Gerald English

Gerald Alfred English was born in 1925 to Alfred English who as a chemist was employed as a manager at Reckitt & Colman. His mother was Ethel née Gambrell, who was a tailor, and he had two sisters, Margot and Yvonne. His father wanted him to be a mathematician. His family moved to France when he was two years old, and he was based in northern France for 14 years, although from the age of 13 he was attending King's School, Rochester in England. English had three significant relationships, mostly in Australia, and ten children. His first marriage in 1954 was to Jane or Jennifer Ryan who gave him four children and played viol in some of his Baroque music recordings. They were divorced. His second marriage in 1974 was to Linda Jacoby. They had one son, and were divorced. He had a long-term relationship and five children with Helen O'Brien. They lived in Victoria, then he left her in 2012 and returned to the United Kingdom. In 2019 Tim English, one of his sons from his first marriage, was running the junior department of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. ==Career==

In the 1950s, English was a concert singer. Although English worked internationally, he was based in the United Kingdom, and then in Australia. where his continental upbringing proved of value in singing idiomatic French. In 1952 he sang Boyce's The Heavens Declare and Purcell's Bell Anthem, besides Thomas Tallis's Mode III Hymn Tune, in St Sepulchre's, London, with the Deller Consort. During this time, he also began to build a reputation as a recitalist, gaining particular authority as an interpreter of the songs of Gabriel Fauré. English received good notices for his interpretations in works by contemporary composers such as Tippett, In 1993 he was awarded one of the prestigious Australian Creative Artists' Fellowships, In 1995, he persuaded 13 Australian composers to each write a piece, to be showcased at the Gerald English Birthday Concert in honour of his 70th birthday. The composers who contributed included; Tony Bremner, Roger Smalley, Richard David Hames, Gordon Kerry, Nigel Butterley, Wilfrid Mellers, Stephen Cronin, Andrew Ford, Michael Finnissy, George Tibbits, Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards and Martin Wesley-Smith. Premiere performances include Benjamin Britten's Nocturne with Sir John Barbirolli conducting the Hallé Orchestra, Henze's We Come to the River directed by the composer at Covent Garden, Dallapicolla's Ulisse conducted by the composer in Rome, and Luciano Berio's Opera for the Florence Festival. He has also premiered 12 pieces by the Australian composer and broadcaster Andrew Ford. The one-man music-theatre piece Night and Dreams: the death of Sigmund Freud was commissioned by the 2000 Adelaide Festival, when he was 74 years old. English's last vocal performances before retirement were in 2004. ==Recordings==

English made many recordings, including the complete works of Monteverdi. He recorded cantatas by Telemann, Handel and Bach, with the group Il Pastor Fido. Other composers he recorded include Andrew Ford, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Vaughan Williams (''The Pilgrim's Progress), Henry Purcell (Te Deum''), John Dowland, and Robert Schumann. ==Conductors Gerald English performed with as soloist==

Claudio Abbado, Sir Charles Groves, Bernard Haitink, Vernon Handley, Hans Werner Henze, John Hopkins, Hiroyuki Iwaki, Otto Klemperer, Raymond Leppard, Sir Anthony Lewis, Witold Lutosławski, Peter Maag, Lorin Maazel, Sir Charles Mackerras, Bruno Maderna, Igor Markevitch, Jean Martinon, David Measham, Krzysztof Penderecki, David Porcelijn, Georges Prêtre, André Previn, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Eric Schmid, Markus Stenz, Igor Stravinsky, Sir Michael Tippett, Edo de Waart, ==Orchestras Gerald English sang solo with==

Australia and New Zealand • Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, • Brisbane Symphony Orchestra, • Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, • Sydney Symphony Orchestra, • Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, • West Australian Symphony Orchestra, • Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, • New Zealand Radio Orchestra, Asia • Singapore Symphony Orchestra, • Hong Kong Symphony • Israel Philharmonic, • Tel Aviv Chamber Orchestra Europe Austria Austrian Radio Orchestra, Czechoslovakia Czech National Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Germany Philharmonisches Staatsorcherester Hamburg, Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrucken, WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne, Collegium Auriem, France Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre national Bordeaux Aquitaine, French National Radio Orchestra, Belgium Brussels Radio Symphony Orchestra Liege, Namu, Netherlands Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Spain Orqesta Ciudad de Barcelona, Orchestra Nacional Spain, Madrid Symphony Orchestra, Alhambra Concerts, Barcelona Concerts, San Sebastian Concerts. Portugal Lisbon National Orchestra, Oporto Opera Orchestra, Gulbenian Centre Orchestra, Italy Turin Opera House Orchestra, La Scala Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica de Milano, Orchestra de Milano RAI RAI Roma, Orchestra Santa Cecilia Roma, Naples, Florence Opera Orchestra, UK London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, English Chamber Orchestra, Bournemouth Sinfoietta, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Philaharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Mozart Players, St. Martin in the Fields, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Phiaharmonic, Other Hungarian State Orchestra Dubrovnik Orchestra North America Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. South America Orquesta Filharmonica de Buenos Aires, Argentina, Brazil Rio de Janeiro Radio Symphony Orchestra. ==Notes==