George lloyd composer biography

George Walter Selwyn Lloyd (28 June 1913 – 3 July 1998) was a British composer.

Born in St Ives, Cornwall, of part Welsh, part American ancestry, Lloyd grew up in a very musical family.

is father, William A C Lloyd, was an Italian opera aficionado. He was born in Rome and returned to England on the death of his father, a retired naval officer. William Lloyd wrote a biography of Bellini. He was also an accomplished flautist. George Lloyd's mother played the violin, viola and piano. Both were leading members of the St Ives Arts Club and their house was a regular weekly venue for chamber music, so the young composer grew up with music all around him. His grandmother, the American painter Frances (Fanny) Powell, had been an opera singer, and was an early pioneer of the St Ives artists' colony.

George Lloyd showed his talent as a composer early; he began composing at the age of 9, and began serious study at the age of 14. He was mainly educated at home because of rheumatic fever. He was trained in the dramatic aspects of opera by his father, who would regularly give him scenes from English plays to set to music, and he later studied violin with Albert Sammons and composition with Frank Kitson and Harry Farjeon. He was a student at Trinity College London. His first symphony, written at the age of 19, was premiered in 1932 by the Penzance Orchestral Society and was performed again in 1933 by the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, with the composer conducting on both occasions. A second symphony had its premiere in 1935 and was soon followed by a third. George Lloyd and his father William, formed The New English Opera Company in 1935, with the intention of establishing a school of English opera. George Lloyd's first opera, Iernin, with a libretto by his father, was performed in 1934 in Penzance, before being transferred to the Lyceum Theatre, London, where it had an unusually long run. His second opera, The Serf, was staged by V

George Walter Selwyn Lloyd was born in St Ives, Cornwall to a family with some money and great enthusiasm for music. He was mainly home-schooled because of rheumatic fever. He later studied violin with Albert Sammons and composition with Harry Farjeon.

George Lloyd showed his talent as a composer early. His first symphony, written at age 19, was premiered in 1933. A second symphony had its premiere in 1935 and was soon followed by a third. His first opera was performed in 1934 and his second was staged at Covent Garden when Lloyd was just 25.

The most extraordinary period in Lloyd's life began in World War II. As a Royal Marine bandsman, he doubled as a gunner on the cruiser HMS Trinidad, which served on the notoriously dangerous Arctic convoys. In 1942 a faulty torpedo did a U-turn in the sea and blew up his ship. Lloyd was rescued after seeing most of his fellow gunners drowned in oil. The subsequent "shell shock" triggered a complete collapse. Today this would be called post-traumatic stress disorder.

George Lloyd attempted to keep going and wrote two symphonies and an opera but his health deteriorated further and in 1952 he withdrew to Dorset, where for 20 years he led a double life. He was a market gardener growing mushrooms and carnations. He continued to compose intermittently, rising at 4.30am and writing for three hours before the start of the working day.

When George Lloyd stopped market gardening and returned to composing full-time in the 1960s, he was like Rip Van Winkle who had slept for many years to awaken to a new world. Musical tastes had changed. The musical establishment was enchanted by serialism and modernism.

"I sent scores off to the BBC" he is reported as saying later. The BBC's music policy was then heavily influenced by William Glock, who had a preference for European modernism. "They came back, usually without comment. I never wrote 12-tone music because I didn't like the theory. I studied the blessed thi

British composer (1913–1998)

George Walter Selwyn Lloyd (28 June 1913 – 3 July 1998) was a British composer.

Biography

Early life

Born in St Ives, Cornwall, of part Welsh, part American ancestry, Lloyd grew up in a very musical family.

George's father, William A. C. Lloyd, was an accomplished amateur flautist and an Italian opera aficionado, writing a biography of Bellini. George Lloyd's mother played the violin, viola and piano. Both parents were leading members of the St Ives Arts Club and their house was a regular weekly venue for chamber music, so the young composer grew up with music all around him. His maternal grandmother was the American painter Frances (Fanny) Powell who had been an opera singer, and was an early pioneer of the St Ives artists' colony.

As a child George Lloyd suffered rheumatic fever and received most of his education at home. He showed an early attraction to music and began composing at the age of 9. He was trained in the dramatic aspects of opera by his father, who would regularly give him scenes from English plays to set to music. From the age of 14 George studied violin with Albert Sammons and composition with Frank Kitson and Harry Farjeon. He was a student at Trinity College London. His first symphony, written at the age of 19, was premiered in 1932 by the Penzance Orchestral Society and was performed again in 1933 by the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, with the composer conducting on both occasions. A second symphony had its premiere in 1935 and was soon followed by a third. George Lloyd and his father William, formed The New English Opera Company in 1935, with the intention of establishing a school of English opera. George Lloyd's first opera, Iernin, with a libretto by his father, was performed in 1934 in Penzance, before being transferred to the Lyceum Theatre, London, where it had an unusually long run. His

George Lloyd (b. St Ives, Cornwall, 28 June 1913; d. London, 3 July 1998) was a composer remarkable not only for the breadth and consistency of his output, but also for the circumstances in which it was achieved, overcoming physical and psychological challenges, not to mention changing musical fashions and tastes. He composed three operas, three large scale cantatas, a large body of orchestral music (including twelve symphonies and seven concertos) and numerous chamber works, as well as many significant works for wind and brass band.

Lloyd’s gift for music showed itself early. He began to play the violin at the age of five and was writing music at ten, before following an exclusively musical education. He had considerable early success before the age of 21, and his operas at The Lyceum and Covent Garden were attended by the entire musical establishment, bringing his music to the attention of a wide audience.

This early promise was brought to an abrupt end by World War II. Lloyd volunteered as a Royal Marine and suffered devastating physical and psychological injuries during one of the most appalling and tragic episodes of the naval war, while guarding convoys in the Arctic Ocean on HMS Trinidad. In the years following the war, Lloyd faced a long period of recuperation aided by the devotion of his wife Nancy. At the same time, the musical landscape was changing considerably and, as Lloyd returned to composing, he found himself at odds with the serial and atonal style that was now in favour with the leading critics of the day.

Lloyd moved to Dorset, earning his living as a market gardener. However, he did not give up composition and throughout the 1950s and 60s he would rise at 5am and spend an hour composing before his day’s work. Following his retirement in 1973, Lloyd returned to composing full time with renewed vigour. He moved to London and the premiere of his Symphony No 8 under Sir Edward Downes helped to encourage an Indian summer with perf