# Your Ten Favorite British Composers



## StlukesguildOhio

Making out my list of my favorite Russian composers I was somewhat surprised at how few Russian composers there are that I would truly deem "great" (compared to the German/Austrian school)... and yet how much music I have by these same few. I thought I'd throw out the same question for other nationalities. So in this thread... list your *Top Ten French Composers*. How difficult or easy was it to come up with this list? A couple of weeks ago I spent some 3 or 4 days re-organizing my music library: cataloging what I had and re-organizing all the shelves. I was quite surprised at just how much English/British music I have. Any other Anglophiles here? I'll post my own list tomorrow.

:tiphat:


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## Toddlertoddy

1. RVW
2. Bax
3. Ireland
4. Elgar
5. Britten
6. Handel
7. Ferneyhough
8. Alwyn
9. Byrd
10. Bliss


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## Crudblud

I kept seeing composers I really liked and almost every time I had to step back and say "oh, but he's American!" I really think this nation of ours is embarrassingly poor musically (not counting our important contributions in forming metal, punk and derivative genres), as such I came up with three composers I can count among my general favourites.

1. Michael Tippett
2. John Foulds
3. Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji

Honourable mentions to Purcell, Elgar, Brian and Britten, some good pieces but not particularly impressive on the whole.


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## starthrower

Umm? I'll get back to you. Maybe?

Er... I'll just go with one. 

Britten, for his Cello Symphony, and Cello Suites.


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## HarpsichordConcerto

British? Hint: my Avatar. (Screw the rest).


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## starthrower

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> British? Hint: my Avatar. (Screw the rest).


Hallelujah, Hallelujah... my mother's favorite!


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## Arsakes

Goddammit! Händel is German!

1. R.V.W
2. Elgar
3. Britten
4. Purcell


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## drpraetorus

I can't think of ten british composers, let alone ten good ones.


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## violadude

I find it really hard to rank, but these are my top 10 British composers in some order.

Rubbra, Maxwell-Davies, Britten, Bax, RVW, J. Harvey, Purcell, Alwyn, Sorabji, Ferneyhough


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## norman bates

actually i'm incredibly ignorant but if it's just a list of those who i find interesting at the moment i would say something like this

benjamin britten
frederick delius
john foulds
peter warlock
john dowland
ralph vaughan williams
henry purcell
kaikhosru shapurji sorabji
gustav holst
arnold bax 
lord berners

but there are too many composers (even in this list) i know for few works (tippett, purcell, elgar, byrd etc) or i don't know at all.


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## joen_cph

Elgar + Bax
Delius
V-Williams
Rubbra
Britten
Bridge
Brian
Foulds
Moeran
Alwyn

(William Baines)


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## Couchie

StlukesguildOhio said:


> *Your Ten Favorite British Composers*





StlukesguildOhio said:


> So in this thread... list your *Top Ten French Composers*.


Indeed, my top 10 favourite British composers are all German.


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## Art Rock

Bax
Moeran
Vaughan Williams
Alwyn
Britten
Finzi
Ireland
Bantock
Stanford
Maxwell Davies

and so many others. Did not even have space for Elgar in the top 10.


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## SottoVoce

For a long time, I don't think British culture took music of their own country very seriously, or music at all; it came with their rejection of metaphysics, something that they saw music embodied. Their culture focused more on poetry and literature, suited to their concrete and practical way of thought (equally as legitimate as the abstract). However, the Renaissance composers, Byrd and Gibbons, are some that I hold closest to my heart, and I remember as a child having a very solemn experience with Britten's War Requiem; it had a large effect on me as a preteen, trying to understand human aggression and hatred. I still don't understand anything about it, but I remember occupying myself with the topic for a long time.


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## mamascarlatti

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> British? Hint: my Avatar. (Screw the rest).


HC, please, what about Britten?


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## mamascarlatti

Handel
Britten
Purcell
Blow
Arne
Birtwistle
Elgar
RVW
Holst
Delius


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## HarpsichordConcerto

mamascarlatti said:


> Handel
> Britten
> Purcell
> Blow
> Arne
> Birtwistle
> Elgar
> RVW
> Holst
> Delius


As requested by my friend, I also happen to concur with her fine selection of ten personal favourite British composers as listed above.


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## joen_cph

*Birtwistle* due to his vocal music ? Interesting ...


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## elgar's ghost

1/ Britten
2/ Simpson
3/ Tippett
4/ V-W
5/ Elgar
6/ Ades
7/ Walton
8/ Handel
9/ Arnold
= 10/ Rawsthorne, Bridge, Delius, Holst


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## emiellucifuge

1. Vaughan Williams
2. Bantock
3. Britten
4. Purcell
5. Byrd
6. Parry
7. Warlock
8. Walton
9. Bax
10. Rubbra


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## PetrB

_Can Haendel really be counted as a 'British composer?'_


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## Art Rock

Well, he became a British subject in 1727, and lived for another 32 years. Still would not make my top 10 though.


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## jalex

emiellucifuge said:


> 6. Parry


I'm glad someone mentioned Parry. He was an important figure in the revival of quality English music; he taught RVW, Holst and Bridge and his music was very influential on Elgar. Although I'm not a fan of British music in general I actually quite like some of Parry's stuff.


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## Klavierspieler

1. Britten
2. Dowland
3. Elgar
4. Walton
5. Byrd
6. Vaughan Williams
7. Tallis
8. Bull
9. Taverner (not Tavener)
10. Gibbons

I need to try some Ferneyhough.


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## waldvogel

1. Handel
2. Elgar
3. Vaughan Williams
4. Purcell
5. Britten
6. Delius
7. Walton
8. Bax
9. Holst
10. Gibbons


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## TresPicos

1. Alwyn
2. Bridge
3. Walton
4. Handel
5. Vaughan Williams
6. Maconchy
7. Beamish
8. Holst
9. Delius
10. Ireland


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## mleghorn

Elgar is my favorite British composer. After that, I like RVW and Holst. After that, Britten. I don't really consider Handel to be a British composer.


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## Jeremy Marchant

Michael Tippett, overwhelmingly first, and also
Harrison Birtwistle
Havergal Brian
Benjamin Britten
Gavin Bryars
Jonathan Harvey
Robin Holloway
Michael Nyman
Robert Simpson
Mark-Anthony Turnage

Can't say that Brian Ferneyhough, or even Peter Maxwell Davies, actually do much for me


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## Art Rock

I can't believe I forgot Malcolm Arnold and Gavin Bryars....


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## StlukesguildOhio

*My Top Ten Favorite British Composers:*

1. Ralph Vaughan-Williams
2. Benjamin Britten
3. Frederick Delius
4. John Dowland
5. Henry Purcell
6. James MacMillan 
7. Herbert Howells
8. Thomas tallis
9. John Taverner
10. Arnold Bax

Other composers of note: Edward Elgar, John Moeran, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, John Sheppard, John Cooper (AKA Giovanni Coprario), John Field, William Walton, Gerald Raphael Finzi, Granville Bantock, John Tavener, John Rutter, and the composers of the _Eton Choirbook_ (John Browne, Richard Davy, Walter Lambe, etc...). Obvious Handel would be no. 1... but I'll stick with him as German.

Now what's with the British composers and the name "John"?

For a long time, I don't think British culture took music of their own country very seriously, or music at all; it came with their rejection of metaphysics, something that they saw music embodied. Their culture focused more on poetry and literature...

I agree with this to a certain extent... and I would point out that the visual arts were just as neglected in a sense in Britain after the Renaissance... or even the Gothic... until the Romantic period. I suspect that much of this has to do with the iconoclasm of the Protestants. At the same time... while Britain failed to develop its own native geniuses in painting, sculpture, and music, they were incredibly supportive of the arts and of artists from abroad. I think here of painters such as Hans Holbein, Anthony van Dyck, Peter Paul Rubens, Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto), Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, Henry Fuseli (all of whom spent extended periods of time in England... and sold many paintings to English buyers). In music we have not only Handel and his singers and his competitors, but also the development of first rate public theaters and orchestras. Haydn and Beethoven both benefited from English commissions... and Mozart unfortunately turned down an offer similar to that of Haydn.


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## Prodromides

1. Richard Rodney Bennett
2. Tristram Cary
3. Humphrey Searle
4. Benjamin Frankel
5. Elisabeth Lutyens
6. Wilfred Josephs
7. Alun Hoddinott

[my top 7 had each scored at least one Hammer Film production  ]

8. Thea Musgrave
9. Bernard Rands
10. Robert Saxton


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## jalex

StlukesguildOhio said:


> John Rutter


Wait, what? This name seems out of place. This the guy who mostly writes carols and occasionally dabbles in serious music (without much success)?


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## tdc

1) Britten
2) Handel
3) Purcell
4) Dowland
5) Brian
6) Walton


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## StlukesguildOhio

Wait, what? This name seems out of place. This the guy who mostly writes carols and occasionally dabbles in serious music (without much success)?

What can I say... I'm a big fan of choral music. I like his Requiem and a number of other short choral works... but I agree that he's also written a lot of sappy crap. That's why he didn't make my top-ten. John Tavener is certainly far better... as well as James MacMillan. But I've heard worse. I made the mistake of picking up of one of Karl Jenkins works of choral music... worse than Katherine Jenkins. At least she looks good.


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## bigshot

My favorite British composers are Eric Coates and Robert Farnon, but you guys probably turn your nose up at them.


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## hocket

1. Thomas Tallis
2. William Byrd
3. Orlando Gibbons
4. Henry Purcell
5. William Lawes
6. John Dowland
7. Dr John Bull
8. John Dunstable
9. Ralph Vaughan Williams
10. Edward Elgar

Close calls: John Field, Charles Avison, John Jenkins


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## moody

drpraetorus said:


> I can't think of ten british composers, let alone ten good ones.


Boy you do have a problem.


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## clavichorder

In order of favorites:

William Byrd-Elizebethan 
Benjamin Britten-Early to Mid Modern
John Dowland-Elizebethan
John Bull-Elizebethan
Henry Purcell-Mid Baroque
Thomas Arne-Roccoco
Orlando Gibbons-Elizebethan-Early Baroque
William Boyce-Late Baroque and Roccoco
Gustav Holst-Late Romantic Early Modern
Arthur Sullivan-light romanticism

And John Field, the Irish Chopin predecessor is in a category unto himself.


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## Art Rock

bigshot said:


> My favorite British composers are Eric Coates and Robert Farnon, but you guys probably turn your nose up at them.


My nose is not turned. I love the British Light Music Classics, and own the Hyperion series.


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## Vesteralen

Tough one. I'm embarrassed to admit I've never listened in a concentrated way to Benjamin Britten, so I can't include him in my list (along with several other composers mentioned above).

Of the ones I do know:

1 Elgar
2 RVW
3 Alwyn
4 Arnold
5 Walton / Handel tie
6 Parry
7 Sullivan
8 Dowland
9 Purcell
10 Carl Davis (born in US, but as British as Handel)

Honorables: Delius, Byrd, Bax, Boyce, Dunstable, Tallis, Simpson, Bantock, George Lloyd



I've only heard H. Brian's Gothic symphony, and I was thoroughly confused....


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## cjvinthechair

moody said:


> Boy you do have a problem.


Gee, yes, Mr. Moody, I agree it is indeed sad to read such a comment - don't think either of us needs to add any names to those splendid ones already mentioned, but maybe suggest a bit of listening homework for 'drpraetorus' !


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## bigshot

Art Rock said:


> My nose is not turned. I love the British Light Music Classics, and own the Hyperion series.


I cut music for a TV show that used the British KPM library, and these composers did spectacular work for that collection that is still among the most relevant library music ever created. Every time I hear it on TV or the radio, I marvel at how something created over 60 years ago could still be in use without seeming at all dated. The sophistication of the arrangements, the spirited conducting, the variety of moods... All absolutely perfect.

When the show was over, I swept all my library CDs in my bag and took them home. I actually listen to them for pleasure. That's the mark of good library music.


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## moody

cjvinthechair said:


> Gee, yes, Mr. Moody, I agree it is indeed sad to read such a comment - don't think either of us needs to add any names to those splendid ones already mentioned, but maybe suggest a bit of listening homework for 'drpraetorus' !


So many American members seem to appreciate British music. Bernstein by the way did,but there is so much to choose from across the board.


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## moody

I've just been watching the BBC Symphony and Martin Brabbins do Elgars 1st. Symphony at the Proms it really is an imposing piece of music.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Michael Nyman
Brian Ferneyhough
Britten
Purcell
Adès
Byrd
Tallis
Mark-Anthony Turnage
Dowland
John Bull

That would be all.


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## clavichorder

RULE BRITANNIA!


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## hocket

SottoVoce said:


> For a long time, I don't think British culture took music of their own country very seriously, or music at all; it came with their rejection of metaphysics, something that they saw music embodied.


I suspect that's a red herring, though one I've heard several times before, used to try and explain the paucity of British music during the Classical and most of the Romantic era. I think StLuke's is on the right track regarding Protestantism. I believe it actually happened due to the collapse of traditional patronage networks. From medieval times the Cathedrals and monasteries nurtured the talent, the cream of which would aspire to serve in the Royal chapel.

A series of forces broke up this pattern. Firstly Protestantism with a significant portion of the religious outlook being opposed to 'showy' music in church resulting in them becoming far less significant as nurseries over time. Added to this is increasing secularization in society as a whole and the religious aspects of music becoming far less important -again a blow to the importance and usefulness of the musical establishments of the church. Finally increasing democratization sees the centrality of royal service decline and the role of the royal chapel decreases accordingly. That Britain was the European country that developed first in terms of secularization and democratization from the 17th through the 19th C's this meant that they were facing unprecedented problems. Unfortunately they seem to have failed to find a response that would produce stable and consistent institutions or patronage structures that were needed until the late 19th C (at best!).

Hey *StLuke's*, I think you're overstating the painting a bit. Sure we certainly don't have a legacy comparable in depth and variety to, say, Italy or France in earlier times but I can't help but feel that it begins to flourish a couple of generations earlier than you suggest (Hogarth, Reynolds, Wright, Gainsborough?). Even before that saying that there were no painters of genius is a bit extreme -what about Hilliard or Dobson? Anyway, sorry to come over all jingoistic all of a sudden but I felt honour must be satisfied (!).


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## Arsakes

I forgot about all Renaissance composers, in these favorite composers topics.
John Dowland though I haven't heard many works from him, is another British for me.


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## LordBlackudder

Jason Page
Nathan McCree
Grant Kirkhope
Tim Wright
Allister Brimble
Bob and Barn
Nitin Sawhney
Stuart Chatwood
Russell Shaw
Harry Gregson Williams


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## moody

LordBlackudder said:


> Jason Page
> Nathan McCree
> Grant Kirkhope
> Tim Wright
> Allister Brimble
> Bob and Barn
> Nitin Sawhney
> Stuart Chatwood
> Russell Shaw
> Harry Gregson Williams


Bob and Barn, I love them to bits !!


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## bigshot

Britain was one of the main birthplaces of satirical cartooning... Gillray, Cruickshank... All the way through Punch. I think that alone qualifies England as an artistic powerhouse.


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## norman bates

norman bates said:


> benjamin britten
> frederick delius
> john foulds
> peter warlock
> john dowland
> ralph vaughan williams
> henry purcell
> kaikhosru shapurji sorabji
> gustav holst
> arnold bax
> lord berners
> 
> but there are too many composers (even in this list) i know for few works (tippett, purcell, elgar, byrd etc) or i don't know at all.


i've changed my mind, Delius first, Britten second.


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## Prodromides

norman bates said:


> but there are too many composers (even in this list) i know for few works (tippett, purcell, elgar, byrd etc) or i don't know at all.


Hi, norman bates.

If you are interested in exploring further, then might I suggest this one book which taps into an area that is rarely observed? - the interface between the music written for film and music for the concert hall, and how some film scores echo the aesthetics of post-WWII absolute music.










Britain's Hammer films, especially those made between 1958 and 1972, provided cinematic sandboxes in which contemporary composers could roam more freely than usual.


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## xRIOSxx

I can't think of 10 british composers off the top of my head, but I'll say my favorite is RVW, simply because I play tuba and his concerto is the greatest of them all.


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## StlukesguildOhio

Hey StLuke's, I think you're overstating the painting a bit. Sure we certainly don't have a legacy comparable in depth and variety to, say, Italy or France in earlier times but I can't help but feel that it begins to flourish a couple of generations earlier than you suggest (Hogarth, Reynolds, Wright, Gainsborough?). Even before that saying that there were no painters of genius is a bit extreme -what about Hilliard or Dobson? Anyway, sorry to come over all jingoistic all of a sudden but I felt honour must be satisfied (!).

I actually quite like Hogarth, Reynolds, Raeburn... and certainly Gainsborough... but none of them really has an "international" status ala Holbein, Van Dyck, Canaletto, or Rubens... among the foreign artists collected/patronized... to say nothing of French contemporaries such as Fragonard, Boucher, Chardin, Watteau, J.L. David, and Delacroix... or Goya in Spain. From the Renaissance to Romanticism I would say that it was probably Rubens and his former apprentice and assistant, Anthony van Dyck who had the most profound impact on British art.

Van Dyck's elegant portraits establish a portrait type...










that would be embraced by generations of British portrait painters... most obvious being Gainsborough:










Rubens, on the other hand, provided the model of the Romantic landscape:










that was more important than even the Dutch landscapes in providing inspiration to Gainsborough:










Constable:










and J.M.W. Turner:










*****


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## StlukesguildOhio

English painting really comes into its own again with the great Romantics... although in many ways I don't think their achievements were really recognized until quite a bit later. The strength of the artists of this period was their very insularity... which led them to break away from the mold of what was happening in painting throughout France and the rest of Europe.

First you have William Blake:










Blake is often grossly underestimated and misrepresented as a naive and untutored painter. In reality, Blake's formal education was taken with a very traditional print-maker... an engraver at a time when mezzotint and lithography was replacing the older, slower methods of print making. Mezzotint and lithography also allowed for subtle transitions of shading facilitating an imitation of the painterly styles of Goya, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, etc... Engraving stressed line... and Blake's studies focused upon artists who were masters of line: Durer, Michelangelo, Raphael. He also spent long periods of time studying an making copies of English medieval sculpture (a huge tome on the Ecclesiastical sculpture of medieval Britain was the main source of his teacher's income). Thus Blake's work rejected all the accepted standards of the period. He preferred watercolor over oils feeling that the medium was both closer to the frescoes of Michelangelo and Raphael, and that it suited his ideal of an illustrative art that combined text and image. His "distortions" were not the result of incompetence, but rather of his admiration of the expressive abstractions of Medieval art. As a result, Blake can be seen as one of the first Expressionists. His works clearly had a huge impact upon the entire subsequent tradition of English "book arts".

Constable and Turner both continued to push the potential of watercolor... which had long been employed mostly by women or tourists seeking to capture the scenes from their travels. Both artists made great use of the fluidity of the media:



















It's Turner who is the first "great" artist for whom Landscape was the central subject matter. Turner pushes the expressive possibilities of landscape to the point that there is no questioning that these paintings of landscapes can rival the finest history paintings, mythologies, religious narratives, etc...




























Turner and Constable's impact will be huge... in part due to the hostilities between France and Germany & Italy which led Monet to make the obligatory artist's "grand tour" of England as opposed to Italy. There is no questioning the fact that Turner's paintings continued to resonate until Abstract Expressionism... and even in the huge battered landscapes of Anselm Kiefer.

*****


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## StlukesguildOhio

From Romanticism on, British art will remain a major force... even if it was not recognized as such at the time. The British academics and Pre-Rapahelites are often dismissed as tired reactionaries at the time of Impressionism and Modernism...





































But one cannot help but recognize that these Victorian paintings established the model for Science-Fiction/Fantasy illustration... all the way through the look of The Lord of the Rings films.

English art today is unfortunately hampered by the fact that the market is essentially dominated by one collector, Charles Saatchi, and his toady... the director of the Tate, Nicolas Serota. From the 1960s through the 1990s English painting was on the leading edge with artists such as Richard Hamilton, Peter Blake, David Hockney, R.B. Kitaj, Alan Jones, John Bellany, Lucian Freud, Leon Kosoff, Frank Auerbach... and even Jack Vettriano... despised by the art academia... but beloved by the public.


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## hocket

> I actually quite like Hogarth, Reynolds, Raeburn... and certainly Gainsborough... but none of them really has an "international" status ala Holbein, Van Dyck, Canaletto, or Rubens... among the foreign artists collected/patronized... to say nothing of French contemporaries such as Fragonard, Boucher, Chardin, Watteau, J.L. David, and Delacroix... or Goya in Spain. From the Renaissance to Romanticism I would say that it was probably Rubens and his former apprentice and assistant, Anthony van Dyck who had the most profound impact on British art.


I wouldn't necessarily disagree with your assessment of Van Dyck's. Nonetheless, the like of Hogarth, Reynolds and Gainsborough can expect to be treated in any text book on the history of art, and Wright too in more modern ones so I can't help but feel that you're expressing a more personal preference than some 'international' consensus (ironically it's the Pre-Raphaelites, who you enthuse over, that have tended to be left out in the cold and been disparaged by comparison with the likes of French Impressionism -but they have been becoming far more fashionable in recent times).


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## moody

SottoVoce said:


> For a long time, I don't think British culture took music of their own country very seriously, or music at all; it came with their rejection of metaphysics, something that they saw music embodied. Their culture focused more on poetry and literature, suited to their concrete and practical way of thought (equally as legitimate as the abstract). However, the Renaissance composers, Byrd and Gibbons, are some that I hold closest to my heart, and I remember as a child having a very solemn experience with Britten's War Requiem; it had a large effect on me as a preteen, trying to understand human aggression and hatred. I still don't understand anything about it, but I remember occupying myself with the topic for a long time.


What a strange post.
London alone has five world class symphony orchestras ,it also has Covent Garden Opera and the Royal ballet.
The BBC is probably the best radio service for every type of music in the world.


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## norman bates

Prodromides said:


> Hi, norman bates.
> 
> If you are interested in exploring further, then might I suggest this one book which taps into an area that is rarely observed? - the interface between the music written for film and music for the concert hall, and how some film scores echo the aesthetics of post-WWII absolute music.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Britain's Hammer films, especially those made between 1958 and 1972, provided cinematic sandboxes in which contemporary composers could roam more freely than usual.


Sorry, i hadn't read your post. Thank you!


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## StlukesguildOhio

I wouldn't necessarily disagree with your assessment of Van Dyck's. Nonetheless, the like of Hogarth, Reynolds and Gainsborough can expect to be treated in any text book on the history of art, and Wright too in more modern ones so I can't help but feel that you're expressing a more personal preference than some 'international' consensus...

Most of the large art historical surveys that I have come across barely mention 18th century British painting. Most of the surveys of that period focus upon the French, early Goya, and such Italians as Canaletto and Tiepolo. The French painters Watteau, Boucher, and Fragonard are valued for their painterliness which points toward Impressionism, while Chardin is seen as almost a precursor to Cezanne. Honestly I think many Americans are more familiar with the English painters are the period than the French, Germans, Russians, Spanish, Italians, etc... simply due to the ties between the countries... and the fact that many of the early American painters (Gilbert Stuart, Benjamin West, etc...) studied in England. However... to be quite honest... the whole of the period from the end of the Baroque to the start of Romanticism is rather rapidly glossed over in most art history surveys... and the artists... even the French... are not of the greatest interest to most artists.

ironically it's the Pre-Raphaelites, who you enthuse over, that have tended to be left out in the cold and been disparaged by comparison with the likes of French Impressionism -but they have been becoming far more fashionable in recent times

Don'r get me wrong. I would not begin to suggest that the Pre-Raphaelites or the British Academics are in any way on the same level as the greatest French artists of the period from Ingres and Courbet through Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. I merely meant to point out their impact upon illustration which carried over into the 20th century and many of the traditions of science-fiction/fantasy imagery. I would also point out that both the British, French... and Russian Academics have enjoyed an increasing popularity with the audience outside of those formally educated in the Modernist narrative... and within the so-called art world by an increasing number of artists/critics/historians since the opening of the Musée d'Orsay and the re-examination of art outside of the traditional Modernist narrative.


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## hocket

StlukesguildOhio said:


> However... to be quite honest... the whole of the period from the end of the Baroque to the start of Romanticism is rater rapidly glossed over in most art history surveys... and the artists... even the French... are not of the greatest interest to most artists.


Well, thankfully not in any that I own. It seems a great shame that any would adopt any such approach, for me Fragonard is one of the most extraordinarily gifted painters ever and Chardin, whilst far less blessed in that regard, is simply the most intimate and exquisite painter, with a rare insight (he does way more for me than Cezanne).

Anyway, sorry to continue the OT ramble -back to your Top Tens!


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## StlukesguildOhio

Well, thankfully not in any that I own. It seems a great shame that any would adopt any such approach, for me Fragonard is one of the most extraordinarily gifted painters ever and Chardin, whilst far less blessed in that regard, is simply the most intimate and exquisite painter, with a rare insight (he does way more for me than Cezanne).

I quite like Fragonard myself as well as Watteau... in whom I find an almost Mozartian undercurrent of melancholy... and an awareness of the fragility and transience of the surface elements of youth and romantic love and beauty. I'll even admit to a certain decadent love of Boucher... especially these few paintings:




























The guy was also a marvelous draftsman:




























Anyway, sorry to continue the OT ramble -back to your Top Tens!

Top Ten Decadent French Painters?

Top Ten 18th Century British Portraitists?

Top Ten American Limners?


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## tonal

Good to see some Hoddinott. I have been investigating this composer - very rewarding it has been to.
I would recommend his orchestral disc by the Welsh Orchestra of the BBC (Chandos label containing works Lanternes des Mort, A Contemplation upon Flowers and the world class 6th Symphony) and also a a recent disc of his song cycles entitles Landscapes (BMS label) performed by leading singers and pianist from the UK


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## hpowders

Elgar and Walton.


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## samurai

Vaughan Williams is tops in my book! :tiphat:


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## PetrB

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> British? Hint: my Avatar. (Screw the rest).


Interesting: 'Representing Britain, a nationalized imported German composer.


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## AClockworkOrange

I'm still exploring but I can say:
- Gustav Holst
- Ralph Vaughan Williams
- Arnold Bax
- Havergal Brian
- Benjamin Britten (Mainly Chamber, Orchestral and The Turn of the Screw)
- Frederick Delius
- Arthur Bliss
- Granville Bantock
- Frank Bridge


----------



## moody

PetrB said:


> Interesting: 'Representing Britain, a nationalized imported German composer.


We've been this route before.
Which country do you imagine Offenbach might represent ?


----------



## SiegendesLicht

StlukesguildOhio said:


> But one cannot help but recognize that these Victorian paintings established the model for Science-Fiction/Fantasy illustration... all the way through the look of The Lord of the Rings films.


Don't forget this British Victorian fantasy art:





















illustrations to Wagner's Ring, made by Arthur Rackham in 1910-11.


----------



## hpowders

Elaboration:

Elgar for his violin concerto and Enigma Variations.

Walton for his violin concerto.


----------



## Ukko

I hadn't seen this thread before. It surprised me that any non-Brit could have 10 favorite British composers, but then realized that the circa-1600 guys count. Shucks, even I could probably come up with 10, counting those. But it would be work, and I ain't working today.


----------



## PetrB

moody said:


> We've been this route before.
> Which country do you imagine Offenbach might represent ?


Yes we have. Generally, outside of Britain, Handel is a German composer who took British Citizenship and lived a good deal of his life there, wrote a great deal of his music there.

For the Brits, he is 'A British Composer.'

There will be no settling this or alteration of opinion between the Brits who so want him to be British and those who know he is German.

[[ Edit Add: adoption, adopting or being adopted, makes you certainly familial, but does not change your genetic heritage one jot, your cultural heritage some, if done when still a youngster. Handel arrived in England fully grown and most importantly, fully developed as a composer. ]]

Stravinsky and Schoenberg are not "American" composers, lol.


----------



## starry

PetrB said:


> For the Brits, he is 'A British Composer.'


That's an overstatement. To some he's simply 'a composer'. And you could argue I suppose that he wrote works for British performers, wrote works in English and became part of an English tradition. JS Bach is arguably much more German, not that Germany even existed then anyway. Not that it really matters either, classical music is more a universal endeavour and not a narrow nationalist one.


----------



## mikey

I know at least 10 British composers but don't know enough of their music to make a valid judgement.

Aside from Elgar and VW who would be top 2 (if Handel counts, 3), Rutter and Bridge.
Of the arguably 'top tiers' - only like 2 pieces of Britten, haven't heard enough Purcell, only know 2 pieces of Holst, like what I've heard of Delius and Arnold, mixed on Walton.


----------



## Couac Addict

Whilst somewhat off-topic, who says _British_ outside of USA?

...well, there is that airline company that's quite fond of Lakme.


----------



## Winterreisender

Top 10:
1. Vaughan Williams
2. Elgar
3. Dowland
4. Holst
5. Purcell
6. Tallis
7. Byrd
8. Finzi
9. Walton
10. Boyce

Least favourite British composers:
1. Parry
2. Stanford

Edit: whoops, forgot about Britten. Would put him around 5th (in the 'favourites' list).


----------



## PetrB

Couac Addict said:


> Whilst somewhat off-topic, who says _British_ outside of USA?
> 
> ...well, there is that airline company that's quite fond of Lakme.


I know its off topic, but since it is clear that for many, British composers aren't on any of their lists, and the thread being a semi-bust as to that purpose...

...depending upon political weather, perhaps, but most of the Brits I've met while they were abroad like to make the distinction that they are British vs. being mistaken for some other stripe of "from the U.K." (Heaven forfend you might think they are Welsh, Scots or Irish, after all.)

Chalk it up to mankind's near universal inclination to the most immediate regional / local parochialism.

Besides, "He's not gay; he's just British" (is that saying also exclusively American?) loses its consonant punch if you say "English" instead


----------



## Ingélou

'British' is a pretty common term in the UK! If you are of 'mixed ancestry' like me (half Scots/half English) or Taggart (half Scots/ half Irish stock), then 'British' is the best way to say it. 

My top ten:
1. Purcell
2. Byrd
3. Dowland
4. 'minor English baroque' composers: Hayes, Mudge, Avison, Jeremiah Clarke
5. Tallis
6. Sullivan (I love G & S, so there!)
6. Granville Bantock
7. Ralph Vaughan Williams
8. Holst
9. Elgar
10. Horrible Henry VIII


----------



## moody

PetrB said:


> I know its off topic, but since it is clear that for many, British composers aren't on any of their lists, and the thread being a semi-bust as to that purpose...
> 
> ...depending upon political weather, perhaps, but most of the Brits I've met while they were abroad like to make the distinction that they are British vs. being mistaken for some other stripe of "from the U.K." (Heaven forfend you might think they are Welsh, Scots or Irish, after all.)
> 
> Chalk it up to mankind's near universal inclination to the most immediate regional / local parochialism.
> 
> Besides, "He's not gay; he's just British" (is that saying also exclusively American?) loses its consonant punch if you say "English" instead


You,ve got it all wrong regarding Britain---again !!
You remind me of an American film about Britain Dick van **** style ,the most infamous ac cent of all time.
I always say that I'm English,all Scots make quite sure that you are aware of their wonderful country of origin ---altho' none of them actually stay there you notice. I think you might be in trouble with an Irishman from the Republic if you call him British and the Welsh speak Welsh so you can't tell that they are insulting you. They also make quite sure that ad nauseum that you know they are from the same place as Richard Burton.
As for the "gay" thing at the end,I bet you get a lot of punches in the hooter.
Lastly, all Londoners say they are from London and not by the way London,England---there is only one !!
I just noticed Mollie's post and I'm sorry it's not common at all , except for people who might be half and half, what makes you half Scottish where were you born ?


----------



## moody

PetrB said:


> Yes we have. Generally, outside of Britain, Handel is a German composer who took British Citizenship and lived a good deal of his life there, wrote a great deal of his music there.
> 
> For the Brits, he is 'A British Composer.'
> 
> There will be no settling this or alteration of opinion between the Brits who so want him to be British and those who know he is German.
> 
> [[ Edit Add: adoption, adopting or being adopted, makes you certainly familial, but does not change your genetic heritage one jot, your cultural heritage some, if done when still a youngster. Handel arrived in England fully grown and most importantly, fully developed as a composer. ]]
> 
> Stravinsky and Schoenberg are not "American" composers, lol.


I notice that you made no comment re: Offenbach.


----------



## senza sordino

I'm not sure I can name 10, so I'm not sure why I'm participating in this post! 
Britten
Holst
Elgar
RWV
Bax
Sullivan
Delius
Lennon / McCartney?
does Handel count?


----------



## Ukko

PetrB said:


> I know its off topic, but since it is clear that for many, British composers aren't on any of their lists, and the thread being a semi-bust as to that purpose...
> 
> ...depending upon political weather, perhaps, but most of the Brits I've met while they were abroad like to make the distinction that they are British vs. being mistaken for some other stripe of "from the U.K." (Heaven forfend you might think they are Welsh, Scots or Irish, after all.)
> 
> Chalk it up to mankind's near universal inclination to the most immediate regional / local parochialism.
> 
> Besides, "He's not gay; he's just British" (is that saying also exclusively American?) loses its consonant punch if you say "English" instead


The English I've met while abroad were English, and the Scots were Scots. The Irish were Irish - except that the Ulstermen were... Ulstermen _and_ Irish, and not at all Brits.

Hah. When those folks inquired, I told them I was a Vermonter. None of them had a problem with that except for the geography (Vermont being somewhere around New Jersey, best guess.


----------



## Ingélou

moody said:


> I just noticed Mollie's post and I'm sorry it's not common at all , except for people who might be half and half, what makes you half Scottish where were you born ?


Oh, moody, it *is* a common term. Don't you often hear people joking, 'the best of British luck!' - 'he came last - so British!' - 'No sex please - we're British!' - 'honest British cooking!' This sort of self-deprecation is itself so 'British', a sort of affectionate humour shared by Welsh, English & Scottish people. I agree that with all the thoughts of Scottish independence, it's a *less* common term these days, though. And very sad too - I'd hate to see the break up of the United Kingdom.

The Union of Scotland with England & Wales* has made Britain 'Great' for the last three hundred years. The perfect symbol of that union for me is the friendship of James Boswell and Doctor Johnson: teasing humour and great affection.

On my own nationality, I was born & brought up in England, but my father was a Scot from Dundee, I married a Scot, studied Scottish literature at university, and over my lifetime have stayed in Scotland many, many times. Like many in the UK, I am a mixture, and I love both my contributing countries. If I said I was 'Scottish', with my English accent, other people would give me the lie. But if I said I was 'English', my own heart would give me the lie. That is why only 'British' covers it for me.

Rant over - but while I'm at it, Handel may have been a German, but he chose in his heart to be English! 

(*  I'm not getting into the Irish Question... )


----------



## KenOC

If I can remember the story...a British gentleman was asked to make a speech at his club on the nature of sex. He was pleased to do so, but was a bit embarrassed and told his wife that he was going to speak on airplane travel.

After the speech, somebody asked his wife what she thought about her husband's speech. She replied, "Oh, he tried it once but got a nosebleed."


----------



## PetrB

moody said:


> I notice that you made no comment re: Offenbach.


I still haven't answered re: Offenbach because I'm familiar with a bit of it only. I don't know enough to guess what nationality or mixed national influence is part of his musical fingerprints.

Born in Germany, left there at age 14 to study at the Paris Conservatoire, dropped out after one year and then made his way as a free-lance performing instrumentalist. He remained in France, and well after his success and general acceptance, Napoleon III granted him French citizenship (_as well as the Légion d'Honneur_ -- [[I had to look this all up]]

If you wish to be most literal about 'your place,' then surely, one can only come from one place, and that is for most, the place you were born. By that, both Handel and Offenbach are German composers.

The music of Handel is certainly nothing to do with having been musically formed within the spheres of English musical influences, nor did his music go some dramatic change of manner once he had moved to England. This, the basis of the musical fingerprints throughout the body of his works, wherever written, is why so many say Handel is a German Composer.

Offenbach, at a toss guess might be a mixed influence bag, having emigrated to France at age 14, dropped out of any further formal training at age 15 (_Lol, I think we're talking yet another notable genius_) with what music we have from him all coming later. If a latest change of citizenship is your definition of where you are from and all you brought with it, then Offenbach too, is "A German Composer."

People move around, adopt new places and nationalities... Stravinsky, polyglot, left Russia, lived in and became first French and later, American. Stravinsky is a Russian Composer, no?

There is this joke: 
By all normal impulse, the French would claim Chopin. They don't because they have plenty genius composers of their own.


----------



## moody

PetrB said:


> I still haven't answered re: Offenbach because I'm familiar with a bit of it only. I don't know enough to guess what nationality or mixed national influence is part of his musical fingerprints.
> 
> Born in Germany, left there at age 14 to study at the Paris Conservatoire, dropped out after one year and then made his way as a free-lance performing instrumentalist. He remained in France, and well after his success and general acceptance, Napoleon III granted him French citizenship (_as well as the Légion d'Honneur_ -- [[I had to look this all up]]
> 
> If you wish to be most literal about 'your place,' then surely, one can only come from one place, and that is for most, the place you were born. By that, both Handel and Offenbach are German composers.
> 
> The music of Handel is certainly nothing to do with having been musically formed within the spheres of English musical influences, nor did his music go some dramatic change of manner once he had moved to England. This, the basis of the musical fingerprints throughout the body of his works, wherever written, is why so many say Handel is a German Composer.
> 
> Offenbach, at a toss guess might be a mixed influence bag, having emigrated to France at age 14, dropped out of any further formal training at age 15 (_Lol, I think we're talking yet another notable genius_) with what music we have from him all coming later. If a latest change of citizenship is your definition of where you are from and all you brought with it, then Offenbach too, is "A German Composer."
> 
> People move around, adopt new places and nationalities... Stravinsky, polyglot, left Russia, lived in and became first French and later, American. Stravinsky is a Russian Composer, no?
> 
> There is this joke:
> By all normal impulse, the French would claim Chopin. They don't because they have plenty genius composers of their own.


Yes,yes,yes---Handel was an English composer and Offenbach was a French composer---OK ?


----------



## moody

Ingélou said:


> Oh, moody, it *is* a common term. Don't you often hear people joking, 'the best of British luck!' - 'he came last - so British!' - 'No sex please - we're British!' - 'honest British cooking!' This sort of self-deprecation is itself so 'British', a sort of affectionate humour shared by Welsh, English & Scottish people. I agree that with all the thoughts of Scottish independence, it's a *less* common term these days, though. And very sad too - I'd hate to see the break up of the United Kingdom.
> 
> The Union of Scotland with England & Wales* has made Britain 'Great' for the last three hundred years. The perfect symbol of that union for me is the friendship of James Boswell and Doctor Johnson: teasing humour and great affection.
> 
> On my own nationality, I was born & brought up in England, but my father was a Scot from Dundee, I married a Scot, studied Scottish literature at university, and over my lifetime have stayed in Scotland many, many times. Like many in the UK, I am a mixture, and I love both my contributing countries. If I said I was 'Scottish', with my English accent, other people would give me the lie. But if I said I was 'English', my own heart would give me the lie. That is why only 'British' covers it for me.
> 
> Rant over - but while I'm at it, Handel may have been a German, but he chose in his heart to be English!
> 
> (*  I'm not getting into the Irish Question... )


What you refer to in this post is correct but the circumstances are different. I have never thought of myself as anything but Englsh altho' in fact I'm really Canadian at the beginning of it all.Just to reiterate ,I know of no one who says "I'm British ".


----------



## Taggart

Ingélou said:


> (*  I'm not getting into the Irish Question... )


Trouble is, every time you think you've got the answer, they change the question!









My top 10 would be

Dowland
Tallis 
Purcell
Weelkes, Morley and the English Madrigalists
18th Century Baroque mob - Arne, Avison, Boyce, Mudge et al
John Dunstaple
John Taverner (1490 - 1545)
Arthur Sullivan (mainly for his operettas)
RVW
Holst


----------



## MagneticGhost

Despite some rudeness further up thread. I think we can be quite proud of our crop of composers here in Britland.
The top four are as good as any of the other big composers.
After that there's no particular order.


Vaughan Williams
Britten
Elgar
Purcell

Holst
Taverner (tudor)
Tavener
Tallis
Byrd
Howells
Rubbra
Dyson


----------



## dgee

Britain has been very strong recently - aside form Maxwell-Davies, Birtwistle, Ades and Turnage, there's George Benjamin, Julian Anderson, Jonathan Harvey, Oliver Knussen, Rebecca Saunders, Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Finnissy and others I will have forgotten. These names should overtake some of the neo-romantic and neo-classical also-rans in the current listings


----------



## beetzart

I'm British, and for a small number of works I just find British 'Classical' music, well, boring. I've tried listening to Elgar's symphonies and they do nothing along with many others. Although I am open to being proven wrong, in fact I would love to be.


----------



## MagneticGhost

beetzart said:


> I'm British, and for a small number of works I just find British 'Classical' music, well, boring. I've tried listening to Elgar's symphonies and they do nothing along with many others. Although I am open to being proven wrong, in fact I would love to be.


If you don't like Elgar's symphonies you may find his oratorios more to your taste.
The Dream of Gerontius and The Apostles contain some of the most beautiful and powerful writing of the era.


----------



## science

dgee said:


> Britain has been very strong recently - aside form Maxwell-Davies, Birtwistle, Ades and Turnage, there's George Benjamin, Julian Anderson, Jonathan Harvey, Oliver Knussen, Rebecca Saunders, Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Finnissy and others I will have forgotten. These names should overtake some of the neo-romantic and neo-classical also-rans in the current listings


Not popular probably among the TC crowd, but Tavener might deserve a mention as well.


----------



## Couac Addict

I'm English but to me, _British_ has always sounded antiquated when referring to people. My passport makes no sense to me. :lol:

I grinned when Andy Murray was introduced on court as _British tennis player_... etc.
...he leans to the mic and says "I'm Scottish, thank you very much".

You're British when it suits us. If you're a coal miner from Wales - you're Welsh. If you're Bryn Terfel - you're British.

Anyway, back on topic...
I find it hard to make a list because I don't rate British (wink wink) composers enough. I rate specific works very highly but I keep filing everyone into one of two categories:
a) those who were inconsistent
b) those with too few works


----------



## Itullian

RVW, Elgar................


----------



## realdealblues

I've heard lots of bits and pieces from Rutter, Boyd, Byrd, Britten, Bax, etc. but not enough that I would classify any of them as "Favorites".

I can only think of 5 British Composers that I have listened to most of their recorded works and still actually listen to on a fairly regular basis.

Cyrill Scott
Havergal Brian
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Edward Elgar
Hubert Parry


----------



## TurnaboutVox

Aha! Another British / regional component of Britain dilemma. I don't know what I am: British certainly, Scottish, Anglo-Scot (I've been living and working in England for 20+ years), European - I feel European - all could be used accurately.

As usual I'm limited to those composers I have managed to hear more than just a little, so I haven't included Holst as I've heard too little, nor Handel for the reasons explored above, but these are all or have been favourites in one degree and at one time or another:

Bridge
Delius
Britten
Bax
Elgar
Purcell
Vaughan-Williams
Walton

and two modern or indeed contemporary composers: 

Robert Simpson
James MacMillan

(Off topic, one other intriguing figure I'd like to investigate further is the late Iain Hamilton, a Scot, a symphony of whose I heard in concert as a boy - the first avant-garde music I ever heard, I remember it as being terrific fun. I don't know if he's been recorded much or at all, though.)


----------



## MagneticGhost

TurnaboutVox said:


> Bridge
> Delius


I forgot about Bridge when I did mine.
Delius however - I didn't think we could count as British. 
If we can, I'll have him as well


----------



## TurnaboutVox

MagneticGhost said:


> I forgot about Bridge when I did mine.
> Delius however - I didn't think we could count as British.
> If we can, I'll have him as well


Well, I think we can have Delius for the same reason we can't have Handel - he was born and brought up into early adulthood in Britain, even if of German parentage. I haven't heard him being claimed as a German or indeed French composer.


----------



## Vasks

I love a lot of British composers, so getting to "10" is easy; stopping at "10" however is not

Byrd
Purcell
Holborne
Boyce
Parry
Elgar
Stanford
Delius
V-W
Bridge
Bax
Howells 
Finzi
Walton
Tippett
Britten
Birtwistle
Maxwell Davies
Knussen


----------



## Vasks

TurnaboutVox said:


> James MacMillan


I'd have included him and Alexander MacKenzie in my list but I am separating Scots from Brits


----------



## Vasks

TurnaboutVox said:


> Well, I think we can have Delius for the same reason we can't have Handel - he was born and brought up into early adulthood in Britain, even if of German parentage. I haven't heard him being claimed as a German or indeed French composer.


LOL! I think of Delius as a British composer with French sensibility.


----------



## violadude

Rubbra
Bax
Vaughn-Williams
Byrd
Dowland
Gibbons
Britten
Maxwell-Davies
Simpson
Harvey

For some reason, I can't really get into Elgar much. I used to really like his Cello Concerto until they decided to play it on the radio every single time I turned it on.


----------



## Ingélou

Vasks said:


> I'd have included him and Alexander MacKenzie in my list but I am separating Scots from Brits


?? If it asks for 'British' composers, it means Scots are included. But thanks for reminding me.
On reflection, I'd like to include the Earl of Kelley (a Scot) in my number 4, which I will now amend to read 'minor British baroque composers'. 

Interestingly, the Daily Telegraph today is running a column called 'Britons of the Year'. So it is the term used inside the UK to include Scots, English, Northern Irish & Welsh.


----------



## KenOC

Ingélou said:


> ?? If it asks for 'British' composers, it means Scots are included.


Isn't that subject to change?


----------



## Ingélou

KenOC said:


> Isn't that subject to change?


Yes, in the future. But for now, it includes Scots.
If the Scots vote for independence, someone can post a new thread!


----------



## Taggart

violadude said:


> For some reason, I can't really get into Elgar much. I used to really like his Cello Concerto until they decided to play it on the radio every single time I turned it on.


Probably too enigmatic.


----------



## lupinix

1/2. Ralph Vaughan Williams
1/2. Benjamin Britten
3. Gustav Holst
4. Edward Elgar
5. William Alwyn
6. Thomas Tallis
7. William Byrd
8. George Friedrich Handel
9. Henry Purcell
10. John Tavener (only english composer so far that I like which still lives)


----------



## hpowders

(Britten + Walton) x 5 = 10


----------



## brotagonist

Admittedly, I've never been hugely into British composers. I've been WILD about British rock, though. Nevertheless, here are some, in random order, that I know works of that I like:

Peter Maxwell Davies (I used to have lots of LPs, but have no CDs)
Purcell
Dowland
Birtwistle
Ferneyhough
Elgar
Vaughan Williams
Britten

It's getting hard for me to think of any further names.

Okay, I cheated. I looked above. Add:

Handel (how could I forget  )
Holst


----------



## TrevBus

In no particular order:
ALAN RAWSTHORNE
WILLIAM WALTON
DONALD TOVEY
EDWARD GERMAN
DAVID MATTHEWS
RICHARD ARNELL
WILLIAM ALWYN
JOHN FOULDS
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
PETER MAXWELL DAVIES
ROBERT SIMPSON
JAMES MacMILLAN
I know, that's 12. It was hard to stop at 12


----------



## Art Rock

lupinix said:


> 10. John Tavener (only english composer so far that I like which still lives)


He passed away November 2013........


----------



## lupinix

Art Rock said:


> He passed away November 2013........


=[ then none, or "only who still lived when I was born", have to get to know more english composers


----------



## Headphone Hermit

there's a surprising absence of mentions of composers from one of the golden ages of British music, so how about:

1. John Sheppard
2. Thomas Tallis
3. Christopher Tye
4. John Taverner (not Tavener)
5. John Dunstable
6. Robert Fayrfax
7. Robert Johnson
8. John Dowland
9. Nicholas Ludford
10. and from an earlier period .... Pycard

recordings from these are readily available from Hyperion, ASV, Naxos etc


----------



## Orpheus

At the moment of posting my mood is perhaps more inclined towards "Early" Music:

1) Purcell
2) John Dowland
3) Byrd
4) William Lawes
5) Vaughan Williams
6) Dunstable (one of the most beautiful and technically masterful early composers; what a pity that not more by him has survived)
7) Tallis
8) Brian
9) Sorabji
10) Rutland Boughton (sneaks in mainly on the strength of a couple of surprisingly enjoyable and accomplished operas, which I happen to possess; his orchestral music doesn't do much for me, but I seem to remember hearing some nice chamber pieces too)

Holst, John Jenkins, Orlando Gibbons, Delius, Weelkes, Sullivan (in conjunction with Gilbert, naturally!) Coleridge Taylor and Godowsky might all make the list another day. Just not this one 

I've also heard music I enjoy from Arne, Parry, Butterworth, Gurney, Simpson, Walton, , Taverner (renaissance), Wilbye, Parsons, Blow, Bull, Campion, Rubbra, Henry Lawes, Campion, and Locke, and probably a few others whose names don't spring immediately to mind. I need to listen to all these composers more to decide how much I like their work overall, though. This may take a while, as after seeing Headphone Hermit's list above, I have a few more early composers to add to my "must listen" list too!

Of the more famous names I tend to find Elgar, Moeran, Britten, and Tavener (modern) the hardest to get into. While I may respect their various accomplishments, I simply can't think of much music by any of them that I really enjoy listening to, despite repeated efforts at discerning for myself whatever it is that others see in them. One day, perhaps...


----------



## Skilmarilion

PetrB said:


> Yes we have. Generally, outside of Britain, Handel is a German composer who took British Citizenship and lived a good deal of his life there, wrote a great deal of his music there.
> 
> For the Brits, he is 'A British Composer.'
> 
> There will be no settling this or alteration of opinion between the Brits who so want him to be British and those who know he is German.
> 
> [[ Edit Add: adoption, adopting or being adopted, makes you certainly familial, but does not change your genetic heritage one jot, your cultural heritage some, if done when still a youngster. Handel arrived in England fully grown and most importantly, fully developed as a composer. ]]
> 
> Stravinsky and Schoenberg are not "American" composers, lol.


May I add that as a supposed 'Brit', I find it equally bizarre whenever Handel is described as "British". The music anyway, is out and out German. If he liked being "English" and that radically English spelling of his name, then good for him, lol.

Of course if this is not true in any way, then I can more easily answer a question like "who is your favourite American composer" with Rachmaninov -- and save myself a lot of time!


----------



## elgar's ghost

Apologies for flogging what is probably a dead horse, but Handel moved to England for good in 1712 at the age of 26-27. Had Queen Anne not died in 1714 it's a fair bet that he would have been offered British citizenship years earlier than he actually was, seeing Handel had composed patriotic works for the court, was awarded a pension and was apparently held in high regard by Anne.

I would also tentatively suggest that Handel probably felt far more British than Anne's first two successors to the throne ever did - or could.


----------



## TurnaboutVox

I'd now add three more composers to this dead horse pile:

Michael Tippett (I was persuaded by member Sid James to go back and try his string quartets again, which I duly did, with some reward.)
Peter Maxwell Davies (six of the excellent 'Naxos' quartets have been occupying me from time to time for a while.)
James Dillon (Orchestral and chamber works explored a little over the last few months.)


----------



## Polyphemus

10 Great British composers does not compute. From my own personal list I offer :-

1 R. V. W.

2 William Walton

3 Robert Simpson (a very personal choice I know)


----------



## Loge

Here are some of my fav Brit composers, but I won't make ten.

Ronald Binge, The Water Mill.






John Barry, Zulu






And, oh yeah, Ron Goodwin.... the Majestic!





And even more Majestic form Goodwin here is the Trap


----------



## MoonlightSonata

In no particular order:
Vaughan Williams
Elgar
Britten
Butterworth
Maxwell Davies
Tallis
Dowland
Purcell
Adès
Sullivan

Does Handel count? If so, he replaces Butterworth


----------



## Guest

I just went through the whole thread.

Not even one contribution by some guy.

OK. Here it is:

Diana Simpson Salazar
Adam Stansbie
Jonty Harrison
Roberto Gerhard
Alan Rawsthorne
Tim Hodgkinson
Chris Cutler
Humphrey Searle
Keith Rowe
Eddie Prévost 

And a note: musicicians do move around a bit. My favorite Polish composer lived in Switzerland. My favorite Argentine composers live in France. My favorite British composer not on the list (Natasha Barrett) lives in Norway. And so forth.


----------



## Guest

Cutler and Hodgkinson ? They sound like blasts from my past. Henry Cow, Egg etc I think.


----------



## Guest

Let's see if I can do this off the top of my head (probably can't)

Britten
Vaughan Williams
Tallis
Birtwistle
Finnissy
Ferneyhough
Dillon
Barrett
Harvey
Elgar
Walton
Purcell
Bridge

...so in the end I didn't feel like 10. Sorry I ain't sorry.


----------



## Guest

gog said:


> Cutler and Hodgkinson ? They sound like blasts from my past. Henry Cow, Egg etc I think.


Yep. Those are the guys. Hodgkinson spends a lot of time nowadays with the Hyperion Ensemble (the original one, founded by Iancu Dumitrescu) and Cutler's still busy producing records as far as I know.


----------



## Guest

arcaneholocaust said:


> Let's see if I can do this off the top of my head (probably can't)
> 
> Britten
> Vaughan Williams
> Tallis
> Birtwistle
> Finnissy
> Ferneyhough
> Dillon
> Barrett
> Harvey
> Elgar
> Walton
> Purcell
> Bridge
> 
> ...so in the end I didn't feel like 10. Sorry I ain't sorry.


There are two Barrett's, Natasha and Richard. From the surroundings, I'm guessing you're referring to Richard, correct?


----------



## Guest

some guy said:


> There are two Barrett's, Natasha and Richard. From the surroundings, I'm guessing you're referring to Richard, correct?


You would be correct. I don't know Natasha Barrett's music, but perhaps I would have known to differentiate, having just read your post above mine.


----------



## hpowders

1-10: William Walton


----------



## Guest

some guy said:


> Yep. Those are the guys. Hodgkinson spends a lot of time nowadays with the Hyperion Ensemble (the original one, founded by Iancu Dumitrescu) and Cutler's still busy producing records as far as I know.


Hm, small world!


----------



## 20centrfuge

In no particular order: 

Edward Elgar
Vaughan Williams
Benjamin Britten
Henry Purcell
Thomas Ades
Peter Maxwell Davies
Gerald Finzi
Gustav Holst

That's about it for me.


----------



## manyene

Difficult, but I'll try:
in no particular order,
Byrd
Purcell
Handel - yes he was British; the anniversary of his naturalisation was recently celebrated
Elgar
RVW
Holst
Walton
Delius
Britten
Alwyn


----------



## ptr

If Händel is allowed, the I suggest that any composer from anywhere in the British Empire is fair game! 

in no particular order:

Brian Ferneyhough 
Cornelius Cardew 
James Dillon
Jonathan Harvey 
Elisabeth Lutyens 
Mark-Anthony Turnage 
Michael Finnissey
Rebecca Saunders (Or is she German after living in Berlin for ages?)
Sally Beamish
Judith Bingham 

Ten is far to few, this don't even give me a chance to ad the war horses...

/ptr


----------



## Morimur

No particular order:

William Byrd
Henry Purcell
Brian Ferneyhough
Richard Barrett
Michael Finnissy
James Dillon
Harrison Birtwistle
Peter Maxwell Davies
Alexander Goehr
George Benjamin


----------



## MagneticGhost

Some great mentions here.

Nice to see George Benjamin and Jonathan Harvey making some lists.

I've probably already done a list here before but right now I'm enjoying the following

Benjamin Britten
Malcolm Arnold
George Lloyd
George Dyson
William Mathias
Jonathan Harvey
George Benjamin
Peter Maxwell Davies
Harrison Birtwistle
Michael Tippett


No Need to mention my perennial adoration of Elgar, RVW, Holst, Walton, Taverner (Tudor), Tallis, Byrd and Purcell.


----------



## Becca

Favourite, not necessarily the best...

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Edmund Rubbra
Granville Bantock
Herbert Howells
Gustav Holst
Arnold Bax
Edward Elgar
George Lloyd
Michael Tippett

I will leave one slot open while I investigate William Mathias!


----------



## MagneticGhost

^^^^Can't believe I forgot Rubbra. He would definitely be in my top ten. 
Bantock and Howells are bubbling under.
Bax is one I need to explore. I've only heard his 'Tintagel'


----------



## Guest

some guy said:


> I just went through the whole thread.
> 
> Not even one contribution by some guy.
> 
> OK. Here it is:
> 
> Diana Simpson Salazar
> Adam Stansbie
> Jonty Harrison
> Roberto Gerhard
> Alan Rawsthorne
> Tim Hodgkinson
> Chris Cutler
> Humphrey Searle
> Keith Rowe
> Eddie Prévost
> 
> And a note: musicicians do move around a bit. My favorite Polish composer lived in Switzerland. My favorite Argentine composers live in France. My favorite British composer not on the list (Natasha Barrett) lives in Norway. And so forth.


Under the same standard that counts Natasha Barrett as British, wouldn't Gerhard be counted as Spanish?

PS: I'm listening to some Keith Rowe excerpts for the first time as I've seen his name in a couple different places now... I like it, but "The Room" seems very capable of causing a migraine...


----------



## Guest

Morimur said:


> No particular order:
> 
> William Byrd
> Henry Purcell
> Brian Ferneyhough
> Richard Barrett
> Michael Finnissy
> James Dillon
> Harrison Birtwistle
> Peter Maxwell Davies
> Alexander Goehr
> George Benjamin


I thought you were a die-hard Britten fan now!


----------



## TurnaboutVox

"Yesterday I was an obscure British composer.
Today I'm an obscure British composer.
Tomorrow I'll probably still be an obscure British composer.
Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement"

(with sincere apologies to Charles M. Schulz)


----------



## Guest

Bumping this in case anyone one wants to add...


----------



## Polyphemus

1 R V W
2 William Walton
3 Robert Simpson
4 Michael Tippett
5 Benjamin Britten
6 Harrison Birtwistle
7 Maxwell Davis
8 Thomas Ades
9 Havergal Brian
10 Peter Maxwell Davis.

Not as tough as I thought it would be but a lot of the above would not feature on my everyday list.


----------



## Nereffid

My 10 right now-

Vaughan Williams
Britten
Dowland
Arnold
MacMillan
Tavener
Nyman
Dunstable
Purcell
Byrd

though I reserve the right to add Handel whenever I see fit.


----------



## starthrower

Polyphemus said:


> 10 Peter Maxwell Davis.


It's Maxwell Davies.


----------



## violadude

No particular order

Britten
Vaughn Williams
Purcell
Maxwell Davies
Rubbra
Dowland
Simpson
Bax
Lawes
Dunstable
Harvey


----------



## tortkis

William Byrd (c.1540-1623)
John Dowland (1563-1626)
Tobias Hume (1569?-1645)
Martin Peerson (1571/1573-1650)
William Lawes (1602-1645)
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Gavin Bryars (b.1943)
Michael Nyman (b.1944)
Howard Skempton (b.1947)
Bryn Harrison (b.1969)


----------



## Pat Fairlea

No particular order:

Vaughan Williams
Holst
Rubbra
Bax
Finzi
Arnold
Smyth
Britten
Tippett
Walton

Bit conventional? Probably.


----------



## Dr Johnson

Arnold
Bridge
Delius
Elgar
Holst
Lambert
MacMillan
Turnage
Vaughan Williams
Walton

Others bubbling under: Alwyn, Moeran, Warlock, Bush (solely on account of his Concert Suite for Cello and Orchestra which is the only thing of his I've heard).


----------



## Orfeo

The sheer diversity of British composers never ceases to amaze me (comparable with Russia in my estimation). That said, I'll go with, and in no particular order:


Sir Arnold Bax
Sir Edward Elgar
Sir William Walton
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (Anglo-Irish)
Edgar Bainton (Anglo-Australian)
George Lloyd
John Ireland (arguably the greatest British composer for the piano)
Kenneth Leighton
Cyril Scott
*Others:* Frank Bridge, Gordon Jacob, John Foulds, Sir Granville Bantock, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Holst, Moeran, Berkeley, Britten, Vaughan-Williams, Delius, Alwyn, Rubbra, Clifford (Anglo-Australian).


----------



## Guest

Taverner
Byrd
Purcell
Dowland
Elgar
Vaughan Williams
Delius 
Sheppard
Tallis

Britten Morley,Browne ,Carver.Mundy,Dunstable en Thomas Tomkins.


----------



## Guest

Dr Johnson said:


> Arnold
> Bridge
> Delius
> Elgar
> Holst
> Lambert
> MacMillan
> Turnage
> Vaughan Williams
> Walton
> 
> Others bubbling under: Alwyn, Moeran, Warlock, Bush (solely on account of his Concert Suite for Cello and Orchestra which is the only thing of his I've heard).


You can get music by a Warlock?


----------



## musicrom

This is a tough one for me. I'll give it a go though:

1. William Walton
2. Edward Elgar
3. Benjamin Britten
4. Henry Purcell
5. Malcolm Arnold
6. Thomas Adès
7. Gustav Holst
8. Ralph Vaughan Williams, I guess...

I could name a few more, but it would be pushing it to name them in "my favorites". Would probably be among: Byrd, Weelkes, Rawsthorne, M. Berkeley, Bax...


----------



## Dr Johnson

dogen said:


> You can get music by a Warlock?


It's a kind of magic.


----------



## Polyphemus

starthrower said:


> It's Maxwell Davies.


Deepest apologies but as the old saying goes 'Flying fingers etc'


----------



## Brahmsian Colors

Vaughan Williams
Delius
Elgar
Holst
Butterworth
Handel
Addinsell
Lloyd
That's all


----------



## ST4

Britain is my go-to for prog rock but it doesn't seem to be for classical....


----------



## Pugg

Haydn67 said:


> Vaughan Williams
> Delius
> Elgar
> Holst
> Butterworth
> Handel
> Addinsell
> Lloyd
> That's all


From someone from Florida it's good!


----------



## Brahmsian Colors

Pugg said:


> From someone from Florida it's good!


If only we could get a clone of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra here!!!:tiphat:


----------



## Mal

1. Ralph Vaughan Williams
2. Edward Elgar
3. Benjamin Britten
4. George Handel 
5. William Walton
6. Orlando Gibbons
7. Peter Maxwell-Davies
8. Frederick Delius
9. Gustav Holst
10. Ernest John Moeran


----------



## Art Rock

Mal said:


> 7. Peter Maxwell-Davies


There is endless confusion about his name.

It is Peter Maxwell Davies, Davies being the family name (not Maxwell Davies, not Maxwell-Davies). On the official website of 'Max' he is referred to in the piece on _Life and career - Study and development_ as Davies (and Wikipedia lists his parents as Davies).

EDIT: and yes, I made the same mistake on page 1. I recently moved the stack of his CD's from the M to the D section in my CD cabinet.


----------



## Rhinotop

1. Vaughan Williams
2. Elgar
3. Bax
4. Rubbra
5. Walton
6. Stanford
7. Britten
8. Bliss
9. Holst
10. Parry

Honorable mentions: Lloyd, Litolff, Arnold, Brian, Frankel, Finzi, Jenkins


----------



## MoatsArt

William Cornysh
Robert Fayrfax
Anthony Holborne
Henry Purcell
Edward Elgar
Ralph Vaughan-Williams
Gustav Holst
Hubert Parry
William Walton
John Tavener


----------



## James Mann

I always liked Holst and Elgar. Ralph Vaughan Williams is most dear to me.


----------



## Guest

I don't think there are 10 British composers I like well enough to put on the list. But here are a handful.

Holst
Elgar
Vaugh-Williams
Britten
Handel (I see some others listed Handel so I will. There are so few that I have to stick in a German transplant.)


----------



## Border Collie

Art Rock said:


> Bax
> Moeran
> Vaughan Williams
> Alwyn
> Britten
> Finzi
> Ireland
> Bantock
> Stanford
> Maxwell Davies
> 
> and so many others. Did not even have space for Elgar in the top 10.


Now that is what I call a list! Bantock, Bax, Alwyn and Moeran. And you don't even have room for Arnold!


----------



## hpowders

Sir William Walton because of his Violin Concerto

Sir Edward Elgar because of Enigma Variations and the Violin Concerto

Benjamin Britten because of Peter Grimes

A short list.


----------



## Bettina

My ten favorite British composers and my favorite works by each of them:

1. Vaughan Williams (Fantasia on Greensleeves, The Lark Ascending)
2. Cyril Scott (Lotus Land, Impressions from the Jungle Book)
3. Britten (Six Metamorphoses After Ovid, Turn of the Screw, Billy Budd)
4. Elgar (Violin Concerto, Cello Concerto, Sonata for Violin and Piano, Enigma Variations)
5. Purcell (Dido and Aeneas)
6. Holst (The Planets)
7. Bridge (Miniatures for Piano Trio, Piano Sonata H. 160)
8. Sorabji (Opus Clavicembalisticum)
9. Byrd (My Ladye Nevells Booke of Virginal Music)
10. Orlando Gibbons (Fantasias, Galiardo)


----------



## MoonlightSonata

Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Purcell, Adès, Holst, Britten, Tallis, Delius, Weir, Byrd.
RVW, Tallis and Adès are my particular favourites.


----------



## Brahmsian Colors

Vaughan Williams
Delius
Holst
Elgar
Moeran
Butterworth
Addinsell
Lloyd
Howells
Walton


----------



## Becca

In no particular order...

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Edmund Rubbra
Granville Bantock
Herbert Howells
Gustav Holst
Arnold Bax
Edward Elgar
George Lloyd
Michael Tippett

and for the 10th... Frederick William James Peter Benjamin Delius Mathias MacMillan Maxwell Davies Britten


----------



## Richard8655

Purcell (Fairy Queen, King Arthur) of course.


----------



## Antiquarian

This is a tough one, at the moment, in no particular order... 

Holst
Walton
Elgar
Warlock
Bax
Vaughan Williams 
Stanford 
William Wallace (yes, he's Scots, but this is my list and I'll do what I want)
Purcell
Britten

But I also enjoy Charles Avison, Frank Bridge, John Dankworth, Clive Jenkins, ect. Next week it could be an entirely different list.


----------



## JamesMB

I am not sure about making a list of ten. It's too many names and starts to become a matter of just naming British composers I know because there are only maybe 3 composers I really like... Vaughan Williams, Delius and Walton .. and I am not sure about Delius  Walton's violin concerto is possibly my favourite violin concerto. I love the finale! I wish Janine Jansen would record it. As for RVW, the symphony no. 5 I find to be sublime. The first movement and how it shifts around the pedal points, the endings of the 3rd and 4th movements have made me cry. I also love the Oboe concerto. It is from another world, for me. The Tallis Fantasia is another favourite.


----------



## Medtnaculus

Arnold, MacMillan, Bax, Bridge, Ireland, Howells, Scott, Baines, Bowen, Goossens, Rubbra, Rawsthorne, Walton,

In order at the moment:

1 Bridge
2 Bax
3 Howells
4 Ireland
5 Baines
6 Goossens
7 Arnold
8 Scott
9 Bowen
10 Rawsthorne


----------



## Medtnaculus

Becca said:


> In no particular order...
> 
> Ralph Vaughan Williams
> Edmund Rubbra
> Granville Bantock
> Herbert Howells
> Gustav Holst
> Arnold Bax
> Edward Elgar
> George Lloyd
> Michael Tippett
> 
> and for the 10th... Frederick William James Peter Benjamin Delius Mathias MacMillan Maxwell Davies Britten


Lloyd's Diversions on a bass theme is a favourite of mine! Good to see some love for him.


----------



## Becca

Medtnaculus said:


> Lloyd's Diversions on a bass theme is a favourite of mine! Good to see some love for him.


Likewise Herbert Howells. Now I need to see more Bantock!


----------



## LP collector

After viewing without contributing for a month or two - the Elgar thread I thought brilliant - for my first post to go off subject is not a good start and I apologise for doing so, but a list of works is much more interesting then a list of composers names IMO. So here goes, my ten favourite works in no particular order by British composers as of today (tomorrow it is likely to be different) and I promise to be better behaved in the future. 

Elgar: 1st Symphony. 
Elgar: 2nd Symphony.
Elgar: Enigma Variations.
Vaughan Williams : 3rd Symphony.
Moeran: Cello Concerto.
Delius: String Quartet "Late Swallows".
Britten: Violin Concerto.
Butterworth: A Shropshire Lad. (either Rhapsody for orchestra or song cycle).
Bridge: Piano Sonata.
Walton: 1st Symphony.


----------



## Francis Poulenc

It all comes down to RVW, Elgar and Purcell. Never liked Britten.


----------



## Kivimees

Becca said:


> In no particular order...
> 
> Ralph Vaughan Williams
> Edmund Rubbra
> Granville Bantock
> Herbert Howells
> Gustav Holst
> Arnold Bax
> Edward Elgar
> George Lloyd
> Michael Tippett
> 
> and for the 10th... Frederick William James Peter Benjamin Delius Mathias MacMillan Maxwell Davies Britten


My list would replace Lloyd and Tippett with Finzi and Moeran.


----------



## TurnaboutVox

LP collector said:


> [...] So here goes, my ten favourite works in no particular order by British composers as of today (tomorrow it is likely to be different) and I promise to be better behaved in the future.
> 
> Elgar: 1st Symphony.
> Elgar: 2nd Symphony.
> Elgar: Enigma Variations.
> Vaughan Williams : 3rd Symphony.
> Moeran: Cello Concerto.
> Delius: String Quartet "Late Swallows".
> Britten: Violin Concerto.
> Butterworth: A Shropshire Lad. (either Rhapsody for orchestra or song cycle).
> Bridge: Piano Sonata.
> Walton: 1st Symphony.


Impeccable taste, sir or madam, except for your inexplicable devotion to that turgid fellow Elgar.
Replace him with some Bax, more Britten (the War Requiem?) and something by a contemporary era composer and I'm entirely with you. 

(and yes, I am entirely tongue in cheek!)

Welcome to Talk Classical, by the way, LP collector, I hope you enjoy the forum..


----------



## Jos

Somewhat of topic as I am not sure I have a favorite British composer, let alone ten. Do like Walton's violin concerto. It was paired to Stravinsky's on an album a friend of mine has, and we played it a lot throughout our teenage years (miss WaChung being the protagonist of said elpee).
Anyways and to the point; I think I have discovered a new composer: Nicholas Maw. A Britton born in 1935, died May 2009.
He has a lemma on wikipedia, but typing in his last name in the forum's search engine yielded zero results.
Can't judge his "life studies" as I only got this elpee yesterday, but on first listening it was interesting. Glissandi on double bass, "disturbing" harmonies. Definitely not for the anti-modernists :devil:


----------



## LP collector

TurnaboutVox said:


> Impeccable taste, sir or madam, except for your inexplicable devotion to that turgid fellow Elgar.
> Replace him with some Bax, more Britten (the War Requiem?) and something by a contemporary era composer and I'm entirely with you.
> 
> (and yes, I am entirely tongue in cheek!)
> 
> Welcome to Talk Classical, by the way, LP collector, I hope you enjoy the forum..


Many thanks for your kind welcome, which is much appreciated, TurnaboutVox. I'm not a madam, not the last time I looked anyway.


----------



## LP collector

I like Maw's first string quartet which I have on a Argo LP. Less so the coupling, a Hugh Wood SQ which mercifully is the shorter work.


----------



## jenspen

Sadly, only one fleeting mention so far in this thread of John Wilbye.

In my madrigal singing days, Wilbye seemed to have the most acute and sympathetic ear for his native language of any of the British composers (Britten's already had enough mentions). You sing the words of the Wilbye madrigals with particular relish. And his melodies and interweaving and blending of the voices - exquisite!!

If you don't know him, for your listening delight:


----------



## Petrushcat

1. Britten
2. Brian (Havergal)
3. Walton
4. Bax
5. Alwyn
6. Finzi
7. Birtwistle
8. Ferneyhough
9. Ades
10. Maxwell Davies


----------



## Jos

Found this a while ago. Edmund Rubbra violin concerto. 
Very nice concerto, lyrical opening is fantastic. Added to the list.

Melbourne symphony orchestra, David Measham conducting
Carl Pini, violin
Recorded 1985, Unicorn-Kanchana
Dutch pressing


----------



## MusicSybarite

In some kind of order:

Vaughan Williams
Bax
Arnold
Alwyn
Bantock
Elgar
Walton
Holst
Rubbra
Stanford

I had to leave out Brian, Bridge, Britten, Moeran, Simpson, Tippett. All of them are composers of high stature as well.


----------



## BiscuityBoyle

Britten 
Lennon/McCartney 
Mica Levi 
Richard D James 
Nick Drake 
Philip Charles Lithman
Hugh Cornewell/JJ Burnel 
Kate Bush 
David Bowie
Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam

British classical music is dwarfed by British rock & electronic music.


----------



## kyjo

In some sort of order:

Vaughan Williams
Elgar
Arnold
Walton
Bax
Moeran
Alwyn
Delius
Britten (for a select few works)
Bridge

There are, of course, many other British composers whose music I enjoy. I think that British music as a whole is sorely underrated and underplayed, especially in the US. The only British orchestral works that seem to show up with any regularity on US concert programs are Elgar's Enigma Variations and Cello Concerto and Holst's The Planets...


----------



## Tchaikov6

Vaughan Williams
Walton
Elgar
Moeran
Britten
Bridge
Purcell
Arnold
Holst
Dowland


----------



## MusicSybarite

BiscuityBoyle said:


> Britten
> Lennon/McCartney
> Mica Levi
> Richard D James
> Nick Drake
> Philip Charles Lithman
> Hugh Cornewell/JJ Burnel
> Kate Bush
> David Bowie
> Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam
> 
> British classical music is dwarfed by British rock & electronic music.


Regarding complexity and musical richness, I wouldn't be so sure.


----------



## 13hm13

MusicSybarite said:


> In some kind of order:
> 
> Vaughan Williams
> Bax
> Arnold
> Alwyn
> Bantock
> Elgar
> Walton
> Holst
> Rubbra
> Stanford
> 
> I had to leave out Brian, Bridge, Britten, Moeran, Simpson, Tippett. All of them are composers of high stature as well.


Pretty much my selection as well. Walton at #1, followed by RVW and then Elgar. 
*Somehow, I'd have squeeze in film composer John Barry among the top 10.* Maybe a two-way tie with another 10er. Is that allowed?


----------



## Bulldog

No particular order:

Walton
Tippett
Bridge
Bowen
Rubbra
Rawsthorne
Stanford
Arnold 
Bax
Finzi


----------



## manyene

In rough chronological order:

Purcell
Parry
Elgar
Vaughan Williams
Holst
Bax
Walton
Britten
Arnold
Alwyn


----------



## LP collector

Any list is incomplete without Elgar and RVW. After that it comes down to taste. Walton and Britten would have to feature for me, closely followed by Finzi. Bax is a good shout and I have a fondness for Moeran. Which leaves three, Holst, Bridge and Rawsthorne.


----------



## Gottfried

Finzi
Vaughan Williams
Elgar
Rubbra
Delius
Holst
Purcell
Britten
Walton
Bax

The second half of this list reflects relative unfamiliarity rather than any order of preference.

Finzi is my favorite British composer. There is in his music an intense purity and sincerity.

I am an unashamed enthusiast of the supposed cowpat school of music, and value in much 20th century British composition just that pastoral and bucolic strain for which it has often been derided.


----------



## Brahmsian Colors

Revised list of favorites:

Vaughan Williams
Butterworth
Moeran
Elgar
Delius
Holst


----------



## Bulldog

LP collector said:


> Any list is incomplete without Elgar and RVW.


That doesn't ring true; this is a list of favorites, and my *complete* list has no Elgar or RVW.


----------



## christomacin

1. Sir Edward Elgar (Symphony No. 1, Symphony No. 2, Cello Concerto, Violin Concerto, Enigma Variations, Pomp Circumstance Marches, Cockaigne Overture, Sereande for Strings, Introduction & Allegro for Strings, The Dream of Gernotius)

2. Henry Purcell (Dido and Aenaes, The Fairy Queen, The Indian Queen, King Arthur, Funeral Music for Queen Mary, Come Ye Sons of Art, Abdelazar Suite, Chaconny, The Queen's Dolour, The Cebell)

3. Ralph Vaughan Williams (Symphony No. 2 "London", Symphony No. 4, Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 7 "Antarctica", The Lark Ascending, Variations on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, Suite on English Fok Songs, "The Wasps" Overture, Flos Campi, Fantasia on "Greensleeves")

4. Frederick Delius (Violin Concerto, Brigg Fair, Florida Suite, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, A Walk in the Paradise Garden, Summer Night on the River, 2 Aquarelles, "Irmelin" - Prelude, "Fennimore and Gerda" - Intermezzo, "Koanga" - La Calinda)

5. Benjamin Britten (Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Simple Symphony, Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge, Sinfonia da Requiem, Peter Grimes, The Turn of the Screw, Albert Herring, Gloriana, Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings, A Ceremony of Carols)

6. Gustav Holst (The Planets, St. Paul Suite, Brook Green Suite, "The Perfect Fool" - Ballet, Suite for Military Band No. 1, Suite for Military Band No. 2, A Moorside Suite, Egdon Heath, Japanese Suite, In the Bleak Midwinter)

7. Sir William Walton (Symphony No. 1, Violin Concerto, Cello Concerto, Viola Concerto, Belshazzar's Feast, Facades, Henry V, Orb and Sceptre, Crown Imperial, Portsmouth Point)

8. Sir Arnold Bax (7 Symphonies, Tintagel, In Memoriam, Oboe Quartet)

9. Sir Granville Bantock (Hebridean Symphony, Celtic Symphony, Pagan Symphony, Comedy Overture "The Pierrot of the Minute", Fifine at the Fair, The Witch of Atlas, Prometheus Unbound, Pagan Poem, Hamabdil)

*10. Sir Arthur Sullivan (The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, Trial by Jury, Yeoman of the Guard, Ruddigore, The Gondoliers, Patience, Iolanthe, The Lost Chord)

*I think highly of Frank Bridge, and if pressed I might bump Sullivan off and put him in there. I like Charles Villiers Stanford a lot too, although would he be considered Irish rather than English?


----------



## Josquin13

Excluding George Frederic Handel, on the grounds that he wasn't originally British (otherwise he'd be very high on my list):

1. Thomas Tallis
2. William Byrd
3. John Dunstable, or Dunstaple
4. John Dowland
5. Leonel Power
6. Thomas Tomkins
7. John Sheppard
8. John Taverner
9. Orlando Gibbons
10. Nicholas Ludford

Honorable mention: Robert Carver, Christopher Tye, Henry Purcell, Ralph Vaughan Williams, & John Jenkins.


----------



## Enthusiast

Since the start of the 20th Century, there seems to have been British music and international music by British composers. Only the second type of categorisation makes sense to me. I have eight:

Britten
Elgar
Purcell
Tallis
Vaughan Williams
Delius
Walton
Byrd

And then there are others who have written music that I like a lot but would not (yet) elevate to the list. These include Birtwistle, Maxwell Davies, Benjamin, Ades, Bax, Foulds, Moeran, Finzi and Holst. I do not know enough about early music.


----------



## LP collector

Bulldog said:


> That doesn't ring true; this is a list of favorites, and my *complete* list has no Elgar or RVW.


You are fully entitled to not include who you wish. After all it is as you say, "favourites" not "best". I am aware the music of Elgar does not travel as well as composers from other countries but if I was asked a list of Finland I would not me able to exclude Sibelius. Same with Nielsen and Denmark.


----------



## aussiebushman

hpowders said:


> 1-10: William Walton


I'm very late coming to this thread but it amazes me how long it took for Walton to make the list at all, never mind the head of it!

That does not mean I dismiss Elgar, Bax, Purcell and several others from contention, but for those unfamiliar with Walton, please do listen to the Violin, viola and cello concertos, Facade, the Wise Virgin suite and Belshazzar's Feast. And if you think his output was in any way limited, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_William_Walton


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Holst

the others leave me cold


----------



## Enthusiast

Enthusiast said:


> Since the start of the 20th Century, there seems to have been British music and international music by British composers. Only the second type of categorisation makes sense to me. I have eight:
> 
> Britten
> Elgar
> Purcell
> Tallis
> Vaughan Williams
> Delius
> Walton
> Byrd
> 
> And then there are others who have written music that I like a lot but would not (yet) elevate to the list. These include Birtwistle, Maxwell Davies, Benjamin, Ades, Bax, Foulds, Moeran, Finzi and Holst. I do not know enough about early music.


I'm now ready to include Birtwistle in my list now. That was quick - it seems that a mere 6 weeks ago I was merely interested. I think it is that I have listened to a quite a bit more of his music and am now sure there is a big body of his work that impresses me. Some I don't know very well yet but know they will grow on me further - there is so much life in his invention. But only two years ago I felt his music was rather boring.


----------



## goatygoatygoatgoat

Since this thread is about _British_ composers, couldn't the title at least have the correct spelling of the word "favourite"?

I'm surprised - 14 pages and not a single mention of Charles Avison.


----------



## aussiebushman

drpraetorus said:


> I can't think of ten british composers, let alone ten good ones.


Looking back through these posts. I noticed the one quoted above. It is astounding that no-one else has taken this individual to task! Be interested to know if it is based upon ignorance or prejudice and that is putting it politely


----------



## elgar's ghost

aussiebushman said:


> Looking back through these posts. I noticed the one quoted above. It is astounding that no-one else has taken this individual to task! Be interested to know if it is based upon ignorance or prejudice and that is putting it politely


The late great Moody referred to it in post no.37. If drpraetorus genuinely couldn't name ten British composers then presumably his tastes lay elsewhere. However, if he had said that he COULD name ten British composers and that they are all garbage then I might have been a bit peeved.


----------



## arpeggio

There can be only ten?


----------



## BiscuityBoyle

1) Sir Ernest James Fitzbottom (of The Verdant Meadow fame)

2) Henry Wollop Smythe (The Bucolic Symphony) 

3) Lord Adolf Wetbottom (see the symphonic poem Dandelions and Goldcup Flowers)

4) Matthew Warblington - the song cycle Rosy Cheek'd Shropshire Lads, How I Long for Ye

5) Alexander Cuthbert Squires - Artemis and Philophrosyne 

6) Rupert Francis Fotheringay-Phipps - The Nightingale Cries to the Rose 

7) David Nicholas Bickford-Smith - (that one orchestral work that heavily borrow Debussy's "impressionist" orchestration and "dreamy" atmosphere with literally none of his singularity, invention and harmonic innovation)

Ran out of breath, sorry.


----------



## elgar's ghost

^
^

Any of their stuff on Naxos yet?


----------



## starthrower

Bax
Arnold
Britten
Alwyn
Finzi
Harvey
Thea Musgrave
James MacMillan
RVW
Holst

I hadn't listened to anything but Holst's Planets when this thread started several years ago. Currently enjoying the symphonies of Bax, Arnold, and Alwyn.


----------



## elgar's ghost

I suppose after eight years of submitting my initial list things may have changed, and they have a little.

This was my original list:

1/ Britten
2/ Simpson
3/ Tippett
4/ V-W
5/ Elgar
6/ Ades
7/ Walton
8/ Handel
9/ Arnold
= 10/ Rawsthorne, Bridge, Delius, Holst 


I would now have to find room for Peter Maxwell Davies - back in 2012 I hadn't heard enough by him to make him a real candidate, but over the last four or so years I've delved deeper and found his multi-faceted output sufficiently rewarding to give him a place. Old Elgar would probably have to drop down the list for him as my enthusiasm for his work has cooled somewhat, but if Handel has to be booted out due to the 'but he was German, not British' argument then Elgar could still squeeze somewhere near the bottom.


----------



## flamencosketches

Well, I don't think I have 10. Let's see, in no particular order:

*Ralph Vaughan Williams*. I don't like everything of his, but he has written some damn good stuff.
*Edward Elgar*. I just started coming around on his music, but again, I don't like everything.
*Malcolm Arnold*. I'm a new fan of his, but he wrote some damn fine symphonies, especially the excellent 9th.
*Henry Purcell*. One of the greatest Baroque composers, English or otherwise.

... and now onto those with whom my experience is much more limited, but that I still enjoy:

*Arnold Bax*. I've heard just a couple of tone poems, but they are quite good. 
*Gustav Holst*. I have yet to hear the entire Planets. I need a good recording. 
*Orlando Gibbons*. Wrote some awesome keyboard music. I need to hear more of it.
*Benjamin Britten*. I really like the two or three works of his I've heard.

I'm afraid that's all I got. And I'm not going to count Handel as English. Frankly, English music is not my favorite, but there is something special that all of the English composers were all onto, something out of the national identity, I'm sure. It just has yet to really click with me.


----------



## flamencosketches

BiscuityBoyle said:


> 1) Sir Ernest James Fitzbottom (of The Verdant Meadow fame)
> 
> 2) Henry Wollop Smythe (The Bucolic Symphony)
> 
> 3) Lord Adolf Wetbottom (see the symphonic poem Dandelions and Goldcup Flowers)
> 
> 4) Matthew Warblington - the song cycle Rosy Cheek'd Shropshire Lads, How I Long for Ye
> 
> 5) Alexander Cuthbert Squires - Artemis and Philophrosyne
> 
> 6) Rupert Francis Fotheringay-Phipps - The Nightingale Cries to the Rose
> 
> 7) David Nicholas Bickford-Smith - (that one orchestral work that heavily borrow Debussy's "impressionist" orchestration and "dreamy" atmosphere with literally none of his singularity, invention and harmonic innovation)
> 
> Ran out of breath, sorry.


:lol: Hit the nail on the head.


----------



## haziz

Unambiguous favorites:

1. Elgar
2. Delius
3. Henry Purcell

I like works by the following, but not necessarily their entire output (or I am not familiar with their entire output):

4. Holst
5. Ralph Vaughan Williams
6. Britten

I am going to cheat and add:

7. Handel (by adoption and or decree!)

I am probably missing one or two, but frankly other than the occasional piece by the latter composers (The Lark Ascending, The Planets, Simple Symphony, Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra and a couple of others), only Elgar, Delius and Purcell give consistent enjoyment. For example I am not a big fan of Ralph Vaughan Williams' symphonies.


----------



## Musicaterina

Purcell, Dowland, Händel (actually German, but he spent a lot of his lifetime in England), Arne, ...

I also like some of the English church tunes of which the composers are not always known. 

Of Benjamin Britten, I only like the cello sonata.


----------



## consuono

BiscuityBoyle said:


> 1) Sir Ernest James Fitzbottom (of The Verdant Meadow fame)
> 
> 2) Henry Wollop Smythe (The Bucolic Symphony)
> 
> 3) Lord Adolf Wetbottom (see the symphonic poem Dandelions and Goldcup Flowers)
> 
> 4) Matthew Warblington - the song cycle Rosy Cheek'd Shropshire Lads, How I Long for Ye
> 
> 5) Alexander Cuthbert Squires - Artemis and Philophrosyne
> 
> 6) Rupert Francis Fotheringay-Phipps - The Nightingale Cries to the Rose
> 
> 7) David Nicholas Bickford-Smith - (that one orchestral work that heavily borrow Debussy's "impressionist" orchestration and "dreamy" atmosphere with literally none of his singularity, invention and harmonic innovation)
> 
> Ran out of breath, sorry.


:lol: :lol: :lol:. That's classic stuff right there.

My favorites would be:

Purcell 
Dowland
Tallis
Bull
Gibbons
Britten
Morley
Rutter
Blow
Anonymous composer(s) of Robertsbridge Codex


----------



## mparta

BiscuityBoyle said:


> 1) Sir Ernest James Fitzbottom (of The Verdant Meadow fame)
> 
> 2) Henry Wollop Smythe (The Bucolic Symphony)
> 
> 3) Lord Adolf Wetbottom (see the symphonic poem Dandelions and Goldcup Flowers)
> 
> 4) Matthew Warblington - the song cycle Rosy Cheek'd Shropshire Lads, How I Long for Ye
> 
> 5) Alexander Cuthbert Squires - Artemis and Philophrosyne
> 
> 6) Rupert Francis Fotheringay-Phipps - The Nightingale Cries to the Rose
> 
> 7) David Nicholas Bickford-Smith - (that one orchestral work that heavily borrow Debussy's "impressionist" orchestration and "dreamy" atmosphere with literally none of his singularity, invention and harmonic innovation)
> 
> Ran out of breath, sorry.


I think the ordering of these is completely wrong, clearly a person without a sense of propriety (or pitch).

I hope you're English 

There's a lot of English music I dabble in, but only Purcell and Britten really do it.

I have an on/off relationship with some Elgar, Janet Baker in the Dream and Sea Pictures, hard to resist, DuPre's concerto.

The Walton Viola concerto is magnificent. The Szell recording of the 2nd symphony holds my attention.

Finzi songs: Earth, Air and Rain, the perfect match for great Hardy poetry. The clarinet concerto, lovely.

Can't feel entirely comfortable yet with Fraenkel but have CDs and continue to try.

Rubbra symphonies, love everything I know.

Delius with Beecham at the helm especially. Special.

Have not been able to connect to Ades operas but just have the Kirill Gerstein/Ades recording of music from Exterminating Angel and other pieces and I find this attractive and worth more listening.

Birtwhistle, I left an ENO performance of some dreck.

Maxwell Davies I heard a Jongleur of Notre Dame (is that right?) at the Maggio Musicale forever ago, no impression left.

I've tried the Alwyn symphonies, no connection yet and I have a bit of MacMillan and hear nothing to make me go back.

Never heard a note of the latter day Taverner, the pretentiousness of his costume/cape doesn't bode well:lol:


----------



## Andante Largo

1. Delius
2. Howells
3. Finzi

4. Butterworth
5. Bantock
6. Vaughan Williams


----------



## Jacck

Thomas Roseingrave
Thomas Augustine Geary 
William Henry Kearns 
Richard Michael Levey
George William Torrance
Paul McSwiney
Swan Hennessy
Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer 
Howard Ferguson
John Kinsella


----------



## Pat Fairlea

Anyone for William Alwyn? Only me??


----------



## Nawdry

elgars ghost said:


> ... This was my original list:
> 
> 1/ Britten
> 2/ Simpson
> 3/ Tippett
> 4/ V-W
> 5/ Elgar
> 6/ Ades
> 7/ Walton
> 8/ Handel
> 9/ Arnold
> = 10/ Rawsthorne, Bridge, Delius, Holst


I especially like this list because it includes several whose music has had a significant impact on my development and life: RVW, Elgar, Arnold, Holst, Walton. In addition, Britten and Tippett are worthy of any such list. I must also nominate John Rutter, for his superb "little" carols that are a source of great pleasure, particularly during the Winter Solstice season ....


----------



## FastkeinBrahms

My question in this context: Are there composers in the period between Purcell and/or Händel (in my view both German and English), and the huge number of great English composers starting app. with Delius? Was England really a composers' desert for more than a hundred years after 1760?

My list would be (more chronological than priority)
Byrd
Tallis
Dowland
Purcell
Händel
Delius
Elgar
Holst
Britten
Vaughan Williams

And if there were an 11: One of my favourite Johns:
Rutter (although a bit of a guilty pleasure)


----------



## elgar's ghost

FastkeinBrahms said:


> Was England really a composers' desert for more than a hundred years after 1760?


Pretty much. There were British composers during this time, of course, and some may well have been feted in their day, but the fact that hardly any are remembered these days probably tells its own story.


----------



## Roger Knox

Byrd
Purcell
Parry
Elgar
Vaughan Williams
Finzi
Walton
Tippett
Bennett
Benjamin, G.


----------



## Coach G

My top ten English composers w/my favorite works by each one:

1. Britten (_Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings_)
2. Gibbons (_This is a Record of John_)
3. Byrd (_Mass #3_)
4. Vaughan Williams (_Symphony #2 "A London Symphony"_)
5. Holst (Just for _The Planets_)
6. Elgar (_Cello Concerto_)
7. Bax (_Elegiac Trio for Harp, Viola and Flute_)
8. Bliss (_Checkmate_)
9. Purcell (_Dido and Aenaes_)
10. Walton (_Facade_)
11. Tippett (_A Child of Our Times_)
12. Delius (_Florida Suite_)
13. Handel (honorary Englishman, _Messiah_, of course)


----------



## Dave Langlois

I must be honest and admit that, compared with Germany, France, Italy, I go with the famous and probably apocryphal German insult of Das Land ohne Musik, but I'd deffo put Britten number one (especially for Midsummer, Turn of the screw, Rape of Lucretia, Death in Venice, Serenade, Illuminations, etc) followed by Tippett, Purcell, Dowland, Byrd and then . . . I sort of run out . . .


----------



## Highwayman

1. Dowland
2. RVW
3. Parry
4. Bridge
5. Bowen
6. Bax
7. Bliss
8. Byrd
9. Holst
10. Bantock

A few honorable mentions: Howells, Finzi, Rawsthorne, Rubbra, Moeran, Ireland, PM Davies, Elgar, Arnold, Alwyn, Hoddinott, Joubert, Scott, Holbrooke, Hurlstone, G. Benjamin, Dyson, Smyth and probably many more that I cannot think of right now.

I`m not sure if Stanford qualifies as a British composer but he is a favourite nonetheless...


----------



## HenryPenfold

Malcolm Arnold
Arthur Bliss
Benjamin Britten
Arnold Bax
Edmund Rubbra
Elgar (Elgar has the same mononymous status as Pele and Topol)
Harrison Birtwistle
Michael Tippett
William Walton
Ralph Vaughan Williams

On the bench:

Gustav Holst (he was German anyway)
Frederick Delius (ibid)
Frank Bridge
Peter Maxwell Davies

I can't decide on a favourite work for each composer.

This is all I could come up with:

Britten - Serenade For Tenor Horn & Strings
Bliss - A Colour Symphony
Bax - November Woods
Elgar - Symphony #2
Birtwistle - Gawain
RVW - Symphony #9
Holst - The Planets
Frank Bridge - Piano Trio #2

Edit: I forgot *Havergal Brian*. Looking at MusicSybarite's list brought this terrible oversight to my attention! He should be in my top ten. Fave piece Symphony no. 10.


----------



## MusicSybarite

HenryPenfold said:


> Malcolm Arnold
> Arthur Bliss
> Benjamin Britten
> Arnold Bax
> Edmund Rubbra
> Elgar (Elgar has the same mononymous status as Pele and Topol)
> Harrison Birtwistle
> Michael Tippett
> William Walton
> Ralph Vaughan Williams
> 
> On the bench:
> 
> Gustav Holst (he was German anyway)
> Frederick Delius
> Frank Bridge
> George Butterworth
> Peter Maxwell Davies
> John Ireland
> Gerald Finzi
> Charles Villiers Stanford
> Hubert Parry
> 
> (it's a big squad, but not as big as Germany's)


I share many of these. Delius and parry would have been other fine choices by me too. Maxwell Davies has never convinced me, or at least not yet, however.


----------



## MusicSybarite

No information here.


----------



## MusicSybarite

Currently these are mine:

*1. Ralph Vaughan Williams.* He's the consistently more compelling composer overall in Great Britain. His corpus of 9 symphonies, a piano concerto (for two pianos), a violin concerto, choral music, innumerable songs, chamber music, etc. He represents the essential English pastoral-countryside essence.

*2. Malcolm Arnold.* An extraordinary film music composer, with 9 (or eleven symphonies, taking into account the ones for brass and strings respectively), a large variety of concertante works, exhilarating and witty chamber music, I mean, and how a superb tunesmith he was. His tunes are to die for! We don't should worry for the orchestration, always impeccable.

*3. Arnold Bax.* Another composer who features by his splendid set of symphonies and tone poems, and a myriad of other orchestral, concertante, piano and chamber, there's lot to enjoy from. His characteristic legendary Celtic flafour is easily identifiable, pigeonholed.

*4. William Alwyn.* This composer has a voice of his own in spite of being less authentic or recognizable. But I don't care for it. His style is passionate, expressive, rigurous, intriguing and somewhat craggy like his compatriot VW. I especially love his symphonies and concertos.

*5. Edward Elgar.* Unmissable, I consider him one of the noblest and proud of being British. Thank him England, Ireland and United Kingdom are visible on the world map as a nation with its own voice and importance.

*6. Edmund Rubbra.* Religiosity, believer, mystic, counterpoint. These adjectives define Rubbra to me at a first glance.

*7. William Walton.* Superb composer in every way. No contest. I yet have to hear some of his operas and vocal music.

*8. Granville Bantock.* The Celtic, lavish orchestrations and exotic feel to it make Bantock a composer close of my likings. Granted, he's not an indispensable composer, but just because he composed the ineffably beautiful _*A Celtic Symphony*_!

*9. Charles Stanford.* I like Stanford because of his sense of craftsmanship and stamp of being Irish. Brahms was one of his idols. Anyone who respect Brahms, it's a composer of my affections.

*10. John Kinsella.* The Welsh symphonist. One of the most accomplished symphonists I'm aware of. His sort of recent 11th symphony it's a must hear for Sibelius fans.

An alternative list would be like this:

*Benjamin Britten
Frank Bridge
Michael Tippett
Gustav Holst
George Lloyd
E.J. Moeran
William Mathias
Gerald Finzi
Richard Arnell
Havergal Brian*


----------



## HenryPenfold

MusicSybarite said:


> Currently these are mine:
> 
> *1. Ralph Vaughan Williams.* He's the consistently more compelling composer overall in Great Britain. His corpus of 9 symphonies, a piano concerto (for two pianos), a violin concerto, choral music, innumerable songs, chamber music, etc. He represents the essential English pastoral-countryside essence.
> 
> *2. Malcolm Arnold.* An extraordinary film music composer, with 9 (or eleven symphonies, taking into account the ones for brass and strings respectively), a large variety of concertante works, exhilarating and witty chamber music, I mean, and how a superb tunesmith he was. His tunes are to die for! We don't should worry for the orchestration, always impeccable.
> 
> *3. Arnold Bax.* Another composer who features by his splendid set of symphonies and tone poems, and a myriad of other orchestral, concertante, piano and chamber, there's lot to enjoy from. His characteristic legendary Celtic flafour is easily identifiable, pigeonholed.
> 
> *4. William Alwyn.* This composer has a voice of his own in spite of being less authentic or recognizable. But I don't care for it. His style is passionate, expressive, rigurous, intriguing and somewhat craggy like his compatriot VW. I especially love his symphonies and concertos.
> 
> *5. Edward Elgar.* Unmissable, I consider him one of the noblest and proud of being British. Thank him England, Ireland and United Kingdom are visible on the world map as a nation with its own voice and importance.
> 
> *6. Edmund Rubbra.* Religiosity, believer, mystic, counterpoint. These adjectives define Rubbra to me at a first glance.
> 
> *7. William Walton.* Superb composer in every way. No contest. I yet have to hear some of his operas and vocal music.
> 
> *8. Granville Bantock.* The Celtic, lavish orchestrations and exotic feel to it make Bantock a composer close of my likings. Granted, he's not an indispensable composer, but just because he composed the ineffably beautiful _*A Celtic Symphony*_!
> 
> *9. Charles Stanford.* I like Stanford because of his sense of craftsmanship and stamp of being Irish. Brahms was one of his idols. Anyone who respect Brahms, it's a composer of my affections.
> 
> *10. John Kinsella.* The Welsh symphonist. One of the most accomplished symphonists I'm aware of. His sort of recent 11th symphony it's a must hear for Sibelius fans.
> 
> An alternative list would be like this:
> 
> *Benjamin Britten
> Frank Bridge
> Michael Tippett
> Gustav Holst
> George Lloyd
> E.J. Moeran
> William Mathias
> Gerald Finzi
> Richard Arnell
> Havergal Brian*


Alwyn, Brian (an oversight on my part) and Rawsthorne could have made my list on another day


----------



## starthrower

Pat Fairlea said:


> Anyone for William Alwyn? Only me??


Count me as a fan. I've been meaning to give his symphonies another spin. I suppose I have more music by Britten, Bax, and Arnold than any others. I'm also a fan of Finzi, Rubbra, and just a mild fan of VW, and Holst. Too many others I haven't explored much.


----------



## Dorsetmike

235 posts and not one mention of John Stanley, - it's his 308th birthday tomorrow.

For my list I can think of 14 without going past 1800
Stanley
Byrd,
Tallis
Purcell
Weelkes
Wilbye
Gibbons
Tomkins
Greene
Taverner
Morley
Clarke
Dowland
Heron

Sorry but there's not much written after 1800 that appeals, much of it has been done to death, recorded over and over again and played daily by radio and other outlets until it loses its appeal - assuming it ever had any!


----------



## Pat Fairlea

MusicSybarite said:


> Currently these are mine:
> 
> *1. Ralph Vaughan Williams.* He's the consistently more compelling composer overall in Great Britain. His corpus of 9 symphonies, a piano concerto (for two pianos), a violin concerto, choral music, innumerable songs, chamber music, etc. He represents the essential English pastoral-countryside essence.
> 
> *2. Malcolm Arnold.* An extraordinary film music composer, with 9 (or eleven symphonies, taking into account the ones for brass and strings respectively), a large variety of concertante works, exhilarating and witty chamber music, I mean, and how a superb tunesmith he was. His tunes are to die for! We don't should worry for the orchestration, always impeccable.
> 
> *3. Arnold Bax.* Another composer who features by his splendid set of symphonies and tone poems, and a myriad of other orchestral, concertante, piano and chamber, there's lot to enjoy from. His characteristic legendary Celtic flafour is easily identifiable, pigeonholed.
> 
> *4. William Alwyn.* This composer has a voice of his own in spite of being less authentic or recognizable. But I don't care for it. His style is passionate, expressive, rigurous, intriguing and somewhat craggy like his compatriot VW. I especially love his symphonies and concertos.
> 
> *5. Edward Elgar.* Unmissable, I consider him one of the noblest and proud of being British. Thank him England, Ireland and United Kingdom are visible on the world map as a nation with its own voice and importance.
> 
> *6. Edmund Rubbra.* Religiosity, believer, mystic, counterpoint. These adjectives define Rubbra to me at a first glance.
> 
> *7. William Walton.* Superb composer in every way. No contest. I yet have to hear some of his operas and vocal music.
> 
> *8. Granville Bantock.* The Celtic, lavish orchestrations and exotic feel to it make Bantock a composer close of my likings. Granted, he's not an indispensable composer, but just because he composed the ineffably beautiful _*A Celtic Symphony*_!
> 
> *9. Charles Stanford.* I like Stanford because of his sense of craftsmanship and stamp of being Irish. Brahms was one of his idols. Anyone who respect Brahms, it's a composer of my affections.
> 
> *10. John Kinsella.* The Welsh symphonist. One of the most accomplished symphonists I'm aware of. His sort of recent 11th symphony it's a must hear for Sibelius fans.
> 
> An alternative list would be like this:
> 
> *Benjamin Britten
> Frank Bridge
> Michael Tippett
> Gustav Holst
> George Lloyd
> E.J. Moeran
> William Mathias
> Gerald Finzi
> Richard Arnell
> Havergal Brian*


That's a fascinating and well-argued list, and I'm not going to argue with your choices. My list would be similar, though I just cannot include Elgar. Too much of his music strikes me as the music that he thought others thought he ought to be writing, rather than the music that he really _meant_. At his best (Cello Concerto, Serenade for Strings) Elgar can be excellent. But not always. 
So I would probably swap Elgar out and slip John Ireland in, as a consistently interesting and inventive composer. I would like to include Holst and Finzi but cannot see who would drop out!


----------



## HenryPenfold

Dorsetmike said:


> 235 posts and not one mention of John Stanley, - it's his 308th birthday tomorrow.


I thought he'd died. Oh well, many happy returns.

What I'm surprised about is very little mention of *Alan Rawsthorne*.

Three marvellous symphonies, violin, cello and piano concertos, plenty of chamber music, successful film scores ...........


----------



## MusicSybarite

HenryPenfold said:


> I thought he'd died. Oh well, many happy returns.
> 
> What I'm surprised about is very little mention of *Alan Rawsthorne*.
> 
> Three marvellous symphonies, violin, cello and piano concertos, plenty of chamber music, successful film scores ...........


Rawsthorne has a good deal of interesting works indeed, albeit his music sometimes tends to be raw and thorny to my ears (no pun intended).


----------



## Chilham

Britten
Byrd
Dowland
Elgar
Finzi
Holst
Smyth
Tallis
Vaughan Williams and
Weelkes, for his behaviour as much as for his music


----------



## Agamenon

Bax.

The rest is noise.


----------



## HenryPenfold

Agamenon said:


> Bax.
> 
> The rest is noise.


What's your favourite Bax composition?


----------



## HenryPenfold

drpraetorus said:


> I can't think of ten british composers, let alone ten good ones.


I'll help you darling .....


Abbott, Katy
Adaskin, Murray 
Adès, Thomas 
Albert, Eugène d' 
Alwyn, William 
Anderson, Julian 
Archer, Violet
Armstrong, Thomas 
Arnell, Richard 
Arnold, Malcolm 
Austin, Frederic 
Bainton, Edgar 
Ball, Eric 
Bantock, Granville
Barry, Darrol
Bate, Stanley
Bax, Arnold
Beamish, Sally
Bedford, David 
Bell, Derek
Bell, William Henry 
Benjamin, Arthur
Bennett, Richard Rodney 
Bennett, William Sterndale 
Berkeley, Lennox 
Berkeley, Michael
Binge, Ronald 
Blake, Christopher 
Blake, Howard
Bliss, Arthur
Blower, Maurice
Bodley, Seóirse 
Boughton, Rutland 
Bourgeois, Derek
Bowen, York 
Boyle, Ina
Bracanin, Philip 
Brady, Tim
Brian, Havergal 
Bridge, Frank 
Britten, Benjamin
Broadstock, Brenton 
Bromhead, Jerome de 
Bruce, Robert 
Brumby, Colin 
Buckley, John 
Bush, Alan 
Bush, Geoffrey 
Butterworth, Arthur 
Carr, Edwin 
Causton, Richard 
Chagrin, Francis
Champagne, Claude
Chisholm, Erik
Clarke, Nigel 
Cliffe, Frederic 
Clifford, Hubert 
Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel 
Collins, Anthony 
Cooke, Arnold
Corp, Ronald
Corcoran, Frank 
Cowen, Frederic 
Crosse, Gordon
Crossley-Holland, Peter
Crotch, William
Csányi-Willis, Michael
Curtis, Matthew 
Davey, Sean 
Davies, Peter Maxwell 
Dean, Brett
Dickenson-Auner, Mary 
Douglas, Clive 
Douglas, Paul
Downes, Andrew 
Dreyfus, George 
Duncan, Trevor
Dunhill, Thomas
Du Plessis, Hubert 
Dyson, GeorgeEckhardt-Grammaté, Sophie-Carmen 
Edwards, Ross 
Elcock, Steve
Elgar, Edward 
Elmsley, John
Estacio, John
Fagan, Gideon 
Farnon, Robert 
Farquhar, David
Fleischmann, Aloys
Fletcher, Percy 
Frankel, Benjamin 
Fricker, Peter Racine 
Gál, Hans 
Gardner, John 
Gellman, Steven 
Gerhard, Roberto 
German, Edward
Gibbs, Cecil Armstrong 
Gipps, Ruth 
Glanville-Hicks, Peggy 
Glick, Srul Irving 
Goehr. Alexander
Golightly, David 
Goossens, Eugene 
Gorb, Adam
Gregson, Edward
Griller, Arnold
Gross, Eric 
Gunning, Christopher 
Hadley, Patrick 
Hamilton, Iain 
Harris, Ross
Hanson, Raymond
Harper, Edward
Hart, Fritz 
Harty, Hamilton 
Hawes, Patrick
Hely-Hutchinson, Victor 
Hétu, Jacques 
Hill, Alfred 
Hill, Mirrie 
Ho, Vincent
Hoddinott, Alun
Holbrooke, Joseph
Holland, Dulcie 
Holst, Gustav 
Horovitz, Joseph
Hurd, Michael 
Hughes, ed
Hughes, Robert 
Jacob, Gordon 
Jenkins, Clive
Johnson, David Hackbridge
Johnson, Laurie
Jones, Daniel 
Josephs, Wilfred 
Joubert, John
Keal, Minna
Keeley, Rob
Ķeniņš, Tālivaldis 
Kinsella, John 
Knussen, Oliver 
Lamond, Frederic 
Le Gallienne, Dorian 
Leighton, Kenneth 
Lilburn, Douglas 
Lipkin, Malcolm
Lloyd, George 
Lloyd, Jonathan 
Lovelock, William 
Macfarren, George 
MacMillan, James 
Maconchy, Elizabeth 
Mann, Leslie 
Marshall-Hall, G.W. 
Martelli, Carlo
Mathias, William 
Matthews, David 
Matthews, Michael
Maw, Nicholas
McCabe, John 
McEwen, John 
McLeod, Jenny 
McNeff, Stephen
McPhee, Colin 
Meale, Richard 
Metcalf, John 
Mills, Richard 
Milner, Anthony 
Moeran, Ernest J. 
Morawetz, Oskar 
Morel, FrançoisNash, Peter Paul
Newton, Rodney
Nyman, Michael
O'Brien, Charles
O'Connell, Kevin
Orr, Robin 
Panufnik, Andrzej 
Papineau-Couture, Jean
Parker, C.S.L. (Stephen)
Parker, Jim
Parrott, Ian 
Parry, Hubert 
Patterson, Paul
Penberthy, James 
Pentland, Barbara 
Pépin, Clermont 
Phillips, Montague 
Pickard, John 
Potter, Archibald J. 
Potter, Phillip Cipriani 
Rawsthorne, Alan 
Rimmer, John 
Ritchie, Anthony
Robertson, Ernest John
Rogers, Eric 
Rootham, Cyril 
Rubbra, Edmund
Ryan, Jeffrey
Sawyers, Philip
Saxton, Robert 
Scott, Cyril 
Searle, Humphrey 
Simpson, Robert 
Smalley, Roger 
Smith, Alice Mary
Smyth, Ethyl 
Somers, Harry
Somervell, Arthur
Sparke, Philip
Spratley, Philip
Speight, John
Standford, Patric
Stanford, Charles 
Stevens, Bernard 
Stevens, James 
Still, Robert 
Sullivan, Arthur 
Tahourdin, Peter 
Taylor, Matthew 
Tippett, Michael 
Tomlinson, Ernest
Tovey, Donald 
Truscott, Harold 
Turner, Robert 
Vaughan Williams, Ralph 
Veale, John
Vine, Carl 
Vinter, Gilbert
Wallace, Willliam 
Walters, Gareth 
Walton, William 
Waterhouse, Graham
Watkins, Huw
Wellesz, Egon 
Werder, Felix
Wesley, Samuel 
Whettam, Graham 
Whitlock, Percy
Wilby, Philip
Wilkins, Margaret Lucy
Willan, Healy 
Williams, Grace 
Williamson, Malcolm 
Wilson, Thomas 
Wood, Hugh 
Wordsworth, William 
Wyk, Arnold van 
Young, Kenneth 
Zaidel-Rudolph, Jeanne


----------



## Prodromides

Oy!

'ere are 15 more:

Astley, Edwin
Benjamin, George
Black, Stanley
Burgon, Geoffrey
Cary, Tristram
Cordell, Frank
Dress, Michael
Goehr, Walter
Jones, Kenneth V.
Lutyens, Elisabeth
Orr, Buxton
Payne, Anthony
Salzedo, Leonard
Seiber, Matyas
Wilkinson, Marc


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## Roger Knox

HenryPenfold said:


> I'll help you darling .....


But 21 of those composers are Canadian. Where did you get the list?

Adaskin, Murray
Archer, Violet
Brady, Tim
Champagne, Claude
Douglas, Paul
Estacio, John
Gellman, Steven
Glick, Srul Irving
Hétu, Jacques
Ho, Vincent
Ķeniņš, Tālivaldis
Mann, Leslie
McPhee, Colin
Morawetz, Oskar
Morel, François
Papineau-Couture, Jean
Pentland, Barbara
Pépin, Clermont
Ryan, Jeffrey
Somers, Harry
Turner, Robert


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## John Lenin

Has there really been 10 British composers..... Really....???


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## HenryPenfold

Roger Knox said:


> But 21 of those composers are Canadian. Where did you get the list?
> 
> Adaskin, Murray
> Archer, Violet
> Brady, Tim
> Champagne, Claude
> Douglas, Paul
> Estacio, John
> Gellman, Steven
> Glick, Srul Irving
> Hétu, Jacques
> Ho, Vincent
> Ķeniņš, Tālivaldis
> Mann, Leslie
> McPhee, Colin
> Morawetz, Oskar
> Morel, François
> Papineau-Couture, Jean
> Pentland, Barbara
> Pépin, Clermont
> Ryan, Jeffrey
> Somers, Harry
> Turner, Robert


If Martina Navratilova is a Yank, then those Canadians are Brits and I'm a Dutchman!!!!

Jokes aside, I think the list is a Commonwealth type thing. (Don't give me a hard time - can you imagine how long it took me to type all those names???)

P.S. I can't believe you actually read the list!!!


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## HenryPenfold

Prodromides said:


> Oy!
> 
> 'ere are 15 more:
> 
> Astley, Edwin
> Benjamin, George
> Black, Stanley
> Burgon, Geoffrey
> Cary, Tristram
> Cordell, Frank
> Dress, Michael
> Goehr, Walter
> Jones, Kenneth V.
> Lutyens, Elisabeth
> Orr, Buxton
> Payne, Anthony
> Salzedo, Leonard
> Seiber, Matyas
> Wilkinson, Marc


You're not wrong!


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## Axter

HenryPenfold said:


> I'll help you darling .....
> 
> 
> Abbott, Katy
> Adaskin, Murray
> Adès, Thomas
> Albert, Eugène d'
> Alwyn, William
> Anderson, Julian
> Archer, Violet
> Armstrong, Thomas
> Arnell, Richard
> Arnold, Malcolm
> Austin, Frederic
> Bainton, Edgar
> Ball, Eric
> Bantock, Granville
> Barry, Darrol
> Bate, Stanley
> Bax, Arnold
> Beamish, Sally
> Bedford, David
> Bell, Derek
> Bell, William Henry
> Benjamin, Arthur
> Bennett, Richard Rodney
> Bennett, William Sterndale
> Berkeley, Lennox
> Berkeley, Michael
> Binge, Ronald
> Blake, Christopher
> Blake, Howard
> Bliss, Arthur
> Blower, Maurice
> Bodley, Seóirse
> Boughton, Rutland
> Bourgeois, Derek
> Bowen, York
> Boyle, Ina
> Bracanin, Philip
> Brady, Tim
> Brian, Havergal
> Bridge, Frank
> Britten, Benjamin
> Broadstock, Brenton
> Bromhead, Jerome de
> Bruce, Robert
> Brumby, Colin
> Buckley, John
> Bush, Alan
> Bush, Geoffrey
> Butterworth, Arthur
> Carr, Edwin
> Causton, Richard
> Chagrin, Francis
> Champagne, Claude
> Chisholm, Erik
> Clarke, Nigel
> Cliffe, Frederic
> Clifford, Hubert
> Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel
> Collins, Anthony
> Cooke, Arnold
> Corp, Ronald
> Corcoran, Frank
> Cowen, Frederic
> Crosse, Gordon
> Crossley-Holland, Peter
> Crotch, William
> Csányi-Willis, Michael
> Curtis, Matthew
> Davey, Sean
> Davies, Peter Maxwell
> Dean, Brett
> Dickenson-Auner, Mary
> Douglas, Clive
> Douglas, Paul
> Downes, Andrew
> Dreyfus, George
> Duncan, Trevor
> Dunhill, Thomas
> Du Plessis, Hubert
> Dyson, GeorgeEckhardt-Grammaté, Sophie-Carmen
> Edwards, Ross
> Elcock, Steve
> Elgar, Edward
> Elmsley, John
> Estacio, John
> Fagan, Gideon
> Farnon, Robert
> Farquhar, David
> Fleischmann, Aloys
> Fletcher, Percy
> Frankel, Benjamin
> Fricker, Peter Racine
> Gál, Hans
> Gardner, John
> Gellman, Steven
> Gerhard, Roberto
> German, Edward
> Gibbs, Cecil Armstrong
> Gipps, Ruth
> Glanville-Hicks, Peggy
> Glick, Srul Irving
> Goehr. Alexander
> Golightly, David
> Goossens, Eugene
> Gorb, Adam
> Gregson, Edward
> Griller, Arnold
> Gross, Eric
> Gunning, Christopher
> Hadley, Patrick
> Hamilton, Iain
> Harris, Ross
> Hanson, Raymond
> Harper, Edward
> Hart, Fritz
> Harty, Hamilton
> Hawes, Patrick
> Hely-Hutchinson, Victor
> Hétu, Jacques
> Hill, Alfred
> Hill, Mirrie
> Ho, Vincent
> Hoddinott, Alun
> Holbrooke, Joseph
> Holland, Dulcie
> Holst, Gustav
> Horovitz, Joseph
> Hurd, Michael
> Hughes, ed
> Hughes, Robert
> Jacob, Gordon
> Jenkins, Clive
> Johnson, David Hackbridge
> Johnson, Laurie
> Jones, Daniel
> Josephs, Wilfred
> Joubert, John
> Keal, Minna
> Keeley, Rob
> Ķeniņš, Tālivaldis
> Kinsella, John
> Knussen, Oliver
> Lamond, Frederic
> Le Gallienne, Dorian
> Leighton, Kenneth
> Lilburn, Douglas
> Lipkin, Malcolm
> Lloyd, George
> Lloyd, Jonathan
> Lovelock, William
> Macfarren, George
> MacMillan, James
> Maconchy, Elizabeth
> Mann, Leslie
> Marshall-Hall, G.W.
> Martelli, Carlo
> Mathias, William
> Matthews, David
> Matthews, Michael
> Maw, Nicholas
> McCabe, John
> McEwen, John
> McLeod, Jenny
> McNeff, Stephen
> McPhee, Colin
> Meale, Richard
> Metcalf, John
> Mills, Richard
> Milner, Anthony
> Moeran, Ernest J.
> Morawetz, Oskar
> Morel, FrançoisNash, Peter Paul
> Newton, Rodney
> Nyman, Michael
> O'Brien, Charles
> O'Connell, Kevin
> Orr, Robin
> Panufnik, Andrzej
> Papineau-Couture, Jean
> Parker, C.S.L. (Stephen)
> Parker, Jim
> Parrott, Ian
> Parry, Hubert
> Patterson, Paul
> Penberthy, James
> Pentland, Barbara
> Pépin, Clermont
> Phillips, Montague
> Pickard, John
> Potter, Archibald J.
> Potter, Phillip Cipriani
> Rawsthorne, Alan
> Rimmer, John
> Ritchie, Anthony
> Robertson, Ernest John
> Rogers, Eric
> Rootham, Cyril
> Rubbra, Edmund
> Ryan, Jeffrey
> Sawyers, Philip
> Saxton, Robert
> Scott, Cyril
> Searle, Humphrey
> Simpson, Robert
> Smalley, Roger
> Smith, Alice Mary
> Smyth, Ethyl
> Somers, Harry
> Somervell, Arthur
> Sparke, Philip
> Spratley, Philip
> Speight, John
> Standford, Patric
> Stanford, Charles
> Stevens, Bernard
> Stevens, James
> Still, Robert
> Sullivan, Arthur
> Tahourdin, Peter
> Taylor, Matthew
> Tippett, Michael
> Tomlinson, Ernest
> Tovey, Donald
> Truscott, Harold
> Turner, Robert
> Vaughan Williams, Ralph
> Veale, John
> Vine, Carl
> Vinter, Gilbert
> Wallace, Willliam
> Walters, Gareth
> Walton, William
> Waterhouse, Graham
> Watkins, Huw
> Wellesz, Egon
> Werder, Felix
> Wesley, Samuel
> Whettam, Graham
> Whitlock, Percy
> Wilby, Philip
> Wilkins, Margaret Lucy
> Willan, Healy
> Williams, Grace
> Williamson, Malcolm
> Wilson, Thomas
> Wood, Hugh
> Wordsworth, William
> Wyk, Arnold van
> Young, Kenneth
> Zaidel-Rudolph, Jeanne


I am pretty sure you missed one or two


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

I don't know if I can count that far...Britten


----------



## HenryPenfold

Axter said:


> I am pretty sure you missed one or two


15, according to Prodromides!


----------



## Dorsetmike

HenryPenfold said:


> 15, according to Prodromides!


You're still missing quite a few, Purcell, John Stanley, Weelkes, Maurice Greene, Jeremiah Clarke

I doubt I could get the complete list in a post (there are over 50 with surnames beginning with B)
so here's a link

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_classical_composers


----------



## HenryPenfold

Dorsetmike said:


> You're still missing quite a few, Purcell, John Stanley, Weelkes, Maurice Greene, Jeremiah Clarke
> 
> I doubt I could get the complete list in a post (there are over 50 with surnames beginning with B)
> so here's a link
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_classical_composers


That's quite a list on Wikipedia


----------



## Prodromides

John Lenin said:


> Has there really been 10 British composers..... Really....???


Nawt ah lotta people know that.


----------



## LAS

Oh, gee. I'll have to watch this thread. I can't think of 10 British Composers, favorite or not!!!

I've always been intrigued by the imbalance in the different art forms in western European post renaissance culture. British literature, German music, French painting.


----------



## Littlephrase

Agamenon said:


> Bax.
> 
> The rest is noise.


Agh, I still don't understand Bax. His music doesn't move me at all.

Considering his passionate cult following, I keep trying in hopes that I will find that _something_ in his music. It has not happened yet. Perhaps his music simply isn't for me- a dreaded conclusion.


----------

