Geoffrey Grey (born 26 September 1934) is a

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classical

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

."Geoffrey Grey"
Classical Composers. Retrieved 23 September 2013.

Biography

Geoffrey Grey was born in

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and lived on the edge of

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until the onset of the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when he was sent to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

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.

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, 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 The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

and studied

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, composition,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and conducting. His composition teachers were

William Alwyn William Alwyn (born William Alwyn Smith; 7 November 1905 – 11 September 1985), was an English composer, conductor, and music teacher. Life and music William Alwyn was born William Alwyn Smith in Northampton, the son of Ada Tyler (Tompkins ...

Benjamin Frankel Benjamin Frankel (31 January 190612 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 later, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

. In 1959 he went to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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 London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where he lived and freelanced as a violinist for the next forty years. He held a number of principal positions over this period with some of the major orchestras and continued to compose for many different combinations of instruments. He was very active in London musical life and gave many recitals of contemporary music as well as his own compositions. He played for the ballet, musicals and pop concerts and on a number of occasions toured with the

Lindsay Kemp Lindsay Keith Kemp (3 May 1938British Film Institute entry for Lindsa ...

Theatre Company as violist, pianist & percussionist. In 1992 he went to the

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, working there for a year. In 1996 in went to live first of all in

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and then

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

where he concentrated almost exclusively on composing. In March, 2003, after his friend

Edwin Carr Edwin Carr may refer to: * Edwin Carr (composer) Edwin James Nairn Carr (10 August 1926 – 27 March 2003) was a composer of classical music from New Zealand. Biography Edwin Carr was born in Auckland and was educated at Otago Boys' High S ...

died, he contacted the oboist Dominique Enon to make the piano transcription of the Oboe Concerto which the composer dedicated to this oboist before the latter's death. This meeting turned out to be fruitful and Grey subsequently returned to France to become involved with the

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and in particular the conducting of

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Or ...

. He also maintained contact with Dominique Enon for to whom he has dedicated a work for

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

and

. Their meeting has also resulted in the publishing of some of his works in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

by Gilles Manchec, publishing director of Armiane in

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He now lives in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

and in 2007 had three new works published.

His works

Works by date

*1956 The Tinderbox, for Narrator, Violin & Piano *1958 Sonata in C (Piano) *1958 The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Opera for Children) *1959 A Christmas Cantata (Boys/Girls Voicestring Orchestra) *1961 Sonata No.1 for Violin & Piano *1962 Six Cavalier Songs (High Voice & Piano) *1963 Capriccio for String Orchestra *1964 Sarabande (Ballet for Sadlers Wells Opera Ballet) *1964 Patterns (Ballet for Sadlers Wsells Opera Ballet) *10. 1964 Cock Robin, Betty Botter, Lullaby for Voices (Children's’ pieces) *1967 Dance-Game (Full Orch.) *1967 Serenade for Double w/w quintet (for Portia Wind Ensemble) *1967 String Quartet No.1 *1968 Sonata for Brass (3Tr. 3 Tbn) *1968 Aria for Flute (Oboe) & Piano *1969 Inconsequenza (for Percussion quartet) ssued in 1969 on a vinyl LP played by the London Percussion Ensemble*1969 Flowers of the Night (Violin & Piano) *1969 Quintet for Woodwind *1969 Notturno (String quartet) *1969 Autumn ‘69 (The Prisoner) for 4 instrumental ensembles *1969 John Gilpin (Solo SATB & w/w quintet) *1970 Divertimento Pastorale (Brass quintet) *1970 The Autumn People (Chamber Orchestra) *1970 Sarabande for Dead Lovers (Suite from the ballet “Sarabande”) (Full Orchestra) *1971 A Mirror for Cassandra (Piano, Vln, Oboe, Hrn, ‘Cello) *1971 12 Labours of Hercules (Narrators & Full Orchestra, Comm. NCO) *1972 Songs for Instruments (Septet) *1972 Saxophone Quartet *1972 Concerto Grosso No.1 for String Orchestra *1972 Ceres (Ballet by Antony Tudor) *1973 Summons to an Execution , Dirge, Celia (Voice & Piano, Voice and String Orchestra) *1974 A Dream of Dying (Soprano & Ensemble) *1975 March Militaire No.1 for Brass & Percussion *1975 Three Pieces for Two Pianos *1975 Concertante for 2 Solo Violins & Chamber Orchestra *1975 Tryptych (Large Orchestra) *1976 Sonata for ‘Cello & Piano *1977 Dreams of a Summer Afternoon (Violin, Horn & Piano) *1978 Song from “Death’s Jest Book” (Soprano & Piano) *1980 Variations for Orchestra *1981 12 Studies for Piano.(Book 1) *1981 Suite for Strings *1983 Sonata for Clarinet & Piano *1984 Contretemps (for w/w quartet, comm. Nove Music) *1984 Three Songs for Soprano, Clarinet & Piano *1985 A Morning Raga (Double Bass & Piano) *1986 Sonata for Viola & Piano (comm. Roger Chase) *1988 Sonata in Four Movements (Violin & Piano) *1988 Partita for Trumpet & Piano *1988 Concerto Grosso No2. (Solo Violin & String Orchestra, Comm.Blackheath Strings) *1989 10 Easy Pieces (Piano, Vln, Hrn, Oboe) *1996 A Bit of Singing & Dancing (Full Orch) (Comm.Dartford S/O) *1996 Quintet ("The Pike"), for piano, violin, viola, violoncello, and double bass (Hermes Ensemble,

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) *1997 Sherzo Strepitoso (Full Orchestra) *1997 4 Bagatelles for 2 Flutes *1998 Cantar de la Siguiriya Gitana (Tenor & Piano Trio, Comm.Jose Guerrero) *1999 Flowers of the Night (Arr. For Flute & Piano) *1999 Preamble & 5 Variations for Bassoon & Piano (Comm. John Orford) *2000 Partita for Trumpet & Piano Arr.for Tr./Strings *2001 De Vinetas Flamencos (Tenor & Piano, Comm. Jose Guerrero) *2002 Tango alla Sonata for Cor Anglais & Piano *2002 Threnody, Capriccio & Anthem (Oboe choir) *2003 The weather in the East (Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon & Piano) *2004 A Scene from Old Russia (Piano Trio) *2004 The Man in the Moon (a capella SATB) *2004 Shine, Candle, Shine (a capella SATB) *2005 The Screech-Owl (Bestiary) for piano solo *2005 The Disaster (Theatre piece for multiple ensembles) *2005 Aubade for Oboe & Piano (Comm. Domimique Enon) *2006 Concertino de Printemps for Piano & Orchestra. *2007 Trio Concertante for Piano, Oboe & Bassoon (Comm. John Orford)

Arrangements by date

*The Seasons, (Tchaikovsky) for String Quartet *Selection of works by Grieg for String Quartet *Tartini Solo Sonatas for Violin & Harp *Victorian Salon Pieces for Piano Trio *Irish Suite for String Quartet *Francesa da Rimini (Tchaikovsky)for 16-piece orchestra *Sicilian Vespers Ballet Music (Verdi) for 16-piece orchestra

References

External links

Geoffrey Grey site Bibliographie nationale française
*http://www.rogerchase.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Geoffrey 1934 births Living people English classical composers 20th-century classical composers Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music English male classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians