Haydn Wood (1882 - 1959)

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Haydn Wood (25 March 1882 – 11 March 1959) was a 20th-century English composer and concert violinist, best known for his 200 or so ballad style songs, including the popular Roses of Picardy. Alongside his 200 or so individual songs and seven song cycles, Haydn Wood was a prolific composer of orchestral music, including 15 suites, nine rhapsodies, eight overtures, three concertante pieces and nearly 50 other works scored for a variety of forces.

His orchestral pieces were primarily of the "light music" style; a well known piece of his is the three-movement Fantasy-Concerto. Another is his London Landmarks Suite, particularly "Horse Guards, Whitehall", which was used for many years as the signature tune for the BBC Radio Series Down Your Way. In 2018 the BBC Concert Orchestra issued a new recording of the Snapshots of London Suite (1948) and premiere recordings of five other suites: Egypta (1929), Three Famous Cinema Stars (1929), Cities of Romance (1937), Manx Countryside Sketches (1943), and Royal Castles (1952). The short orchestral work Soliloquy of 1946 is a miniature of more serious intent.

The first of Haydn Wood's more extended concert pieces to gain attention was the Phantasie Quartet which won second prize in the first W W Cobbett chamber music competition of 1905 The Piano Concerto was performed at a Patron’s Fund Concert at Queen’s Hall on 14 July 1909, with soloist Ellen Edwards and Stanford conducting. It received its Proms premiere in 1915, also at Queen's Hall. His Violin Concerto of 1928 was first performed in March 1933, with soloist Antonio Brosa. Wood also wrote a Symphony (1908 - score now lost), and the Philharmonic Variations for cello and orchestra (1939).

The Isle of Man and folk tunes from the island inspired Wood's music, resulting in the compositions Manx Rhapsody (Mylecharaine), Manx Countryside Sketches, Manx Overture, and the tone poem Mannin Veen. The tone poem Mannin Veen (pub. 1933, Manx for "Dear Isle of Man") was based on four Manx folk tunes, and is one of two works written originally for wind band by Wood. The work is also occasionally performed in its orchestral version. Choral pieces include the short cantatas for chorus and orchestra Lochinvar (1912) and Ode to Genius (1940). (Hide extended text) ... (Read all)