Maurice Miles (190826 June 1985) was an English conductor known for championing the music of twentieth century British composers.

Biography

Early life and studies

Miles was educated at

Wells Cathedral School Wells Cathedral School is an independent co-educational boarding and day school for 2–18 year olds located in Wells, Somerset, Wells, Somerset, England, which provides an all-round education alongside specialist music and chorister training. T ...

and won a scholarship to 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 ...

, where he studied violin, voice and piano. He later studied conducting at the Mozarteum University Salzburg under

Clemens Krauss Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conducting, conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner. He founded the Vienna New Year's Concert ...

Career

In the 1930s, Miles worked for the BBC as well as in Bath, conducting the Pump Room Orchestra. During the Second World War Maurice Miles served for a time as a Recce car driver in the 24th Lancers, and was the conductor of the 29th Armoured Brigade Orchestra. Miles was appointed principal conductor of the newly formed Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra in 1947 and remained in that post until 1954. The orchestra was known for its adventurous programming during his tenure, including contemporary British music and a rare performance of

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

's oratorio King David. In 1955 Miles was appointed conductor of the City of Belfast Orchestra, a large part-time symphony orchestra made up of members from the BBC Northern Ireland orchestra and local players. In 1966 the

Arts Council of Northern Ireland The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (Irish language, Irish: ''Comhairle Ealaíon Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots language, Ulster-Scots: ''Airts Cooncil o Norlin Airlan'') is the lead development agency for the arts in Northern Ireland. It ...

decided to establish the

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra is a full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. Based in Belfast, the orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United Kingdom ...

, a fully professional orchestra of 37 players. Miles was heavily involved in the creation of this new orchestra was appointed its first principal conductor. Despite some successes in the inaugural season, in 1967 unrest within the orchestra prompted Miles to resign his post. Throughout his career Miles was a frequent guest conductor at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

concerts and with BBC orchestras throughout the UK. He was Professor of conducting at the

and in 1977 published a handbook on conducting.

Personal life

Maurice Miles was married to Eileen Spencer Wood and had one son and two daughters.

Writings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Maurice 1908 births 1977 deaths Fellows of the Royal Academy of Music Conductors associated with the BBC Proms English conductors (music) English male conductors (music) BBC Orchestras people