34 Facts About Charles Groves

Sir Charles Barnard Groves CBE was an English conductor.

Charles Groves was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors.

From 1967 until his death, Charles Groves was associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and in the 1970s he was one of the regular conductors of the Last Night of the Proms.

Charles Groves served as president of the National Youth Orchestra from 1977, and, during the last decade of his life, as guest conductor for orchestras around the world.

Charles Groves was born in London, the only child of Frederick Charles Groves and Annie .

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Charles Groves was a pupil at St Paul's Cathedral School, singing in the Cathedral choir and, from the age of 13, studying the piano and organ.

Charles Groves was naturally gifted with great fluency and the ability to sight read almost any music, but confessed, years later, to having been lazy about his piano studies, and he abandoned his ambitions to become a concert pianist.

Charles Groves played in the percussion section for Vaughan Williams's Hugh the Drover and Delius's A Village Romeo and Juliet when Sir Thomas Beecham performed as guest conductor at the College.

Charles Groves went into the conducting class, but did not progress beyond the third orchestra.

Charles Groves began his professional career as a freelance accompanist, including work for the BBC.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Charles Groves was sent to Evesham, and later Bedford, England, to be resident chorus master for the BBC while it was evacuated from London.

Charles Groves was conductor for the BBC Northern Orchestra in Manchester from 1944 to 1951, conducting several studio concerts every week, and thereby acquiring an exceptionally large repertoire.

When financial difficulties led to a proposal to merge the Bournemouth and Birmingham orchestras, Charles Groves supported the alternative proposition by which the Bournemouth orchestra took on the additional role of resident orchestra for the new Welsh National Opera, of which he became musical director from 1961 to 1963.

Charles Groves did much to establish that company's choral and orchestral traditions and conducted many performances of works then seldom staged, such as Verdi's I Lombardi and The Sicilian Vespers, which won critical acclaim and were brought to London.

Charles Groves spent nine months of every year with the RLPO, where he greatly improved standards of playing.

Charles Groves took the RLPO on highly acclaimed tours of Germany and Switzerland in 1966 and 1968, and Poland in 1970.

At one seminar Charles Groves noted the presence in the orchestra, as an extra percussion player, of a teenager named Simon Rattle.

From 1967 until his death, Charles Groves was associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which he led on a tour of the US In the 1970s he was one of the regular conductors of the Last Night of the Proms .

Charles Groves found combining administration with conducting too stressful for him.

Charles Groves served as president of the National Youth Orchestra and, especially during the last decade of his career, as guest conductor for numerous orchestras around the world.

Charles Groves was particularly noted for his assured conducting of large-scale works and was the first conductor to direct a complete cycle of Gustav Mahler's symphonies in Britain.

Charles Groves was famous for encouraging modern composers, and he frequently included their works in his programmes.

Charles Groves conducted a wide repertory, refusing to concentrate on any particular subgenre.

Charles Groves was noted for adding adventurous new works to the repertory of his orchestras.

Charles Groves had an exemplary attitude and track record with regard to contemporary music.

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Charles Groves received many honours for his musical work, including being appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1958, a Commander of the Order in 1968, and receiving a knighthood in 1973.

Charles Groves received doctorates from four universities, was made a freeman of the City of London in 1976 and elected an honorary member of the Royal Philharmonic Society in 1990.

Charles Groves was appointed Companion of the Royal Northern College of Music and a Fellow of the Royal College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Trinity College of Music, and the London College of Music, and was an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music.

The "Making Music Sir Charles Groves Prize" is a national award, named in his honour, given to an individual or organisation making an outstanding contribution to British music.

Away from the concert hall, Charles Groves was a connoisseur of English literature and a keen sports fan.

Charles and Hilary Groves had three children, Sally, Mary and Jonathan, the first and last of whom entered the musical profession.

Charles Groves suffered a heart attack early in 1992 and died in London, four months later, at the age of 77.

Charles Groves recorded Dvorak's Sixth Symphony and Sibelius's incidental music to The Tempest.

British music recorded by Charles Groves includes Arnold ; Bliss ; Brian ; Bridge ; Britten ; Butterworth ; Delius ; Elgar ; Holst ; Sullivan ; Tippett ; Vaughan Williams ; Walton ; and Warlock .