Bryan George Kelly (born January 3, 1934)[1] is an English composer, conductor, and pianist from Oxford. He was a choir boy at Worcester College and attended Southfield Grammar School. After lessons with Harold Spicer, the long-serving organist and choirmaster of Manchester College, Oxford, he studied at the Royal College of Music with Gordon Jacob and Herbert Howells, then with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.[2] He subsequently taught at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and (from 1963) at the Royal College of Music. He has spent periods of his teaching career in America, Italy, France and Egypt.[3]

His compositions range from light orchestral music and works for brass band to more serious and extended orchestral works (such as his Symphony and the Concertante Dances) as well as church music,.[4] His Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in C of 1965 incorporate Latin American rhythms.[5] Lighter orchestral works include the Cuban Suite, the New Orleans Suite, Divertissement, and two Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra commissions – the overture Sancho Panza (1969) and the Sinfonia Concertante (1967). His works for brass band include Brass Bagatelles, the overture Provence and the Divertimento for Brass.[6] In 1961, Kelly wrote the piano piece Tango especially for Peter Katin.

Instrumental solos and educational music are also important to him: for example, the engagingly presented Whodunnit Suite for trumpet and piano, which includes pieces of the titles: 'Poirot (Detective)', 'Lavinia Lurex (Actress)', 'Colonel Glib (Retired)', 'Miss Slight (Spinster of This Parish)', 'The Chief Suspect' and 'The Chase'.[7]

Two CDs of Kelly's orchestral music have been issued by Heritage.[8]

The choir of Clare College, Cambridge, issued a CD of the choral music in 2001, including the cantata Crucifixion, the Missa Brevis and the popular carol This Lovely Lady.[9] There is a non-commercial recording of Kelly's Symphony No 1 (1983), by the City of Oxford Orchestra, director Yannis Daras, available on YouTube.[10]

References

  1. ^ Greenall, Matthew (2001). "Kelly, Bryan (George)". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.14854. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.(subscription required)
  2. ^ Howes, Frank (September 1967). "Bryan Kelly". The Musical Times. 108 (1495): 801–804. doi:10.2307/952489. JSTOR 952489.
  3. ^ Biography at the British Music Collection
  4. ^ *Kennedy, Michael (2006), The Oxford Dictionary of MusicISBN 0-19-861459-4
  5. ^ Recorded by the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge on Magnificat 3, Signum Classics SIGCD742 (2023)
  6. ^ "Bandstand BBC Radio 3 Monday 9 September 1974 17:10", Radio Times, issue 2652, 7 September 1974, p. 36 – via BBC Genome Project
  7. ^ "Kelly, Bryan: Whodunnit. Suite for Trumpet and Piano", Stainer & Bell
  8. ^ Kelly: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2,, Heritage HTG CD180 (2020), reviewed at MusicWeb International
  9. ^ Priory PRCD755 (2001)
  10. ^ Kelly, Symphony No. 1 on YouTube

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