Edward Gregson

Edward Gregson
Born	(1945-07-23) 23 July 1945 Sunderland, England
Nationality	English
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Music
Occupation	Composer
Employer	Royal Northern College of Music (Principal, 1996–2008)
Television	Title music to BBC's Young Musician of the Year
Website	edwardgregson.com

Edward Gregson (born 23 July 1945), is an English composer of international standing, whose music has been performed, broadcast, and recorded worldwide. He was born in Sunderland, England, in 1945. He studied composition (with Alan Bush) and piano at the Royal Academy of Music from 1963–7, winning five prizes for composition. Since then he has worked solely to commission and has written orchestral, chamber, instrumental and choral music, as well as music for the theatre, film, and television.

Career

Edward Gregson was Principal of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester from 1996–2008, when he retired from academic life to concentrate on his composition. 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.

In recent years he has completed orchestral commissions for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Bournemouth Symphony, the Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic orchestras. His music has also been performed by many other 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.

He has made a major contribution to the repertoire of brass and wind bands and ensembles including for brass: Connotations (1977), Dances and Arias (1984), Of Men and Mountains (1991), The Trumpets of the Angels (2000) and Rococo Variation (2008); and for wind: Festivo (1985), Celebration (1990), The Sword and the Crown (1996), Concerto for Piano and Wind (1997), and The Kings Go Forth (1998).

In 1988 he was nominated for an Ivor Novello award 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. A major retrospective of his music was held in Manchester in 2002 which coincided with the release of a CD of his orchestral music (including the clarinet and violin concertos) on the Chandos label. This disc, with the BBC Philharmonic under Martyn Brabbins, received wide critical acclaim, and in 2008 another CD of his concertos (those for trumpet, piano, and saxophone) was released on the same label. A third volume of his concertos, including his recent cello concerto and the trombone concerto, was recorded in March 2010.

In the 2000s Gregson faced criticism from RNCM staff and ex-students for the appointment from 1 January 2002 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 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). Each section's required test piece was composed by Edward Gregson: the 3rd Section Partita for Brass Band, 2nd Section played Variations on Laudate Dominum, 1st Section playing Connotations, and the Championship Section performing Symphony in Two Movements.

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)

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, 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

• 1966 – In The Beginning
• 1967 – Quintet for Brass
• 1968 – Music for Chamber Orchestra
• 1968 – March Prelude
• 1971 – Horn Concerto
• 1971 – Horn Concerto (wind ensemble version)
• 1971/1999 - Partita (for brass band)
• 1976 – Tuba Concerto (orchestral version)
• 1976 – Tuba Concerto (brass band version)
• 1976 – Tuba Concerto (wind orchestral version)
• 1976 - Variations on Laudate Dominum
• 1976 - Connotations
• 1978 – Flourish for Orchestra
• 1979 – Metamorphoses
• 1979 – Trombone Concerto
• 1982 – Six Little Piano Pieces
• 1983 – Contrasts – a concerto for orchestra
• 1983 – Equale Dances
• 1983 – Piano Sonata in one movement
• 1983 – Trumpet Concerto
• 1984 – Dances and Arias
• 1984 – Sonata for Four Trombones
• 1985 – Festivo
• 1986 – Occasion
• 1987 – Missa Brevis Pacem
• 1988 – Make A Joyful Noise
• 1992 – Of Men and Mountains
• 1994 – Clarinet Concerto
• 1997 – A Welcome Ode
• 1999 – The Dance, forever the Dance
• 1971/1999 - Partita (revision for symphonic wind band)
• 2006 – Saxophone Concerto
• 2007 – Cello Concerto
• 2009 – Dream Song
• 2009 – Goddess
• 2009 – Tributes
• 2012 - Symphony in Two Movements

External links

• Official website with list of works, discography and sound samples
• Edward Gregon's homepage at Novello & Co