Michael Edgar Oliver (20 July 1937 – 1 December 2002) was a BBC broadcaster, writer and journalist on classical music. Born in Hammersmith, the son of a music-loving plumber, Oliver was educated at St Clement Danes Grammar School, then in North Kensington, at Isleworth Polytechnic and at the London School of Printing. As a conscientious objector, rather than perform

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

Oliver opted to work in a hospital, both in the mortuary and the kitchen. Later, as a member of

CND The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

, he was arrested during a demonstration, and for refusing to pay the fine spent some time in

Brixton Prison HM Prison Brixton is a local men's prison, located in Brixton area of the London Borough of Lambeth, in inner-South London. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History The prison was originally built in 1820 and opened a ...

. Before becoming a broadcaster, he pursued, as he put it, "a dozen other trades and professions" during the 1950s and 60s including selling radiators, and working for the

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

while spending as much time as possible attending concerts. His other occupation was librarianship. Oliver presented BBC Radio 3's ''Music Weekly'' programme (1975–90), and also was a presenter of

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...

'' (1974–87).Author's biographical note ''Settling The Score'', Faber & Faber 1999 The author of several books, including biographies of Igor Stravinsky and

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

, he was also a regular contributor to ''

The Gramophone ''Gramophone'' is a magazine published monthly in London, devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie who continued to edit the magazine until 1961. It was ...

'', '' Classic CD'', ''

Classic Record Collector ''Classical Recordings Quarterly'' (formerly ''Classic Record Collector'') was a quarterly British magazine devoted to vintage recordings of classical music, across the range of instrumental recordings, chamber music, orchestral, vocal and oper ...

'' and '' BBC Music Magazine''. He was also founding editor of ''International Opera Collector'', a subsidiary of ''The Gramophone'', started in 1996 but closed after only 13 issues, as a consequence of the sale of all the Gramophone magazines in July 1999.

Bibliography

* "Two Welsh Composers: Alun Hoddinott and William Mathias"; "Miscellany: Justin Connolly - Jonathan Harvey - Roger Smalley - Anthony Payne - Tristram Cary - Anthony Milner - Christopher Headington - Robin Holloway - David Ellis" in ''British Music Now: A Guide to the Work of Younger Composers'', ed. Lewis Foreman, 1975. London: Paul Elek. * ''Igor Stravinsky'', 1995. London: Phaidon * ''Benjamin Britten'', 1996. London: Phaidon * ''Settling the Score: A Journey through the Music of the 20th Century'', 1999. London: Faber & Faber

Notes

1937 births 2002 deaths People from Hammersmith BBC Radio 3 presenters English music critics English biographers 20th-century biographers Stravinsky scholars Britten scholars People educated at St. Clement Danes School {{BBC-radio-stub