Nationality: British

20th Century British

DODS, Marcus

Born in Edinburgh on Apr 19, 1918
Died in Henley-on-Thames, Apr 30, 1984

Marcus Dods was a conductor of opera, concert works and film scores. He served as conductor of Sadler’s Wells Opera in London, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the London Concert Orchestra.¹
Marcus Dods conducted the scores of films including Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) and The Dark Crystal (1982),² and TV programs, including David Attenborough’s Life on Earth.³

Pieces

“Highland Fancy” for oboe and strings

Contemporary British

FFRENCH, Alexis

Image courtesy of the composer's website

Born in Surrey, 1970

Alexis Ffrench is a classical-soul pioneer, composer, producer, and pianist. His music has accumulated over half a billion streams, making him one of the most globally streamed classical artists of our time.
Ffrench’s music is unique because it weaves classical traditions with R&B and roots music to dissolve the boundaries between genres.
In 2022, Ffrench joined the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) as their first-ever artistic director.
In 2021, the composer was named Scala Radio’s first ever composer-in-residence. Ffrench also serves as one of the station’s presenters.

Composer’s website

Pieces

Late Romantic British

GERMAN, Sir Edward

Born in Whitchurch, Shropshire, Feb 17, 1862
Died in London, Nov 11, 1936

Born Edward German Jones

Pronunciation: the “G” in “German” is a hard G, like the G in “garden,” not “jer-man” as in “Germany.” The name “German” is an anglicized version of the Welsh name “Garmon.”

German’s father was Welsh and his mother was English; his Oxford Music Online article describes the composer as “Anglo-Welsh.”

Edward German was a violinist and composer educated at the Royal Academy of Music.⁴
- He adopted the professional name “Edward German” while he was a student, apparently because there was already an Edward Jones at the RAM.⁵
German specialized in music for the theater. He composed music for stage plays, including working as Musical Director at the Globe Theatre. He also continued the English operetta tradition of Gilbert and Sullivan, becoming one of the genre’s last prominent practitioners.⁶

Biography from AllMusic

Pieces

Welsh Rhapsody

Contemporary British

HABERSHON, Helen

Photograph of Helen Habershon courtesy of the composer's website

Helen Habershon is a contemporary clarinetist and composer.
Habershon studied clarinet at the Royal College of Music, and she has an extensive career as an international clarinet soloist.
In her artist bio, Habershon shares the fascinating story of her entry into composition:

“As a composer and clarinettist with a distinguished performance history, music has always been a part of Helen’s life and at a young age she was already winning composition prizes at local music competitions.
Helen then focused on performance where she went on to establish a career as an international clarinettist until a twist of fate resulted in her going back to serious composition. Unable to the play the clarinet for a couple of months due to two broken wrists she was allowed to play the piano. As a result she found herself hooked and the music began to flow from her pencil!”
From Helen Habershon’s artist biography⁷

Helen Habershon’s website

Pieces

Peace

Contemporary British

RICHTER, Max

Max Richter, photographed in 2015.

Born in 1966

Composer website

Richter was born in Germany but raised in England. He was classically trained at the RAM and studied with Luciano Berio. Richter has also collaborated with artists in the genre of electronic music.
Richter’s musical style contains elements of the classical tradition (drawing from many periods) and electronic, experimental, minimalist and rock influences.⁸
Richter has released 11 solo albums for Deutsche Grammophon and has composed the scores for many films, including Ad Astra, Mary, Queen of Scots and Sarah’s Key. He has also composed several ballets, an opera, and worked on multimedia artistic collaborations.⁹

Pieces

On the Nature of Daylight

20th Century Late Romantic British

STANFORD, Sir Charles Villiers

Born in Dublin, Sept 30, 1852
Died in London, March 29, 1924¹⁰

Biography via The Stanford Society

Pieces

Contemporary British

WHITBOURN, James

Image courtesy of the composer's website

Born in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, 1963

British composer and conductor James Whitbourn began his career in the BBC as a composer, conductor, producer and presenter. He received his formal education from Magdalen College, University of Oxford.
As a composer, Whitbourn’s output primarily consists of vocal and choral music. His music is performed around the world, most frequently in North America and Europe.
Whitbourn has been commissioned to compose the music to mark several national and international events, including the BBC’s title music for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and music for the national commemoration of 9/11 at Westminster Abbey.
As of 2022, Whitbourn is Fellow and Director of Music at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, Senior Research Fellow at St. Stephen’s House, Oxford, Director of Music at Harris Manchester College, Oxford and a member of the Faculty of Music in the University of Oxford.¹¹

Learn More

Composer’s website

Pieces

Adagio for String Quartet