| Code | DS/UK/2516 |
| Name | Besly; Edward Maurice (1888-1945); English composer, conductor, schoolteacher, organist, arranger |
| Variations of Name | Edward Maurice Besly |
| Dates | 28 January 1888-12 April 1945 |
| Gender | Male (cisgender) |
| Place of Birth/Origin | Normanby, Yorkshire, England (born) |
| Biography | Edward Maurice Besly was an English composer, conductor, schoolteacher, organist and arranger best known for his popular ballads, The Second Minuet and Time, You Old Gipsy Man. More ambitious vocal pieces were the Four Poems Op 24, Charivaria (5 songs) and his setting of Christina Rossetti's The shepherds had an angel for soprano solo and chorus.
He gave his first concert in London with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1923, and conducted the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, and the Scottish Orchestra for a portion of the season 1924. He was sometime Director of the Performing Rights Society. In his latter years he worked in legal practice as a solicitor and notary public. |