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359:. Sargent's biographer Richard Aldous portrays Murrill as an archetypal BBC Music Department insider of that period: "home to the dispossessed of English musical life, a place where frustrated composers and academics...licked their wounds and passed judgement over their more successful contemporaries".
201:, the eldest of three children. He lived with his family in South London, where his father Walter was a cork merchant. As a young man, he had a group of musical friends who encouraged and supported him. He was a chorister and a scholarship student at
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and has been called his "masterpiece". His second wife Vera
Canning gave the first performance in 1951. The score of an unfinished Violin Concerto, dating from 1952, is among his manuscripts.
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366:
Towards the end of 1951 Murrill was diagnosed with cancer, and had left his post at the BBC by
Christmas. He died in London and was cremated at Marylebone Crematorium on 29 July 1952.
228:(organ and choir training). He remained there until 1928, winning medals for piano, organ, harmony and aural training, while at the same time serving as the organist of
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was published by Oxford
University Press. However, his most frequently performed works now are his choral and organ works written for the church: his setting of the
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disagreed, calling him "an outstanding success" at the BBC as well as "a skilled organist and pianist, a stimulating teacher a composer of considerable charm".
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in London on 1 July 1931. In 1933 he was appointed
Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in 1933. The same year he married the concert pianist
1231:
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476:
Of the chamber music, the String
Quartet of 1939 is the most notable example. It was dedicated to the Leighton Quartet, whose cellist was Vera Canning.
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thought it "full of invention and imagination without extravagance". Murrill requested in his will that the quartet's slow movement, marked
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heard the ballet's performance at the Crouch
Festival and liked the work; he subsequently became a friend of Murrill's. He then became an
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386:(1930), which ran for eight weeks at the Grafton Theatre in London while he was still at university. He wrote film scores for
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229:
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Rectory in
Bedfordshire. There was a daughter, Carolyn Jane Murrill (1942–2008). Between 1942 and 1946 he joined the
355:, whom he finally succeeded as Head of Music in 1950. During his brief tenure as head he clashed with the conductor
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461:. But Murrill's personal voice comes over most clearly in the second of his two cello concertos, subtitled
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382:, both influences tempered by an English take on neo-classicism. The early works include the jazz opera
938:"Our National Anthem's notations were prepared by Herbert Murrill. In what capacity did he prepare it?"
707:
1176:
1171:
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For the keyboard (Murrill's instrument) there are the two piano
Impromptus of 1933, paying homage to
290:, London and St Thomas' Church, Regent Street (now demolished). He also acted as musical director of
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232:. His first works date from this era, including the Rhapsody for cello and piano and the ballet
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Murrill's primary musical role from 1936 onwards (interrupted by the war) was working for the
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225:
197:
Herbert Henry John (later just
Herbert) Murrill was born in London, at 19, Fircroft Road in
321:. While there he conducted the Bletchley Park Musical Society in performances of Purcell's
309:
Murrill's second wife was the cellist Vera
Canning, whom he married in 1941. They lived at
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523:. He made a popular arrangement for piano duet (or organ) of the orchestral march
552:
Murrill was also responsible for the official, martial orchestral version of the
883:
Recorded by Lynn Arnold and Charles Matthews on Albion Records ALBCD047 (2021),
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549:(1962), the hymn tune "Carolyn" (1951), and an organ piece called "Carillon".
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484:, be played at his funeral. He also wrote vocal works (such as the madrigal
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593:(University of Bristol), Issue 7, Summer 2009 (includes full list of works)
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After graduating he organised a recital of his own music (shared with
496:
964:. Heritage of English Song. Vol. 9. London: Thames Publishing.
672:
Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland
327:
and persuaded top class musicians to visit and perform, including
545:
in E major (published in 1947), a Double Chant in G used in the
1007:
1034:
344:
709:
Dances of Death: The Group Theatre of London in the Thirties
960:
Murrill, Herbert (September 1989). Murrill, Carolyn (ed.).
418:. In October 1937 he and his first wife Alice Good were at
422:
playing two pianos to accompany the live television revue
874:
Vaughan Williams, letter to Herbert Murrill, 1 June 1939
507:(1938) for harpsichord or piano, which was dedicated to
282:(1906–2000). They subsequently divorced and she married
181:(11 May 1909 – 25 July 1952) was an English musician,
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in 1942. He was for a time in the 1930s organist of
743:
Britten's Century: Celebrating 100 Years of Britten
168:
114:
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69:
53:
30:
23:
706:
982:Magnificat from the Evening Service in E (audio)
1197:Musicians from the London Borough of Wandsworth
398:, as well as incidental music for two plays by
426:, written by Archie Harradine and produced by
1019:
1000:on YouTube, played on the piano by John Peace
492:, dedicated to the memory of Peter Warlock).
8:
394:(1937), short educational films directed by
302:, conducting the music Britten composed for
772:Tunes of Glory: The Life of Malcolm Sargent
654:
453:for string orchestra show the influence of
437:(1934) were performed several times at the
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609:(2001). "Murrill, Herbert (Henry John)".
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533:. His piano duet arrangement of Walton's
471:the popular Catalan song of the same name
16:British composer and organist (1909-1952)
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1212:Academics of the Royal Academy of Music
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989:, performed by Stanford Chamber Chorale
625:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.19381
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374:Murrill's affinities were Francophile (
1237:British Army personnel of World War II
511:, and three concert pieces for piano,
465:(1951). Written for and dedicated to
7:
1207:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music
208:He was awarded a scholarship to the
1232:20th-century British male musicians
1202:Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford
248:, from 1928 to 1931, studying with
212:, but in 1925 went instead to the
14:
902:, Signum Classics SIGCD777 (2024)
203:Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
77:Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
1247:British male classical organists
1217:20th-century classical musicians
1149:
1137:
758:The Lost World of Bletchley Park
137:
155:
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1222:20th-century English composers
863:White Line Classics CD WHL2153
230:St Nicholas Church in Chiswick
205:in Hatcham from 1920 to 1925.
1:
976:The Herbert Murrill Centenary
560:before independence in 1947.
288:Christ Church, Lancaster Gate
705:Sidnell, Michael J. (1984).
669:Humphreys, M. and Evans, R.
490:Two Songs from Twelfth Night
486:Love Not Me for Comely Grace
1242:Intelligence Corps soldiers
1187:English classical organists
713:. Faber and Faber. passim.
587:"Herbert Murrill Centenary"
1263:
193:Education and early career
179:Herbert Henry John Murrill
35:Herbert Henry John Murrill
1042:
914:"Tune: Carolyn (Murrill)"
441:, and are reminiscent of
430:, with music by Murrill.
246:Worcester College, Oxford
210:Guildhall School of Music
940:by Gitanjali Gurbaxani,
849:, 24 October 1937, p. 18
788:Modern British Composers
415:The Dog Beneath the Skin
347:, first as assistant to
216:, where he studied with
815:"And So to Work (1936)"
804:, 2 October 1930, p. 15
801:The Manchester Guardian
692:The Manchester Guardian
617:Oxford University Press
294:, where he worked with
1227:20th-century organists
1100:Robert Ponsonby (1972)
1091:Richard Howgill (1952)
1065:Victor Hely-Hutchinson
887:MusicWeb International
689:, 3 July 1931, p. 12.
554:Indian national anthem
349:Victor Hely-Hutchinson
238:Ralph Vaughan Williams
214:Royal Academy of Music
82:Royal Academy of Music
1192:Bletchley Park people
463:The Song of the Birds
410:Christopher Isherwood
1182:BBC music executives
825:on 14 September 2021
695:, 5 July 1931, p. 14
378:) and mildly middle-
339:Post war and the BBC
136: 1931;
87:University of Oxford
279:Alice Margaret Good
123:Alice Margaret Good
1037:Directors of Music
943:The Times of India
612:Grove Music Online
509:Marcelle de Lacour
503:respectively, the
405:The Dance of Death
396:Richard Massingham
315:Intelligence Corps
1125:
1124:
861:. Liner notes to
790:(1953), pp. 86-91
770:Aldous, Richard.
634:978-1-56159-263-0
547:Baptist Hymn Book
449:, while the 1945
317:as a Sergeant at
292:The Group Theatre
264:1930s and wartime
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821:. Archived from
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725:Internet Archive
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655:Murrill, C. 1989
652:
639:
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615:(8th ed.).
607:Crichton, Ronald
603:
594:
585:Riley, Malcolm.
583:
558:Jawaharlal Nehru
521:Presto Alla Giga
478:Vaughan Williams
447:Portsmouth Point
420:Alexandra Palace
300:Benjamin Britten
296:W. H. Auden
281:
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226:Stanley Marchant
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505:Suite Française
435:Three Hornpipes
433:The orchestral
392:The Daily Round
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357:Malcolm Sargent
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324:Dido and Aeneas
304:Timon of Athens
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657:, Introduction
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568:
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556:, approved by
535:First Symphony
531:William Walton
526:Crown Imperial
451:Country Dances
443:William Walton
388:And So to Work
371:
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353:Steuart Wilson
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319:Bletchley Park
284:William Pleeth
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250:William Harris
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543:Nunc dimittis
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482:con intensita
479:
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459:Capriol Suite
456:
455:Peter Warlock
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408:and, also by
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370:Musical works
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270:Brian Easdale
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254:Ernest Walker
251:
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242:organ scholar
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1116:Roger Wright
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1059:Arthur Bliss
1053:Adrian Boult
994:
961:
941:
933:
923:15 September
921:. Retrieved
917:
908:
900:Magnificat 4
899:
894:
886:
885:reviewed at
879:
870:
854:
844:
839:
829:15 September
827:. Retrieved
823:the original
818:
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766:
757:
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742:
733:
723:– via
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591:Chombec News
590:
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467:Pablo Casals
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428:Eric Crozier
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380:Stravinskian
373:
365:
351:and then to
342:
322:
308:
303:
274:Wigmore Hall
267:
233:
207:
196:
178:
177:
148:Vera Canning
59:(1952-07-25)
57:25 July 1952
18:
1177:1952 deaths
1172:1909 births
918:Hymnary.org
847:, Issue 734
845:Radio Times
400:W. H. Auden
390:(1936) and
384:Man in Cage
329:Peter Pears
236:from 1927.
96:Occupations
45:11 May 1909
1166:Categories
1047:Percy Pitt
962:Five Songs
564:References
539:Magnificat
469:it quotes
361:Alan Frank
258:Hugh Allen
218:York Bowen
41:1909-05-11
1144:Biography
819:2.bfi.org
686:The Times
513:Toccatina
439:BBC Proms
424:Full Moon
333:Myra Hess
306:in 1935.
272:) at the
222:Alan Bush
220:(piano),
70:Education
1074:(acting)
488:and the
187:organist
183:composer
169:Children
107:composer
103:Organist
1130:Portals
987:YouTube
954:Sources
746:, p. 56
517:Canzona
501:Poulenc
311:Blunham
160:
152:
142:
130:
126:
115:Spouses
1118:(1998)
1112:(1992)
1106:(1985)
1097:(1959)
1088:(1950)
1082:(1948)
1076:(1946)
1067:(1944)
1061:(1942)
1055:(1930)
1049:(1924)
865:(2004)
740:(ed.)
717:
675:(1977)
631:
497:Chopin
234:Picnic
185:, and
376:Ravel
154:(
150:
132:(
128:
925:2021
831:2021
715:ISBN
629:ISBN
541:and
519:and
499:and
331:and
298:and
256:and
138:div.
54:Died
31:Born
1035:BBC
985:on
621:doi
589:in
529:by
457:'s
445:'s
345:BBC
244:at
1168::
916:.
817:.
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