George Dyson
(1883-1964)
Sir
George Dyson was a master of the English choral tradition, and his
Morning Service, Evening Service and Te Deum
display the same pageantry and vigour for which his larger works,
notably the cantata The Canterbury Pilgrims, are renowned.
A Yorkshireman of humble origins, he rose to become a distinguished
public-school teacher, administrator, and in 1937, Director of the
Royal College of Music, where he himself had studied composition
with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.
To the craft and wisdom learnt from his teacher he added a gift
for fresh, vocally conceived tunes, of a youthfulness that defies
fashion, whether in the popular Melody and Intermezzo for
cello and piano or the neglected Symphony, recently revived
to great acclaim.
His study of contemporary compositional techniques,
This Modern Stuff (Oxford1924), was influential for a generation
– the work of a conservative spirit who nonetheless could
regard his subject with impartiality. That kind of honesty reflects
his achievement as a whole, which is why Dyson’s art, in the
integrity of its invention and utterance, continues to grow in reputation.
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