Geoffrey Grey

Biography

Geoffrey Grey (26 September 1934 – 2023) was a British classical composer.

Biography

Geoffrey Grey was born in Gipsy Hill and lived on the edge of Dartmoor until the onset of the second world war, when he was sent to Scotland to live with his paternal grandparents.
A career as a concert violinist had been envisaged and encouraged by his parents as he had shown a precocious interest in the violin at a very early age. Edinburgh, however, was markedly unfriendly to the English in those days, and its indigenous juvenile population openly hostile to any child with artistic pretensions.
In spite of this he eventually went to the Royal Academy of Music and studied violin, composition, piano and conducting. His composition teachers were William Alwyn, Benjamin Frankel and later, in Paris, Nadia Boulanger.
In 1959 he went to New Zealand where he freelanced as a violinist for a time until he was appointed Tour Musical Director of the NZ Opera Company. He had a number of early pieces broadcast by the NZBS and returned to England in 1960.
He now had a family to provide for and took the job of Director of the Suffolk Rural Music School. This only lasted for a year and then he moved to London where he lived and freelanced as a violinist for the next forty years.
He held a number of principal positions over this period with some of the major orchestras and continued to compose for many different combinations of instruments. He was very active in London musical life and gave many recitals of contemporary music as well as his own compositions.
He played for the ballet, musicals and pop concerts and on a number of occasions toured with the Lindsay Kemp Theatre Company as violist, pianist & percussionist.
In 1992 he went to the Netherlands, working there for a year.
In 1996 in went to live first of all in Cornwall and then Margate where he concentrated almost exclusively on composing.
In March, 2003, after his friend Edwin Carr died, he contacted the oboist Dominique Enon to make the piano transcription of the Oboe Concerto which the composer dedicated to this oboist before the latter's death.
This meeting turned out to be fruitful and Grey subsequently returned to France to become involved with the Radio France and in particular the conducting of Kurt Masur. He also maintained contact with Dominique Enon for to whom he has dedicated a work for oboe and piano.
Their meeting has also resulted in the publishing of some of his works in France by Gilles Manchec, publishing director of Armiane in Versailles
Grey later lived in Dorset and in 2007 had three new works published. He died in Dorchester in 2023.

Works by year

1956 The Tinderbox, for narrator, violin & piano
1958 Piano Sonata in C
1958 The Pied Piper of Hamelin, opera for children
1959 A Christmas Cantata, for boys/girls voices and string orchestra
1961 Violin Sonata No. 1
1962 Six Cavalier Songs, for high voice and piano
1963 Capriccio, for string orchestra
1964 Sarabande, ballet for Sadlers Wells Opera Ballet
1964 Patterns, ballet for Sadlers Wells Opera Ballet
1964 Cock Robin, Betty Botter, lullaby for voices (children's pieces)
1967 Dance-Game, for orchestra
1967 Serenade, for double wind quintet (for Portia Wind Ensemble)
1967 String Quartet No. 1
1968 Sonata for Brass (3 trumpets and 3 trombones)
1968 Aria for flute (or oboe) and piano
1969 Inconsequenza, for percussion quartet
1969 Flowers of the Night for violin and piano
1969 Quintet for woodwinds
1969 Notturno, for string quartet
1969 Autumn '69 (The Prisoner) for 4 instrumental ensembles
1969 John Gilpin, for solo SATB and wind quintet
1970 Divertimento Pastorale, for brass quintet
1970 The Autumn People (Chamber Orchestra)
1970 Sarabande for Dead Lovers, suite from the ballet Sarabande, fir orchestra
1971 A Mirror for Cassandra, for piano, violin, oboe, horn and cello
1971 12 Labours of Hercules, for narrators and orchestra
1972 Songs, for instruments (septet)
1972 Saxophone Quartet
1972 Concerto Grosso No. 1 for string orchestra
1972 Ceres, ballet by Antony Tudor
1973 Summons to an Execution, Dirge, Celia, for voice & piano, voice and string orchestra
1974 A Dream of Dying, for soprano and ensemble
1975 March Militaire No. 1 for brass and percussion
1975 Three Pieces for two pianos
1975 Concertante for 2 solo violins and chamber orchestra
1975 Tryptych, for large orchestra
1976 Cello Sonata
1977 Dreams of a Summer Afternoon, Violin, Horn & Piano)
1978 Song from Death's Jest Book, for soprano and piano)
1980 Variations, for orchestra
1981 12 Studies for Piano, book 1
1981 Suite, for strings
1983 Clarinet Sonata
1984 Contretemps, for wind quartet
1984 Three Songs, for soprano, clarinet and piano
1985 A Morning Raga, for double bass and piano
1986 Viola Sonata, (comm. Roger Chase)
1988 Sonata in Four Movements, for violin and piano
1988 Partita, for trumpet and piano
1988 Concerto Grosso No 2, for solo violin and string orchestra (comm. Blackheath Strings)
1989 10 Easy Pieces, for piano, violin, horn and oboe
1996 A Bit of Singing & Dancing, for orchestra (comm. Dartford S/O)
1996 Quintet "The Pike", for piano, violin, viola, cello, and double bass (Hermes Ensemble, Rosslyn Hill)
1997 Scherzo Strepitoso, for orchestra
1997 4 Bagatelles, for 2 flutes
1998 Cantar de la Siguiriya Gitana, for tenor and piano trio (comm. Jose Guerrero)
1999 Flowers of the Night, arr. for flute and piano
1999 Preamble & 5 Variations, for bassoon and piano (comm. John Orford)
2000 Partita, for trumpet and piano, arr. fortrumpet and strings
2001 De Vinetas Flamencos, for tenor and piano (comm. Jose Guerrero)
2002 Tango alla Sonata, for cor Anglais and piano
2002 Threnody, Capriccio & Anthem, for oboe choir
2003 The Weather in the East, for flute, clarinet, bassoon and piano
2004 A Scene from Old Russia, for piano trio
2004 The Man in the Moon, for a capella SATB
2004 Shine, Candle, Shine, for a capella SATB
2005 The Screech-Owl (Bestiary), for piano solo
2005 The Disaster, theatre piece for multiple ensembles
2005 Aubade, for oboe and piano (comm. Domimique Enon)
2006 Concertino de Printemps, for piano and orchestra
2007 Trio Concertante, for piano, oboe and bassoon (comm. John Orford)

Arrangements

The Seasons, (Tchaikovsky) for String Quartet
Selection of works by Grieg for String Quartet
Tartini Solo Sonatas for Violin & Harp
Victorian Salon Pieces for Piano Trio
Irish Suite for String Quartet
Francesa da Rimini (Tchaikovsky) for 16-piece orchestra
Sicilian Vespers Ballet Music (Verdi) for 16-piece orchestra