Malcolm Riley
Encyclopedia
Malcolm Riley is a composer and author most associated for his work as a scholar of the work of Percy Whitlock
.
, North Yorkshire
, England
. Educated at Harrogate
High School, he gained a scholarship to Christ's College, Cambridge
, where he read music and studied the Organ with Arthur Wills
and Charles Spinks.
Malcolm Riley has also composed and arranged music. His composition, De Temporibus Canticum ('Of the Seasons We Sing'), was commissioned by Cranbrook Choral Society to celebrate the Millennium and gave its first performance in December 2000. His other works include an orchestral arrangement of Brahms E minor Cello Sonata. This work was given its first performance in 2000 by Tim Hugh, conducted by Brian Wright with the Maidstone
Symphony Orchestra. Riley was also commissioned to write a celebratory piece to open Maidstone Symphony Orchestra's 100th season, titled "Fairmeadow – An Overture for Maidstone", first performed on 16 October, 2010. Recent performing engagements have included organ recitals at York Minster
, Leeds Parish Church
, Derby Cathedral
and St Bride's
Fleet Street, The Temple Church, London, Bridlington Priory and Birmingham Town Hall..
In December 2011 he leaves Cranbrook School
where he has been Director of Music since 1985. In April 2012 he steps down as conductor of Cranbrook and District Choral Society, after 25 years. He has conducted the Society in many of the main choral works, including Bach's St John and St Matthew Passions, the Mass in B minor, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis
, Verdi's Requiem
, Elgar
's The Dream of Gerontius
and The Music Makers, Howell's Hymnus Paradisi and Finzi
' Intimations of Immortality
.
Malcolm is also the author of two books concerning organist and composer Percy Whitlock
. His first, "Percy Whitlock - A Biographical Study" was published to critical acclaim, as was the "Percy Whitlock Companion", a collection of letters and diary extracts of the early 20th century composer. He also regularly contributes to The Gramophone
music magazine.
Percy Whitlock
Percy William Whitlock was an English organist and post-romantic composer.A student of Vaughan Williams at London's Royal College of Music, Whitlock quickly arrived at a musical idiom that combined elements of his teacher's output and that of Elgar...
.
Life and works
Malcolm Riley was born on 9 June 1960 in NorthallertonNorthallerton
Northallerton is an affluent market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It has a population of 15,741 according to the 2001 census...
, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Educated at Harrogate
Harrogate
Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...
High School, he gained a scholarship to Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
, where he read music and studied the Organ with Arthur Wills
Arthur Wills
Dr Arthur Wills OBE is a musician, composer, and professor. He was Director of Music at Ely Cathedral from 1958 to 1990, and also held a Professorship at the Royal Academy of Music in London from 1964 until 1992...
and Charles Spinks.
Malcolm Riley has also composed and arranged music. His composition, De Temporibus Canticum ('Of the Seasons We Sing'), was commissioned by Cranbrook Choral Society to celebrate the Millennium and gave its first performance in December 2000. His other works include an orchestral arrangement of Brahms E minor Cello Sonata. This work was given its first performance in 2000 by Tim Hugh, conducted by Brian Wright with the Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
Symphony Orchestra. Riley was also commissioned to write a celebratory piece to open Maidstone Symphony Orchestra's 100th season, titled "Fairmeadow – An Overture for Maidstone", first performed on 16 October, 2010. Recent performing engagements have included organ recitals at York Minster
York Minster
York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
, Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church, or the Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire is a large Church of England parish church of major architectural and liturgical significance. It has been designated a grade I listed building by English Heritage...
, Derby Cathedral
Derby Cathedral
The Cathedral of All Saints , is a cathedral church in the City of Derby, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Derby, and with an area of around is the smallest Anglican cathedral in England.-History:...
and St Bride's
St Bride's
St Brides is a small coastal village in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. It lies at the south of St Brides Bay, about one and a half miles north of the larger village of Marloes with which it forms the Marloes and St...
Fleet Street, The Temple Church, London, Bridlington Priory and Birmingham Town Hall..
In December 2011 he leaves Cranbrook School
Cranbrook School, Kent
Cranbrook School is a co-educational boarding and day grammar school located in Cranbrook, Kent in South East England.-Brief history:Founded in 1518 for poor boys of the town, it received a charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1574. Although in 1817 the town petitioned the Master of the Rolls,...
where he has been Director of Music since 1985. In April 2012 he steps down as conductor of Cranbrook and District Choral Society, after 25 years. He has conducted the Society in many of the main choral works, including Bach's St John and St Matthew Passions, the Mass in B minor, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis
Missa Solemnis (Beethoven)
The Missa solemnis in D Major, Op. 123 was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven from 1819-1823. It was first performed on April 7, 1824 in St. Petersburg, under the auspices of Beethoven's patron Prince Nikolai Galitzin; an incomplete performance was given in Vienna on 7 May 1824, when the Kyrie,...
, Verdi's Requiem
Requiem (Verdi)
The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The first performance in San Marco in Milan on 22 May...
, Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
's The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory...
and The Music Makers, Howell's Hymnus Paradisi and Finzi
Gerald Finzi
Gerald Raphael Finzi was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a song-writer, but also wrote in other genres...
' Intimations of Immortality
Intimations of Immortality
Intimations of Immortality, Op. 29, an ode for tenor, chorus, and orchestra, is one of the best-known works by English composer Gerald Finzi. It is a setting of nine of the eleven stanzas of William Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality", cast as a single continuous movement...
.
Malcolm is also the author of two books concerning organist and composer Percy Whitlock
Percy Whitlock
Percy William Whitlock was an English organist and post-romantic composer.A student of Vaughan Williams at London's Royal College of Music, Whitlock quickly arrived at a musical idiom that combined elements of his teacher's output and that of Elgar...
. His first, "Percy Whitlock - A Biographical Study" was published to critical acclaim, as was the "Percy Whitlock Companion", a collection of letters and diary extracts of the early 20th century composer. He also regularly contributes to The Gramophone
The Gramophone
Gramophone is a magazine published monthly in London by Haymarket devoted to classical music and jazz, particularly recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie...
music magazine.