Richard Harvey

From a young age Richard Harvey displayed exceptional musical aptitude, beginning flute lessons at four. After finishing his training at London’s Royal College of Music in 1972, he had already mastered the recorder, krumhorn, assorted medieval and Renaissance instruments, the mandolin, and multiple keyboard instruments, skills that positioned him for possible entry into the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Rather than pursue that path, he joined Musica Reservata, a group devoted to performing early music on period instruments. There he encountered fellow RCM alumnus Brian Gulland, a player of bass krumhorn and other instruments, and together they established Gryphon. The ensemble began as a four-piece folk group using authentic period instruments and later expanded into a six-piece folk and progressive-rock band.

Gryphon remained active through the close of the 1970s, its sound gradually shifting toward mainstream rock. From the late 1970s onward Harvey concentrated on scoring for television and film, supplying music for productions including The Martian Chronicles (1980), Defense of the Realm (1985), and Half Moon Street (1986). He also contributed instrumental work to albums such as Kate Bush’s Lionheart, Gordon Giltrap’s Fear of the Dark, Gerry Rafferty’s Night Owl, and various Symphonic Rock collections. He is not to be mistaken for the drummer of the same name who performed with the Divinyls.