Edmund Jolliffe’s music draws on a huge range of styles and influences and he is equally at home writing for film, television and the concert hall.
Recent commissions include pieces for the ABRSM, Royal Academy of Music (Bicentenary Commission), The London Chinese Children’s Ensemble, Odense Percussion and the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music (broadcast on Radio 3). Prizes include first prize at the 40th Ithaca College Choral Composition Competition, The Kantos Choir Competition and the Freudig Singers Choral Composition Competition. His music is published (Hal Leonard, OUP, Stainer & Bell, ABRSM – set pieces for piano and clarinet grade exams), Edition Svitzer, Banks Music, Tetractys).
Edmund has been writing music to picture for twenty years. Major series he has composed music for include ‘Who do you think you are?’, ‘The Traitors’, ‘Sort your life out’ (BBC1), ‘The Great War: The People’s Story’, ‘Long Lost Family’ (ITV1), ‘Homestead Rescue’ (Discovery) ‘Crazy Delicious’ (C4/Netflix) and ‘Unreported World’ (C4).
Edmund studied music at Oxford University and completed a Masters in Film Composition at the Royal College of Music under Joseph Horovitz and Academy Award winner Dario Marianelli. He also studied on the Advanced Composition Course at Dartington International Summer School and has attended composer residencies at the Banff Centre, Canada (Gladys and Merrill Muttart foundation scholarship), the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, New Mexico and the Anderson Center, Minnesota.
He is a fellow of the ISM and a full member of the PRS and MCPS.
He taught composition for many years at the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music (Junior Departments) and also lectured in Composing for the Moving Image at City University.
The Mighty Chieftain is a fun and lively piece for the beginner double bass and piano. Only using first position and a limited number of…
The Mighty Chieftain is a fun and lively piece for the beginner double bass and piano. Only using first position and a limited number of notes and note values, the piece is colourful and rhythmic, full of character and excitement, with an energetic and supportive piano accompaniment which adds drive and momentum.
“Imagine a mighty chieftain approaching a camp – he is strong, proud and rules over many people. Try and portray this feeling in your playing.” [Edmund Jolliffe]
The Mighty Chieftain Comes was commissioned in 2011 by David Heyes, as part of the Fizz@50 project, and was premiered on 22 December 2011 at Bösendorfer Saal (Eggenfelden, Germany) by 6-year-old bassist Maximilian Haas and Oxana Berchein (piano).
