Life
Born into a working-class family in Seven Kings, east London, Truscott was largely self-taught. By the age of 15 his strong native urge to compose was interpreted by his father as a sign of mental illness and, finding a psychiatrist to endorse this view, he had his son committed to an asylum in Romford. Truscott emerged after 20 weeks with his resolve undimmed. Later he did attend the Guildhall School of Music (1934) and Royal College of Music (1943-5) in London on a part-time basis; at the latter he studied piano with Orlando Morgan and Angus Morrison, and received instruction in composition from Herbert Howells. Truscott spent much of his subsequent career teaching music, and eventually became principal lecturer in Music at Huddersfield Polytechnic College. He benefited from his friendship with the composer and broadcaster Robert Simpson, and during the 1950s he performed many broadcast recitals for the BBC, and some of his own compositions were broadcast by notable artists such as John Ogdon.
Read more about this topic: Harold Truscott
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“When man has neither the strength to subdue his underworld powers—which are really the ancient powers of his old, superseded self; nor the wit to placate them with sacrifice and the burnt holocaust; then they come back at him, and destroy him again. Hence every new conquest of life means a “harrowing of Hell.””
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“You want to prepare your child to think as he gets older. You want him to be critical in his judgments. Teaching a child, by your example, that there’s never any room for negotiating or making choices in life may suggest that you expect blind obedience—but it won’t help him in the long run to be discriminating in choices and thinking.”
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“He can have this old life anytime he wants to. You hear that? Huh, you hear it? Come on. You’re welcome to it, Old Timer. Let me know you’re up there, come on. Love me, hate me, kill me,
anything. Just let me know it.”
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