Geoffrey Norris

Geoffrey Norris (born 19 September 1947) is an English musicologist and music critic. His scholarship focuses on Russian composers; in particular, Norris is a leading scholar on the life and music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, about whom he has written in numerous articles and a 1976 book-length study. He was chief classical music critic of The Daily Telegraph from 1995 to 2009.

Geoffrey Norris was born in London, England in 19 September 1947.^[1][2] An enthusiast for Russian culture since his youth, Norris attended the University of Durham where his undergraduate dissertation was on The Five, a leading group of 19th-century Russian composers.^[3] He continued his studies of Russian music at the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts.^[3] From 1995 to 2009, he was chief classical music critic of The Daily Telegraph.^[1] Norris has been a lecturer at the Royal Northern College of Music, Goldsmiths University of London and elsewhere, as well as a jury member for piano competitions.^[3] Norris is Emeritus Professor of the Rachmaninoff Music Academy, Tambov, and from 2013 until 2022 lectured at the Gnesin Music Academy, Moscow.^[4]

Norris' scholarship focuses on Russian composers, and in particular, Sergei Rachmaninoff.^[3] He has written numerous articles,^[5][6][7][8] and a book-length study on Rachmaninoff,^[9] whose works he catalogued in a 1982 publication with Robert Threlfall.^[10] He has also compiled and edited an anthology of interviews that Rachmaninoff gave to the press, Sergei Rachmaninoff In His Own Words (2024).

• Norris, Geoffrey (1976). Rakhmaninov. The Master Musicians Series. London: J.M. Dent. ISBN 978-0-460-03145-5.
• ——; Threlfall, Robert (1982). A Catalogue of the Compositions of S. Rachmaninoff. London: Scolar Press. ISBN 978-0-85967-617-5.
• Norris, Geoffrey (2024). Sergei Rachmaninoff In His Own Words. Frankfurt: Wolke Verlag. ISBN 978-3-95593-272-5.

• Norris, Geoffrey (1973). "Rachmaninoff's Second Thoughts". The Musical Times. 114 (1562): 364–368. doi:10.2307/955179. JSTOR 955179.
• —— (July 1973). "Rakhmaninov's Student Opera". The Musical Quarterly. 59 (3): 441–448. doi:10.1093/mq/LIX.3.441. JSTOR 41788.
• —— (October 1983). "Rakhmaninov's Apprenticeship". The Musical Times. 124 (1688): 602–603+605. doi:10.2307/961696. JSTOR 961696.
• —— (2001). "Rachmaninoff [Rakhmaninov, Rachmaninov], Serge". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.50146. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription, Wikilibrary access, or UK public library membership required)
• Норрис, Джеффри (2016). "Фортепианные сонаты С. Рахманинова: дилеммы исполнителя". Рахманинов и XXI век: прошлое и настоящее (Moscow, 2016): 16-19.

• Articles by Geoffrey Norris in The Daily Telegraph
• Articles by Geoffrey Norris on Grove Music Online