George Selwyn English


George Selwyn English was an Australian composer. Like Roy Agnew and Raymond Hanson, he was overshadowed by the Australian avant-garde of the 1960s.

Life

English was born in Sydney, his parents being George Philip John Engisch, a tenor, conductor and late-Romantic composer, and Marjorie Blanche, née Hodgson. He was educated at Malvern Church of England Grammar and Melbourne High schools. Initial music education was provided by his father, but partly it was due to the boy's own efforts, as after the divorce his mother vetoed proper training.
In 1935–1939 he resided in Britain, studying in libraries, attending concerts and working as music critic. He was also the founder and editor of the British Motorist magazine.
In 1939 English returned to Sydney and worked for Amalgamated Wireless Ltd. On 14 July 1942 he was enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force, but was soon discharged on medical grounds. He worked as a critic fir Sydney newspapers, then became chief editor for W. H. Paling & Co. Ltd.. At the same time he was composing and arranging music, especially for theatre, radio and films.
While not a first-rate composer, English was very active in music politics. His posts included:
In 1961 he began to campaign for a musical counterpart of the Commonwealth Literary Fund and led in 1965 a delegation to meet Prime Minister Harold Holt and eventually made some success in 1967, when the Commonwealth Assistance to Australian Composers Advisory Board was established.
He died of cancer in Mosman, aged 68, and was buried in Northern Suburbs cemetery.

Family

On 19 December 1936 English married Clare Rosina Henkes in Hampstead. This marriage gave birth to a son and a daughter. They divorced 40 years later, and he married at Cremorne Marcia Clement Rose, an advertising executive.

Compositions and style

English wrote music to a movie Alice through the Centre, which was followed by a documentary The Australian Dingo, a radio Death of a Wombat and The First Waratah.
His most notable serious compositions were created in 1960s: the overture Botany Bay 1770, Chiaroscuro for string trio, a String Quartet and a Wind Quintet. He also wrote at least two symphonies: an undated in A minor and a Sinfonia.
English's style was a tempered version of the English 1920s–1930s modernism. He was a skilled composer, though with limited imagination. Compositions written after the Chiaroscuro show 'a cautious acceptance of the principles of serialism'.

A selective list of compositions