John Maxwell Geddes (26 May 1941 – 7 September 2017) was a Scottish composer and academic. He taught in Scotland and in institutions in Europe and America; compositions include three symphonies.

Life

Geddes was born in

Maryhill Maryhill ( gd, Cnoc Màiri) is an area of the City of Glasgow in Scotland. Maryhill is a former burgh. Maryhill stretches over along Maryhill Road. The far north west of the area is served by Maryhill railway station. History Hew Hill, t ...

, Glasgow in 1941; his father, Jack, was a fireman stationed in Belgium during the war and was a joiner to trade. He was educated locally, and played oboe and saxophone, playing in the Glasgow Schools Orchestra. He studied at the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

, where he won the Academy's prize in composition. A scholarship enabled him to study with

Niels Viggo Bentzon Niels Viggo Bentzon (Copenhagen, 24 August 1919 – Copenhagen, 25 April 2000) was a Danish composer and pianist. Biography Bentzon was the son of Viggo Bentzon (1861-1937), Rector of Copenhagen University and Karen Hartmann (1882-1977), conc ...

at the Royal Danish Conservatoire in Copenhagen.John Maxwell Geddes – obituary
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 4 October 2017.John Maxwell Geddes (1941–2017)

Rhinegold Publishing Rhinegold Publishing is an independent publisher of music magazines, music yearbooks and education resources, founded in 1977. Among Rhinegold's publications are ''Choir & Organ'' and ''Classical Music Magazine ''Classical Music'' is a trade ...

. Retrieved 30 April 2018. He taught at schools in Glasgow, and from 1986 he worked at the Academy. He lectured at many American universities and European academies, and was composer-in-residence in Hamburg, Berlin and Bremen. He was associated with the

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional rad ...

for more than 50 years.John Maxwell Geddes
oyal Conservatoire of Scotland. Retrieved 30 April 2018 . Geddes was a strong supporter of musical education. His work ''Postlude for Strings'' was a protest against Argyll and Bute Council's closure in 2009 of

Castle Toward Castle Toward ( gd, Caisteal an Toll Àird) is a nineteenth-century country house on the southern tip of the Cowal peninsula, overlooking Rothesay Bay in Argyll and Bute on the west-coast of Scotland. Built in 1820 by Glasgow merchant Kirkma ...

, where he was composer-in-residence; the building was used by youth orchestras including Glasgow Schools Symphony Orchestra, which Geddes conducted. In ''Postlude for Strings'', the players in the orchestra leave the stage one by one (as in Haydn's ''

Farewell Symphony Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 45 in F minor, known as the "Farewell" Symphony (german: Abschieds-Symphonie; modern orthography: ), is a symphony dated 1772 on the autograph score. A typical performance of the symphony lasts around twenty-five minute ...

''). Awards included the PRS Composer in Education Award in 1991, Fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in 2002, and in 2007 the

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( gd, Alba Chruthachail ; sco, Creative Scotlan) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. The o ...

Award. He married in 1964 Lily Blain; they had a daughter and two sons. Geddes died on 7 September 2017 after a short illness. The Scottish composer William Sweeney said "... there was a real intellectual drive to the music. His style was an encounter between post-war modernism and Scottish traditions... there was always a web of vivid allusion, formal dexterity and a sense of humour that could break through the dark clouds of serious symphonic thought."John Maxwell Geddes to Receive Posthumous Honorary Doctorate from University of Glasgow
Scottish Music Centre. Retrieved 24 July 2018. On 25 June 2018 Geddes received a posthumous honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow.
University of Glasgow, 13 June 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.

Compositions

Works include three symphonies and other orchestral music, chambers works, arrangements of folk songs, transcriptions of Renaissance music, and film music.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geddes, John Maxwell 1941 births 2017 deaths People from Maryhill Scottish classical composers Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland