Bryden Thomson

Bryden Thomson (16 July 1928 – 14 November 1991) was a Scottish conductor remembered especially for his championship of British and Scandinavian composers.

[3] Soon after entering the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow on a scholarship at the age of 15, he was called up to serve in the Highland Light Infantry, where he played the piano in the regimental band and taught himself the clarinet.

[3] In 1954, he moved to Germany to study conducting, first with Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt at the newly founded Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, and then with Igor Markevitch at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg.

[4] He did a similar service for the music of Irish composer Hamilton Harty by recording the collected orchestral works with the Ulster Orchestra, again for Chandos.

[1] Other British composers he championed include Alun Hoddinott,[3] Daniel Jones,[6] Kenneth Leighton, Thomas Wilson[3] and Grace Williams.