Basil Ramsey (26 April, 1929 – 12 June, 2018), was an English music publisher, journalist, editor and organist.
/ref> Ramsey was born in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Londo ...

and grew up in London. He joined the music publisher Novello and Co in 1949, becoming Director of Publications in 1963. While there he worked with composers including

Peter Dickinson Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL (16 December 1927 – 16 December 2015) was an English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories. Dickinson won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association ...

Geoffrey Bush Geoffrey Bush (23 March 1920 – 24 February 1998) was a British composer, teacher and music scholar. Largely without formal training in composition, he produced a wide range of compositions across different genres, including many songs and wor ...

, John Joubert and John McCabe. In 1974 he set up his own publishing business (Basil Ramsey/Banks Music Publications) with his friend, the composer

Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely r ...

– though Herrmann unfortunately died the following year. Ramsey published many pieces by the musical medium Rosemary Brown. He also became the publisher of the Maltese composer

Charles Camilleri Charles Camilleri (7 September 1931 – 3 January 2009) was a Maltese composer. Early life Camilleri was born in Ħamrun and, as a teenager, composed many works based on folk music and legends of his native Malta. Career Camilleri moved fro ...

. He was the editor of and contributor to various publications, including ''Organists’ Review'' (1972–84), ''Music & Musicians'' (1989–90), and ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...

'' (1990-92), and was the founding editor of ''Choir and Organ'' in 1993.Obituary at Rhinegold Publishing
/ref> Ramsey suffered a stroke three years later, but continued editing for another decade from his wheelchair. And in 1999, with Keith Bramich, he founded the online music magazine ''Music & Vision'', where he continued working until 2006.Dickinson, Peter. Obituary in ''The Guardian'', 24 July, 2018
/ref> Ramsey was also a church organist in London, at St Luke’s, Old Street, and

St Giles, Cripplegate St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to ...

, in London. He arranged the carol ''From Heaven Winging'', which is still performed. He married his wife Violet Simpson in 1952 and there were two daughters and a son. She died in 1996. Basil Ramsey died in North Yorkshire on 13 June 2018, aged eighty-nine, following a long illness.

References

External Links

''Music & Vision'' (now ''Classical Music Daily'') website

''From Heaven Winging'' (Arr. Basil Ramsey for Choir & Orchestra)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsey, Basil 1929 births 2018 deaths English music critics Classical music critics The Musical Times editors Music publishing Music publishers (people) People from Chelmsford