|
Born: January 29, 1893 - London, England
Died: March 19, 1961 - Ashwell, Hertfordshire, England |
|
The English composer and conductor, Edric Cundell, studied the French horn at Trinity College London and joined its teaching staff in 1914.
Edric Cundell was active as a horn player and pianist, and also conducted amateur groups. In 1935 he founded the Edric Cundell Chamber Orchestra. In 1938, after a good deal of conducting experience, notably at Glyndebourne, he became Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in succession to the deceased Landon Ronald and conducted many student opera performances. He retired in 1958. In 1949 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. |
|
Edric Cundell's compositions included: a Symphony in C minor, Op. 24, a Piano Concerto, a Serenade for strings in D major, the symphonic poems The Tragedy of Deirdre and Serbia (the latter scored in the front line while Cundell was serving in the Balkans during the Great War), and three suites, all for orchestra; the Hymn to Providence, for mixed chorus and orchestra and shorter choral pieces; the sonnet for tenor and orchestra Our Dead; an unaccompanied Mass; a Sextet for soprano, tenor, bass, violin, viola and cello; a Piano Quartet and three string quartets, of which the second, in C major, published as Op. 27, won a Daily Telegraph competition in 1933 and the first, in G minor, Op. 18, was praised by Cobbett; a Rhapsody for viola (or cello) and piano, Two Pieces for brass quartet published in 1957; the piano solos April Song and, for young performers, The Water Babies; and songs like Boy Johnny, Vagabond’s Song and I Will Make You Brooches. Cundell even figured in the brass band world, as his Blackfriars was the test piece for the 1957 National Championships, although this was admittedly an arrangement by Frank Wright, from, presumably, an orchestral original. |
