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Timeline of Alan Bush's Life Events Music  22 December 1900 Born, Dulwich, London, youngest of three sons of Alfred Walter Bush and Alice Maud Bush (née Brinsley).  1911 - 1917 Educated at Highgate School.  1917 Eldest brother, Alfred, killed at Ypres, Belgium, aged 21.  Spring 1918 - Summer 1922 Studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Reginald Steggall (organ), Tobias Matthay (piano), Frederick Corder (composition) and Lily West (piano). Received various awards including Thalberg Scholarship for Piano, Battison Haynes and Philip Agnew. Prizes for Composition.  1922 - 1927 Studied composition with John Ireland.  1922 onwards Studied piano with Benno Moiseivich and Mabel Lander.  1924 Joined Independent Labour Party.  Mid - 1920s Studied with Artur Schnabel in Berlin.  1925 Won a Carnegie Award for his String Quartet in A minor.  1925 - 1978 Professor of Harmony and Composition, Royal Academy of Music.  1926 Became actively involved in the London Labour Choral Union.  1929 Resigned from the Independent Labour Party and joined the Labour Party.  1929 - 1931 Studied philosophy and musicology in Berlin.  1929 - 1940 Musical advisor to London Labour Choral Union, and conductor in succession to Rutland Boughton.  31 March 1931 Married Nancy Rachel Bush (née Head).  20 May 1932 Birth of eldest daughter, Rachel Elizabeth.  1934 Met Gerhard and Hanns Eisler, Ernst Meyer and Georg Knepler in London.  1934 - 1935 Conducted ten performances of "Die Massnahme" by Bertolt Brecht with music by Hanns Eisler in London.  October 1934 Wrote and conducted, with Michael Tippett, the Pageant of Labour.  1935 Joined the Communist Party of Great Britain.  1936 Co-founded the Workers' Music Association.  6 June 1936 Birth of twin daughters, Catherine and Alice.  1938 - 1951 Founded and conducted the London String Orchestra.  July 1938 Wrote, arranged and conducted part of the performance of "Towards Tomorrow" - a Pageant of Co-operation, Wembley.  November 1938 Alan and Nancy Bush visited the US. Met Aaron Copland, Charles Lomax and various refugees including Hanns Eisler.  1 April 1939 Organised and conducted " Music for the People" - a Pageant, Royal Albert Hall, London.  1941 W.M.A. Singers formed (in place of London Labour Choral Union).  1941 - 1995 President of Workers' Music Association.  12 January 1941 Supports the People's Convention for a People's Government.  March - June 1941 B.B.C. bans Alan's music as a result of his support of the People's Convention.  November 1941 - December 1945 Served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War II.  July 24, 1942 Alan Bush conducted his Symphony in C at a Promenade Concert with the B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra.  1946 - 1956 Conductor of the W.M.A. Singers.  1947 - 1948 Chairman of the Composers' Guild of Great Britain.  1948 "Strict Counterpoint in Palestrina Style" published by Joseph Williams.  25 April 1949 Violin Concerto performed at a Promenade Concert, London, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with Basil Cameron (conductor) and Max Rostal (violin).  27 June 1949 The Nottingham Symphony first performed, at the Albert Hall, Nottingham.  December 1950 "Tribute to Alan Bush on his 50th Birthday - a Symposium" published by W.M.A.  1951 Won Arts Council prize for Festival of Britain Competition for Wat Tyler.  6 September 1953 World premiere of Wat Tyler, Leipzig.  1956 - 57 Treasurer of the Composers' Guild of Great Britain.  18 November 1956 World premiere of Men of Blackmoor, Weimar.  14 June 1961 Dorian Passacaglia and Fugue first performed at the Cheltenham Festival.  1962 Won Handel prize for Byron Symphony, Halle, German Democratic Republic.  7 July 1965 Variations, Nocturne and Finale on an English Sea Song first performed at the Cheltenham Festival.  11 December 1966 World première of The Sugar Reapers, Leipzig.  1968 Became Doctor of Music, London University.  1970 Awarded Doctorate of Music (Honoris Causa) by Durham University.  29 September 1970 World premiere of Joe Hill, Berlin.  28 May 1972 Bath Festival, first performance of the Piano Sonata, Ronald Stevenson (piano).  June 1974 Keynote Opera Society production of Wat Tyler, Sadler's Wells, London.  6 November 1975 First performance in England of "The Ballad of Freedom's Soldier".  1980 "In My Eighth Decade and Other Essays" published by Kahn & Averill.  18 June 1981 Concert of Alan Bush's music at the Aldeburgh Festival.  1983 "Alan Bush, A Life" - TV Film produced by Anna Ambrose.  25 March 1986 First performance of 4th Symphony ("The Lascaux Symphony") by the B.B.C. Philharmonic orchestra, Manchester with Edward Downes (conductor).  12 October 1991 Death of Nancy Bush.  31 October 1995 Death of Alan Bush. 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1921  Three Pieces for Two Pianos (Op.1). Sonata in B Minor (Op.2). 1923  String Quartet in A minor (Op.4). 1924  Quartet for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello (Op.5). 1925  Five pieces for Violin, Viola, Cello, Clarinet and Horn (Op.6). 1927  Symphonic Impressions for Orchestra (Op.8). Prelude and Fugue for Piano (Op.9). 1928  Relinquishment for Piano (Op.11). 1929  Songs of the Doomed (Op.14). Dialectic for String Quartet (Op.15). 1935  Dance Overture (Op.12). 1936  Concert Piece for Cello and Piano (Op.17). 1937  Piano Concerto (Op.18). 1939  Prison Cycle (Op.19). Composed with Alan Rawsthorne. 1940  Symphony No. 1 in C (Op.21). 1941  Meditation on a German Song of 1848 for Violin and Piano (Op.22). 1942  Overture: Festal Day (Op.23). 1943  Le Quartorze Juillet (Equisse) for Piano (Op.38). "Toulon" for Mezzo-Soprano with Mixed Chorus and Piano with text by Nancy Bush. 1944  Lyric Interlude for Violin and Piano (Op.26). 1946  Overture: "Resolution" (Op.25). Homage to William Sterndale-Bennett for String Orchestra (Op.27). English Suite for String Orchestra (Op.28). "The Winter Journey", a Cantata for Soprano and Baritone Soloists (Op.29). Piers Plowman's Day, Symphonic Suite (Op.30). "The Press Gang", Children's Operetta. 1947  Three Concert Studies for Piano, Violin and Cello (Op.31). Lidice for Unaccompanied Mixed Chorus with text by Nancy Bush. 1948  Violin Concerto (Op.32). 1949  Symphony No. 2 ("The Nottingham Symphony") (Op.33). "Our Song" for Mixed Voice and Chorus with Piano Accompaniment with text by Nancy Bush. 1950  Wat Tyler, Opera. "The Dream of Llewelyn Ap Gryuffydd' for Male Voice Choir and Piano (Op.35). 1951  Trent's Broad Reaches for Horn and Piano (Op.36). 1952  Concert Suite for Cello and Orchestra (Op.37). Three English Song Preludes for Organ (Op.40). 1953  "Voices of the Prophets" - Song-Cycle for Tenor and Piano (Op.41). Northumbrian Impressions for Northumbrian Small Pipes (Op.42). The Ballad of Freedom's Soldier for Tenor and Bass Soloists and Orchestra (Op.44). "The Spell Unbound", Operetta for Girls. 1954  Autumn Poem for Horn and Piano (Op.45). 1955  Men of Blackmoor, Opera. 1956  Nocturne for Piano (Op.46). 1959  Dorian Passacaglia and Fugue for Orchestra (Op.52). Symphony No. 3 ("The Byron Symphony") with Baritone Solo and Mixed Chorus (Op.53). 1960  Three African Sketches for Flute and Piano (Op.55). Two Occasional Pieces for Organ (Op.56). 1961  Seafarers' Songs for Baritone and Piano (Op.57). Three Raga Melodies for Unaccompanied Violin (Op.59). "The Ferryman's Daughter", Operetta for Schools. "Song of the Cosmonaut" for Baritone Solo and Mixed Chorus with Piano. 1962  Variations, Nocturne and Finale on an English Sea-Song for Piano and Orchestra (Op.60). 1964  The Sugar Reapers (or Guyana Johnny), Opera. 1965  Partita Concertante for Orchestra (Op.63). 1967  Joe Hill - The Man Who Never Died, Opera. 1968  "Time Remembered" for Chamber Orchestra (Op.67). 1969  Scherzo for Wind Orchestra with Percussion (Op.68) The Freight of Harvest, Song-Cycle for Tenor and Piano (Op.69). 1970  Sonata in A Flat (Op.71). 1972  Concert Overture for An Occasion (the 150th Anniversary of the RAM) (Op.74). Africa - Symphonic Movement for Piano and Orchestra (Op.73). Song for Angela Davis for Unaccompanied Mixed Chorus (Op.75). Corentyne Kwe-kwe, Toccata for Piano (Op.76). 1973  The Liverpool Overture (Op.77). 1974  "Life's Span", Song-Cycle for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano (Op.79). Letter Galliard (A tribute to Shostakovich) (Op.80). 1976  Compass Points - a Suite for Pipes (Op.83). "Africa is My Name" for Mezzo-Soprano, Mixed Chorus and Piano (Op.85). 1977  Twenty-Four Preludes for Piano (Op.84). Woman's Life, Song-Cycle for Soprano and Piano (Op.87). 1978  Sonatina for Viola and Piano (Op.88). 1979  Pro Pace et Felicitate Generis Humani - Rhapsody for Cello and Piano (Op.89). 1980  Voices from Four Continents, Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano (Op.91). Two Shakespeare Sonnets for Baritone and Chamber Orchestra (Op.92). Meditation and Scherzo for Double Bass and Piano (Op.93). 1981  Concertina for Two Violins and Piano (Op.94). 1983  Symphony No. 4 ("Lascaux Symphony") (Op.98). 1984  Piano Quintet for String Quartet (Op.104). 1985  Mandela Speaking for Baritone Solo and Mixed Chorus (Op.100). The Earth in Shadow for Mixed Chorus and Symphony Orchestra (Op.102). Meditation for Orchestra in Memory of Anna Ambrose (Op.107). 1986  Prelude and Concert Piece for Organ (Op.116). Suite for Organ (Op.117). 1987  Sonata for Organ (Op.122).