Geoffrey Bush

Short bio Geoffrey Bush

Birthday: 1920 in London, England

Died: 1998 in London, England

Active: 1940s - 1980s

Genre: Classical,Avant-Garde

Period: 20th Century, Modern

Full biography Geoffrey Bush

Geoffrey Bush (23 March 1920 – 24 February 1998) was a British composer , teacher, and music scholar known for his contributions to various musical genres. Born in Salisbury, England, Bush attended the Royal College of Music in London and later served in the British Army during World War II. After the war, he returned to the Royal College of Music to teach, where his students included many notable composers.

Bush composed music across a range of genres , including orchestral, chamber, keyboard, choral works , and a large number of songs. He also wrote several operas, such as "The Sugar Reapers" and "The Lion's Skin." Bush's style was heavily influenced by his love for French and Russian music and American musicals, but he emphasized the need for English composers to write in a specifically English voice.

Aside from composing , Bush was also involved in the administration and advocacy of music. He was Chairman for the year of the Composers Guild of Great Britain in 1964 and served as an influential member of the Spitalfields Festival. Bush was also a prolific writer on music, publishing articles and books on a wide range of topics.

Despite his contribution to British music, Bush is not widely recognized outside of specialist circles. However, his work has been championed by various groups, including VocalEssence and Balliol College, which held a centenary concert in his honor in 2020. Overall, Geoffrey Bush was a composer and scholar who made significant contributions to the British musical scene, and his legacy endures through his music and writing.

Compositions featuring Geoffrey Bush

#	Name	Duration	Genre	Year
1	Archy at the Zoo, for soprano & piano	9:54 min	Vocal Music	1994
2	Yesterday, for soprano & piano	13:14 min	Vocal Music	1990
3	Tributes, for clarinet & piano	8:36 min	Chamber Music	1986
4	Mirabile Misterium (A great and mighty wonder), for voice & piano	15:14 min	Vocal Music	1985
5	Love for Such a Cherry Lip, song for soprano & piano	1:28 min	Vocal Music	1984
6	Cuisine Provençale, for soprano & piano	5:29 min	Vocal Music	1982
7	Stevie Smith Songs (2), for voice & piano	3:31 min	Vocal Music	1981
8	Sigh No More, Ladies for voice & piano (from Eight Songs for High Voice)	2:04 min	Vocal Music	1979
9	Eight Songs for High Voice		Vocal Music	1979
10	Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, opera	53:15 min	Opera	1972
11	Medieval Lyrics (5), for voice & piano	11:00 min	Vocal Music	1970
12	A Menagerie for Chorus	5:12 min	Choral	1969
13	Music for orchestra	16:08 min	Orchestral	1967
14	Finale for a Concert, for orchestra	4:45 min	Orchestral	1964
15	Concerto for trumpet, piano & strings	20:44 min	Concerto	1962
16	Concerto for light orchestra	16:54 min	Orchestral	1958
17	Symphony No.2 (The Guildford)	26:47 min	Symphony	1957
18	It Was a Lover and His Lass	1:56 min	Miscellaneous (Classical)	1956
19	Symphony No. 1	27:35 min	Symphony	1954
20	Merciless Beauty, song for voice & piano (from "Four Chaucer Settings")	2:18 min	Vocal Music	1954
21	Farewell Earth's Bliss for baritone & orchestra	18:11 min	Vocal Music	1950
22	Matthew Locke Suite, for string orchestra ("Psyche")	6:17 min	Orchestral	195?
23	Overture, Yorick	8:31 min	Miscellaneous (Classical)	1949
24	Miniatures (2), for string orchestra	6:54 min	Orchestral	1948
25	A Summer Serenade for tenor, chorus, piano & orchestra	20:04 min	Choral	1948
26	A Christmas Cantata, for voice, choir, oboe & orchestra	28:33 min	Choral	1947
27	Sonata for violin & piano	18:31 min	Chamber Music	1945
28	Spring Songs (5), for voice & piano	9:24 min	Vocal Music	1944
29	Divertimento for string orchestra	21:19 min	Orchestral	1943
30	Sinfonietta Concertante, for cello & orchestra	17:08 min	Concerto	1943
31	Rhapsody for clarinet & strings	8:32 min	Concerto	1940
32	A Little Concerto on Theme of Thomas Arne, for piano & strings	10:17 min	Concerto	1939
33	Natus est Immanuel, for string orchestra	6:08 min	Orchestral	1939
34	Songs (4) from The Hesperides, for baritone voice & orchestra, No. 4, "Upon Julia's clothes"	1:13 min	Vocal Music	-
35	Farewell, Earth's Bliss, for baritone voice & orchestra, No. 1, "Sweet day, so cool"	3:56 min	Vocal Music	-
36	Trumpet March, for organ	5:41 min	Keyboard	-
37	Trio for oboe, bassoon & piano	11:19 min	Chamber Music	-
38	Farewell, Earth's Bliss, for baritone voice & orchestra, No. 2, "O, the month of May"	2:32 min	Vocal Music	-
39	The End of Love	13:26 min	Miscellaneous (Classical)	-
40	Farewell, Earth's Bliss, for baritone voice & orchestra, No. 3, "Do not fear to put thy feet"	2:29 min	Vocal Music	-
41	Farewell, Earth's Bliss, for baritone voice & orchestra, No. 4, "Fear no more the hat o' the sun"	3:21 min	Symphony	-
42	Farewell, Earth's Bliss, for baritone voice & orchestra, No. 5, "When May is in his prime"	1:58 min	Vocal Music	-
43	Farewell, Earth's Bliss, for baritone voice & orchestra, No. 6, "Fair pledges of a fruitful tree"	4:21 min	Vocal Music	-
44	Consort Music	10:02 min	Orchestral	-
45	Songs (4) from The Hesperides, for baritone voice & orchestra, No. 3, "To Electra"	1:57 min	Vocal Music	-
46	Songs (4) from The Hesperides, for baritone voice & orchestra, No. 2, "Upon the loss of his Mistresses"	3:06 min	Vocal Music	-
47	Songs (4) from The Hesperides, for baritone voice & orchestra, No. 1, "The Imapatient lover"	1:42 min	Vocal Music	-
48	Songs (4) from "The Hesperides" for baritone & orchestra	8:02 min	Vocal Music	-
49	Songs (3) of Ben Johnson	6:51 min	Vocal Music	-
50	Greek Love Songs for baritone & piano	13:23 min	Vocal Music	-
51	I Saw Three Ships, for chorus & organ	2:29 min	Choral	-
52	In Praise of Mary for chorus		Choral	-

Albums featuring Geoffrey Bush

#	Name album	Year	Music label
1	Addison, Bush, Maconchy, Searle, Rubbra, Benjamin, Simon Callaghan, BBC NOW, Martyn Brabbins – British Piano Concertos(CD, )	2022	Lyrita Recorded Edition
2	Geoffrey Bush, Joseph Horovitz, Susanna Fairbairn, Matthew Schellhorn – Songs(CD, Album)	2017	Naxos
3	Reizenstein, Bush, Ireland, Steinberg Duo – Reizenstein, Bush, Ireland: Violin Sonatas(CD, Album)	2017	Lyrita Recorded Edition
4	Lord Arthur Savile's Crime(CD, Album, Stereo)	2017	Lyrita Recorded Edition
5	Paul, Bush, Cruft, Horovitz, Ridout, MacDonald, Woolfenden, Ian Scott (13), Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Gavin Sutherland (3) – British Clarinet Concertos(CD, )	2003	White Line
6	Edward Elgar, Frank Bridge, Haydn Wood, John Ireland, Frederick Delius, Peter Warlock, Geoffrey Bush, Ralph Vaughan Williams, English Northern Philharmonia, David Lloyd-Jones – English String Miniatures Volume 2(CD, Album)	2001	Naxos
7	Walford Davies, Butterworth, Somervell, Geoffrey Bush, Vaughan Williams - Martin Oxenham, Bingham String Quartet, Katharine Durran – Prospice - Songs With Quartet · Piano(CD, Album)	1994	Duo (5)
8	Geoffrey Bush - Stephen Varcoe, Adrian Thompson, Eric Parkin, Westminster Singers, City Of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox – Summer Serenade(CD, Album, Stereo)	1990	Chandos
9	Geoffrey Bush, English Chamber Orchestra Wind Ensemble – Music For Wind And Piano	1986	Chandos
10	Geoffrey Bush, Malcolm Arnold & Arthur Benjamin – Symphony No. 1 / Sinfonietta No. 1 Op. 48 / Cotillon(LP, Stereo)	1982	Lyrita Recorded Edition
11	Geoffrey Bush - Benjamin Luxon, Ian Partridge, Teresa Cahill – A Little Love Music	1982	Chandos
12	William Alwyn, Francis Chagrin, Malcolm Arnold, Alan Rawsthorne, Geoffrey Bush, Walter Leigh – Overtures	1979	Lyrita Recorded Edition
13	Britten - Holst - Gurney - Quilter - Bush - Warlock – An Album Of English Songs	1977	Enigma Records (8)
14	Maconchy / Bush / Berkeley / Alwyn – Proud Thames / Music For Orchestra / Symphony No.1 / Four Elizabethan Dances	1972	Lyrita Recorded Edition