Charles Groves was too young to have known Elgar, Holst and Delius personally, but when he was growing up, a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral and a pupil at the Cathedral School, they were the dominant names in British music. Although Groves’s training and temperament helped to form his character as
Charles Groves was too young to have known Elgar, Holst and Delius personally, but when he was growing up, a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral and a pupil at the Cathedral School, they were the dominant names in British music. Although Groves’s training and temperament helped to form his character as an all-round musician, British music was always important to him, and British composers featured strongly in his friendships and professional relationships.
It wasn’t just established composers either: he was keenly interested in the music of the younger generation, and gave early performances of works by the Manchester School — Alexander Goehr, Peter Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle. The young Simon Rattle was a regular attendee at Groves’s concerts during his time as principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and recalled “If a wonderful new piece arrived like, for instance — 1970 I think it was — Birtwistle’s Triumph of Time, Charlie heard about it and that would be the beginning for the next season.”