Geoffrey Norris (born 1947) is an English musicologist and music critic. His scholarship focuses on Russian composers; in particularly, Norris is a leading scholar on the life and music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, about whom he has written in numerous articles and a 1976 book-length study. He was chief classical music critic of The Daily Telegraph from 1995 to 2009.

Life and career

Geoffrey Norris was born in London, England in 1947.^[1] An enthusiast of Russian culture since his youth, Norris attended the University of Durham and where his undergraduate dissertation concerned The Five, a leading group of 19th-century Russian composers.^[2] He continued his studies of Russian music at the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts.^[2] From 1995 to 2009, he was chief classical music critic of The Daily Telegraph.^[1] Norris has been a lecturer at the Royal Northern College of Music and numerous other universities, as well as a jury member for many piano competitions.^[2] Norris currently teaches at the Rachmaninoff Music Academy, London and the Gnesin Music Academy, Moscow.^[3]

Norris' scholarship focuses on Russian composers, and in particular, Sergei Rachmaninoff.^[2] He has written numerous articles,^[4][5][6][7] and a book length study on Rachmaninoff,^[8] whose works he catalogued in a 1982 publication with Robert Threlfall.^[9]

Selected writings

Books

• Norris, Geoffrey (1976). Rakhmaninov. The Master Musicians Series. London: J.M. Dent. ISBN 978-0-460-03145-5.
• ——; Threlfall, Robert (1982). A Catalogue of the Compositions of S. Rachmaninoff. London: Scolar Press. ISBN 978-0-85967-617-5.

Articles

• Norris, Geoffrey (1973). "Rachmaninoff's Second Thoughts". The Musical Times. 114 (1562): 364–368. doi:10.2307/955179. JSTOR 955179.
• —— (July 1973). "Rakhmaninov's Student Opera". The Musical Quarterly. 59 (3): 441–448. doi:10.1093/mq/LIX.3.441. JSTOR 41788.
• —— (October 1983). "Rakhmaninov's Apprenticeship". The Musical Times. 124 (1688): 602–603+605. doi:10.2307/961696. JSTOR 961696.
• —— (2001). "Rachmaninoff [Rakhmaninov, Rachmaninov], Serge". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.50146. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription or UK public library membership required)