Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley CBE (12 May 190326 December 1989) was an English composer.

Biography

Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of Sir James Charles Harris, former British consul in Monaco, and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Captain Hastings George FitzHardinge Berkeley (1855–1934), the illegitimate and eldest son of George Lennox Rawdon Berkeley, the 7th

Earl of Berkeley The title Baron Berkeley originated as a feudal title and was subsequently created twice in the Peerage of England by writ. It was first granted by writ to Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (1245–1321), 6th feudal Baron Berkeley, in 12 ...

(1827–1888). He attended the Dragon School in Oxford, going on to Gresham's School, in Holt, Norfolk and St George's School in

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil parish was 31,128. Harpe ...

, Hertfordshire. He studied French at

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...

, Oxford, graduating with a fourth class degree in 1926. While at university he coxed the college rowing eight. He became an honorary fellow of Merton College in 1974. In 1927, he went to Paris to study music with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

, and there became acquainted with Francis Poulenc,

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

, Darius Milhaud,

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

and Albert Roussel. Berkeley also studied with

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

, often cited as a key influence in Berkeley's technical development as a composer. In 1936, he met

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

, also a former pupil of Gresham's School, at the ISCM Festival in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Berkeley fell in love with Britten, who appears to have been wary of entering a relationship, writing in his diary, "we have come to an agreement on that subject." Nevertheless, the two composers shared a house for a year, living in the Old Mill at Snape, Suffolk, which Britten had acquired in July 1937. They subsequently enjoyed a long friendship and artistic association, collaborating on a number of works; these included the suite of Catalan dances titled '' Mont Juic'', and '' Variations on an Elizabethan Theme'' (the latter also with four other composers). He worked for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, where he met his future wife, Elizabeth Freda Bernstein (1923–2016) whom he married on 14 December 1946. Together they had three sons: their eldest son Michael Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton, is also a composer, and their youngest son is the photographer Nick Berkeley. He wrote several piano works for the pianist Colin Horsley, who commissioned the Horn Trio and some piano pieces, and gave the first performances and/or made the premier recordings of a number of his works, including his third Piano Concerto (1958). He was Professor of Composition in 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 ...

from 1946 to 1968. His students included Richard Rodney Bennett, David Bedford, Adam Pounds, Richard Stoker, Clive Strutt,

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious music, religious works. Among his best known works are ''The Lamb (Tavener), The Lamb'' (1982), ''The ...

and

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...

. Ferneyhough felt that he learned nothing from Berkeley because of the gap between their musical conceptions, remembering him as "a notably urbane and well-meaning presence" whose "Nadia Boulenger influenced gallic aesthetics were completely unable to deal with my compositional needs." 1954 saw the premiere of his first opera, '' Nelson'', at Sadler's Wells. He was knighted in 1974 and from 1977 to 1983 was President of the Cheltenham Festival. He resided at 8 Warwick Avenue, London, from 1947 until his death in 1989. On 20 March 1990 a memorial service was held for him at

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, is the largest Catholic Church in England and Wales, Roman Catholic church in England and Wales. The shrine is dedicated to the Blood of Jesus Ch ...

, London.

Honours

* 1983 : Member of the

Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium ( , sometimes referred to as ' ) is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Community of Belgium. One of Belgium's numerous academies, it is the French-speak ...

Musical style

Berkeley's earlier music is broadly tonal, influenced by the neoclassical music of Stravinsky. Berkeley's contact and friendship with composers such as Ravel and Poulenc and his studies in Paris with Boulanger lend his music a 'French' quality, demonstrated by its "emphasis on melody, the lucid textures and a conciseness of expression". He maintained a negative view of

atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on ...

music at least up until 1948, when he wrote: However, from the mid-1950s, Berkeley apparently felt a need to revise his style of composition, later telling the Canadian composer, R. Murray Schafer that "it's natural for a composer to feel a need to enlarge his idiom." He started including tone rows and aspects of serial technique in his compositions around the time of the Concertino, Op. 49 (1955) and the opera ''Ruth'' (1955–56). His shift in opinion was demonstrated in an interview with ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' in 1959:

Works

Opera

* '' Nelson'', (1951) * ''

A Dinner Engagement ''A Dinner Engagement'' is a one-act comic opera by Lennox Berkeley, (his opus number, Op. 45) to a libretto by Paul Dehn. The opera was written for Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group. It premiered at the Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, in ...

'', Op. 45 (1954) * ''Ruth'', Op. 50 (1955–6) * ''Castaway'', Op. 68 (1967) * ''Faldon Park'', (1979–85). Incomplete.

Orchestral

* '' Mont Juic'', suite of Catalan dances, Op. 9 (written jointly with

) * Serenade, for string orchestra (1938–9) * Symphony No. 1 (1936–40) * Divertimento (1943) * Piano Concerto in B-flat major, Op. 29 (1947–8) * Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, Op. 30 (1948) * Symphony No. 2 (1958, revised 1976) * Symphony No. 3, in one movement (1968–9) * Sinfonia Concertante, for oboe and chamber orchestra (1972–3) * Voices of the Night, Op. 86 (1973) * Guitar Concerto, Op. 88 * Symphony No. 4 (1977–78)

Choral

* ''A Festival Anthem'', Op. 21, No. 2 (1945) * ''Crux fidelis'', Op. 43, No. 1 (1955) * ''I sing of a maiden'' (1966) * ''Look up, sweet babe'', Op. 43, No. 2 (1955) * ''Missa Brevis'', Op. 57 (1960) * Mass for five voices, Op. 64 (1964) * ''Magnificat'' for chorus and orchestra, Op. 71 (1968) * Three Latin Motets, Op. 83, No. 1 (1972) * Three Songs for Four Male Voices, Op. 67, No. 1 (1965) * ''The Lord is my shepherd'', Op. 91, No. 1 (1975) * ''Magnificat'' and ''Nunc dimittis'' ("Chichester service"), Op. 99 (1980)

Solo vocal

* Five Housman Songs, Op. 14, No. 3 * Four Poems of St Teresa of Ávila, Op. 27, for contralto and string orchestra (1947) * Three Greek Songs, Op. 38 (1953) * Five Poems by W. H. Auden, Op. 53

Chamber

* String Quartet No. 1, Op. 6 (1935) * String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15 (1941) * String Trio, Op. 19 (1943) * Sonata in D minor for viola and piano, Op. 22 (1945) * Introduction and Allegro, for solo violin (1949) (edited by Ivry Gitlis) * Trio for horn, violin and piano, Op. 44 (1952) * Sextet for clarinet, horn and string quartet, Op. 47 (1954) * String Quartet No. 3, Op. 76 (1970) * Introduction and Allegro, for double bass and piano (1972) (for Rodney Slatford) * Duo for cello and piano * Sonata Op. 97 for flute and piano * Sonatina Op. 13 for recorder and piano * Three Pieces for Solo Viola, WoO (Dedicated to Stephan Deák, discovered 2004.)

Piano

* Three Pieces, Op. 2 (1935) * Piano Sonata in A major, Op. 20 (1941–5) * Six Preludes, Op. 23 (1945) * Three Mazurkas, Op. 31 No. 1 (1939–49)

Guitar

* Quatre pièces pour la guitare (1928) * Sonatina, Op. 52, No. 1 (1957) * Theme and Variations, Op. 77 (1970)

Clarinet

*Three Pieces for Clarinet, (1939)

Flute

* Sonatina for Flute or Treble Recorder and Piano (1940)

Violin

* Sonatina for Violin and Piano in A, Op. 17 (1942) * Theme and Variations (1950)

Film and radio

Film Scores: *''Sword of the Spirit'', December 1942 *''Out of Chaos'', January 1944, London Symphony orchestra *'' Hotel Reserve'', June 1944, BBC Northern orchestra/Muir Mathieson *'' The First Gentleman'', April 1948, Royal Philharmonic orchestra/Thomas Beecham, April 1948 *''Youth in Britain'', April 1958 Radio Scores: *Westminster Abbey, 1941, Section of Northern BBC orchestra, London, BBC, 7 September 1941 *Yesterday and Today, 1943, Wireless Singers/Father *J. B. Mc Elligott, Evesham, BBC, 19 April 1942 *A Glutton for life, 1946, ad hoc orchestra/Lennox Berkeley, London BBC, 21 November 1946 *The wall of Troy, 1946, ad hoc orchestra/Lennox Berkeley, London BBC, 21 November 1946 *The Seraphina, 1956, Sinfonia of London/Lennox Berkeley, London BBC, 4 October 1956 *Look back to Lyttletoun, 1957, English opera group orchestra, Ambrosian singers/ Norman del Mar, London, BBC, 8 July 1957

References

External links

Lennox Berkeley's homepage at Chester Music

The Lennox Berkeley Society
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, Lennox 1903 births 1989 deaths 20th-century English classical composers Musicians from Oxford People educated at The Dragon School People educated at Gresham's School Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Honorary members of the Royal Philharmonic Society Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Knights Bachelor Composers awarded knighthoods Benjamin Britten Oratorio composers Lennox Masters of the Worshipful Company of Musicians Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire