Dyson, Sir George
Dyson, Sir George
Dyson, Sir George, English composer and pedagogue; b. Halifax, Yorkshire, May 28, 1883; d. Winchester, Sept. 28,1964. He was a scholarship student in organ and composition at the Royal Coll. of Music in London (1900–04), and then continued his training in Italy and Germany (1904–08). After serving as music master at Osborne, Marlborough, Rugby, and Wellington, he was director of music at Winchester Coll. (1924–37); he subsequently was director of the Royal Coll. of Music (1938–52). In 1941 he was knighted and in 1953 he was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. He publ. The New Music (1924), The Progress of Music (1932), and the candid autobiography Fiddling While Rome Burns: A Musician’s Apology (1954). C. Palmer ed. Dyson’s Delight: An Anthology of Sir George Dyson’s Writings and Talks on Music (London, 1989).
Works
Sym. (1937); Violin Concerto (1943); 2 concert! for Strings (1949); chamber music; piano pieces; cantatas: In Honour of the City (1928), The Canterbury Pilgrims (1931; overture perf. as At the Tabard Inn, 1946), St. Paul’s Voyage to Melita (1933), and Quo Vadis? (1939); songs; pedagogical pieces.
Bibliography
C. Palmer, G. D.: A Centenary Appreciation (Borough Green, 1984).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire