Lawrence Leonard
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Lawrence Leonard (22 August 1923 – 4 January 2001) was a British conductor, cellist, composer, teacher, and writer.


Early life and education

Leonard received his musical education at the
Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...
and the
École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. The school was founded in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot and Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (English: no ...
.


Career

His musical career began at age 16, as an orchestral cellist with the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
, playing under such conductors as Sir Henry Wood,
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
, and
Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...
. In the 1950s and 1960s, Leonard, a close friend of cartoonist Gerard Hoffnung's, participated both as conductor and composer, in the celebrated Hoffnung concerts. In 1959, at
Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...
's request, Leonard conducted the London premiere of ''
West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...
''. Leonard was Associate Conductor of the BBC Northern Orchestra and Assistant Conductor to Sir John Barbirolli at the Hallé Orchestra (1963-1968). In 1964, Leonard conducted the world premiere of
Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-American composer, libretto, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American ...
's chamber opera '' Martin's Lie'', at the Bath International Music Festival. From 1968 to 1973, Leonard was Music Director of the
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to co ...
, where two of his orchestral compositions were premiered (an adaptation of
Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...
's ''Grande Messe de Notre Dame'' in 1972 and ''Group Questions for Orchestra'' in 1973). In 1971, he conducted the Edmonton Symphony in a concert featuring the British rock band
Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold more than List of best-selling si ...
, which was recorded and released commercially as '' Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra,'' although due to an apparent distaste for rock music, from the start of the project Leonard disowned any association with the performance and went so far as to refuse to have his name listed in the credits. The concert and resulting recording went on to become the most successful live pairing of symphony orchestra and rock music to date and a worldwide best-seller, and even spawned a hit single, "Conquistador". In 1977, he arranged Mussorgsky’s '' Pictures at an Exhibition'' for
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
and
orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
. The world premiere recording of this, recorded in 1992 at All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London was released on the Cala label that year. It featured Tamás Ungár, piano, and the Philharmonia conducted by Geoffrey Simon. In later years, he was Professor of Conducting at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...
and
Morley College Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the ...
, and regularly conducted the
Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...
Chamber Orchestra.


Original orchestral compositions

In addition to the aforementioned adaptation of
Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...
's ''Grande Messe de Notre Dame'' (1972) and ''Group Questions for Orchestra'' (1973), Leonard's original orchestral compositions include: ''Four Pieces'', ''Four Contrasts'', ''Break'', ''Processional'', ''A Short Overture'', ''A Swinging Tune'', and the symphonic poem ''Mezoon'' (written for the Sultan of Oman).


Books

Leonard wrote '' The Horn of Mortal Danger'' (1980), a children's adventure tale set in a secret civilisation underneath London. It was a 'completely new departure' from anything he had done before. He also authored the irreverent yet insightful book ''1812 and All That: A Concise History of Music from 30,000BC to the Millennium''. *


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Lawrence English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) 1923 births 2001 deaths 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians