Biography
He was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School, Gresham's School and Merton College, Oxford. His father was Hastings George Fitzhardinge Berkeley, a captain in the Royal Navy and illegitimate son of George Lennox Rawdon Berkeley, 7th Earl of Berkeley (1827–1888).
In 1927, he went to Paris to study music with Nadia Boulanger, and there he became acquainted with Francis Poulenc, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger and Albert Roussel. Berkeley also studied with Maurice Ravel, often cited as a key influence in Berkeley's technical development as a composer. The French influence would continue to be felt in his music.
He worked for the BBC during the Second World War, and later became president of the Performing Rights Society.
He enjoyed a long association with Benjamin Britten, another old boy of Gresham's School, with whom he collaborated on a number of works; these included Mont Juic, and Variations on an Elizabethan Theme (the latter also with four other composers).
He was also often associated with the pianist Colin Horsley, who commissioned the Horn Trio and some piano pieces, and gave the first performances and/or made the premier recordings of a number of his works, including the Piano Concerto.
He held the chair of Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music from 1946 to 1968, and his pupils there included Richard Rodney Bennett, David Bedford and John Tavener. In later years, his adoption of serialism marked a darker and more brooding style.
He was knighted in 1974. His eldest son, Michael Berkeley, is also a composer. His youngest son is the photographer Nick Berkeley.
Read more about this topic: Lennox Berkeley
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