Sir Charles Barnard Groves

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(10 March 191520 June 1992) was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors. After accompanying positions and conducting various orchestras and studio work for the

BBC #REDIRECT 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 ex ...

, Groves spent a decade as conductor of the

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra, founded in 1893 and originally based in Bournemouth. With a remit to serve the South and South West of England, the BSO is administratively based in the adjacent town of Poole, s ...

. His best-known musical directorship was of the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

, beginning in 1963, with which he made most of his recordings. From 1967 until his death, Groves was associate conductor of the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

, and in the 1970s he was one of the regular conductors of the

Last Night of the Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...

. He also served as president of the

National Youth Orchestra A youth orchestra is an orchestra made of young musicians, typically ranging from pre-teens or teenagers to those of conservatory age. Depending on the age range and selectiveness, they may serve different purposes. Orchestras for young studen ...

from 1977, and, during the last decade of his life, as guest conductor for orchestras around the world.

Life and career

Early years

Groves was born in London, the only child of Frederick Groves and Annie (née Whitehead).''Who Was Who''
A & C Black, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2007, accessed 19 October 2008 He was a pupil at

St Paul's Cathedral School (''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent preparatory schoolChoral foundation school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , hea ...

(where a house is now named after him), singing in the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

choir and, from the age of 13, studying the piano and organ. Blyth, Alan. ''The Gramophone'', March 1972, Feature on Charles Groves Music was already important to him as a solace, as he was orphaned at the age of ten – his father having died in 1921 from injuries received 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 ...

and his mother having died four years later.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' obituary, 22 June 1992 From 1930 until 1932 he was a pupil at

Sutton Valence School Sutton Valence School (SVS) is an independent school near Maidstone in southeast England. It has 560 pupils. It is a co-educational day and boarding school. There are three senior boarding houses: Westminster, St Margaret's and Sutton. History ...

, in Kent, where Groves Hall is named in honour of him. After leaving Sutton Valence School he attended the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

. There, his main studies were in

lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

er and accompanying, but he became involved in student opera productions as a

répétiteur A (from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. A feminine form, , also appears but is comparatively rare. Opera In opera, a is the person ...

. He was naturally gifted with great fluency and the ability to sight read almost any music, but confessed, years later, to having been lazy about his piano studies, and he abandoned his ambitions to become a concert pianist. He played in the percussion section for

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

's ''

Hugh the Drover ''Hugh the Drover'' (or ''Love in the Stocks'') is an opera in two acts by Ralph Vaughan Williams to an original English libretto by Harold Child. The work has set numbers with recitatives. It has been described as a modern example of a ballad ...

'' and

Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

's ''

A Village Romeo and Juliet ''A Village Romeo and Juliet'' is an opera by Frederick Delius, the fourth of his six operas. The composer himself, with his wife Jelka, wrote the English-language libretto based on the short story "''Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe''" by the Swis ...

'' when

Sir Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...

performed as guest conductor at the College. Groves also went into the conducting class, but did not progress beyond the third orchestra. In 1937, while still a student, he accompanied choral rehearsals of

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

's '' German Requiem'',

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's ''

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

'' and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

's ''

Missa Solemnis {{Audio, De-Missa solemnis.ogg, Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass, and is a genre of musical settings of the Mass Ordinary, which are festively scored and render the Latin text extensively, opposed to the more modest Missa brevis. In French ...

'' under

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

.Cummings, Robert. Biography of Groves at Allmusic.com/ref> Groves began his professional career as a freelance accompanist, including work for the

. In 1938, he was appointed chorus master of the BBC Music Productions Unit under the direction of

Stanford Robinson Stanford Robinson OBE (5 July 190425 October 1984) was an English conductor and composer, known for his work with the BBC. He remained a member of the BBC's staff until his retirement in 1966, founding or building up the organisation's choral g ...

, where he worked on broadcast opera productions. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Groves was sent to

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

, and later

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, England, to be resident chorus master for the BBC while it was evacuated from London. In 1943, he was invited to take charge of the BBC Revue Orchestra, playing mostly light music. During this time Groves conducted Weill's ''

Lady in the Dark ''Lady in the Dark'' is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fictional fashion magazine who ...

'' with

Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence (4 July 1898 – 6 September 1952) was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End of London and on Broadway in New York. Early life Lawrence was born Gertr ...

in the lead role.

Conducting posts

Groves was conductor for the

BBC Northern Orchestra The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at MediaC ...

in Manchester from 1944 to 1951, conducting several studio concerts every week, and thereby acquiring an exceptionally large repertoire.Ponsonby, Robert
"Groves, Sir Charles Barnard (1915–1992)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 19 October 2008 While in Manchester he met a BBC colleague, Hilary Barchard, whom he married in 1948. Feeling the need to move from studio-based work, Groves accepted the conductorship of the

from 1951 to 1961, which he conducted about 150 times each year. When financial difficulties led to a proposal to merge the Bournemouth and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

orchestras, Groves supported the alternative proposition by which the Bournemouth orchestra took on the additional role of resident orchestra for the new

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

, of which he became musical director from 1961 to 1963. Groves did much to establish that company's choral and orchestral traditions and conducted many performances of works then seldom staged, such as Verdi's ''

I Lombardi ''I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata'' (''The Lombards on the First Crusade'') is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi, which was "very much a ...

'' and ''

The Sicilian Vespers The Sicilian Vespers ( it, Vespri siciliani; scn, Vespiri siciliani) was a successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out at Easter 1282 against the rule of the French-born king Charles I of Anjou, who had ruled the Kingdom of Si ...

'', which won critical acclaim and were brought to London. Groves is probably best known for his long tenure from 1963 to 1977 as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the

, conducting, as he said, "everything from the St John Passion to

Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...

and

Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

". He spent nine months of every year with the RLPO, where he greatly improved standards of playing. In the other three months he guest conducted concerts and operas in London and overseas. He took the RLPO on highly acclaimed tours of Germany and Switzerland in 1966 and 1968, and Poland in 1970. During his time in Liverpool, Groves instituted a series of seminars for young conductors, and those who made early appearances there included Andrew Davis,

Mark Elder Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He is currently music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England. Life and career Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the ba ...

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Life and career Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Gard ...

James Judd James Judd (born 30 October 1949, Hertford) is a British conductor. James Judd grew up in Hertford, learning the piano, flute and organ as a child and discovering his talent for conducting at high school. He studied at the Trinity College of Mu ...

and

Barry Wordsworth Barry Wordsworth (born 20 February 1948, Worcester Park, Surrey, U.K.) is a British conductor. Wordsworth is Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Ballet and has had a long relationship with company. He was first appointed as Assistant Condu ...

. At one seminar Groves noted the presence in the orchestra, as an extra percussion player, of a teenager named

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...

. From 1967 until his death, Groves was associate conductor of the

, which he led on a tour of the USProfile at Divineart.com
In the 1970s he was one of the regular conductors of the

(others being

Norman Del Mar Norman René Del Mar CBE (31 July 19196 February 1994) was a British conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialised in the music of late romantic composers; including Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss. H ...

and

James Loughran James Loughran CBE, DMus., FRNCM, FRSAMD (born 30 June 1931, Glasgow, Scotland) is a conductor. Early life Educated at St Aloysius' College in Glasgow, Loughran conducted at school and afterwards, while studying economics and law. When he s ...

). Groves was Music Director of the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

in 1978–1979, but in spite of a well-received and rare revival of Weber's ''

Euryanthe ''Euryanthe'' ( J. 291, Op. 81) is a German grand heroic-romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber, first performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna on 25 October 1823.Brown, p. 88 Though acknowledged as one of Weber's most important operas, ...

'' the appointment did not prove a success, and he relinquished the post the following year. He found combining administration with conducting too stressful for him. Groves also served as president of the

(1977–1992) and, especially during the last decade of his career, as guest conductor for numerous orchestras around the world. In 1984, he joined the English Sinfonia as president and artistic adviser, later also becoming principal conductor of the Guildford Philharmonic (1987) and music director of the Leeds Philharmonic Society (1988).

Repertoire

Groves was particularly noted for his assured conducting of large-scale works and was the first conductor to direct a complete cycle of

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

's symphonies in Britain. He was also famous for encouraging modern composers, and he frequently included their works in his programmes. Groves conducted a wide repertory, refusing to concentrate on any particular subgenre. He remarked, "I feel myself a GP eneral practitionerrather than a consultant." Nevertheless, he became particularly known as a champion of British composers and invariably offered British works in his programmes when touring abroad. His large British repertoire included the works of

Malcolm Arnold Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music ...

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 ...

Havergal Brian Havergal Brian (born William Brian; 29 January 187628 November 1972) was an English composer. He is best known for having composed 32 symphonies (an unusually high total for a 20th-century composer), most of them late in his life. His best-know ...

Frank Bridge Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Life Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845-1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a m ...

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 ...

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 ...

Eric Coates Eric Francis Harrison Coates (27 August 1886 – 21 December 1957) was an English composer of light music and, early in his career, a leading violist. Coates was born into a musical family, but, despite his wishes and obvious talent, his pa ...

Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

Alexander Goehr Peter Alexander Goehr (; born 10 August 1932) is an English composer and academic. Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and composer Walter Goehr, a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. In his early twenties he emerged as a centra ...

Alun Hoddinott Alun Hoddinott CBE (11 August 1929 – 11 March 2008) was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition. Life and works Hoddinott was born in Bargoed, Glamorganshire, Wales. He was educated at Gowert ...

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 ...

, George Lloyd,

William Mathias William James Mathias CBE (1 November 1934 – 29 July 1992) was a Welsh composer noted for choral works. Biography Mathias was born in Whitland, Carmarthenshire. A child prodigy, he started playing the piano at the age of three and began co ...

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Thea Musgrave Thea Musgrave CBE (born 27 May 1928) is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music. She has lived in the United States since 1972. Biography Born in Barnton, Edinburgh, Musgrave was educated at Moreton Hall School, a boarding independent ...

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Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

and

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

. Groves was noted for adding adventurous new works to the repertory of his orchestras. The composer

Oliver Knussen Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British composer and conductor. Early life Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra, and a ...

said, "He managed to get the respect of the players and the affection of performers. He had an exemplary attitude and track record with regard to contemporary music. His policy of presenting second performances as well as first was selfless and idealistic." Groves's premières included works by

Lennox Berkeley Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley (12 May 190326 December 1989) was an English composer. Biography Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in Oxford, England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of Sir James Char ...

, David Blake,

Justin Connolly Justin Riveagh Connolly (11 August 1933 – 29 September 2020) was a British composer and teacher. Life Justin Connolly was born on 11 August 1933 in London. He was the son of John D'Arcy-Dawson, a journalist and author, and his wife Bar ...

Arnold Cooke Arnold Atkinson Cooke (4 November 1906 – 13 August 2005) was a British composer.Biography by Eric Wetherell, British Music Society/ref> Education Cooke was born at Gomersal, West Yorkshire, into a family of carpet manufacturers. As a child, ...

Gordon Crosse Gordon Crosse (1 December 1937 – 21 November 2021) was an English composer. Biography Crosse was born in Bury, Lancashire on 1 December 1937, and in 1961 graduated from St Edmund Hall, Oxford with a first class honours degree in music, where h ...

, Jonathan Harvey,

Robin Holloway Robin Greville Holloway (born 19 October 1943) is an English composer, academic and writer. Early life Holloway was born in Leamington Spa. From 1953 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral and was educated at King's College School, ...

, Daniel Jones,

John McCabe John McCabe may refer to: *John McCabe (composer) (1939–2015), British composer and classical pianist *John McCabe (writer) (1920–2005), Shakespearean scholar and biographer *Christopher John McCabe Christopher John McCabe (born 20 Oc ...

Priaulx Rainier Ivy Priaulx Rainier (3 February 190310 October 1986) was a South African-British composer. Although she lived most of her life in England and died in France, her compositional style was strongly influenced by the African music remembered from he ...

Edwin Roxburgh Edwin Roxburgh (born 1937) is an England, English composer, Conducting, conductor and oboist. Roxburgh was born in Liverpool. After playing oboe in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, National Youth Orchestra, he won a double scholars ...

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and

Hugh Wood Hugh Wood (27 June 1932 – 14 August 2021) was a British composer. Biography Wood was born in Parbold, Lancashire and grew up in a musical family; while still a teenager, he was encouraged by the composer Alan Bush. He says that his "earlies ...

Honours and personal life

Groves received many honours for his musical work, including being appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in 1958, a Commander of the Order (CBE) in 1968, and receiving a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in 1973. He received doctorates from four universities, was made a freeman of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

in 1976 and elected an honorary member of the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

in 1990. He was appointed Companion of the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

(whose council he chaired from 1973 to 1990, and where a building is named in his honour) and a Fellow of the Royal College of Music, the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

, and the

London College of Music London College of Music (LCM) is a music school in London, England. It is one of eight separate schools that make up the University of West London. History LCM was founded in 1887 and existed as an independent music conservatoire based at Gr ...

, and was an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music. The " Making Music Sir Charles Groves Prize" is a national award, named in his honour, given to an individual or organisation making an outstanding contribution to British music.

wrote ''Sir Charles: his Pavane'' as a tribute to Groves's memory.Brown, Alan
"Pavan"
''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, 21 October 2008 Away from the concert hall, Groves was a connoisseur of English literature and also a keen sports fan. When young he played

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

"in the

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

F team", as he self-deprecatingly put it, and as a cricketer was "a wily slow bowler". Charles and Hilary Groves had three children, Sally, Mary and Jonathan, the first and last of whom entered the musical profession. Charles Groves suffered a heart attack early in 1992 and died in London, four months later, at the age of 77. A memorial stone to his memory was placed in

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

Recordings

Although the record companies tended to regard Groves as a specialist in British music, he made recordings of German, French and Russian music including

( Symphony No 4 and Symphony No 6); Fauré (''Masques et bergamasques'' and ''Pavane'');

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

( Symphony No 92, ''Oxford'', Symphony No 104, ''London'');

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

(''Pavane pour une infante défunte'');

Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

(''Gymnopédies'') and

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

(''

Variations on a Rococo Theme The ''Variations on a Rococo Theme'',; in russian: Вариации на тему рококо. Op. 33, for cello and orchestra was the closest Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ever came to writing a full concerto for cello and orchestra. The style was ins ...

'' (with

Paul Tortelier Paul Tortelier (21 March 1914 – 18 December 1990) was a French cellist and composer. After an outstanding student career at the Conservatoire de Paris he played in orchestras in France and the US before the Second World War. After the war he b ...

, cello)). He also recorded Dvorak's Sixth Symphony and

Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

's incidental music to ''The Tempest''. British music recorded by Groves includes Arnold ( Symphony No 2); Bliss (''

A Colour Symphony ''A Colour Symphony'', Op. 24, F. 106, was written by Arthur Bliss in 1921–22. It was his first major work for orchestra, and is today one of his best-known compositions. Orchestration The symphony is scored for 3 flutes (one doubling on ...

'', ''

Morning Heroes ''Morning Heroes'' is a choral symphony by the English composer Arthur Bliss. The work received its first performance at the Norwich Festival on 22 October 1930, with Basil Maine as the speaker/orator. Written in the aftermath of World War I, in ...

'');

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meani ...

(Symphonies 8 & 9);

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

(''Enter Spring'', '' The Sea'', ''Summer''); Britten (''

Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individuals ...

''); Butterworth (''The Banks of Green Willow'' ); Delius (''Koanga'', ''A Mass of Life'', ''On hearing the first cuckoo in Spring''); Elgar (''Caractacus'', Cello Concerto (Paul Tortelier, cello), ''Chanson de matin'', ''Chanson de nuit'', ''Crown of India'' Suite, ''Enigma Variations'', ''The Light of Life'', ''Nursery Suite'', Serenade for Strings, ''Severn Suite'', Violin Concerto (

Hugh Bean Hugh Cecil Bean (22 September 1929 – 26 December 2003) was an English violinist. He was born in Beckenham. After lessons from his father from the age of five, he became a pupil of Albert Sammons (and Ken Piper) when he was nine years old. La ...

, violin)); Holst (''Choral Symphony'', ''

The Planets ''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is name ...

'', ''St. Paul's Suite''); Sullivan ( Overture ''Di Ballo'', Overtures to

Savoy Operas Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impr ...

, Symphony in E (''Irish'')); Tippett (''Fantasia concertante on a Theme of Corelli''); Vaughan Williams (''

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis ''Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis'', also known as the ''Tallis Fantasia'', is a one-movement work for string orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The theme is by the 16th-century English composer Thomas Tallis. The Fantasia was first perf ...

'', ''

''); Walton (''Capriccio burlesco'', '' Crown Imperial'', ''Hamlet'' Funeral March, ''Johannesburg Festival Overture'', ''

Orb and Sceptre ''Orb and Sceptre'' is a march for orchestra written by William Walton for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey, London, on 2 June 1953. It follows the pattern of earlier concert marches by Elgar and Walton himself in consi ...

'', ''Richard III'' Prelude and Suite, ''Scapino'', ''Spitfire Prelude & Fugue''); and

Warlock A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft. Etymology and terminology The most commonly accepted etymology derives ''warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special applicatio ...

(''Capriol Suite'').

Notes

External links

Profile at Divineart.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Groves, Charles 1915 births 1992 deaths English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) Music directors (opera) Alumni of the Royal College of Music Knights Bachelor Conductors (music) awarded knighthoods Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Honorary Members of the Royal Philharmonic Society People educated at Sutton Valence School People educated at St. Paul's Cathedral School Musicians from Kent 20th-century English musicians 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians BBC Orchestras Presidents of the Independent Society of Musicians