Edward Salim Michael

Edward Salim Michael (1921, Manchester, England – November 2006, Nice, France) was a composer of symphonic music, he is also the author of books on spirituality and meditation. It was to Buddhism that he felt closest, but as his teaching was based on his direct experience, he did not hesitate to quote Christian, Hindu, or Sufi mystics.

Edward Salim Michael spent his childhood in Iraq, which was then under British rule. He experienced poverty and insecurity. He was approximately twelve years old when his parents left Baghdad for Syria, which was under French rule, then for Egypt and for Palestine (which was not yet Israel) and still at that time under British rule. His family returned to London just before World War II. As a British subject, he was enrolled into the Royal Air Force, as an airman on the ground, (which is how he spent the entire war). He was just nineteen years old when he enlisted. He had never been to school, could not read or write and barely spoke English. The Anglican Chaplain from his camp took an interest in him and taught him to read and write. The Chaplain's wife, who was violist in a string quartet, was surprised at Edward Salim Michael's amazing ability to memorize music. She decided to teach him the basics of composition, which he assimilated at stunning speed. Two years later, his first orchestral work, a scherzo for orchestra ("The Dionysia"), won a competition in London, where it was performed at the Royal Albert Hall by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Hollingsworth.

After the war, he pursued his musical studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he worked with Berthold Goldschmidt (student of Hindemith), then with Mátyás Seiber (student of Zoltán Kodály) and also studied the violin (with Max Rostal). In studying the violin he demonstrated the same astonishing capabilities he had shown for composition. In 1947, he won a first prize in orchestra conducting and started a career as a solo violinist.

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