A very good morning from Lancashire!

[Spirit of England]

Hello there, friends!

I signed up here recently but have not until now had time to introduce myself and begin posting.

So, what about me? Well I live in north-west England, in a village in Lancashire...we're in the Doomsday Book to give you some idea of the age of the village!

Music I suppose is my main passion and interest...mainly as a listener rather than as a performer, I do though sing in our church choir (baritone), but my wife is really the musician in the family, she plays piano and she also sings in I think four choirs!!... which keeps her rather busy – including the church choir, a local chamber choir, and also in a larger adult choir attached to one of our cathedrals.

I'm 54 years old and I took early retirement due to some (at the time) quite serious health issues, so these days I fill my time with various things I am involved with, I'm quite busy on various church committees relating to our lovely 15th century Church of England parish church, my wife and I are both church-goers, and I am also actively involved as a volunteer with the National Trust, and with a local archaeological society...my  other interests – history, ornithology, cinema, cricket (specifically Lancashire County Cricket Club) and football (specifically Preston North End F C)

Musical favourites? Well my greatest passion really is for British composers, most notably Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Finzi, Ireland, Walton, Quilter, Warlock, Britten, Gibbons, Purcell, Dowland, Tallis, Byrd, Holst, Howells, Sullivan, Butterworth, Quilter, Gurney...I suppose if I was put on the spot to name my Top 10 composers, at least 5 or 6 of them would be British...

...and of the many 'non-Brits' whom I love, of which as with I expect most people on here the list just goes on forever, pride of place would go to Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Mahler, J S Bach, Beethoven, Ravel, Brahms, Dvorak, Rachmaninov, Haydn, Bruckner, Copland, Berlioz, Schumann, Handel, Palestrina, Debussy....perhaps not a very adventurous list, but there it is anyway!!... friends tell me I should listen to more 'contemporary' music, but with the best will in the world personal preference is not something one has any control over, you either like something, or you don't, and it's not really negotiable! I am also a great fan of Karl Jenkins, who is my favourite living composer, and also of many composers of film music – such as John Williams, Hans Zimmer, James Horner, Howard Shore, Thomas Newman, others...

I'm afraid I'm not a great lover of opera to be honest, outside of those several masterpieces by Mozart, which I adore, oh, and also Gilbert and Sullivan operettas!!...so that I'm afraid excludes many Italians from my favourites list! - I can just about tolerate Wagner - until one moves into the 4th hour! - and I can appreciate his genius.

I do also listen to some other music genres – some rock, jazz, folk - I grew up listening to the likes of Pink Floyd, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Rush, Led Zeppelin, and Genesis before I ever discovered classical music. I am a keen listener to BBC Radio 3 – the main 'serious' classical music station in the UK - whilst at the same time I'm afraid at all costs avoiding the (in my opinion) thoroughly tedious Classic FM.

I'm a keen concert goer, and am a long-time supporter of the annual Lake District Summer Music International Festival, which is held during August each year, and which must these days be one of the most prestigious festivals in the north of England. And my wife and I sometimes drive over to Manchester where we support both the Halle and the BBC Philharmonic orchestras at the superb Bridgewater Hall, which are always very special occasions.

So, that's it, I think! A far more long-winded introduction than I was anticipating!

Hope to see you around the forum sometime!

'SoE'

[Mirror Image]

Welcome aboard! You'll fit right in here just fine. Enjoy!

[springrite]

Welcome! Love the mix from Elgar to Miles to Morrison!

[Karl Henning]

Welcome! Do you get any of the leftover holes from Blackburn? (Couldn't help myself, just watched Yellow Submarine recently.)

[springrite]

Welcome! Do you get any of the leftover holes from Blackburn? (Couldn't help myself, just watched Yellow Submarine recently.)

Well, it is now filled with water and officially called Blackpool.

And both Blackburn and Blackpool are now in the Championship (second division).

[Cato]

Greetings from Ohio!

And I hope you mean that your area is mentioned in the Domesday Book!   

To be mentioned in the Doomsday Book would not be a very good thing!  0:)

[mahler10th]

A very good morning to you too, despite it being 16:35 GMT at the moment.   
Fabulously interesting introduction, look forward to seeing your posts.   

Well my greatest passion really is for British composers, most notably Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Finzi, Ireland, Walton, Quilter, Warlock, Britten, Gibbons, Purcell, Dowland, Tallis, Byrd, Holst, Howells, Sullivan, Butterworth, Quilter, Gurney...

'Most notably' indeed.      Don't you mean every British composer there ever was?   

[Wanderer]

Interested in good music and ornithology? Quality of character, right there.

Welcome! 

[Sergeant Rock]

Musical favourites? Well my greatest passion really is for British composers, most notably Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Finzi, Ireland, Walton, Quilter, Warlock, Britten, Gibbons, Purcell, Dowland, Tallis, Byrd, Holst, Howells, Sullivan, Butterworth, Quilter, Gurney...I suppose if I was put on the spot to name my Top 10 composers, at least 5 or 6 of them would be British...

A fine list indeed...but sadly, two of my favorites not mentioned: Malcolm Arnold and Havergal Brian.

Sarge

[springrite]

A fine list indeed...but sadly, two of my favorites not mentioned: Malcolm Arnold and Havergal Brian.

Sarge

They are two of the three little dots at the end ...

[Sergeant Rock]

They are two of the three little dots at the end ...

With George Lloyd the third? 

Sarge

[springrite]

With George Lloyd the third? 

Sarge

My guess would be Bridge!

[mc ukrneal]

Welcome and enjoy!

[Brahmsian]

Welcome to GMG!! 

[North Star]

Welcome, look forward to seeing you in the 'What are you listening to now' and other threads

[Fafner]

Hello, welcome, and have fun!

[Mirror Image]

BTW, I love your screen name because The Spirit of England is one of my favorite works from Elgar.

[bhodges]

Hi, SoE, and hope you enjoy yourself here. Lots of great British composers, for sure - and of course we have a ton of Britten this year with the big centennial. I just heard a fantastic concert Peter Grimes recently, with the Saint Louis Symphony conducted by David Robertson.

--Bruce

[Papy Oli]

Hello and welcome to GMG, "SoE" 

[Lisztianwagner]

Welcome to the forum and have fun here!
You wrote a wonderful list of favourite composers, glad to see at least you can tolerate Wagner. About British composers, do you like Granville Bantock (I absolutely love his Celtic Symphony) and William Alwyn too?