Granville Bantock

Granville Bantock was intended by his parents for the Indian Civil Service[2] but he suffered poor health and initially turned to chemical engineering.

At the age of 20, when he began studying composers' manuscripts, at South Kensington Museum Library, he was drawn into the musical world.

[3] In 1888,[4] he entered the Royal Academy of Music where he studied harmony and composition with Frederick Corder[5] winning the Macfarren Prize in the first year it was awarded.

Bantock's Hebridean Symphony was recorded by the CBO on 28 January 1925 at Riley Hall, Constitution Hill, Birmingham.

An Introduction to the Life and Work of Sir Granville Bantock by Vincent Budd, was published in 2000 by Gnosis Press.

In addition to these there is a doctoral thesis by Trevor Bray - Granville Bantock: his life and music - submitted in 1972 to Cambridge University.

[14] A broad selection of Bantock's orchestral output, including all the symphonies, has been recorded in an edition by the Hyperion label in performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley, now available also as a box set.

Handley also recorded a largely complete performance of Omar Khayyám with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus on the Chandos label.

An alternative recording of the Hebridean Symphony (together with the Old English Suite and Russian Scenes) is available on the Naxos label, with the Czechoslovak Philharmonic Orchestra (Košice) conducted by Adrian Leaper.

The Cameo Classics label has re-issued its Granville Bantock recordings made with conductor Geoffrey Heald-Smith from 1978 to 1982 on a double CD set, which includes the Hebridean Symphony (in the presence of Raymond Bantock), the Pagan Symphony and Witch of Atlas (the first digital recordings), and the Sapphic Poem (solo cello, Gillian Thoday).

Original autograph scores of most of Granville Bantock's compositions are held at the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.