Granville Bantock - Definition and Overview

Granville Bantock (August 7, 1868 - October 16, 1946) was a British composer of classical music.

A close friend of fellow composer Havergal Brian, he was professor of music at Birmingham University from 1908 to 1934. He was knighted in 1930.

His music was influenced by folk song of the Hebrides (as in the 1915 Hebridean Symphony) and the works of Richard Wagner. Some of his works have an "exotic" element (including the oratorio Omar Khayyám (1906-09)). Among his other better known works are the overture The Pierrot of the Minute (1908) and the Pagan Symphony (1928).

He was influential in the founding of the City of Birmingham orchestra (later the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra), whose first performance in September 1920 was of his Overture: Saul.

External links

• Bantock picture (http://www.musicweb.uk.net/classrev/2000/sept00/bantock.htm)
• Bantock Society (http://www.musicweb.uk.net/bantock/)
• A Brief Introduction to his Life and Work (http://www.musicweb.uk.net/bantock/buddint.htm)
• Music Samples (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002ZOF/)