Edward Percival "Percy" Code (3 July 1888 – 16 October 1953) was an Australian classical composer and musician, specialising in

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a so ...

and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...

. He is best known for his compositions for brass band, including many solo works.

Biography

Percy Code was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, growing up in a musical family.Eriksen, Jan; "The Golden Age of the Cornet" Ole Edvard Antonsen/Royal Norwegian Navy Band; BIS Records 2007; BIS-SACD-1598 His father, Edward Thomas Code, was a trumpeter who led his own ensemble, ''Code's Melbourne Brass Band''. Percy learnt to play cornet and violin from his father, and played in his band. Aged 22 in 1910, he won the solo championship at the Royal South Street Competition in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vi ...

. This saw him invited to England to play principal cornet with the

Besses o' th' Barn Band Besses o' th' Barn Band is an English brass band that has been in existence in the Besses o' th' Barn area of Whitefield, Greater Manchester since at least 1818. A junior section, Besses Boys' Band, was established in 1943. Origins Besses o' th ...

, where he played professionally for the next few years. After returning to Australia, he conducted community bands in cities such as Ballarat. He married Elsie Maude Miller in 1915, although the couple never had children, and lived apart for many years. In 1921 Code moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, where he performed as a trumpeter with the

San Francisco Symphony Orchestra The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fra ...

under the direction of Alfred Hertz. In San Francisco he also worked as a film composer and theatre pit musician. He returned to Australia in 1924, working as a radio music presenter, in addition to continuing to conduct and write music. From 1929 he worked as a conductor with the ABC until retiring in 1951. Percy Code died in

in 1953.

Legacy

Code's compositions are not well known outside the brass band community. However, amongst brass band music enthusiasts, he remains a respected figure, with his works featured in a Percy Code Memorial Solo contest held at multiple Australian brass band competitions. His collected works were first recorded in their entirety by

euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" ...

player and music academic Matthew van Emmerik in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Code, Percy 1888 births 1953 deaths 20th-century classical composers Australian classical composers Musicians from Melbourne