George Dyson: Donald Brook’s Pen-Portrait from 'Composer's Gallery' Part I

Donald Brook wrote a series of books presenting attractive short studies or pen-portraits of a wide variety of musicians and authors. He had met these people and had a chance to speak to them about their achievements and interests. The present study of composer George Dyson was published in Composer’s Gallery (London, Rockliff, 1946)

Sir George Dyson (1883–1964) was an English composer, conductor, and educator known for his accessible yet richly crafted music. Born in Halifax, Yorkshire, he studied under Charles Villiers Stanford at the Royal College of Music. His compositions blend lyrical English traditions with vibrant orchestration, evident in works like The Canterbury Pilgrims, Nebuchadnezzar, and Concerto da Chiesa. As Director of the RCM (1938–1952), he modernized musical education and guided the institution through wartime challenges. Though his music waned in popularity posthumously, later revivals highlighted his contribution to British choral and orchestral repertoire, securing his place in musical history. [1]

ALTHOUGH the greater part of his life has been spent in the teaching of his art, Sir George Dyson's compositions during the past fifteen years [2] have established for him a reputation as a resourceful composer following chiefly the English tradition for oratorio.

He was born at Halifax, Yorkshire, in 1883, studied the organ and composition at the Royal College of Music for four years, won the Mendelssohn Scholarship, and then spent four years in travelling chiefly in Italy and Germany. One of the best of his earliest compositions, the colourful symphonic poem for orchestra Siena, was written while he was in Italy. [3]

During the next six years he held the position of music master in three public schools consecutively: Osborne 1908-1911, Marlborough 1911-1914, and Rugby, where he taught until he embarked upon a period of war service. [4] After taking his doctorate at Oxford in 1918 his next appointment was as organist and head music master at Wellington College in 1921, and later he also began teaching at the Royal College of Music. It was during this period that he wrote his book The New Music. [5]

In 1924 he moved to Winchester College, where he spent thirteen years as music master, and conducted both the local choral society and the amateur orchestra. While he held this appointment he wrote another book The Progress of Music (1932), [6] and composed some of his best works, notably In Honour of the City for choir and orchestra (1928), The Canterbury Pilgrims (1931), St. Paul's Voyage to Melita (first performed at the Hereford Festival in 1933), The Blacksmiths (first heard at Leeds in 1934), and Nebuchadnezzar (first performed at Winchester in 1935 and repeated at Hereford in 1936).

The most important of his earlier works, the set of Three Rhapsodies for String Quartet, [7] has been published by the Carnegie Trust. The Canterbury Pilgrims seems to be his most popular choral work: a colourful setting of Chaucer enriched by brilliant orchestration. It was first performed at Winchester in 1931, but London music lovers will probably remember it by the magnificent rendering given by the Royal Choral Society conducted by Dr. Malcolm Sargent at the Albert Hall in 1939.

Dyson's later works include the Symphony, first played under his own direction by the London Symphony Orchestra at the Queen's Hall [on 16 December] 1937, Quo Vadis for soli, chorus, and orchestra, first performed at the Royal Albert Hall on 12 April 1945, and his recent Violin Concerto, which was introduced to the musical world by Albert Sammons at a concert held in the Cambridge Theatre in the summer of 1942. [8]

George Dyson succeeded Sir Hugh Allen as Director of the Royal College of Music in 1938 and was knighted three years later. When the students at the College offered their congratulations upon the honour conferred upon him, he replied in the following little verse (not his own, by the way): "Some do the work/Some get recognition;/Better join the first;/There's less competition."

Notes
[1] The two key texts for potential students of this composer are George Dyson: Man and Music by Christopher Palmer, (London, Thames Publishing, 1996) and Sir George Dyson: His Life and Music by Paul Spicer, (Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2014)

[2] Brook’s pen-portrait wad written in 1946.

[3] Siena was premiered during a Patron’s Fund Concert at the Queen’s Hall, London on 11 July1907. The work is no longer extant.

[4] During the First World War, Dyson was part of the 99^th Infantry Brigade. Despite not being an expert in hand grenades, he was promoted to Brigade Grenadier Officer and subsequently drew up a training program which was widely printed and circulated.

[5] George Dyson's The New Music was published by Oxford University Press in 1923. It was a contemporary analysis of emerging musical trends, illustrated with examples of the music under discussion.

[6] George Dyson's The Progress of Music explores the historical development of music, examining its evolution across different settings, including the church, the stage, and the concert hall. The book, first published in 1932, provides an insight into the social and artistic forces that shaped musical traditions over time.

[7] The Three Rhapsodies for string quartet, were composed between 1905 and 1912. They were published by the Carnegie Trust in 1920.

[8] According to Paul Spicer (2014) the Violin Concerto was first heard during a BBC Broadcast on 16 February 1942.

To be continued…