Edward Gregson (born 23 July 1945) is an English composer of instrumental and choral music, particularly for brass and wind bands and ensembles, as well as music for the theatre, film, and television. He was also principal 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 ...
.
Early life and education
He was born in
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
, England, in 1945. He studied composition (with
Alan Bush
Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 β 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed prol ...
) and piano at the
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...
from 1963β7, winning five prizes for composition. Although his works have no opus numbers, he referred to his Oboe Sonata as his Opus 1
Career
In 1988 he was nominated for an
Ivor Novello award
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...
for his title music to BBC Television's Young Musician of the Year programmes, for which he also regularly officiated as a jury member and broadcaster.
He was Principal 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 ...
in Manchester from 1996β2008. There he faced criticism for the appointment of Malcolm Layfield, previously a violin teacher at the College, to the post of Head of Strings, despite Gregson's knowledge of allegations that Layfield had a history of sexual misconduct against students.
In 2008 he retired from academic life to concentrate on his composition.
He has since completed orchestral commissions for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Bournemouth Symphony, the HallΓ© and the BBC Philharmonic orchestras. In 2014, the
North American Brass Band Association honored both Edward Gregson and his brother
Bramwell Gregson (best known for his conducting work with the London Citadel Band and Canada's Brassroots, modelled on the Philip Jones brass tentet). Each section's required test piece was composed by Edward Gregson.
He continues to sit on a number of Boards relating to music education and the music industry. He is a fellow at the RNCM, as well as at the Royal Academy of Music and the
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...
.
In October 2024 Gregson was nominated for an
Ivor Novello Award
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...
at The Ivors Classical Awards. Viola Concerto "Three Goddesses" was nominated for Best Large Ensemble Composition.
Performances
His music has been performed by many orchestras and ensembles worldwide, including in the UK: the London Symphony Orchestra and all the BBC orchestras; in the USA: Detroit, Louisville and Albany (New York); in the Far East: Tokyo Philharmonic and China National Broadcasting Orchestra; and in Europe: orchestras in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Scandinavia.
A major retrospective of his music was held in Manchester in 2002.
Recordings
Chandos have released three complete discs of works by Gregson:
Trumpet Concerto, Saxophone Concerto, Concerto for piano and wind
Blazon, Clarinet Concerto, Violin Concerto, Stepping Out
Music for Chamber Orchestra, Trombone Concerto, Two Pictures for String Orchestra, 'A Song for Chris' (Cello Concerto)
Naxos has recorded the complete piano music including the Piano Sonata in one movement, and the two string quartets.
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Several CDs of his music for brass have been recorded by various groups on the Doyen label:
* Gregson Volume 1 (DOY CD 017) Desford Colliery Caterpillar Band, circa 1992
**Dances and Arias
**Concerto for French Horn and Brass Band (w. ]Frank Lloyd
Frank William George Lloyd (2 February 1886 – 10 August 1960) was a Scottish-American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its president from ...
, horn)
**Connotations
**Of Men and Mountains
* Gregson 2
* Gregson 3
* Gregson 4 The Trumpets of the Angels
* Halle Brass plays Gregson
* Edward Gregson Wind Music
* Gregson 5 Symphony
Works
* 1965 β
Oboe Sonata
* 1966 β
In The Beginning
* 1967 β
Quintet for Brass
* 1968 β
Music for Chamber Orchestra
* 1968 - Divertimento for trombone and piano
* 1968 β
March Prelude
* 1971 β
Horn Concerto
* 1971 β
Horn Concerto (wind ensemble version)
* 1971/1999
Partita (for brass band)
* 1973
The Plantagenets
* 1976 β
Tuba Concerto (orchestral version)
* 1976 β
Tuba Concerto (brass band version)
* 1976 β
Tuba Concerto (wind orchestral version)
* 1976
Variations on Laudate Dominum
* 1976
Connotations
* 1978 β
Flourish for Orchestra
* 1979 β
Metamorphoses
* 1979 β
Trombone Concerto
* 1982 β
Six Little Piano Pieces
* 1983 β
Contrasts β a concerto for orchestra
* 1983 β
Equale Dances
* 1983 β
Piano Sonata in one movement
* 1983 β
Trumpet Concerto
* 1984 β
Dances and Arias
* 1984 β
Sonata for Four Trombones
* 1985 β
Festivo
* 1986 β
Occasion
* 1987 β
Missa Brevis Pacem
* 1988 β
Make A Joyful Noise
* 1992 β
Of Men and Mountains
* 1994 β
Clarinet Concerto
* 1997 β
A Welcome Ode
* 1999 β
The Dance, forever the Dance
* 1971/1999
Partita (revision for symphonic wind band)
* 2006 β
Saxophone Concerto
* 2007 β
Cello Concerto
* 2009 β
Dream Song
* 2009 β
Goddess
* 2009 β
Tributes
* 2011 β
An Album for my Friends for piano
* 2012 β
Symphony in Two Movements
* 2014 β String Quartet No 1
* 2017 β String Quartet No 2
/ref>
* 2020 β
Three Etudes for piano
References
External links
* with list of works, discography and sound samples
Edward Gregson's homepage at Novello & Co
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregson, Edward
1945 births
Living people
Musicians from Sunderland
Fellows of the Royal Academy of Music
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music
Fellows of the Royal College of Music
Academics of the Royal Northern College of Music
20th-century English classical composers
21st-century English classical composers
English male classical composers
People educated at the Central Grammar School for Boys
20th-century English male musicians
21st-century English male musicians