Sir George Dyson: His Life and Music
The story of a fascinating, controversial man who influenced almost every sphere of musical life in Britain and helped to change the face of music performance and education in this country.

George Dyson (1883-1964) was a highly influential composer, educator and administrator, whose work touched the lives of millions. Yet today, apart from his Canterbury Pilgrims and two sets of canticles for Choral Evensong, his music is little known. In this comprehensive and detailed study, based not only on Dyson's own writings but on unpublished papers, personal correspondence, and interviews with his family and friends, Paul Spicer brings this remarkable man and his lyrical, passionate and engaging music to life once more.
Born into a working class family in Halifax, West Yorkshire, he rose from humble beginnings to become the voice of public school music in Britain and Director of the RCM. As a scholarship student, he met and studied with some of the leading musicians of the day, including Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Hubert Parry. He went on to work in some of the country's greatest schools, where he established his reputation as a composer, particularly of choral and orchestral works, of which Quo Vadis was his most ambitious. A member of the BBC Brains Trust panel, Dyson was also the 'voice of music' on the radio for a number of years and helped to educate the nation through his regular broadcasts.
A fascinating, controversial man, George Dyson touched almost every sphere of musical life in Britain and helped to change the face of music performance and education in this country. This seminal book, examining every aspect of his long, colourful career, re-establishes him as the towering figure he undoubtedly was in his time.

PAUL SPICER was a composition student of Herbert Howells, whose biography he wrote in 1998. He is well-known as a choral conductor especially of British Music of the twentieth century onwards, a writer, composer, teacher, and producer.
1116821792
Sir George Dyson: His Life and Music
The story of a fascinating, controversial man who influenced almost every sphere of musical life in Britain and helped to change the face of music performance and education in this country.

George Dyson (1883-1964) was a highly influential composer, educator and administrator, whose work touched the lives of millions. Yet today, apart from his Canterbury Pilgrims and two sets of canticles for Choral Evensong, his music is little known. In this comprehensive and detailed study, based not only on Dyson's own writings but on unpublished papers, personal correspondence, and interviews with his family and friends, Paul Spicer brings this remarkable man and his lyrical, passionate and engaging music to life once more.
Born into a working class family in Halifax, West Yorkshire, he rose from humble beginnings to become the voice of public school music in Britain and Director of the RCM. As a scholarship student, he met and studied with some of the leading musicians of the day, including Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Hubert Parry. He went on to work in some of the country's greatest schools, where he established his reputation as a composer, particularly of choral and orchestral works, of which Quo Vadis was his most ambitious. A member of the BBC Brains Trust panel, Dyson was also the 'voice of music' on the radio for a number of years and helped to educate the nation through his regular broadcasts.
A fascinating, controversial man, George Dyson touched almost every sphere of musical life in Britain and helped to change the face of music performance and education in this country. This seminal book, examining every aspect of his long, colourful career, re-establishes him as the towering figure he undoubtedly was in his time.

PAUL SPICER was a composition student of Herbert Howells, whose biography he wrote in 1998. He is well-known as a choral conductor especially of British Music of the twentieth century onwards, a writer, composer, teacher, and producer.
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Sir George Dyson: His Life and Music

Sir George Dyson: His Life and Music

by Paul Spicer
Sir George Dyson: His Life and Music

Sir George Dyson: His Life and Music

by Paul Spicer

Hardcover

$105.00 
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Overview

The story of a fascinating, controversial man who influenced almost every sphere of musical life in Britain and helped to change the face of music performance and education in this country.

George Dyson (1883-1964) was a highly influential composer, educator and administrator, whose work touched the lives of millions. Yet today, apart from his Canterbury Pilgrims and two sets of canticles for Choral Evensong, his music is little known. In this comprehensive and detailed study, based not only on Dyson's own writings but on unpublished papers, personal correspondence, and interviews with his family and friends, Paul Spicer brings this remarkable man and his lyrical, passionate and engaging music to life once more.
Born into a working class family in Halifax, West Yorkshire, he rose from humble beginnings to become the voice of public school music in Britain and Director of the RCM. As a scholarship student, he met and studied with some of the leading musicians of the day, including Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Hubert Parry. He went on to work in some of the country's greatest schools, where he established his reputation as a composer, particularly of choral and orchestral works, of which Quo Vadis was his most ambitious. A member of the BBC Brains Trust panel, Dyson was also the 'voice of music' on the radio for a number of years and helped to educate the nation through his regular broadcasts.
A fascinating, controversial man, George Dyson touched almost every sphere of musical life in Britain and helped to change the face of music performance and education in this country. This seminal book, examining every aspect of his long, colourful career, re-establishes him as the towering figure he undoubtedly was in his time.

PAUL SPICER was a composition student of Herbert Howells, whose biography he wrote in 1998. He is well-known as a choral conductor especially of British Music of the twentieth century onwards, a writer, composer, teacher, and producer.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781843839033
Publisher: BOYDELL & BREWER INC
Publication date: 05/15/2014
Pages: 480
Product dimensions: 6.50(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vi

Preface xi

1 'A Veritable Muck-Midden' 1

2 The Royal College of Music and the Mendelssohn Scholarship, 1900-1907 15

3 The Mendelssohn Scholarship, 1904-7 40

4 Earning a living 64

5 Dyson's War, 1914-16 87

6 Wellington College 111

7 Winchester College 139

8 Winchester Works: The Canterbury Pilgrims, St Paul's Voyage to Melita and The Blacksmiths 160

9 Winchester towards London 188

10 Major Works, 1937-43 211

11 Director of the Royal College of Music, 1938-52: The First Five Terms 229

12 The War Years, 1939-45, Seen through Dyson's College Addresses 244

13 The Royal College of Music, 1945-7 274

14 The Royal College of Music, 1947-52: Rebuilding, Development and Endgames 291

15 Major Works, 1948-52 322

16 Return to Winchester and Retirement 341

17 Carnegie Trust, Final Works and Endings 362

Bibliography 397

Appendixes (compiled by Ray Siese)

Appendix 1 List of Dyson's Works 402

Appendix 2 Texts Set by Dyson 413

Appendix 3 The Canterbury Pilgrims: 35 Performances Conducted by Dyson, 1931-60 416

Appendix 4 Select Bibliography 417

Appendix 5 Discography 419

Index of Dyson's Works 430

General Index 432

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