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Leonard Salzedo (24 September 1921 – 6 May 2000) was an English composer and conductor of
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
descent. Salzedo was born in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. After some early lessons from William Lloyd Webber he went on to study composition under
Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...
and
violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
under
Isolde Menges Isolde Marie Menges (16 May 189313 January 1976) was an accomplished English violinist who was most active in the first part of the 20th century. Life The daughter of George Menges, a native of Germany, she was born in Sussex, England. Her ...
at the
Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...
in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. Other teachers included
Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...
(orchestration) and George Dyson (conducting). His first acknowledged score was the String Quartet No 1 of 1942, op 1.Conway, Paul: Notes to C
MPR 104
(String Quartets 1,5 and 10), 2018
On leaving the college in 1944 Salzedo immediately became a freelance composer, supplementing his earnings by playing violin with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the
Royal Philharmonic The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
. He worked closely with the Ballet Rambert, for whom his first ballet, ''The Fugitive'', was commissioned in 1944, receiving over 400 performances over the following six years. In 1945 Salzedo married the dancer Pat Clover, and the two of them were both 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 Norman Alexander Morrice (10 September 1931 – 11 January 2008) was a British dancer, choreographer and artistic director of both Ballet Rambert from 1966 to 1974 and the Royal Ballet from 1977 to 1986, the UK's two major ballet companies. Earl ...
: ''The Travellers'' (1963), ''The Realms of Choice'' (1965), ''Hazard'' (1967) and ''The Empty Suit'' (1970). Salzedo was musical director of the Ballet Rambert from 1967 to 1972 and principal conductor with the
Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, ...
from 1972-74. He became musical director of the City Ballet of London in 1982 and devoted himself full-time to composition from 1986. He wrote many film scores, including several for Hammer Films, amongst them the war movie ''
The Steel Bayonet ''The Steel Bayonet'' is a 1957 British war film directed by Michael Carreras and starring Leo Genn, Kieron Moore and Michael Medwin. Michael Caine also had a small role in the film, early in his career. It is set during the Second World War, ...
'' (1957) and the horror film ''
The Revenge of Frankenstein ''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' is a 1958 Technicolor British horror film made by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Terence Fisher, the film stars Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn and Eunice Gayson. In the United States, it wa ...
'' (1958). But chamber music was also central to his output, including 10 string quartets spanning his whole career - from No 1 in 1942 to No 10 (op 140) dating from 1997. Percussion forms another strand of his work, including a Percussion Concerto (1968) and several works for percussion ensemble. After 1986 he had more time to work on larger scale pieces such as the ''Requiem Sine Voxibus'' ("Requiem Without Voices") for large orchestra (1989), the ''Stabat Mater'' (1991), the Violin Concerto (1992) and the Piano Concerto (1994), which was written for
Leslie Howard Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and ''Vanity Fair'' and was one o ...
. There are also two symphonies from earlier in his career: No 1 (1952) and No 2 (1954). The fanfare which forms the first six bars of Salzedo's ''Divertimento for three trumpets and three trombones'', opus 49 (1959), was used as the theme tune for the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
's educational programmes on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television and radio from the 1970s to the 1990s. Another of his tunes, ''Guadalajara'', was used by the BBC to accompany their "pie chart" schools' presentation during the 1960s and early 1970s, up until 1973. Salzedo orchestrated
Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...
's notorious and still-controversial 1959 recording of Handel's ''Messiah'' for modern full orchestra, usually credited to Sir Eugene Goossens. According to Beecham's widow Shirley, he became impatient with Goossens's slow writing pace and was not happy with the quality of his work. Salzedo died in Leighton Buzzard,
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
, aged 78. A centenary celebration concert was held at
Conway Hall The Conway Hall Ethical Society, formerly the South Place Ethical Society, based in London at Conway Hall, is thought to be the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world and is the only remaining ethical society in the United Kin ...
in London on 24 September, 2022.Leonard Salzedo Celebration Concert, Leonard Salzedo Society
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General sources

*Larson, Randall D. ''Music from the House of Hammer: Music in the Hammer Horror Films, 1950–1980''. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 1996.


Citations


External links


The Leonard Salzedo Society


*
Leonard Salzedo A Life Composed in Music
', centenary year video (2021)
Leonard Salzedo (1921-2000) by Paul Conway


from th
Amoris International
publishing house *
Details of BBC Schools' presentation at sub-tv
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salzedo, Leonard 1921 births 2000 deaths 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century English composers Alumni of the Royal College of Music British male conductors (music) British male violinists English classical violinists English conductors (music) English film score composers English male film score composers English people of Spanish descent Jewish classical composers People associated with the Open University Male classical violinists