Granville Bantock
Encyclopedia
Sir Granville Bantock was a British
composer
of classical music
.
. His father was a Scottish doctor. He was intended by his parents for the Indian Civil Service but was drawn into the musical world. His first teacher was Dr Gordon Saunders at Trinity College of Music
. Later he studied harmony and composition with Frederick Corder
at the Royal Academy of Music
, where he won the Macfarren Prize in the first year it was awarded.
Early conducting engagements took him around the world with a musical comedy troupe. He founded a music magazine, The New Quarterly Music Review, but this lasted only a few years. In 1897, he became conductor at the New Brighton Tower
concerts, where he pioneered the works of Joseph Holbrooke
, Frederic Hymen Cowen
, Charles Steggall
, Edward German
, Hubert Parry
, Charles Villiers Stanford
, Corder
and others, frequently devoting whole concerts to a single composer. He was also conductor of the Liverpool Orchestral Society with which he premièred Delius
's Brigg Fair
on 18 January 1908. He became Principal of the Birmingham and Midland Institute
school of music in 1900. He was a close friend of fellow composer Havergal Brian
. He was Peyton Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham
from 1908 to 1934 (in which post he succeeded Sir Edward Elgar
). In 1934, he was elected Chairman of the Corporation of Trinity College of Music
in London. He was knighted
in 1930. His students included the conductor and composer Anthony Bernard
and the composer Eric Fogg
.
He was influential in the founding of the City of Birmingham orchestra (later the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
), whose first performance in September 1920 was of his overture Saul. Bantock's Hebridean Symphony was recorded by the CBO on 28 January 1928 at Riley Hall, Constitution Hill, Birmingham. This acoustic version, conducted by Adrian Boult
, was never released.
His music was influenced by folk song of the Hebrides
(as in his 1915 Hebridean Symphony) and the works of Richard Wagner
. Many of his works have an "exotic" element, including the choral epic Omar Khayyám
(1906–09). Among his other better-known works are the overture
The Pierrot of the Minute (1908) and the Pagan Symphony (1928). Many of his works have been commercially recorded since the early 1990s.
A Bantock Society was established shortly after the composer's death in London. Its first president was Jean Sibelius
, whose music Bantock championed during the early years of the century. Sibelius dedicated his Third Symphony
to Bantock.
Edward Elgar
dedicated the second of his "Pomp and Circumstance Marches
" to Bantock.
label in performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Vernon Handley
, now available also as a box set. Handley also recorded a largely complete performance of Omar Khayyám with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
and Chorus
on Chandos
. An alternative recording of the Hebridean Symphony (together with the Old English Suite and Russian Scenes) is available on Naxos
, with the Czecho-Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra(Kosice) conducted by Adrian Leaper
. Historic recordings of miniatures and songs have appeared on the Dutton
label.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
.
Biography
Granville Ransome Bantock was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. His father was a Scottish doctor. He was intended by his parents for the Indian Civil Service but was drawn into the musical world. His first teacher was Dr Gordon Saunders at Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
. Later he studied harmony and composition with Frederick Corder
Frederick Corder
Frederick Corder was an English composer and music teacher.-Biography:Corder was born in Hackney, the son of Micah Corder and his wife Charlotte Hill. He was educated at Blackheath Proprietary School and started music lessons, particularly piano, early. Later he studied with Henry Gadsby...
at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, where he won the Macfarren Prize in the first year it was awarded.
Early conducting engagements took him around the world with a musical comedy troupe. He founded a music magazine, The New Quarterly Music Review, but this lasted only a few years. In 1897, he became conductor at the New Brighton Tower
New Brighton Tower
New Brighton Tower was a lattice-steel observation tower at New Brighton on the Wirral Peninsula in England. The 1,000 tonne tower, which stood at high, became the tallest building in Great Britain when it opened in 1900...
concerts, where he pioneered the works of Joseph Holbrooke
Joseph Holbrooke
Joseph Charles Holbrooke was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was sometimes referred to as "the cockney Wagner".-Family:...
, Frederic Hymen Cowen
Frederic Hymen Cowen
Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen , was a British pianist, conductor and composer.-Early years:Cowen was born Hymen Frederick Cohen at 90 Duke Street, Kingston, Jamaica, the fifth and last child of Frederick Augustus Cohen and Emily Cohen née Davis. His siblings were Elizabeth Rose Cohen ; actress,...
, Charles Steggall
Charles Steggall
Charles H. Steggall was a British hymn writer and composer.-Early life:The son of R. W. Steggall, Charles Steggall was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and then studied under William Sterndale Bennett at the Royal Academy of Music, where he subsequently became Professor of organ and...
, Edward German
Edward German
Sir Edward German was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera.As a youth, German played the violin and led the town orchestra, also...
, Hubert Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
, Charles Villiers Stanford
Charles Villiers Stanford
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer who was particularly notable for his choral music. He was professor at the Royal College of Music and University of Cambridge.- Life :...
, Corder
Frederick Corder
Frederick Corder was an English composer and music teacher.-Biography:Corder was born in Hackney, the son of Micah Corder and his wife Charlotte Hill. He was educated at Blackheath Proprietary School and started music lessons, particularly piano, early. Later he studied with Henry Gadsby...
and others, frequently devoting whole concerts to a single composer. He was also conductor of the Liverpool Orchestral Society with which he premièred Delius
Delius
Delius is a surname. It may refer to:* Ernst von Delius - German racing car driver* Frederick Delius - English composer* Nicolaus Delius - German philologist* Tobias Delius Delius is a surname. It may refer to:* Ernst von Delius (1912–1937) - German racing car driver* Frederick Delius...
's Brigg Fair
Brigg Fair
"Brigg Fair" is an English folk song. It is best known in a choral arrangement by Percy Grainger and a subsequent set of orchestral variations by Frederick Delius....
on 18 January 1908. He became Principal of the Birmingham and Midland Institute
Birmingham and Midland Institute
The Birmingham and Midland Institute , now on Margaret Street in the city centre of Birmingham, England was a pioneer of adult scientific and technical education and today offers Arts and Science lectures, exhibitions and concerts. It is a registered charity...
school of music in 1900. He was a close friend of fellow composer Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian , was a British classical composer.Brian acquired a legendary status at the time of his rediscovery in the 1950s and 1960s for the many symphonies he had managed to write. By the end of his life he had completed 32, an unusually large number for any composer since Haydn or Mozart...
. He was Peyton Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
from 1908 to 1934 (in which post he succeeded Sir Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
). In 1934, he was elected Chairman of the Corporation of Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
in London. He was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1930. His students included the conductor and composer Anthony Bernard
Anthony Bernard
Anthony Bernard was an English conductor, organist, pianist and composer.-Early life:He was born Alan Charles Butler, the son of a Thames lighterman and changed his name by deed poll in 1919 according to the National Archives....
and the composer Eric Fogg
Eric Fogg
Eric Fogg was an English composer and conductor who died under tragic circumstances at the age of 36. His early works were influenced by Igor Stravinsky, though his later pieces owe more to Granville Bantock and Richard Strauss and even William Walton...
.
He was influential in the founding of the City of Birmingham orchestra (later the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. The Orchestra's current chief executive, appointed in 1999, is Stephen Maddock...
), whose first performance in September 1920 was of his overture Saul. Bantock's Hebridean Symphony was recorded by the CBO on 28 January 1928 at Riley Hall, Constitution Hill, Birmingham. This acoustic version, conducted by Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
, was never released.
His music was influenced by folk song of the Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
(as in his 1915 Hebridean Symphony) and the works of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
. Many of his works have an "exotic" element, including the choral epic Omar Khayyám
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his translation of a selection of poems, originally written in Persian and of which there are about a thousand, attributed to Omar Khayyám , a Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer...
(1906–09). Among his other better-known works are the overture
Overture
Overture in music is the term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera...
The Pierrot of the Minute (1908) and the Pagan Symphony (1928). Many of his works have been commercially recorded since the early 1990s.
A Bantock Society was established shortly after the composer's death in London. Its first president was Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
, whose music Bantock championed during the early years of the century. Sibelius dedicated his Third Symphony
Symphony No. 3 (Sibelius)
The Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52, by Jean Sibelius is a symphony in three movements composed in 1907. Coming between the romantic intensity of Sibelius's first two symphonies and the more austere complexity of his later symphonies, it is a good-natured, triumphal, and deceptively...
to Bantock.
Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
dedicated the second of his "Pomp and Circumstance Marches
Pomp and Circumstance Marches
The "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" , Op. 39 are a series of marches for orchestra composed by Sir Edward Elgar....
" to Bantock.
Discography
A broad selection of Bantock's orchestral output, including all the symphonies, has been recorded in an edition by the HyperionHyperion Records
Hyperion Records is an independent British classical record label.-History:The company was named after Hyperion, one of the Titans of Greek mythology. It was founded by George Edward Perry, widely known as "Ted", in 1980. Early LP releases included rarely recorded 20th century British music by...
label in performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
conducted by Vernon Handley
Vernon Handley
Vernon George "Tod" Handley CBE was a British conductor, known in particular for his support of British composers. He was born of a Welsh father and an Irish mother into a musical family in Enfield, London. He acquired the nickname "Tod" because his feet were turned in at his birth, which his...
, now available also as a box set. Handley also recorded a largely complete performance of Omar Khayyám with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
and Chorus
BBC Symphony Chorus
The BBC Symphony Chorus is a British amateur chorus based in London. It is the dedicated chorus for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, though it performs with other national and international orchestras....
on Chandos
Chandos Records
Chandos Records is an independent classical music recording company based in Colchester, Essex, in the United Kingdom, founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.- Background :...
. An alternative recording of the Hebridean Symphony (together with the Old English Suite and Russian Scenes) is available on Naxos
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
, with the Czecho-Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra(Kosice) conducted by Adrian Leaper
Adrian Leaper
-Biography:He is currently the conductor RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Madrid. He was previously Principal Conductor of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria from 1994 until 2001.He has made many recordings for the Naxos Records label.-External links:...
. Historic recordings of miniatures and songs have appeared on the Dutton
Dutton Vocalion
Dutton Vocalion specialises in re-issuing on CD music recorded between the 1920s and 1970s, and in issuing albums of modern digital recordings. It was established by British recording and re-mastering engineer Michael J. Dutton....
label.
Operas
- The Pearl of Iran, a Romantic Opera (1894, one act, libretto by composer)
- Caedmar, a Romantic Opera (1892, one act, libretto by Frederick Corder, performed at the Royal Academy of Music, 12 July 1892, and then at Crystal Palace, 18 October 1892 and the Olympic Theatre, 25 October 1892)
- The Seal Woman, a Celtic Folk Opera (libretto by Marjorie Kennedy Fraser who also appeared in the performance as an old crone, utilising melodies drawn from Kennedy Fraser's collection of Hebridean folk songs, conducted by the composer, Birmingham Repertory Company, 27 September 1924, produced by Barry JacksonBarry JacksonBarry Jackson is an English actor.He is known for his roles on film and television.His film roles include: Ryan's Daughter, Barry Lyndon, Aces High, The Raging Moon, Mr...
) - Eugene Aram (opera in four acts, unfinished, libretto based on Bulwer Lytton and Thomas HoodThomas HoodThomas Hood was a British humorist and poet. His son, Tom Hood, became a well known playwright and editor.-Early life:...
, performed as a recitation in 1892)
Choral works
- The Fire Worshippers, dramatic cantata for solo voices chorus and orchestra (1892, after Thomas Moore's Lalla Rookh, prelude conducted by August MannsAugust MannsSir August Friedrich Manns was a German-born conductor who made his career in England. After serving as a military bandmaster in Germany, he moved to England and soon became director of music at London's Crystal Palace. He increased the resident band to full symphonic strength and for more than...
at the Crystal Palace) - Christus, a Festival Symphony in ten parts for solo voices chorus and orchestra (only two parts completed: "Christ in the Wilderness" - Gloucester Festival 1907; and "Gethsemane")
- The Time Spirit, rhapsody for chorus and orchestra (text H.F.B. i.e. Helena F. Bantock, dedicated to Herbert Brewer);
- Sea Wanderers, poem for chorus and orchestra (text H.F.B. i.e. Helena F. Bantock)
- Omar Kháyyám for solo voices chorus and orchestra - Part I (Birmingham Festival, 1906), Part II (Cardiff Festival 1907), Part III (Birmingham Festival 1909, BBCSO/Del Mar, 27 November 1968, first broadcast performance); complete (based on the third version of Fitzgerald's adaptation, London Choral Society/Arthur Fagge, Queen's HallQueen's HallThe Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect T.E. Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it was the home of the promenade concerts founded by Robert...
, February 1910; Vienna, February, 1912, BBC Symphony Orchestra under Norman Del MarNorman Del MarNorman Del Mar CBE was a British conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialized in the music of late romantic composers; including Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss. He left a great legacy of recordings of British music, in particular Elgar, Vaughan Williams,...
, 5–6 January 1979) - The Song of Liberty for solo voices chorus and orchestra (1914, for the 21st Festival of the International Labour Party, Bradford)
- The Song of Songs for soloists, double chorus and orchestra (started in 1912 completed 1922; text: Book of Solomon, Three Choirs FestivalThree Choirs FestivalThe Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held each August alternately at the cathedrals of the Three Counties and originally featuring their three choirs, which remain central to the week-long programme...
, Gloucester, 1922, then Dorothy Silk, Frank Mullings, Norman Allin, Hallé, composer, 10 March 1927) - The Burden of Babylon for chorus, brass and drums (1927, text: Bible)
- The Pilgrim's Progress for solo voices, chorus and orchestra (1928, BBC commission, Queen's Hall, BBC Orchestra and Choral Society / composer, 1928-29 season, 23 November 1928; this was the first appearance for the Choral Society)
- Prometheus Unbound for chorus and orchestra (1936, text by Shelley)
- King Solomon for chorus, narrator and orchestra (1937, for the Coronation of King George VI, BBC SO/Boult, 6 May 1937)
Choral unaccompanied works
- Atalanta in Calydon, a Choral SymphonyChoral symphonyA choral symphony is a musical composition for orchestra, choir, sometimes with solo vocalists, which in its internal workings and overall musical architecture adheres broadly to symphonic musical form. The term "choral symphony" in this context was coined by Hector Berlioz when describing his...
(A. C. Swinburne, Liverpool Welsh Choral Union, Gitana Ladies' Choir, Birkenhead and the Manchester Orpheus Glee Society, conducted by Harry Evans, 1912) - Vanity of Vanities, a Choral Symphony (from EcclesiastesEcclesiastesThe Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
, Welsh Choral Union, Harry Evans, Liverpool, February, 1914) - A Pageant of Human Life, a Choral Symphony (Sir Thomas MoreThomas MoreSir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
) - The Golden Journey to Samarkand (1922, James Elroy FleckerJames Elroy FleckerJames Elroy Flecker was an English poet, novelist and playwright. As a poet he was most influenced by the Parnassian poets.-Biography:...
) - America - National Song (before 1946, Coolidge)
- The Great God Pan, a Choral Ballet (Sheffield Festival 1920)
- Choral Hymn for a Priest's First Mass (1946)
For male voice
- Mass in B flat major (liturgical, 1903)
- Choral Suite from the Chinese (1914, Cranmer Byng)
- Suite from Cathay (1923, Ezra PoundEzra PoundEzra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
) - Choral Suite (1926, Collins)
- Seven Burdens of Isaiah (1927, Bible)
- Three Sea Songs (1920s, Henry NewboltHenry NewboltSir Henry John Newbolt, CH was an English poet. He is best remembered for Vitaï Lampada, a lyrical piece used for propaganda purposes during the First World War.-Background:...
) - Three Cavalier Tunes (1920s, Robert BrowningRobert BrowningRobert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
) - Three Browning Songs (1929)
- Lucifer in Starlight (George MeredithGeorge MeredithGeorge Meredith, OM was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era.- Life :Meredith was born in Portsmouth, England, a son and grandson of naval outfitters. His mother died when he was five. At the age of 14 he was sent to a Moravian School in Neuwied, Germany, where he remained for two...
)
For solo voice and orchestra
- Wulstan - baritone (1892, composer)
- Five Ghazals of HafizHafizHafidh |f.]] ḥāfiẓa), literally meaning 'guardian', is a term used by Muslims in modern days for someone who has completely memorized the Qur'an.-Overview:...
with a Prelude - baritone (1905, Hafiz translated E. Arnold, BBCSO/Clarence RaybouldClarence RaybouldClarence Raybould was born in Birmingham on 28 June 1886, to Robert J Raybould , a printer compositor, and Elen A Raybould , and died in Bideford on 27 March 1972. He was an English conductor, pianist and composer who conducted works ranging from musical comedy and operetta, Gilbert and Sullivan...
, 15 December 1937) - Ferishtah's Fancies - tenor (1905, Robert Browning, renowned interpretation came from Frank Mullings)
- Sappho, nine fragments with a Prelude (1906, SapphoSapphoSappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
translated by Helena F. Bantock, the Prelude and three of the songs were sung by Edith Clegg with the composer conducting at an RPS concert in 1911-12, first appearances with the Society for both the composer and the singer) - Pagan Chants - tenor (1917–18, Thorley);
- The Vale of Arden (1919, Alfred Hayes)
- The March - tenor (1919, J. C. Squire)
- The Sphinx, a cycle - baritone or contralto (1941, Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
) - Thomas the Rhymer (1946, traditional)
Symphonies
- Hebridean Symphony (1913, dedicated to Raymond Bantock, prefixed with the poem: From the lonely shieling of the misty island / Mountains divide us and the mist of seas/ Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is highland/ And we in dreams behold the Hebrides. Carnegie Trust Award, GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
17 January 1916, Queen's HallQueen's HallThe Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect T.E. Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it was the home of the promenade concerts founded by Robert...
, London Symphony OrchestraLondon Symphony OrchestraThe London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
/Hamilton HartyHamilton HartySir Hamilton Harty was an Irish and British composer, conductor, pianist and organist. In his capacity as a conductor, he was particularly noted as an interpreter of the music of Berlioz and he was much respected as a piano accompanist of exceptional prowess...
, March 1917); - Pagan Symphony (motto: et ego in Arcadia vixi, Paris 3 September 1927, BBC SO/Sir Adrian Boult, 8 May 1936)
- The Cyprian Goddess: Symphony No. 3 (1938/39)
- Celtic Symphony for strings and six harps (1940, BBC Scottish Orch / Raybould, Home Service 24 July 1942 and Birmingham, 25 November 1967)
Concertos
- Elegiac Poem for cello and orchestra (1898)
- Sapphic Poem for cello and orchestra (1906, dedicated to Willi Lehmann)
- Celtic Poem for cello and orchestra (1914, arrangement of the piece for cello and piano, dedicated to Herbert Withers);
- Hamabdil for cello, harp and strings (1919, part of the Judith incidental music, dedicated to Percy Hall)
- Dramatic Poem for cello and orchestra (1941)
Tone poems
- Tone Poem No. 1, Thalaba, The Destroyer (1900, after Robert SoutheyRobert SoutheyRobert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
) - Tone Poem No. 2, Dante and Beatrice (1901, revised 1910, Scottish Orchestra/composer, Glasgow, 24 May 1911, revised version of Dante, London Musical Festival, 1911)
- Tone Poem No. 3, later dubbed Orchestral Drama: Fifine at the Fair (1901, after Browning's Pippa Passes, Birmingham Festival, 1912, conducted by the composer, then Eighth Balfour Gardiner Concert, Queen's Hall, first performance in London, New SO/Gardiner, 18 March 1913; this was to have been given at an RPS concert in the 1911-12 season but was cancelled due to a dispute over fees. Fifine was finally given by the Society on 26 November 1917 conducted by Sir Thomas BeechamThomas BeechamSir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
). A classic recording of Fifine was made by Beecham conducting the RPO for EMI in 1947. This recording was made under the auspices of the British Council and the Bantock Society - Tone Poem No. 4, Hudibras (1902, after Samuel ButlerSamuel Butler (poet)Samuel Butler was a poet and satirist. Born in Strensham, Worcestershire and baptised 14 February 1613, he is remembered now chiefly for a long satirical burlesque poem on Puritanism entitled Hudibras.-Biography:...
) - Tone Poem No. 5, The Witch of Atlas (1902, after Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
, Worcester Festival) - Tone Poem No. 6, Lalla Rookh (1902, after Thomas MooreThomas MooreThomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
, dedicated to Joseph Holbrooke)
Orchestral works
- Two Orchestral Scenes from The Curse of KehamaKehamaKehama is the name of a fictional Hindu rajah who obtains and sports with supernatural powers, whose adventures are given in Robert Southey's Curse of Kehama ....
: (1) Processional, (2) Jaga-Naut (1894, after Robert Southey, Philharmonic Society concert, 1897. The Two Scenes are all that was achieved of a project to complete a cycle of 24 tone poems based on Southey's poem) - Symphonic Overture with organ, Saul (1894, Chester Cathedral, 1897)
- Russian Scenes, Suite of five pieces for small orchestra (1899)
- Helena: Orchestral Variations on the Theme HFB (The Helena Variations) (1899, dedicated to Helena F. Bantock. "Thoughts and reflections on some of your moods written during a wearisome absence.", Liverpool Orchestral Society, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool)
- English Scenes, Suite of five pieces for small orchestra (1900)
- Comedy Overture, Pierrot of the Minute (1908, after Ernest DowsonErnest DowsonErnest Christopher Dowson , born in Lee, London, was an English poet, novelist and writer of short stories, associated with the Decadent movement.- Biography :...
) - Three Dramatic Dances (1909)
- Old English Suite for small orchestra (1909)
- Overture to a Greek Tragedy (1911, after SophoclesSophoclesSophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
' Oedipus at ColonusOedipus at ColonusOedipus at Colonus is one of the three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles...
) - From the Far West for strings (1912)
- In the Far East, Serenade for strings (1912)
- Scottish Rhapsody (1913)
- Scenes from the Scottish Highlands, Suite for strings (1913)
- The Land of the Gael, Suite for strings (1915)
- Coronach for strings, harp and organ (1918)
- Suite from Judith (1918)
- Festal Hymn of Judith (1918)
- The Sea Reivers, an Orchestral Ballad (1920, a discarded scherzo from the Hebridean Symphony)
- Caristiona, A Hebridean Seascape (1920, revised in 1943-44 with The Sea Reivers and published as Two Hebridean Sea Poems)
- Comedy Overture, The Frogs (1935, AristophanesAristophanesAristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
, Proms, Queen's Hall, 1936) - Two Marches for the Ceylon Police (1930s?)
- Four Chinese Landscapes (1936)
- Aphrodite in Cyprus, Symphonic Ode (1938–39)
- Macbeth Overture (1940, utilising material from the incidental music)
- Comedy Overture, Circus Life (1941, adapted from the overture to the incidental music for A Marionette Show)
- Overture to a Greek Comedy, The Women's Festival (1941, Aristophanes)
- Two Heroic Ballads. 1: Cuchullan's Lament, 2: Kishmul's Galley (November 1944)
- Comedy Overture, The Birds (1946, after Aristophanes, Birmingham Town Hall, conducted by Dr Christopher Edmunds)
- The Funeral (1946)
Works for brass band
- Festival March (1914, written for Keir HardieKeir HardieJames Keir Hardie, Sr. , was a Scottish socialist and labour leader, and was the first Independent Labour Member of Parliament elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
for the Twenty First International Labour Party Conference, Bradford) - Oriental Rhapsody (1930, founded on the Tone Poem, Lalla Rookh, Open Championship, Eccles Borough Band/J. Dow, 1930)
- Prometheus Unbound (1933, after Shelley, arrangement of Prelude to Prometheus Unbound for chorus and orchestra, 1933 National Championship, Foden's Motor Works BandFoden's BandFoden's Band is a brass band from Sandbach in Cheshire. The band derives its name from the Foden manufacturer of trucks in Sandbach...
/Fred Mortimer) - Overture to Shakespeare's King LearKing LearKing Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
(1936) - Suite, Russian Melodies (1942–43)
- Two Irish Melodies (1942–43)
- Three Scottish Melodies (1942–43)
- Two Welsh Melodies (1942–43)
- Tir-Nan-Og, Hebridean Poem (1945, named after the family home in Birmingham, one of his last works)
- Overture, Orion
Incidental music
- Rameses II (very early work, five acts, composer)
- Hippolytus (1908, EuripidesEuripidesEuripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
, in Gilbert MurrayGilbert MurrayGeorge Gilbert Aimé Murray, OM was an Australian born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece, perhaps the leading authority in the first half of the twentieth century...
's translation, London Gaiety TheatreGaiety TheatreThe Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green. It specialises in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows.-History:Designed by architect C.J...
, 1908) - Elektra (1909, Sophocles, London Bedford CollegeBedford CollegeBedford College was founded in London in 1849 as a higher education college for the education of women. It was the first institution of its type for women in the United Kingdom. In 1900, the college became a constituent school of the University of London. It played a leading role in the advancement...
, July 1909) - The Cortège, a Harlequinade (1918)
- Salome, The Dance of the Seven Veils (1918, Oscar Wilde, Court Theatre, London, 19 April 1918)
- Judith (1919, Arnold BennettArnold Bennett- Early life :Bennett was born in a modest house in Hanley in the Potteries district of Staffordshire. Hanley is one of a conurbation of six towns which joined together at the beginning of the twentieth century as Stoke-on-Trent. Enoch Bennett, his father, qualified as a solicitor in 1876, and the...
, EastbourneEastbourneEastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
and Kingsway Theatre, London, 1919) - MacbethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
(1926, Shakespeare, Sybil ThorndikeSybil ThorndikeDame Agnes Sybil Thorndike CH DBE was a British actress.-Early life:She was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire to Arthur Thorndike and Agnes Macdonald. Her father was a Canon of Rochester Cathedral...
's Prince Theatre, London production with Thorndike, Henry AinleyHenry AinleyHenry Hinchliffe Ainley was an English Shakespearean stage and screen actor. He was married three times to Susanne Sheldon, Elaine Fearon and the novelist Bettina Riddle, later Baroness von Hutten zum Stolzenberg...
, Lewis CassonLewis CassonSir Lewis Thomas Casson MC was a British actor and theatre director and the husband of Dame Sybil Thorndike.-Early life:...
, and design by Frank BrangwynFrank BrangwynSir Frank William Brangwyn RA RWS RBA was an Anglo-Welsh artist, painter, water colourist, virtuoso engraver and illustrator, and progressive designer.- Biography :...
, 1926, music later incorporated in Macbeth Overture) - Fairy Gold, a Fairy Play (1938, Alvin Langdon CoburnAlvin Langdon CoburnAlvin Langdon Coburn was an early 20th century photographer who became a key figure in the development of American pictorialism...
, Hinton, July, 1938)
Chamber music
- String Quartet in C minor (1899)
- Serenade for horns (1903)
- Pibroch, a Highland Lament for cello and harp (1917)
- Hamabdil for cello and piano (1919)
- Viola Sonata in F major (1919, To Colleen)
- Fantastic Poem for cello and piano (1924)
- Sonata in G minor for solo cello (1924, dedicated to Cyril Cope)
- Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major (1929, dedicated to Albert SammonsAlbert SammonsAlbert Edward Sammons CBE was an English violinist, composer and later violin teacher. Almost self-taught on the violin, he had a wide repertoire as both chamber musician and soloist, although his reputation rests mainly on his association with British composers, especially Elgar...
) - Pagan Poem for flute and piano (1930)
- Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major (1932, dedicated to Arthur Caterall)
- A Chinese Mirror for string quartet (1933, arrangements from the Chinese Poems, first set)
- Viola Sonata in B minor
- Cello Sonata No. 1 in B minor (1940)
- Violin Sonata No. 3 (1940)
- Cello Sonata No. 2 in F sharp minor (1945)
- Dramatic Poem for cello and piano (1945)
Piano music
- Suite, a Marionette Show (1918)
- Three Scottish Scenes (1919)
- Lalla Rookh, Tales and Dances (1919)
- The Cloisters at Midnight (New College, Oxford, 1920)
- Arabian Nights (1920, seven Pieces, dedicated to Gustav HolstGustav HolstGustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
) - Miniatures (twelve pieces)
- Phantoms (1934)
- Nine Dramatic Poems (1935, Browning)
External links
- Bantock's composer page at The Lied and Art Song Texts Archive provides texts of his settings (with translations in various languages).
- Bantock picture
- Bantock Society
- A Brief Introduction to his Life and Work
- Bantock on Hyperion Records
- Searchable archive of articles and reviews in the Gramophone magazine
- Performance of Sapphic Poem for cello and orchestra