Geoffrey Winters

Geoffrey Winters, (born 17 October 1928) is a British composer and music educationalist. His works span from large-scale orchestral and concertante pieces (including two symphonies and the Violin Concerto), to chamber and instrumental works and pedagogical music for children.

Born in Chingford, Winters was the son of a monumental sculptor, and he served a brief apprenticeship with his father from the age of 17. However, as a child he had shown promise as a pianist, and in 1945 he was accepted as a student at the Royal Academy of Music, where his tutors were Felix Swinstead (piano) and Priaulx Rainier (composition), and later Alan Bush. A trio of early works - the Wind Quartet, Op. 1, the symphonic, three movement Yorkshire Suite, Op. 2, and the Toccata for piano, Op. 3, give an indication of his future range as a composer. In 1952 Winters took up the position of music teacher at Larkswood School, Chingford. He continued teaching and lecturing (including a spell at Gipsy Hill College) until his retirement in the late 1970s.

During the 1950s Winters became interested in 12 tone music. The Piano Sonata, Op. 12 came out of this period. But within a few years - from the Variations for Two Pianos, Op. 19 - he had returned to a more tonal, neo-classical style, with Prokofiev and Shostakovich among the influences. The First Symphony, composed in 1961, was first performed in 1973 and then taken up by Owain Arwel Hughes for a performance with the New Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall. It's a very concise work, lasting just 16 minutes. The more expansive Second Symphony was first performed by the Guildhall School of Music Graduate Orchestra in 1978.

After retirement Winters moved to Suffolk and became a freelance composer. His works from this time include the Studies from a Rainbow for piano, Op. 70, which enjoyed success in the US. Other late works include the Tributaries for solo harp, Op. 79, Mutations for two trumpets (1988) and Summer Songs for chorus, Op. 90.

Winters also wrote many pieces for educational use, published by Longmans, such as Sounds and Music, Books 1-3 and (from the mid-1980s) Listen, Compose, Perform, produced to support the new GCSE Music examination. He was the author of Musical Instruments in the Classroom (1972).

Winters met his wife, the pianist Christine Ive, at the Royal Academy, and they married in 1947. She died in 2006. There has been some revival of interest in his music. The Winters’ Variations for Two Pianos Op. 19 was given its world premiere by Claire and Antoinette Cann in Cambridge on 2 October 2008, nearly fifty years after it had been composed.

Selected works

• 24 Preludes for piano (1947)
• Wind Quartet Op. 1 (1949)
• Yorkshire Suite for orchestra, Op. 2 (1949)
• A River Pastoral for orchestra, Op. 7 (1954)
• Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 8 (1955)
• String Quartet No. 1, Op. 10 (1956)
• Variations for two pianos, Op. 19 (1960)
• String Quartet No. 2, Op. 21 (1960)
• Symphony No. 1 Op. 23 (1961)
• Violin Concerto, Op. 51 (1974)
• The Mind of Man for chorus and orchestra, Op. 52 (1975)
• Symphony No. 2, Op. 55 (1977)
• Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 57 (1978)
• Five Epigrams for string quartet, Op. 62 (1978)
• Studies from a Rainbow for piano, Op. 71 (1981)
• Mutations for two trumpets (1988)
• Summer Songs for chorus and piano, Op. 90 (1990)

External links

• Geoffrey Winters at the British Music Collection