Born: March 18, 1844, in Tikhvin, Russia.Died: June 21, 1908, in Lyubensk, near St. Petersburg, Russia. A highly influential Russian composer, teacher, and member of the “Mighty Handful” (also known as “The Five”), a group dedicated to creating a distinctively Russian style of classical music. He is particularly renowned for his mastery of orchestration, his…
Mary Chandler was born in Kent on May 16th 1911. She studied music privately and at the Blackheath Conservatoire of Music. Her teachers included Harry Farjeon (composition), Margaret Eliot and Leon Goossens (oboe) and Harold Craxton (piano). In the early 1930s she studied English at Oxford University and Education at London University. She then taught…
Peter Lamb (1925-2013.)was born in London and studied composition at Trinity College of Music, subsequently with Arthur Benjamin, and was awarded a Fellowship of Trinity College for his String Quartet No.1. Peter combined a busy career as a professional composer and in music administration, initially working for two international record companies before an appointment as…
Born in 1976, Edmund Jolliffe studied music at Oxford University (1994-97) and completed a Masters in Film Composition at the Royal College of Music (1998-99), studying with Joseph Horovitz. He also studied on the Advanced Composition Course at Dartington International Summer School with Pavel Novak in 2004, supported by the RVW Trust. Edmund Jolliffe’s music…
Mark Goddard, born in 1960, is a distinguished composer and musician. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he earned the GRSM (hons) and LRAM (piano) degrees. During his time at RAM, he received nine awards for composition, including the prestigious Eric Coates Prize and the Capital Radio Prize After completing his studies,…
Born Achille-Claude Debussy on August 22, 1862, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, he became one of the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Surrounded by the sounds of his modest family (his father ran a china shop which, alas, didn’t quite take off) and his mother a seamstress. Debussy’s true calling lay beyond…
Marie-Juliette Olga “Lili” Boulanger (French: [maʁi ʒyljɛt lili bulɑ̃ʒe]) was born on August 21, 1893, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. She left an indelible mark on music during her tragically short life. Lili’s musical talent bloomed early. By the age of two, she was already singing melodies by ear—a little musical oracle in…
c. 1535 – 25 January 1572 Born during the Tudor period, Parsons composed against the backdrop of England’s shifting religious landscape. His music danced through the reigns of King Edward VI, Queen Mary I, and Queen Elizabeth I. Church Music Maestro: Parsons’s claim to fame lies in his compositions of church music. He wove intricate…
c. 1525–2 February 1594 Born somewhere between 3 February 1525 and 2 February 1526 (we like to keep composers on their toes with those date uncertainties!), Palestrina was a central figure in the world of late Renaissance music. He stands tall as the leading composer of late 16th-century Europe, alongside luminaries like Orlande de Lassus…
c. 1505 – 23 November 1585) Tallis was an influential composer during the High Renaissance period. His compositions primarily focused on vocal music, and he holds a special place in the anthologies of English choral works. Born around the early 16th century (historians estimate between 1500 and 1520), Tallis lived through the reigns of several…
