Cecil Frederick Coles (7 October 1888 – 26 April 1918) was a Scottish composer who was killed on active service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Life and career

Coles was born in

Tongland Tongland is a small village about north of Kirkcudbright, in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies on the west bank of the Dee near its confluence with the Tarff Water. History Tonglan ...

, near Kirkcudbright, to

Frederick Coles Frederick Coles FSA Scot (1854–1929) was an archaeologist, artist, naturalist and musician. For many years he worked as Assistant Keeper at the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland in Edinburgh from where he was funded to make a series o ...

and Margaret Coles (née Blacklock), and was educated at George Watson's School,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. In 1907 he went to the London College of Music on a scholarship. He later studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

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

broke out, he joined the

Queen Victoria's Rifles The 9th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles) was a Territorial Army infantry battalion of the British Army. The London Regiment was formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions ...

and became their bandmaster. While on active service, he sent manuscripts home to his friend

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore 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 ...

. He was killed by German sniper fire on the Western Front, while helping recover casualties. He was buried at

Crouy Crouy () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also * Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisne. The communes ...

. Coles' work was "rediscovered" in a 2001 recording. His music was used as the opening and closing title music for a 2003 television documentary series entitled ''The First World War''. The piece of music was ''Cortège'', arranged by

Orlando Gough Orlando Gough ( ; born 1953 in Brighton, Sussex) is a British composer, educated at Oxford, and noted for projects written for ballet, contemporary dance and theatre. Collaborators have included Siobhan Davies, Alain Platel, Shobana Jeyasingh ...

. ''Cortège'' is one of the two surviving movements of a suite composed by Coles called ''Behind the Lines''. ''Cortege'' also appears on ''Artists Rifles'', an audiobook CD issued in 2004 featuring war poetry read by Siegfried Sassoon,

Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was a ...

, Robert Graves, David Jones,

Edgell Rickword John Edgell Rickword, MC (22 October 1898 – 15 March 1982) was an English poet, critic, journalist and literary editor. He became one of the leading communist intellectuals active in the 1930s. Early life He was born in Colchester, Essex, ...

and Lawrence Binyon, as well as music by Edward Elgar,

George Butterworth 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''. Early ...

, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Maurice Ravel,

Ivor Gurney Ivor Bertie Gurney (28 August 1890 – 26 December 1937) was an English poet and composer, particularly of songs. He was born and raised in Gloucester. He suffered from bipolar disorder through much of his life and spent his last 15 years in ps ...

, Ernest Moeran and

Arthur Bliss Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English 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 qu ...

. A recording of piano music by Cecil Coles, including the two movement sonata from 1908, was released in 2021, played by James Willshire.Delphian DCD34209
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Works

Orchestral

*''From the Scottish Highlands'' (suite) (1906–1907) *''Fra Giacomo'' (dramatic scena for baritone and orchestra, to a poem by

Robert Williams Buchanan Robert Williams Buchanan (18 August 1841 – 10 June 1901) was a Scottish poet, novelist and dramatist. Early life and education He was the son of Robert Buchanan (1813–1866), Owenite lecturer and journalist, and was born at Caverswall, S ...

) (1914) *''Scherzo in A minor'' *''Overture: The Comedy of Errors'' *''Sorrowful Dance'' *''Behind the Lines''

Piano

*''Five Little Variations on an Original Theme'' (1908) * Sonata in C minor (c 1908) * ''Variations on an Original Theme'' (1908) *''Rondo in A minor'' (1909) *''Five Sketches'' (pub. 1910) *''Intermezzo'' (1911) *''Trianon Gavotte'' *''Triste et Gai'' *''Valse in D''

Songs

*''Four Verlaine Songs''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coles, Cecil 1888 births 1918 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Music Scottish classical composers British male classical composers People from Kirkcudbright British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Queen Victoria's Rifles soldiers Scottish military personnel Alumni of the University of Edinburgh State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart alumni 20th-century classical composers 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians