Handley, Vernon George

▪ 2009

“Tod” 

      British conductor

born Nov. 11, 1930, Enfield, Middlesex, Eng.

died Sept. 10, 2008, Monmouthshire, Wales

championed British composers, both in concert and in the studio; he made more than 150 recordings (nearly 90 of which included British music that had not previously been recorded), embracing works by such composers as Malcolm Arnold, Granville Bantock, Arnold Bax, Arthur Bliss, Rutland Boughton, Frederick Delius, Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, E.J. Moeran, Robert Simpson, Charles Villiers Stanford, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and William Walton. Handley studied philology at Balliol College, Oxford, but he was drawn to music and persuaded conductor Sir Adrian Boult to become his mentor. After making his debut (1961) with the Bournemouth Symphony, Handley conducted often with the Royal Philharmonic (1961–2008), as well as the Ulster (N.Ire.) Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and the Guildhall Philharmonic, which he founded in London in 1962. Outside England he conducted regularly with the Malmö (Swed.) Symphony Orchestra and with the Melbourne and West Australian symphonies. Handley was made CBE in 2004 and was granted lifetime achievement awards by Gramophone magazine (2003) and the Classical Brit awards (2007).

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