Lennox Berkeley, classical music composer

Lennox Berkeley

Biography

Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley (12 May 1903 – 26 December 1989) was an English composer.

He was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School, Gresham's School and Merton College, Oxford. In 1927, he went to Paris to study music with Nadia Boulanger, and there he became acquainted with Francis Poulenc, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger and Albert Roussel. Berkeley also studied with Maurice Ravel, often cited as a key influence in Berkeley's technical development as a composer. The French influence would continue to be felt in his music. He worked for the BBC during the Second World War, and later became president of the Performing Rights Society. He was knighted in 1974. He held the chair of Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music from 1946 to 1968, and his pupils there included Richard Rodney Bennett, David Bedford and John Tavener. He enjoyed a long association with Benjamin Britten, another old boy of Gresham's School, with whom he collaborated on a number of works; these included Mont Juic, and Variations on an Elizabethan Theme (the latter also with four other composers). In later years, his adoption of serialism marked a darker and more brooding style.

His eldest son, Michael Berkeley, is also a composer. His youngest son is the photographer Nick Berkeley.

Composer Title Date Action
Lennox Berkeley Poor Henry 05/26/2010 Play Add to playlist