alan bush

Alan Bush (1900-1995)

I've been interested in the music of the British composer Alan Bush for over 15 years now, ever since I found (and bought) this signed letter in the specialist music bookshop May & May Ltd.

Click on the letter for a larger image and, if needed, a transcript.

This letter sparked my interest in a composer about whom I knew nothing - even though I was familiar with a fair amount of English music from the late 19th and first half of the 20th century - particularly the music of Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Delius, Walton and Bax.

At that time it seemed to be quite difficult to find out much about Alan Bush. Besides a few very brief entries in musical dictionaries and encyclopaedias there was very little information readily available. I think the most detail I first saw was this short passage in an article by Robin Hull in the 1946 book British Music of Our Time.

Another piece of information that caught my attention was that Alan Bush's music was banned by the BBC for a period during the Second World War - from March 1941 until 22nd June 1941. The ban was put in effect because Bush was a signatory to The People's Convention. Ralph Vaughan Williams spoke out against this ban in a strongly worded letter to the Director General.

On his death in 1995 this obituary gives a concise summary of Alan Bush's life. For more information on his life or work I cannot hope to compete with the superb web site of the Alan Bush Musical Trust.

If it was hard to find information about Bush, it was next to impossible to find any available recordings of his music. It must have been a couple of years until I managed to hear a couple of performances on the radio. This situation is now improving - there are a few CDs now available of his music, particularly of the chamber music, piano works and songs. I have yet to hear performances of any of the symphonies or operas.

Here are a couple of recommendations as a starting point to recordings of Bush's work.