John Veale

Who was John Veale?

John Douglas Louis Veale was an English classical composer.

He was born in Shortlands, Bromley, Kent; his father, Douglas Veale, later served as Registrar of the University of Oxford and received a knighthood. John Veale was educated at Repton and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, alongside Kenneth Tynan. As a composer, he was largely self-taught, but took some lessons from Egon Wellesz, Thomas Armstrong, Roger Sessions and Roy Harris.

He served as film correspondent with the Oxford Mail and as copy editor at Oxford University Press.

His compositions include three symphonies, a clarinet concerto, a violin concerto, Panorama, Metropolis concert overture, numerous other orchestral and ensemble pieces including Apocalypse for chorus and orchestra, and a number of film scores including The Purple Plain, The Spanish Gardener, No Road Back, Portrait of Alison and High Tide at Noon. Some of his film scores were later destroyed by the film studios.