Granville Bantock

Sir Granville Bantock (7 August 1868 – 16 October 1946) was a British composer of classical music.

Contents

Biography

Granville Ransome Bantock was born in London. His father was a Scottish doctor. He was intended by his parents for the Indian Civil Service[1] but was drawn into the musical world. His first teacher was Dr Gordon Saunders at Trinity College of Music. Later he studied harmony and composition with Frederick Corder at the Royal Academy of Music,[2] where he won the Macfarren Prize in the first year it was awarded.

Early conducting engagements took him around the world with a musical comedy troupe. He founded a music magazine, The New Quarterly Music Review,[1] but this lasted only a few years. In 1897, he became conductor at the New Brighton Tower concerts,[1] where he pioneered the works of Joseph Holbrooke, Frederic Hymen Cowen, Charles Steggall, Edward German, Hubert Parry, Charles Villiers Stanford, Corder and others, frequently devoting whole concerts to a single composer. He was also conductor of the Liverpool Orchestral Society with which he premiered Delius's Brigg Fair on 18 January 1908. He became Principal of the Birmingham and Midland Institute school of music in 1900.[1] He was a close friend of fellow composer Havergal Brian. He was Peyton Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham from 1908 to 1934 (in which post he succeeded Sir Edward Elgar).[1][3] In 1934, he was elected Chairman of the Corporation of Trinity College of Music in London. He was knighted in 1930.[1] His students included the conductor and composer Anthony Bernard and the composer Eric Fogg.

He was influential in the founding of the City of Birmingham orchestra (later the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra), whose first performance in September 1920 was of his overture Saul. Bantock's Hebridean Symphony was recorded by the CBO on 28 January 1925 at Riley Hall, Constitution Hill, Birmingham. This acoustic version, conducted by Adrian Boult, was never released.

His music was influenced by folk song of the Hebrides (as in his 1915 Hebridean Symphony) and the works of Richard Wagner. Many of his works have an "exotic" element, including the choral epic Omar Khayyám (1906–09).[4] Among his other better-known works are the overture The Pierrot of the Minute (1908) and the Pagan Symphony (1928). Many of his works have been commercially recorded since the early 1990s.

A Bantock Society was established shortly after the composer's death in London. Its first president was Jean Sibelius, whose music Bantock championed during the early years of the century. Sibelius dedicated his Third Symphony to Bantock.

Edward Elgar dedicated the second of his Pomp and Circumstance Marches to Bantock.

Discography

A broad selection of Bantock's orchestral output, including all the symphonies, has been recorded in an edition by the Hyperion label in performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley, now available also as a box set. Handley also recorded a largely complete performance of Omar Khayyám with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus on Chandos. An alternative recording of the Hebridean Symphony (together with the Old English Suite and Russian Scenes) is available on Naxos, with the Czecho-Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra(Kosice) conducted by Adrian Leaper. Historic recordings of miniatures and songs have appeared on the Dutton label.

Select list of works

Operas

Choral works

Choral unaccompanied works

For male voice

For solo voice and orchestra

Symphonies

Concertos

Tone poems

Orchestral works

Works for brass band

Incidental music

Chamber music

Piano music

Songs

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Anderson, Keith (2001). Granville Bantock (1868-1946): Old English Suite; Russian Scenes; Hebridean Symphony (slevenotes), Naxos. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
  2. ^ Budd, Vincent (2004, rev 2009). Bantock, Sir Granville Ransome (1868–1946). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  3. ^ A Reason for Resignation. The University of Birmingham Newsletter, Issue 21 Vol 2 February 2003. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
  4. ^ Foreman, Lewis (2007), Bantock: Omar Khayyám (PDF), Chandos Records. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  5. ^ Foreman, Lewis (2003). Sir Granville Bantock (1868-1946) The Song of Songs (sleeve notes). Hyperion Records. Retrieved 2011-07-16.

External links