Goff Richards (18 August 1944 – 25 June 2011), sometimes credited as Godfrey Richards,Cornish musician, composer & teacher Goff Richards dies
''BBC News'', 28 June 2011 was a prominent Cornish

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

arranger and composer. He was born in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, studying at 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 ...

and

Reading University The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

. Between 1976 and 1989, he lectured in arranging and at

Salford College of Technology Salford City College is a further education college in Salford, Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to ...

. He was the musical director of the Chetham's Big Band for many years. In 1976, he was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd. He received a Doctorate from

Salford University The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

in 1990, after a career that had seen him lead the University Jazz Orchestra to the BBC Big Band of the Year title in 1989. He was well known for his original brass compositions such as "Trailblaze", "Doyen", "Exploding Brass!" and the marches "The Jaguar" and "Barnard Castle", and won a

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

Award in 1984 for his "Continental Caprice". He was also a prolific arranger for brass bands, and his works included "Hymns of Praise", "Shepherd's Song", "Over the Rainbow", "

Mack the Knife "Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" () is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama ''The Threepenny Opera'' (). The song tells of a knife-wielding criminal of the London underworld n ...

", "New York, New York", "Chanson d'Amour", "I'll Walk with God", and " That's a Plenty". He also arranged and composed

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

orchestral and choral works, and his works have been performed by the

King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella Choir, vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College, Cambridge, King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six Choir of King's College, Cambridge, chor ...

Huddersfield Choral Society Huddersfield Choral Society is a choir based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1836, and is recognised as one of Britain's leading choirs. Over the years the choir has performed most of the major works in the choral re ...

London Brass The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, founded in 1951 by trumpeter Philip Jones, was one of the first modern classical brass ensembles to be formed. The group played either as a quintet or as a ten-piece, for larger halls. It toured and recorded exte ...

Evelyn Glennie Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, (born 19 July 1965) is a Scottish percussionist. She was selected as one of the two laureates for the Polar Music Prize of 2015. Early life Glennie was born in Methlick, Aberdeenshire, in Scotland. The i ...

and various BBC orchestras. He is also credited to have written the solo piece Demelza (also known as The Maid of the Mist) under the pen name Hugh Nash, originally for E flat tenor horn then later for the soprano cornet. He died on 25 June 2011 in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, following an illness, at the age of 66.

References

External links

Publisher's profile
Editions Marc Reift

* Compositions and arrangements by Goff Richards a
Obrasso-Verlag
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Goff 1944 births 2011 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century British musicians Brass band composers British music arrangers Cornish composers English classical composers English male classical composers Alumni of the Royal College of Music Alumni of the University of Reading Bards of Gorsedh Kernow Musicians from Cornwall