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Leonard Salzedo
Leonard Salzedo (24 September 1921 – 6 May 2000) was an English composer and conductor of Spanish descent. He composed over 160 works, including 18 film scores, 17 ballets, ten string quartets and two symphonies.
Salzedo was born in Stamford Hill, East London, the son of an amateur musician of Spanish Jewish ancestry. He began playing violin aged six and started composing at the age of 13. After some early lessons from William Lloyd Webber he went on to study composition under Herbert Howells and violin under Isolde Menges at the Royal College of Music in London. Other teachers included Gordon Jacob (orchestration) and George Dyson (conducting).
His first acknowledged score was the String Quartet No 1 of 1942, op 1. On leaving the college in 1944 Salzedo immediately became a freelance composer, supplementing his earnings by playing violin with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and (from 1950 until 1966) the Royal Philharmonic. While at the RPO Salzedo was conductor’s assistant for Sir Thomas Beecham.
Salzedo was musical director of the Ballet Rambert from 1967 until 1972, principal conductor with the Scottish Ballet from 1972 until 1974, and musical director of the City Ballet of London from 1982 until 1986, where he made many arrangements of classic ballet scores for the company's smaller orchestra. After 1986 he devoted himself to full-time composition.
In 1945 Salzedo married the dancer Pat Clover. He died at his home in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, aged 78. His daughters Caroline and Sue have set up The Leonard Salzedo Society to promote performances of his music. A centenary celebration concert was held at Conway Hall in London on 24 September, 2022.
Salzedo worked closely with the Ballet Rambert, which commissioned his first ballet, The Fugitive, in 1944. There were over 400 performances over the following six years. Along with his dancer wife Pat Clover he was closely involved with Les Ballets Nègres, a mostly black dance group founded in 1946 by Berto Pasuka and Richie Riley. He wrote four scores for the group for piano, tom tom and maracas: De Prophet, They Came, Market Day and Aggrey.
His most successful ballet was The Witch Boy based on the ‘Ballad of Barbara Allan’, choreographed by Jack Carter and premiered by the Ballet der Lage Landen in Amsterdam in May 1956. It received over 1,000 performance in 30 different countries, and also became popular as a concert suite. Four of his ballet scores were choreographed by Norman Morrice: The Travellers (1963), The Realms of Choice (1965), Hazard (1967) and The Empty Suit (1970).
His first work for full orchestra, the overture Bosworth Field (1951) was followed by the symphonic poem Gabble Retchit (The Harlething) and the Two Rhythmic Pieces in 1952. Then came the Symphony No 1, premiered four years after its composition on 10 May 1956 at the Royal Festival Hall with Thomas Beecham conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Paul Conway detects a Spanish influence in the final movement, "at times recalling de Falla and the Ravel of Rhapsodie Espagnole". The Symphony No 2 also has a Spanish flavour. It was composed in 1954 but had to wait until 1977 for its first performance, at the Edinburgh International Festival.
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Leonard Salzedo
Leonard Salzedo (24 September 1921 – 6 May 2000) was an English composer and conductor of Spanish descent. He composed over 160 works, including 18 film scores, 17 ballets, ten string quartets and two symphonies.
Salzedo was born in Stamford Hill, East London, the son of an amateur musician of Spanish Jewish ancestry. He began playing violin aged six and started composing at the age of 13. After some early lessons from William Lloyd Webber he went on to study composition under Herbert Howells and violin under Isolde Menges at the Royal College of Music in London. Other teachers included Gordon Jacob (orchestration) and George Dyson (conducting).
His first acknowledged score was the String Quartet No 1 of 1942, op 1. On leaving the college in 1944 Salzedo immediately became a freelance composer, supplementing his earnings by playing violin with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and (from 1950 until 1966) the Royal Philharmonic. While at the RPO Salzedo was conductor’s assistant for Sir Thomas Beecham.
Salzedo was musical director of the Ballet Rambert from 1967 until 1972, principal conductor with the Scottish Ballet from 1972 until 1974, and musical director of the City Ballet of London from 1982 until 1986, where he made many arrangements of classic ballet scores for the company's smaller orchestra. After 1986 he devoted himself to full-time composition.
In 1945 Salzedo married the dancer Pat Clover. He died at his home in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, aged 78. His daughters Caroline and Sue have set up The Leonard Salzedo Society to promote performances of his music. A centenary celebration concert was held at Conway Hall in London on 24 September, 2022.
Salzedo worked closely with the Ballet Rambert, which commissioned his first ballet, The Fugitive, in 1944. There were over 400 performances over the following six years. Along with his dancer wife Pat Clover he was closely involved with Les Ballets Nègres, a mostly black dance group founded in 1946 by Berto Pasuka and Richie Riley. He wrote four scores for the group for piano, tom tom and maracas: De Prophet, They Came, Market Day and Aggrey.
His most successful ballet was The Witch Boy based on the ‘Ballad of Barbara Allan’, choreographed by Jack Carter and premiered by the Ballet der Lage Landen in Amsterdam in May 1956. It received over 1,000 performance in 30 different countries, and also became popular as a concert suite. Four of his ballet scores were choreographed by Norman Morrice: The Travellers (1963), The Realms of Choice (1965), Hazard (1967) and The Empty Suit (1970).
His first work for full orchestra, the overture Bosworth Field (1951) was followed by the symphonic poem Gabble Retchit (The Harlething) and the Two Rhythmic Pieces in 1952. Then came the Symphony No 1, premiered four years after its composition on 10 May 1956 at the Royal Festival Hall with Thomas Beecham conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Paul Conway detects a Spanish influence in the final movement, "at times recalling de Falla and the Ravel of Rhapsodie Espagnole". The Symphony No 2 also has a Spanish flavour. It was composed in 1954 but had to wait until 1977 for its first performance, at the Edinburgh International Festival.