Adventurous conductor at home with varying musical genres

Sir Charles Groves, who died on 20 June, 1992, was a major figure within the world of British orchestral music for nearly half a century.

Among his many different appointments, he will perhaps be best remembered for his tenure as musical director at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

But he was equally well known for an all-round willingness to try new styles and approaches and was staunchly enthusiastic about encouraging more modern composers.

His dedication and contribution to the world of music eventually led to The Making Music Sir Charles Groves Society Prize, which honours individuals and groups who – like Groves - make exceptional contributions to British music.

Born in London on 10 March 1915 ,Charles Barnard Groves attended the Royal Academy of Music before starting his working career as a freelance accompanist.

Having already worked for the BBC during his freelance years, Sir Charles became the corporation’s Music Productions Unit chorus master in 1938, later taking charge of its Revue Orchestra.

Still with the BBC, 1944 saw him become conductor of the BBC Northern Orchestra, a role which he stayed in until 1951 when he took on conductorship of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra until 1961.

When the BSO became the resident orchestra of the new Welsh National Opera, Sir Charles became the latter’s musical director from 1961 until 1963.

The high-profile appointment paved the way for his next position, when he became musical director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and was widely noted for pushing the orchestra forward with his daring attitude and open mind.

Never one to lack variety, he was also a regular conductor of the Last Night of the Proms and was behind numerous recordings of works by the likes of Frederick Delius, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Arthur Sullivan, Edward Elgar and William Walton.

On top of this, he spent an increasing amount of time as a guest conductor for numerous international orchestras.

Sir Charles served as associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1967 until his death in 1992 and during his last years also took on the roles of music director at the English National Opera and president of the National Youth Orchestra.

Although he wasn’t the only great 20th Century conductor, he was certainly one of the most groundbreaking.

He has been praised for his skill at interpreting lengthy scores – including a number of more obscure operas – and was the first English conductor to direct performances of the full canon of Mahler Symphonies.

His knighthood in 1973 recognised his self-professed willingness to conduct “everything from the St. John Passion to Messiaen and Stockhausen”.

He was, Sir Charles himself pointed out, “a GP (general practitioner) rather than a consultant”.