composers of the New Complexity movement. Biography Early life Michael Finnissy was born in Tulse Hill, London, on 17 March 1946 to Rita Isolene née Parsonson and George Norman Finnissy. His father was employed at the London City Council. When he was four, he received his first piano lessons from his great-aunt Rose Louise (Rosie) Hopwood, soon after writing his first compositions. He attended Hawes Down Infant and Junior schools, Bromley Technical High School, and Beckenham and Penge Grammar School, and excelled in graphic art, mathematics, and English literature. Student years Finnissy received the William Hurlstone composition prize at the Croydon Music Festival, a factor which assisted his parents’ decision to let him apply to music college. He was then awarded a Foundation Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music, piano with Edwin Benbow and Ian Lake, and composition with Bernard Stevens and Humphre

Michael Garrett (composer)

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Michael Garrett (17 June 1944–23 August 2023) was a British composer, born in Leicestershire. He was active in composing and performing for more than fifty years. His many works extend across a wide range of styles. Career He wrote many symphonic, chamber and instrumental works as well as vocal music and wrote extensively for the piano. During the 1960s his early compositions incorporated experiments with serial techniques; and in the years since then composed music in a more melodic vein. He began studying the piano and composing in 1956 and studied at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London where he won a scholarship to study with Edmund Rubbra (1961–1964). He also studied piano with Frank Merrick who was himself a pupil of Theodor Leschetizky. He composed music for two Ken Russell films Women in Love (1969) and Savage Messiah (1972). He worked as composer and pianist in the theatre, gave piano recitals of jazz and experimental music, and also composed a jingle for the Scottish Gas Board. He gave the first performances in the UK of John Cage’s “Concert for Piano and Orchestra”, which was conducted by John Cale before he moved to the US and joined The Velvet Underground wi

Michael Head (composer)

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Michael Head, FRAM (28 January 190024 August 1976) was an English composer, pianist, organist and singer who left some enduring works still popular today. He was noted for his association with the Royal Academy of Music. His compositional oeuvre mainly consists of songs, as well as choral works and few larger-scale pieces such as a piano concerto. Early life Michael Dewar Head was born in Eastbourne, East Sussex, on 28 January 1900. His father was a barrister and journalist and his mother an accomplished amateur singer and pianist. His mother’s influence evidently dominated, and at age 10 he commenced his musical training, taking lessons in piano with Jean Adair and in singing with Fritz Marston at the Adair-Marston School of Music. Head began to study at the Royal Academy of Music but was soon called up for service in the First World War. While working at an ammunition factory, he composed the song cycle Over the rim of the moon (Head et al., 1920). This was to become his first published work. After the war, Head resumed his studies at the academy. He studied composition with Frederick Corder, piano with T B Knott and organ with Reginald Steggall. He won a scholarship for composit

Michael Hurd (composer)

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Michael John Hurd (19 December 1928 – 8 August 2006) was a composer, teacher and author, principally known for his dramatic cantatas for schools and for his choral music. Life Michael Hurd was born in Gloucester on 19 December 1928 and educated at The Crypt School, Gloucester, He was also a composition pupil of Lennox Berkeley. After National Service he taught at the Royal Marines Band School at Deal, (1953–59) before settling as a freelance composer in East Hampshire, where he took a leading role in the area’s music-making. He bought the terraced, two-bedroom cottage at 4, Church Street, West Liss in 1961 and lived there for the rest of his life. Like his fellow Petersfield resident, the tenor Wilfred Brown, Hurd championed the memory of Gerald Finzi (co-editing the composer’s correspondence with Howard Ferguson), as well as Rutland Boughton (he was music advisor to the Rutland Boughton Music Trust from 1978 to 2006), Ivor Gurney and Cyril Scott. Stephen Banfield, unimpressed by the critical stance of his 1962 biography of Boughton (“Hurd seemed unable to accept the poverty of Boughton’s musical imagination - it would perhaps have been difficult to justify the biography had he don

Michael J. Lewis (composer)

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Michael John Lewis (born 11 January 1939) is a Welsh composer and conductor. He is known for his various film, theatre, and television scores. Career He studied harmony, counterpoint and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. After a brief teaching career in North London he became a full time composer at the age of 24. His first major work was Please, Sir, a stage musical that attracted the attention of English writer/director Brian Forbes and actor Richard Attenborough. In 1968, Forbes invited Lewis to score his film The Madwoman of Chaillot, starring Katharine Hepburn. That film score, Lewis’s first, won him an Ivor Novello Award in 1970. Subsequently, he composed the scores for Upon This Rock, a dramatized documentary of St. Peter’s Basilica starring Orson Welles, which premiered at the 1970 Venice Film Festival, and Julius Caesar starring Charlton Heston, Jason Robards and John Gielgud. 1973 saw Lewis’ Broadway musical debut with Cyrano starring Christopher Plummer, who won a Tony Award for his stellar performance. The show was co-written with Anthony Burgess, author of the novel A Clockwork Orange. Through the late 1970s and early 80s, Michael J. Lewis scored

Michael Nyman

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Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film scores (many written during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway), and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion’s The Piano. He has written a number of operas, including The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat; Letters, Riddles and Writs; Noises, Sounds & Sweet Airs; Facing Goya; Man and Boy: Dada; Love Counts; and Sparkie: Cage and Beyond. He has written six concerti, five string quartets, and many other chamber works, many for his Michael Nyman Band. He is also a performing pianist. Nyman prefers to write opera over other forms of music. Early life and education Nyman was born in Stratford, London, to a family of secular Jewish furriers who immigrated from Poland. Nyman was educated at the Sir George Monoux Grammar School, Walthamstow. He studied from 1961 until 1967 at King’s College London, and at the Royal Academy of Music until 1967 with Alan Bush and Thurston Dart, focusing on piano and seventeenth-century baroque music. He won the Howard Carr Memorial Prize for composition in July 1964. In

Michael Parsons (composer)

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Michael Edward Parsons (born 12 December 1938) is a British composer. Since the 1960s, when he met Cornelius Cardew and helped found the Scratch Orchestra, Parsons has been strongly associated with the English school of experimental music. He was born in Bolton and studied at St John’s College, Oxford before taking up composition lessons under Peter Racine Fricker at the Royal College of Music in London in 1961. In the 1960s he met Cornelius Cardew; Parsons attended Cardew’s experimental music classes at Morley College since 1968. In 1969 Cardew, Parsons and fellow composer Howard Skempton founded the Scratch Orchestra, an experimental free ensemble devoted to performing contemporary music. The Orchestra broke up in early 1970s, partly as a result of the politization led by Cardew. Parsons was among the Orchestra members who refused to be associated with the Maoist politics Cardew was propagating, and left. In 1970 Parsons started working as visiting lecturer in the Fine Art department of the Portsmouth Polytechnic and in the Slade School of Art, University College London. In 1974 he and Skempton formed a duo to perform their own works. In 1996–97 Parsons was a bi-fellow at Churchi

Michael Rosenzweig (composer)

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Michael Rosenzweig, born 1951 in Cape Town, South Africa, is a composer, conductor, choral trainer and director, multi-instrumentalist and jazz musician. Education Merton Barrow provided him a thorough practical grounding as a performer. He played guitar in Merton Barrow’s ensemble, the Jazz Workshop for many years. He then studied composition with Donald Martino at New England Conservatory of Music He holds the only internal London University master’s degree conferred without undergraduate degree or A-levels. Michael Rosenzweig is acclaimed as one of two notable students of both Jack Beeson, the only American to study composition with Bartok, and of Chou Wen-chung, the editor of French-born American composer Edgard Varese’s scores. He studied with both of them while on full scholarship and stipend from Columbia University’s doctoral programme. Conducting While assistant at the Berliner Konzertchor, he was music director of their youth choir. He conducted their Berlin Philharmonie debut. He conducted the Blacher Ensemble, the new music ensemble from the Berlin Hochschule der Kunste in their international venue debut. He also conducted Sinfonietta Berlin, his own chamber orchestra i

Michael Tippett

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Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten as one of the leading British composers of the 20th century. Among his best-known works are the oratorio A Child of Our Time, the orchestral Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli, and the opera The Midsummer Marriage. Tippett’s talent developed slowly. He withdrew or destroyed his earliest compositions, and was 30 before any of his works were published. Until the mid-to-late 1950s his music was broadly lyrical in character, before changing to a more astringent and experimental style. New influences—including those of jazz and blues after his first visit to America in 1965—became increasingly evident in his compositions. While Tippett’s stature with the public continued to grow, not all critics approved of these changes in style, some believing that the quality of his work suffered as a consequence. From around 1976 his late works began to reflect the works of his youth through a return to lyricism. Although he was much honoured in his lifetime,

Michael William Balfe

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Michael William Balfe (15 May 1808 – 20 October 1870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially The Bohemian Girl. After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to compose. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he composed at least 29 operas, almost 250 songs, several cantatas and other works. He was also a noted conductor, directing Italian Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre for seven years, among other conducting posts. Biography Early life and career Balfe was born in Dublin and grew up on Pitt Street, which was renamed Balfe Street in 1917 in his honour. His musical gifts became apparent at an early age, and he received instruction from his father, a dancing master and violinist, and from the composer William Rooke. Balfe’s family moved to Wexford when he was a child. Between 1814 and 1815, Balfe played the violin for his father’s dancing-classes, and at the age of seven composed a polacca. In 1817, he appeared as a violinist in public, and in this year composed a ballad, first called “Young Fanny” and afterwards, when sung in Paul Pry by Madame Vestris, “The Lovers’ Mistake”. In 1823, upon his father’s deat

Michael Wise (musician)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Michael Wise (born c.1647 in Salisbury, died there 24 August 1687) was an English organist and composer. He sang as a child in the choir of the Chapel Royal as one of the earliest groups of choristers there after the Restoration of King Charles II. He left as his voice changed in September 1663. From 1665 to 1668, he served as a lay clerk in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, and Eton College until he was appointed organist, lay vicar and choirmaster at Salisbury Cathedral on 29 April 1668. During his time there, he claimed the dean and chapter ‘wrongly deflected cathedral monies’, a claim he could not back up. Wise had been fairly commonly accused of neglecting his duty at Salisbury; a deputy organist and substitute instructor were paid for while Wise retained all of his stipend due to his skill and compositions. In 1683 he was accused of negligence, profanity, drunkenness ‘and other excesses in his life and conversation’ at the episcopal visitation. In 1676 he became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, while retaining his commitments in Salisbury. ): “He had quarrelled with his wife on some trivial matter, and rushed out of his house. The watchman met him while he was yet boiling with rag

Milton Mermikides

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Milton Mermikides (born 26 May 1971) is a British composer, guitarist and academic of Greek heritage. His diverse output includes compositions, academic papers, talks (TED (conference)) and musical performances. He has worked with a number of artists including Tim Minchin, Pat Martino, John Williams, Tod Machover, Steve Winwood and Brian Eno and research bodies such as the Wellcome Trust, UCL Neuroscience, British Library, Science Museum, Aldeburgh Music and the Smithsonian Institution. Mermikides is widely recognised as a leading figure in data sonification and, in 2025, published his book Hidden Music: The Composer’s Guide to Sonification with the Cambridge University Press. His 2004 work Bloodlines, written with his sister Dr Alex Mermikides, received critical acclaim. Bloodlines was created by translating his daily blood results, whilst suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, into each second of a musical composition. He is the 37th Gresham Professor of Music and currently holds the position of Professor of Music at the University of Surrey and Senior Research Fellow and Composer in Residence for the Centre of Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing (Linacre College, Oxford Univ

Mme Delaval

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Mme. Delaval or Madame De La Valle, birthname Adélaïde-Suzanne-Camille Larrivée, (October 12, 1763 – c. 1804) was a French harpist, pianist and composer. Delaval was born in Paris to opera singers Henri Larrivée and Marie-Jeanne Larrivée Lemière. She had one sister, Agathe-Elisabeth-Henriette, who was given violin lessons while Adelaide focused on the harp. Both girls were students of Jean-Baptiste Krumpholz. When their parents separated in 1767, the girls provided for their guardian and aunt, Elisabeth-Henriette Larrivée, by touring through French provinces in concerts. Adelaide married Pierre Delaval on August 3, 1790, in Lyon. They moved with Agathe to London during the French Revolution. She was employed by Johann Peter Salomon for concerts at Hanover Square in London in 1790 and played for the first Haydn concert in 1792. She was also employed by the Ashleys for concerts in Covent Garden in 1796. Her works have been edited for publication by harpist Jessica Suchy-Pilalis. Works Delaval’s compositions were mostly for the harp and agreed with the salon culture of c. 1800 Paris. She wrote her Op. 3 for her daughter, Camilla, to perform at Willis’s Room in London when the child wa

Monty Norman

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Monty Norman ( Noserovitch; 4 April 1928 – 11 July 2022) was a British film score composer and singer. A contributor to West End musicals in the 1950s and 1960s, he is best known for composing the “James Bond Theme”, first heard in the 1962 film Dr. No. He was an Ivor Novello Award and Olivier Award winner, and a Tony Award nominee. Early life Monty Norman was born on 4 April 1928 in Stepney in the East End of London. His father, Abraham Noserovitch (anglicised to Norman), was a Jewish cabinet maker who immigrated to the United Kingdom from Latvia when he was a child; his mother, Ann (Berlyn), who was also Jewish, worked as a seamstress. His mother gave him his first guitar (a Gibson) when he was sixteen. Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Harry Worth, and Bob Hope, and Expresso Bongo (which Time Out called the first rock and roll musical). Expresso Bongo, written by Wolf Mankowitz, was a West End hit and was later made into a 1960 film starring a young Cliff Richard. Barry later claimed that it was actually he who wrote the theme, but Norman won two different libel actions refuting Barry’s claim that he was the composer, the last against The Sunday Times in 2001. In the

Morfydd Llwyn Owen

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Morfydd Llwyn Owen (1 October 1891 – 7 September 1918) was a Welsh composer, pianist and mezzo-soprano. A prolific composer, as well as a member of influential intellectual circles, she died shortly before her 27th birthday. Early life and education Owen was born in Treforest, Wales on 1 October 1891 to William Owen, an accountant, and his wife, Sara Jane (née Jones), who ran a drapery business. They were both amateur musicians. She was a musical child, showing great talent at an early age and received piano lessons early on. While in her teens she appeared as a soloist in a performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto. At 16 she began to study piano and composition with Dr David Evans in Cardiff and had her first published work, a hymn tune entitled “Morfydd”, produced in 1909. After attending Pontypridd County School and two years of study with Evans, Owen won a scholarship to study at University College, Cardiff and was formally admitted into the composition class. Many of her works were performed in student recitals at Cardiff, and she graduated in 1912. The same year, she was admitted to the Gorsedd of the Bards at the Wrexham National Eisteddfod under the name Morfydd Llwyn Owen,

Muriel Herbert

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Muriel Emily Herbert (1897 – 1 May 1984) was a British composer of the early 20th century. Much of her work is for solo voice and piano, with art song settings of texts by English and Irish poets such as Thomas Hardy, Robert Herrick, Ben Jonson, James Joyce, and W. B. Yeats. Early life Herbert was born in 1897, in Sheffield, and grew up in Liverpool, England. She was the youngest child and only daughter. Herbert grew up singing and playing music in her home, as her mother was the church choir director. Her older brother, Percy, was also a musician and encouraged Herbert to study music, for which she had a natural ability. Herbert began writing down songs for voice and piano at a young age. Her father died in 1909, and the Herbert family struggled with poverty. Hugh Farrie, a journalist for the Liverpool Post, encouraged Herbert to become a concert pianist, but her interest was in composition. Marriage and Paris In 1925, after marrying a young French academic, Emile Delavenay, Herbert traveled to Paris for her honeymoon. Here she was introduced to James Joyce by Emile’s friend, the Irish poet Tom McGreevey. Herbert played and sang her versions of Joyce’s poems, “I hear an army charg

Muzio Clementi

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Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer who was mostly active in England. Encouraged to study music by his father, he was sponsored as a young composer by Sir Peter Beckford, who took him to England to advance his studies. Later, he toured Europe numerous times from his long-standing base in London. It was on one of these occasions, in 1781, that he engaged in a piano competition with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Influenced by Domenico Scarlatti’s harpsichord school and Joseph Haydn’s classical school and by the stile Galante of Johann Christian Bach and Ignazio Cirri, Clementi developed a fluent and technical legato style, which he passed on to a generation of pianists, including John Field, Johann Baptist Cramer, Ignaz Moscheles, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Carl Czerny. He was a notable influence on Ludwig van Beethoven and Frédéric Chopin. Clementi also produced and promoted his own brand of pianos and was a notable music publisher. Because of this activity, many compositions by Clementi'

Natasha Barrett (composer)

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Natasha Barrett (March 1972, Norwich, England) is a British contemporary music composer specialising in electroacoustic art music. Her compositional aesthetics are derived from acousmatic issues. In addition to acousmatic concert music, she composes for instruments, live electronics, sound installations, multi-media works including digital video art, real-time computer music improvisation, has made soundscapes for exhibitions, and music for contemporary dance and theater. Her work has been influenced by spatialisation as a musical parameter, and the projection of 3-D sound-fields. Since 2020, she has expanded her repertoire to include works for large orchestra and electronics, as well as interactive real-time computer graphics. She currently lives in Norway. Natasha Barrett began her studies in electroacoustic music while completing a master’s degree in analysis and composition under the guidance of Jonty Harrison at the University of Birmingham (UK). This study also gave her the opportunity to work with BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre) which influenced her later work, and lead on to a doctoral degree in composition supervised by Denis Smalley, awarded in 1998 at Ci

Nathaniel Giles

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Nathaniel Giles (1558 – 1633 or 1634) was an English Renaissance organist and composer. He was the organist for Worcester Cathedral and wrote Anglican anthems. While Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal he took over Blackfriars Theatre in a business arrangement with producer Henry Evans and there he worked with Ben Jonson on a children’s company. Giles had the power under a royal warrant to impress children for service in the Chapel Royal. He allowed Evans and others to use the warrant to legally abduct children not for service as choir boys, but to work in their theatre. When in 1600 they abducted the son of a nobleman, this led to the Clifton Star Chamber Case. He was also a master of the Choir of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle and an organist at Westminster Abbey. His Te Deum (Durham Cathedral manuscript A2, folio 56) has instructions for the organist to play an octave lower than written, and one assumes this is to give the ‘dark’ sonority of a 10 ft organ stop rather than the everyday colour of the standard 5 ft Principal stop of the Tudor organ. His Vestigia mea dirige was included in the manuscript collection known as the Dow Partbooks. His son, Nathaniel Giles beca

Naughty Boy

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Shahid Khan (; born 1 January 1981), known professionally as Naughty Boy, is an English DJ, record producer, music programmer and songwriter. In 2012, Khan signed a three-year publishing deal with Sony ATV, as well as a recording contract with Virgin EMI Records to release his debut studio album, Hotel Cabana (2013). Its first two singles, “Wonder” (with Emeli Sandé) and “Lifted” (with Sandé), both peaked within the top ten of the UK singles chart, while its third, “La La La” (featuring Sam Smith), peaked atop the chart. His 2015 single, “Runnin’ (Lose It All)” (with Beyoncé and Arrow Benjamin), received double platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Naughty Boy and Sandé also formed a writing and production partnership, leading her to sign with Virgin and EMI as a recording artist. Khan produced her debut studio album Our Version of Events in 2012, and subsequently began doing so for other artists including Leona Lewis, JLS, Cheryl, Jennifer Hudson, Alesha Dixon and Tinie Tempah, among others. Early life Shahid Khan was born on 1 January 1981 in Watford, Hertfordshire. His parents being originally from Pakistan, and explaining the importance of his Pakis

Neil Brand

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Neil Brand (born 18 March 1958) is an English dramatist, composer and author. In addition to being a regular silent film accompanist at London’s National Film Theatre, Brand has composed new scores for two restored films from the 1920s, The Wrecker and Anthony Asquith’s Underground. Neil Brand has been a silent film accompanist for nearly 40 years, regularly in London at the Barbican and BFI National Film Theatres, throughout the UK and Ireland and at film festivals around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada, Israel, Scandinavia, Georgia, Ukraine, throughout Europe. Brand has also acted and written plays for the BBC. His book, Dramatic Notes, focuses on the art of composing narrative music for the cinema, theatre, radio and television. For his contribution to music, in 2016, Brand was awarded with a BASCA Gold Badge Award. Background and education Brand was born in Burgess Hill, Sussex, England, and attended Junction Road Primary School in Burgess Hill, then Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School (now Brighton Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College). At the age of 18, he went to the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, to study Drama under John Edmunds. Ho

Neil Richardson (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Neil Grant Richardson (5 February 1930 – 8 October 2010) was an English composer and conductor. Richardson composed “Approaching Menace” (the Mastermind theme tune) and “The Riviera Affair”. During the 1960s–1990s, he was an arranger and conductor of various BBC Radio Orchestras, working on programmes such as String Sound and The Radio Orchestra Show. He was a prolific composer of library music for companies such as KPM, and his music has been used in numerous TV, film and radio productions. Aged eight, he went to become a chorister at Westminster Abbey. For example, he co-composed the test card piece “Scotch Broth”. Another of his library music compositions, “The Riviera Affair” (aka “Prestige Production,” from the 1970 KPM album Impact and Action, Vol. II), is best known to New Yorkers as the opening theme music for WOR-TV’s late-afternoon movie program, The 4 O’Clock Movie, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The song was also used as part of an homage of The 4 O’Clock Movie in the opening logo sequence for the 2007 heist film, Ocean’s Thirteen. NFL Films also used some of his compositions in its American football highlight films. His library theme “Another Happening” was used fo

Nicholas Hooper

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nicholas Hooper is a British film and television composer and guitarist. He has scored the award-winning BBC productions Land of the Tiger and Andes to Amazon, as well as the TV movies The Girl in the Café and My Family and Other Animals among others. Hooper won a BAFTA Award and an Ivor Novello Award for Original Score in 2004 for The Young Visiters and a BAFTA for Best Original Television Music in 2007 for Prime Suspect: The Final Act. He studied at the Royal College of Music in the early 1970s where he scored his first films. His highest-profile scores were for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, for which he reunited with old friend director David Yates, with whom he had worked before on The Tichborne Claimant, The Way We Live Now, State of Play, The Young Visiters and The Girl in the Café. These were Hooper’s most notable works on blockbuster films. For Half-Blood Prince, he was nominated for a Grammy. However, he chose not to return for the final two installments, which were composed by French composer & conductor Alexandre Desplat. Hooper then scored the soundtrack to the Disney documentary African Cats, which was chosen as o

Nicholas Lanier

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nicholas Lanier, sometimes Laniere (baptised 10 September 1588 – buried 24 February 1666) an honour given to musicians of great distinction. He was the court musician, a composer and performer and Groom of the Chamber in the service of King Charles I and Charles II. He was also a singer, lutenist, scenographer and painter. Biography Nicholas Lanier was a descendant of a French family of royal musicians, the Lanière family, who were Huguenots, and was baptised at Greenwich. His father and grandfather left France to escape persecutions. His aunt, Emilia Bassano, was the daughter of Venetian musicians at the Tudor court and, before her marriage to Alfonso Lanier, had been the mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth I, and possibly Henry Wriothesly, Earl of Southampton. Historian A. L. Rowse suggested that she may well have been the famous Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets. The family settled in England in 1561. Nicholas Lanier was the son of Frances Galliardello and John Lanier, who was the son of Nicholas Lanier the Elder, court musician to the French King Henry II. His maternal grandfather was another royal musician, Mark Anthony Galliardello. Nicholas was fir

Nicholas Ludford

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Nicholas Ludford (c. 1485 – 1557 ) was an English composer of the Tudor period. He is known for his festal masses, which are preserved in two early-16th-century choirbooks, the Caius Choirbook at Caius College, Cambridge, and the Lambeth Choirbook at Lambeth Palace, London. His surviving antiphons, all incomplete, are copied in the Peterhouse partbooks (Henrican set), which disappeared from view until some were rediscovered in 1850, and the rest only in 1926. Ludford is well known as being the composer of the only surviving cycle of Lady Masses, small-scale settings of the Ordinary and Propers in three parts to be sung in the smaller chapels of religious institutions on each day of the week. Ludford’s composing career, which appears to have ended in 1535, is seen as bridging the gap between the music of Robert Fayrfax (1465–1521) and that of John Taverner (1490–1545). Music scholar David Skinner has called Ludford “one of the last unsung geniuses of Tudor polyphony”. In his Oxford History of English Music, John Caldwell observes of Ludford’s six-part Mass and Magnificat Benedicta that it “is more a matter of astonishment that such mastery should be displayed by a composer of whom v

Nicholas Maw

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John Nicholas Maw (5 November 1935 – 19 May 2009) was a British composer. Among his works are the operas The Rising of the Moon (1970) and Sophie’s Choice (2002). Biography Born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Maw was the son of Clarence Frederick Maw and Hilda Ellen Chambers. He attended the Wennington School, a boarding school, in Wetherby in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was 14. He attended the Royal Academy of Music on Marylebone Road in London where his teachers were Paul Steinitz and Lennox Berkeley. He then studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Max Deutsch. From 1998 until 2008, Maw served on the faculty of the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, where he taught music composition. He had previously served on the faculties of Yale University, Bard College, Boston University, the Royal Academy of Music, Cambridge University, and Exeter University. Personal life In 1960, Maw married Karen Graham, and they had a son and a daughter. Their marriage was dissolved in 1976. He took up residence in Washington, DC in 1984, living there with his companion Maija Hay, a ceramic artist, until his death. Compositions Maw is best known for Sc

Nicholas O'Neill (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nicholas O’Neill (born 1 April 1970) is an English composer, arranger, organist and choral director. Biography O’Neill attended The King’s School, Gloucester, and was a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral under the direction of John Sanders. O’Neill went on to study music at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was Organ Scholar, first under John Harper and then under Grayston “Bill” Ives. O’Neill holds the posts of Composer in Residence to the Parliament Choir and to the Academy of Saint Cecilia. He is also President of Cantores Salicium, and associate director of Music at St. Mary Abbots Church, Kensington. He was Organist of St. George’s Cathedral, Southwark, until the end of 2010 and was Chorus Master to the Malcolm Sargent Festival Choir for a decade. His music has been performed and broadcast internationally, his Missa Sancti Nicolai being chosen as the Mass setting for the BBC1 live television broadcast of Midnight Mass in 2011. His Christmas carol Sweet Was The Song was recorded by the BBC Singers in 2011 and featured in their Carols For Breakfast series, and his arrangement of This Joyful Eastertide featured as the Anthem on BBC Radio 4’s The Daily Service in 2013 with the Cho

Nicholas Staggins

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Nicholas Staggins (died 13 June 1700 ) was an English composer. Staggins first studied music under his father. He was made Master of the King’s Music by Charles II in 1674. In 1682, he was granted a musical doctorate by Cambridge University, and from 1684 until his death was Professor of Music at Cambridge. Following his death on the night of 12–13 June 1700, he was succeeded by John Eccles. From the few fragments of his compositions that survive, his musical ability is generally regarded to have been slender. His most significant work was his music for John Crowne’s masque Calisto, or The Chaste Nymph. His other works include odes for the birthdays of William III (in at least 1693, 1694 and 1696). He also wrote incidental music for John Dryden’s Conquest of Granada and Marriage à la Mode, George Etheridge’s The Man of Mode, Nathaniel Lee’s Gloriana, and Thomas Shadwell’s Epsom Wells. In Tom Brown’s Letters from the Dead to the Living, Staggins is described as “bandy legged and contemptuously regarded”. Following his death he was buried in Woollon on 16 June 1700 at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. References External links * Song from Marriage à la Mode

Nick Glennie-Smith

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Nickolas Glennie-Smith (born 3 October 1951) is an English film score composer, conductor, and musician who is a frequent collaborator with Hans Zimmer, contributing to scores including The Rock (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound), the 2006 historical film Children of Glory and the 1993 spy thriller Point of No Return. Glennie-Smith has also composed the scores for the films Home Alone 3 (1997), The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), We Were Soldiers (2002), Secretariat (2010), the score for the Disney direct-to-video animated film The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998), Lauras Stern (2004), The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island and A Sound of Thunder (both 2005). Glennie-Smith is a part of Hans Zimmer’s film score company Remote Control Productions, for which he has conducted music for the soundtracks on Transformers (2007–2017), X-Men: First Class and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (both 2011). He was Zimmer’s accompanist on the score for Man of Steel (2013). Glennie-Smith is the master composer of the music in the French theme park le Puy du Fou. He has collaborated with the former Pink Floyd bassist, Roger Waters. He worked on Waters’ score for the

Nick Roth (composer)

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Nick Roth (born 27 April 1982) is an Irish / British saxophonist, composer, producer and educator. Work Roth’s work explores the liberation of improvisation from composition, the poetic syntax of philosophical enquiry, and the function of music as translative epistemology (MaTE). He has developed projects in collaboration with scientists Thomas E. Lovejoy, Margaret D. Lowman, Iain Couzin and Henry S. Horn and his work has been commissioned and performed by the European Saxophone Ensemble, T. S. Eliot Foundation, RTÉ ConTempo Quartet, Happy Days International Beckett Festival, Trio InVento, The Ark Cultural Centre for Children, Dublin Dance Festival, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Yurodny Ensemble, Emma Martin Dance, National Concert Hall Dublin, Temenos and Rough Magic, with performances at international festivals including the Irish representation at the ISCM World Music Days 2016 in Tongyeong, South Korea. As a performer, his collaborations include work with Jennifer Walshe, Savina Yannatou, John Taylor, Iarla Ó Lionáird, M.C. Schmidt, Gavin Bryars, Bobby McFerrin, Tom Arthurs, Lucas Niggli, Kate Ellis, Mihály Borbély, Matthew Jacobson, Miklós Lukács, Francesco Turrisi, Cora Venus

Nicola LeFanu

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Nicola Frances LeFanu (born 28 April 1947) is a British composer, academic, lecturer and director. to William LeFanu and Elizabeth Maconchy (also a composer, later Dame Elizabeth Maconchy). She studied at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, before taking up a Harkness Fellowship at Harvard. In 1972 she won the Mendelssohn Scholarship. She later became Director of Music at St Paul’s Girls’ School (1975–77), taught at King’s College London (1977–1995, as Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Professor), and was then a Professor of Music at the University of York, where she was Head of Department from 1994 to 2001. She retired from teaching in 2008. In 1979 she married the composer David Lumsdaine. She earned a Doctorate in Music from the University of London in 1988 and holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Durham and Aberdeen and from the Open University. She is active in many aspects of the musical profession, as composer, teacher and director. Works LeFanu has written around sixty works, including music for orchestra, chamber groups and voices (including four string quartets), and six operas. Her music is published by Chester Novello and Edition Peters. Opera * Dawnpath, a chamber op

Nicola Matteis

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nicola Matteis (Matheis) (c. 1650 – after 1713 ) was the earliest notable Italian Baroque violinist in London, whom Roger North judged in retrospect “to have been a second to Corelli,” and a composer of significant popularity in his time, though he had been utterly forgotten until the later 20th century. Very little is known of his early life, although Matteis was probably born in Naples, describing himself as ‘Napolitano’ in several of his works. He came to London in the early 1670s and according to the diarist Roger North, had a city merchant as a sponsor, who schooled him in the ways of currying favor from the gentry (by allowing them to accompany him in parlor recitals and other minor performances). John Evelyn reports in his diary for 19 November 1674, the earliest notice of Matteis, “I heard that stupendious Violin Signor Nichola (with other rare Musitians) whom certainly never mortal man exceeded on that instrument, he had a stroak so sweete, made it speaking like the Voice of a man and when he pleased, like a Consort of severall Instruments: he did wonders upon a Note: was an excellent Composer also. Nothing approched the violin in Nichola’s hand: he seemed to be inspired a

Niel Gow

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Niel Gow (22 March 17271 March 1807) was a Scottish fiddler in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Early life Gow was born in Strathbraan, Perthshire, in 1727, as the son of John Gow and Catherine McEwan. The family moved to Inver in Perthshire when Niel was an infant. He started playing the fiddle when very young, and at age 13 received his first formal lessons from one John Cameron of Grandtully. In spite of being something of a musical prodigy, he originally trained as a weaver, but eventually gave up that trade to become a full-time musician. He was widely considered the best fiddle player in Perthshire, an area which was renowned for its musicians—the story goes that at age 18 he entered a competition that was being judged by John McCraw, a blind musician, who awarded him the first prize and then went on to claim that he “would ken his bow hand among a hunder players” (detect Niel’s style among a hundred players). This attracted the attention of the Duke of Atholl, who became Gow’s patron, and also ensured his employment for balls and dance parties put on by the local nobility. In time he became renowned as a fiddler. Musical career According to John Glen (1895), Gow comp

Nigel Godrich

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nigel Timothy Godrich (born 28 February 1971) is an English record producer, recording engineer and musician. He has worked with acts including Radiohead, Travis, Beck, Air, Paul McCartney, U2, R.E.M., Pavement, Roger Waters, Arcade Fire and Idles. Early in his career, Godrich worked as the house engineer at RAK Studios, London, under the producer John Leckie. He first worked with Radiohead while engineering their second album, The Bends (1995), at RAK. Radiohead hired him to produce OK Computer (1997), which was a major success and brought him attention from major artists. He has produced all of Radiohead’s albums since, along with several other projects with the Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood. Godrich won the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Non-Classical Album for the 2003 Radiohead album Hail to the Thief. Godrich is a member of the bands Atoms for Peace (with Yorke) and Ultraísta. In 2006, he launched the music webseries From the Basement. With Beck, Godrich composed the score for the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Early years and education Nigel Godrich was born in Westminster, London, the son of Victor Godrich, a BBC sound supervisor, and Brenda God

Nigel Hess

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Nigel John Hess (born 22 July 1953) is a British composer, best known for his television, theatre and film soundtracks, including the theme tunes to Campion, Maigret, Wycliffe, Dangerfield, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, Badger and Ladies in Lavender. Biography Hess was born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. He was educated at Weston-super-Mare Grammar School for Boys, and went on to study music at Cambridge University, where he was music director of the famous Footlights Revue Company. He has since worked extensively as a composer and conductor in television, theatre and film. Hess has composed numerous scores for both American and British television productions, including A Woman of Substance, Vanity Fair, Campion, Testament (Ivor Novello Award for Best TV Theme), Summer’s Lease (Television & Radio Industries Club Award for Best TV Theme), Chimera, Titmuss Regained, Maigret, Classic Adventure, Dangerfield, Just William, Wycliffe (Royal Television Society Nomination for Best TV Theme), The One Game, Every Woman Knows a Secret, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (Ivor Novello Award for Best TV Theme and Royal Television Society Nomination for Best TV Theme), Badger, Ballykissangel, New Tr

Nigel Osborne

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Nigel Osborne (born 23 June 1948) is a British composer, teacher and aid worker. He served as Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh and has also taught at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover. Known for his extensive charity work supporting war traumatised children using music therapy techniques, especially in the Balkans during the Bosnian War, and in the Syrian conflict. He speaks eight languages. Osborne was born in Manchester, England, to a Scottish family. He studied composition with Kenneth Leighton, Egon Wellesz, and Witold Rudziński. His compositions include the opera The Electrification of the Soviet Union, Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra commissioned by the City of London Sinfonia, I am Goya, Remembering Esenin, and Birth of the Beatles Symphony. Osborne retired from his Edinburgh University position in 2012, and is now working internationally as freelance composer, arranger and aid worker. Currently working with war-traumatised children from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Career Osborne studied composition with Egon Wellesz, first pupil of Arnold Schoenberg (1968–69), also with Kenneth Leighton (his predecessor as Reid Profess

Nikki Iles

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Nikki Anne Iles (née Burnham; born 16 May 1963) is a British jazz composer, pianist and educator. Early life Iles was born in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, on 16 May 1963. She started her musical education at primary school, where she learnt to play the harmonica and the clarinet, and at eleven years old she won a junior exhibition at the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied clarinet and piano She became a member of the Bedfordshire Youth Jazz Orchestra. Iles was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to music. In 2025 Iles was announced as the new principal conductor of Hamburg’s NDR Bigband. Discography As leader/co-leader As sidewoman With Anthony Braxton *Composition No. 175 / Composition No. 126: Trillium Dialogues M (Leo, 1994) With Mike Gibbs *By the Way (Ah Um, 1993) With Ingrid Laubrock *Some Times (Candid, 1998) With Tina May *One Fine Day (33Jazz, 1999) *I’ll Take Romance (Linn, 2002) *More Than You Know (33Jazz, 2004) *A Wing and a Prayer (33Jazz, 2005–06) With Sylvan Richardson *Pyrotechnics (Blue Note, 1992) With Geoff Simkins *Don’t Ask (Symbol, 1999) With Martin Speake *Secret (Basho, 2000) With Stan Sulzmann *Treasure Trove

Nikolai Medtner

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Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (; 5 January 1880 – 13 November 1951) was a Russian composer and pianist. A younger contemporary of Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin, he wrote a substantial number of compositions, all of which include the piano. His works include 14 piano sonatas, three violin sonatas, three piano concerti, a piano quintet, two works for two pianos, many shorter piano pieces, a few shorter works for violin and piano, and 108 songs including two substantial works for vocalise. His 38 Skazki (generally known as “Fairy Tales” in English but more correctly translated as “Tales”) for piano solo contain some of his most original music. Biography Nikolai Medtner was born in Moscow on 24 December 1879, according to the Julian calendar, or 5 January 1880 by the Gregorian calendar. He was the son of Karl Petrovich Medtner (1846–1921) and Alexandra Karlovna Goedicke (1843–1918), and the fifth of their six children. Both of them were of German origin. Medtner took piano lessons from his mother until the age of ten. He also had lessons from his mother’s brother, Fyodor Goedicke (the father of his more famous cousin Alexander Goedicke). He entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1

Nimrod Borenstein

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Nimrod Borenstein (; born 1969) is a British-French-Israeli composer and conductor whose music is widely performed throughout Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, and Japan. His works are becoming part of the repertoire of many ensembles and orchestras. Education Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Borenstein grew up in Paris, France, where he started his musical education at the age of 3. In 1984, he became a Laureat of the Cziffra Foundation and moved to London, England, in 1986 to pursue his studies as a violinist with Itzhak Rashkovsky at the Royal College of Music. He was then awarded the highest scholarship from the Leverhulme Trust to study composition with Paul Patterson at the Royal Academy. As of 2014, he is an Associate of the Academy and listed amongst the alumni. Composer Vladimir Ashkenazy has been a supporter of Borenstein’s music for many years. In 2013 Ashkenazy conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra for a performance of The Big Bang and Creation of the Universe. Later that year he conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in the world premiere of If you will it, it is no dream. The past few years have seen Nimrod Borenstein’s compositions premiered and per

Norman Demuth

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Norman Demuth (15 July 1898 – 21 April 1968) was an English composer and musicologist, remembered largely for his biographies of French composers. Biography Early life Demuth was born in Croydon, Surrey, at 91 St James’ Road. On leaving Repton School in 1915, he volunteered as Rifleman No. 2780 with the 5th London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade) in the City of London on 17 September 1915, falsifying his age by adding one year on enlistment to seek active-service for which he was then under-age. In early March 1916 he was sent to France with a reinforcement draft to the Regiment’s 1st Battalion on the Western Front, and was wounded in the leg by shrapnel fragments from the accidental detonation of a Mills Bomb on 28 June 1916 in the frontline village of Hebuterne during the prelude of the Battle of the Somme. He was medically evacuated to England and subsequently discharged from the British Army as medically unfit for further war service in November 1916. In Forgotten Voices of the Great War, Demuth says: Almost the last feather I received was on a bus. I was sitting near the door when I became aware of two women on the other side talking at me, and I thought to myself, “Oh Lord, he

Norman Fulton

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Robert Norman Fulton (23January 19095 – August 1980) was an English-born composer, broadcaster and teacher of Scottish ancestry. Life and career Fulton was born in London but educated in Scotland at Glasgow High School. From 1929 until 1933 he studied harmony and composition with Norman Demuth at the Royal Academy of Music. He worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1936 until 1960, composing much incidental music for radio features between 1937 and the early 1950s, including the music for Children’s Hour throughout the 1940s. In 1953 he was appointed Head of West Regional Music. From 1963 until February 1967 he was the presenter of Music to Remember on the BBC Home Service. In 1966 he returned to the Royal Academy as professor of harmony and composition. He married Olga Pett Ridge, daughter of the novelist William Pett Ridge, in 1936, and there were a son and a daughter. He lived at 55 Clarence Road, Bickley in Kent. Fulton died of lung cancer at Guy’s Hospital on 5 August 1980, aged 71. His daughter Jill Pett Fulton had a successful career as a ballerina and married the conductor Karl Anton Rickenbacher. Selected works Fulton composed three symphonies. No. 1, the Sinfon

Norman Hallam (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Norman Hallam (9 October 1945 – April 2025) was an English clarinetist and the composer of the Dance Suite for wind quintet. Born in Coventry, Hallam began playing the clarinet from the age of 11, staying there until 1999 when he retired for health reasons. Hallam was also a member of the Canzona Wind Quintet from the mid-1970s until the mid-1980s. His best known composition is the Dance Suite (1980) for wind ensemble (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon), which was written for Canzona. It has four movements: Waltz, Bossa Nova, Quickstep and Charleston. Other pieces include a Fantasy for four horns and a Fantasy for unaccompanied clarinet (1992), which has been performed by Michael Whight. His jazz-influenced Clarinet Concerto, premiered in October 1998, was composed for Kevin Banks, who performed it twice (at Cheltenham and Poole). Banks has described the difficulties of the piece as “fiendish”. Hallam contracted polio in 1949 at the age of four, and used a wheelchair all his life. He had a daughter and son from his first marriage. He married his second wife Sally (a viola player) in the early-1980s, and they had a son and daughter. References External links * ‘Charleston’ fro

Norman Kay (composer)

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Norman Forber Kay (5 January 1929 – 12 May 2001) was a British composer and writer. Education and early career Kay, who was born in Bolton, was educated at Bolton School, the Royal Manchester College of Music and the Royal College of Music. His teachers included Richard Hall in Manchester and Gordon Jacob in London. as well as The Keys of Marinus and The Sensorites. After leaving Doctor Who following its first season, Kay provided the incidental music for many of the Out of the Unknown stories during the rest of the 1960s, as well as composing the atmospheric theme tune of its first three seasons. Kay also provided music on productions such as Late Night Horror in 1968, the theme music for Special Branch in 1969, as well as musical direction for many other television productions, including the series Highway with Harry Secombe in the 1980s. He also scored the 1968 comedy heist film Diamonds for Breakfast. Concert music His first concert works, including two string quartets, appeared in the 1950s. But his first big success was with the large scale (35 minutes in length) cantata King Herod, for soprano and baritone soloists, chorus and orchestra, composed for the Llandaff Festival in

Norman O'Neill (composer)

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Norman Houston O’Neill (14 March 1875 – 3 March 1934) was an English composer and conductor of Irish background who specialised largely in works for the theatre. Life O’Neill was born at 16 Young Street in Kensington, London, the youngest son of the Irish painter George Bernard O’Neill and Emma Stuart Callcott, the daughter of organist and glee composer William Hutchins Callcott. He studied in London with Arthur Somervell and with Iwan Knorr at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt from 1893 to 1897. His studies there were facilitated by Eric Stenbock. He belonged to the Frankfurt Group, a circle of composers who studied at Hoch’s Conservatory in the late 1890s. He married Adine Berthe Maria Ruckert (29 July 1875 – 17 February 1947) on 2 July 1899 in Paris. Adine was a celebrated pianist (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and music teacher in her own right – she later became head music mistress at St Paul’s Girls’ School in Hammersmith. O’Neill began to have some success with concert music, including a 1901 performance of his overture In Autumn given at the Henry Wood Proms. In 1904 he composed the incidental music to John Martin-Harvey’s production of Hamlet at the Lyric Theatre, London. In

Norman Peterkin

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George Norman Peterkin (Liverpool, 21 December 1886 – Guildford, 15 December 1982) was an English composer and music publisher. He is perhaps best known today for his brief song “I heard a piper piping”. Peterkin was born in Liverpool and was mostly self-taught in music. He started work with the local organ builder Rushworth & Dreaper in the late 1900s, moving to their Singapore office in 1911, and later to Hong Kong. While there he established himself as a pianist and also began to compose, much influenced by Cyril Scott. He returned to England in 1918. In 1924 he became second-in-command to Hubert Foss at the Oxford University Press Music Department (which had published some of his songs), taking over as head of department when Foss resigned in 1941. The strain of keeping things going almost alone throughout the war exhausted him, and he asked for early retirement at the end of 1947. He was succeeded at OUP by Alan Frank. As a composer, Peterkin wrote mostly songs and a few short piano pieces, such as the suites Dreamer’s Tales (1918), Betel-Jade-Ivory (1920) and Centaurs. A Rhapsody for violin (or oboe) and piano was published by OUP in 1926. Most of his works were composed duri

Obadiah Shuttleworth

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Obadiah Shuttleworth (died 1734), English composer, violinist and organist, was the son of Thomas Shuttleworth of Spitalfields in London. Thomas was a professional music copyist and harpsichord player. The exact date of Shuttleworth’s birth is uncertain. Shuttleworth was an excellent violinist and in the early 18th century he took part in the influential public concerts arranged by the London coal merchant Thomas Britton (known as ’the musical small coal man’) at his business premises in Clerkenwell to which musical professionals and amateurs from all ranks of London society were drawn. Shuttleworth also led concerts that were later established about 1728 at the Swan Tavern, Cornhill. The 18th-century musical historian, Sir John Hawkins, wrote of him that he ‘played the violin to such a degree of perfection, as gave him a rank among the first masters of his time’. In January 1724, according to the newspaper the British Journal (11 January 1724), Shuttleworth was made organist at the church of St Michael, Cornhill, having previously been the organist at St Mary’s, Whitechapel. On 4 May 1729 the London newspaper The London Evening Post announced his appointment as organist of the Tem

Oliphant Chuckerbutty

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Soorjo Alexander William Langobard Oliphant Chuckerbutty (6 October 1884 – 5 September 1960), also known as Wilson Oliphant, was an English organist and composer, who was equally well known as a church organist and a cinema organist. He was the grandson of the Indian medical professor Soorjo Coomar Goodeve Chuckerbutty (c.1826–1874). Life and career Chuckerbutty was born in Paddington, London. He began playing the piano at six, and was composing by 14. From 1908 to 1914 he was deputy to E. T. Cook as organist of Southwark Cathedral. In the same year he became organist and choirmaster of Holy Trinity, Paddington, a post that he held until 1948. In the early 1930s Chuckerbutty made Holy Trinity a well-known centre of music, with frequent performances of choral and orchestral music, both old and new. He and guest organists gave regular recitals on what The Musical Times described as “the fine Norman and Beard organ” there. Writings Chuckerbutty contributed several articles and letters to The Musical Times. Among his subjects were the orchestration of light classical music, the ignorance among music critics about good or bad organ playing, and – spread across three issues – a wide-rang

Oliver Kentish

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Oliver John Kentish (born 1954) is a British-born cellist, tutor, and composer, who has lived in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 1977, and was granted Icelandic nationality in 1989. Kentish composes orchestral, choral, vocal, and chamber music. He was born in London. In addition to composition, Kentish has been the Artistic Director of the Iceland Amateur Symphony Orchestra (Sinfóníuhljómsveit áhugamanna) since 2005. Kentish was commissioned by the British Government in 1993 to write the work Mitt Folk which was performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and is dedicated to Vigdís Finnbogadóttir. Selected works * Jakobslag, Little Duet for viola and marimba (1999) * Draumar og dansar (Dreams and Dances) for viola and chamber orchestra (2002) * Prelúdía og fúga (Prelude and Fugue) for 10 violas (2005) * Kvinnan fróma for viola and piano (2008) See also * List of Icelandic composers References External links *Kentish’s web site

Oliver Knussen

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Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British composer of contemporary classical music and conductor. Among the most influential British composers of his generation, his relatively few compositions are “rooted in 20th-century modernism, but beholden to no school but his own” Early life Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra, and also participated in a number of premieres of Benjamin Britten’s music. Oliver Knussen studied composition with John Lambert between 1963 and 1969, and also received encouragement from Britten. He spent several summers studying with Gunther Schuller at Tanglewood in Massachusetts and in Boston. Musical life Knussen began composing at about the age of six; an ITV programme about his father’s work with the London Symphony Orchestra prompted the commissioning for his first symphony (1966–1967). Aged 15, Knussen stepped in to conduct his symphony’s première at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 7 April 1968, after István Kertész fell ill. After his debut, Daniel Barenboim asked him to conduct the work’s first two movements in New York a week later.

Oliver Wallace

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Oliver George Wallace (August 6, 1887 – September 15, 1963) was a British-American composer and conductor from London. He was especially known for his film music compositions, which were written for many animation, documentary, and feature films from Walt Disney Studios. Biography Wallace was born on August 6, 1887, in London. After completing his musical training, he emigrated to the Canada originally, and then shortly after to the United States in 1904, becoming a US citizen ten years later. He initially worked primarily on the West Coast in Seattle as a conductor of theater orchestras and as an organist accompanying silent films. At the same time, he also made a name as a songwriter, writing tunes such as the popular “”. With the advent of the talking film era, he worked increasingly for Hollywood film studios in the 1930s. In 1936 he joined Disney Studios and quickly became one of the most important composers in the studio for animated short films. He provided the music for 139 of these shorts. One of his best-known pieces is the song “Der Fuehrer’s Face” from the 1942 Donald Duck propaganda cartoon, though he was uncredited. This parody of a Horst Wessel song was, mainly throu

Oliveria Prescott

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Oliveria Louisa Prescott (3 September 1842 – 9 September 1919) was an English writer and composer. Biography Oliveria Prescott was born in London, the daughter of Frederick Joseph Prescott and Elizabeth Oliveria Russell. She studied with Lindsay Sloper and then at the Royal Academy of Music under George Alexander Macfarren. She became Macfarren’s amenuensis. She lectured in harmony and composition for Newnham College, Cambridge, and also taught harmony at the High School for Girls in Baker Street, London. In 1876 Prescott’s first symphony in B-flat “Alkestis” won third prize in a competition for new British symphonies that was held at the Alexandra Palace in north London. In that competition Charles Villiers Stanford’s first symphony in B-flat took second place, while Francis William Davenport’s symphony in D-minor was placed first. A total of 38 symphonies had been submitted to the competition. Selected works include: Stage *Carrigraphuga, The Castle of the Fairies, musical comedy in three acts (1914), words by S. Phillips Keyboard *Concert Finale, pianoforte duet (1878) Choral *“A Border Ballad”, four-part song (1844), words by Francis William Bourdillon *Lord Ullin’s Daughter, c

Orlando Gibbons

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Orlando Gibbons (bapt. 25 December 1583 – 5 June 1625) was an English composer and keyboard player who was one of the last masters of the English Virginalist School and English Madrigal School. The best known member of a musical family dynasty, by the 1610s he was the leading composer and organist in England, with a career cut short by his untimely death in 1625. As a result, Gibbons’s oeuvre was not as large as that of his contemporaries, like the elder William Byrd, but he made considerable contributions to many genres of his time. Musicologists characterize his music as exemplifying the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque periods. Gibbons was born into a musical family where his father was a wait, his brothers—Edward, Ellis and Ferdinand—were musicians and Orlando was expected to follow the tradition. It is not known under whom he studied, although it may have been with Edward or Byrd, but he almost certainly studied the keyboard in his youth. Irrespective of his education, he was musically proficient enough to be appointed an unsalaried member of the Chapel Royal in May 1603 and a full-fledged gentleman of the Chapel Royal as junior organist by 1605. By 1606, he had

Oscar Beringer

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Oscar Beringer (14 July 1844 – 21 February 1922) was an English pianist and teacher of German descent. Beringer was born in Furtwangen in the Black Forest, but by 1849 he had moved to London when his father became a political refugee. Due to impoverished circumstances he was largely self taught (on a borrowed piano with lessons from his sister) until he was 19, but made several appearances as a piano soloist at the Crystal Palace Saturday Concerts in 1859-60. At the age of 19 Beringer began a course of systematic training as a pupil of Ignaz Moscheles in Leipzig, and Carl Tausig in Berlin. In 1869 he was appointed professor at Tausig’s Schule des höheren Clavierspiels in Berlin, but he returned to London in 1871. By 1873 he had established the Oscar Beringer Academy for the Higher Development of Pianoforte Playing, initially from a small house in Great Marlborough Street, then at 12 Hinde Street off Manchester Square, and later at 40 Wigmore Street in London. It was organized on the model of Tausig’s school. From 1885 he was also a professor at the Royal Academy of Music. On 14 October 1882 Beringer was the soloist in Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto for its first performance in Engl

Pamela Harrison (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pamela Harrison (28 November 1915 – 28 August 1990) was an English composer, pianist and music teacher. Harrison’s music was influenced by composers including E.J. Moeran, Arnold Bax and John Ireland, and French music. She first made her mark as a composer with the Quintet for flute, oboe and strings, written in 1938 and first performed that year at a concert of the Society for the Promotion of New Music. The Quintet was heard again in 1944 at Fyvie Hall, Regent Street, played by an ensemble led by Leonard Hirsch. She also continued to compose and perform. Her String Quartet was played more than once at the wartime Myra Hess National Gallery concerts in 1944. Harvey was a member of the Hirsch String Quartet and made his professional conducting debut with the Jacques Orchestra at the Wigmore Hall in 1950 (at which he conducted his wife’s Suite for Tomothy). That year he formed the Harvey Phillips String Orchestra (with leader Hugh Bean), which included in its repertoire Harrison’s Five Poems of Ernest Dowson for tenor and string orchestra - the first London performance with Peter Pears as the soloist on 15 December 1952 at the Royal Festival Hall - and her Six Poems of Baudelaire. P

Paolo Tosti

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Sir Francesco Paolo Tosti KCVO (9 April 1846, Ortona, Abruzzo2 December 1916, Rome) was an Italian composer and music teacher. Today, he is remembered mostly for his light-hearted songs, which are popular among vocal students. Biography Francesco Paolo Tosti received most of his music education in his native Ortona, Italy, as well as at the conservatory in Naples. Tosti began studying at the Royal College of San Pietro a Majella in Naples at the age of eleven. Once recovered from his illness, Tosti moved to Ancona, where his poverty was such that for weeks at a time he subsisted on nothing but oranges and stale bread. His travels brought him to Rome, where his fortunes turned. He met the pianist and composer Giovanni Sgambati, who became his patron. Sgambati arranged for Tosti to give a concert at the Sala Dante which the Princess Margherita of Savoy (who would become Queen of Italy in 1878) attended. Impressed with his performance, she appointed him as her singing professor. She later appointed him curator of the Musical Archives of Italy at the Court. A memorial plaque on his former home at 12 Mandeville Place, Marylebone (now the Mandeville Hotel) was unveiled on 12 June 1996. I

Patric Standford

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Patric Standford (5 February 1939 – 23 April 2014) was an English composer, supporter of composers’ rights, educationalist and author. Early life and education Patric John Standford (real name John Gledhill) was born in Barnsley, moved to the West Riding of Yorkshire, and had a Quaker education at Ackworth School in West Yorkshire. He began his working life as a legal accountant and served in the Royal Air Force at 617 Squadron in Lincolnshire before arranging his own admission to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in 1961, where he studied composition with Edmund Rubbra and Raymond Jones. While a student, he was awarded both the Carl Meyer Prize and the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for composition. Career In 1964, Standford was awarded the Mendelssohn Scholarship, enabling him to travel to Venice and study with Gian Francesco Malipiero, and later to Warsaw where he studied with Witold Lutosławski. In 1967 he joined the professorial staff of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and from then divided his working life between composing, conducting, teaching and musical journalism. When Edmund Rubbra retired, Standford was appointed the School’s principal compos

Patrick Doyle

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Patrick Doyle (born 6 April 1953 ) is a Scottish composer and occasional actor best known for his film scores. During his 50-year career in film, television and theatre, he has composed the scores for over 60 feature films. A longtime collaborator of actor-director Kenneth Branagh, Doyle is known for his work on films such as Henry V, Sense and Sensibility, Hamlet, Carlito’s Way, Quest for Camelot, and Gosford Park, as well as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Thor, Brave, Cinderella, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. He has scored the films of many renowned directors including Robert Altman, Ang Lee, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, Brian De Palma, Chen Kaige, Amma Asante, Régis Wargnier and Kenneth Branagh. Doyle has been nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, and Scottish BAFTA, the PRS Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Music and received the ASCAP Henry Mancini Award for “outstanding achievements and contributions to the world of film and television music.” He is a classically trained composer who studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music graduating in 1975, and from which he was made a Fellow in

Patrick Hadley

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Patrick Arthur Sheldon Hadley (5 March 1899 – 17 December 1973) was a British composer. Biography Patrick Sheldon Hadley was born on 5 March 1899 in Cambridge. His father, William Sheldon Hadley, was at that time a fellow of Pembroke College. His mother, Edith Jane, was the daughter of the Revd Robert Foster, chaplain to the Royal Hibernian Military School in Dublin. Patrick attended St Ronan’s Preparatory School (in Worthing, Sussex) and Winchester College (in Hampshire). However the First World War interrupted his education. He enlisted in the army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery. He managed to survive unscathed until the last weeks of the war, when he received an injury necessitating the below-knee amputation of his right leg. This profoundly damaged his confidence and also caused him to perhaps drink more than was wise; he was in constant pain, for which alcohol provided some relief. Patrick’s elder brother Peyton Sheldon Hadley, a former pupil of Charterhouse School, who served in the infantry, was also wounded in the closing months of the War. He was invalided home to convalesce, but died of pneumonia that October. A memorial to Peyton

Patrick Hawes

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Patrick Hawes (born 5 December 1958) is a British composer, conductor, organist and pianist. Biography Born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England, the son of publican parents, Hawes grew up along the Lincolnshire coast and was educated at De Aston School. He read music at St Chad’s College, University of Durham as organ scholar, and was also conductor of the University Chamber Choir and the University Symphony Orchestra. During his research year, he founded and conducted the University Chamber Singers. He went on to work as a teacher of music and English, firstly at Pangbourne College (1981–1990) where he produced his first major work, the dramatic cantata The Wedding at Cana. This led to him becoming Composer in Residence at Charterhouse School (1990–1997). Leaving teaching in 1997 to pursue his career as a composer, he wrote his first film score in 2002 for The Incredible Mrs Ritchie, directed by Paul Johansson. His debut album Blue in Blue, a collection of choral and orchestral pieces, was released in 2004. Made ‘CD of the Week’ on Classic FM in 2004, it was nominated for a Classical Brit award and was voted by Classic FM listeners as the fastest ever and highest new entry into the

Patrick Larley

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Patrick Larley (born 1951) is a British composer. Biography He was born in Frodsham, Cheshire, England and lived at Fearnhead in Warrington. Patrick is the third of the four children of Ian A. and Helen Dunsmuir/Larley: Larley studied organ and singing at the Royal Manchester College of Music and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists. He pursued a career in cathedral music, holding posts of Vicar Choral in Wells Cathedral and then becoming Sub-Organist in St Asaph Cathedral, moving on to become Master of Choristers at Grimsby Minster and Director of Music at St James’ Choir School, Great Grimsby in Lincolnshire. After this he became Director of Music in Ellesmere College in Shropshire. He is now a freelance composer, conductor, harpsichordist and organist, and is also Musical Director of Ludlow Choral Society in Shropshire and Birmingham Festival Choral Society, and formerly directed Nantwich Choral Society in Cheshire. He has founded and directs a number of vocal ensembles including Gallery Players and Chudleigh’s Company. He has given recitals in cathedrals and churches throughout Britain and has toured France, Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium, Italy and Ireland as a

Paul Buchanan

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Paul Gerard Buchanan (born 16 April 1956), is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician, known for critically acclaimed compositions both as a co-founder of the Blue Nile and as a solo performer. Early life and education Paul Gerard Buchanan was born on 16 April 1956 in Edinburgh. He was the first born of four children to civil servant John “Jack” Buchanan and Jesse Maria Buchanan (née Murray). His father worked at the Department of Trade and Industry. After his birth, the family moved to the Glasgow suburb town of Bishopbriggs. Career Early career After university, Buchanan worked as teacher, as the manager of a theatre, and for the Scottish Society of Playwrights Magazine. A guitarist, he started the Blue Nile band with friends from university: keyboardist Paul Joseph “PJ” Moore and synthesiser player and bassist Robert Bell. The band progressed from covers to releasing their own work. Their first album was produced in 1981 through RSO records. (the band later worked with both acts), the Blue Nile gained critical acclaim, particularly for its first two albums A Walk Across the Rooftops and Hats, and some commercial success in both the UK and the US, which led to the band working

Paul Carr (composer)

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Paul Carr (born 1961) is an English classical music composer. Born in Cornwall, he has been writing music since the age of 15. He studied voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and worked in opera stage management before concentrating on composing. He is the brother of conductor Gavin Carr. He has written a number of classical concertos, often in a lighter style including concertos for clarinet, oboe, flute, piano and viola. He has also scored several British films including Janice Beard 45 WPM, Being Considered, and Lady Audley’s Secret. TV work includes the children’s series Girls in Love for Granada Television. A major new work for baritone, chorus and orchestra, ‘Seven Last Words from the Cross’, was commissioned by Bath Minerva Choir in 2012. The world premiere was given by the Bath Minerva Choir, conducted by Gavin Carr, on 20 April 2013 in Bath Abbey. Works *Air For Orchestra * THE BUSHIDO BLADE (1981) *Chasing Aunt Sally (for orchestra) * Chorale (2013) *Concerto For Clarinet *Concerto For Oboe *Concerto For Flute * Concerto for Two Saxophones & Orchestra *Diverting Sundays (for wind quintet) *Forbidden Waltz (for bassoon and piano) *Gentle Music (for string orche

Paul Corder

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Paul Walford Corder (14 December 1879 - 6 August 1942) was an English composer and music professor. Corder was born at Pimlico, London, the son of musician Frederick Corder and his wife Henrietta Walford. He was baptised at St Gabriel’s, Warwick Square, London, on 1 March 1880. He studied under his father at the Royal Academy of Music and won the Goring Thomas scholarship for composition in 1901. In 1907 he joined the staff of the Academy as Professor of Composition and Harmony. His aunt Rosa Corder painted a portrait of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Corder was strongly influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite movement. He composed operas, ballets, cantatas and piano works. Many of his orchestral works remain unpublished and unknown but some of his keyboard pieces were published and achieved some public attention. He was a close friend of Arnold Bax with whom he spent holidays in Cornwall. Bax dedicated the song “Aspiration” (1909) and his Fourth Symphony (1931) to Corder. Paul and his sister Dolly moved to Looe Island, Cornwall in 1921, the island being bought with the proceeds of the sale of Frederick Corder’s collection of first editions. It is said that Dolly was so distraught at Paul’s d

Paul Fincham

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Paul Timothy Fincham (born 23 January 1959) is a British composer. Early life and family Fincham is the younger brother of television producer Peter Fincham. Fincham returned to composing, based in London. Notable compositions In February 2017, Fincham’s first feature film score for A Reason to Leave won Best Original Score at the London International Filmmakers Festival. The film, written and directed by Norman Gregory, also won Best Film at the same awards. Later that year, Fincham was commissioned by the London Philharmonic Choir to write a new Christmas carol. On 20 December 2017, “Ring the Bells” was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall at the choir’s concerts presented by Alan Titchmarsh. In 2018, “Ring the Bells” was published by Boosey & Hawkes. In 2018, Fincham was commissioned by the British Museum to write a new work inspired by their Celtic Collection. On 21 June 2018, along with his violin piece, Suilven, Awen (meaning poetic inspiration in ancient Welsh/Breton/Cornish) was premiered by the London Philharmonic Choir under their artistic director, Neville Creed. Fincham’s first opera The Happy Princess, based on “The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde, with a libretto by Jessic

Paul Keenan (composer)

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Paul Keenan (1 August 1956 – 26 June 2001) was a British 20th Century contemporary classical composer. His body of composition spans 27 years, though consistently explores his fascination with both Anglo-Saxon texts (from The Exeter Book) and the natural world. Education Keenan was born in Birmingham where he attended St Philip’s Grammar School. He went on to study composition with Anthony Gilbert at the Royal Northern College of Music. He enrolled at Durham University in 1979 to read for a Master of Arts degree, but eventually left without submitting a thesis after struggling with writer’s block. In 1992, he returned to education (the decision to leave Durham having ‘plagued him’ for some time) and began doctoral studies at the University of Edinburgh. Keenan also studied privately with Bill Hopkins. Notable works * Concerto for Groups of Instruments (1974–76) :: 1(picc).alto fl.1.1.1–1.2.2.1–pno.organ–7.3.3.1 * The Ruin (part one) (1976–79) :: Setting of part of The Ruin, an Anglo-Saxon poem from The Exeter Book :: soprano, counter-tenor, 1.1.1.0-1.1.1.0-pno/cel.hpsch/org-2 perc–string quartet * Palimpsest (1992–95) :: Setting of riddles from The Exeter Book :: soprano, 0.1.1.0–0

Paul Mealor

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Paul Mealor CLJ FLSW (born 25 November 1975) is a Welsh composer. A large proportion of his output is for chorus, both a cappella and accompanied. He came to wider notice when his motet Ubi Caritas et Amor was performed at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011. He later composed the song “Wherever You Are”, which became the 2011 Christmas number one in the UK Singles Chart. He has also composed two operas, four symphonies, concerti and chamber music. Biography Born in St Asaph, Denbighshire, Wales, Mealor studied composition privately with William Mathias and John Pickard and then read music at the University of York (1994–2002). He studied composition at York with Nicola LeFanu, and in Copenhagen at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Hans Abrahamsen (1998–99). From 2003 to 2024 he was Professor of Composition at the University of Aberdeen. In 2003 he founded the University of Aberdeen Music Prize for composition. He took early retirement in October 2024 and the university honoured him with a lifetime Emeritus Professorship. Since October 2023 he has been the Artistic Director of the North Wales International Music Festival. He has held visiting professo

Paul Mounsey

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Paul Mounsey (born 15 April 1959) is a Scottish musician, composer, arranger and record producer. A graduate of Trinity College, London, where he studied with Richard Arnell, Mounsey has composed for film, television, theatre, and television commercials, as well as the concert hall and the Latin American pop market. He has written pop hits for Mexican boy bands, received commissions for concert and multimedia works, lived with and recorded the music of indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest, and has released five solo albums. Paul Mounsey collaborated with composers John Powell, Henry Jackman and Danny Elfman. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California, United States, working as composer, orchestrator and programmer in the film industry. Mounsey’s fifth album, Tha Na Laithean a’ Dol Seachad (The Days Flash Past), was commissioned to celebrate the opening, in September 2005, of the An Lanntair Arts Centre in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Discography Solo albums * Nahoo (1994) * NahooToo (1997) * Nahoo 3 – Notes from the Republic (1999) * City of Walls (2003) * Tha Na Laithean a’ Dol Seachad (The Days Flash Past) (2005) With Runrig * Proterra (2003) Referen

Paul Newland

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Paul Newland is a composer, musician, and founding member of the group rout , and the electric guitar duo, exquisite corpse (David Arrowsmith/Paul Newland). He studied composition at the Royal Northern College of Music with Anthony Gilbert and visiting tutor Harrison Birtwistle, at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Michael Finnissy and at Royal Holloway, University of London with Simon Holt receiving his doctorate in 2006. While a student at the Royal Academy of Music, György Ligeti awarded Newland the Josiah Parker prize for composition. In 1999, he was awarded a Japanese government Monbusho scholarship to study with Japanese composer Jo Kondo, and lived in Japan from 1999 to 2002. Recent commissions and performances include Difference is everywhere (2017) for the Elias String Quartet, commissioned by the Wigmore Hall Trust, things that happen again (again) (2017) for Music We’d Like to Hear, and Angus MacPhee (2015) commissioned by Ilan Volkov for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and premiered in Glasgow at Tectonics 2015. He has made several works in collaboration with choreographer and dancer Marina Collard including what this is, is… (2016), going on - going on (2

Paul Patterson (composer)

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Paul Patterson (born 15 June 1947) is a British composer and Manson Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Career Patterson studied trombone and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. One of his teachers was Richard Rodney Bennett. He returned there to become Head of Composition and Contemporary Music until 1997, when he became Manson Professor of Composition. A regular guest on composition competition panels both in the UK and further afield, his devotion to new music, along with his desire to introduce the music of contemporary masters to students (in both composition and performance fields), has resulted in the creation of annual festivals devoted to a single composer at the Academy. He has worked with South East Arts, the University of Warwick, the London Sinfonietta and is currently Composer-in-Residence with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and celebrated his tenth year with them in 2007. Patterson has produced a number of large-scale choral works, most notably the Mass of the Sea (1983), Stabat Mater (1986), Te Deum (1988) the Millennium Mass (2000). His works are performed regularly by leading performers in the United Kingdom and abroad, mo

Paul Reade

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Paul Geoffrey Reade (10 January 1943 – 7 June 1997) was an English composer. Born in Liverpool, he studied piano and composition (1962-1965) at the Royal Academy of Music with Alan Richardson and worked at English National Opera as a répétiteur. Career Reade’s first piece for orchestra, Overture to a City, was performed in 1965 by the Academy Orchestra under Maurice Handford. From the late 1960s he became well known as a composer for children’s television, with credits including the theme tune and many songs for Play School in 1968. (He was also the Play School pianist). He arranged the Beethoven extracts heard by millions of children in the surreal animated series Ludwig. His other children’s television credits include The Flumps, Crystal Tipps and Alistair, Alphabet Castle and Mortimer and Arabel. There is also a full length opera for children, David and Goliath (1975), which was successfully revived by Stephen Lawless at the Buxton Festival in 1985. The music for The Victorian Kitchen Garden (1989) has been published in various arrangements and continues to be played in recitals and music examinations. With Tim Gibson he composed the theme music for the Antiques Roadshow. Severa

Paul Spicer (musician)

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Paul Spicer (born 6 June 1952) is an English composer, conductor, and organist. He taught choral conducting at the Royal College of Music and conducted the RCM Chamber Choir between 1995 and 2008. Until his retirement in July 2022 he also taught at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and conducted their chamber choir which records for Somm Records. He also teaches at Oxford and Durham universities. Since 2004 he has been the conductor of the Petersfield Festival. He was Senior Producer for BBC Radio 3 for the Midlands Region based in Birmingham between 1984 and 1990 after which he moved to be artistic director of the Lichfield Festival. He also produced for various record companies over many years. He founded the Finzi Singers in 1984 making many recordings for Chandos Records. He conducts the Birmingham Bach Choir and the Whitehall Choir in London. His compositions include two oratorios for Easter and for Advent with libretti by the Dr Tom Wright and a choral symphony ‘Unfinished Remembering’ (2014) to a libretto by Euan Tait commemorating the outbreak of World War 1. He runs a series of choral courses under the banner of The English Choral Experience based mainly at Abbey Dore in

Paul Thomson (composer)

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Paul Ross Thomson (born 18 February 1972 in Walsall, Staffordshire) is an English composer for film, television, and video games and music technologist who lives in the Cotswolds. He won the 2012 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Award for Music Original Title for his theme music for the BBC TV show The Fades. Spitfire Audio He founded the British music technology company Spitfire Audio with fellow composer Christian Henson in 2007. The company has collaborated with Hans Zimmer, Olafur Arnalds, Eric Whitacre and BT. Television Thomson has written for a variety of films and television shows. Recent work also includes the multiple award-winning movie Missed Connections, the film adaptation of Half of a Yellow Sun, the BAFTA Best Drama winning and BANFF Best Youth Fiction award-winning The Fades (2011), Discovery: Project Earth (2008) and The Genius of Charles Darwin (2008). Games Thomson was a lead composer on LittleBigPlanet 2 created by Media Molecule creating all of the cinematics for the game, and several adaptive music tracks. He also worked with the company on the first game’s downloadable content, scoring the Pirates of the Caribbean premium level pack and the “Marvel” p

Paul Whitty

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Paul Whitty (born 1970) is an England-based experimental composer and sound artist born in Northern Ireland. Biography Paul Whitty was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, in 1970 and is currently professor of composition at Oxford Brookes University. He is a founder and director of the Sonic Art Research Unit (SARU). He studied with Roger Marsh, Magnus Lindberg, Colin Matthews, Vinko Globokar and Michael Finnissy. His work has been performed by the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Expose, IXION, Michael Finnissy, rout , Philip Howard, and Mieko Kanno amongst others, and his music has featured at festivals including Brighton, Ultima in Oslo, the Gaudeamus Music Week in Amsterdam, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the 54th Venice Biennale and at State of the Nation in London. He has received awards, including from the Arts Council England, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Britten-Pears Foundation, and the British Council. Pianist Philip Howard titled his first album, Decoding Skin (2003), after one of his compositions. Whitty is a founder, along with the composers Sam Hayden and Paul Newland, of the ensemble rout , which has made concert tours in the UK, appear

Paul Williams (composer)

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Paul Williams is an English composer and pianist. Biography Paul Williams ( Terry Day) studied at the Royal College of Music and Jesus College, Cambridge. While attending university, he teamed up with Roger Wornell, and under the pen names of Paul de Schroder and Lee Lenrow, they found a local rock and roll group called “The Phantoms”, write songs for them, and arranged to be “discovered” by Pallette records. Their first record, “Phantom Guitar” and “Cachina” is now recognised as a classic of its genre. He has been composing since the age of eight and plays a variety of keyboard instruments. Williams has also worked as a session musician with numerous bands and orchestras, and has more recently worked with Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music fame. Williams also composes for major international publishing companies, including Carlin Music, Sound Stage, Parry Music and Zomba Production Music with over 1300 titles published. His compositions range from the horrifying, through the romantic, into high-tech. Paul has also worked at BBC Radios 1 & 2 with many major production credits. Williams lives in Cheam. Major credits (film and television) * “Crocodile” Dundee (1986) - love theme * Neighbou

Pauline Duchambge

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Pauline Duchambge née de Montet (1778 – 23 April 1858) was a French pianist, singer, and composer. Life Duchambge (Montet) was born in Martinique, the daughter of a noble family. She was taken to Paris, where she received a convent education and studied the piano from composer and author Jean-Baptiste Desormery, son of the famous comic opera actor and composer Léopold-Bastien Desormery. Pauline left the convent in 1792 and married Baron Duchambge in 1796. In 1798 at the age of 20, she lost both her parents and with them the family fortune. Soon afterwards she was divorced. It was after these events that Duchambge’s musical education began in earnest. She studied harmony and composition with Daniel Auber and Luigi Cherubini (who wrote several compositions for her) as well as piano and composition with Jan Ladislav Dussek. In 1815, Duchambge met the French poet and novelist, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore beginning a lifelong friendship and collaboration. Their friendship is documented by a lengthy correspondence and a number of songs by Duchambge on Debordes-Valmore’s texts including L’Adieu tout bas, La Fiancée del marin, Je pense à lui, La Jeune Châtelaine, Rêve du mousse, La Sincère

Peggy Hubicki

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Margaret Olive Hubicki MBE (2 July 1915 – 3 January 2006) was an English composer and teacher of musical harmony, who invented the Colour-Staff method to help people with dyslexia to read music. Life Hubicki was born Margaret Mullins in Hampstead, London on 2 July 1915. Her mother was Scottish and her father English. She studied piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music with Benjamin Dale, winning the gold medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, and at her graduation recital in 1934 performed a sonata of her own composition. She was one of the founders of the British Dyslexia Association, and involved in the Council for Music in Hospitals. She was also one of the first teachers, and a governor, of the Yehudi Menuhin School. An album of her compositions, Dedication in Time, was released on the Chandos label in 2005 to celebrate her 90th birthday. References

Pelham Humfrey

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Pelham Humfrey (Humphrey, Humphrys) (1647 in London – 14 July 1674 in Windsor) was an English composer. He was the first of the new generation of English composers at the beginning of the Restoration to rise to prominence. Life and career Pelham Humfrey was born in 1647. By the age of seventeen Humfrey’s anthems were evidently in use and he was sent by the King to study in Paris, probably in January 1665 where he was greatly influenced by music at the French Court. On the basis of the music he wrote on his return, he also assimilated the more expressive vocal style of Carissimi. He later succeeded Henry Cooke (his father-in-law) as Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal and also became composer to the Court. Humfrey died at the age of 26, but along with Matthew Locke exerted a strong influence on his peers even at his young age, including William Turner, Henry Purcell, and John Blow. At his early death he had already produced several works of great poignancy and expressive power including the Verse Anthem O Lord my God. Samuel Pepys mentions Humfrey’s dress sense and general demeanour in his diary: Little Pelham Humphreys is an absolute monsieur as full of form and confidence a

Percy Buck

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sir Percy Carter Buck (25 March 1871 – 3 October 1947) was an English music educator, writer, organist, and composer. Early life and education Percy Buck was born in West Ham, London, and studied at Merchant Taylors’ School, the Guildhall School of Music under Charles Joseph Frost (1848-1918) and Francis Davenport, and then at Royal College of Music, where his teachers were Walter Parratt, C.H. Lloyd, Hubert Parry and John Arthur St. Oswald Dykes. Career From 1891 until 1894 he was organ scholar at Worcester College, Oxford, where he became friends with William Henry Hadow, Classics Tutor there at the time, who became the first editor of the Oxford History of Music in 1896. Buck was appointed organist at Wells Cathedral (1896–99), then Bristol Cathedral (1899–1901). He became director of music at Harrow School in 1901 and held that post until 1927. While at Harrow, Buck served on the editorial board of the ten-volume anthology Tudor Church Music. In 1919 Sir Hugh Allen invited him to join the staff of the Royal College of Music, where he set up a teacher’s training course, contributing his own lectures on psychology. In 1925, Buck became the King Edward Professor of Music in the Un

Percy Kahn

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Percival (Percy) Benedict Kahn (9 December 18802 May 1966) was an English composer and pianist. His most noted composition was the song Ave Maria with accompaniment by piano, and violin obbligato. Kahn was born in London in 1880. He was a boy soprano, and at the age of 15 won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where he studied for four years under the organist and composer Walter Parratt. He also studied piano with Marmaduke Barton, and theory with Charles Wood and Walford Davies. Kahn accompanied some of the great musicians of the day, including violinists Mischa Elman and Fritz Kreisler; sopranos Dame Nellie Melba, Luisa Tetrazzini, Florence Austral and Oda Slobodskaya, tenors Enrico Caruso, John McCormack, Richard Tauber, Vladimir Rosing, Joseph Hislop and Beniamino Gigli; and baritones Titta Ruffo and John Brownlee. Of all these artists, he was most closely associated with Richard Tauber, whom he accompanied regularly for 14 years, from 1933 up until Tauber’s death. Tauber recorded four of his songs for Parlophone, and sang others in broadcasts. His Ave Maria was recorded in 1913 by Enrico Caruso and Mischa Elman, with the composer at the piano. Percy Kahn was married

Percy Sherwood

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Percy Sherwood (23 May 1866 - 15 May 1939) was a German-born composer and pianist of English nationality. He was born in Dresden, the son of a lecturer in English at Dresden University, John Sherwood, and a German mother Auguste Koch, who had been a successful soprano. After his studies with Theodor Kirchner, Felix Draeseke and Herman Scholtz, Sherwood became a major figure in the music life of Dresden before the First World War. In 1889 he won the Mendelssohn Prize for his Requiem. He was first a teacher, then professor, at the Dresden Conservatory from 1893 and 1911 respectively. His own students included Dora Pejačević. Shortly before war broke out in 1914 he and his wife abandoned their Dresden villa and returned to England, where he was almost unknown. Thereafter he made a living as a private teacher in London and travelling weekly to Oxford and Cambridge. He died in London. Sherwood’s compositions come from the classic German tradition. They include five symphonies (Nos. 4 and 5 are lost) and several concertos (two each for cello, piano and violin), as well as chamber music (including two cello sonatas and at least six string quartets) and solo piano works. Modern recordings

Pete Moore (composer)

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Pete Moore (20 August 1924 – 1 December 2013) was a British composer and arranger for a string of famous artists from the 1950s onwards. Early life Born in Essex, England, Moore studied composition and arranging privately for approximately ten years with three teachers. These were Alfred Nieman (who was on the staff at the Guildhall School of Music, London), Henry Geehl and a certain “Dr. Cook” who was probably another staff member at one of the London music colleges. Career His first job was playing piano in a pub. In 1949 he joined Teddy Foster’s band, and then played with Ken Macintosh, Vic Lewis, Frank Cordell and Norrie Paramor. By 1958, he worked with such greats as Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Johnny Mercer, Gene Kelly, Peggy Lee, Frankie Laine, Connie Francis and Peter Sellers, amongst others, on all manner of broadcasts and recordings. He frequently collaborated with record producer Ken Barnes. In the 1960s and the 1970s he made several easy listening records under his name or the name of Pete Moore and His Orchestra, usually recording covers of the pop hits of the day. He recorded for Pye Records and Rediffusion. As a composer, he wrote themes for many TV commercials, inclu

Peter Andry

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Peter Edward Andry, (10 March 1927 – 7 December 2010) was a classical record producer and an influential executive in the recording industry, active from the 1950s to the 1990s. Born in Hamburg, Andry spent his formative years in Melbourne, Australia, where he became a professional flautist, with ambitions to be a conductor. After moving to England, where he studied with William Lloyd Webber and Sir Adrian Boult, he played the flute in the orchestra of a ballet company, with occasional chances to conduct. In 1953 he switched career, joining the Decca Record Company as a producer. Less than three years later he moved to Decca’s rival, His Master’s Voice, part of EMI, where he rose to become head of the group’s classical operations. After retiring from EMI in 1988, Andry headed a new classical label Warner Classics, before retiring finally from the recording industry in 1996. Life and career Early years Andry was born in Hamburg, the younger of two brothers. His mother was a professional opera singer, his father a lawyer. When Andry was eight the family moved to Australia, where he studied piano, composition and flute at the University of Melbourne. As a young and inexperienced super

Peter Brewis

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Peter Brewis is a composer and instrumentalist who has been active in several spheres of music from ballet and modern dance to music theatre and rock music. Although he was classically trained, studying under the famous French music educator Nadia Boulanger, he has also written for comedy shows such as Spitting Image, for which he composed “I’ve Never Met a Nice South African.” Career Brewis studied composition at the Royal College of Music where he won the Cobbett Prize for composition. After graduation he took lessons in composition from Nadia Boulanger, studied electronic music with Lawrence Casserly and Javanese Gamelan with Alec Roth. Brewis spent a period as composer-in-residence with Scottish Ballet’s Movable Workshop. He composed the music for the company’s joint production with Traverse Theatre of C. P. Taylor’s Columba. Stuart Hopps was the choreographer. Other dance projects includes Finale for Charlie composed for Charles Augins and Endangered Species created for the Kosh Theatre Company. He has composed several musicals. Some of these were for educational projects. However, his Don Quixote was composed for the husband and wife team of Reg Bolton and Annie Stainer and t

Peter Crossley-Holland

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Peter Crossley-Holland (28 January 1916 – 27 April 2001 both composed in 1938, won him a composition scholarship at the Royal College of Music, where he was taught by John Ireland. He later he returned to Oxford for a B. Mus. degree. His graduating piece was in the celtic style, “A Song of Saint Columba”. Career From 1948, he was a producer for the BBC Radio classical music station Third Programme, Personal life He married Joan Mary Cowper in 1939. They had two children, Kevin and Sally. He set some of his son’s poems to music; his final work, the song “The Philosopher Bird” has words by his son Kevin and is dedicated to his daughter Sally. He and his wife were divorced in 1970. He subsequently married Dr. Nicole Crossley-Holland (née Marzac), a French medieval historian who taught at Aberystwyth University. He died in London of a heart attack on 27 April 2001, age 85. References

Peter Gregson (cellist)

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Peter Gregson (born 1987) is a cellist and composer. He was born in Edinburgh and was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and the Royal Academy of Music. Gregson composed the score for the 2015 film A Little Chaos, marking his first major film scoring job. Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair named it his favourite score of the year, dubbing it “a string-heavy stunner”, though Dennis Harvey writing for Variety magazine described it as “clichéd, saccharine score”. Gregson was interviewed as part of BBC Radio Ulster’s Classical Connections with John Toal programme in May 2015. He arranged the cello cover of Charli XCX’s “360” for Bridgerton season four on Netflix. In 2026, his “6.6 Gigue” piece was included as one of the tracks on the “Radio Opus” in the Forza Horizon 6 video game. Recordings * * * * *2021: An Evening at Capitol Studios: Bach Recomposed - EP * Background music * Songs of Paradise (TBA) References External links * Peter Gregson website

Peter Hope (composer)

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Peter Hope (born 2 November 1930) is a British composer and arranger. He is particularly noted for his light music compositions, such as the Ring of Kerry Suite, which won an Ivor Novello award, and for his arrangements, such as “Mexican Hat Dance”. He has also written a Recorder Concerto and arranged music for the 2003 Spanish royal wedding, as well as Jessye Norman and José Carreras. He is sometimes credited as William Gardner. Career Born in Edgeley, Stockport, Hope spent a lot of time at the cinema during his childhood, absorbing the musical scores, and began learning piano at the age of thirteen. One of his teachers was Dora Gilson, on the staff of the Royal Manchester College of Music. He began composing while still at school. From 1949 he studied music at Manchester University under Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895-1980) and Maurice Aitchison. His time there overlapped with Peter Maxwell-Davies and Elgar Howarth, who joined in 1952. With help from mentor Ernest Tomlinson, who Hope met while at Manchester, he gained employment at Mills Music in London as a copyist and arranger, where he stayed until 1954. He began providing regular arrangements for the BBC Concert Orchestra, usin

Peter Maxwell Davies

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Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen’s Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music, Davies formed a group dedicated to contemporary music called the New Music Manchester with fellow students Harrison Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr, Elgar Howarth and John Ogdon. Davies’s compositions include eight works for the stage—from the monodrama Eight Songs for a Mad King, which shocked the audience in 1969, to Kommilitonen!, first performed in 2011—and ten symphonies, written between 1973 and 2013. As a conductor, Davies was artistic director of the Dartington International Summer School from 1979 to 1984 and associate conductor/composer with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1992 to 2002, holding the latter position with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra as well. Early life and education Davies was born in Holly Street, Langworthy, Salford, Lancashire, and lived in Trafford Road before moving to Wyville Drive in Swinton. He was the son of Thomas Davies, a manufacturer of optical instruments, and his wife Hilda, an amateur painter. At age

Peter Meechan (composer)

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Peter John Meechan (born 29 January 1980) is a British-Canadian composer, conductor, and music publisher. Life and education Meechan studied musical composition at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and received his Bachelor of Arts. He then studied at the University of Salford in Salford and received his PhD in musical composition. He mostly writes works for concert and brass bands, but also for chamber ensembles and winds. His works for brass bands are often chosen as compulsory works for musical festivals and competitions. His works for concert band have been performed at the annual Midwest Clinic in Chicago and at the International Wind Festival held by the British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles by orchestras such as the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra, the Kew Wind Orchestra, and the Band of the Coldstream Guards. In 2006, he set up his own music publication company, Meechan Music. From 2006 to 2007, he was the composer of the well-known Black Dyke Band. Compositions Below is a list of Meechan’s compositions. Works for concert band and brass band * 2001–2002 Revamp, for brass band * 2002 Crazy Diamonds

Peter Philips

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Peter Philips (also Phillipps, Phillips, Pierre Philippe, Pietro Philippi, Petrus Philippus; c.1560–1628) was an eminent English composer, organist, and Catholic priest exiled to Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands. He was one of the greatest keyboard virtuosos of his time, and transcribed or arranged several Italian motets and madrigals by such composers as Lassus, Palestrina, and Giulio Caccini for his instruments. Some of his keyboard works are found in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Philips also wrote many sacred choral works. Life Philips was born in 1560 or 1561, possibly in Devonshire or London. From 1572 to 1578 he began his career as a boy chorister at Old St Paul’s Cathedral in London, under the aegis of the Catholic master of choristers, Sebastian Westcott (died 1582), who had also trained the young William Byrd some twenty years earlier. Philips must have had a close relationship with his master, as he lodged in his house up to the time of Westcote’s death, and was a beneficiary of his will. In the same year (1582), Philips left England for good, like so many others for reasons of his Catholicism, and stayed briefly in Flanders before traveling to Rome where he entered

Peter Pope (composer)

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Peter Searson Pope (25 March 1917 – 27 November 1991) was a British composer. Biography Peter Pope was born in London in 1917 and was educated at Uppingham School and at the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition with John Ireland and R.O. Morris, singing with Freda Swain and piano with Cyril Smith. In 1939 he won the Octavia Traveling Scholarship to study composition with Nadia Boulanger at the American Conservatoire in Fontainebleau, Paris and it was clear from subsequent documentation that he was one of her inner circle of favoured students. His studies were, however, cut short by the German invasion of Paris in 1940 and, when Nadia Boulanger emigrated to the United States, he had to flee across France, returning to England on a Spanish trawler. He later saw service in the Royal Army Medical Corps and was attached to the 8th Army as it advanced from North Africa through Sicily and Italy. After the war he composed several chamber works and his major break came in April 1948 when a piano quartet of his was performed at Wigmore Hall. It was favourably reviewed by William Mann, then assistant music critic of The Times, who opined that the new composer’s work would be '

Peter Racine Fricker

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Peter Racine Fricker (5 September 19201 February 1990) was an English composer, among the first to establish his career entirely after the Second World War. He lived in the US for the last thirty years of his life. Fricker wrote over 160 works in all the main genres excepting opera. He was a descendant of the French playwright Racine. Early career Fricker was born in Ealing, London (the family home was at 42 Colebrooke Avenue, West Ealing) and studied composition with R. O. Morris, organ with Ernest Bullock and piano with Henry Wilson at the Royal College of Music. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, Fricker undertook a period of study with Mátyás Seiber at Morley College. During the war he served in the Royal Air Force as a radio operator and in 1943 he married (Audrey) Helen Clench, a Czech pianist who had been with him at the RCM. After the war Fricker became a professor of composition at the RCM, and in 1952 he became director of music at Morley College, where he succeeded Michael Tippett. Other works include Paseo for guitar (1969), Sinfonia in Memoriam Benjamin Britten (1977), two violin concertos (1950, 1954), choral and chamber works (including the 195

Peter Reynolds (composer)

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Peter Reynolds (January 12, 1958 – October 11, 2016) was a Welsh composer known for founding PM Music Ensemble. In addition, he was recognised by Guinness World Records as having written with writer Simon Rees the shortest opera on Earth, Sands of Time; a three-minute and thirty-four second long piece. He died on 11 October 2016 at his home in Cardiff. Biography Peter was born to Dorothy and John Reynolds in 1958. Peter studied in Cardiff, Wales, and lived in South Wales, and was the artistic director of the Lower Machen Festival in Monmouthshire from 1998 to 2009. He received bursaries to study at the Dartington International Summer School with Peter Maxwell Davies in 1984, Morton Feldman in 1986, and Gordon Crosse in 1987. Peter gave many composition workshops ranging from schools’ Year 9 through to teaching composition at both undergraduate and post-graduate level at Cardiff’s Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama from 2002 - 2016. Peter was the Musical Director of the Splott Ladies Choir during the 1990s, and he often ran workshops in combination with many different ensembles. St David’s Hall Composition Series Between September and December 2014, Peter ran a series of compositi

Peter Warlock

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Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 189417 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine’s interest in occult practices, was used for all his published musical works. He is best known as a composer of songs and other vocal music; he also achieved notoriety in his lifetime through his unconventional and often scandalous lifestyle. As a schoolboy at Eton College, Heseltine met the British composer Frederick Delius, with whom he formed a close friendship. After a failed student career in Oxford and London, Heseltine turned to musical journalism, while developing interests in folk-song and Elizabethan music. His first serious compositions date from around 1915. Following a period of inactivity, a positive and lasting influence on his work arose from his meeting in 1916 with the Dutch composer Bernard van Dieren; he also gained creative impetus from a year spent in Ireland, studying Celtic culture and language. On his return to England in 1918, Heseltine began composing songs in a distinctive, original style, while building a reputation as a combative and controversial music critic. During 1920–2

Phil Miller

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Philip Paul Brisco Miller (22 January 1949 – 18 October 2017) was an English progressive rock composer and guitarist and a central part of the Canterbury scene. He was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire. Self-taught on guitar, Miller formed his first band, Delivery, at age 17, which backed blues musicians playing at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London. In the 1970s he was a founding member of Matching Mole, Hatfield and the North and National Health. In later years he was a member of Short Wave (with Hugh Hopper, Pip Pyle, and Didier Malherbe), and In Cahoots with Richard Sinclair, Elton Dean, Peter Lemer, and Pip Pyle. In 2005 and 2006, Miller toured with a re-united Hatfield and the North. Miller also performed and recorded extensively in solo projects. Miller died on 18 October 2017 in London from cancer. Discography Filmography * 2015: Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales (DVD) References External links * Official website * Biography at Calyx, the Canterbury website * Interview with Phil Miller at allaboutjazz.com * Phil Miller Discography * Canterbury Music Family Tree

Philip Cannon (composer)

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Jack Philip Cannon (21 December 1929 – 24 December 2016) was a British composer and teacher. His choral music and songs have enjoyed extensive performances worldwide. Brief biography Philip Cannon was born in Paris on 21 December 1929, to Franco-British parents. The family moved to Falmouth in Cornwall in 1936, where Philip was educated at the local Grammar School. Cannon subsequently studied with Imogen Holst at Dartington and with Gordon Jacob and Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music, where (in 1951) he was awarded the Octavia Travelling Scholarship. In 1958 he became a lecturer in music at Sydney University, before returning to the Royal College in London in 1960 as Professor of Composition, a post which he held until his retirement in 1995. He was appointed FRCM in 1971. Cannon’s String Quartet of 1964 won two international awards in France. A number of high-profile commissions followed, including his work for 24 solo strings Oraison funèbre de l’âme humaine (1970) for French Radio, his choral work Son of Man (1975), commissioned by the BBC to mark the entry of the UK into the EEC, and three works of great beauty for the Three Choirs Festival: The Temple in 1974 (whic

Philip Cashian

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Philip Cashian (born 1963) is an English composer. He is the head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Early life and education Philip Cashian was born in Manchester in 1963 and studied at Cardiff University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Oliver Knussen and Simon Bainbridge. In 1997 he completed his doctorate at Durham University. Career In 1990 he was the Benjamin Britten fellow at Tanglewood where he studied with Lukas Foss. He was awarded the Britten Prize in 1991, the Mendelssohn Scholarship in 1992 and the PRS Composition Prize in 1994. His fast-paced style of music has been described as “an uncompromising reflection of the modern world”. Cashian has collaborated and worked with many leading musicians, ensembles and orchestras. Performances include the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Riga Sinfonietta, Ensemble Profil (Romania), Arctic Philharmonic, the Esprit Orchestra (Toronto), Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, London Sinfonietta, Ergon Ensemble (Athens), Festival de Mùsica de Alicante, Bergen Festival, Aspen Music Festival,

Philip Grange

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Philip Grange (born 17 November 1956) is an English composer and academic. Career Grange was born in London. He attended Peter Maxwell Davies’s classes at Dartington, and then took further, private, lessons with Davies while at The University of York, where he also studied composition with David Blake. He was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge (1985–7), and Northern Arts Fellow in Composition at Durham University (1988–9) before joining the music department at Exeter University as lecturer (1989), reader (1995) and professor (1999) in composition. In 2000 he moved to the University of Manchester, where he is Professor of Music. Works Grange’s first published pieces date from the late 1970s, and include Cimmerian Nocturne (1979), which was commissioned by The Fires of London, and included a performance under director Peter Maxwell Davies at the 1983 Proms as well as performances in Britain and abroad. Other early works include The Kingdom of Bones for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra, (1983), Variations (1988) and Concerto for Orchestra: Labyrinthine Images (1988) During the early 1990s Grange completed two BBC commissions, Focus and Fade for the BBC S

Philip Hart (organist)

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Philip Hart (1674 or 1676 – 18 July 1749) was an English organist and composer. Life His father, James Hart (1647–1718), was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal, chorister of Westminster Abbey, and a composer. Philip Hart was for many years organist of churches in London: he became assistant organist of St Andrew Undershaft in 1696, sole organist from 1697 until his death; he was organist of St Michael, Cornhill from 1704 to 1723. On 28 May 1724 he was elected the first organist of St Dionis Backchurch. He died, at an advanced age, on 17 July 1749, and was buried at St Andrew Undershaft on 22 July. Hart was said by the writer John Hawkins to have been a sound musician, but to have “entertained little relish” for innovations. Hawkins also described Hart’s frequent use of the “shake” in playing, and recorded how he was wont to discourse on music at Thomas Britton’s house in the company of Handel, Pepusch and others. Compositions * “An Ode to Harmony”, his setting of John Hughes’s “Ode in Praise of Musick”, performed on Saint Cecilia’s day 1703 * Fugues for the Organ or Harpsichord * Anthems: “I will give thanks”, and “Praise the Lord, ye Servants” * Many songs, including “A Song upon the

Philip Hayes (composer)

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Philip Hayes (baptised 17 April 1738 – 19 March 1797) was an English composer, organist, singer and conductor. Life and career Hayes was born in Oxford. His early musical education was overseen by his father William Hayes. He was awarded the degree of B.Mus in 1763 for the masque Telemachus and received his doctorate in 1777. He sang at the Chapel Royal in London from 1767, but returned to Oxford in 1776 to take up the post of organist at New College, Oxford and to assist his ailing father, whom he succeeded as Heather Professor of Music in 1777. He also replaced him as organist of Magdalen College, Oxford, and the University Church, and added the post of organist at St John’s College in 1790. His professorial ‘lectures’ took the form of specially composed odes and oratorios which were performed in the Oxford Music School. In 1780 he was appointed conductor of the annual Festival of the Sons of the Clergy held at St Paul’s Cathedral, and in 1791 he presided over Haydn’s visit to Oxford. As a conductor, he was one of the first English musicians to use a roll of paper with which to beat time but he was best known for his difficult personality and corpulence. His frequent trips to Lon

Philip Knapton

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Philip Knapton (20 October 1788 – 20 June 1833) was an English organist and composer, active in the musical life of York. Life Knapton was born in York in 1788, son of Samuel Knapton, an organist and double bass player, and a music publisher. He received his musical education at Cambridge, studying under Charles Hague, but did not graduate from the university. He returned to York, where he was a resident until his death. In about 1812 he became organist of St Saviour’s Church, York, the first after the installation of the organ. Soon afterwards, feeling that psalmody had fallen into neglect, he produced A Collection of Tunes for Psalms and Hymns, Selected as a Supplement to those now used in several Churches in York and its Vicinities, published in York in 1816; he selected tunes that he considered had neither a “gloomy style” nor a “light and indecorous style”. It went into at least three editions. He was one of the assistant conductors at the York festivals of 1823, 1825, and 1828. References External links * Philip Knapton (1788 - 1833) The LiederNet Archive *

Philip Martell

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Philip Martell (6 October 1907 – 11 August 1993) was a British composer, arranger, musical director, orchestra leader, and most notably head of music at Hammer Studios. Early life Born in Whitechapel and brought up in the East End, Martell began to play the violin at the age of five, enrolling at the Guildhall School of Music in 1919, aged 11. After graduation he began working in the West End of London as leader and then conductor, and also became involved with the early film industry, arranging sequences of classical music to accompany silent films. But as sound came to films in the 1930s Martell returned to the theatre, and also formed his own orchestra, The Forum Orchestra, in 1936. By the early 1950s he was conducting London productions of top musicals and shows, such as Love From Judy (Saville Theatre, September 1952), After the Ball (Globe Theatre, 1954) and Free as Air (Savoy Theatre, 1957). Film career Martell received his first film credit as musical director in 1949 on Val Guest’s Murder at the Windmill and was both musical director and composer of the film score to Guest’s Miss Pilgrim’s Progress (1950). He was sponsored by Guest to join Hammer Studios in 1954. He succee

Philip Pope

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Philip R. J. Pope is a British composer and actor. Education He was educated at Downside School and New College, Oxford. Performer Pope appeared in the Oxford Revue in Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1978 and 1979, both with Angus Deayton. He performed in the BBC Radio 4 comedy series Radio Active (1980–87), alongside Helen Atkinson-Wood, Angus Deayton, Geoffrey Perkins and Michael Fenton Stevens, which later led to the television series KYTV. Fenton Stevens is credited with telling the joke (written by Perkins) about Ringo Starr not being the best drummer in the Beatles, frequently misattributed to John Lennon or Jasper Carrott. It was broadcast on Radio Active on 15 September 1981. Though Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn initially claimed that it was Pope who said the line, Fenton Stevens later clarified that it was actually him. He also told Beatles fan Andrew Dixon that the cast initially thought it was a real joke that the Fab Four had told themselves. He has also starred in a number of television comedy series, including Who Dares Wins (1983–88), Chelmsford 123 (1988–90), Round the Bend (1989–91) and KYTV (1989–93). He made guest appearances in Blackadder as the painter Leonardo

Philip Rosseter

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Philip Rosseter (1568 – 5 May 1623) was an English composer and musician, as well as a theatrical manager. His family seems to have been from Somerset or Lincolnshire, he may have been employed with the Countess of Sussex by 1596, and he was living in London by 1598. In 1604 Rosseter was appointed a court lutenist for James I of England, a position he held until his death in 1623. Rosseter is best known for A Book of Ayres which was written with Thomas Campion and published in 1601. Some literary critics have held that Campion wrote the poems for Rosseter’s songs; however, this seems not to be the case. It is likely that Campion was the author of the book’s preface, which criticizes complex counterpoint and “intricate” harmonies that leave the words inaudible. The two men had a close professional and personal relationship; when Campion died in 1620, he had named Rosseter his sole heir. Rosseter’s lute songs are generally short, homophonic, with minimal repetition or word painting (imitating textual meanings through music), while at the same time being rich in musical invention. Rosseter’s only other book was Lessons for Consort (1609) for a broken consort of bandora, cittern, lute,

Philip Sparke

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Philip Allen Sparke (born 29 December 1951) is an English composer and musician born in London, noted for his concert band and brass band music. His early major works include The Land of the Long White Cloud – “Aotearoa”, written for the 1980 Centennial New Zealand Brass Band championship. He subsequently went on to win the EBU New Music for Band Competition three times, including in 1986 with a commission from the BBC called Orient Express. Since May 2000, his music has been published under his own label Anglo Music Press, and distributed by Hal Leonard. Notable achievements * 1997 Sudler Prize - Dance Movements * 2000 Iles Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians - Services to brass bands * 2005 National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest - Music of the Spheres * 2011 BUMA International Brass Award - Contributions to brass music * 2016 National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest - A Colour Symphony * 2018 International Award - Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic Works Music for Wind Band and Brass Band * 1973/1976 Gaudium * 1975 The Prizewinners for Brass-Band * 1978/1995 Fantasy for Euphonium *

Philip Venables

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Philip Venables is a British composer known for his operatic and theatrical works. Life and career Born in Chester, Venables studied at Jesus College, Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied under Philip Cashian and was awarded the DipRAM diploma and the Manson Fellowship in Composition. Venables’ orchestral works include Arc, written for the BBC Philharmonic; String Quartet for the Duke Quartet at Wigmore Hall; Hyaline, for the London Symphony Orchestra; and The Revenge of Miguel Cotto for the London Sinfonietta. His operatic and vocal works include In America et ego, performed at the Bregenz Festival; UNLEASHED, for Tête à Tête (opera company): The Opera Festival; va and Thalidomide for the BBC Singers. His artistic collaborations have included Bound to Hurt, with Turner Prize winner Douglas Gordon; and Illusions, with avant-garde cabaret artist David Hoyle. Venables wrote the 2016 operatic adaptation of 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane for the Royal Opera at the Lyric Hammersmith. Authorised by Kane’s estate as the first operatic adaptation of her work, the opera was well received by critics and nominated for the 2017 Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production. V

Philip Wilby

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Philip Wilby (born Pontefract, 1949) is a British composer, organist and choir director. Education Educated at Leeds Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford, he joined the staff at the University of Leeds as a Lecturer in the Department of Music in 1972. There he taught various composition, liturgy, directing, and score reading classes as well as co-founding the Leeds University Liturgical Choir. Music composing Composing for many different instruments and ensembles (piano, organ, voice, chamber ensemble, wind orchestra), Wilby is most known for his compositions for brass band. Many of Wilby’s pieces are based on his strong Christian beliefs. Famous works that fall in this category are … Dove Descending, Revelation, and The New Jerusalem. Many of Wilby’s works are written especially to be used as test pieces in brass band contests all over the world. One recent composition to fit this description is Vienna Nights, which was commissioned as the test piece for the 2006 British Open Brass Band Championship held in Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Most famously though Paganini Variations, one of his finest pieces of work, which was selected as the test piece for the 2011 Regional Champion

Phyllis Tate

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Phyllis Tate (6 April 1911 – 29 May 1987) was an English composer known for forming unusual instrumental combinations in her output. She is mainly remembered for her works for solo and chamber ensembles, rather than larger scale forms. Biography Early life and education Phyllis Margaret Duncan Tate was born at Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire, the daughter of an architect, Duncan Tate. She was excluded from primary school by her headmistress at the age of 10 for singing a lewd song her father taught her at the end of the year. While at the academy, she studied composition, timpani, and conducting. Tate married a music editor, Alan Clifford Frank, in 1935. They reportedly initially bonded over a mutual dislike of Ludwig van Beethoven’s music. During her school years, she also composed a symphony and several smaller pieces, although none from this era survive. * A Secular Requiem: The Phoenix and the Turtle (1970) for mixed voices, organ, and orchestra, setting Shakespeare’s poem as the text for a funeral. * All The World’s A Stage (1977) for chorus and orchestra. * Saint Martha and the Dragon (1978), for narrator, solo soprano, solo tenor, choir, chamber orchestra & tape. A setting

Poldowski

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Poldowski was the professional pseudonym of a Belgian-born British composer and pianist born Régine Wieniawski (16 May 187928 January 1932), daughter of the Polish violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski. Some of her early works were published under the name Irène Wieniawska. She married Sir Aubrey Dean Paul, 5th Bt (1869–1961), becoming Lady Dean Paul. Her name appears in a number of forms: * Régine Wieniawski * Irène Wieniawska * Irene Regina Wieniawski or Wieniawska * Lady Dean Paul * Lady Irene Dean Paul * Lady Irene Poldowski Paul * (Madame) Poldowski, Poldowsky or Poldowska. Biography Régine Wieniawski was born on 16 May 1879 in Ixelles, Brussels, where her father, the Polish virtuoso violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski, had earlier settled on his appointment as a professor of the Brussels Conservatory. Her mother was an Englishwoman, Isabelle Bessie Wieniawski (née Hampton), the niece of Irish pianist and composer George Alexander Osborne (who studied under Johann Peter Pixis, François-Joseph Fétis and Friedrich Kalkbrenner and was a close friend of Frédéric Chopin and Hector Berlioz) and a member of a London family that had had associations with Rossini, Meyerbeer, Je

Priaulx Rainier

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Ivy Priaulx Rainier (3 February 190310 October 1986) was a South African-British composer. Although she lived most of her life in England and died in France, her compositional style was strongly influenced by the African music remembered from her childhood. One of her sisters was a cellist. She taught at Badminton School, Bristol, and also played violin in a string quartet. (1939). It was given a private performance in 1940 but not performed publicly until 1944, at Wigmore Hall. The music was used for a ballet titled Night Spell, performed by the José Limón company in the United States in 1951 and the Barbaric Dance Suite for piano (1949; premiered in November 1950 by Margaret Kitchin). There is also a Suite for clarinet and piano (1943), a Sinfonia da camera for strings (1947; commissioned by a close friend, where she remained until 1961. Jeremy Dale Roberts, Rachel Cavalho, and Christopher Small. She and Michael Tippett co-founded the St Ives September Festival, first presented in June 1953. Music The first of Priaulx Rainier’s large orchestral works was Phalaphala (the word refers to an African chief’s ceremonial horn), first heard in 1961, celebrating Sir Adrian Boult’s tenth a

R. J. S. Stevens

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Richard John Samuel Stevens (27 March 1757 – 23 September 1837) was an English composer and organist. He composed some highly regarded English glees, and wrote a number of volumes of recollections, diaries and other literary material that provides valuable background on the musical life of late 18th century and early 19th century England. He bridges the gap between old Handel and Queen Victoria. Biography Stevens was born at Little Bell Alley, just off Coleman Street in London, and was apprenticed to William Savage, Master of the Boys at St Paul’s Cathedral until his voice broke in 1773. He took up various organ and technig jobs until his first official appointment, as organist of St Michael’s Cornhill in May 1781. In 1786 he succeeded John Stanley as organist at Temple Church, and in 1796 succeeded John Jones as organist of Charterhouse. Many of these positions were held simultaneously. In 1808 he received yet another appointment, as music master at Christ’s Hospital. Besides being valuable in themselves, these appointments helped him to attract the wealthy pupils on whom his living substantially depended. In 1810 Stevens married Anna Jeffery, after a long courtship; in 1811 they

R. O. Morris

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Reginald Owen Morris (3 March 1886 – 15 December 1948), known professionally and by his friends by his initials, as R.O. Morris, was a British composer and teacher. Teacher and author Morris was born in York, son of Army officer Reginald Frank Morris and Georgiana Susan (née Sherard). He was educated at Harrow School, New College, Oxford and the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London. On the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, along with his friends George Butterworth and Geoffrey Toye. After a time writing for The Nation as music critic, he rejoined the RCM as a professor of counterpoint and composition in 1920. From 1926 for two years he taught at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia before returning to the RCM. Morris became famous as an exceptional teacher of counterpoint, and wrote several texts including Contrapuntal Technique in the Sixteenth Century (Oxford, 1922), Foundations of Practical Harmony and Counterpoint (London, 1925), Figured Harmony at the Keyboard (London, 1931), The Structure of Music (London, 1935) and Introduction to Counterpoint (London, 1944). His students included the composers Hugo Cole, Jean Coulthard, Gerald

Rachel Portman

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Rachel Mary Berkeley Portman (born 11 December 1960) is a British composer. She was the first female composer to win the Academy Award for Best Original Score (for Emma), and was nominated two further times (for The Cider House Rules and Chocolat). She has composed more than one hundred scores for film, television and theatre, and has collaborated with the BBC on several projects, including an opera based on The Little Prince and a choral symphony called A Water Diviner’s Tale. Portman’s career in music began with writing music for drama in BBC and Channel 4 films such as Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Mike Leigh’s Four Days in July and Jim Henson’s Storyteller series. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2010, and is an honorary member of Worcester College, Oxford. Portman is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music. She was made an honorary fellow in a ceremony at the RCM, where Prince Charles (now King Charles III), then President of the RCM, presented the award. Early life and education Portman was born in Haslemere in Surrey, England, the daughter of Sheila Margaret Penelope (née Mowat) Portman and Berkeley Charles Berkeley Portman. Portman studied

Raffaello de Banfield

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Raffaello de Banfield (2 June 1922 – 7 January 2008), also known as Raphael Douglas, Baron von Banfield Tripcovich, was a British-born Italian composer. Family Raffaello de Banfield was the son of Austro-Hungarian flying ace Gottfried von Banfield (last surviving Knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa) and the Countess Maria Tripcovich (originating from Trieste), who acquired a permanent residence in England in 1920. He was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was married to (1923-2017) on 27 December 1976. The marriage remained childless; Brandolini d’Adda had three children from her first marriage to Count Leonardo Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga. Life Raffaello de Banfield attended the Swiss International Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz, the “Dante Alighieri” Lyceum in Trieste, the University of Bologna and the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice led by Gian Francesco Malipiero. He studied composition from 1946 to 1949 at the National Conservatory (under the direction of Henri Busser) with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In these years he met Herbert von Karajan with whom he had a lifelong friendship, and also with artists such as Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and Francis Poulenc. In the United

Ralph Vaughan Williams

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Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over sixty years. Strongly influenced by Tudor music and English folk-song, his output marked a decisive break in British music from its German-dominated style of the 19th century. Vaughan Williams was born to a well-to-do family with strong moral views and a progressive social outlook. Throughout his life he sought to be of service to his fellow citizens, and believed in making music as available as possible to everybody. He wrote many works for amateur and student performance. He was musically a late developer, not finding his true voice until his late thirties; his studies in 1907–1908 with the French composer Maurice Ravel helped him clarify the textures of his music and free it from Teutonic influences. Vaughan Williams is among the best-known British symphonists, noted for his very wide range of moods, from stormy and impassioned to tranquil, from mysterious to exuberant. Among the most familiar of his other concert works are Fantasia on a Theme b

Ray Martin (orchestra leader)

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Raymond Stuart Martin (born Kurt Kohn; 11 October 1918 – 7 February 1988) was an Austrian-British orchestra leader. He was noted for his light music compositions. Allmusic journalist Bradley Torreano stated, “Ray Martin created a legacy for himself in British popular music through his work with his orchestra during the 1950s. His regular appearances on radio and television kept him in the public spotlight, while his position at EMI Records made him an influential producer at the label. His use of pseudonyms has blurred the path of his career through the years, making his many contributions even harder to keep track of. But his original compositions are what really made him popular; tracks like “Marching Strings” have become stables sic of many public and city bands and orchestras since their release”. Career Raymond Stuart Martin was born as Kurt Kohn into a liberal Jewish family in Vienna, Austria. In 1938, he immigrated to England and was a Carroll Levis discovery. He returned to England in October 1941, joining the British Army, having been officially cleared. Whilst working as an executive and talent scout for EMI/Columbia in the early 1950s, he spotted Ruby Murray, and was the

Raymond Rôze

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Raymond Rôze (14 July 1873 – 30 March 1920) was an English composer and conductor. Biography He was born in London and the son of the French soprano Marie Rôze, and the natural son of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (and therefore the grandson of Queen Victoria). He studied in Brussels with Arthur De Greef before first working in England at the Lyceum Theatre where he was Musical Director. He also established a singing school in London in 1899 and was Musical Director for various theatre companies. His output consisted mainly of incidental music for plays including a number at His Majesty’s Theatre under Sir Herbert Tree, including Trilby in 1895. His music was twice performed in London’s Promenade concerts (in 1901 and 1911). Rôze was Musical Director of the Royal Opera House and his three-act opera Joan of Arc was premiered there on 1 November 1913. A review in The Times was very critical of the opera’s disjointed nature and warned that “a drama with the characters singing and an orchestra to accompany them is not necessarily an opera.” Later in the same month he engaged Frank Bridge to conduct Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser. Joan of Arc received a further performance in Pari

Raymond Warren

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Raymond Henry Charles Warren (7 November 1928 – 4 June 2025) was a British composer and university teacher. Warren studied at Cambridge, and taught at Queen’s University Belfast, where he was the first person in the UK to be given a personal chair in composition in 1966, before becoming Hamilton Harty Professor of Music in 1969. He was Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music at the University of Bristol from 1972 until his retirement in 1994. His works include a choral Passion, a Violin Concerto, three Symphonies, a Requiem, the oratorio Continuing Cities, six operas and an extensive amount of music for children, young people and community music making. Biography Raymond Warren was born in Axbridge, Somerset on 7 November 1928. His mother was Gwendoline C. Warren, née Hallett. Warren studied at Bancroft’s School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (1949–52), In 1972 he was appointed Professor of Music at the University of Bristol, a post from which he retired in 1994. Following retirement he composed to commission for a wide variety of performers notably the Brunel Ensemble (Symphony No.3, In My Childhood) and the London Children’s Ballet (Ballet Shoes, 2001). He collaborated with

Raymond Wilding-White

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Raymond Wilding-White (also known as Ray Wilding-White); (9 October 1922 – 24 August 2001) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and electronic music, and a photographer/digital artist. Biography Wilding-White was born in Caterham, Tandridge, Surrey, England, and spent the first five years of his life in England before moving to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, outside Paris, France, where he had his first formal instruction in music at the Conservatoire Camille Saint-Saëns. In 1932 the family moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, his mother’s family home. By 1940 he had moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Family Wilding-White’s father, Charles Dunning White was an American diplomat. Raymond Wilding-White had a number of brothers including Henry, Charles, and Alexander. His wife Glennie was also an accomplished musician, composer and playwright, as was his son Charles. Education & Work In 1940, Wilding-White enrolled in the chemical engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but dropped out to assist in the war effort as a civilian. After the war he was accepted at the Juilliard School in New York City, earning his bachelor’s degree in pian

Rebecca Clarke (composer)

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Rebecca Helferich Clarke (27 August 1886 – 13 October 1979) was a British classical composer and violist. Internationally renowned as a viola virtuoso, she also became one of the first female professional orchestral players in London. Rebecca Clarke had a German mother and an American father, and spent substantial periods of her life in the United States, where she permanently settled after World War II. She was born in Harrow and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music in London. Stranded in the United States at the outbreak of World War II, she married composer and pianist James Friskin in 1944. Clarke died at her home in New York at the age of 93. Although Clarke’s output was not large, her work was recognised for its compositional skill and artistic power. Some of her works have yet to be published; those that were published in her lifetime were largely forgotten after she stopped composing. Scholarship and interest in her compositions revived in 1976. The Rebecca Clarke Society was established in 2000 to promote the study and performance of her music. Early life Clarke was born in Harrow, England, to Joseph Thacher Clarke, an American, and his German w

Rebecca Saunders

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Rebecca Saunders (born 19 December 1967) is a London-born composer In 2019, writers of The Guardian ranked Skin (2016) the 16th greatest work of art music since 2000, with Tom Service writing that “Saunders burrows into the interior world of the instruments, and inside the grain of Fraser’s voice … and finds a revelatory world of heightened feeling.”. Her opera Lash – Acts of Love was premiered at Deutsche Oper Berlin in mid-2025 to critical acclaim. Biography Saunders studied violin and composition at the University of Edinburgh, earning a PhD in composition in 1997. As a DAAD scholar, she studied with Wolfgang Rihm from 1991 to 1994 at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe; Nigel Osborne In 2024, Rebecca Saunders received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from La Biennale di Venezia. In 2010 and 2012, she taught at the Darmstadt International Summer Courses In the 2023/24 season, Saunders was featured as a composer in residence in a portrait series at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. Fabio Luisi and the Staatskapelle Dresden gave the UK premiere of Saunders’ revision of traces at the 2009 Proms. Her music has been performed by notable ensembles worldwide, including Ensemble Mus

Reginald King (composer)

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Reginald Claude McMahon King (5 October 1904 – 31 August 1991) was a British light music composer, pianist, conductor and broadcaster, the founder and leader of Reginald King and his Orchestra. Biography King was born in Hampstead into a musical family: his father Conrad King composed ballads and was a singing teacher. He studied at Blackheath Conservatoire (1918–20) and then at the Royal Academy of Music with Charles Reddie (piano) and Harry Farjeon (composition). While there he composed a Piano Concerto in F minor, which was conducted by Alexander Mackenzie and which won him the McFarren Scholarship in 1921. The concerto was later reworked as the Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra (1946). He married a contemporary at the academy, Beatrice Annie Thomas. In 1927 he formed an orchestral ensemble to play at the fifth floor restaurant of Swan & Edgar’s department store in London’s Piccadilly Circus. It played for 12 years until the outbreak of war in 1939. In 1934 he also formed the Celebrity Trio with violinist Alfredo Campoli, and cellist Douglas Cameron. After the war he reformed the orchestra. King was also a frequent broadcaster, making over 1,400 appearances on BBC Radio between 19

Reginald Smith Brindle

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Reginald Smith Brindle (5 January 1917 – 9 September 2003) was a British composer and writer. He began learning the piano at the age of six, and later took up the clarinet, saxophone and guitar (and won a Melody Maker prize for his guitar-playing). Under pressure from his parents, he began to study architecture. At the time, he was interested in jazz, and played saxophone professionally for a while alongside his studies. On attending an organ recital at Chester Cathedral in 1937, however, he was inspired to take up both the organ and composition. He spent most of World War II serving in Africa and Italy as a captain in the Corps of Royal Engineers. It was during this period that he rekindled his interest in the guitar, an instrument for which he wrote an enormous amount of music. Notable orchestral works include two symphonies (1955 and 1989), Apocalypse (1970), Creation Epic (world premiere at the Proms on 5 August 1964), Homage to H.G. Wells (1960), the Renaissance Suite (1956), Symphonic Variations (1957), and Via Crucis for strings (1966). Smith Brindle taught from 1957 to 1970 at the University College of North Wales in Bangor, and from 1970 to 1981 at the University of Surrey

Rhian Samuel

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Rhian Samuel (born Aberdare, Wales, 1944) is a Welsh composer who resided in the USA for many years. She has composed over 140 published works, including orchestral, chamber, vocal, and choral music. Composition Samuel’s orchestral music spans from Elegy-Symphony (St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin, cond., 1981) to Tirluniau/Landscapes (BBC commission, BBC NOW, BBC Proms 2000); in 1983 she won the ASCAP/Rudolf Nissim Prize (USA) for her choral/orchestral work, La Belle Dame sans Merci. A BIS CD containing her BBC-commissioned work for soprano and orchestra, Clytemnestra, was short listed for a Gramophone Award in 2020. She has also written about music: as co-editor of the New Grove (Norton) Dictionary of Women Composers, she has been prominent on issues concerning the reception of music by women. She has also written on the operas of Harrison Birtwistle; she was commissioned by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, to write programme essays on both Gawain and The Minotaur and subsequently published diaries of their first productions. Her Path Through the Woods for recorder and strings was premiered at Temple of Peace, Cardiff, in April 2011 by Pamela Thorby and the Welsh

Richard Addinsell

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Richard Stewart Addinsell (13 January 190414 November 1977) was an English composer, known early in his career for his music for the theatre in collaboration with Clemence Dane, later for his film music – including his best-known piece, the Warsaw Concerto, composed for the 1941 Dangerous Moonlight – and subsequently for his musical collaboration with the lyricist and performer Joyce Grenfell. Life and career Early years Richard Addinsell was born in Woburn Square, London, on 13 January 1904, the younger son of William Arthur Addinsell, who was a chartered accountant, and his wife, Annie Beatrice Richards. Addinsell was educated at home before attending Hertford College, Oxford, to study law but going down after 18 months. He became interested in music as an alternative career. In 1925 he enrolled at the Royal College of Music (RCM) but lasted only two terms before leaving, again without obtaining any formal qualification. A revue for Fred Karno followed in 1927, again with Gay, In 1928 Addinsell first collaborated with the author Clemence Dane. The work was Adam’s Opera, described by the two collaborators as “a tragic pantomime, set to music and written in nursery rhyme”. It was p

Richard Allison (composer)

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Richard Al(l)ison (born c. 1560–1570 – died before 1610) was an English composer. He wrote de la Tromba, a popular broken consort piece which has several professional recordings and first became well known due to the Julian Bream Consort. He was known to be in the service of the Countess of Warwick in 1599, and then working for Sir John Scudamore. His publications are: The Psalms of David in Meter (1599) and An Hour’s Recreation in musicke, apt for instruments and voyces (1606). His work also appears in Michael East’s and Thomas Ravenscroft’s psalters, and Thomas Morley’s broken consort publication. He referred in the dedication of his Psalmes to the late Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick as ‘my good Lord and Master’. Allison is represented by thirteen compositions in a set of consort books (dated 1588), from the household of Sir Francis Walsingham. Ten four-part settings by him appeared in East’s Whole Booke of Psalms (1592), and he contributed a dedicatory poem to Giles Farnaby’s Canzonets to Fowre Voyces (1598). In 1599, he published his own Psalmes of David in Meter, giving his London address as Dukes Place, near Aldgate, and describing himself as a ‘gentleman’ and a ‘practit

Richard Arnell

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Richard Anthony Sayer Arnell (15 September 191710 April 2009) was an English composer of classical music. Arnell composed in all the established genres for the concert stage, and his list of works includes six completed symphonies and six string quartets. At the Trinity College of Music, he “promoted a pioneering interest in film scores and electronic music” and jazz. Life and career Arnell was born in Hampstead, London, the son of Hélène Marie (Scherf) and Richard Sayer Arnell. In contrast to his grandfather, who played the violin in the Hastings Municipal Orchestra, his father was the architect and builder of the 28-acre Kingsway and Aldwych project, which was completed in 1905. Arnell studied at the Royal College of Music in London from 1935 to 1939, and was taught there by John Ireland (composition) and John Arthur St. Oswald Dykes (piano). He was awarded the Farrar Prize for composition during his final year at the college. At the outset of the Second World War, attending the New York World Fair, Arnell (along with other English composers, e.g. Arthur Bliss) was stranded in New York, and stayed on until 1947, thereby finding himself in the position of having an established rep

Richard Barrett (composer)

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Richard Barrett (born 7 November 1959) is a Welsh composer. Biography Barrett was born in Swansea, Wales and attended Olchfa School. After completing his first bachelor’s degree in genetics and microbiology from University College London in 1980, he began to study music, taking private lessons with Peter Wiegold, and soon thereafter participating in the 1984 Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik where there were fruitful encounters with Brian Ferneyhough and Hans-Joachim Hespos. In the late 1980s he became associated with the so-called New Complexity group of British composers because of the intricate notation of his scores. He is equally active in free improvisation, most often in the electronic duo FURT with Paul Obermayer, formed in 1986, but also since 2003 as a member of the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. Since 1990 about half of his compositions have been written for the ELISION Ensemble, most notably the extended works Opening of the Mouth, DARK MATTER, CONSTRUCTION and world-line. Most of his compositions since the 1990s have involved both acoustic and electronic resources, combined in many different ways. In 2005 he and Obermayer formed the electroacoustic octe

Richard Charke

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Richard Charke (c. 1709 – c. 1738) was an English violinist, composer, operatic baritone, and playwright. Charke was born in London. He initially worked as a dancing-master before being appointed by Colley Cibber as leader of the orchestra at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1729. Soon thereafter, he began performing as a solo violinist and singing in small roles at the theatre. He eventually graduated to lead roles in the musical productions at Drury Lane, starring in such productions as Henry Carey’s The Contrivances (1729) and Cibber’s Damon and Phillida (1729). Charke possessed a good sense of humor and had a talent for wit, which he ultimately made use of in pantomimes, mostly as a composer but also as a writer. He wrote several amusing “Medley Overtures” that became highly popular for pantomime performances during the 1730s and 1740s. He authored only one pantomime, Harlequin Restored, or, The Country Revels, which contained music by both himself and Thomas Arne and premiered at Drury Lane on 14 December 1732 (although the Burney Collection of newspapers showing contemporary playbills give the date as 20 March 1732). In addition to his contribution to pantomimes, Charke compo

Richard Dering

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Richard Dering (c. 1580–1630) — also Deering, Dearing, Diringus, etc. — was an English Renaissance composer during the era of late Tudor music. He is noted for his pioneering use of compositional techniques which anticipated the advent of Baroque music in England. Some of his surviving choral works are part of the repertoire of Anglican church music today. Despite being English, he lived and worked most of his life in the Spanish-dominated South Netherlands owing to his Roman Catholic faith. Dering was likely a Protestant in England in his early life, but it is thought that in his early thirties he converted to Roman Catholicism during his time in Italy. Following the English Reformation in the 16th century, religious tensions were high. A number of English composers who had converted to Catholicism — or were suspected of converting — went to live in exile in Roman Catholic countries in Continental Europe. It is known that Dering visited Florence and then lived for a time at the English College in Rome, a seminary for English Catholic priests. A letter from Sir Dudley Carleton to Sir John Harington, 2nd Baron Harington of Exton dated 25 June 1612 makes reference to Harington’s serv

Richard Edwardes

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Richard Edwardes (also Edwards, circa 1523 – 31 October 1566) was an English poet, playwright, and composer; he was made a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and was master of the singing boys. He was known for his comedies and interludes. Life Richard Edwardes was born around 1523 in Somerset. Edwardes began his studies at Corpus Christi College, Oxford in May 1540 and joined Christ Church, Oxford as it opened in 1546. He joined Lincoln’s Inn but did not take up law as a career. After he died in 1566, he was succeeded by William Hunnis. Works Plays In 1566, Edwardes’ Palamon and Arcite was performed before Elizabeth I at Oxford when the stage fell — three people died and five were injured as a result. Despite the tragic accident, the show continued to play that night. The excellent Comedie of two the moste faithfullest Freendes, Damon and Pithias (written in 1564, published in 1571), a comedy, is his only extant play. The ladies were named as Howard, Dacres, Baynam, Arundel, Dormer, Mansell, Margaret Cooke, and Bridges. The verses are found in a British Library manuscript, (Cotton MS Titus A XIV), and were not included in the Paradise. Music Edwardes was less well known as a composer,

Richard Emsley

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Richard Emsley (born December 1951 in Goole, Yorkshire) is a British composer, sometimes associated with the New Complexity school. Emsley initially studied with Arnold Whittall at University College, Cardiff, after which he moved to London, where he still lives. He attended Peter Maxwell Davies’ composition classes at the Dartington Summer School of Music, and co-founded the Cardiff Composers’ Ensemble while a student there. In the 1970s he co-founded, with James Clarke, the ensemble Suoraan, which specialised in performances of music by contemporary composers, including Iannis Xenakis, Michael Finnissy and James Dillon. In 2002, Métier released a CD of Emsley’s music, entitled Flowforms. In addition to composing, Emsley works as a music engraver. He was the first ever user of the notation software Sibelius, having tested it extensively before it was released, and engraved the first score published using Sibelius: Antara by George Benjamin (published by Faber Music). List of works *The lunar silences, the silent tide lapping… (1973) for flute, clarinet, percussion (4 players), piano and violin *Hologenesis (1978) for solo clarinet *At Once (1979) for flute (doubling alto flute),

Richard Farrant

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Richard Farrant ( 1525 – 30 November 1580) was an English composer, musical dramatist, theatre founder, and Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal. The first acknowledgment of him is in a list of the Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal in 1552. The year of his birth cannot be accurately determined. During his life he was able to establish himself as a successful composer, develop the English drama considerably, found the first Blackfriars Theatre, and be the first to write verse-anthems. He married Anne Bower, daughter of Richard Bower who was Master of the Chapel Royal choristers at the time. With Anne he conceived ten children, one of whom was also named Richard. Work with Royalty As a member of the Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, Farrant was active in ceremonies surrounding the royal family. He began his work with the Chapel Royal around 1550 under the reign of Edward VI. Fortunately, for Farrant, this is a time that saw huge developments in Latin Church Music. Composers like William Byrd and Christopher Tye were busy expanding and elaborating on the Church Music of the day. In Farrant’s twelve years with the Chapel Royal, he was able to participate in funerals for Edward VI and Ma

Richard Harris (composer)

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Richard Frank Keith Harris (born 5 March 1968) is a London-based composer, arranger, transcriber, teacher and pianist. Richard Harris studied composition and orchestration at the University of Edinburgh, where his tutors included Kenneth Leighton. At Edinburgh he co-founded the contemporary classical ensemble Piano Circus, with whom he was a member until 2002, commissioning and performing works by Arvo Pärt, Brian Eno, Philip Glass and Steve Reich. The ensemble was signed to Decca/Argo, producing five CDs. Compositions by Harris feature on the Argo CD Loopholes, and in full on the ensemble’s own CD Landscapes Of The Heart; he also produced successful arrangements of works by Terry Riley and Thomas Ades. His work Hexada was featured in the UK television programme The Score. In 1992 Harris began teaching piano, theory and A-level music at Westminster School, where he himself had been a pupil. In 1994 Harris became a published author with Faber Music, and in 1997 was chosen by the film composer Carl Davis to be his personal music arranger. Harris’s books range from his own compositions and educational tutors to film, jazz and pop arrangements, and include collaborations with Evelyn Gl

Richard Harvey (composer)

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Richard Allen Harvey (born 25 September 1953) is an English composer and musician. Originally a member of the mediaevalist progressive rock group Gryphon, he is best known now for his film and television soundtracks. He is also known for his guitar concerto Concerto Antico, which was composed for the guitarist John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra. In April 2012, UK radio listeners voted Richard Harvey’s Concerto Antico into the Classic FM Hall of Fame for the first time. Early life and career Born in Enfield, Middlesex, By the time he graduated from London’s Royal College of Music in 1972, he was accomplished on the recorder, flute, krumhorn, and other mediaeval and Renaissance-era instruments, as well as the mandolin and various keyboards. He could have joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra, but instead chose to work with Musica Reservata, an early music ensemble. He subsequently met another RCM graduate, Brian Gulland, and went on to form the progressive rock and folk band Gryphon. Harvey also composed the theme song for TBS’s World Championship Wrestling, called “Dynamics”. Harvey is also a prolific composer of production music and founding partner of West One Musi

Richard Henry Walthew

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Richard Henry Walthew, often known as Richard H. Walthew (4 November 187214 November 1951) was an English composer and pianist, and an important figure in English chamber music during the first half of the 20th century. Life Richard Henry Walthew was born in Islington in Middlesex, the only son of Richard Frederick Walthew (1833-1910) and his wife Emily Jeffreys (1842-1930), and was educated at Islington Proprietary School. William Heath Robinson was also at the school and he remained a lifelong friend. Walthew was a pupil of Hubert Parry for four years at the Royal College of Music (1890–1894). A contemporary at the RCM was Ralph Vaughan Williams. Recognition as a composer came early, with the success of his cantata The Pied Piper (performed by the Highbury Philharmonic Society on March 20, 1893, and published by Novello) and the Piano Concerto (first performed at Queen’s Hall on 3 May 1894 by the Strolling Players´ Amateur Orchestral Society with the composer as soloist). From 1900 until 1904, Walthew was music director of Passmore Edwards Settlement. He taught the opera class at the Guildhall School of Music and was for a time conductor of the University of London Musical Societ

Richard Hey Lloyd

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Richard Hey Lloyd (25 June 1933 – 24 April 2021) was a British organist and composer. Biography Richard Lloyd was born near Stockport, Cheshire, the younger of two children of Charles Yates Lloyd, an accountant, and his wife Ann Lloyd (née Hey). He was a chorister of Lichfield Cathedral (1942–47) and was educated at Rugby School (1947–51) where he held a music scholarship. He studied at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar (1952–55). His teachers included Peter Le Huray, Philip Radcliffe and Patrick Hadley. He took the Music Tripos and held the Cambridge degree of MA as well as the FRCO and ARCM diplomas. After National Service he was organist and choirmaster at SHAPE near Paris. From 1957 to 1966 he was assistant organist of Salisbury Cathedral under Christopher Dearnley. In 1966 he was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers of Hereford Cathedral. He was chief conductor at the Hereford Three Choirs Festival in 1967, 1970 and 1973. In 1974 he moved to Durham on his appointment as Organist and Master of the Choristers of Durham Cathedral. In 1985 he became deputy headmaster of Salisbury Cathedral School. Ill health forced his early retirement in 1988. In

Richard Hill (composer)

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Richard Vincent Hill (22 August 1942 – 13 June 2026) was a British composer. He initially studied trombone at the Royal College of Music in London in the 1960s, before moving into music production and composition. Life and career At the Royal College of Music Hill became a founder member of the London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble. He also worked in rock and jazz circles playing with the Dave Keir Jazz Band among others. After leaving College, Hill played in a number of symphony orchestras on a freelance basis including the Royal Opera House Orchestra, the London Philharmonic and the Philharmonia. Working under such conductors as Sir Georg Solti, Leonard Bernstein and Rudolf Schwarz, Hill further broadened his musical experience by playing Duke Ellington’s music under Billy Strayhorn in a production of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens. In the 1960s, Hill’s career underwent a sea change when he joined Polydor Records as a producer and studio arranger at the height of the sixties pop boom. He stopped playing and began to compose. This in turn led to a career as a media composer in film, television and theatre. Film scores included To Kill a Clown starring Alan Alda and Baffled! Starring Susan

Richard Hygons

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Richard Hygons (also Higons, Huchons, Hugo; c. 1435 – c. 1509) was an English composer of the early Renaissance and early proponent of the English votive style. While only two compositions of this late 15th-century composer have survived, one of them, a five-voice setting of the Salve Regina Marian antiphon, has attracted interest from musicologists because of its close relationship to music being written at the same time on the continent, as well as its high level of workmanship. Life Hygons seems to have spent his entire career at Wells Cathedral; at any rate, no records survive indicating his activities elsewhere. He is first mentioned in 1458 as a vicar-choral, and in 1460 he was ordained as an acolyte. Between 1461 and 1462 he was one of the five organists that the cathedral employed. A document dated 7 December 1479 gives more detail than any other about his duties: he was given a house to use, rent-free, near to the cathedral; he was given an annual salary of a little over 96 shillings; he was to teach all aspects of music to the choristers, and was expected to teach organ to anyone who had the talent. His required presence at certain masses, Vespers, and Matins was also giv

Richard Jones (composer)

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Richard Jones (1680? - died 20 January 1744) was an English composer and violinist. Jones’s first publication appeared in 1720, a solo cantata While in a Lovely Rurall Seat. He was associated with the Drury Lane Theater Orchestra in London possibly as early as 1723; according to John Hawkins, in 1730 he succeeded Stefano Carbonelli as the orchestra’s leader. He taught violin as well; Michael Christian Festing was one of his pupils. He was a stage composer at a time when Georg Frideric Handel’s music dominated the British stage, and much of his music, or what of it survives, shows clear Italianate influence. He died in 1744, of which his position in Drury Lane was succeeded by Richard Clarke. Works ;Stage *Apollo and Daphne, masque (1725, music lost) (Written with John Thurmond, and Henry Carey *The Miser, pantomime (1726, music lost; keyboard reduction survives in part) (Written with John Thurmond) *The Mock Doctor, ballad opera (1732, music lost) *Hymen’s Triumph, pantomime (1737, music lost) ;Other *While in a Lovely Rurall Seat, cantata (1720) *6 Suits or Setts of Lessons for keyboard (1732) *8 Chamber Air’s for violin and basso continuo, op. 2 (1735) *6 Suites of Lessons for vi

Richard Leveridge

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Richard Leveridge (or Leueridge) (19 July 1670 – 22 March 1758) was an English bass singer of the London stage and a composer of baroque music, including many popular songs. Life Richard Leveridge was born in the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, in 1670, and in 1695 became the leading bass singer in the United Company managed by Christopher Rich at Drury Lane, after the defection of several leading singers from Rich’s company. His first important role of which anything is known was as the magician Ismeron in Henry Purcell’s opera The Indian Queen, which included the aria “Ye twice ten hundred deities”. Purcell himself remained loyal to the company, and for several months Leveridge worked closely with him. It is likely that “Arise, ye subterranean winds” in the music (attributed to Purcell) for The Tempest was written for him. After Purcell’s death he continued to work with composers Daniel Purcell and Jeremiah Clarke, and took a leading part in Clarke’s Ode upon the death of Mr Purcell at Drury Lane. Leveridge also composed, and in February 1699 all three provided music for Motteux’s adaptation of Fletcher’s The Island Princess, in which Leveridge’s performance, particula

Richard Rodney Bennett

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Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer and pianist. He was noted for his musical versatility, drawing from such sources as jazz, romanticism, and avant-garde; and for his use of twelve-tone technique and serialism. His body of work included over 200 concert works and 50 scores for film and television. He was also active in jazz, as a composer, a pianist, and an occasional vocalist. For his scoring work, Bennett was nominated for a total of 10 BAFTA Awards, winning once for Best Original Music for the film Murder on the Orient Express (1974). He was also nominated for three Academy Awards (Far from the Madding Crowd, 1967; Nicholas and Alexandra, 1971; and Murder on the Orient Express) and three Grammy Awards, among other accolades. He was the International Chair of Composition of the Royal Academy of Music, and was knighted in 1998. His mother, Joan Esther, née Spink (1901–1983) was a pianist who had trained with Gustav Holst. His father, Rodney Bennett (1890–1948), was a children’s book author, poet and lyricist, who worked with Roger Quilter on his theatre works and provided new words for some of the numbers in the Arnold Book of Old So

Richard Sampson

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Richard Sampson (died 25 September 1554) was an English clergyman and composer of sacred music. He was an Anglican bishop of Chichester, and subsequently of Coventry and Lichfield. Biography He was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, the Paris Sorbonne and Sens (also in France). Having become Doctor of Canon Law, he was appointed by Cardinal Wolsey as diocesan chancellor and vicar-general in his diocese (the bishopric of Tournai), where he lived until 1517. Meanwhile, he gained English preferment, becoming Dean of St. Stephen’s, Westminster and of the Chapel Royal (1516), Archdeacon of Cornwall (1517) and prebendary of Newbald (1519). From 1522 to 1525 he was English ambassador to Emperor Charles V. He was now Dean of Windsor (1523), Vicar of Stepney (1526) and held prebends at St. Paul’s Cathedral and at Lichfield; he was also Archdeacon of Suffolk (1529). He became one of Henry VIII Tudor’s chief agents in the royal divorce proceedings, which assisted the advancement of his ecclesiastical careerhe was awarded the deanery of Lichfield in 1533, the rectory of Hackney (1534), and treasurership of Salisbury (1535). On 11 June 1536, he was elected Bishop of Chichester, and as such fu

Richard Shephard

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Richard James Shephard MBE, DL, FRSCM (20 March 1949 – 20 February 2021) was a British composer, educator, and Director of Development and Chamberlain of York Minster. He was acclaimed as one of the most significant composers of church music of his time. Education and musical career Shephard was a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral, where the organist was then the composer Herbert Sumsion, before taking a degree at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, Shephard studied under composer David Willcocks, Hugh Macdonald, the great expert on Berlioz, and Alan Ridout. He started his musical career as a lay vicar in Salisbury Cathedral Choir, and at this time was Conductor of the Salisbury Grand Opera Group, the Farrant Singers, Guest Conductor of the Salisbury Orchestral Society and musical director of various productions at the Salisbury Playhouse. It was at this time when he was greatly influenced by Richard Seal and Lionel Dakers, the former director of the Royal School of Church Music. An article published in 1987 in the Musical Times by Dakers, The RSCM: Past, Present…and Future, states that “Our policy is to provide music of quality and interest for every contingen

Richard Stoker

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Richard Stoker (8 November 1938 – 24 March 2021) was a British composer, writer, actor, artist, and educator. Best known for his orchestral, chamber, operatic, and choral compositions, he was associated with a modern yet accessible musical style and spent much of his career teaching at the Royal Academy of Music. Early life and education Richard Stoker was born on 8 November 1938 in Castleford, Yorkshire, England, into a family with a strong musical tradition. He demonstrated musical ability from an early age and became fascinated with the piano keyboard as a child. He began playing the piano at the age of six and started composing music by the age of seven. His earliest musical instruction came from family members, including an uncle who provided piano lessons. At the age of 15, Stoker attended Huddersfield Technical College, where he studied composition and piano with Harold Truscott and Winifred Smith. During this period he attracted encouragement from musicians including Eric Fenby, Arthur Benjamin, and Benjamin Britten, all of whom recognized his early compositional talent. In 1958, Stoker entered the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied composition under Lennox

Robert Brydges Addison

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Robert Brydges Addison (16 August 1854 – 8 July 1920) was an English composer, choirmaster and teacher. Born in Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, Addison was the son of clergyman William Fountaine Addison (1817-1893) - who had been Canon of Gibraltar Cathedral. He trained at the Royal Academy of Music where he studied with George Alexander Macfarren. Following four years as sub-professor to Macfarren Addison was appointed professor of harmony and composition at the academy, a position he held between 1882 and 1892. From 1892 he taught at Trinity College London. His compositions include a Concert Allegro in G, the cantata A Vision (1880), the motet Save Me, O Lord, the anthem They that sow in tears, a Piano Sonata in A minor, and the Andante and Variations for piano. There are also many songs, including Rise! For the Day is Passing, which was performed at the BBC Proms in 1914, and several albums for children. While at the academy he composed a Symphony in G minor, of which two movements were performed on 15 December 1881. His brother was the Oxfordshire painter William Grylls Addison (1853-1904). List of works Orchestral * Symphony in G minor (1881) * Concert allegro in G major, f

Robert Docker

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Robert Docker (5 June 1918 – 9 May 1992) was an English composer, arranger and pianist, especially noted for his orchestral arrangements and original light music compositions. The son of a Paddington gas worker, he was educated at North Paddington Central School, and with the aid of a London County Council Scholarship was able to study viola, piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. His viola professor at the RAM was James Lockyer. During World War II, he was a sergeant in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps stationed in Northumberland. He was later married to the viola player Meryl Unsworth and in later life resided in Suffolk. He was particularly noted for his orchestral arrangements. His first was broadcast in 1936 and his arrangements of popular tunes were regularly heard on BBC radio programmes such as Friday Night is Music Night (where for many years he orchestrated music for Sidney Torch) and Melodies For You. He was widely associated with the BBC Concert Orchestra and in 1990, the BBC broadcast two one-hour programmes entitled The Musical World of Robert Docker. His lighter original compositions include the “Air and Jig” for violin, cello and piano, “Cornet Cascade” an

Robert Fayrfax

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Robert Fayrfax (23 April 1464 – 24 October 1521) was an English Renaissance composer, considered the most prominent and influential of the reigns of Kings Henry VII and Henry VIII of England. He represents the third stage of the development of the English votive style in the Eton Choirbook and the Caius Choirbook. Biography He was born in Deeping Gate, Lincolnshire, to William Fayrfax, Esquire, of Deeping Gate and Ann Tanfield, daughter of Robert Tanfield, Keeper of Arms of St Mary Aldermanbury. He had the patronage of the leading cultural figure of Henry VII’s court, the king’s mother Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509). He became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal by 6 December 1497. He was granted a chaplaincy of the Free Chapel at Snodhill Castle near Dorstone, a post which was given away a year later to Robert Cowper, another Gentleman. Fayrfax was at court at Richmond Palace on 28 March 1502 when Elizabeth of York, the wife of Henry VII, gave him 20 shillings for “setting an Anthem of oure lady and Saint Elizabeth”. This ‘Anthem’ is almost certainly Eterne laudis lilium considering its acrostic ELISABETH REGINA ANGLIE (‘Elizabeth Queen of England’) and its references to both Mary

Robert Johnson (English composer)

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Robert Johnson ( 1583 – 1633) was an English composer and lutenist of the late Tudor and early Jacobean eras. He is sometimes called “Robert Johnson II” to distinguish him from an earlier Scottish composer. He worked with William Shakespeare, providing music for some of his later plays. Early life Robert Johnson was the son of John Johnson, who was a lutenist to Elizabeth I. In 1594, Robert’s father died, and in 1596, he joined the household of George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon as an apprentice. Robert is assumed to have been around 13 at the time, as this was a typical age to begin an apprenticeship, but his date of birth is unknown. Carey and his wife, Elizabeth Spencer, were patrons of the lutenist and composer John Dowland, who dedicated various compositions to them. The family had a London house (Hunsdon House, Blackfriars) and a country home (Hunsdon House, Hunsdon, Hertfordshire), which partially survives. Johnson joined the Carey household at an interesting time in their patronage of the arts. In 1597, Dowland dedicated his First book of songs and ayres to George Carey. As well as supporting musicians, Carey was patron of a theatre company to which William Shakespeare belonge

Robert Lucas Pearsall

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Robert Lucas Pearsall (14 March 1795 – 5 August 1856) was an English composer mainly of vocal music, including an elaborate setting of “In dulci jubilo” and the richly harmonic part song Lay a garland of 1840, both still often performed today. He spent the last 31 years of his life abroad, at first in Germany, then at a castle he bought in Switzerland. Biography Pearsall was born at Clifton in Bristol on 14 March 1795 into a wealthy, originally Quaker family. His father, Richard Pearsall (died 1813), was an army officer and an amateur musician. Pearsall was privately educated. In 1816 Pearsall’s mother, Elizabeth (née Lucas), bought the Pearsall family’s home at Willsbridge, Gloucestershire, from her brother-in-law, Thomas Pearsall. Thomas had been ruined by the failure of the iron mill that had been the family’s business since 1712. After the death of his mother in 1837, Pearsall sold Willsbridge House again, but although he would never live there again, he regularly chose to be known in publications as ‘Pearsall of Willsbridge’. As for Willsbridge Mill, it was later converted into a flour mill and it stands to this day. Pearsall married Harriet Eliza Hobday in 1817. She was the d

Robert Mackintosh

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Robert Mackintosh (c 1745–1807), known as ‘Red Rob’ on account of the colour of his hair, was a Scottish composer and violinist, active in Edinburgh at the end of the 18th century. He was known for his compositions of strathspeys, reels, and jigs, as well as minuets and gavottes. Biography Mackintosh was born in Tullymet, near Pitlochry, Perthshire, about 1745. Around 1773, he was living in Skinner’s Close, just off Edinburgh’s High Street, employed as a music teacher and playing in the orchestra of the Edinburgh Musical Society. His first collection of music was published in 1783, including 54 pieces, including 17 reels. During 1785-88 he was working in Aberdeen, leading the ‘Gentleman’s Concerts’. His second collection was published in Edinburgh in 1793, including 73 pieces, including more reels and strathspeys. A third collection, including 117 pieces, followed in 1796. He later went to London where in 1804 he produced his fourth collection of a further 113 pieces. He died in London in 1807. Works *The Diamond Reel (Miss Steel of Norwich) (1st collection) *Honourable Mrs. Campbell of Lochnell (2nd collection) *Miss Elizabeth (Betty) Robertson (2nd collection) *Miss Ann Munro’s Q

Robert Morton (composer)

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Robert Morton (also Mourton, Moriton; c. 1430 – after 13 March 1479) was an English composer of the early Renaissance, mostly active at the Burgundian court. He was highly regarded at the time. Only secular vocal music, all rondeaux for three voices, survive. Life Little can be reconstructed with certainty about his life except where his activity intersects with the Burgundian court. He was born in England, but no details of his early life are known. From 1457 until 1476 he was a clerc or chappellain in the chapel choir, and unusually he never was promoted to a higher position. By 1460 he was a priest, since he was given that title Messire in chapel documents. The long relatively peaceful period at the court under Philip the Good’s reign ended with Philip’s death in 1467, and under his successor Charles the Bold, the musical activities of the court were seriously disrupted; many of the singers and composers, including Hayne van Ghizeghem, took part in his many futile military campaigns. Morton must have known Hayne rather well, for an anonymous piece survives which describes the virtuosic singing and playing of the two of them together at Cambrai. Payment records for Morton end in

Robert O'Dwyer

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Robert O’Dwyer (in Irish: Riobárd Ó Duibhir) (27 January 1862 – 6 January 1949) was an Irish composer mainly known for having written one of the first operas in the Irish language. Biography Robert O’Dwyer was born to Irish parents in Bristol, England, where he received private musical education and acted as a chorister and assistant organist during the years 1872 to 1891. O’Dwyer’s interest in opera manifested itself initially by becoming the conductor of a local amateur opera company in 1889, before he became a conductor of the Carl Rosa Opera Society (1891–97) and the Arthur Rousby Opera Company (1892–96), with which he undertook tours throughout the British Isles. After one such tour he settled in Dublin in 1897, where he held various positions as organist in the counties of Dublin and Wicklow. From 1899 he taught music at the Royal University of Ireland and from 1901 conducted the choir of the Gaelic League, for which he wrote numerous arrangements of Irish traditional music and Sean nos songs. He also wrote articles and concert reviews for The Leader, which became an outlet for his increasingly nationalist views. O’Dwyer completed his major composition, the three-act opera Ei

Robert Parsons (composer)

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Robert Parsons (c. 1535 – 25 January 1572) was an English composer of the Tudor period who was active during the reigns of King Edward VI, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I. He is noted for his compositions of church music. Early life Parsons was born around 1530–35, but no details of his birth survive and there is no evidence connecting him with either Robert Parsons (1596–1676), a vicar choral at Exeter Cathedral, or his contemporary, the composer William Parsons of Wells. Although little is known about his life, it is likely that in his youth he was a choir boy, as until 1561 he was an assistant to Richard Bower, Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal. Career and influence Parsons was composing during a period of major religious upheaval in England. After the death of Henry VIII in 1547, the new king, Edward VI, advanced the Reformation in England, introducing major changes to the liturgy of the Church of England. In 1549, Thomas Cranmer’s new Book of Common Prayer swept away the old Latin-language liturgy and replaced it with prayers in English. This brand new liturgy suddenly demanded that new music be written in English for the church, and musicians of the Chapel Royal s

Robert Saxton

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Robert Saxton (born 8 October 1953 in London) is a British composer. Biography Robert Saxton was born in London and started composing at the age of six. He was educated at Bryanston School. Guidance in early years from Benjamin Britten and Elisabeth Lutyens was followed by periods of study at Cambridge and Oxford Universities with Robin Holloway and Robert Sherlaw Johnson respectively, and also with Luciano Berio. Saxton won the Gaudeamus International Composers Award in the Netherlands at age 21. In 1986, he was awarded the Fulbright Arts Fellowship to the USA, where he was in residence at Princeton and an assistant to Oliver Knussen at Tanglewood. In 1995 he co-directed the composers’ course on Hoy, with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. He has directed the composers’ course at Dartington International Summer School on several occasions and was artistic director of Opera Lab. He has also been a regular member of the BBC TV 4 (digital) Proms broadcasting commentary team and was a member of the Southbank Centre board for nine years. He is Composer in Association at the Purcell School. Saxton has written works for the BBC (TV, Proms and Radio), LSO, LPO, ECO, London Sinfonietta, Nash Ensemb

Robert Simpson (composer)

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Robert Wilfred Levick Simpson (2 March 1921 – 21 November 1997) was an English composer, as well as a long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster. He is best known for his orchestral and chamber music (particularly those in the key classical forms: 11 symphonies and 15 string quartets), and for his writings on the music of Beethoven, Bruckner, Nielsen and Sibelius. He studied composition under Herbert Howells. Remarkably for a living contemporary composer, a Robert Simpson Society was formed in 1980 by individuals concerned that Simpson’s music had been unfairly neglected. The society aims to bring Simpson’s music to a wider public by sponsoring recordings and live performances of his work, by issuing a journal and other publications, and by maintaining an archive of material relating to the composer. In 2021, he was featured as Composer of the Week on BBC Radio 3. Biography Simpson was born in Leamington, Warwickshire. His father, Robert Warren Simpson, was a descendant of Sir James Young Simpson, the Scottish pioneer of anaesthetics; his mother, Helena Hendrika Govaars, was the daughter of Gerrit Govaars, founder of the , the Dutch arm of the Salvation Army. Simpson studied at West

Robert Steadman

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Robert Steadman (born 1 April 1965) is a British composer of classical music who mostly works in a post-minimalist style but also writes lighter music, including musicals, and compositions for educational purposes. He also teaches, writes articles for music education journals, notably Classroom Music, and has written several revision guides for GCSE Music and A-level Music Technology. Background Steadman was born in Chiswick, London, and brought up in Basingstoke, Hampshire. He was a pupil at Richard Aldworth School, before studying on the Pre-Professional Music Course at Cricklade College, Andover. In 1984 he gained an Associate of the Royal College of Music (A.R.C.M.) in tuba. He read music at Keble College, Oxford, graduating in 1986. Compositions While much of his output has been written for amateurs and young musicians he has also written several pieces of music for the percussionist Evelyn Glennie, for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, for the London Brass Virtuosi, for saxophonist Sarah Field and for the East of England Orchestra (now Sinfonia ViVA). He has written three symphonies, two operas, and several choral compositions. He has written a great deal for amateurs and chi

Robert Still

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Robert Still (10 June 1910 – 13 January 1971) was a wide-ranging English composer of tonal music, who made strong use of dissonance. He produced four symphonies and four string quartets. As a songwriter he set words by Byron, Keats and Shelley. Education Still was born in London on 10 June 1910 into a family with a strong interest in music. He was a descendant of John Still, bishop of Bath and Wells. Still was educated at Eton College (1923–29) and Trinity College, Oxford, where he graduated in History and French, and then in music. He had a younger brother who died aged 16 and a sister who emigrated to Australia. At school and at university Still developed a lifelong interest in racquet sports, including real tennis, in which he won a university sporting blue. Both his father and grandfather were solicitors in a long-established London firm, and he had been intended for the law. He studied music at Oxford under Ernest Walker, Sir Hugh Allen and others, and then spent two years at the Royal College of Music under C. H. Kitson, Gordon Jacob and the organist Basil Allchin. He also studied under Wilfred Dunwell at Trinity College of Music (modern harmony and counterpoint) and later in

Robert Valentine (composer)

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Robert Valentine (c. 1671 – 26 May 1747), also known as Roberto Valentini and Roberto Valentino, was an English composer, recorder player, oboist and violinist, who moved to Rome and became a citizen of the Papal States. He is noted for his large number of compositions for the recorder. Biography Born c. 1671, he was baptized in Leicester on 16 January 1674. He was the son of Thomas Follentine or Follintine, who lived in Leicester from c. 1670 and worked as a town musician there accompanied by his elder sons Thomas and Henry. The family became a prominent one in the musical life of Leicester; descendants included John Valentine, who was the grandson of Robert’s eldest brother Thomas, and John Valentine’s daughter Ann Valentine. Robert Valentine seems to have spent little if any of his adult life in England before moving to the Papal States, where he became known by the Italian versions of his name. He settled in Rome and took a Roman wife, marrying Giulia Bellatti in September 1701 in the parish of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte. They had nine children, although only three of these survived their parents. He died in the same Roman parish on 26 May 1747, only 12 days after the death of hi

Robert Walker (composer)

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Robert Walker (born 18 March 1946) is an English composer, writer and broadcaster. He was born in Northampton, England. He was a pupil at Northampton Grammar School (now Northampton School for Boys), and at the same time studied organ with John Bertalot and sang in the choir at St Matthew’s Church, Northampton. He spent a pre-university year at the Royal School of Church Music in 1964 before gaining a choral scholarship as a countertenor at Jesus College, Cambridge in 1965, Subsequently, he was appointed to an organ scholarship at the same college. At Cambridge University he studied composition with Roger Smalley and organ with Arthur Wills (organist at Ely Cathedral). Whilst still at Cambridge he was appointed organist and Master of the Choristers at St James’s Parish Church, Great Grimsby During his time at Grimsby (1968–1973) he had private conducting lessons from Sir Adrian Boult, and a number of compositions were performed, including Three Songs of Gerard Manley Hopkins broadcast by Norma Procter and Paul Hamburger on BBC Radio 3. In 1973 Walker left full-time employment to devote as much time to composition as possible. He studied composition with Peter Maxwell Davies at Dart

Robert Whinham

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Robert Whinham (1814–1893) was a fiddler, composer and dancing master from Morpeth, Northumberland. Many tunes composed by him are still played, notably the Remember Me hornpipe, Whinham’s Reel, and The Cambo March. A 1995 book on his life and music, called Remember Me by Graham Dixon, summarises most of what is known about him. Early life Whinham was born in 1814, in Morpeth, Northumberland, the son of a market gardener, also named Robert. He was the fourth of five children. Robert Whinham senior is known as the developer of a variety of gooseberry, still cultivated, known as Whinham’s Industry. There are few facts known about his life, though his obituary recorded that he had started learning the violin at the age of eight, at first from one William Banks, later from ‘a German music master in Newcastle’. Career Whinham later organised the Morpeth Brass Band, for much of his life he worked as an itinerant musician and dancing teacher, though frequently returning to Morpeth. In 1854, the Morpeth Philharmonic Society, led by Whinham, gave a concert in Morpeth. There are advertisements for several other engagements around this period. In 1856 and 1857, he led the musicians playing at

Robert White (composer)

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Robert White (also Whyte; c. 1538 – 1574) probably born in Holborn, a district of London, was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His surviving works include a setting of verses from Lamentations, and instrumental music for viols. Life Robert White was the son of an organ builder. He was a chorister, then a singing man, in the choir of Trinity College, Cambridge from 1554 to 1562. During that time, in 1560, he received a Bachelorship of Music from Cambridge University, and in 1562 he moved the few miles to Ely, where he succeeded his father-in-law Christopher Tye as Master of the Choristers and married Christopher Tye’s daughter in 1565. He accepted a similar post at Chester Cathedral in 1566, where he succeeded Richard Saywell and took part in the Chester Whitsuntide pageants during the years 1567 to 1569. Such was his reputation as a choir trainer that in 1570 he was appointed organist and master of the choristers of Westminster Abbey. White and his family died in an outbreak of plague in the Westminster, 1574. Although White seems to have spent much of his life working to the north of the capital, his will (dated 7 November 1574) stated that he left property of some s

Robert William Keith

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Robert William Keith (1787–1846) was an English musical composer and writer. Life Born at Stepney on 20 March 1787, he was the son of Cornelius Keith, organist of St. Peter’s, Cornhill, and of the Danish Chapel in Wellclose Street, and the grandson of William Keith, organist of West Ham Church (d. 1800). From the latter Keith learnt the rudiments of music, and from François Hippolyte Barthélémon and others the violin, harmony, and composition. Keith kept at 131 Cheapside a musical and musical instrument warehouse, and prepared many of his own publications. He died on 19 June 1846. Works While organist and composer to the New Jerusalem Church in Friars Street, Keith published A Selection of Sacred Melodies … to which is prefixed Instructions for the use of Young Organists …, London, 1816. There followed A Musical Vade Mecum, being a compendious Introduction to the whole art of Music; Part I, containing the Principles of Notation, etc., in an easy categorical form, apprehensible to the meanest capacity, London, 1820 (?); Part II, Elements of Musical Composition. Keith compiled instruction-books for pianoforte, flute, and Spanish guitar (by “Paulus Prucilli”), and a violin preceptor,

Robert Woodcock

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Robert Woodcock (bap. 9 October 1690 – 10 April 1728) was an English marine painter, musician, and composer who lived during the Baroque period. He is notable for having published the earliest known flute and English oboe concertos. Life Robert Woodcock was baptised at Chelsea Old Church on 9 October 1690, the son of Robert Woodcock (1642–1710) and Deborah Littleton. In 1714, Robert junior married Ayliffe Stoaks, by whom he had several children. He resigned his government post around 1723 to become a professional artist. The engraver George Vertue, writing in 1725, called Woodcock “An ingenious gentleman lover of the arts of painting and music, and professor.” The three flute concertos in this set are the earliest known published for that instrument, and the three oboe concertos are the first known by an English composer. This performance is noteworthy in that it shows that at least one of the recorder concertos was written earlier than the publication date. There is other evidence of performances of Woodcock’s concerti from the 1720s through the 1750s, suggesting that his works quickly became part of the standard woodwind repertoire in England at that time. There has been some con

Roberto Gerhard

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Robert Gerhard i Ottenwaelder (; 25 September 1896 – 5 January 1970) was a Spanish and British composer, musical scholar, and writer, generally known outside his native region of Catalonia as Roberto Gerhard. Early life Gerhard was born in Valls, near Tarragona, Spain. His father was of German and Swiss ancestry; his mother was from Alsace-Lorraine. He studied piano with Enrique Granados and composition with scholar-composer Felip Pedrell, teacher of Isaac Albéniz, Granados and Manuel de Falla. Gerhard visited Falla in Granada, but dismissed him as a possible teacher and decided to shut himself away in a Catalan farmhouse to reflect on his professional future and concentrate on his work. Seeking systematicity, he turned his gaze to German avant-garde music and decided to send a long letter to the composer Arnold Schoenberg, enclosing his compositions, on 21 October 1923, begging to be accepted as his pupil. After the latter’s acceptance, Gerhard immediately left for Vienna. He was Schoenberg’s only Spanish pupil. Gerhard studied with Schoenberg in Vienna and Berlin between 1923 and 1928, and the teacher-pupil relationship became a lifelong friendship, as is shown in the complete co

Robin Holloway

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Robin Greville Holloway (born 19 October 1943) is an English composer, academic and writer. Early life Holloway was born in Leamington Spa. From 1953 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral and was educated at King’s College School, where his father Robert was Head of the Art Department. He attended King’s College, Cambridge, and studied composition with Bayan Northcott. Career In 1974, Holloway became an Assistant Lecturer in Music in the University of Cambridge and in 1980 attained a full Lecturer position. In 1999, he became a reader in Musical Composition at Cambridge. He retired in 2011 as professor of Musical Composition. He is a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Among his many pupils were Thomas Adès, Huw Watkins, Peter Seabourne, George Benjamin, Judith Weir and Jonathan Dove. Holloway’s doctoral thesis, Debussy and Wagner (later published as a book by Eulenburg), discussed a close relationship between music and language as well as romanticism and tonality. This can be heard in his own works, such as Scenes from Schumann (1969–70), the opera Clarissa (1976) premiered in 1990 at English National Opera under the baton of Oliver Knussen, and Seascape

Roderick Watkins

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Roderick Evan Watkins DL (born 1964) is an English composer and the Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, in East Anglia. Early life Watkins was educated at Gresham’s School, the Oberlin Conservatory in the United States, where he took a degree in Philosophy and Composition, and then at the Royal Academy of Music. He won all of the Academy’s most important prizes for composition, completed his doctorate, and became a Leverhulme Fellow. He also spent a year at the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics and Music in Paris, where he later returned as a research composer. His teachers included Hans Werner Henze, Richard Hoffmann, and Paul Patterson. Career Watkins taught composition and contemporary music at Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, becoming Programme Director for Undergraduate Music. He was Professor of Composition and Contemporary Music there from 2005 to July 2014. In 2014, he was appointed as Pro-Vice Chancellor and as Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Law, and Social Sciences at Anglia Ruskin. In 2015, he became Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, then in 2019 Vice Chancellor. Honours Watkin was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Cam

Roger Jones (composer)

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Roger William Jones (born 1948) is an English musician and composer of church music. Alongside writing cantatas and hymn tunes he leads workshops and conducts performances of his works both around the UK and in other countries. Biography Roger Jones was born in Birmingham on 15 May 1948, the son of Harold and Winifred Jones and studied piano, organ, cello and general musicianship at the Birmingham School of Music. After teacher training at City of Birmingham College of Education (now Birmingham City University Faculty of Education, Law and Social Sciences), in September 1969 he became Head of Music and then in September 1978 Head of Lower School at Aston Manor School (now Academy). Writing songs for the pupils, his first musical, Jerusalem Joy, was performed at the school in 1973. Before giving up teaching in 1984 he wrote 5 more musicals: Apostle, David, A Grain of Mustard Seed about the Sunday School pioneer Robert Raikes, Saints Alive and Greater than Gold. Up to 2025, Roger Jones had composed a total of 25 musicals. Since leaving teaching in 1984 he has worked full-time in Christian music, and is director of Christian Music Ministries, which publishes his works. within this mus

Roger Quilter

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Roger Cuthbert Quilter (1 November 1877 – 21 September 1953) was a British composer, known particularly for his art songs. His songs, which number over a hundred, often set music to text by William Shakespeare and are a mainstay of the English art song tradition. Biography Quilter was born in Hove, Sussex; a commemorative blue plaque is on the house at 4 Brunswick Square. He was a younger son of Sir William Quilter, 1st Baronet, a wealthy noted landowner, politician and art collector. Roger Quilter was educated first in the preparatory school at Farnborough. He then moved to Eton College and later became a fellow-student of Percy Grainger, Cyril Scott and H. Balfour Gardiner at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, where he studied for almost five years under the guidance of the German professor of composition Iwan Knorr. Quilter belonged to the Frankfurt Group, a circle of composers who studied at the Hoch Conservatory in the late 1890s. As a gay man during the late 19th century, it was difficult to cope with the pressures that were imposed upon him by his hidden homosexuality, and he struggled with mental illness after the loss of his nephew Arnold Guy Vivian during World War II. H

Roger Sacheverell Coke

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Roger Sacheverell Coke ( (“cook”); 20 October 1912 – 23 October 1972) was an English composer and pianist. Life Roger Sacheverell Coke was from a wealthy family. He inherited the family estate of Brookhill Hall, Pinxton Coke began composing when he was at Eton College, where he was taught by Henry Ley, and was influenced to take up the piano by hearing Benno Moiseiwitsch. He pursued his study of composition and the piano seriously. He took piano lessons in London with Mabel Lander (herself a pupil of Theodor Leschetizky and teacher of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret) and was later a pupil of Alan Bush. He made his debut as a composer-pianist in 1932 with his first piano concerto, and formed the Brookhill Symphony Orchestra in 1940 to play his own and other neglected works. Coke was homosexual, and a heavy cigarette smoker. two “vocal concertos” for soprano and orchestra and four symphonic poems. In the chamber music field there are sonatas for cello and for violin, as well as extended works for piano solo, notably the 24 Preludes and 15 Variations and Finale, and around 100 songs. Many of his unpublished manuscripts are held at Chesterfield Library. Works Recordings *Violin Sonat

Roger Steptoe

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Roger Steptoe (born 1953) is an English composer and pianist. He studied music at the University of Reading as an undergraduate and then at the Royal Academy of Music, London, from 1974 to 1977 as a post-graduate student. There he studied composition with Alan Bush and piano accompaniment with Geoffrey Pratley. Notable works during this period include the Clarinet Quintet and the solo piano piece Equinox, a series of concertos, and the Elegy on the Death and Burial of Cock Robin (1988) for counter tenor and strings. As a pianist, Steptoe recorded the first modern performances of the Walton and Bridge piano quartets, and in the first recording of the Four Last Songs by Vaughan Williams. Anthony Bye has described Steptoe’s style as “wholeheartedly in the tradition of Vaughan Williams, Finzi, Howells, Britten and Tippett…regenerated with thoroughly contemporary means of expression”. * Petite Sonatine 2 for cello solo (2009) * Quatre romances sans paroles for piano quartet (2001) * Sonata No.3 for brass quintet (1982) * Sonata for clarinet and piano (2003) * Sonata for trumpet and organ (2008) * Sonata for tuba and piano (2007) * Sonata for viola and piano (2010) * Sonata No.1 for vi

Ron Goodwin

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Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 19258 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years. His most famous works included Where Eagles Dare, Battle of Britain, 633 Squadron, Margaret Rutherford’s Murder, She Said films, and Frenzy. Born in Plymouth, Devon, England, Goodwin learned to play the piano by the age of five and returned to London four years later, where he attended Willesden County Grammar School. Whilst there, he learnt to play the trumpet and performed regularly in the school band. It was here that he formed his own band – Ron Goodwin and the Woodchoppers. and began to broadcast and make records with his Ron Goodwin Concert Orchestra. In 1953, Goodwin began arranging and conducting more than 300 recordings for over fifty performers, which resulted in more than 100 chart successes. He simultaneously made his own series of recordings and broadcasts as Ron Goodwin and his Concert Orchestra, and, in addition, began to compose scores for documentary films at Merton Park Studios. In 1958, Goodwin wrote his first feature film score for Whirlpool, with screenplay by Lawrence P. Bachmann. A

Ronald Binge

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Ronald Binge (15 July 1910 – 6 September 1979) was a British composer and arranger of light music. Biography Binge was born in a working-class neighbourhood in Derby, Derbyshire, in the English Midlands. and later worked in summer orchestras in British seaside resorts (including Blackpool and Great Yarmouth), for which he learned to play the piano accordion. Binge’s skill as a cinema organist was put to good use, and he played the organ in Mantovani’s first band, the Tipica Orchestra. After the war, Mantovani offered Binge the job of arranging and composing for his new orchestra. They had two children. He died in Ringwood, Hampshire, of liver cancer in 1979, aged 69, survived by his wife, son and daughter. it was originally created to capture the essence of the echo properties of a building such as a cathedral, although it later became particularly associated with easy-listening music. Binge’s catalogue includes hundreds of works, most of them light orchestral. His first big compositional success was the orchestral overture Spitfire, composed in Blackpool while he was still on RAF service, which predated William Walton’s orchestral tribute by a year. Best known today is probably El

Ronald Center

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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

Ronald Senator

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Ronald Senator (17 April 1926 – 29 April 2015) was a British composer who divided his time between New York City and London. Early life Senator, from a Jewish family, studied at Oxford University (1944–1947) with Egon Wellesz, a distinguished pupil of Arnold Schoenberg, and later (1955–58) with Arnold Cooke, a pupil of Paul Hindemith, at London University. Career He became a Senior Lecturer in Music at London University, then in 1981 was appointed Professor of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music. He also held visiting Professorships at universities in Australia, the United States and Canada. Work Senator’s oratorio Holocaust Requiem was premiered at Canterbury Cathedral in 1986, under the aegis of the United Nations, the International Council of Christians and Jews, the Government of Germany, and the B’nai Brith. It has since been performed in many places worldwide, including the U.S. (Tillis Center, 1988; Manhattan, 1990); Moscow, 1993; Czechoslovakia (Terezín 1995); Rome (1991, one month after the 9/11 attacks, Un Concerto per la Pace). For the Manhattan performance of 1990, Lukas Foss conducted the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Ron Silver was Narrator. Concerts devoted enti

Ronald Stevenson

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Ronald James Stevenson (6 March 1928 – 28 March 2015) was a Scottish composer, pianist, and music scholar. Biography The son of a Scottish father and Welsh mother, Stevenson was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, in 1928. He studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music (now incorporated in the Royal Northern College of Music), studying composition with Richard Hall and piano with Iso Elinson, graduating with distinction in 1948. He married Marjorie Spedding in 1952. He moved to Scotland in the mid-1950s. As a socialist pacifist conscientious objector, he applied for exemption from National Service, but was refused recognition by the North Western Tribunal. He, in turn, refused to attend a medical examination as an essential preliminary to call-up, which led to prosecution and sentence to 12 months imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs. The sentence qualified him to go to the Appellate Tribunal, which finally allowed exemption from military service conditional upon work on the land. Among his many compositions, the largest (in terms of duration) and most famous is his Passacaglia on DSCH for solo piano, written between 1960 and 1962, based on a 13-note ground bass derived from the musical

Ronnie Hazlehurst

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Ronald Hazlehurst (13 March 1928 – 1 October 2007) was an English composer and conductor who, having joined the BBC in 1961, became its Light Entertainment Musical Director. Hazlehurst composed the theme tunes for many well-known British sitcoms and game shows of the 1970s and the 1980s, including Yes Minister, Are You Being Served?, I Didn’t Know You Cared and Last of the Summer Wine. Early life Ronald Hazlehurst was born in Dukinfield, Cheshire in 1928 to a railway worker father and a piano teacher mother. Having attended Hyde County Grammar School, he left at the age of 14 and became a clerk in a cotton mill for £1 a week. In 1968, he became the Light Entertainment Musical Director and (during his tenure) he composed the theme tunes of many sitcoms, including Are You Being Served?, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Last of the Summer Wine (where he also wrote all the instrumental music for the series), I Didn’t Know You Cared, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, To the Manor Born, Yes, Minister, Yes, Prime Minister, Just Good Friends, and Three Up, Two Down. He also arranged the themes for Butterflies, Sorry! and the first series of Only Fools and Horses. During his BBC career, he com

Rory Boyle

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Rory Boyle is a Scottish composer and currently Professor of Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Early life and education Boyle was born in Ayr, Scotland on 9 March 1951. His father was a Major in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and his mother a very talented amateur pianist and accordionist. His parents separated when he was 5 years old, and he and his sister were brought up by their mother, firstly in Edinburgh and then on a farm in Stirlingshire. He was a chorister at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor and then won a music bursary to Eton College. Career Encouraged by his music teacher Boyle studied composition with Frank Spedding at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). He also studied piano (with Lawrence Glover), organ (with George McPhee) and harpsichord (with Andrew Davis who, at the time, was associate conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra) during his studies there. He then went on to win a Caird Scholarship to study privately with Lennox Berkeley in London. As the conductor Nicholas Cleobury wrote in the 1998 Proms programme, “Boyle chose his teachers well: Spedding encouraged his individual voic

Rosalind Ellicott

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Rosalind Frances Ellicott (November 14, 1857 – April 5, 1924) was an English composer, considered one of the leading female composers of her generation. Her father had no interest in music and it was predominantly her mother, an amateur singer who had been involved with the founding both of London’s Handel Society (1882–1939) and of the Gloucester Philharmonic Society, who encouraged young Rosalind’s talent. At age six “she exhibited an extraordinary facility in music, singing, and harmonising correctly by ear”. She took lessons from Samuel Sebastian Wesley, the cathedral organist, from age 12, tried writing songs at 13 and then a sonata at 16. From 1874 to 1876, she studied piano with Frederick Westlake at the Royal Academy of Music. While at the Academy she discovered her voice and took soprano solo parts in oratorios and cantatas and was a frequent soloist at the Three Choirs Festival. She also studied composition for seven years from 1885 under Thomas Wingham of the Brompton Oratory. She was a member of the International Society of Musicians and the National Society of Professional Musicians, as well as an ARAM. But despite her relative success in the last two decades of the ce

Ross Cullum

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Ross Cullum (born 1957) is an English composer, record producer, and audio engineer, known for working with Enya, Tears for Fears, Moya Brennan, and several other artists. Career Cullum became an assistant at George Martin’s AIR Studios, where he worked on recordings by Roxy Music and others. In the 1980s, after touring the world mixing live shows, he formed a production collaboration with Chris Hughes. Together they worked with Adam and the Ants, Wang Chung, Ric Ocasek and others. Hughes and Cullum used high-tech production techniques on the Paul McCartney song “Motor of Love”, according to Mike Evans, giving it a synth sound, with a “lush backing of electronic effects”. He worked with Enya and Nicky Ryan on the album Watermark. James E. Perone notes that Enya’s vocals are bathed in reverb leading to a “hazy and impressionistic” sound. Cullum is mentioned by his first name in the lyrics of “Orinoco Flow”. The Moya Brennan Grammy-nominated album Two Horizons, which Cullum produced and co-composed, was described by Greg Quill as “an ethereal and juiced-up orchestral concept album” Other artists he has worked with include Tori Amos, Miguel Bosé, Howard Jones, the Human League, the Af

Roxanna Panufnik

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Roxanna Anna Macklow Smith (née Panufnik; born 24 April 1968 ) is a British composer of Polish descent. She is the daughter of the Polish composer and conductor Sir Andrzej Panufnik and his second wife Camilla, née Jessel. Panufnik was born in London. She attended Bedales School and then studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Melanie Ruth Daiken. She has written a wide range of pieces including opera, ballet, music theatre, choral works, chamber compositions and music for film and television, which are regularly performed all over the world. Among her most widely performed works are Westminster Mass, commissioned for Westminster Cathedral Choir on the occasion of Cardinal Hume’s 75th birthday in May 1998, The Music Programme, an opera for Polish National Opera’s millennium season which received its UK premiere at the BOC Covent Garden Festival, and settings for solo voices and orchestra of Vikram Seth’s Beastly Tales – the first of which was commissioned by the BBC for Patricia Rozario and City of London Sinfonia. In 2023, Panufnik was one of twelve composers asked to write a new piece for the coronation of Charles III and Camilla. Her setting of the Sanctus, Coronation Sanctus

Roy Douglas

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Richard Roy Douglas (12 December 1907 – 23 March 2015) was an English composer, pianist and arranger. He worked as musical assistant to William Walton and Ralph Vaughan Williams, made well-known orchestrations of works such as Les Sylphides (based on piano pieces by Chopin) and Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto, and wrote a quantity of original music. Life and career Early years Roy Douglas was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on 12 December 1907, the youngest of the three children of Edith Ella Douglas, Charlton, and her husband, Richard Moses Douglas, a buyer and manager in a furnishing company. His involvement with music began early: as a five-year-old he would listen to his sister playing in her piano lessons and then seat himself at the piano and play by ear. His mother decided that he too should have piano lessons. An attack of rheumatic fever left him with a damaged heart, and the doctors said he was unlikely to live to adulthood. His fragile health meant that he received little formal education, but when well enough, he spent many hours playing the piano, “reading at sight everything I could find from Beethoven to ragtime” He was harmonium player, deputy pianist, celesta pl

Roy Henry

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Roy Henry (“King” Henry) () was an English composer, almost certainly the pseudonym of an English King: probably Henry V, but also possibly Henry IV. His music, two compositions in all, appears in a position of prominence in the Old Hall Manuscript. Identity Musicologists have not been able to agree on which English monarch wrote the two mass movements which appear, at the head of their respective sections, in the Old Hall Manuscript. Henry IV, who reigned from 1399 to 1413, was in his early forties when the music was most likely written, since stylistic evidence places it around 1410. However, by 1410 Henry IV was suffering from a disfiguring disease and struggling to maintain his regal power. Therefore, it is unlikely that he, albeit a talented musician, could be the composer of the two pieces. Whereas Henry V, despite being extremely ‘busy on campaigns’ after his succession, was recorded to never have ceased in his fondness for music. In 1420 the Pell Rolls recorded payments for two new harps to be shipped to the King in France. And the King even went so far as to take his chapel to the Agincourt campaign. This, as well as being substantial evidence for his piety, suggests that

Rupert Gregson-Williams

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Rupert Gregson-Williams (born 12 October 1966) is an English composer, conductor, and music producer best known for his film and television scores. His filmography includes Hotel Rwanda, for which he was awarded the European Film composer award, Hacksaw Ridge, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and its sequel, Over the Hedge, Bee Movie, Abominable, Back to the Outback, Made of Honor, The Holiday, The Legend of Tarzan, and numerous films from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions. In addition, he composed music for the video game Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and for television series including Veep, Catch-22, and The Crown. Educated at choir school, Lancing College, and St John’s College, Cambridge, he is the younger brother of film composer Harry Gregson-Williams. He is a member of Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions team of composers. He has received a nomination for two Primetime Emmy Awards and is a recipient of a BMI Award and a European Film Award. Filmography Feature films 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s TV Video games Awards References External links *

Ruth Barrett

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Ruth Barrett (born 1976) is a British film score composer. Her film score credits include Harry Brown, The Durrells, Collateral, Legacy, Law & Order: Organized Crime, and Victoria. For her work on Victoria, Barrett was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. Early life and career Barrett was born in Roehampton, London in 1976. She became interested in film and television music at a very young age while watching 1980s reruns of 1970s American television shows. She cites 1978s The Incredible Hulk, Queen’s 1980 Flash Gordon Soundtrack, and a number of commercials broadcast throughout the 1980s as childhood inspirations that piqued her interest in music. In her early teens she began improvising compositions around classical pieces with piano teacher and early mentor Nigel Crouch. Ruth went on to study music at Cambridge University, and then music composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She broke into the television industry composing for advertising pitches. Her first full time role was in post-production for ITV, which allowed her to build key relationships with producers and directors, while gaining practical experience compos

Ruth Gipps

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Ruth Dorothy Louisa (“Wid”) Gipps (21 February 1921 – 23 February 1999) was an English composer, oboist, pianist, conductor and educator. She composed music in a wide range of genres, including five symphonies, seven concertos and many chamber and choral works. She founded both the London Repertoire Orchestra and the Chanticleer Orchestra and served as conductor and music director for the City of Birmingham Choir. Later in her life she served as chairwoman of the Composers’ Guild of Great Britain. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1981 Birthday Honours for services to music. Life and career Early life and education Gipps was born at 14 Parkhurst Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, England in 1921 to (Gerard Cardew) Bryan Gipps (1877–1956), a businessman, English teacher in Germany, and later an official at the Board of Trade who was a trained violinist from a military family, and Hélène Bettina (née Johner), a piano teacher from Basel, Switzerland. They married in 1907, having met at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, where Hélène had trained and went on to teach, and where Bryan had gone against his family’s wishes to study the violin. Ruth Gipps had tw

Ryan Wigglesworth

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Ryan Wigglesworth (born 31 August 1979, Yorkshire) is a British composer, conductor and pianist. Biography Wigglesworth read music at Oxford University, where he held the position of Organ Scholar at New College, and continued his music studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. From 2007 to 2009, he was a lecturer at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College. From 2013 to 2015, he was a composing fellow with The Cleveland Orchestra. Wigglesworth was principal guest conductor of The Hallé from 2015 to 2018. He and his wife, the soprano Sophie Bevan, founded The Davey Consort in 2017. Wigglesworth founded the Knussen Chamber Orchestra in 2019. Wigglesworth served as composer-in-residence with English National Opera (ENO). For ENO, he composed his opera The Winter’s Tale, based on Shakespeare’s play of the same name. The opera received its premiere on 27 February 2017. In 2018, he was composer in residence of the Grafenegg Festival in Lower Austria. He has appeared as the soloist of his own Piano Concerto (2019). In 2019, he became the Sir Richard Rodney Bennett Professor at the Royal Academy of Music. Several commercial recordings of Wigglesworth’s music a

S. Drummond Wolff

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Stanley Drummond Wolff (4 February 1916 – 9 April 2004) was an English organist, choirmaster, composer, and music educator who was primarily active in North America. His compositional output primarily consists of anthems for choir and works for solo organ. In the 1980s he completed and published four volumes of hymns. Many of his compositions have been published by Concordia Publishing House and MorningStar Music Publishers. Early life, career, and education in England Born in London, Wolff became a choir soloist at the Savoy Chapel when he was 6 years old. By age 13 he was playing the organ for church services at St Matthew’s Oakley Square in London where he held the position of assistant organist. He entered the Royal College of Music (RCM) in 1933 where he was a Kent Scholar. He earned a Bachelor of Music from the RCM in 1937. His teachers at the school included Sir Walter Alcock (organ), Dr. Ernest Bullock (organ), and Charles Herbert Kitson (music composition). While studying at the RCM he won the Royal College of Organists’s Limpus Prize. He also served as the director and conductor of both London’s chapter of the Gilbert and Sullivan society and the Clapham Operatic and Orch

Sally Beamish

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Sarah Frances Beamish (born 26 August 1956) is a British composer and violist. Her works include chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in theatre, film and television, as well as composing for children and for her local community. Early life and education Sarah Frances Beamish was born on 26 August 1956 in London, to William Anthony Alten Beamish and Ursula Mary Beamish (née Snow). She attended Camden School for Girls and played in the National Youth Orchestra. She studied viola at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she received composition lessons from Anthony Gilbert and Lennox Berkeley. She later studied in Germany at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, with the Italian violist Bruno Giuranna. Career As a violist in the Raphael Ensemble, she recorded four discs of string sextets. However she made her mark as a composer, particularly after moving to Scotland. She has written a large amount of music for orchestra, including two symphonies and several concertos (for violin, viola, cello, oboe, saxophone, saxophone quartet, trumpet, percussion, flute and accordion), chamber and instrumental music, film scores, theatre music, and music for amateurs. I

Samuel Arnold (composer)

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Samuel Arnold (10 August 1740 – 22 October 1802) was an English composer and organist. Arnold was born in London (his mother is said to have been Princess Amelia; his father was Thomas Arnold). He began writing music for the theatre in about the year 1764. A few years later, he became the director of music at Marylebone Gardens, for which he wrote much of his popular music. In 1777, he worked for George Colman the Elder at the Little Theatre, Haymarket. In 1783, he became organist at the Chapel Royal and in 1793 he became the organist at Westminster Abbey, where he was eventually buried. He also wrote the earliest version of Humpty Dumpty. He was a close friend and associate of Haydn. Works Arnold’s best-known works include: *The Maid of the Mill (1765) *Abimelech (1768) *The Prodigal Son (1773) *Incidental music for Macbeth (1778) *The Baron Kinkvervankotsdorsprakingatchdern (1781) *The Castle of Andalusia (1782) *Two to One (1784), libretto George Colman. Includes the song “Pensive I Mourn”. *Turk and No Turk (1785) * Inkle and Yarico (1787) * Juvenile Amusements (1797) He is also known for producing the first collected edition of the works of George Frideric Handel between 1787

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

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Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (15 August 18751 September 1912) was a British composer and conductor. He was particularly known for his three cantatas on the epic 1855 poem The Song of Hiawatha by American Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Coleridge-Taylor premiered the first section in 1898, when he was 23. Of mixed-race descent, Coleridge-Taylor achieved such success that he was referred to by white musicians in New York City as the “African Mahler” when he had three tours of the United States in the early 1900s. He married an Englishwoman, Jessie Walmisley, and both their children had musical careers. Their son, Hiawatha, adapted his father’s music for a variety of performances. Their daughter, Avril Coleridge-Taylor, became a composer and conductor. Early life and education Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born at 15 Theobalds Road in Holborn, London, to Alice Hare Martin (1856–1953), an Englishwoman, and Daniel Peter Hughes Taylor, a Creole man from Sierra Leone who had studied medicine in London and later became an administrator in West Africa. They were not married, and Daniel had returned to Africa without learning that Alice was pregnant. (Alice’s parents had not been married at her birth,

Samuel Lover

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Samuel Lover (24 February 1797 – 6 July 1868), also known as “Ben Trovato” (“well invented”), was an Irish songwriter, composer and novelist, and a portrait painter, chiefly in miniatures. He was the grandfather of Victor Herbert. Life Lover was born at No. 60 Grafton Street, Dublin and went to school at Samuel Whyte’s at No. 79, which now houses Bewley’s Café. By 1830 he was Secretary of the Royal Hibernian Academy and living at No. 9 D’Olier Street. In 1835 he moved to London and began composing music for a series of comic stage works. For some, like the operetta Il Paddy Whack in Italia (1841), he contributed libretto and music, for others just a few songs. Before committing himself to a literary career, he enjoyed considerable success as a miniature painter. Lover produced many Irish songs, of which several, such as The Angel’s Whisper, Molly Bawn, and The Four-leaved Shamrock, gained popularity. He also wrote novels, of which Rory O’Moore (in its first form a ballad) and Handy Andy are best known, and short Irish sketches, which with his songs he combined into a popular entertainment called Irish Nights or Irish Evenings, with which he toured North America in 1846–1848. He joi

Samuel Reay

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Samuel Reay (17 March 1822 – 21 July 1905) was an organist and composer based in England. Life He was born on 17 March 1822 (although some sources give 1826 or 1828), the son of George Agnew Reay, organist of Hexham Abbey, and Eleanor Spraggon. His father moved to Ryton on Tyne and Samuel became a chorister in the choir at Durham Cathedral. He is noted for having performed the first organ arrangement of Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” which he arranged whilst in Tiverton. Whilst in Newark he was conductor of the Newark Philharmonic Society. Appointments *Assistant Organist of St Hilda’s Church, South Shields (1839 – ????) *Organist of Houghton-le-Spring *Organist of St Andrew’s Church, Newcastle upon Tyne (1841–1845) *Organist of St. Thomas the Martyr, Barras Bridge (1845–1847) *Organist of St Peter’s Church, Tiverton (1847–1854) *Organist of St. John’s Church, Hampstead (1854–1856) *Organist of St. Saviour’s Church, Warwick Road (1856 – ????) *Organist of St Stephen’s Church, Westbourne Park, Paddington (???? – 1859) *Organist of St. Peter’s College, Radley (1859–1861) *Organist of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Bury (1861–1864) *Organist of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Newa

Samuel Sebastian Wesley

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Samuel Sebastian Wesley (14 August 1810 – 19 April 1876) was an English organist and composer. Wesley married Mary Anne Merewether and had six children. He is often referred to as S.S. Wesley to avoid confusion with his father Samuel Wesley. Biography Born in London, he was the eldest child in the composer Samuel Wesley’s second family, which he formed with Sarah Suter having separated from his wife Charlotte. Samuel Sebastian was the grandson of Charles Wesley. His middle name derived from his father’s lifelong admiration for the music of Bach. After singing in the choir of the Chapel Royal as a boy, Samuel Sebastian embarked on a career as a musician, and was appointed organist at Hereford Cathedral in 1832. While there he married the sister of the Dean, John Merewether. S.S. Wesley was, like his father Samuel Wesley, a Freemason. He was initiated in Palladian Lodge No.120 in Hereford on 17 September 1833. He moved to Exeter Cathedral three years later, and joined St George’s Lodge No.129 Exeter on 10 December 1835. He subsequently held appointments at Leeds Parish Church (now Leeds Minster) (from 1842), Winchester Cathedral (from 1849), Winchester College and Gloucester Cathedra

Samuel Wesley (composer, born 1766)

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Samuel Wesley (24 February 1766 – 11 October 1837) was an English organist and composer in the late Georgian period. Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart (1756–1791) and was called by some “the English Mozart”, a title however sometimes also attributed to Thomas Linley the younger. Personal life Born on 24 February 1766, in Bristol, he was the son of noted Methodist and hymnodist Charles Wesley, the grandson of Samuel Wesley (a poet of the late Stuart period) and the nephew of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. His early musical education mostly took place in the family home in Bristol, where Sarah Wesley, his mother, sang and played the harpsichord. Hymn tunes and the works of Handel were the family’s favourite pieces. Samuel also had lessons from David Williams, the organist of All Saints’ Church, Bristol. In 1771, his father acquired a second house, in Chesterfield Street, Marylebone, London. Samuel left Bristol for the house in London by 1778. Samuel informed his mother of his philosophical conviction that his marriage had been constituted by sexual intercourse, precluding any civil or religious ceremony, but after a scandalous delay he married Charlotte Louise Ma

Sandy Nuttgens

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Alexander “Sandy” Nuttgens (born 1964) is a British composer and a Professional Member of the Ivors Academy. He is principally known for scoring television programmes mainly in the realm of children’s TV and documentaries. He has scored numerous BAFTA and Royal Television Society winners and nominees including My Parents Are Aliens for Granada, Timelines for October Films and Shakespeare Shorts for the BBC. In 2008 he scored his first feature film ‘The Blue Tower’which won Best UK Film at the London Raindance Film Festival. In children’s television he scored the music for Postman Pat SDS, Odo, Floogals, Mixmups, Big & Small, Get Well Soon and Dinopaws. Both Postman Pat and Dinopaws were nominated in the 2014 BAFTA Children’s Awards. Nuttgens was awarded two Silver Telly Awards for his work on Odo. Between 2023 and 2026 Nuttgens scored the music for BooSnoo! for Visionality and Sky Kids. Nuttgens was nominated for a BAFTA TV Craft Award in both 2025 and 2026 for his work on BooSnoo!. In 2007 Nuttgens won an RTS Yorkshire Region Award for Best Music for his score for Terry Jones’ Barbarians for Oxford Films and the BBC. He was nominated for RTS Best Music for The Rise and Fall of Ton

Sarah Class

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Sarah Class is an English composer, singer and songwriter. Biography Sarah Class was born in Watford. Having written music and poetry from an early age and performing as a vocalist and pianist in bands since she was a teenager, Class found her inspiration in the lush woodlands, rolling hills and seascapes of the Isle of Wight. Class graduated with a BA (Hons) in music and art from Chichester University, Sussex, England, and immediately thereafter, began to write extensively in Europe and North America on a number of album, TV and film projects, notably the score for the independent feature The Weekend, starring Gena Rowlands and Brooke Shields. This brought Class’s talent to the attention of the record producer Sir George Martin, who took her under the wing of his publishing company George Martin Music. During this time Class established herself as a prolific contemporary composer, her works being premiered both in the UK and abroad. In 2001, Warner Classics asked Class to provide all the music for their crossover album, Aurora-Cantamus. The album enjoyed a Top 5 status in the UK for several weeks following its release, gaining a Classical BRIT Best Album nomination. Class’s achiev

Sarah Whatmore

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Sarah Louise Whatmore (born 21 September 1981) is an English singer-songwriter, best known for appearing in the first series of the British TV series Pop Idol. Whatmore later went on to launch her own solo career. Early life Whatmore was born in Salford and raised in Walkden. Career Pop Idol Sarah Whatmore rose to fame in the first series of the British television show Pop Idol. Simon Fuller signed her to RCA Records including a worldwide management deal with 19 Entertainment. Music career In 2002 and 2003 she released two singles “When I Lost You” and “Automatic”, respectively, which both reached the Top 20 in the UK Singles Chart. Whatmore was writing for fellow Pop Idol alumni, and spent time working on her debut album, Living Proof. A third single failed to materialise, and the release of Living Proof was cancelled. Several recordings were leaked over the years, including “Close To Me” and “Don’t Let Me Go”. Turning down the opportunity to become a backing singer for Kylie Minogue to concentrate on her own solo career, Whatmore spent the next five years honing her craft. During the years she wrote more than two hundred songs with various collaborators including Greg Fitzgerald

Sasha Siem

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Sasha Kathrine Siem (born 1984, in London) is a British-Norwegian singer-songwriter and composer. Early life Sasha Siem was born in London, England, to Kristian Siem, a Norwegian businessman, and his South African wife Karen Ann, née Moross. Her brother is violinist Charlie Siem. Career Siem studied music and poetry at Girton College, Cambridge, where she was awarded a BA and MPhil, and Harvard University. By her early twenties, she had written music for the London Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Opera House, Rambert Dance Company, Opera North, The Aldeburgh Festival, Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, The London Sinfonietta, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2010, she became one of the youngest people to win a British Composer Award. She has also been awarded the Arthur Bliss Prize and the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize. Siem has performed at festivals and venues across Europe and the United States, including The Royal Opera House, London; HBC, Berlin; the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival; (Le) Poisson Rouge, NYC; by:Larm, Joe’s Pub, The Forum, London, Latitude Festival by:Larm, Barbican, Southbank Centre and Sadlers Wells. While parallels have been drawn with

Sebastian Westcott

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Sebastian Westcott (also spelt Wescott or Westcote) (c. 1524 – 1582) was an English organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral. He is especially known for staging performances of plays with the Children of Paul’s. Life Westcott was a chorister, under John Redford, at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, and in 1550 became organist and almoner of the cathedral. In 1557 he became master of Children of Paul’s, the boys of that cathedral. He retained his post at St. Paul’s, under Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth I, from 1550 to 1582, notwithstanding the fact that he was an avowed Catholic. Westcott is best known for the many plays and pageants, with music, which he produced for the English Court during a period of 32 years, these plays being performed by the boys of the cathedral school. So celebrated was he in this respect that he was generally referred to as “Master Sebastian”. Under Queen Mary he had the honour of arranging the music for the formal restoration of Catholicism at St. Paul’s, in November 1553. He also composed the Te Deum which was sung on 9 February 1554, on the suppression of Wyatt’s rebellion. He conducted the service for the reception of Cardinal Reginald Pole on the firs

Sheila Nelson

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Sheila Mary Nelson (5 March 1936 – 16 November 2020) was an English musician, music educator, writer and composer. She had played with the English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Menuhin Festival Orchestra but was best known as a violin and viola teacher. She is usually referred to as Sheila Nelson but appears in her published works as Sheila M. Nelson. Biography Nelson studied at the Royal College of Music and had a B.Mus degree from London University. She also studied at the University of Birmingham and in Denmark. In 1976 she went to the United States on a Churchill Fellowship to study with the eminent string pedagogue Paul Rolland, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Tower Hamlets Project taught strings and piano to whole school classes in a deprived area of London, and was featured in a six-part TV documentary series, Beginners Please. She was an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon RAM), a distinction limited to 300 musicians. Nelson died aged 84 on 16 November 2020 having lived with Alzheimer’s disease in her final years. Publications Nelson was a prolific writer and composer. Selected works include: * Christmas Tunes for str

Shena Fraser

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Shena Eleanor Fraser (26 May 1910 – 1993) was a Scottish pianist and composer who also used the pseudonym Sebastian Scott. She was born in Stirling, Scotland, and studied piano performance with Henry Wilson, and composition with Herbert Howells at the Royal College of Music in London. Her debut piano recital was held at the Grotrian Hall, London, in 1934. Fraser had a lifelong interest in choral music for women and the teaching of amateur and younger musicians. She was also Music Adviser to the National Federation of Women’s Institutes for four years and served on Kent Music Committee for many years. Over 100 of her pieces for women’s voices, and educational pieces for piano were published. She founded the Faversham Subscription Concerts Society to assist young performers, and (with piano teacher Yvonne Enoch) set up Fraser-Enoch Publications to publish works by young unknown composers. She had three sons, one daughter and fourteen grandchildren. After marriage Fraser taught piano privately and held a weekly Aural Training class for children aged six to eight. *Prelude and Scherzino for oboe and piano (1954) * Five Pairs, for violin and piano (1959) *Hornpipe and Jig for two pianos

Shirley Thompson (composer)

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Shirley Joy Thompson (born 7 January 1958) is an English composer, conductor, and violinist of Jamaican descent. Her output as a composer encompasses symphonies, ballets, operas, concertos, and other works for ensembles, as well as music for TV, film, and theatre. Her New Nation Rising, A 21st Century Symphony was composed in 2002 and debuted in 2004. Also an academic, she is currently Professor of Music at the University of Westminster. In the 2019 New Year Honours she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Music. Early years and education Shirley Thompson was born in London, UK, of Jamaican parents. Her early musical experience included playing the violin in various youth symphony orchestras in London, and choral singing with local choirs in Newham. She graduated in music from Liverpool University and in composition from Goldsmiths’ College after studying with Professor Stanley Glasser. Career After university, Thompson composed a body of solo and instrumental ensemble works for concert hall as well as working as a freelance composer of music for TV, films, and the theatre. to celebrate one thousand years of London’s history. Alongside A

Shona Mooney

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Shona Mooney (born c. 1984) is a Scottish fiddle player and composer. Career Shona Mooney was the winner of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician competition in 2006. She has appeared at international festivals such as the Tønder Festival (Denmark), and toured with the Scottish Folk orchestra The Unusual Suspects. To date, she has recorded two albums, Heartsease and Sensing the Park. Heartsease (viola tricolour) was released on Footstompin’ Records in 2006. It combines the traditional Borders style with components of a contemporary style. It was chosen to be “Top of the World” (editor’s choice) in Songlines magazine and has received 5-star reviews in The Herald and multiple broadcasts on BBC’s Late Junction. Shona began playing in O’er the Border with her parents Barbara and Gordon Mooney, bowing a small fiddle bought for her in a junk shop in Peebles. During her childhood, moving between Newstead, Newtown, Westruther, Maxton, Eildon and Lauder in the Borders, she studied classical violin. She also studied traditional fiddle styles with violinist Lucy Cowan before joining the musical scene at Kelso High School. References External links *

Sidney Nelson

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Sidney Nelson (1 January 1800 – 7 April 1862) was an English composer, particularly of songs, including the popular “Rose of Allendale” and “Mary of Argyle”. Life Nelson was born in London in 1800, son of Solomon Nelson. Showing musical ability when quite young, he was adopted by a gentleman who gave him a good musical and general education. He was for some time a pupil of Sir George Smart, and eventually became a teacher in London. He was in partnership with Charles Jefferys as a music-seller until 1843, when he was elected an associate of the Philharmonic Society. Subsequently he became a music publisher, but, being unsuccessful, he arranged a musical and dramatic entertainment with members of his family, and went on tour in North America, Canada, and Australia. He married Sarah Moss, and had several children, including actresses and singers: Mrs Eliza Craven, Carrie Nelson, Sarah Nelson, and Maria Nelson, mother of Effie Adelaide Rowlands and Carrie Sidney. He died in Russell Square, London on 7 April 1862, and was buried at West Ham; he left a widow, Sarah, and son Alfred Nelson. Compositions Nelson was a prolific composer, and claimed to have written about eight hundred pieces

Sidney Torch

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Sidney Torch (born Sidney Torchinsky; 5 June 1908 – 16 July 1990) was a British pianist, cinema organist, conductor, orchestral arranger and a composer of light music. Early life Torch was born of Russian Jewish origin to a Ukrainian father, Morris Torchinsky, and an Estonian mother, Annie, at 27 Tottenham Court Road in St Pancras, London. He learned the rudiments of music quickly from his father, an orchestral trombonist, who used to sit next to fellow trombonist Gustav Holst in such places as the old Holborn Empire. Torch studied piano at the Blackheath Conservatoire in south east London. His gift for memory came to his rescue when he entered an examination room and realised that he had left the compulsory music back at his home in Maida Vale. He thus had no choice but to play from memory; he passed with distinction. This came after a disagreement with the BBC: Torch snapped his baton in half at the end of his last concert. Torch had a reputation as a disciplinarian, according to the singers and musicians he conducted. One such performer described the “crackle” which came from starched shirt cuffs on his swift downbeats. It has been said that singers dreaded “the glare of the Tor

Simon Bainbridge

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Simon Bainbridge (30 August 1952 – 2 April 2021) was a British composer. He was also a professor and head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and visiting professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. Biography Bainbridge was born in London. He had his first major break with Spirogyra, written in 1970 while he was still a student. This work displays a passion for intricate and sensuous textures that remained the hallmark of Bainbridge’s style. He was educated at Highgate School and the Royal College of Music. After graduating from the Royal College of Music, he studied with Gunther Schuller at Tanglewood; his fondness for American culture was occasionally portrayed in works such as Concerto in Moto Perpetuo (1983), which contains echoes of American minimalism, and the be-bop inspired For Miles (1994). In the 1990s, his work took on a new expressive dimension such as in Ad Ora Incerta (1994) which earned him the Grawemeyer Award in 1997. Bainbridge was head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music from 1999 to 2007, and was one of the first four professors to be appointed in 2000 with the Academy’s status as a constituent college of

Simon Emmerson (composer)

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Simon Emmerson is an electroacoustic music composer working mostly with live electronics. He was born in Wolverhampton, UK, on 15 September 1950. Simon Emmerson studied at Cambridge and at City University, London where he founded the electroacoustic music studio in 1975, remaining until 2004 when he joined De Montfort University, Leicester as Professor in Music, Technology and Innovation, and where he is now Emeritus Professor at the Institute for Sonic Creativity. He has been a composer and writer on electroacoustic music since the early 1970s. He was a Fellow of the Digswell Arts Trust, Welwyn Garden City 1972-77. Commissions include: Intermodulation, Singcircle, Lontano, Jane Manning, Philip Mead, Jane Chapman, GRM (Paris), IMEB (Bourges), Inventionen (Berlin), Sond-Arte Ensemble (Lisbon), and more recently for BEAST (Birmingham) and for soloists Darragh Morgan (violin), Carla Rees (flute) and Heather Roche (clarinet). He was a first prize winner at the Bourges Electroacoustic Awards in 1985 for his work Time Past IV (soprano and tape, commissioned by Jane Manning). Writings include: The Language of Electroacoustic Music (1986), Music, Electronic Media and Culture (2000), Living

Simon Holt

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Simon Holt (born 21 February 1958) is an English composer. Biography Simon Holt was born in Bolton, Lancashire on 21 February 1958. Educated at Bolton School, Holt immersed himself in organ, piano and visual art during his sixth form years. In 1976, he attended Bolton College of Art for a year where he fulfilled a foundation course in all areas of visual representation. Shortly before achieving a diploma in composition from the Royal Northern College of Music, where he studied with Anthony Gilbert for four years from 1978 to 1982, he received a commission from the London Sinfonietta, which became Kites (1983). He was soon firmly established with a series of commissions and fruitful collaborations including not only with the Sinfonietta, but also the Nash Ensemble and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, resulting in pieces such as eco-pavan (1998), Sparrow Night (1989) and Lilith (1990) respectively. Inspired by Messiaen, Xenakis and Feldman as well as visual artists such as Goya, Alberto Giacometti and Brâncuși, his music is innately dramatic and impulsive in nature. His output comprises chamber music, concertos, songs, opera, orchestral and piano music. From 2000 onwards, Hol

Simon Power (composer)

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Simon Power (born 14 February 1958) is an English composer & sound designer, best known for his work on the BBC’s Classic Novelisation range of Doctor Who audiobooks. Career Between the late 1980s and mid-1990s, Power produced a number of tracks and remixes under a variety of names including Atomix, Marine Boy, Angel Deluxe. He had chart success as Powerhouse when On the Floor (Champion Records) reached no.80 in the official UK charts. The E.P. La Monde Marine (1990) became a much sought after cult release and the tracks ‘Laura, Laura’ and ‘La Monde Marine’ gained airplay on The John Peel Show and Kiss FM. During the mid-1990s he worked with Future Publishing’s Future Music magazine, producing a series of cover mounted sample CDs called Bite Size Beats ’n’ Samples and The Ultimate Sample Collection. From the mid 1990s to 2004, Power worked as an engineer and senior audio editor at BBC Audiobooks where he contributed to a number of BBC Audio releases including Father Ted, The Mighty Boosh and Little Britain. As well as post production on a variety of Sci-Fi and fantasy audio releases (Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Adventures and Big Finish’s Pathfinder Legends and Blake’s 7 productions), P

Simon Preston

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Simon John Preston (4 August 1938 – 13 May 2022) was an English organist, conductor and composer who was admired as one of the most important English church musicians of his generation. Family and education Preston was born in Bournemouth, Dorset, to John Preston, an architectural draughtsman, and Doreen Lane, and was introduced to music at an early age. His uncle played the organ at the church that his family attended, and he was inspired to take up the instrument at the age of 5 after hearing a recording of George Thalben-Ball. He later studied under Caleb Henry Trevor at the Royal Academy of Music before returning to King’s College as organ scholar under David Willcocks. He first came to attention when he accompanied the college choir at the service of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve in 1958. Admired as “one of the most important English church musicians of his generation”, he died on 13 May 2022 at the age of 83. Compositions and recordings From the 1960s onwards, Preston composed a number of works for the organ, the best-known of which is probably his Alleluyas, written in 1965 in the style of Olivier Messiaen. Recordings of his organ works originally made in the 1960

Simon Russell (composer)

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Simon Russell is a British composer for TV and film. He has worked on many documentaries and films including James Bluemel’s Exodus; Our Journey to Europe, Once Upon a Time in Iraq and Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland Havana Marking’s Afghan Star, Baroque! From St Peter’s to St Paul’s, Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer and Lottie Bearshout animation. He composed 52 episodes of the South Korean kids animation series Canimals. Awards *2023: RTS Craft & Design Award winner Original Score - non-scripted for Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland *2024: Emmy Award winner in Outstanding Music & Sound category for the Pussy Riot score Filmography Feature films * Weak At Denise (Guerilla Films; directed by Julian Nott, 2002) * Vampire Diary (Bard/Sterling; directed by Mark James, 2007) * Afghan Star (Roast Beef; directed by Havana Marking -2009) * Vote Afghanistan (Roast Beef/More 4, 2010) * 66 Months (Moving Target; directed by James Bluemel, 2011) * Silencing The Song (HBO/Roast Beef, 2011) * The Do Gooders (Roast Beef, 2013) * A Whole Lott More (Flying V/Roast Beef, 2013) * Smash And Grab (Roast Beef/BBC Storyville, 2012) * Pussy Riot (Roast Beef/BBC Storyville/HBO, 2013) * We Are Many (2014

Simon Waley

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Simon Waley Waley (23 August 182730 December 1875) was one of the leading members of Anglo-Jewry in the 19th century. Waley was born in Stockwell, London. He was a leading broker on the London Stock Exchange and a prominent amateur musician. He was a leading figure in the Jewish community during the period of the emancipation of the Jews from civil disabilities. He contributed many letters to The Times under the signature W. London. His letters on A tour in Auvergne, published in the Daily News in 1858, were incorporated into John Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in France. Waley was a highly gifted musician. He began to compose as a child. His first published work, L’arpeggio (for piano), was published in 1848. He had piano lessons from Ignaz Moscheles, William Sterndale Bennett and George Alexander Osborne, and lessons in theory and composition from William Horsley and Bernhard Molique. As well as being a brilliant pianist (he performed regularly at concerts of the Amateur Musical Society conducted by Henry Leslie), Waley was a prolific composer. His published compositions include a piano concerto (op. 16), two piano trios (in B flat and G minor, op. 15 and op. 20), marches and c

Simon Wallace

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Simon Wallace (born 1957) is a British composer and pianist. Simon Wallace was born in Newport, South Wales. He studied music at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and University College, Oxford, where he ran the Oxford University Jazz Club and played with The Oxcentrics, a Dixieland jazz band. He also studied with jazz pianists in London and New York. Wallace collaborated with the film and television composer Simon Brint In 1982 they scored A Shocking Accident which won 1983 Oscar for ‘best live action short From 1990 to 1993, Wallace toured internationally as a member of The Lindsay Kemp Company devising and performing music with composer percussionist Joji Hirota for the show Onnagata and the film Travelling Light. Theatre shows based on Landesman/Wallace songs include There’s Something Irresistible in Down (1996) produced at the Young Vic by members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Forbidden Games (1997) at the Ustinov Theatre Bath, the Pleasance Theatre Edinburgh and the Gdansk Shakespeare Festival and Queen of the Bohemian Dream (2007) produced at the Source Theatre in Washington, D.C. From 2003 to 2006, Wallace was musical director for jazz singer Clare Teal. He arran

Sinan Savaskan

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Sinan Carter Savaşkan (born 11 August 1954 ) is a Turkish-born, British composer of contemporary classical music. He works and lives in London, England, where he is the Composer in Residence for the Octandre Ensemble and an executive committee member of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. Savaskan’s music has been programmed widely by organisations and ensembles such as the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) in London — in particular, its MusICA series run for many years by Adrian Jack—the BBC, Lontano, the Balanescu Quartet, the Smith Quartet, the S.E.M. Ensemble of New York, and such conductors as Martyn Brabbins, Zsolt Nagy and Petr Kotik. Music career Savaşkan’s music employs highly personal pitch-time structuring methods, derived from notions of spatial perspective and architecture. This pitch-time technique was first displayed in his chamber works Many Stares Through Semi-Nocturnal Zeiss Blink (1979) and Antedonia (1980). The basis of the technique is the gradual circular rotation of pitch classes moving at different speeds simultaneously; this rotation can be effected chromatically, micro-chromatically, through glissandi, or any combination of these.

Sir John Clerk, 2nd Baronet

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Sir John Clerk, 2nd Baronet (c. 1676 – 4 October 1755) was a Scottish politician, lawyer, judge and composer. He was vice-president of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, the pre-eminent learned society of the Scottish Enlightenment. Clerk was also the father of George Clerk-Maxwell and John Clerk of Eldin, and the great-great-grandfather of the famous physicist James Clerk Maxwell. Early life John Clerk was son of Sir John Clerk, 1st Baronet by his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Henderson of Elvington. He had a legal education first at University of Glasgow and then at Leiden University. During 1697 and 1698 he went on a Grand Tour. In 1699 he composed a cantata entitled Leo Scotiae Irratus (The Scottish Lion Angered), with Latin lyrics by his Dutch friend Herman Boerhaave, to celebrate the establishment of the Scottish trading colony at Darien by the Company of Scotland. In 1700 was admitted to the Scottish Bar. Between 1700 and 1730 he planted 300,000 trees on the grounds of the family estate at Penicuik House. Parliament He was a member of the Parliament of Scotland for Whithorn from 1702 to 1707, and a commissioner for the Union of Parliaments for the Whig Party:

Solomon Eccles

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Solomon Eccles (1618–1683), also known as Solomon Eagle, was an English composer. However, he later became an active Quaker and distanced himself from church music. Life Solomon Eagle was mentioned in Daniel Defoe’s semi-fictional account of the plague of 1665 titled A Journal of the Plague Year: I suppose the world has heard of the famous Solomon Eagle, an enthusiast. He, though not infected at all but in his head, went about denouncing of judgment upon the city in a frightful manner, sometimes quite naked, and with a pan of burning charcoal on his head. What he said, or pretended, indeed I could not learn. This event is corroborated in the 29 July 1667 entry of the Diary of Samuel Pepys (vol 13). Pepys confirms that the person described as such is a Quaker: …a man, a Quaker, came naked through the Westminster Hall, only very civilly tied about the privates to avoid scandal, and with a chafing-dish of fire and brimstone burning upon his head… crying, “Repent! repent!” Eccles as a Quaker was prosecuted numerous times during the Restoration for civil disobedience. He would worship with other Quakers, although the Conventicle Act 1664 declared that this was a dangerous and sediti

Sophia Dussek

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sophia Giustina Dussek (née Corri; later Moralt; 1 May 1775 in Edinburgh – c. 1831 in London) was a Scottish singer, pianist, harpist, and composer of Italian descent. In 1792, Dussek married the composer Jan Ladislav Dussek. Following Jan’s death in 1812, Sophia married the violist John Alvis Moralt. The couple lived in Paddington, where she founded a music school . The opus 2 sonatas were published in at least 3 editions in the 1790s by the Corri-Dussek company in London as by Madame Dussek, and there is no reason to doubt that the 6 sonatas of opus 2, including the famous C minor sonata published and misattributed by Schott as by JL, are anything but the work of Sophia. Paris editions of opus 2 published by Pleyel only bear the name Dussek, leading Zabaleta to his misattribution, but nobody actually claimed opus 2 as the work of JL rather than Dussek before the mid-20th century. Life and family Sophia Dussek was born into the Corri family. She studied voice with her father, composer, music publisher, and impresario Domenico CorriHer uncle was composer Natale Corri and her cousin was soprano Fanny Corri-Paltoni. Her father provided Sophia with vocal instruction and had her perfor

Stanley Bate

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stanley Bate (12 December 1911 – 19 October 1959) was an English composer and pianist. Education and early career Bate was born at Milehouse in the County Borough of Devonport, and received his first musical education from local teachers. He took to the piano early and by the age of 12 had secured a post as organist at Herbert Street Methodist Church in Devonport. His first opera, The Forest Enchanted, was completed in 1928 when he was 17, and produced locally with Bate conducting. Winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, he studied under Ralph Vaughan Williams, R.O. Morris, Gordon Jacob, and Arthur Benjamin. Compositions from this time include the String Quartet No 1 (1936) and the Symphony No 1 in E, which was first performed at the College in 1936. Bate also began writing incidental music for theatre director Michel Saint-Denis (including productions of Twelfth Night and The Cherry Orchard) and produced two ballet scores - Perseus for Les Trois Arts and Cap Over Mill, for Ballet Rambert. Marriage and wartime travel While at the College Bate met Australian-born fellow student and composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks. Although Bate was openly homosexual they married in 1938

Stanley Black

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stanley Black (14 June 1913 – 27 November 2002) was an English bandleader, composer, conductor, arranger and pianist. He wrote and arranged many film scores, recording prolifically for the Decca label (including their subsidiaries London and Phase 4). Beginning with jazz collaborations with American musicians such as Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter during the 1930s, Black moved into arranging and recording in the Latin American music style, and also won awards for his classical conducting. Life and career Black was born as Solomon Schwartz on 14 June 1913 in Whitechapel, England. He began piano lessons at the age of seven and trained in piano and composition under Rae Robertson at the Matthay School of Music. He was aged only 12 when his first classical composition was broadcast on BBC Radio. His first professional job was for a C.B. Cochran 1930 theatrical revue followed by winning a Melody Maker competition for his arrangement of a jazz chorus the next year. In the early 1930s, he was employed in dance bands, and had worked with Howard Jacobs, Joe Orlando, Lew Stone, Maurice Winnick and Teddy Joyce by the time he joined Harry Roy in 1936. Black later presented his own programmes

Stephen Caudel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stephen Caudel is a British composer and guitarist. He studied at Leeds College of Music where he took a specialist course in Classical and Jazz music and then moved to London to work as a composer and performer. He has met and worked with a wide range of established artists/musicians over the years including Louis Clark, Art Garfunkel, Stanley Myers and John Williams. Caudel’s creative output to date includes 6 albums (4 solo) and several highly individual orchestral works. Having taken a break from music for several years due to family commitments, he currently lives in Cumbria and has returned to music, actively composing and recording again. Musical Influences *Classical: Mahler, Chopin, Tchaikovsky *Jazz: Gershwin, Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli (became friends in the late 70s) *Popular: Beatles, Hendrix Orchestral works * 1983 - Wine Dark Sea (Rock Symphony) – large scale classical/rock piece premiered at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre with the Wren Orchestra conducted by Louis Clark of “Hooked on Classics” and ELO fame. * 1985 - Nostalgie (Rhapsody) – for Classical guitar and Chamber Orchestra * 1993 - The Edel Rhapsody – for solo Wagner Tuba and Orchestra Discograph

Stephen Dodgson

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stephen Cuthbert Vivian Dodgson (17 March 192413 April 2013) was a British composer and broadcaster. Dodgson’s prolific musical output covered most genres, ranging from opera and large-scale orchestral music to chamber and instrumental music, as well as choral works and song. Three instruments to which he dedicated particular attention were the guitar, harpsichord and recorder. He wrote in a mainly tonal, although sometimes unconventional, idiom. Some of his works use unusual combinations of instruments. Biography Stephen Dodgson was born in Chelsea, London in 1924, the third child of John Arthur Dodgson, who was a symbolist painter and nephew of Campbell Dodgson, and his wife, who was born Margaret Valentine Pease and also an artist. He was distant cousin of Lewis Carroll. He was educated at Berkhamsted School in Hertfordshire and at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. In 1942, he was conscripted into the Royal Navy and took part in anti-submarine warfare escorting convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic. On returning to London, he studied composition privately for a year with Bernard Stevens before enrolling at the Royal College of Music in 1946, officially to study the horn (under Fr

Stephen Endelman

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stephen Endelman is a British born classical composer and conductor. He is best known for his soundtracks including The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995), Ed (1996), City of Industry (1997), Finding Graceland (1998), The Proposition (1998), Jawbreaker (1999), Evelyn (2002), Home of the Brave (2006) and Redbelt (2008). He wrote the Grammy nominated score for De-Lovely (2004) and the incidental music for the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History. Early life Endelman studied as a clarinetist at the Purcell School of Young Musicians when he was twelve years old. He subsequently studied composition at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. Endelman composed two operas at age eighteen as a prodigy. He moved to New York City to develop his film music career in 1992. He scored the Broadway production of Eugene O’Neill’s A Moon for the Misbegotten, which won a Tony Award. Endelman made his film debut the following year with Robert De Niro’s A Bronx Tale. His second film, Household Saints, was released the same year. Career Endelman has worked with such distinguished direc

Stephen Ferguson

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stephen Ferguson is a Scottish musician, composer and producer living in Vienna. Ferguson has since the early 1980s composed and produced film and movie scores, and has been praised as a composer of “undisputed originality”. Education Ferguson studied classical piano in London, musicology (Ph.D.) at the University of Vienna and holds a master’s degree in music analysis. Through his music producing background, Ferguson has attained a reputation as a technologically advanced musician, an additional skill that has offered him employment as an IT expert, such at the University of Vienna’s Department of English in the early 2000s. Compositions His compositions have been commissioned, among others, by the Edinburgh Festival, Ars Electronica (Austria), Salzburger Festspiele, WDR, BBC, King’s Lynn Festival, Musikverein Wien, ORF - Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, steirischer herbst. Discography (as solo artist) Stephen Ferguson: Multitracks, Blackplastic LP 07124 (1983) Stephen Ferguson: Piano Music, Extraplatte CD 850 088 (1988) Stephen Ferguson: Piano Wind Brass, Extraplatte CD EX 112 090 (1990) Current projects aAmplify, operational since 2000, is a digital music and productions site.

Stephen McNeff

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Stephen McNeff (born 6 September 1951) is an Irish composer, best known for his work in contemporary theatre and opera. Biography Stephen McNeff was born in Belfast and grew up in south Wales. He studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music and undertook post-graduate research at the University of Exeter. He was Associate Director of Manchester University’s Contact Theatre in 1979−80. From 1980−84, as Composer in Residence and Associate Director of the Music Theatre Studio Ensemble of the Banff Centre and then Comus Theatre Canada, he won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for his opera The Secret Garden (1985) based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. His theatre music in the 1990s saw McNeff receive a Scotsman award for the National Youth Music Theatre production of Aesop at the 1991 Edinburgh Festival before an unconventional staging of T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland by the Donmar for the BOC Covent Garden festival in 1994 brought him wider attention. He was appointed ‘Composer-in-the-House’ with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 2005 and later became Composer in Residence. During his three-year tenure, he wrote a number of major works for the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and

Stephen Oliver (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stephen Michael Harding Oliver (10 March 1950 – 29 April 1992) was an English composer, best known for his operas. Early life and education Oliver was born on 10 March 1950 in Chester, a son of Charlotte Hester (née Girdlestone; born 1911-2006), a religious education adviser, and Osborne George Oliver (b. 1903-2001), an electricity board official. His maternal great-grandfather was William Boyd Carpenter, a Bishop of Ripon and a court chaplain to Queen Victoria. Oliver was educated at St Paul’s Cathedral School, Ardingly College and at Worcester College, Oxford, where he read music under Kenneth Leighton and Robert Sherlaw Johnson. His first opera, The Duchess of Malfi (1971), was staged while he was still at Oxford. Career Later works include incidental music for the Royal Shakespeare Company (including The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby), a musical, Blondel (1983; with Tim Rice), and over forty operas, including Tom Jones (1975), Beauty and the Beast (1984) and Timon of Athens (1991). Oliver also wrote music for television, including several of the BBC’s Shakespeare productions (Timon among those), the soundtrack to the 1986 film Lady Jane, and some chamber and instrume

Steve Burke (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Steve Burke is a British video game composer, sound designer and voice actor. He is mostly known for his work at the British video game developer Rare. Background and career Burke was involved with music from early age. At home his family had a piano, which Burke played nearly every day. He also was playing the clarinet at Manx Youth Orchestra. Aged 20, Burke moved to London and studied at music branch of King’s College London. Then, he graduated from Royal College of Music with a master’s degree. At college, Burke often went to film recording sessions where he met such the masters of orchestra such as John Williams and Michael Kamen. After college he was composing for films about a year before he was recruited by video game giant Rare in early 2001. He firstly provided additional music for Star Fox Adventures, but his first major and most successful work at the studio was the soundtrack for 2005 game Kameo: Elements of Power. The soundtrack was scored with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The game’s music was well received and was nominated for several awards. He also scored Viva Piñata (with Grant Kirkhope), Jetpac Refuelled, Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise (with David Wis

Steve Martland

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Steve Martland (10 October 1954 – 7 May 2013) was an English composer. He helped to curate the Factory Classical label of Factory Records, featuring contemporary British composers. Life and music Martland was born in Liverpool, and studied composition at Liverpool University and in the Netherlands with Louis Andriessen. He worked almost exclusively with artists outside classical institutions—Dutch and American groups, freelance musicians and especially his own Steve Martland Band which toured his music internationally. He also worked with the King’s Singers and Evelyn Glennie for whom he wrote Street Songs. Martland was composer in residence at the ETNA Music Festival in Sicily in 2006 and 2007. His music was published by Schott Music. Usually amplified, muscular and powerfully rhythmic, his music was extensively choreographed: Dance Works commissioned and premièred by London Contemporary Dance Theatre has received many new productions around the world, and Remix was awarded the SACD Prize for Video Dance Choreography Music after being choreographed for BBC TV by Aletta Collins. His Principia was adopted as the theme music for the BBC radio programme The Music Machine. Dance Works

Steve Race (musician)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stephen Russell Race (1 April 192122 June 2009) was an English composer, pianist and radio and television presenter. Early life He was born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, the son of a lawyer, Russell Race, who died in 1926. Race learned the piano from the age of five. He was educated (1932–37) at Lincoln School, where he formed his first jazz group, which included a young Neville Marriner, later a major figure in the world of classical music. At sixteen, he attended the Royal Academy of Music, studying composition under Harry Farjeon and William Alwyn. His brother Philip, a solicitor, was a Methodist preacher, and worked with the British Council of Churches, from 1990 known as Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Career After leaving the academy, Race (encouraged by the classical music critic of the News Chronicle, Scott Goddard) wrote occasional dance band reviews for Melody Maker and, in 1939, joined the Harry Leader dance band as pianist, succeeding Norrie Paramor. Race joined the Royal Air Force in 1941, and formed a jazz/dance quintet. After the Second World War, he began a long and productive career with the BBC, where his ready wit, musicianship and broad musical knowledge m

Steven Price (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Steven Price (born 22 April 1977) is an English film composer, best known for scoring Gravity, which won him the Academy Award for Best Original Score. Before making his debut as a composer with Attack the Block, he worked on the music department for various notable films, such as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Batman Begins, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Early life and education Price’s passion for music began early: a guitarist from the age of five, he went on to achieve a First Class degree in Music from Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Following graduation, he went to work in the London studio of Gang of Four guitarist/producer Andy Gill, for whom he would program, contribute string arrangements, and play on albums alongside artists such as Michael Hutchence and Bono. Career Price went on to work as a programmer, arranger, and performer with film music composer Trevor Jones. He provided additional music for projects such as Roger Donaldson’s Thirteen Days; Stephen Norrington’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; Frank Coraci’s Around the World in 80 Days; the television series Dinotopia; and Tamra Davis’ Crossroads, on wh

Stuart MacRae (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stuart MacRae (born 12 August 1976) is a Scottish composer. Education and career Stuart MacRae was born in Inverness, Scotland. He studied at Durham University with Philip Cashian and Michael Zev Gordon, and subsequently with Simon Bainbridge and Robert Saxton at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. By his mid-twenties he was writing astonishingly original and powerfully expressive works, and was receiving commissions from organisations such as the BBC and the London Sinfonietta as well as being appointed Composer-in-Association with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Often inspired by aspects of nature and humans’ relationship to it, MacRae’s style draws on various strands of European modernism, including the music of Igor Stravinsky, Elliott Carter, Iannis Xenakis, Harrison Birtwistle and Peter Maxwell Davies. Key works * The Witch’s Kiss (1997; chamber ensemble) * Violin Concerto (2001) * Ancrene Wisse (2002; choir, orchestra) * Motus (2003; chamber ensemble) * Echo and Narcissus (2006; chamber ensemble/dance) * Birches (2007; chamber orchestra) * Gaudete (2008; soprano and orchestra) * Earth (2010; orchestra) * Prometheus Symphony (2019; soprano and bass-baritone soloists

Stuart Mitchell

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Stuart Mitchell (21 December 1965 – August 2018) was a Scottish pianist and composer who was born in Edinburgh and who is best known for his Seven Wonders Suite (2001). The Seven Wonders Suite has been recorded by The Prague Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mario Klemens. A performance of part of the suite was performed in The Dvorak Hall in Prague in 2005. This major symphonic work has placed Mitchell in The Classic FM Hall of Fame since 2005, and is regularly requested by their listeners. Stuart Mitchell was the son of pianist and composer Thomas J. Mitchell. In 2005, the Mitchells received media coverage from Reuters, ITN, BBC, and CNN/Fox News when they claimed to have deciphered a musical code carved into the ceiling design of Rosslyn Chapel. In 2008, Mitchell released the first in his series of works called DNA Variations, music translated from Ancestral DNA sequences of various species and Fly – Orchestral Suite in 2016 was based upon the mitochondrial DNA music of birds and winged beings. The Seven Wonders Suite was voted 181 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2017. In the 2023 chart, the suite had reached a new peak position of 82. Mitchell died of lung cancer in August 2018, a

Susan Spain-Dunk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Susan Spain-Dunk FRAM (22 February 1880 Folkestone, England – 1 January 1962 London) was an English composer, conductor and violinist/violist. Life and career Susan was the third of four children (Ethel K Dunk b. 1876; John De Lanoy Dunk b. 1878; Susan Spain Dunk b. 1880; William Major b. 1882). Their father was a master plumber and house builder. Her second name, Spain, was added as the Dunk family were related to the Spain family. She studied violin and composition at The Royal Academy of Music, London with Alfred Gibson, Stewart Macpherson and Richard Walthew and later taught composition and harmony there. For a time she played the viola in a private quartet of Walter Cobbett. She also played (violin or viola) in the Winifred Small Quartet and Cobbett made suggestions for “Anthology” programmes for the quartet. She conducted some of her own works at the British Women’s Symphony Orchestra. She also conducted her own works at The London Promenade Concerts (1924-1927) and at Bournemouth, Folkestone, Eastbourne and Torquay. Susan Spain-Dunk also conducted work by other women composers, including Edith Swepstone’s tone poem, A Vision. and two grandchildren. In the mid-1930s she was l

Syd Dale

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Syd Dale (20 May 1924 – 15 August 1994) was an English self-taught composer and arranger of big band, easy listening and library music. His themes and underscore music played an important role on television, radio and advertising media of the 1960s and 1970s and many cues are still in use today. Biography Dale was born in York, and started as an apprentice technician at Rowntree’s chocolate factory at 16. Soon big band music became his passion. He spent as much time as possible listening to bands and studying the arrangements. Three years later, in 1945, he left the factory and joined several local bands as pianist and arranger. In 1952 he was recruited as a pianist with The Squadronaires, the dance orchestra of the Royal Air Force, where he worked with the conductor Ronnie Aldrich. The band toured extensively. In February 1953 they recorded Dale’s arrangement of “Jeepers Creepers,” his first recording session. He also played in several London hotels, and later joined the Cyril Stapleton Show Band. Dale married his wife Audrey while he was still working at Rowntree’s. In 1958 the twins Ian and Erica were born, and the family were living in Maida Vale. In 1960 they moved to 1, Turpi

Sylvia Hallett

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sylvia Hallett (born 1953) is an English musician and composer. She plays many instruments including the violin and she is known for improvisations on unusual instruments. She has appeared at international festivals, often in collaboration with theatres and dance companies. Career Hallett studied music at the Dartington College of Arts. She continued her studies in Paris with Max Deutsch. Hallett’s instruments have included Norwegian Hardanger fiddle, saw, accordion, found objects such as a bicycle wheel, at times modified by electronics. From the early 1970s, she has appeared at international festivals. She has performed solo and as a duo with Clive Bell. She has also collaborated with artists such as Lol Coxhill, Phil Minton, Maggie Nicols, Evan Parker, and with theatres and dance projects. In 2012 she played in David Toop’s “atmospheric opera” Star-shaped Biscuit. Hallett made several solo recordings, which include improvisations, songs and “tape collage pieces” from her works for the stage. For her recording White Fog, she bowed a bicycle wheel. A review describes “plaintive sounds” of the wheel spokes, expanded to “soundscapes” by digital delay boxes. A second piece on the rec

Tali Esen Morgan

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Tali Esen Morgan (28 October 1858 – June 1941), born Taliesen Morgan, was a Welsh-born American conductor, composer, and publisher. He was the musical director at Ocean Grove, a large Methodist summer resort on the New Jersey shore, for almost twenty years. Early life Taliesen Morgan was born at Llangynwyd, Glamorganshire, one of ten children of Thomas Llyfnwy Morgan and Gwenllian Beven Morgan. He attended schools in Maesteg, and held an apprenticeship with a printer. He settled with his family in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1876, for three years. Although he was very young, he published a Welsh-interest newspaper, The Cambro-American, while there. Career In 1897, Morgan directed choirs for a summer concert at Ocean Grove. The following year, he became the resort’s musical director. Conductor Walter Damrosch encouraged him to use “Tali Esen” rather than the original version of his first name. As musical director, he worked with visiting artists such as Enrico Caruso, John Philip Sousa, Lillian Nordica, and Louise Homer. He was responsible for a thousand-voice children’s chorus, and a 63-piece orchestra. He oversaw the purchase and installation of the Robert Hope-Jones organ in the Gr

Tansy Davies

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Tansy Davies (born 29 May 1973, Bristol) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. She won the BBC Young Composers’ Competition in 1996 and has written works for ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. In 2023 she was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Works Collections at The Ivors Classical Award in recognition of her outstanding achievements in composition. In 2019, she was listed as one of the UK’s most influential people by the Evening Standard’s Progress 1000, alongside Simon Rattle and Dave. Early life Davies started out singing and playing guitar in a rock band. She developed an interest in composition in her teens and studied composition and French horn at the Colchester Institute, followed by further study with Simon Bainbridge at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and with Simon Holt. Davies has been Composer-in-Residence at Royal Holloway, University of London, where she gained a PhD, and currently teaches at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She also worked for three years as a freelance horn player and was a member of the Moon Velvet Collective. She has rece

Tarik O'Regan

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Tarik Hamilton O’Regan (; born 1 January 1978) is a British and American composer. His compositions are partially represented on numerous recordings which have been recognised with two Grammy nominations. He is also the recipient of two British Composer Awards. O’Regan has served on the Faculties of Columbia University as a Fulbright Chester Schirmer Fellow, The Radcliffe Institute of Harvard University as a Radcliffe Fellow, Yale University, Trinity College in the University of Cambridge, Rutgers University, Stanford University as a Visiting Artist, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton as Director’s Visitor. O’Regan’s compositions incorporate the influence of Renaissance vocal writing, the music of North Africa, British rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s, jazz and Minimalist music. His music is often rhythmically complex and employs varying approaches to tonality. Life and work 1978–2001: Beginnings, early education, and influences Tarik O’Regan was born in London in 1978. He grew up predominantly in Croydon in South London, to an English father of Irish descent and an Algerian mother, spending some of his early childhood in Algeria and Morocco, the latter where his mo

Teresa del Riego

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Teresa Clotilde del Riego, later Teresa Leadbitter (7 April 187623 January 1968) was an English violinist, pianist, singer and composer of Spanish ancestry. Biography Teresa Clotilde del Riego was born in Marylebone, central London to English mother Clara, from Devon, and Spanish father Miguel, a carpenter who had naturalised. She had a sister Agnes Manuela Teresa, a scoutmaster who founded the Women Signallers Territorial Corps, and a brother John Anthony, an actor under the stage name Philip Desborough. The family later moved to Cookham Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire. Del Riego began playing the piano aged five and wrote her first song at the age of 12. She studied piano, violin, singing and composition at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and the West Central College of Music in London with Sir Paolo Tosti and Marie Withrow, and in Paris. Del Riego was heavily involved in World War I charity concerts. She married her husband, Francis John Graham Leadbitter, in 1908; he died in action in 1917. They had one son. She was a member of the Society of Women Musicians and of the Cowdray Club in Cavendish Square. She also taught singing and accompanying. Her principal residence in later life

Theo Marzials

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Théophile-Jules-Henri “Theo” Marzials (20 December 1850 – 2 February 1920) was a British composer, singer and poet. Marzials was described in 1894 as a “poet and eccentric” by parodist Max Beerbohm, and, after writing and performing several popular songs, vanished into obscurity. His poetry is seen as an example of 19th-century aestheticism. Background Marzials’s father, Antoine-Theophile Marzials, was the pastor of the French Protestant Church of London and had been a clergyman before visiting London in 1839. While there he met Mary Ann Jackson (Marzials’ mother) and the couple married. Theo was the youngest of their five children. He was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School His brother, Frank Marzials, was a prolific author of poetry, essays, and biographies and an accountant general in the army; he was knighted in 1904. It also includes A Tragedy, an unusual poem that has often been called the worst ever written in the English language. However, Ford Madox Ford called the collection “by far the most exquisite … by any of the lesser Pre-Raphaelite poets”. Other poems by Marzials featured in The Yellow Book, an important literary periodical of the late 19th century. Gerard Manle

Theodore Holland

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Theodore Samuel Holland, OBE (25 April 1878 – 29 October 1947), was a British composer and academic. Born in Wimbledon, Holland attended Westminster School and then the Royal College of Music, where his composition teacher was Frederick Corder. A further period of study followed at the Musikhochschule in Berlin under Joseph Joachim. War service (which earned him an OBE) interrupted his career in theatre music and afflicted him with shell-shock for the rest of his life. He was appointed Professor of Harmony and Counterpoint at the Royal Academy of Music in 1927, a post he held until he died. His address in the 1930s was 10, Eldon Road, London W8. Among his students were the composer John Joubert, and also Iris du Pré, mother of cellist Jacqueline du Pré. Holland’s wife Isména, godmother to du Pré, bought the Davydov Cello in 1964 for $90,000 and presented it to her. Much younger than her husband, Isména survived him by nearly 60 years. She died in October 2004, aged 101. Composition Holland began as a composer of incidental music for the theatre. The orchestral Christmas Suite, based on music for a children’s play, Santa Claus (produced at the London Scala in 1912) remained popular

Thomas Adès

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Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: The Tempest (2004), Violin Concerto (2005), Tevot (2007), In Seven Days (2008), and Polaris (2010). Major recent works include: Dante (2020) and Aquifer (2024). Biography Adès was born in London to art historian Dawn Adès and poet Timothy Adès. His surname is of Syrian Jewish origin. Adès is gay and identified his sexuality closely with the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in his youth. Adès studied piano with Paul Berkowitz and later composition with Robert Saxton at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. After attending University College School, he achieved a double starred first in 1992 at King’s College, Cambridge, studying with Alexander Goehr and Robin Holloway. He was appointed Britten Professor of Composition in the Royal Academy of Music and in 2004 was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Essex. In 2007, a retrospective festival of Adès’s work was presented at the Barbican Arts Centre in London and he was the focus of Radio France’s an

Thomas Arne

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Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. He is known for his patriotic song “Rule, Britannia!” and the song “A-Hunting We Will Go”, the latter composed for a 1777 production of The Beggar’s Opera, which has since become popular as a folk song and a nursery rhyme. Arne was a leading British theatre composer of the 18th century, working at the West End’s Drury Lane and Covent Garden. He wrote many operatic entertainments for the London theatres and pleasure gardens, as well as concertos, sinfonias and sonatas. Early life Thomas Augustine Arne was born on 12 March 1710 in Covent Garden and baptised as a Roman Catholic. He came from a long line of Catholic recusants. Arne’s father and grandfather were both upholsterers and both held office in the Worshipful Company of Upholders of the City of London. His grandfather fell on hard times and died in the debtors’ prison of Marshalsea. His father earned enough money to rent 31 King Street, a large house in Covent Garden, and to have Arne educated at Eton College, but in later life he too lost most of his money and had to supplement his income by acting as a

Thomas Ashwell

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Thomas Ashwell or Ashewell (c. 1478 – after 1513 (possibly 1527?)) was an English composer of the Renaissance. He was a skilled composer of polyphony, and may have been the teacher of John Taverner. His admission to St. George’s Chapel as a chorister in 1491 suggests a birthdate of approximately 1478, but nothing else is known about his early life. He stayed at St. George’s until 1493, and account records at Tattershall College in Lincolnshire list him as a singer there in 1502 and 1503. He was in a position of authority at Lincoln Cathedral in 1508, according to records there, and was employed at Durham Cathedral as Cantor or Master of the singing boys, and to provide music for the Lady Chapel, in 1513; no further records survive of his life. The Durham Cathedral archives show the first successor to his duties there as being a William Robson, who began his duties in 1527, and this may be an indication of Ashwell’s death some time before that. Surviving Ashwell compositions Only scattered remnants of Ashwell’s music survive. As was common for pre-Reformation music in England in Latin, the large majority of manuscripts were destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henr

Thomas Attwood (composer)

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Thomas Attwood (23 November 176524 March 1838) was an English composer and organist. Attwood studied under Mozart and he was friendly with Felix Mendelssohn. Early life The son of a musician in the royal band, Attwood was born in London, probably in Pimlico. At the age of nine he became a chorister in the Chapel Royal, where he received training in music from James Nares and Edmund Ayrton. In 1783 he was sent to study abroad at the expense of the Prince of Wales (afterwards King George IV), who had been favourably impressed by his skill at the harpsichord. After two years in Naples, Attwood proceeded to Vienna, where he became a favourite pupil of Mozart. On his return to London in 1787 he held for a short time an appointment as one of the chamber musicians to the Prince of Wales. Career In 1796 he was chosen as the organist of St Paul’s Cathedral, and in the same year he was made composer of the Chapel Royal. His court connection was further confirmed by his appointment as musical instructor to the Duchess of York, and afterwards to the Princess of Wales. In January 1806, he played his own composition, Grand Dirge, on the organ for the funeral of Lord Nelson, the only piece specia

Thomas Bidgood

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Thomas Bidgood (7 October 1858 – 1 March 1925) was an English conductor, composer and arranger. Life Thomas Bidgood was born in Woolwich, Kent. His father was William John Bidgood, a master plumber, and his mother was Jane Bidgood, née Williams. His early musical training included learning the violin at the London Academy of Music, taught by Signor Erba, and singing in the church choir. He also learnt a number of wind instruments after going to concerts given by the band of the Royal Artillery. He played the E Tenor Horn (althorn) and E Bass in the band of the 9th Kent Artillery Volunteers. With his wife Emily, Bidgood had two children, but this marriage did not last. He set up home with Rosetta Butler (née Casselden), and they settled in West Ham under the surname of Barnard and had four sons. By 1911, they had moved to 162, Harringay Road, Tottenham, where they stayed until Bidgood’s death on 1 March 1925 at that same address. According to a coroner’s report written on 3 March 1925, Bidgood committed suicide by gas poisoning “while of unsound mind” and is buried in an unmarked grave in Tottenham Cemetery. He left an estate valued at £100, and his widow, Emily Louise, had the admi

Thomas Busby (composer)

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Thomas Busby (26 December 1755 – 28 May 1838) was an English composer. Early life Busby was the son of a coach-painter. He was born at Westminster, London, in December 1755. His father was musical, and sang himself; when his son developed a fine treble voice, he decided to bring him up as a musician. Benjamin Cooke, the organist of Westminster Abbey, turned down young Busby (at age 12-13) as too old for a chorister; he was placed under Samuel Champness for singing, and Charles Knyvett for the harpsichord. Subsequently he studied under Jonathan Battishill. In the summer of 1769 Busby was engaged to sing at Vauxhall Gardens at a salary of ten guineas a week. On his voice breaking, he was articled to Battishill for three years, and worked on both his musical and his general education. On the expiration of his training he returned to his father’s house, and set himself to earn his living by music and literature. Early works His first venture was the composition of music to a play by William Kenrick, The Man the Master, but this was never finished. He then turned his attention to oratorio, and began a setting of Alexander Pope’s Messiah, at which he worked intermittently for several yea

Thomas Campion

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Thomas Campion (sometimes spelled Campian; 12 February 1567 – 1 March 1620 He later entered Gray’s Inn to study law in 1586. However, he left in 1595 without having been called to the bar. On 10 February 1605, he received his medical degree from the University of Caen. Campion is thought to have lived in London, practising as a physician, until his death in March 1620 – possibly of the plague. He was apparently unmarried and had no children. He was buried the same day at St Dunstan-in-the-West in Fleet Street. Poetry and songs The body of his works is considerable, the earliest known being a group of five anonymous poems included in the “Songs of Divers Noblemen and Gentlemen”, appended to Newman’s edition of Sir Philip Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella, which appeared in 1591. In 1595, Poemata, a collection of Latin panegyrics, elegies and epigrams was published, winning him a considerable reputation. This was followed, in 1601, by a songbook, A Booke of Ayres, with words by himself and music composed by himself and Philip Rosseter. The following year he published his Observations in the Art of English Poesie, “against the vulgar and unartificial custom of riming,” in favour of rhymel

Thomas Carter (composer)

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Thomas Carter (May 1769 – 8 November 1800) was an Irish composer resident in London during the most creative years of his short life. Life Carter probably belonged to an extended family of Dublin musicians including, among others, Timothy Carter (c. 1715–1772) and (Charles) Thomas Carter (c. 1735–1804), with whose works his were often confused as both published music in London in the 1790s and used to abbreviate their name as “T. Carter”. Other sources suggest that he was an illegitimate son of the Earl of Inchiquin. He was born in Dublin and seems to have shown an exceptional musical talent since his childhood. Sponsored by the Earl of Inchiquin, he went to study music in Naples, around 1788, where he became a protégé of Sir William Hamilton. He then went to Calcutta, India, to become the theatre’s music director, but had to relocate to England in July 1789 for health reasons. He married Mary Wells from Cookham, Berkshire, in 1793. When he died in London at age 31, the Gentleman’s Magazine described him as “a victim, in early life, to the fatal ravages of the liver complaint”. Music In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980 edition), Roger Fiske made the first attem

Thomas Causton

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Thomas Causton or Caustun (died 1569) was an English composer. Causton was a gentleman of the chapel royal under Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. Nothing is known of his parentage, but it is possible that he is identical with a Thomas Causton who was living about the same date at Oxted in Surrey. This individual was the son of William Causton of Orpington, by Katherine Banister, and was married to Agnes Polley of Shoreham. Their son William (d. 1638) had a numerous family, who lived at Oxted until late in the seventeenth century. On 29 Oct. 1558 Mary wrote to the mayor and aldermen of London in favour of Thomas Causton, ‘one of the gentlemen of the chappell,’ requesting that he should be admitted into the freedom of the city. In 1560 he contributed some music to John Day’s rare ‘Certain Notes, set forth in four and three parts, to be sung at the Morning, Communion, and Evening Prayer.’ The same publisher’s ‘Whole Psalmes in Foure Partes’ (1563) also contains twenty-seven compositions by Causton. A Venite and service by him have been reprinted in the ‘Ecclesiologist,’ and a Te Deum and Benedictus in score are preserved in the British Library (Add MS 31226). He died on 28 Oct. 156

Thomas Chilcot

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Thomas Chilcot (1707?1766), was an English organist and composer. Life Thomas Chilcot of Bath, Somerset was born in the West of England (probably Bath) in or about 1707. He was the son of John Chilcot and Elizabeth Powell. Records of his birth, like most other records from his life, are now lost. Chilcot was educated at Bath Charity School, whose headmaster, Henry Dixon, had a strong interest in church music. On 6 July 1721 Chilcot (presumably aged 14) was apprenticed to Josiah Priest, the organist of Bath Abbey since 1714 - seemingly the only occasion on which the school allowed a pupil to be apprenticed to a musician. On Priest’s death, just four years later, Chilcot was made Abbey organist on a probationary basis. At what should have been the conclusion of Chilcot’s apprenticeship, in 1728, the appointment was made permanent. As City musician in fashionable Bath, Chilcot rapidly established a remarkable relationship with many noble families, attracting their patronage and subscriptions to his publications. He became a member and subsequently Grand Master of the Royal Cumberland Lodge of Freemasons. He was also amongst the original members of the Royal Society of Musicians, found

Thomas Clark (composer)

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Thomas Clark (1775–1859) was a Canterbury shoemaker (cordwainer) and a prolific composer of West Gallery music, especially for the Nonconformist churches of the South East of England. Sally Drage, writing in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, notes that he was ‘particularly influential as the composer of early Sunday School collections’. Clark was born in St Peter’s parish in Canterbury and baptized on 5 February 1775. He was apprenticed as a shoemaker to his father, William Clark, and became a Freeman of the City of Canterbury in 1796 on completion of his apprenticeship as he was the son of a Freeman. He married Anne Ledger in St George’s Church, Canterbury, in November 1806. He took over the family business on his father’s death in 1823. He retired from business in about 1842-3. He died in Canterbury on 30 May 1859, aged 84. Clark served as precentor in a Wesleyan chapel and took to composing hymn tunes. The best-known of his tunes is Cranbrook: it was originally set to the words “Grace ’tis a charming sound” written by Philip Doddridge, and published in Clark’s first book A Sett of Psalm & Hymn Tunes 1805 . and Warsaw (tune 606), which was first published in his Th

Thomas Clayton (composer)

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Thomas Clayton (16731725) was an English violinist and composer, and a member of The King’s Musick at the court of William III. His is said to be the first to acclimatise legitimate opera in England. Life His father was William Clayton. He studied in Italy, from about 1702 to about 1704, bringing with him (as was said at the time) a considerable quantity of Italian songs which he had collected abroad. These he set to an adaptation by Peter Anthony Motteux of a drama by Stonzani, which had been performed at Bologna in 1677, and at Venice in 1678. In association with Nicola Haym and Charles Dieupart, Clayton entered upon a series of opera performances at Drury Lane Theatre — the first venture of the kind in the annals of the English stage. The first season began on Tuesday, 16 Jan. 1705, with Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus, the work which Clayton had vamped up from his Italian gleanings. It was announced as ‘a new opera, after the Italian manner, all sung,’ with recitatives instead of spoken dialogue. It seems to have attained some success, though a contemporary writer (supposed to be Galliard) says ’there is nothing in it but a few sketches of antiquated Italian airs, so mangled and sophi

Thomas Dunhill

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Thomas Frederick Dunhill (1 February 187713 March 1946) was a prolific English composer in many genres, though he is best known today for his light music and educational piano works. His compositions include much chamber music, a song cycle, The Wind Among the Reeds, and an operetta, Tantivy Towers, that had a successful London run in 1931. He was also a teacher, examiner and writer on musical subjects. Life and career Early years Dunhill was born in Hampstead, London, the fourth of five children of Henry Dunhill (1842–1901) and his wife Jane, née Styles (1843–1922). Henry Dunhill was a manufacturer of sacks, tarpaulin and ropes; Jane Dunhill ran a small music shop. Their eldest son, Alfred later founded a tobacco company that bears his name. Thomas was educated at the North London High School for Boys, and when the family moved to Kent, at Kent College, Canterbury. From 1899 to 1908 Dunhill was assistant music master at Eton. From 1905 he was also on the staff of the Royal College of Music as professor of harmony and counterpoint. It was used as the first song in the 1904 Yeats cycle The Wind Among the Reeds, which also includes Dunhill’s best known song, ‘The Cloths of Heaven’. T

Thomas Erskine, 6th Earl of Kellie

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Thomas Alexander Erskine, 6th Earl of Kellie (1 September 1732 – 9 October 1781), styled Viscount Fentoun and Lord Pittenweem until 1756, was a Scottish musician and composer whose considerable talent brought him international fame and his rakish habits notoriety, but nowadays is little known. Recent recordings of his surviving compositions have led to him being re-evaluated as one of the most important British composers of the 18th century, as well as a leading exponent of Scotland’s music. Life His father Alexander Erskine, 5th Earl of Kellie, was incarcerated at Edinburgh Castle for supporting the Jacobites in the Jacobite rising of 1745. His mother, Janet Pitcairn, was the daughter of a celebrated physician and poet. Born in Edinburgh, Thomas attended the Royal High School before leaving around 1752 for Mannheim in Germany to study under the elder Johann Stamitz. After his father’s death in 1756, Alexander returned to Scotland as a virtuoso violinist and composer, nicknamed “Fiddler Tam”. He began propagating the modern Mannheim style, of which he was to become widely acknowledged as the leading British exponent. Six of his three-movement “Overtures” (Symphonies) were published

Thomas Forbes Walmisley

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Thomas Forbes Walmisley (22 May 1783 – 10 July 1866) was an organist, and a composer of church music and of glees. Life Walmisley was born in Westminster, London in 1783, the third son of William Walmisley, clerk of the papers to the House of Lords. He, like his brothers, was a chorister in Westminster Abbey, and he was educated at Westminster School from 1793 to 1798. In 1796 he sang in oratorios at Covent Garden. He studied music under John Spencer and Thomas Attwood. From 1810 to 1814 he was assistant organist to the Female Orphan Asylum; in 1814 he succeeded Robert Cooke as organist of St Martin-in-the-Fields. He resigned, on a pension, in March 1854. He was elected a professional member of the Noblemen and Gentlemen’s Catch Club in 1827. From 1803 he was a teacher of piano and singing, and became well known as a teacher; pupils included Edward John Hopkins. Compositions Walmisley composed more than fifty glees, four of which won prizes; he also composed anthems, and a morning and evening service. He published A Collection of Glees, Trios, Rounds and Canons (1826), Three Canons (1840) and Sacred Songs (1841). References Attribution *

Thomas Ford (composer)

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Thomas Ford (c. 1580buried 17 November 1648) was an English composer, lutenist, viol player and poet. Life Ford was attached to the court of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of James I, who died in 1612. He was a musician to the household of Prince Henry from 1610 to 1612, a musician to the household of Prince Charles from 1617 to 1625, and a musician to Charles I from 1626 to 1642, the outbreak of the English Civil War. His will was made on 12 November 1648 and he was buried in St. Margaret’s, Westminster on 17 November, but it is not known exactly when he died. Ford wrote anthems, for three to six voices; four sacred canons; 35 partsongs; six fantasias for five parts; and a few other pieces for viols. His most important collection was probably the Musicke of Sundrie Kindes (London, 1607), which was in two parts. The first book included lute ayres, described as “Aries for 4 voices to the Lute, Orphorion, or Basse-viol, with a Dialogue for two Voices…”; the second part contained dances such as “Pavens, Galiards, Almaines, Toies, Jigges, Thumpes, and such like…” scored for combinations of viols. Many of the ayres are given in two versions: one for voice or voices and lute,

Thomas Haynes Bayly

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Thomas Haynes Bayly (13 October 1797 – 22 April 1839) was an English poet, songwriter, dramatist and writer. Life Bayly was born in Bath on 13 October 1797, the only child of Nathaniel Bayly, an influential citizen of Bath: he was related through his mother to the Earls of Stamford and Warrington and the Baroness le Despencer. He displayed a talent for verse from a young age, and in his eighth year was found dramatising a tale out of one of his story-books. He attended Winchester School, where he produced a weekly newspaper which recorded the proceedings of the master and pupils in the school. At the age of 17 he began working at his father’s office for the purpose of studying the law, but soon devoted himself to writing humorous articles for the public journals, and produced a small volume entitled Rough Sketches of Bath. He studied at St Mary Hall, Oxford with the intention of joining the church, but it is reported that “he did not apply himself to the pursuit of academical honours” and left university after three years. Bayly travelled in Scotland, and afterwards visited Dublin, where he distinguished himself in private theatricals and achieved his earliest successes as a ballad

Thomas Lupo the elder

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Thomas Lupo (baptised 7 August 1571 – probably December 1627) was an English composer and viol player of the late Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Along with Orlando Gibbons, John Coprario, and Alfonso Ferrabosco, he was one of the principal developers of the repertory for viol consort. Life He was part of a distinguished family of musicians, who included several generations. His father was Joseph Lupo, a string player and composer from Venice who had come first to Antwerp, and then to London; Thomas was probably born there. In 1588 he joined the violin consort at the court of Queen Elizabeth I – he was only 16 – but evidently he was not paid for his service until 1591. Thomas retained this position, or variants thereof, for his entire life. During the Jacobean era, he served both in the households of Prince Henry (after 1610) and Prince Charles (after 1617). A surviving record from 1627 indicates that he was in financial trouble, and had to sign away £100 of his future income to pay off his creditors: the report goes on to state that his wife violently attempted to prevent him from doing so. He died in London, probably in December 1627. Music and influence Lupo was one of the princi

Thomas Mace

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Thomas Mace (1612 or 1613 – c. 1706) was an English lutenist, viol player, singer, composer and musical theorist of the Baroque era. His book Musick’s Monument (1676) provides a valuable description of 17th century musical practice. Biography Born in 1612 or 1613, he played the lute from c. 1621, but his teacher if any is unknown. He also played the viol. He was a singer, termed a lay clerk, in the choir of Trinity College, Cambridge from 1635 until his death. He died c. 1706. John Hawkins in A General History Of The Science and Practice Of Music (1776) commented: Notes References * * * * * * * * External links *

Thomas Mervyn Horder, 2nd Baron Horder

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(Thomas) Mervyn Horder, 2nd Baron Horder (8 December 1910 – 3 July 1997) was an English hereditary peer, publisher, and a composer of songs. Life Horder was born in London on 8 December 1910. He was the youngest child and only son of Thomas Jeeves Horder, 1st Baron Horder, known as ‘Tommy’, who was created a baronet in 1923 and Baron Horder in 1933 in recognition of his services as physician to several British monarchs and Prime Ministers. Horder became the second Baron on the death of his father in 1955, inheriting the house and gardens at Ashford Chace, near Steep. After his studies at Winchester College and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read classics, in the early 1930s, Mervyn Horder attended the Guildhall School of Music, studying principally composition; he had also become a competent pianist. Horder opted not to make music his profession, becoming instead a publisher, and by 1938 was on the board of the small publishing firm of Duckworth. Before the Second World War, Horder had acquired some flying experience, learning to fly the newly-invented autogyro, a combination of light aircraft and helicopter. He was accepted into the RAF Reserve, and saw service forecastin

Thomas Morley

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Thomas Morley (1557 – early October 1602) was an English composer, theorist, singer and organist of late Renaissance music. He was one of the foremost members of the English Madrigal School. Referring to the strong Italian influence on the English madrigal, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians states that Morley was “chiefly responsible for grafting the Italian shoot on to the native stock and initiating the curiously brief but brilliant flowering of the madrigal that constitutes one of the most colourful episodes in the history of English music.” Living in London at the same time as Shakespeare, Morley was the most famous composer of secular music in Elizabethan England. He and Robert Johnson are the composers of the only surviving contemporary settings of verse by Shakespeare. Morley was active in church music as a singer, composer and organist at St Paul’s Cathedral. He was also involved in music publishing. From 1598 up to his death he held a printing patent (a type of monopoly). he studied with William Byrd, whom he named as his mentor in his 1597 publication A Plain and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke. Byrd also taught Morley’s contemporary, Peter Philips.

Thomas Pitfield

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Thomas Baron Pitfield (5 April 190311 November 1999) was a British polymath, primarily remembered as a composer, but also a poet, artist, engraver, calligrapher, master craftsman, furniture builder and teacher. Life He was born at 57 New Road Bolton to elderly parents whose strict Victorian values and lack of support for his creative interests led to his being withdrawn from school at 14 for a seven-year engineering apprenticeship with Hick, Hargreaves & Co. Ltd. His designs for transmission machinery for the cotton industry survive as do his ink and watercolour paintings of railway engines. Although he was essentially self-taught as a composer, he did study piano, cello and harmony at the Royal Manchester College of Music, where his teachers were Thomas Keighley, Kathleen Moorhouse, Frank Merrick and Carl Fuchs. He also received early advice on composition from Eric Fogg. and also wrote more than 260 poems. His collection The Poetry of Trees combines poetry and illustration. In 1957 he designed his house, ‘Lesser Thorns’, in Bowdon near Manchester, and made its furnishings. His autobiographical writings - including a fourth volume, Incidents from a Sixty Year Holiday Diary (1998)

Thomas Ravenscroft

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Thomas Ravenscroft (c. 1588 – 1635) was an English musician, theorist and editor, notable as a composer of rounds and catches, and especially for compiling collections of English folk music. Biography Little is known of Ravenscroft’s early life. He probably sang in the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral from 1594, when a Thomas Raniscroft was listed on the choir rolls and remained there until 1600 under the directorship of Thomas Giles. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1605 from Cambridge. Ravenscroft’s principal contributions are his collections of folk music, including catches, rounds, street cries, vendor songs, “freeman’s songs” and other anonymous music, in three collections: Pammelia (1609), Deuteromelia or The Second Part of Musicks Melodie (1609) and Melismata (1611), which contains one of the best-known works in his collections, The Three Ravens. Some of the music he compiled has acquired extraordinary fame, though his name is rarely associated with the music; for example “Three Blind Mice” first appears in Deuteromelia. He moved to Bristol where he published a metrical psalter (The Whole Booke of Psalmes) in 1621. As a composer, his works are mostly forgotten but include 1

Thomas Robinson (composer)

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Thomas Robinson (c. 1560) was an English Renaissance composer and music teacher, who flourished around 1600. He taught and wrote music for lute, cittern, orpharion, bandora, viol, and voice. Biography Very little is known about Robinson’s life, but it is possible to draw conclusions from the dedicatory pages of his works. He and his father were in service of the Cecil family: Robinson’s father worked for the 1st Earl of Salisbury, Robert Cecil, and Robinson was in the service of the 1st Earl of Exeter, Thomas Cecil, who was Robert Cecil’s brother. The Cecil family fostered several artists in these days, amongst others William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons. It was before 1589 that Robinson became Princess Anne’s (1574–1619) and Queen Sophie’s (1557–1631) private music teacher at Elsinore, Denmark. Princess Anne was the daughter of the King of Denmark, Frederick II (1559–1588). It is presumed that Robinson must have been in his twenties then, so that his birth can be dated back to around 1560. The Court of Denmark, like other courts, employed many well-recognized musicians from Denmark and other countries, like England, France, Germany and the Netherlands. It is known that John Dowland –

Thomas Roseingrave

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Thomas Roseingrave (1690 or 1691 – 23 June 1766), like his father Daniel Roseingrave, was an English-born Irish composer and organist. Early years He was born at Winchester, where his father Daniel Roseingrave was the Cathedral organist, but spent his early years in Dublin, studying music with his father (who, by then, was organist of both St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin and Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin). In 1707 he entered Trinity College but failed to complete his degree. In 1710 he was sent to Italy with the financial assistance of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin (awarded in 1709) in order “to improve himself in the art of music”. In Venice he met Domenico Scarlatti and was greatly impressed by his harpsichord playing. He followed Scarlatti to Naples and Rome and, later in life, he published an edition of Scarlatti’s sonatas for harpsichord which led to a “Scarlatti cult” in England. Roseingrave composed several works in Italy including an anthem and a cantata. He returned to England in 1717 (having left Italy for Dublin in 1713). In 1720 he produced Scarlatti’s opera Amor d’un’ombra e gelosia d’un’aura under the title Narciso at the Haymarket Theatre, to which he added two ari

Thomas Shaw (composer)

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Thomas Shaw, also known as Thomas Shaw Jun(ior), was an English violinist, violist, clarinettist and composer who was born c.1752, probably in Bath, and who probably died in Paris on 28 June 1827 Early life There is little information about Thomas Shaw’s early life and his career prior to going to London has remained obscure. Born in 1752, Shaw was the son of Bathonian musician, concert director, and member of the Royal Society of Musicians, Thomas Shaw, and the younger brother of violinist Anthony Shaw. The majority of his career was spent at the Drury Lane theatre in London as an instrumentalist, violin soloist, band leader, musical director and in-house composer. Career Early performances Shaw Jr. gave his earliest known performance in Bath in April 1769. Around this time, he led the orchestra in Thomas Linley’s subscription concerts of the autumn 1769 and spring 1770, and was a member of the theatre band in 1771. In addition, his music was being performed and published; an overture composed by him was played in a concert at the end of December 1771 and by 1772 he was playing his own compositions in Bath and Bristol. During the spring of 1772, Herschel and Shaw gave a certain nu

Thomas Tallis

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Thomas Tallis (; also Tallys or Talles; c. 150523 November 1585) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one of England’s greatest composers, and he is honored for his original voice in English musicianship. Life Youth No records about the birth, family, or childhood of Thomas Tallis exist, so almost nothing is known about his early life and origins. Historians have calculated that he was born in the early part of the 16th Century, toward the end of the reign of Henry VII of England. Estimates of his birth year range from 1500 to 1520. His only known relative was a cousin named John Sayer. As the surnames Sayer and Tallis both have strong connections with Kent, Thomas Tallis is usually thought to have been born somewhere in the county.<!–

Thomas Tomkins

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Thomas Tomkins (1572 – 9 June 1656) was a Welsh-born composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. In addition to being one of the prominent members of the English Madrigal School, he was a skilled composer of keyboard and consort music, and the last member of the English virginalist school. Life Tomkins was born in St David’s in Pembrokeshire in 1572. His father, also Thomas, who had moved there in 1565 from the family home of Lostwithiel in Cornwall, was a vicar choral of St David’s Cathedral and organist there. Three of Thomas junior’s half-brothers, John, Giles and Robert, also became eminent musicians, but none quite attained the fame of Thomas. By 1594, but possibly as early as 1586, Thomas and his family had moved to Gloucester, where his father was employed as a minor canon at the cathedral. Thomas almost certainly studied under William Byrd for a time, for one of his songs bears the inscription: To my ancient, and much reverenced Master, William Byrd, and it may have been at this period of his career, since Byrd leased property at Longney, near Gloucester. Although documentary proof is lacking, it is also possible that Byrd was instrumental in finding young Thomas a

Thomas Weelkes

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Thomas Weelkes (1576 (?) – November 1623) was an English composer and organist. He became organist of Winchester College in 1598, moving to Chichester Cathedral. His works are chiefly vocal, and include madrigals, anthems and services. Life Early life There is no documentary evidence about Weelkes’s early years. According to the biographer David Brown, circumstantial evidence points to the possibility that Weelkes was a son of John Weeke, rector of Elsted in Sussex and his wife Johanne. If this was so, the boy was the Thomas Weeke baptised at Elsted on 25 October 1576; he had at least five siblings. Brown adds that there is no firmer evidence about Weelkes’s childhood and musical training, although one piece of information is found in the preface to Weelkes’s collection Ballets and Madrigals (1598), where he states that he had been in the service of “his master Edward Darcy Esquire, Groom to her Majesty’s Privy Chamber”. Early musical career, organist at Winchester College In the preface to his first volume of madrigals (1597) Weelkes states that he was a very young man at the time of their composition – “my yeeres yet unripened” – which, in Brown’s view, confirms that he was born

Thomas Welsh (composer)

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Thomas Welsh (c. 1780 - 24 or 31 January 1848) was an English composer and operatic bass. Welsh spent most of his life in London and is now particularly remembered for his light-hearted stage works. Life The son of John Welsh, by his wife, a daughter of Thomas Linley the elder, he was born at Wells, Somerset. He became a chorister in Wells Cathedral, where his singing notice; Richard Brinsley Sheridan heard of him, and induced Linley to engage him for oratorio performances at the Haymarket Theatre, London, in 1796. Engagements followed for the stage, in course of which he sang in many operas, some of which, such as Thomas Attwood’s Prisoner, were written specially to exhibit his powers. He was also brought into notice as an actor, mainly through the influence of Kemble. Meanwhile he was completing a musical education under Karl Friedrich Horn, Johann Baptist Cramer, and Baumgarten. He produced two farces at the Lyceum Theatre, and an opera, Kamskatka, at Covent Garden, and ultimately settled down to his main work, as a teacher of singing. He had great success with his pupils, among whom were Charles Edward Horn, Catherine Stephens, Jane Shirreff, and Mary Anne Wilson, who became hi

Thomas Whythorne

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Thomas Whythorne (1528–1595) was an English composer who wrote what some consider to be the earliest known surviving autobiography in English. Early life and education Born in Somerset (Whythorne was a Somerset spelling of the surname “Whitehorn”) to a wealthy family, Whythorne was a chorister at Magdalen College, Oxford and attended Magdalen College School. On leaving the school he briefly attended Magdalen College itself, but left within a year to study under the writer and musician John Heywood. He did not inherit enough to live a life of leisure however and so became a music tutor to various members of the gentry. Career as musician Chafing against his treatment by some employers as a mere servant (whom he considered below him due to his background and education), Whythorne searched for a patron to allow him to concentrate on composing. His musical manuscripts indicate that near the end of his life he found a patron in Francis Hastings, but little is known of this relationship despite Whythorne’s lengthy preface. Whythorne traveled widely throughout Europe and spent six months in Italy, learning its language and music. Whythorne returned to England in 1555, impressed by the con

Thomas Wilson (composer)

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Thomas Wilson CBE FRSE (10 October 1927 – 12 June 2001) was an American-born Scottish composer, a key figure in the revival of interest in Scottish classical music after the second world war. Early life and education Thomas Brendan Wilson was born in Trinidad, Colorado to British parents and moved to Britain with his family when he was 17 months old. The family settled in the Glasgow, Scotland area where (aside from three years in France) he lived and worked for the remainder of his life. Wilson was educated in Glasgow before taking an undergraduate course at St. Mary’s College, Aberdeen. He then studied music at the University of Glasgow (1948-1953) with Ernest Bullock and Frederick Rimmer, where he continued as a postgraduate, receiving a doctorate (DMus). From 1954 he continued his composition studies with Herbert Howells at the Royal College of Music. He served in the Royal Air Force from 1945 to 1948. Career One of the first honours graduates in music from Glasgow University, Wilson became a lecturer there in 1957. He was later appointed a Reader (1971) and given a Personal Chair in 1977. He consistently played an active part in the musical life of the UK, holding executive an

Tim Benjamin (composer)

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Tim Benjamin (born 1975) is an Anglo-French composer and technology executive. His compositional output centres on opera, with eight stage works premiered since 1998, alongside orchestral, chamber, and choral music. He won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Composer’s Award in 1993 at the age of seventeen, and the Stephen Oliver Prize for Contemporary Opera in 1996. His Symphony received its world premiere at the George Enescu Festival in Romania in 2021, and he serves on the jury of the George Enescu International Competition. Also a senior technology executive, he is currently Chief Technology Officer at Softwire, a UK technology consultancy. Early life and education Benjamin was born in 1975, grew up in North London, and attended Christ’s Hospital school. He lives in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. Career Early recognition Benjamin’s compositional talent emerged early. At seventeen, while still a student at Christ’s Hospital, he won the 1993 BBC Young Musician of the Year Composer’s Award for Antagony, a substantial work scored for two large wind bands, amplified strings, and six percussionists. The work was performed by the London Sinfonietta under conductor Martyn Brabbins and broa

Tim Follin

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Timothy John Follin (born 19 December 1970) is an English video game music composer, cinematographer, visual effects artist and game developer, who has written tracks for a variety of titles and home gaming systems, including the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, Nintendo Entertainment System, Mega Drive, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Dreamcast, and PlayStation. Among Follin’s works are the soundtracks to Solstice, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge, Plok!, and Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future. Follin has also co-founded a TV advertising company called ABF Pictures and a general-purpose media company called Baggy Cat Ltd, which to date has produced two video games, Contradiction and At Dead of Night. Video game career Insight Studios As a child, Follin had no significant music training. Leaving Liverpool’s Sandown Music College after one year of studies, Follin’s career began at the age of 15 working at Insight Studios. Follin ended up in video games due to his older brother Mike Follin learning how to program for the ZX Spectrum and obtaining professional work at Insight. followed by an arrangement of Stravinsky’s “The Firebird”, u

Tim Hodgkinson

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Timothy George Hodgkinson (born 1 May 1949) is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds, lap steel guitar, and keyboards. He first became known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968. After the demise of Henry Cow, he participated in numerous bands and projects, eventually concentrating on composing contemporary music and performing as an improviser. Biography Hodgkinson was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire in England on 1 May 1949, and was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated in social anthropology from Cambridge in 1971, but chose to pursue a musical career instead. His interest in anthropology, however, remained and he drew on it later during a series of study trips to Siberia. Henry Cow While still at university, Hodgkinson and fellow student Fred Frith formed the seminal avant-rock group Henry Cow in 1968. Hodgkinson remained with Henry Cow as one of the band’s core members until their demise in 1978 and composed a number of their musical pieces, most notably, “Living in the Heart of the Beast” (recorded on their 1975 album, In Praise of L

Tim Souster

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Tim Souster (29 January 1943 – 1 March 1994) was a British composer and writer on music, best known for his electronic music output. Biography Education Born Timothy Andrew James Souster in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, Souster was educated at Bedford Modern School (from 1952 through 1961) and New College, Oxford (from 1961 through 1964). His teachers included Bernard Rose, Sir David Lumsden and Egon Wellesz. In 1964, he attended summer courses at Darmstadt taught by Karlheinz Stockhausen, and took composition lessons with Richard Rodney Bennett the following year. Before the end of 1965, Souster was a producer with the BBC Third Programme, and put on many performances of contemporary music by composers such as Boulez, Berio, Barraqué, Cardew, Feldman, Henze and Stockhausen. After leaving the BBC in 1967, he began to devote more time to composing and songwriting. Foray into electronic music In the late 1960s, Souster began experimenting with electronics. His first acknowledged composition involving electronic techniques was Titus Groan Music (1969) for wind quintet, ring modulator, amplifiers and tape. In August of the same year he moved to King’s College, Cambridge and formed a live

Timothy Williams (composer)

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Timothy Williams is an English/Canadian composer, conductor, and orchestrator known for his film, television, and video game scores. A graduate of the National Film and Television School, Williams has won numerous awards and is best known for his award winning work on the A24 film Pearl, Finding You, Brightburn, Get Out, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Deadpool 2 and Robert Duvall’s Wild Horses. He is a frequent collaborator of musician and composer Tyler Bates, Robert Duncan and Benjamin Wallfisch. Early life and education Williams went to St. Michaels University School in Victoria, Canada, at the same time as Leslie Hope, Andrew Sabiston, Kenneth Oppel, and Bert Archer. He then attended the National Film and Television School in England and furthered his studies at UCLA Extension and the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop. Career Theatre Williams wrote the musical Napoleon, which opened in 1994 at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. It was nominated for a Dora Award for Best New Musical. EMI released a Highlights Album on their Angel Broadway label. In 1996, he relocated to England and worked with Directors Gale Edwards and Francesca Zambello to rework Napoleon until

Tobias Hume

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Tobias Hume (possibly 1579 – 16 April 1645) was a Scottish composer, viol player and soldier. Little is known of his life. Some have suggested that he was born in 1579 because he was admitted to the London Charterhouse in 1629, a prerequisite to which was being at least 50 years old, though there is no certainty over this. He had made his living as a professional soldier, serving as an officer with the Swedish and Russian armies. His published music includes pieces for viols (including many solo works for the lyra viol) and songs. They were gathered in two collections, The First Part of Ayres (or Musicall Humors, 1605) and Captain Humes Poeticall Musicke (1607). He was a particular champion of the viol over the then-dominant lute, something which caused John Dowland to publish a rebuttal of Hume’s ideas. Hume was also known as a prankster, as some of his somewhat unusual compositions illustrate. His most notorious piece was “An Invention for Two to Play upone one Viole”, also known as Prince’s Almayne. Two bows are required and the smaller of the two players is obliged to sit in the lap of the larger player. This work was notated in tablature and is indeed technically possible to p

Tobias Matthay

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Tobias Augustus Matthay (19 February 185815 December 1945) was an English pianist, teacher, and composer. Biography Matthay was born in Clapham, Surrey, in 1858 to parents who had come from northern Germany and eventually became naturalised British subjects. He entered London’s Royal Academy of Music in 1871 and eight months later he received the first scholarship given to honour the knighthood of its principal, Sir William Sterndale Bennett. At the academy, Matthay studied composition under Sir William Sterndale Bennett and Arthur Sullivan, and piano with William Dorrell and Walter Macfarren. He served as a sub-professor there from 1876 to 1880, and became an assistant professor of pianoforte in 1880, before being promoted to professor in 1884. With Frederick Corder and John Blackwood McEwen, he co-founded the Society of British Composers in 1905. Matthay remained at the RAM until 1925, when he was forced to resign because McEwen—his former student who was then the academy’s Principal—publicly attacked his teaching. In 1903, after over a decade of observation, analysis, and experimentation, he published The Act of Touch, an encyclopedic volume that influenced piano pedagogy throug

Tom Gray (activist)

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Tom Gray (born 1 January 1977) is a Mercury Prize-winning British songwriter, composer, and activist. Early He was born on 1 January 1977 in Southport. He became a founding member of the rock band Gomez, the founder of the Broken Record campaign. and the elected Chair of the Ivors Academy. He is an elected Council Member of PRS For Music and sits on the board of UK Music. He is a UK Labour Party activist based in Brighton & Hove, and a member of the Musicians’ Union. Musical work Gray is a founding member and one of three vocalists in the UK indie rock band Gomez. With Gomez, he won the Mercury Prize in 1998. In 2016 their winning album, Bring It On, was voted BBC Radio 6 Music listeners’ favourite ever Mercury winner to date. The band went on to enjoy five UK Top 40 albums. As a composer, Gray has worked in film, theatre and television. He wrote the score for the first season of In My Skin, a comedy-drama series on the BBC and Hulu. He has also composed for the adaptation of Danny Champion of the World as a stage musical. He was the recipient of the 2022 Unsung Hero Award presented by the Music Producer’s Guild UK. and is a signatory to the ‘Music Declares Emergency’ climate decla

Tony Britten

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Tony Britten is a British musical director, composer and film maker, also known for adapting the music and writing the text of the UEFA Champions League Anthem. Education and early career Britten was educated at Trinity School, Croydon where he sang in the Trinity Boys Choir, and took operatic roles in professional productions as a treble. Among these were Yniold in Pelléas et Mélisande conducted by Pierre Boulez at the Royal Opera House in 1969. When his voice broke he began to compose, winning a bursary from the Society for the Promotion of New Music to study electronic music with George Newson at Goldsmiths’ College. He went on to study singing, piano and conducting at the Royal College of Music. Musicals and opera Britten spent the first few years of his career in theatre as a musical director, including working for Cameron Mackintosh as music supervisor on many shows including Godspell, The Rocky Horror Show and Oliver!. After that he worked at the National Theatre, where he was orchestrator and musical director of the National’s Guys and Dolls production in 1982, directed by Richard Eyre. In the 1990s Britten and his Music Theatre London company put on a series of adaptations

Tony Haynes (English composer)

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Tony Haynes (10 July 1941 – 17 September 2024) was an English composer and bandleader best known for his work with Grand Union Orchestra since 1982. He played piano and trombone. Early life Tony Haynes’s musical career began in 1954, as a 13-year-old piano and trombone player in dance bands earning £2–3 per show. He also had stints as a church organist and brass band trombonist, but playing jazz was a more formative experience. After studying music at the University of Oxford, Haynes took a postgraduate degree in contemporary music at the University of Nottingham, Returning to the country in 1975, shortly after the revolution, Haynes met musicians from the former Portuguese colonies Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, and Mozambique. Haynes composed full scores for plays by politically inspired writers such as John Arden, Christopher Bond and Adrian Mitchell, combining music and theatre with tough material and a strong political message. The play was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1982. RedBrass In Autumn 1975, Haynes founded the ten-piece British jazz rock band RedBrass, initially as an offshoot from the left-wing theatre ensemble Belt & Braces Roadshow. RedBrass was celebrated fo

Tony Russell (musician)

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Keith Anthony Caesar Russell (24 May 1929 – 20 July 1970), known as Tony Russell, was an English jazz musician and composer, pianist and trombonist. Notably, he worked extensively with Johnny Dankworth and created the score for The Matchgirls, together with writing theme tunes and background music for TV series such as On the Buses and the children’s programme The Herbs. He also composed the music for The Herbs’ spin-off, The Adventures of Parsley. At the end of his life, he turned from the jazz idiom to write a setting of a Mass. Early life Tony Russell was born 24 May 1929 in Wanstead, Essex, England. As a youth, he became very interested in jazz, learning the trombone, baritone horn and piano. Russell was the half-brother of geologist Michael Russell, and the half-siblings are distantly related to German opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. Career Russell’s jazz career began at the age of 15, when he played as a New Orleans-style trombonist with the London-based Washington and Lee Swing, George Webb’s Dixilanders George Webb. In 1946 he formed the pioneering trad band, the Russell-Wickham Hot Six, which he led with the trumpeter Alan Wickham. At this time he was known as Rag’s Russ

Tre Jean-Marie

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Tre Jean-Marie (born 13 April 1993) is a Grammy nominated British songwriter and record producer. His writing and production credits include AJ Tracey, Anne-Marie, Burna Boy, Craig David, FLO, Jacob Banks, Joy Crookes, Kaytranada, Labrinth, Little Mix, Mabel, Nathan Dawe, Olivia Dean, and Tom Grennan amongst many others. Early life Jean-Marie was born in Hackney, London and is of Trinidadian and St. Lucian descent. He is the son of singer-songwriters Lincoln Jean-Marie and Valerie-Suzette Jean-Marie. Career In 2016, Jean-Marie became a frequent collaborator of the British artist Craig David, for whom he co-wrote and produced 15 tracks across Following My Intuition and The Time Is Now which peaked at number 1 and 2 respectively on the UK album chart. In 2020, he co-wrote, produced, and mixed “Lighter” by Nathan Dawe featuring KSI which peaked at number 3 on the UK singles chart, was named one of the biggest selling songs of 2020, and went on to be nominated for Best British Single at the 2021 BRIT Awards. He also performed the same duties on Nathan Dawe’s follow-up singles “No Time for Tears” with Little Mix, and “Way Too Long” with Anne-Marie & MoStack. In addition, Jean-Marie owns

Trevor Duncan

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Trevor Duncan (27 February 1924 – 17 December 2005) was an English composer, particularly noted for his light music compositions. Born in London, and largely self-taught, he originally composed as a sideline while working for the BBC. In the UK, he is well known for pieces such as The Girl From Corsica, High Heels and the March from A Little Suite, all of which gained fame as television and radio themes. Life Trevor Duncan was born Leonard Charles Trebilcock (he later shortened this to Trebilco) in Camberwell, London, England. By twelve he could play the piano by ear, but wanted to learn to read and compose music properly. Thus, for one year he attended the Trinity College of Music for an external course on violin, harmony and counterpoint. However, his early knowledge of music was largely self-taught. At eighteen, Duncan joined the British Broadcasting Corporation assisting in the production of radio plays. In 1943 he was conscripted into the Royal Air Force where he became a wireless operator. After his discharge from the RAF in 1947 he was given the opportunity to go to Cambridge University, but decided to return to BBC Radio as a sound and balance engineer working with many lig

Tristin Norwell

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Tristin Norwell is a British music composer, producer, mixer, arranger, and musician. He recorded and mixed the Mercury Prize winning Talvin Singh, album O.K., and has worked with Neneh Cherry, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Madonna, Embrace, Tricky and Cast and recorded Noel Gallagher’s tenth Number one album, Who Built The Moon. He has worked extensively for David Holmes on the award-winning series Killing Eve, the 2015 Ivor Novello winning Yann Demange film 71 and “London Spy”, and the film Ordinary Love and for Adrian Corker on the Tim Roth series “Tin Star (2017)”. Among others he scored the feature films Trick Or Treat (2019), the road film Hellbent (2018) and two John Hardwick feature films Svengali and Follow The Money. His TV credits include the long running series Waterloo Road, Wild at Heart, John Hurt’s Whistle and I’ll Come to You, the supernatural ghost story written by M.R. James, Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! starring Michael Sheen, and Meera Syal’s novel Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee. Mal Influence (2015) In October 2014, Norwell released his record Mal Influence, on his Cinefonietta Label, an experimental album melding his classical influences with electronica. Critiques have

Tristram Cary

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Tristram Ogilvie Cary, OAM (14 May 192524 April 2008), was a pioneering English-Australian composer. He was also active as a teacher and music critic. Career Cary was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and Westminster School in London. He was the third son and child of a pianist and the Ulster-born novelist Joyce Cary, author of Mister Johnson. While working as a radar engineer for the Royal Navy during World War II, he independently developed his own conception of electronic and tape music, and is regarded as being amongst the earliest pioneers of these musical forms. With Peter Zinovieff and David Cockerell, he founded Electronic Music Studios (London) Ltd, which created the first commercially available portable synthesiser, the EMS VCS 3, and was then involved in the production of such distinctive EMS products as the EMS Synthi 100. In 1967 he created an electronic music studio at the Royal College of Music. ), as well as the score for the Ealing comedy The Ladykillers (1955). Later film scores included The Boy Who Stole a Million (1960); The Prince and The Pauper (1962); Sammy Going South (1963); Quatermass and the Pit (1967) and Blood from the

Victor Hely-Hutchinson

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Christian Victor Noel Hope Hely-Hutchinson (26 December 1901 – 11 March 1947) was a British composer, conductor, pianist and music administrator. He is best known for the Carol Symphony and for humorous song-settings. Early life Hely-Hutchinson was born in Newlands, Cape Town, Cape Colony (now Cape Town, South Africa). His parents were Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, Governor of Cape Colony from 1901 to 1910 during and after the Boer War, and May Hely-Hutchinson. He initially lived in Kent, then moved back to South Africa in 1907. He was taught the piano by Dr Thomas Barrow Dowling (1861–1926), the organist of Cape Town cathedral. Victor was a child prodigy, composing many pieces before the age of ten – his parents had a collection of sketches for violin and piano published as A Child’s Thoughts in 1909. In England in 1910, he was taught piano by Donald Tovey and was initially educated at Heatherdown School, near Ascot in Berkshire. In 1914, his father died. Victor was then educated at Eton College, and then read history at Balliol College, Oxford. Music, however, prevailed and after one year at Oxford he was granted permission to study for a Mus. Bac. at the Royal College of Music, wh

Victor Herbert

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Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I. He was also prominent among the Tin Pan Alley composers and was later a founder of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). A prolific composer, Herbert produced two operas, a cantata, 43 operettas, incidental music to 10 plays, 31 compositions for orchestra, nine band compositions, nine cello compositions, five violin compositions with piano or orchestra, 22 piano compositions and numerous songs, choral compositions and orchestrations of works by other composers, among other music. In the early 1880s, Herbert began a career as a cellist in Vienna and Stuttgart, during which he began to compose orchestral music. Herbert and his opera singer wife, Therese Förster, moved to the U.S. in 1886 when both were engaged by the Metropolitan Opera. In the U.S., Herbert continued his performing career, while also teaching at t

Vincent Novello

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Vincent Novello (6 September 17819 August 1861), was an English musician and music publisher born in London. He was an organist, chorister, conductor and composer, but he is best known for bringing to England many works now considered standards, and with his son he created a major music publishing house. Life Vincent, born at 240 Oxford Street, was the son of Giuseppe Novello, an Italian confectioner who moved to London in 1771. As a boy Vincent was a chorister at the Sardinian Embassy Chapel in Duke Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where he learnt the organ from Samuel Webbe; and from 1796 to 1822 he became in succession organist of the Sardinian, Spanish (in Manchester Square) and Portuguese (at the Portuguese Embassy chapel off Grosvenor Square), and from 1840 to 1843 of St Mary Moorfields. He taught music privately throughout his career. One of his most notable pupils was musicologist and music critic Edward Holmes. He was an original member of the Philharmonic Society, of the Classical Harmonists and of the Choral Harmonists, officiating frequently as conductor, and was a conductor/accompanist at the King’s Theatre. Musical activities Many of Novello’s original compositions were

Virginia Gabriel

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Mary Anne Virginia Gabriel (7 February 1825 – 7 August 1877) was an English singer and composer. She was also known as Mrs. George E. March. Life Virginia Gabriel was born in Banstead, Surrey, England, the daughter of Major-general “Archangel” Gabriel. She studied piano with Johann Peter Pixis, Theodor Dohler, Sigismond Thalberg and Bernhard Molique and composition with opera composer Saverio Mercadante. In 1870 Gabriel went for an extended stay at Glamis Castle in the Scottish Lowlands, and was reportedly responsible, among others, for later accounts of the castle’s “secret” having to do with a mysterious occupant, the Monster of Glamis. Gabriel wrote popular ballads which established her reputation as a songwriter and composer. Although women songwriters were well accepted in the 19th century, and she had no problems in getting her songs published, she struggled to get publishers for her more serious compositions. For example, she had to pay for self-publication of her cantata Dreamland. Although her songwriting style was Romantic, her songs always reflected ability and inventiveness because of her strength as a serious composer. Gabriel married her librettist George March in 187

Vivienne Olive

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Vivienne Olive (born 31 May 1950) is a British-German composer and music educator. Career Born in London, Vivienne Olive studied piano, harpsichord, organ and music theory at Trinity College of Music in London. After 1968, she continued her education at the University of York, where she graduated in composition in 1975. Her teachers included the composers Bernard Rands (York 1971–1972), Franco Donatoni (Milan, 1972–1974), Roman Haubenstock-Ramati (Vienna, 1974–1975) and Klaus Huber (University of Music Freiburg 1975–1978, where she also studied harpsichord with Stanislav Heller). She received her Ph.D. in composition from the University of York in 1975. She was awarded composition grants from the Department of Education and Science (1971–1974) and the German Academic Exchange Service (1975–1978). In 1979, Olive became a lecturer in music theory and composition at the Nuremberg Meistersinger Conservatory (now the College of Music Nuremberg). In 1980 she co-founded the Days of New Music in Nuremberg. In 1995, she became a board member of the International Working Women and Music. From 1993 until 1995 she taught at the University of Ballarat and the James Cook University in Australia

Vladislav Shoot

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Vladislav Shoot (, Vladislav Alekseyevich Shut’ (also spelled Chout, Schut, Sciut, Shut or Szut); 3 March 1941 – 9 March 2022) was a Russian-British composer of contemporary classical music. Born in Voznesensk, Soviet Union, now Ukraine, he moved to the United Kingdom in the early 1990s, settling on the artists’ estate of Dartington Hall. Biography He was born Vladislav Shut in Voznesensk, Soviet Union, to Valentina (née Nizovaya) and Alexei Shut, an officer in the navy. He was raised in Sevastopol, where he attended School N14. Shoot’s music is published by M.P. Belaieff – Edition Peters (Frankfurt-am-Main)/Schott (Mainz). He married the artist Irina Karpey in 1970. Shoot died on 9 March 2022. Music Shoot’s works met with much admiration in the West from the 1980s onward. He preferred smaller ensembles, up to a chamber orchestra, which he tied into sound compositions or groups of overlapping sound layers. Even his symphonies, excepting the High Cross Symphony (1998), are chamber symphonies. He retained serial processes, used post-Romantic elements, and quoted composers of the past, with Alban Berg as the clearest influence. His music has been performed at numerous venues and festi

W. de Wycombe

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W. de Wycombe (; also Wicumbe, Whichbury and Winchecumbe) was an English composer of the high medieval music. He was precentor of the priory of Leominster in Herefordshire. It is possible that he was the composer of one of the most famous tunes from medieval England, “Sumer is icumen in”. Life and career Wycombe is variously identified as W de Wyc, Willelmus de Winchecumbe, Willelmo de Winchecumbe, or William of Winchcombe. He appears to have been a secular scribe and precentor employed for about four years at the priory of Leominster in Herefordshire during the 1270s. He is also thought to have been a sub-deacon of the cathedral priory as listed in the Worcester Annals or possibly a monk at St Andrew’s in Worcester. Wycombe left a number of documents with his signature, including a collectarium, a precentor’s workbook, two rotuli (scrolls) containing music, a summary and treatise on music, a history to which Winchecumbe added music and other books. His name also appears in a Reading manuscript including the rota “Sumer is icumen in”, and on one of seven sets of four-part compositions in the Wintonia collection. Two of these compositions are partially preserved and parts of others

W. Franke Harling

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William Franke Harling (January 18, 1887 – November 22, 1958) was a composer of film scores, operas, and popular music. Life and career Born William Franke Harling in London, he was educated at the Grace Choir Church School in New York City. After working as an organist and choir director at the Church of the Resurrection in Brussels, he spent two years at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and composed both its hymn, called “The Corps,” and its official march, “West Point Forever.” In 1918, Harling contributed incidental music to the Broadway production of the 1898 play Pan and the Young Shepherd by Maurice Hewlett. In 1926, he collaborated with Laurence Stallings on Deep River, a voodoo-themed opera set in New Orleans in 1835. It opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on October 4 and ran for 32 performances. Harling began his Hollywood career in 1928. His film credits include The Vagabond King, This Is the Night, So Big!, A Bill of Divorcement, Blonde Venus, A Farewell to Arms, The Bitter Tea of General Yen, Monte Carlo, Souls at Sea, and Penny Serenade. Harling won the Academy Award for Best Music Scoring for Stagecoach (1939) and was nominated for Souls at S

W. H. Jude

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William Herbert Jude (1851– 8 August 1922), usually credited as W.H. Jude, was an English composer and organist. Born in Westleton, Suffolk, in September 1851, his parents later moved to Norfolk. He was a precocious child, and attended Wisbech Grammar School where records note that by the age of eight he was composing incidental music for school plays. He later attended Liverpool Organ School and Liverpool College of Music, also becoming college principal for a while. By 1881, Jude was listed in the census as living at 33 Oxford Street, Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, with his wife Catherine. At this time, he was organist for the Blue Coat Hospital and Stretford Town Hall, near Manchester, as well as being a lecturer and teacher. Christian texts and topics appear frequently in Jude’s compositions. He was an admirer of the British evangelist Rodney “Gipsy” Smith, and published a collection of Gipsy Smith’s Favourite Solos in 1903. Jude appears to have supported the temperance movement; “Fight the Drink”, a song by Jude with lyrics by A. Sargant, appears in a collection of his music with the note that it was “sung at the Crystal Palace Festival by 5000 people”. Between 1890 and 1894, Jude

Walford Davies

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Major Sir Henry Walford Davies (6 September 1869 – 11 March 1941) was a renowned English composer, organist, and educator who was Master of the King’s Music from 1934 until 1941. He was also a music adviser to the British Broadcasting Corporation, for which he gave commended talks on music between 1924 and 1941. His most widely known works are the Royal Air Force March Past, God Be In My Head, and Solemn Melody. Life and career Early years Henry Walford Davies was born in Oswestry, Shropshire. He was the seventh of nine children of John Whitridge Davies and Susan, née Gregory, and the youngest of four surviving sons. His father, although an accountant by profession, was an amateur musician who founded and conducted a choral society at Oswestry and was choirmaster of Christ Church Congregational church: at which Walford was a chorister, and at which Walford’s siblings, Charlie and Harold, later held the post of organist. Harold Davies was professor of music at the University of Adelaide from 1919 to 1947. In 1882 Walford was accepted as a chorister at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, by the organist, Sir George Elvey. When his voice broke in 1885 Davies left the choir and was app

Walter Beckett (composer)

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Walter Keohler Beckett (27 July 1914 – 3 April 1996) was an Irish composer, teacher and music critic. He was a cousin of the writer Samuel Beckett. Life Beckett was born in Dublin. His parents were Elizabeth Ethel Beckett (née Keller) and James Beckett, a politician and builder. He studied organ with George Hewson and harmony with John F. Larchet at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM), in addition to music at Trinity College Dublin where he was conferred with a Mus.D. (Doctor of Music) in 1942. He lived from 1946 to 1963 in Venice, where he taught English and piano; he also wrote reviews from abroad for the Irish Times and made a series of orchestral arrangements of Irish traditional music for Radio Éireann. In 1963 he moved to England, where he taught music at various schools before returning to Ireland in 1970 to succeed A.J. Potter at the RIAM as a professor of harmony and counterpoint; however, after having suffered a stroke in 1985, he had to retire. In 1986 he was elected a member of Aosdána, and an Honorary Fellow of the RIAM in 1990. He died in Dublin in 1996. Music Beckett’s more ambitious works from the 1940s and 1950s are a Suite for Orchestra (1945), Four Higgins So

Walter Frye

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Walter Frye (died 1474?) was an English composer of the early Renaissance. Life Nothing certain is known about his life. He may have been a “Walter Cantor” at Ely Cathedral between 1443 and 1466, and he may have been the Walter Frye who joined the London Parish Clerks in 1456; he also may have been the Walter Frye who left a will at Canterbury in 1474. Music Most of Frye’s music survives in manuscripts from the continent, which has suggested to scholars that he spent much of his time there; however stylistically his music is closer to that of other English composers (such as John Dunstaple and John Hothby) than to that of the Burgundian School, the most notable contemporary movement on the continent. A reason sometimes given for the survival of his music in continental sources is that the few remaining English 15th-century manuscripts rarely mention the names of composers; therefore there may be a good deal of his music which is simply anonymous. Survival of music from the period in England is sparse because most of it was destroyed during the dissolution of the Monasteries carried out between 1536 and 1540 by Henry VIII. Frye wrote masses, motets and songs, including ballades and

Walter Leigh

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Walter Leigh (22 June 190512 June 1942) was an English composer. Leigh is best known for his Concertino for harpsichord and string orchestra, written in 1934. Other famous works include the overture Agincourt and The Frogs of Aristophanes for chorus and orchestra. He wrote music for documentary films and there is an unfinished sketch for a symphony. Career Walter Leigh was born in Wimbledon. His first teacher was Harold Darke, with whom he worked from the age of eight until he was seventeen. He went to Christ’s College, Cambridge, studying composition with Cyril Rootham and graduating in 1926. For two years thereafter, he studied composition under Paul Hindemith at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. In 1930, Leigh declined a teaching job and set about earning a living by accepting small commissions and becoming increasingly involved with the theatre. With V.C. Clinton-Baddeley he wrote a pantomime for the Festival Theatre at Cambridge, and two comic operas, the second of which, Jolly Roger, ran for six months at the Savoy Theatre in London, with a cast headed by George Robey. He composed an elaborate score for Basil Wright’s documentary film The Song of Ceylon and the concert overtur

Wilfred Heaton

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NOTOC John Wilfred Heaton (2 December 1918 – 20 May 2000) was an English composer, conductor and teacher, best known for his brass band music and for his long association with the Salvation Army. Early career Born in Sheffield into a Salvation Army family, Heaton began piano lessons at the age of eight, gaining his LRAM performance diploma at 19. He also learned the cornet. While working at Cocking & Pace, a brass instrument manufacturing and repair shop in Sheffield, he began composing music for brass bands. He married Olive Mary Fisher (also of the Salvation Army) in 1941 and there were three daughters. During the war Heaton served with the Royal Air Force. He composed music for the Salvation Army throughout his career, but their requirement for simple, practical music became somewhat at odds with his broader compositional ambitions. His initial studies were with the Salvation Army bandmaster and composer George Marshall. Later, in the 1950s, Heaton received tuition from Mátyás Seiber. Examples include the march Praise (which achieved some popularity) and Just as I am, in the form of hymn-based variations akin to a chorale prelude. After the war he began working in a more con

Wilfred Josephs

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Wilfred Josephs (24 July 1927 – 17 November 1997) was an English composer. Life Born in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, the fourth and youngest son of Russian and South Shields Jewish parents, Wilfred Josephs had his first musical studies in Newcastle with Arthur Milner, and showed early promise, but was persuaded by his parents to take up a ‘sensible’ career. He subsequently became a dentist, qualifying as a Bachelor of Dental Surgery of the University of Durham in 1951. He later studied at the Guildhall School in London. In 1963 his Requiem, a complete setting of the Hebrew Kaddish, written in memory of the Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, won the first International Composing Competition of the City of Milan and La Scala – then the biggest musical award in the world, after which he gave up dentistry and became a full-time composer. The Requiem was performed by Nino Sanzogno in Milan, Maurice Handford for the BBC, Max Rudolf in Cincinnati, and Giulini in Chicago. A recording was made by David Measham for Unicorn Kanchana. Josephs was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music of Newcastle University in 1978. In October 1996, a concert of his works was given at Newcastle Univer

Wilfrid Mellers

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Wilfrid Howard Mellers (26 April 1914 – 17 May 2008) was an English music critic, musicologist and composer. Early life Born in Leamington, Warwickshire, Mellers was educated at the local Leamington College and later won a scholarship to Downing College, Cambridge, where he read English under F. R. Leavis. He later lodged with the Leavises for three years while pursuing a Music degree. Mellers also took private composition lessons in Oxford from Egon Wellesz and Edmund Rubbra. From 1938 he taught at Dartington Hall, and in September 1940 he married Vera Muriel Hobbs. He spent the Second World War working on the land as a conscientious objector. Career After writing many articles for Leavis’s journal Scrutiny since the September 1936 issue, he appeared on the editorial board of the January 1942 issue, and continued in that position until the December 1948 issue. Mellers also wrote regularly as a critic and reviewer for New Statesman, The Listener, The New Republic, The Times Literary Supplement and The Musical Times. From 1960 for two years he lived and worked in America as Andrew Mellon visiting professor of music at the University of Pittsburgh. His later books Bach and the Dance

Wilfrid Sanderson

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Wilfrid Ernest Sanderson FRCO LRAM (23 December 1878 – 10 December 1935) was a composer and organist based in Doncaster. Life Sanderson was born in Ipswich. His father was Revd. Thomas Sanderson, a Wesleyan Methodist minister, born in Warrington in 1848. Wilfrid was one of eight children. His mother was Emily, born in Liverpool in 1848. Wilfrid was educated at St. Dunstan’s College, and the City of London School. He studied organ under Frederick Bridge as pupil and later assistant organist at Westminster Abbey from 1895 - 1904. During this time, Wilfrid was present in the organ loft during Queen Victoria’s funeral and memorial service held on 2 February 1901. He also sang tenor in the Westminster Abbey choir for the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on 26 June 1902. His musical studies gained him the Mus.Bac (Dunelm), FRCO and LRAM. His early appointments were: church organist at St Stephen’s, Walthamstow (1895 at the age of seventeen); organist at All Hallows’, Southwark (1897); organist at St James’s, West Hampstead (1899-1904). In 1904 he married Mary Elizabeth Petch and moved to Doncaster where he became organist of Doncaster Parish Church until 1923. He was als

William Alwyn

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William Alwyn (born William Alwyn Smith; 7 November 1905 – 11 September 1985), was an English composer, conductor, and music teacher who composed over 200 cinematic scores, of which some 70 were for full-length features, as well as number of operas, concertos and symphonies. Alwyn’s wartime work in particular was to lead him to be placed on a Nazi death list. Life and music William Alwyn was born William Alwyn Smith in Northampton, England, the son of Ada Tyler (Tompkins) and William James Smith. He showed an early interest in music and began to learn to play the piccolo. At the age of 15, he entered the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied flute, piano and composition. For a time he was a flautist with the London Symphony Orchestra. Alwyn served as professor of composition at the Royal Academy of Music from 1926 to 1955. Alwyn was a polyglot, poet, and artist, as well as musician. He was also sometime Director of the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society, a Vice-President of the Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM) and Director of the Performing Right Society. For many years he was one of the panel engaged by the BBC to read new scores to help assess wheth

William Babell

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William Babell (or Babel) (c. 1690 – 23 September 1723) was an English musician, composer and prolific arranger of vocal music for harpsichord. Life He received his musical training from his father, Charles Babel, a bassoonist in the Drury Lane orchestra, Johann Christoph Pepusch and possibly George Frideric Handel. He played violin in the private band of George I and appeared as a harpsichordist from 1711, often appearing with William Corbett, James Paisible and later Matthew Dubourg. He was associated with Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre. From November 1718 until his death, he was organist at All Hallows, Bread Street, and was succeeded by John Stanley. He wrote numerous keyboard arrangements of arias from popular operas of his time. These were published in France, the Netherlands and Germany as well as in England, and formed the basis of his musical reputation. His style was strongly influenced by his close acquaintance with Handel. Johann Mattheson thought he surpassed Handel as an organ virtuoso, but music historian Charles Burney criticised his manner of playing arrangements, charging that he: Despite Burney’s criticism, fellow music historian Sir John Hawkins thought they ‘succ

William Blezard

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William Blezard (10 March 1921 in Padiham, Lancashire – 2 March 2003 in Barnes, London) was a pianist and composer who was musical director to Noël Coward, Marlene Dietrich and Joyce Grenfell. Personal life Blezard’s parents worked in one of Padiham’s many cotton mills as weavers. Like many other local children, as a child he wore clogs, traditional for the area and not a sign of poverty. His tenor father sang semi-professionally. In 1954 he married musical conductor Joan Kemp-Potter, whom he met at the Royal College. She was the conductor of the Leatherhead Choral Society and the Sutton Symphony Orchestra (1974-1992) as well as a teacher at the Guildhall School of Music and the London College of Music and an artist. She died in 2001, aged 80. He had cared for her after she had had a severe stroke in 1994. They had a son and daughter, known as Paul and Pookie. in 1950 starring Celia Johnson. Another was Beau Brummell, 1954, starring Stewart Granger, Peter Ustinov, Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Morley. In 1954 Blezard had arranged a performance for two pianos with Donald Swann and Sydney Carter. Swann introduced him to Joyce Grenfell, and she engaged him as her musical director. Durin

William Boyce (composer)

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William Boyce (baptised 11 September 1711 – 7 February 1779) was an English composer and organist. Like Beethoven later on, he became deaf but continued to compose. He knew Handel, Arne, Gluck, J. C. Bach, Abel, and a very young Mozart, all of whom respected his work. Life Boyce was born in London, at Joiners’ Hall, then in Lower Thames Street, to John Boyce, at the time a joiner and cabinet-maker, and beadle of the Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers, and his wife Elizabeth Cordwell. He was baptised on 11 September 1711 and was admitted by his father as a choirboy at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1719. After his voice broke in 1727, he studied music with Maurice Greene. His first professional appointment came in 1734 when he was employed as an organist at the Oxford Chapel in central London. He went on to take a number of similar posts before being appointed Master of the King’s Musick in 1757 (he had applied for the post on the death of Maurice Greene in 1755) and becoming one of the organists at the Chapel Royal in 1758. He also gave lessons, his daughter telling the composer R. J. S. Stevens that both Thomas Linley the elder and Thomas Linley the younger had been his pupils in c

William Brade

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William Brade (1560 – 26 February 1630) was an English composer, violinist, and viol player of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, mainly active in northern Germany. He was the first Englishman to write a canzona, an Italian form, and probably the first to write a piece for solo violin. Biography Little is known about his early life. Around 1590 he left England to pursue a musical career in Germany, as did several other prominent English musicians, sensing better job opportunities abroad. He switched employments often between the various courts in north Germany and Denmark. Between his arrival in Germany, sometime around 1590, and 1594 he worked for the Brandenburg court; between 1594 and 1596 he worked for Christian IV of Denmark in Copenhagen; then until 1599 he was back in Brandenburg. He returned that year to Copenhagen, where he stayed until 1606. From 1606 to 1608 he worked at Bückeburg in Brunswick-Lüneburg. From 1608 to 1610 he was employed in Hamburg, but he returned to Bückeburg in 1610. Evidently by 1612 he was again planning on switching jobs, for a letter surviving from that year, written by the count at Bückeburg, tells the Hamburg court pithily that he was a

William Busch

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William Busch (24 June 1901 – 30 January 1945) was a British composer and musician. Busch studied music in London, Berlin and the United States. His composition teachers included John Ireland and Bernard van Dieren. He worked as a concert pianist before devoting himself more to music composition. But his pacifism during World War II resulted in decreased reception for his works during this time. Busch died in 1945 in Woolacombe, North Devon, England. Music critic John Amis wrote that his works would have a lasting legacy due to their value. Early life and education William Busch was born on 24 June 1901 in London. His parents were originally from Germany, and later went through the naturalization process to become citizens of the United Kingdom. His musical studies took him to London, Berlin and the United States. His piano skills were further honed by Leonid Kreutzer, Wilhelm Backhaus and Egon Petri. Busch composed a piano concerto for the BBC Contemporary Music concert which he himself performed in 1938, and wrote a piano quartet in 1939. Their letters mainly focused on the sanctions imposed on Jews at the time in Germany by Adolf Hitler, with Finzi arguing staunchly against segr

William Byrd

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William Byrd (; c. 15404 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continent. He is often considered along with John Dunstaple and Henry Purcell as one of England’s most important composers of early music. Byrd wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard (the so-called Virginalist school), and consort music. He produced sacred music for Anglican services, but during the 1570s became a Roman Catholic, and wrote Catholic sacred music later in his life. Life Birth and background Richard Byrd of Ingatestone, Essex, the paternal grandfather of Thomas Byrd, most likely moved to London in the 15th century. Thereafter succeeding generations of the Byrd family are described as gentlemen. William Byrd was born in London, the third surviving son of Thomas Byrd and his wife, Margery. No record of his birth has survived, and the year of his birth is not known for certain, but a document dated 2 October 1598, and written by William Byrd, states that he is “58 yeares or th

William Christian Sellé

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William Christian Sellé (1813–1898) was a Victorian doctor of music, composer and for forty years Musician in Ordinary to Queen Victoria. Biography Early life William Christian Sellé was born in Benhall, Suffolk in 1813. His parents were Elizabeth Underwood, from a farming family in Suffolk, and Christian Sellé (1781–1867), a musician who had left Hanover with Viotti, a celebrated violinist, to join the private band of the 15th Light Dragoons of Ernest Augustus Duke of Cumberland (1771 – 1851) who was then living at the royal residence in Kew and was forming a band of mainly German musicians. Sellé was bilingual from an early age. Sellé began his musical education at a young age. He was placed under the tutelage of another of the Duke of Cumberland’s musicians, a Mr Platt. At fifteen he became a pupil of Cipriani Potter, at that time the principal of the Royal Academy of Music where he specialised in pianoforte. Early on, while he was under tutelage, Sellé demonstrated the ability to teach music and Potter trusted him enough to allow him to teach the other pupils. He was at the academy for about two years and then started a 70-year career as a teacher. He was primarily a teacher of

William Corbett (composer)

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William Corbett (18 June 1680 – 7 March 1748) was an English composer, violinist, and concert performer. The Director of New Theatre (Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London) from 1700, Corbett was appointed orchestra director of King’s Theatre, The Haymarket in 1705 and became a member of the Royal Orchestra in 1709. In 1716, he was appointed Director of the King’s Band. From 1715 to 1726, Corbett lived in Italy, returning to London in 1727. It has been speculated that while abroad, Corbett was possibly acting as an agent for the Crown. Extant works *Henry VI by Betterton (1699) *Twelve Sonatas a tre for 2 violins and b.c op. 1 (1700) *As You Find It (1703) *Love Betray’d, or The Agreeable Disappointment (1703) *The Instrumental Musick for January, February and March, for 2 flutes and b.c (1703) *Six Sonatas for 2 flutes and b.c op. 2 (1705) *British Enchanters, or No Magick Like Love (1706) *Six Sonatas a 3 for Two Flutes or German Flutes and a Bass. Consisting of Preludes, Allemands, Corants, Sarabands, Gavots & Jiggs. Dedicated to ye … Earle of Portland … Opera Quarta. Libro Primo. Separate Parts. London : L. Pippard, for ye Author, 1712. A copy is in the British Library: music collec

William Cornysh

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William Cornysh the Younger (also spelled Cornyshe, Cornishe or Cornish) (1465 – October 1523) was an English composer, dramatist, actor, and poet. Life In his only surviving poem, which was written in Fleet Prison, he claims that he has been convicted by false information and thus wrongly accused, though it is not known what the accusation was. He may not be the composer of the music found in the Eton Choirbook, which may alternatively be by his father, also named William Cornysh, who died c. 1502. The younger Cornysh had a prestigious employment at court, as Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal; and being responsible for the musical and dramatic entertainments at court and during important diplomatic events such as at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520; and visits to and from the courts of France and the Holy Roman Empire, which he fulfilled until his death. He died in 1523, his birth date unknown. Musical works The Eton Choirbook (compiled c. 1490–1502) contains several works by Cornysh: Salve Regina (found in several other sources as well), Stabat mater, Ave Maria mater Dei, Gaude virgo mater Christi, and a lost Gaude flore virginali. The Caius Choirbook (c. 1518–1520

William Croft

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William Croft (baptised 30 December 1678 – 14 August 1727) was an English composer and organist. Life Croft was born at the Manor House, Nether Ettington, Warwickshire. He was educated at the Chapel Royal under the instruction of John Blow, and remained there until 1698. Two years after this departure, he became organist of St. Anne’s Church, Soho and he became an organist and ‘Gentleman extraordinary’ at the Chapel Royal. In 1700, Croft, in collaboration with “an Italian Master”, probably Gottfried Finger, published six sonatas for violin, flute, harpsichord and viol, in the newly fashionable Italian style. In 1707, he took over the Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal post, which had been left vacant by the suicide of Jeremiah Clarke. Shortly afterwards his health deteriorated, and he died while visiting Bath aged 48. A fragment of music attributed to Croft, Ground in C minor (D221), has been used by contemporary composer Michael Nyman as the source of his piece An Eye for an Optical Theory. St Anne One of Croft’s most enduring pieces is the hymn tune “St Anne” written to the poem Our God, Our Help in Ages Past by Isaac Watts. Other composers subsequently incorporated the t

William Crotch

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William Crotch (5 July 177529 December 1847) was an English composer and organist. According to the British musicologist Nicholas Temperley, Crotch was “a child prodigy without parallel in the history of music”, and was certainly the most distinguished English musician in his day. Crotch was later to observe that this experience led him to become a rather spoiled child, excessively indulged so that he would perform. Adult life Crotch was for a time organist at Christ Church, Oxford, from which he was later to graduate with a Bachelor of Music degree. His first attempt at an oratorio, The Captivity of Judah, was played at Trinity Hall, Cambridge on 4 June 1789 when he was 14. His most successful—and largest scale—composition was the oratorio Palestine (1812), after which he mainly returned to smaller scale works. He may have composed the Westminster Chimes in 1793, which are played by Big Ben each time it strikes the hour. In 1797, Crotch became Heather Professor of Music at Oxford University, and in 1799 he acquired a doctorate in music. While at Oxford, he became acquainted with the musician and artist John Malchair, and took up sketching. He followed Malchair’s style in recording

William Denis Browne

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William Charles Denis Browne (3 November 1888 – 4 June 1915), primarily known as Billy to family and as Denis to his friends, was a British composer, pianist, organist and music critic of the early 20th century. He and his close friend, poet Rupert Brooke, were commissioned into the Royal Naval Division together shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. Denis Browne was killed in action during the Gallipoli Campaign. Early life Denis Browne was born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, on 3 November 1888; his parents were of Anglo-Irish descent. His father, William Denis Browne (1836–1916), had been a land agent and had served as a juror in the Phoenix Park Murders trial. His paternal grandfather, Denis Browne, had been Dean of Emly Cathedral (the cathedral was demolished in 1877), and a great-grandfather, Denis Browne (1763–1828), was Member of Parliament for Mayo and younger brother of the 1st Marquess of Sligo. University In 1907 Denis Browne proceeded to Clare College, Cambridge, having again obtained a scholarship, and following Brooke who had gone up to King’s the previous year. Denis Browne had stayed in touch with Brooke, and through him met Edward Marsh. Deni

William Duncombe (composer)

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William Duncombe (ca. 1736-1738 – 30 November 1818, or 1819) was an English composer. He was an organist in Kensington. He is mainly known by a few small piano pieces (especially a Sonatina in C Major and the Fanfare or Fanfare Minuet) that are still reprinted in pedagogical collections. They are probably excerpts of the Progressive lessons for the harpsichord and piano forte, published in 1778 (or 1785). Duncombe is frequently confused with the writer William Duncombe (1690 – 1769). Works *First Book of Progressive Lessons for the Harpsichord and Piano Forte – London : J. Bland, n.d. 1778 *Second Book of Twelve Progressive Lessons for the Harpsichord or Piano Forte – London : J. Bland, n.d. 1778 *The Favorite Air, of God save the King, with variations for two performers on one piano forte, or harpsichord – London, 1792 *An hymn to be sung by the charity children of Kensington, at their parish church, on Sunday, 15 December 1793, after a sermon preached in the Morning by the Rev. Archer Thompson, A.B. Chaplain to the Bishop of Bristol, Joint Morning Preacher of Portman Chapel and St. James’s Chapel, Tottenham-Court-Road, and Vicar of Thatcham, Berks. The Music by Mr. Duncombe − Lon

William Erskine, Lord Kinneder

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William Erskine, Lord Kinneder (1768–1822), was a friend and confidant of Sir Walter Scott, and a scholar and songwriter. Early life and education Erskine was the son of the Rev. William Erskine, episcopalian minister of Muthill, Perthshire. He was baptized at Muthill on 29 August 1768. He was educated at the University of Glasgow; while there he boarded in the house of Andrew Macdonald, episcopalian clergyman and author of Vimonda, from whom, according to Lockhart, he derived a strong passion for old English literature. Career He passed advocate at the Scottish bar on 3 July 1790, and became the close friend and literary confidant of Scott. In 1792 Erskine, with Scott and other young advocates, formed a class for the study of German. According to Scott’s biographer John Gibson Lockhart, the companionship of Erskine, owing to his special accomplishments as a classical scholar and acquaintance with the “severe models of antiquity”, was highly serviceable to Scott as a student of German drama and romance. Lockhart represents him as being mercilessly severe on “the mingled absurdities and vulgarities of German detail”. It was Erskine who negotiated for Scott’s translation of Lenore in

William Felton (composer)

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William Felton (1715 – 6 December 1769) was an English composer. He gained an M.A. at St. John’s College, Cambridge in 1745 and was a chaplain to the Princess Dowager of Wales. He composed three sets of six concertos, modelled on Handel’s and composed the glee, “Fill, fill, fill the glass”. Biography William Felton was born in Market Drayton, Shropshire. He was educated in Manchester and at St. John’s, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1738 and M.A. in 1745. He was vicar-choral in the choir of Hereford Cathedral in 1741, custos of the vicars-choral in 1769, and chaplain to the Princess Dowager of Wales (Augusta of Saxe-Gotha). During a time when, according to Charles Burney, players of the harpsichord had little choice of good music; several of Felton’s three sets of six concertos for organ or harpsichord and of his eight suites of easy lessons became the “pride of every incipient player in town and country.” Felton’s gavotte, attained great popularity; it was introduced in Vincenzo Legrenzio Ciampi’s opera Bertoldo in 1672. However, it “was too common and vulgar for an opera audience”. Felton’s concertos were modelled on those of Handel, whom the amateur held in admiration. Bu

William Flackton

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William Flackton (bap. 27 March 1709 – 5 January 1798) was an 18th-century bookseller, publisher, amateur organist, viola player and composer. He is perhaps best known today for his compositions for the viola. Flackton was born in Canterbury and was the eldest surviving son of John Flackton and Catharine Sharp. He demonstrated a talent for music from an early age and at the age of nine he was admitted as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral. He was apprenticed to the Canterbury bookseller Edward Burges until 1730 when he set up his own business as a stationer and bookseller specialising in the second-hand and antiquarian book trade. He was in partnership with his brother John from 1738 and later traded in partnership with two of his former apprentices, first as Flackton and Marrable from 1774 and as Flackton, Marrable and Claris from 1784. The ESTC Database records over 60 books published by the firm. In 1770, he published his Six Solos, Three for a Violoncello and Three for a Tenor, Accompanied Either with a Violoncello or Harpsichord, dedicated to Sir William Young, Lieutenant-Governor of Dominica. In the Preface, Flackton shows that he wanted to promote music for the viola. Flack

William G. Whittaker

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William Gillies Whittaker (Newcastle upon Tyne, July 23, 1876 – Orkney Islands, July 5, 1944) was an English composer, pedagogue, conductor, musicologist, Bach scholar, publisher and writer. He spent his life promoting music. The University of Durham, where he once studied and taught, called him one of “Britain’s most influential musicians during the first half of the twentieth century”. An autodidact, he was a prodigious creator of Gebrauchsmusik. Early life and education in Newcastle Whittaker was born into a Methodist family in the Shieldfield district of Newcastle upon Tyne. His father, John Whittaker, the illegitimate son of a farm labourer’s daughter, came from Little Corby in Cumberland. His mother, Ellen Gillies, was an orphan from a respected family in Hexham in Northumberland. From an early age Whittaker showed an interest in music: he learnt to play the flute and his father bought him a piccolo; and he played as a schoolboy organist at St George’s Church in Jesmond. His father encouraged him to follow a career in science, which led to Whittaker initially studying mathematics—without great success—at Armstrong College, at that time part of the University of Durham (it lat

William Gardiner (English composer)

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William Gardiner (15 March 1770, in Leicester – 16 November 1853) was an English composer who is best known for his hymns. He published two collections of his works: Sacred Melodies (1808) and Music and Friends (1838). Gardiner’s promotion of Ludwig van Beethoven led to the first performances of Beethoven’s music in England in 1794. In his Music and Friends, Gardiner told the story of how the first work of Beethoven became known in Britain after arriving in a violin case of a priest fleeing the French Revolutionary army. Vegetarianism Gardiner was a teetotaller and vegetarian. He lived on a milk and vegetable diet for several years but gave it up after a life-changing experience. Gardiner stated that on one occasion he was dining with a “Mr. Brooke” an eccentric who placed a beef-steak on the table. He was offended that Gardiner refused to eat meat. Mr. Brooke put a horse pistol to Gardiner’s head and declared he would shoot him if he did not eat the beef-steak. After this experience Gardiner gave up his vegetarian diet and resumed his former mode of living. Selected publications *Music and Friends (3 volumes, 1838-1853) *The Music of Nature (1849) References *

William Hawte

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Sir William Hawte (also Haute or Haut) (c. 1430 – 2 July 1497) was a prominent member of a Kentish gentry family of long standing in royal service, which, through its near connections to the Woodville family, became closely and dangerously embroiled in the last phases of the Wars of the Roses. It is claimed that he is the same Sir William Hawte who was a composer of liturgical and devotional choral music (who flourished c. 1460–1470), represented in a number of manuscript choirbooks that survive to this day. Two settings of the Benedicamus Domino are found in the Pepys Manuscript, and another work attributed to him, a Stella coeli, extirpavit (a Latin prayer to the Virgin, for protection from plague ) exists in the Ritson Manuscript. Family Hawte the composer is identified as a son of William Haute of Bishopsbourne, Kent, M.P., by his second wife, Joan Wydeville, daughter of Richard Wydeville, M.P. (1385–1441), of Grafton, Northamptonshire and Maidstone, Kent, who married c. 1429. William the father did have a child by his first wife, and there is mention of a young William Haute seeking a novitiate at Christ Church priory in Canterbury around 1430. However the weight of evidence i

William Hayes (composer)

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William Hayes (1706 – 27 July 1777) was an English composer, organist, singer and conductor. Life Hayes was born in Gloucester. He trained at Gloucester Cathedral where the cathedral account books record his name amongst the choristers from 1717. He spent the early part of his working life as organist of St Mary’s, Shrewsbury (1729) and Worcester Cathedral (1731). The majority of his career was spent at the University of Oxford where he was appointed organist of Magdalen College in 1734, and established his credentials with the degrees of B.Mus in 1735 and D.Mus in 1749. (He was painted by John Cornish in his doctoral robes around 1749.) In 1741 he was unanimously elected Heather Professor of Music and organist of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin. He presided over Oxford’s concert life for the next 30 years, and was instrumental in the building of the Holywell Music Room in 1748, the oldest purpose-built music room in Europe. He was one of the earliest members of the Royal Society of Musicians, and in 1765 was elected a “privileged member” of the Noblemen and Gentlemen’s Catch Club. He died in Oxford, aged 69. Music style William Hayes was an enthusiastic Handelian, and

William Henry Bell

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William Henry Bell, known largely by his initials, W H Bell (20 August 1873 – 13 April 1946), was an English composer, conductor and lecturer. Biography Bell was born in St Albans and was a chorister at St Albans Cathedral. He studied organ, violin and piano in London at the Royal Academy of Music along with composition under Frederick Corder, and modal counterpoint privately with Charles Villiers Stanford. He won the Goss Scholarship in 1899. He mainly made his living as an organist and lecturer; he was Professor of Harmony at the Royal Academy of Music where he taught from 1909 to 1912. In 1912, Bell went to South Africa to direct the South African College of Music in Cape Town. He was Principal until 1935 and is credited with a significant expansion of the school. In 1920, Bell became Professor of Music at the University of Cape Town, where he held classes for degree courses. The South African College of Music was incorporated into the University in 1923 and Professor Bell became Dean of the Faculty of Music. Bell founded the Little Theatre, a training center for opera, and occasionally directed the Cape Town Music Society. He was also responsible for founding the Speech and Dra

William Henry Harris

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Sir William Henry Harris (28 March 1883 – 6 September 1973) was an English organist, choral trainer and composer. Early life and education Harris was born in Fulham, London and became a chorister at Holy Trinity, Tulse Hill. At the age of 14, he took up a “flexible” position as assistant organist at St David’s Cathedral in Wales under Herbert Morris, followed at 16 by a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where his teachers were Sir Walter Parratt, Charles Wood, and Henry Walford Davies. Career Harris was organist at St Augustine’s Church, Edgbaston from 1911 to 1919 and concurrently assistant organist at Lichfield Cathedral. During this time he also taught at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in collaboration with Granville Bantock. A move to Oxford in 1919 saw him take up organist positions successively at New College and in 1929 Christ Church, Oxford. While at Oxford, he conducted the Oxford Bach Choir (1925–1933) and was instrumental in founding and conducting the Opera Club, which put on the pioneering production of Monteverdi’s Orfeo staged by Jack Westrup in 1925. In 1933 he was appointed organist at St George’s Chapel, Windsor in succession to Charles Hylton Stewart

William Henry Longhurst

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William Henry Longhurst (6 October 1819 – 17 June 1904) was an English organist at Canterbury Cathedral, and a composer. Life He was born in Lambeth in 1819, son of James Longhurst, an organ-builder. In 1821 his father started business in Canterbury, and Longhurst began his seventy years’ service for the cathedral there when he was admitted as a chorister in January 1828. He had lessons from the cathedral organist, Highmore Skeats, and afterwards from Skeats’s successor, Thomas Evance Jones. In 1836 he was appointed under-master of the choristers, assistant organist and lay clerk. He was the thirteenth successful candidate for the fellowship diploma of the College of Organists, founded in 1864. In 1873 he succeeded Jones as organist of Canterbury Cathedral, and held the post until 1898. His services were recognised by the dean and chapter in granting him, on his retirement, his full stipend, together with the use of his house in the cathedral precincts. The degree of DMus was conferred on him by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1875. He died in Harbledown, Canterbury, on 17 June 1904. Works As a composer Longhurst devoted himself chiefly to church music. His published works include

William Herschel

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Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German–British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover, he followed his father into the military band of Hanover, before emigrating to Britain in 1757 at the age of 19. Taking an interest in astronomy in 1766, Herschel constructed his first large telescope in 1774, after which he spent nine years carrying out sky surveys to investigate double stars. Herschel published catalogues of nebulae in 1802 (2,500 objects) and in 1820 (5,000 objects). The resolving power of the Herschel telescopes revealed that many objects called nebulae in the Messier catalogue were actually clusters of stars. On 13 March 1781 while making observations he made note of a new object in the constellation of Gemini. This would, after several weeks of verification and consultation with other astronomers, be confirmed to be a new planet, eventually given the name of Uranus. This was the first planet to be discovered since antiquity, and Herschel became famous overnight. As a result of this discovery, George III appointed him Court

William Hine

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William Hine (1687–1730) was an English organist and composer. Hine was born at Brightwell, Oxfordshire. Career He was a chorister of Magdalen College, Oxford in 1694, and a clerk in 1705. Coming to London, he studied music under Jeremiah Clarke, whose executive style he closely imitated. In 1711 or 1712. Hine became organist of Gloucester Cathedral, and shortly afterwards married Alicia, the daughter of Abraham Rudhall, the bellfounder. The dean and chapter of Gloucester showed their appreciation of Hine’s services by voluntarily increasing his yearly salary by 20 pounds, as is recorded in the mural tablet over his grave in the cloisters. Hine’s chief pupils were Richard Church and William Hayes, whose son, Dr. Philip Hayes, presented a portrait of Hine to the Oxford Music School. Death He died on 28 August 1730, aged 43. After Hine’s death, his widow published by subscription Harmonia Sacra Glocestriensis, or Select Anthems for 1, 2, and 3 Voices, &c. The volume contains the anthems Save me, Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous, I will magnify Thee, and the Jubilate (with Hall’s Te Deum). His wife died on 28 June 1735. References

William Horsley

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William Horsley (18 November 177412 June 1858) was an English composer, organist and teacher. Career In 1790, Horsley became the pupil of the pianist and composer Theodore Smith (c. 1740–1810), who taught him sufficiently well to obtain the position of organist at Ely Chapel, Holborn, in 1794. He resigned this post in 1798 to become the organist at the Asylum for Female Orphans as well as the assistant to John Wall Callcott, with whom he had long been on terms of personal and artistic intimacy, and whose eldest daughter, Elizabeth Hutchins Callcott, he married. Callcott encouraged his interest in vocal music. In 1802 he became his friend’s successor upon the latter’s resignation. Besides holding this appointment he became the organist of Belgrave Chapel, Halkin Street, in 1812 and of London Charterhouse in 1838. More important are his glees, of which he published five books (1801–1807) besides contributing many detached glees and part songs to various collections. His glees include “By Celia’s Arbour,” “O, Nightingale,” and “Now the storm begins to lower”. His ballads, particularly Gentle Lyre and The Sailor’s Adieu enjoyed popularity in his lifetime. Two of his hymn tunes, ‘Belgra

William Horwood (composer)

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William Horwood, also Horewud, was an English polyphonic vocal composer in the late-medieval period ( 1430 – 1484). He was an early proponent of the English votive style and represents the first stage of its development in the Eton Choirbook, contributing three complete pieces and one fragment to the document. In 1470, he was a singer at Lincoln Cathedral, in 1476, he was a vicar choral at Lincoln, and from 1477 until 1484, he was the Cathedral choirmaster. There is also one incomplete piece attributed to Horwood in the fragmentary York mass manuscript, Borthwick Institute MS Mus.1; however, Theodor Dumitrescu in his edition of the mass manuscript suggests this may be a different composer with the same surname. The survival of these large-scale pieces makes Horwood the most important representative we have of the period between Dunstaple and early Tudor composers such as Fayrfax and William Cornysh. Horwood’s “Magnificat secundi toni a 5” bears a strong resemblance to compositions of his near contemporary Josquin des Prez (c. 1440–1521), so much so that he might easily be mistaken for Josquin upon first audition. No mention is made of Horwood among the listing of Josquin’s contempo

William Hunnis

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William Hunnis (died 6 June 1597) was an English Protestant poet, dramatist, and composer. Biography Hunnis was as early as 1549 in the service of William Herbert, later Earl of Pembroke. His friend Thomas Newton, in a poem prefixed to The Hive of Hunnye (1578), says: “In prime of youth thy pleasant Penne depaincted Sonets sweete”, and mentions his interludes, gallant lays, rondelets and songs, explaining that it was in the winter of his age that he turned to sacred lore and high philosophy. In 1550 he published Certayne Psalms … in Englishe metre, and shortly afterward was made a gentleman of the Chapel Royal to Edward VI. At Mary I’s accession he retained his appointment, but in 1555 he is said to have been one of a party of twelve conspirators who had determined to take Mary’s life. Although nothing came of the first plot, shortly afterward he was party to the Dudley conspiracy to dethrone Mary in favour of her sister Elizabeth. Hunnis, having some knowledge of alchemy, was to go abroad to coin the necessary gold, but this doubtful mission was exchanged for the task of making false keys to the treasury in London, which he was able to do because of his friendship with Nicholas

William Hurlstone

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William Yeates Hurlstone (7 January 1876 – 30 May 1906) was an English composer. Showing brilliant musical talent from an early age, he died young, before his full potential could be realized. Nevertheless, he left behind an exquisite, albeit small, body of work. His teacher Sir Charles Villiers Stanford considered him the most talented of his pupils, above Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. Career Born at 12 Richmond Gardens (now Empress Place), Fulham, on 7 January 1876, Hurlstone was the grandson of Frederick Yeates Hurlstone, president of the Royal Society of British Artists, and only son of the four children of Martin de Galway Hurlstone, a surgeon, by his wife Maria Bessy Styche, a piano teacher. Hurlstone’s earliest musical education was with his mother. In 1883 the family moved to Bemerton, a village near Salisbury where he became chorister in the local church, until his asthma prevented him from carrying on singing. The vicar was so impressed with him that he invited Hubert Parry and George Grove from the Royal College of Music to meet him. Parry told his parents that he was taken more by their son’s grasp of the subject than by his abilities as an executant. Grove w

William Inglott

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William Inglott or Inglot (1553/4buried 31 December 1621) was an English organist and composer of the Elizabethan era, who is mostly associated with the cathedral in the English city of Norwich. Inglott moved from Norwich to Hereford Cathedral, returning in 1611 to replace the composer Thomas Morley as the cathedral organist. His memorial plaque at Norwich Cathedral was restored 90 years after his death. Amongst the few surviving works by Ingott are two keyboard pieces by Ingott in the collection of keyboard music known as the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book and a Short Service for four voices, reconstructed in 1989. Biography William Inglott’s father Edmund (d. 1583) was the organist at Norwich Cathedral. William retained a strong connection to the cathedral during his career, first as a chorister under his father (15671568), as a lay clerk (from 1576), and as the cathedral’s organist (15871591). He was paid in 1582 for teaching the boys in the choir during a period when his father was too ill to work. Inglott moved to Hereford Cathedral as Master of the Choristers from 1597 until some time after 1610, but returned to Norwich as organist in 1611, replacing the composer Thomas Morley. No

William J. Marsh

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William John Marsh (June 24, 1880 – February 1, 1971) was an American composer, organist, choir director, and educator most notable for composing “Texas, Our Texas,” the official state song for the U.S. state of Texas. He was a longtime figure in the Dallas–Fort Worth arts community, working as a composer, choir director, music professor, and music critic. He published over 100 original compositions, including the official mass of the Texas Centennial and The Flower Fair at Peking, the first opera written and produced in the state of Texas. a suburb of Liverpool, England. In the 1870s, Liverpool native James Marsh had worked for the Texas and Pacific Railway in Dallas, where he met Mary Cecilia McCormick, originally from Kentucky. James and Mary both met at Sacred Heart Cathedral, where they enjoyed singing. They married in 1877 and returned to Liverpool shortly afterward; James ultimately became the mayor of Woolton. Compositions During his career, Marsh composed over 100 original musical works, mostly religious in nature. He is best known for the following compositions: * “Sunset” (1913) – Marsh’s first published composition, for women’s chorus and violin, written for Fort Worth'

William Jackson (Scottish composer)

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William Jackson (born 14 September 1955) is a Scottish harpist and composer. William Jackson was born in Cambuslang, near Glasgow. As his grandparents came from County Donegal, he visited Ireland many times, throughout his childhood, and still has a home there. He trained as a music therapist at the Guildhall School of Music in 1992/93, and from 1998 - 2009 he headed the Music therapy department at Mission Children’s Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1969 he formed the Scottish folk group Contraband, who released an album in 1974, then disbanded in 1975. Jackson’s brother George (died 1998) was also a member. He became a founding member of Ossian in 1976. He has lived in Ireland since 2009 and works as a music therapist there, while also continuing his concert and teaching work in the US for part of the year. Ossian disbanded in about 1989, and he continued as a solo artist both as a performer and composer. He became one of the first to compose using both traditional and classical musicians, and his “Wellpark Suite” in 1985 was generally acclaimed as a milestone in Scottish music. From 1989 William Jackson released a series of albums on his own label Mill Records, sometimes

William Lawes

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William Lawes (April 1602 – 24 September 1645) was an English composer and musician known for his innovative and experimental style of early Baroque music. Born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, he wrote sacred and secular music at the court of Charles I of England. His best known compositions are consort suites for viols, including the Royal Consort collection (completed 1635). He joined Royalist forces during the English Civil War and was honored with the title “Father of Musick” after being killed at the Battle of Rowton Heath. Life and career Lawes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and was baptised on 1 May 1602. He was the son of Thomas Lawes, a vicar choral at Salisbury Cathedral, and brother to Henry Lawes, a very successful composer in his own right. It is possible the young William was a member of the cathedral choir there. His patron, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, apprenticed him to the composer John Coprario, which probably brought Lawes into contact with Charles, Prince of Wales at an early age. Both William and his elder brother Henry received court appointments after Charles succeeded to the British throne as Charles I. William was appointed as “musician in ordinary for lut

William Leighton

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Sir William Leighton ( ; – buried 31 July 1622) was an English Jacobean composer and editor who published The Teares and Lamentacions of a Sorrowfull Soule (1614). He was also a politician. Family Leighton was first son of William Leighton (died 1607) of Plaish Hall, Cardington, Shropshire, who was Chief Justice of North Wales, and of his wife Isabella, daughter of Thomas Onslow of London. Leighton married Winifred, daughter of Simon Harcourt, of Ellenhall, Staffordshire, by whom he had one son and two daughters. His wife died in 1616. Leighton seems to have been in poor standing with his own father, who in the latter’s will divided his property between William’s half-brother and William’s then infant son. William was not allowed use of his son’s portion unless he gave “good and sufficient sureties”. Leighton’s biographer ‘J.J.C.’ suggests it was probably because Leighton had been a follower of Elizabeth I’s disgraced favourite the Earl of Essex, to whom Leighton had written letters in 1600. Career For education, Leighton recordedly attended Shrewsbury School in 1577, followed by admission as a law student to the Inner Temple in 1580. Leighton served as MP for Much Wenlock in the l

William Lloyd Webber

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William Southcombe Lloyd Webber (11 March 1914 – 29 October 1982) was an English organist and composer, as a part of the modern classical music movement. Besides his long career, composing works ranging from choral pieces to instrumental items and more, he is known for being the father of his fellow composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber. He also served as a music educator, teaching students in harmony and counterpoint at the Royal College of Music, and was director of the London College of Music, as well as music director and organist at Methodist Central Hall for many years until his sudden death in 1982. Early years and education Webber was born into a respectable, but relatively poor family in Chelsea in 1914, as the first of two children of William Charles Henry Webber (28 August 1886 – 1 November 1962), a self-employed plumber, and his wife, Winifred Mary Gittins (30 November 1888 – unknown death date). Their second child, Winifred Margaret Webber, was born on 27 November 1920 and died in September 1984 at age 63. According to Jean Lloyd Webber, her father-in-law was a semi-professional musician, who sang in several Anglican churches in London and a

William Mineard Bennett

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William Mineard Bennet (1778–1858), was an English miniature-painter, singer and composer. Life Bennett was born at Exeter in 1778. While apprenticed to the engraver Abraham Ezekiel in the city, he learned Hebrew and became enthusiastic about music. The Monthly Review continued: Mr. Bennett had long determined to make trial of the stage; and, towards the end of the season, made his debut in the character of Prince Orlando, in the comic opera of The Cabinet. His reception here was more flattering than at the concerts, and he made an engagement with the managers to play a few nights; which he did, in the following characters: Don Carlos, in the Duenna; Young Meadows, in Love in a Village; Don Alphonso, in The Castle of Andalusia; Lord William, in the Haunted Tower; Paul, in Paul and Virginia; and Patrick, in The Poor Soldier—in all of which he gave much satisfaction. Just before the opening of the Hay-market theatre, in the same season, he received an offer to play six nights there, which he accepted; but to get up an opera was deemed impracticable, and he played the six nights in musical after-pieces. His first appearance before a London audience was in the character of Paul, in Pau

William Mundy (composer)

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William Mundy (c. 1529–1591) was a Renaissance English composer of sacred music and father of composer John Mundy. Life Mundy was the son of Thomas Mundy, a musician and sexton of the London church St Mary-at-Hill. William Mundy married Mary Alcock and had two sons, John Mundy, an organist and composer, and Stephen Mundy, a gentleman of the household to James I and Charles I. In 1543, William Mundy was head chorister of Westminster Abbey, until his voice broke. He was appointed deputy to St Martin, Ludgate in 1547, and from 1548 to 1558 Mundy served as Parish Clerk for the church of St Mary-at-Hill in London (his father Thomas’ employer). Mundy was appointed Vicar choral to the Chapel Royal in 1559, and as a Gentleman of the Chapel in 1564, Works Overview Coming of age during the reign of Henry VIII, Mundy’s career spanned much of England’s Tudor Dynasty, and reflected the changes in church music that accompanied the religious turmoil of that period. Mundy’s extant body of sacred music consists of the two masses above, six Anglican service settings, the single Kyrie, twenty-two motets (in Latin), thirteen anthems, and a large number of musical settings for specific Psalms. These se

William Oliver (songwriter)

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William Oliver (5 February 1800 29 October 1848) was a Tyneside poet, singer and songwriter from Newcastle upon Tyne. He is arguably best known for the song “Newcassel Props”, an example of the Geordie dialect. Career Oliver became a draper and hatter, working for a Mr.Bowes of The Bridge End, Gateshead, where he stayed there for many years. For a short time, he ran his own business as a hatter, but this was unsuccessful. He eventually left the business around 1830 and joined his brother Timothy working in his grocery shop situated at the corner of Cloth Market and High Bridge, and there he stayed until his death. Music Oliver was popular as both singer and songwriter in his time. His 1829 collection of songs was dedicated to Robert Bill, Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne. Arthur’s Hill, Newcastle upon Tyne. Works His works include: * “The Bonassus” – the tale of a buffalo in a wild animal show; to the tune of “Jemmy Joneson’s Whurry” * “The Clock Face” to the tune “Bold Dragoon” * “England Awake” – a political song * “The Lament” to the tune “The Bold Dragoon” * “The New Markets” – to the tune “Canny Newcassel” * “Newcassel Props” – in which we remember the passing of local characters,

William Owen (composer)

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William Owen, also known by his Welsh name Prysgol, (December 1813 – 20 July 1893) was a Welsh hymn writer. Born at Bangor, he composed the Welsh hymn tune Bryn Calfaria and other works, among his best known being the anthem Ffynnon Ddisglair and the hymns Alma and Deemster. Life and career William Owen, widely known in Wales as William Owen Prysgol, was the son of William and Ellen Owen. His father was a stone mason in a quarry. He had music instruction in classes run by Robert Williams at Carneddi, and from William Roberts. He later worked at the Dorothea Slate Quarry, and is said to have composed his most famous work, the hymn Bryn Calfaria (Calvary Hill), on slate at his place of work. Owen was involved with the temperance movement, composing several temperance pieces, some of which were performed at events at Caernarfon Castle. Among his best known works, after Bryn Calfaria, are the anthem Ffynnon Ddisglair (Bright Well) and the hymns Alma and Deemster. He married a woman from Prysgol, a farmhouse near Caeathro, a few kilometers inland from Caernarfon, where he lived thereafter. He died on 20 July 1893, aged 79, and is buried in Caeathro chapel burial ground. Footnotes Refere

William Parsons (composer and musician)

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Sir William Parsons (1745/6–1817) was an English composer and musician who was Master of the King’s Musick under George III between 1786 and 1817. Originally a chorister at Westminster Abbey as a pupil of Benjamin Cooke, he developed a reputation as a fine tenor, but was passed over for another musician at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and thus went to Europe to seek employment. Returning to England, he was an assistant director at the George Frideric Handel commemorations in Westminster Abbey and the Pantheon in 1784, and composed a number of anthems for royal usage. He was knighted by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, John Jeffreys Pratt, second Earl Camden in 1795, thus becoming the first British musician honoured with a knighthood. An unremarkable composer and musician, he gained the title more through tutoring the king’s family and his contacts than any merit, being a friend of several members of the royal family and composers such as Joseph Haydn. Few of his compositions survive. References

William Ralph Driffill

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William Ralph Driffill (8 December 1870, Dunstable – 24 April 1922, Barnet) was an English organist and composer. Personal life Driffill was the son of William Driffill, a plumber who ran his own business in Dunstable, and Maria (née Potter). In 1908 he married Kate Prior (1879–1947). Their first child was Helen Elsbeth (1914–96). Their second child was Kathleen Rosemary (1922–2008); she was born 6 months after her father’s sudden death from pneumonia in 1922. Student days In 1890, Driffill enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music. During his time there he gained prizes for his playing and composition. In 1891, he is recorded as gaining the status of ‘Certificated Pianist’ of Trinity College of Music in their ‘35th Half-Yearly Higher Examinations’. Performing Conductor * 1900: Barnet: Mr. W. R. Driffill’s Choral Society gave a highly satisfactory performance, on the 8th ult., of Franco Leoni’s “Gate of Life,” preceded by Mendelssohn’s “Hymn of Praise” … The singing of the choir gave evidence of careful and efficient training, which reflected great credit on the conductor, Mr. Driffill. Organist * n.d.: organist at St. Mary the Virgin, in Monken Hadley, Hertfordshire. * 1896–? : org

William Reed (English composer)

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William Leonard Reed (known as Will Reed) (16 October 1910 – 15 April 2002) was an English classical composer and pianist. Life Reed was educated at Dulwich College and Jesus College, Oxford, obtaining a degree in literae humaniores in 1933 and a diploma in education in 1934. Whilst still at Oxford, he won a composition prize for a sonata for violin and piano, and Sir Hugh Allen (professor of music at Oxford) recommended that he should study at the Royal College of Music. Reed studied composition with Herbert Howells and conducting with Constant Lambert. He travelled to Scandinavia on a scholarship in 1936, meeting the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, and lectured in Scandinavia on behalf of the British Council in 1936 and 1937. In 1939, he obtained a D Mus degree from the University of Oxford. References

William Rimmer (music)

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William Rimmer (1862–1936) was a Lancashire composer and conductor of brass band music who was particularly well known for his marches. Rimmer was born in Southport in 1862 into a musical family. His father was bandmaster of the Lancashire Volunteer Rifles and encouraged both Rimmer and his brother Robert in their musical studies. At the age of 15 Rimmer joined the Southport Rifle band as a side-drummer and then moved on to the cornet, eventually becoming the band’s principal cornet soloist. As a young man he made himself into one of the finest cornet players in the country under the eye of Alexander Owen at Besses o’ th’ Barn Band. His prowess on the instrument became well known, and he was engaged as a soloist by many of the best bands of the day. He eventually gave up playing to concentrate on training and conducting bands. He started his conducting career with the Skelmersdale Old Band and the Skelmersdale Temperance Band where he saw excellent success at local contests from 1891 to 1895. Then like most of the top brass band conductors of his generation, he became associated with many different bands in the Lancashire area. At the height of his fame conducted every winning band

William Russell (organist)

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William Russell (6 October 1777 – 21 November 1813) was an English organist and composer. Life He was the son of William Russell, an organ-builder, and was born in London on 6 October 1777. From age seven Russell was taught by the organists William Cope, William Shrubsole, and John Groombridge. Between 1789 and 1793 he was deputy to his father, who was organist to St. Mary’s, Aldermanbury. In 1793, Russell was appointed organist to the Great Queen Street chapel; cathedral services were performed there until 1798, when the chapel became a Wesleyan meeting-house. On 2 September 1798 he was elected organist at St. Anne’s, Limehouse. In 1801 he was elected to a similar post at the Foundling Hospital. About the same time he resumed musical studies under Samuel Arnold. In 1808, Russell graduated Mus. Bac. at Oxford. He died on 21 November 1813 at Cobham Row, Coldbath Fields, in Clerkenwell. Works Russell’s organ voluntaries were in suite form. He published Twelve Voluntaries for the Organ or Pianoforte (1805), and a Second Book (1812). Job was an oratorio adaptation for organ or pianoforte, from Samuel Wesley, issued in 1826. He also composed music to Christopher Smart’s Ode on St. Cecil

William Savage

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

William Savage (1720 – 27 July 1789) was an English composer, organist, and singer of the 18th century. He sang as a boy treble and alto, a countertenor, and as a bass. He is best remembered for his association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose oratorios Savage sang. Life and career Savage married Mary Bolt (1718–1788), and together they had three children. William died young in the West Indies, and Rev. George Savage died in 1816. Their daughter Jane Savage was also a composer. Mary published two volumes of Poems on Various Subjects and Occasions in 1777. Singer Savage first came to prominence as a boy treble in 1735, singing in a revival of Handel’s Athalia and in Alcina during the composer’s Covent Garden season. After his voice had broken, he initially continued his career singing as an alto (countertenor), and later turned into a bass. As a countertenor he performed possibly the small roles of La Fortuna and Childerico in Handel’s operas, Giustino (1737) and Faramondo (1738), and also appeared in the first performance of Israel in Egypt (1739), as well as in revivals of other Handel oratorios. As a bass, he created the title role in Imeneo (1740), the role of

William Shield

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

William Shield (5 March 1748 – 25 January 1829) was an English composer, violinist and violist. His music earned the respect of Haydn and Beethoven. Life and musical career Shield was born in Swalwell near Gateshead, County Durham, the son of William Shield and his wife, Mary, née Cash. He was first taught music by his father but, after both he and his mother died while Shield was still a child, he was apprenticed to a shipbuilder in South Shields, continuing however to study music with Charles Avison in Newcastle upon Tyne. He became a noted violinist in Newcastle’s subscription concerts before moving to Scarborough to lead a theatre orchestra. In 1772, he was appointed by Felice Giardini to play violin in the opera at Covent Garden (now the Royal Opera House), and from 1773 he was principal violist there. In 1778 he provided the music for the comic opera The Flitch of Bacon to a libretto by Henry Bate. On 21 February 1776 he was in Durham, where he attended the meeting of the city’s masonic lodge at the Marquis of Granby tavern. The lodge Minutes indicate that he was by this date already a member of the St. John’s lodge in Newcastle. He later also became a member of the Sunderlan

William Sterndale Bennett

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 18161 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. By the age of twenty, he had begun to make a reputation as a concert pianist, and his compositions received high praise. Among those impressed by Bennett was the German composer Felix Mendelssohn, who invited him to Leipzig. There Bennett became friendly with Robert Schumann, who shared Mendelssohn’s admiration for his compositions. Bennett spent three winters composing and performing in Leipzig. In 1837 Bennett began to teach at the RAM, with which he was associated for most of the rest of his life. For twenty years he taught there, later also teaching at Queen’s College, London. Among his pupils during this period were Arthur Sullivan, Hubert Parry, and Tobias Matthay. Throughout the 1840s and 1850s he composed little, although he performed as a pianist and directed the Philharmonic Society for ten years. He also actively promoted concerts of chamber music. From 1848 onward, his career was punctuated by antagonism between himself and the condu

William Sweeney (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

William John Sweeney (born 5 January 1950) is a Scottish composer. Biography Born in Glasgow, he attended Knightswood Secondary School. He studied the clarinet and composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama from 1967 to 1970, and at the Royal Academy of Music from 1970 to 1973, where his teachers included Alan Hacker and Harrison Birtwistle. He went on to teach woodwind instruments, and then composition at the University of Glasgow. An early influence was the European avant-garde, particularly Karlheinz Stockhausen, though he returned to tonal composition in the mid-1970s. His work is strongly influenced by traditional Scottish folk music; in particular, he has utilised the heterophonic style of Gaelic psalm-singing, and the piobaireachd form; he varies melodies through ornamentation, as in traditional pibroch, and in their contour; he modifies instruments’ tone-colours through alternative fingerings. He has a strong regard for the music of Leoš Janáček. He has also addressed the reconciliation of classical and traditional music with jazz, using improvisational techniques and sometimes combining the two idioms. He has been influenced by ancient Greek poetry, and I

William Turner (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

William Turner (1651/2–13 January 1740, London) was a composer and countertenor of the Baroque era. A contemporary of John Blow and Henry Purcell, he is best remembered for his verse anthems, of which over forty survive. As a singer, he was a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal from 1669 until his death. Life Turner’s association with the Chapel Royal began in the early 1660s, when he joined the choir there as a boy soprano. In 1666 his voice broke, but the year after he became master of the choristers at Lincoln Cathedral. In 1669, however, he rejoined the Chapel Royal as a countertenor, and upon the death (1672) of Henry Cooke (who had earlier cared for Turner in the year between his voice breaking and his appointment at Lincoln) became a member of the King’s Private Musick. His career as a court singer continued to prosper, and he sang in works by Blow and Purcell, including the solo alto parts in the St Cecilia’s Day performances of 1687 (ode by G. B. Draghi), 1692 (ode by Henry Purcell), and 1695 (ode by John Blow). An appointment as vicar-choral of St Paul’s Cathedral (1687) led to another as lay vicar of the choir of Westminster Abbey (1699). After 1696 he was normally referred to

William Walton

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include Façade, the cantata Belshazzar’s Feast, the Viola Concerto, the First Symphony, and the British coronation marches Crown Imperial and Orb and Sceptre. Born in Lancashire, the son of a classical musician, Walton was a chorister and then an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. On leaving the university, he was taken up by the literary Sitwell siblings, who provided him with a home and a cultural education. His earliest work of note was a collaboration with Edith Sitwell, Façade, which at first brought him notoriety as a modernist, but later became a popular ballet score. In middle age, Walton left England and set up home with his young wife Susana on the Italian island of Ischia. By this time, he had ceased to be regarded as a modernist, and some of his compositions of the 1950s were criticised as old-fashioned. His only full-length opera, Troilus and Cressida, was among the works to be so labelled and has made little impact in opera houses. In his last years, his wo

William Wolstenholme

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

William Wolstenholme (24 February 186523 July 1931) was an English composer and organist. He was blind from birth. Biography William Wolstenholm was born in Blackburn, Lancashire on 24 February 1865. From the age of 9 he attended Worcester College for the Blind, where he first met and was encouraged by Edward Elgar. His primary musical training came from the organsist William Done. While in Worcester he played the Mendelssohn G minor piano concerto at a Worcester Philharmonic Society concert. At Oxford from 1877 he was the first blind musician to take the degree since John Stanley. In 1888, Wolstenholme returned to Blackburn as the organist of St Paul’s Church (closed in 1954 and demolished). He stayed until 1902 when he became the organist at the Congregationalist Chapel, King’s Weigh House in Mayfair, London. Wolstenholme was a close friend of the other noted blind organist Alfred Hollins and was also well known as a recitalist. His devoted sister Maud acted as his secretary and amanuensis for most of his life, accompanying him on an extensive and very successful tour of the US in 1908. This led to his popularity as a teacher for American students visiting London. In 1921 Wolsten

William Wordsworth (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

William Brocklesby Wordsworth (17 December 1908 – 10 March 1988) was an English composer. His works, which number over 100, were tonal and romantic in style in the widest sense and include eight symphonies and six string quartets. Life Wordsworth was born in London, the son of a clergyman and a descendant of the poet Wordsworth’s brother. He studied harmony and counterpoint under George Oldroyd at St Michael’s Church, Croydon from 1921 to 1931, continuing his study with Donald Tovey at Edinburgh University from 1934 to 1936. In anticipation of conscientious objection, he was an active member of the Peace Pledge Union, and voluntarily began work on the land in 1939, a role that was later made a condition of exemption from military service by his tribunal. He lived in Hindhead, Surrey until 1961 when he moved to Inverness-shire; in 1966, he helped found the Scottish Composers’ Guild. He also helped form the Society of Scottish Composers. Wordsworth died at Kingussie in Scotland, aged 79. Compositions Wordsworth’s first acknowledged and published piece was the Three Hymn Preludes for organ, Op. 1 of 1932. The following year his Phantasy Sonata for violin and piano, Op. 3, attracted th

William Young (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

William Young (died 23 April 1662) was an English viol player and composer of the Baroque era, who worked at the court of Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria in Innsbruck. The sonatas which he published in 1653 were some of the earliest sonatas produced by an English composer. Biography The details of Young’s origins are unknown. By 1652 he was a chamber musician at the Innsbruck court, where “the Englishman”, as he was called, was a highly regarded viol player and composer. The design of his English-made viol influenced that of some of the viols built by Jakob Stainer, the Austrian luthier. In 1660 Ferdinand Charles granted permission for Young to visit England, but there are no traces of his reappearance there. He is not to be confused with William Young (died 1671), another musician, who played violin and flute at the court of Charles II of England from 1661. Young died on 23 April 1662 and was buried at Innsbruck’s parish church, St Jakob, which has since become Innsbruck Cathedral. Works Young and Henry Butler, an English viol player working at the Spanish court, were the first English composers to call their works sonatas. However, Butler died in 1652 with his three sonata

York Bowen

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Edwin York Bowen (22 February 1884 – 23 November 1961) was an English composer and pianist. Bowen’s musical career spanned more than fifty years during which time he wrote over 160 works. As well as being a pianist and composer, Bowen was a talented conductor, organist, violist and horn player. Despite achieving considerable success during his lifetime, many of the composer’s works remained unpublished and unperformed until after his death in 1961. Bowen’s compositional style is widely considered ‘Romantic’ and his works are often characterized by their rich harmonic language. Biography Bowen was born in Crouch Hill, London, to a father who was the owner of the whisky distillers Bowen and McKechnie. The youngest of three sons, Bowen began piano and harmony lessons with his mother at an early age. His talent was recognised almost immediately and he soon began his musical education at the North Metropolitan College of Music. He subsequently went on to study at the Blackheath Conservatoire of Music with Alfred Izard. In 1898, at the age of fourteen, Bowen gained an Erard scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. He studied there until 1905, learning composition with Frederick Corder