Geoffrey Norris

Geoffrey Norris
Born (1947-09-19) September 19, 1947
London, England, UK
Alma mater
Occupations
Notable credit

Geoffrey Norris (born 19 September 1947) is an English musicologist and music critic. His scholarship focuses on Russian composers; in particular, Norris is a scholar on the life and music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, about whom he has written numerous articles and a 1976 book-length study. He was chief classical music critic of The Daily Telegraph from 1995 to 2009.

Life and career

Geoffrey Norris was born in London, England on 19 September 1947.[1][2] An enthusiast for Russian culture since his youth, Norris attended the University of Durham where his undergraduate dissertation was on the leading group of 19th-century Russian composers known as The Five,[3] The Influence of Folk-music and Liturgical Chants on the Orchestral Works of the Russian Nationalists (1969). He continued his studies of (18th-century) Russian music at the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography, now the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts, under Genrikh Orlov and Lev Raaben.[3] He joined The Daily Telegraph as a music critic in 1983, and from 1995 to 2009 was its chief classical music critic.[1] Norris has been a lecturer at the Royal Northern College of Music, Goldsmiths University of London and elsewhere, as well as a jury member for piano competitions.[3] Norris is emeritus professor of the Rachmaninoff Music Academy, Tambov, and from 2013 until 2022 lectured at the Gnesin Music Academy, Moscow.[4]

Norris' scholarship focuses on Russian composers, and in particular, Sergei Rachmaninoff.[3] He has written numerous articles,[5][6][7][8] and a book-length study on Rachmaninoff,[9] whose works he catalogued in a 1982 publication with Robert Threlfall.[10] He has also compiled and edited an anthology of interviews that Rachmaninoff gave to the press, Sergei Rachmaninoff In His Own Words (2024).

Selected writings

Books

  • Norris, Geoffrey (1976). Rakhmaninov. The Master Musicians Series. London: J.M. Dent. ISBN 978-0-460-03145-5. 2nd, revised edn, as Rachmaninoff (1993).
  • ——; Threlfall, Robert (1982). A Catalogue of the Compositions of S. Rachmaninoff. London: Scolar Press. ISBN 978-0-85967-617-5.
  • —— (2024). Sergei Rachmaninoff In His Own Words. Frankfurt: Wolke Verlag. ISBN 978-3-95593-272-5.

Articles

References

  1. 1 2 Kennedy, Michael; Kennedy, Joyce Bourne, eds. (2013) [2007]. "Geoffrey Norris". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-920383-3. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Norris, Geoffrey, (born 19 Sept. 1947), Chief Music Critic, Daily Telegraph, 1995–2009". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2024 [2007]. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Meet The Lecturers: Geoffrey Norris". Miami International Piano Festival. Retrieved 6 September 2022. Original from MiamiPianoFest (Archived)
  4. ↑ "Professor Geoffrey Norris". Martin Randall Travel. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  5. ↑ Norris 1973a.
  6. ↑ Norris 1973b.
  7. ↑ Norris 1983.
  8. ↑ Norris 2001.
  9. ↑ Norris 1976.
  10. ↑ Norris & Threlfall 1982.

Further reading

  • Почётные профессора [Honorary Professors] (in Russian). Тамбовский государственный музыкально-педагогический институт имени С. В. Рахманинова [Tambov State Musical and Pedagogical Institute named after S. V. Rachmaninov]. 23 October 2017. Archived from the original on 30 April 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
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