Harry Dexter (1910–1973) was an English

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

and a composer of

light music Light music is a less-serious form of Western classical music, which originated in the 18th and 19th centuries and continues today. Its heyday was in the mid‑20th century. The style is through-composed, usually shorter orchestral pieces and ...

best known for his "Siciliano" of 1953. He was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

and obtained a Bachelor of Music degree at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

. During World War II, whilst serving overseas as an army captain he composed a prize-winning symphony, but after the war he found himself without work and moved to London where he scraped a living "song plugging" and arranging for various publishers.Harry Dexter
at Naxos Music, accessed 17 November 2010 During the 1950s, his lighter style of composition found favour with tastes in radio and television, particularly the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

. He joined London music publisher Francis, Day and Hunter and later rose to become head of their light orchestral department, where in addition to composing gave advice to other composers in this field. It was during this period he composed numerous short orchestral pieces include "Frankfurt Polka", "Bavarian Polka", "Budgerigar Polka", "Pas de Trois", "Waltz for a Bride", "September Woods" and his most famous work "Siciliano" in 1953. He also wrote vocal pieces for schools, ballads for choral ensembles and a number of religious anthems, as well as large quantity of simplified arrangements of famous classical works for use in teaching. In addition to this work, Dexter was music critic for several musical periodicals and in 1956 founded the Light Music Society, where he served as Chairman for several years, with

Eric Coates Eric Francis Harrison Coates (27 August 1886 – 21 December 1957) was an English composer of light music and, early in his career, a leading violist. Coates was born into a musical family, but, despite his wishes and obvious talent, his parents ...

as its first President. His final composition was "Pizzicato for a Poodle" in 1972.Philip Scowcroft
4th Garland
accessed 17 November 2010 He married Doris Herbert with whom he had a son Philip, and a stepson Francis.

References

1910 births 1973 deaths 20th-century English classical musicians 20th-century English composers Alumni of Durham University English light music composers English music critics {{UK-composer-stub