Cecil Frederick Coles (7 October 1888 – 26 April 1918) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

composer who was killed on active service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Life and career

Coles was born in Tongland, near Kirkcudbright, to Frederick Coles and Margaret Coles (née Blacklock), and was educated at George Watson's School,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. In 1907 he went to 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 ...

on a scholarship. He later studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and

Stuttgart Conservatory The State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart is a professional school for musicians and performing artists in Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1857, it is one of the oldest schools of its kind in Germany. History The school was f ...

. On completion of his studies, he became assistant conductor to the

Stuttgart Royal Opera Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

and was organist of St. Katherine's, an English church in the city. In 1912, he married Phoebe Relton at St Saviour's Church, Brockley Rise, London, and took his wife back to Germany; the couple returned to the UK the following year. When

broke out, he joined the

Queen Victoria's Rifles The 9th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles) was a Territorial Army infantry battalion of the British Army. The London Regiment was formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions i ...

and became their bandmaster. While on active service, he sent manuscripts home to his friend

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 ...

. He was killed by German sniper fire on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

, while helping recover casualties. He was buried at Crouy. Coles' work was "rediscovered" in a 2001 recording. His music was used as the opening and closing title music for a 2003 television documentary series entitled ''The First World War''. The piece of music was ''Cortège'', arranged by

Orlando Gough Orlando Gough ( ; born 1953 in Brighton, Sussex) is a British composer, educated at Oxford, and noted for projects written for ballet, contemporary dance and theatre. Collaborators have included Siobhan Davies, Alain Platel, Shobana Jeyasingh a ...

. ''Cortège'' is one of the two surviving movements of a suite composed by Coles called ''Behind the Lines''. ''Cortege'' also appears on ''Artists Rifles'', an audiobook CD issued in 2004 featuring war poetry read by

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...

Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was al ...

, Robert Graves, David Jones,

Edgell Rickword John Edgell Rickword, MC (22 October 1898 – 15 March 1982) was an English poet, critic, journalist and literary editor. He became one of the leading communist intellectuals active in the 1930s. Early life He was born in Colchester, Essex, w ...

and Lawrence Binyon, as well as music by

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 ...

, George Butterworth,

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 ...

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

Ivor Gurney Ivor Bertie Gurney (28 August 1890 – 26 December 1937) was an English poet and composer, particularly of songs. He was born and raised in Gloucester. He suffered from bipolar disorder through much of his life and spent his last 15 years in ps ...

, Ernest Moeran and

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 ...

. A recording of piano music by Cecil Coles, including the two movement sonata from 1908, was released in 2021, played by James Willshire.Delphian DCD34209
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Works

Orchestral

*''From the Scottish Highlands'' (suite) (1906–1907) *''Fra Giacomo'' (dramatic scena for baritone and orchestra, to a poem by Robert Williams Buchanan) (1914) *''Scherzo in A minor'' *''Overture: The Comedy of Errors'' *''Sorrowful Dance'' *''Behind the Lines''

Piano

*''Five Little Variations on an Original Theme'' (1908) * Sonata in C minor (c 1908) * ''Variations on an Original Theme'' (1908) *''Rondo in A minor'' (1909) *''Five Sketches'' (pub. 1910) *''Intermezzo'' (1911) *''Trianon Gavotte'' *''Triste et Gai'' *''Valse in D''

Songs

*''Four Verlaine Songs''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coles, Cecil 1888 births 1918 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Music Scottish classical composers British male classical composers People from Kirkcudbright British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Queen Victoria's Rifles soldiers Scottish military personnel Alumni of the University of Edinburgh State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart alumni 20th-century classical composers 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians