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Michael Brand (born 1952) is an English
orchestral conductor
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duties ...
and
composer, also known for his work with members of
Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commercial success i ...
. He previously worked as a
radio producer
A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. The job title covers several different job descriptions:
*Content producers or executive producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature. The content producer might organize music cho ...
for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
Early life
Brand was born in England in 1952,
the son of the composer
Geoffrey Brand.
He was educated at
Haberdashers' Aske's School, and read music at
University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...
, graduating in 1974.
After a stint as a freelance conductor and arranger, Brand worked as a
producer for
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...
from 1979.
During his BBC tenure, he produced
BBC Radio 2 programmes, including those presented by
David Hamilton,
Brian Matthew
Brian Matthew (17 September 1928 – 8 April 2017) was an English broadcaster who worked for the BBC for 63 years from 1954 until 2017. He was the host of '' Saturday Club'', among other programmes, and began presenting ''Sounds of the 60s'' in ...
, and
Ray Moore. He left the BBC in 1982 to devote himself fully to his music.
Composing
Many of his compositions are published by the firm of G & M Brand Publications,
which he runs with his father, Geoffrey.
His ''Chosen Gems for Winds'' featured on a
Naxos
Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...
CD of music primarily by
Percy Grainger
Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...
, conducted by
Bjarte Engeset
Bjarte Engeset (born 25 August 1958 in Ørsta) is a Norwegian classical conductor.
Biography and career
Bjarte Engeset studied music at the University of Georgia, Grieg Akademiet in Norway, and Sibelius Academy in Finland, in 1988, with Jorm ...
.
Together with his wife
Jane Bramwell
Jane may refer to:
* Jane (given name), a feminine given name
* Jane (surname), related to the given name
Film and television
* ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd
* ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fi ...
he is a founder and director of the non-profit
Oxford Music Theatre.
He composed the musicals "King & Country"
(2014; based on
Allan Moorhouse's 1923 play ''The Conquering Hero''
) and "CLD: The Real Lewis Carroll" (2016; in which
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...
meets his ''alter ego'' Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), and "Guilty of Love" (2017; about
Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical co ...
),
each with lyrics by Bramwell.
The reviewer Tim Bano, writing in ''
The Stage
''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...
'', said of "CLD": "Brand's music has a contemporary hymnal quality, the jaunty piano melodies of modern church music".
Music written or arranged by Brand has been broadcast on
BBC Radio 3.
Van der Graaf Generator
Peter Hammill
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer/songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and ...
of Van der Graaf Generator asked Brand to undertake the orchestral arrangement and conducting for his song "This Side of the Looking Glass", on his 1977 solo album ''
Over
Over may refer to:
Places
*Over, Cambridgeshire, England
*Over, Cheshire, England
*Over, South Gloucestershire, England
* Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England
** Over Bridge
*Over, Seevetal, Germany
Music
Albums
* ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...
''.
The orchestral track was retained when Hammill reworked the song for his album ''
The Love Songs'' of 1984.
Brand also worked with former Van der Graaf Generator member
Judge Smith
Christopher John Judge Smith (born 1 July 1948), is an English songwriter, author, composer and performer, and a founder member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Initially working under the name Chris Judge Smith, he has been kn ...
. Smith provided the libretto for Brand's 1992 cantata ''Pioneer 10''.
and Brand wrote choral arrangements for Smith's album ''
The Climber'', released in 2000. Brand also orchestrated Smith's 1975 ''Requiem Mass'', which was released on CD in 2016.
Smith described Brand's role in creating the piece:
Personal life
Brand has twice served as an elected member of
Buckinghamshire County Council
Buckinghamshire County Council was the upper-tier local authority for the administrative county and later the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in England, the United Kingdom established in 1889 following the Local Government Act 1888 ...
, for the
Liberal Democrats, representing the Amersham East ward from June 1998 (at a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
following the death of the incumbent
) to June 2001, and representing the Chesham North West ward from June 2009 to May 2013.
Brand's wife also served as a Liberal Democrat councillor.
As of 2014, they were residents of
Rottingdean
Rottingdean is a village in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. It borders the villages of Saltdean, Ovingdean and Woodingdean, and has a historic centre, often the subject of picture postcards.
Name
The name Rotting ...
.
References
External links
Brand's arrangement of ''Portsmouth'' (trad)* (performed by
John Fletcher)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brand, Michael
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
English composers
1952 births
Date of birth missing (living people)
People educated at Haberdashers' Boys' School
Alumni of University College, Oxford
BBC radio producers
English conductors (music)
Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors
Members of Buckinghamshire County Council
People from Brighton and Hove