Leslie Heward

Leslie Heward ( born December 8, 1897 in Liversedge, Yorkshire, † May 3, 1943 ) was an English composer and conductor.

He began his musical training as a chorister at the Cathedral of Manchester, studied at the Royal College of Music in London and worked as assistant organist in Manchester. His career as a conductor took him from the British National Opera Company ( BNOC ) to Cape Town in South Africa to the local orchestra and finally in 1930 to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. A cancer eventually led to his untimely death in 1943.

His musical spectrum was broad and ranged from film music to opera and classical music. His manuscripts are now preserved in the library of the Royal College of Music. Of his compositions, he destroyed a part in his lifetime. Were preserved including the symphonic work The Quodlibet (premiered in 1932 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra), some movie soundtracks ( including The Loves of Robert Burns), a nocturne and the South African Patrol. He left behind two unfinished operas ( Peer Gynt and Hamlet ), various choral works, songs, works for piano and organ, as well as a string quartet.

• Conductor
• Composer of classical music ( 20th century)
• Composer
• Born 1897
• Died in 1943
• Man