He studied at Trinity College of Music, with Wilfrid Dunwell (piano), and the University of Aberdeen, with (amongst others) Reginald Barrett-Ayres, and where he received an MA in 1957 (Crotty 2001; Dorum 1997, 75).
Political statements were made in the orchestral work Na Shledanou v Praze (premiered in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia during a period of Russian occupation) which used the Czech national anthem as its main theme.
In other works, such as the cantata Pacem in Terris (based on the encyclical by Pope John XXIII), Gross used pertinent philosophical or political texts.
He is also well known for Dussekiana I-III, three suites for violin and orchestra, based on piano works by František Xaver Dušek (Anon.
He also enjoyed experimentation, especially when a sympathetic virtuoso or ensemble such as bass-baritone Alan Light, trombonist Greg van der Struik or Adrian Hooper's Sydney Mandolins, was available.