Peter Warlock
Composer
1894 – 1930
Who was Peter Warlock?
Peter Warlock was the pseudonym of Philip Arnold Heseltine, a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine's interest in occult practices, was used for all his published musical works. He is best known as a composer of songs and other vocal music; he also achieved notoriety in his lifetime through his unconventional and often scandalous lifestyle.
As a schoolboy at Eton College, Heseltine came under the spell of the British composer Frederick Delius, with whom he formed a close friendship. After a failed student career in Oxford and London, Heseltine turned to musical journalism, while developing interests in folk-song and Elizabethan music. His first serious compositions date from around 1915. Following a period of drift and inactivity, a positive and lasting influence on his work arose from his meeting in 1916 with the Dutch composer Bernard van Dieren; he also gained creative impetus from a year spent in Ireland, studying Celtic culture and language. On his return to England in 1918, Heseltine began composing songs in a distinctive, original style, while building a reputation as a combative and controversial music critic. During 1920–21 he edited the music magazine The Sackbut. His most prolific period as a composer came in the 1920s, when he was based first in Wales and later at Eynsford in Kent.
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- Born
- Oct 30, 1894
Savoy Hotel - Also known as
- Philip Arnold Heseltine
- Philip Heseltine
- Children
- Nationality
- England
- Education
- Christ Church, Oxford
- Eton College
- Died
- Dec 17, 1930
London
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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