Geoffrey Bush

Geoffrey Bush (23 March 1920 – 24 February 1998) was a British composer, teacher and music scholar. Largely without formal training in composition, he produced a wide range of compositions across different genres, including many songs and works for choirs. He also edited and arranged the works of other composers. Most of his teaching was within the framework of the Extramural Departments at Oxford University and London University. He was a popular broadcaster on BBC music programmes, and the author of several books.

Life Early life Bush was born in Kilburn, London, on 23 March 1920, the son of Christopher Bush, a schoolmaster and writer, and his wife Winifred, née Chart (John Warrack's ODNB biography gives the father's forenames as "Charles Christmas"). Bush's parents separated at around the time of his birth, and he never knew his father. He began piano lessons at the age of seven, and the following year became a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral choir school, where he remained until 1933, studying under Walter Alcock and acquiring a lasting love of traditional English church music. He began composing at the age of ten. In 1933 he went to Lancing College, where his early compositional efforts were subject to harsh criticism; this led him to destroy his early works, an action that he later regretted. Encouraged by Ireland, Bush entered Balliol College, Oxford in 1938, on a Nettleship scholarship. Bush maintained his pacifist credentials, as a supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), and the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship. Bush edited volumes of songs by Hubert Parry and Stanford, and provided the orchestration for Stanford's Third Piano Concerto.