Ten Yorkshire Composers Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Hebden

After the death of both parents when he was still a child, Hebden grew up in York where he composed music for a local professional orchestra. He later moved to London, where he played both the cello and bassoon in the orchestra at Vauxhall Gardens. He died in 1765.

Answer: Belshazzars Feast

"Belshazzar's Feast" is by William Walton, although it does have a Yorkshire connection in that it was first performed at the Leeds Festival in 1931.

Of the Delius works, "Walk to the Paradise Garden" is an orchestral interlude from his opera "A Village Romeo and Juliet" (the Paradise Garden being the name of a pub where the title characters go to dance). "On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring", although sounding to native ears quintessentially English, was first performed in Leipzig and quotes from a Norwegian folk song. "A Song of Summer" was also the title of Ken Russell's famous 1968 BBC film about the composer.

Answer: The Archers

"Barwick Green" is a movement from the suite "My Native Heath", which Wood composed in 1924, and is named after the Yorkshire village of Barwick-in-Elmet. Ambridge, the fictional village in which "The Archers" is located in the equally fictional county of Borsetshire, which is stated by the BBC to be situated somewhere in the Midlands.

Answer: Haydn Wood

Haydn Wood was born into a musical family, which may explain why he was given the forename of Haydn. He began his career as a violinist, and also wrote reams of what is now termed (somewhat disparagingly) "light music", including a number of descriptive orchestral suites of the kind that were very popular in the 1920s and 30s. Examples of his work in this genre include "London Landmarks", "Royal Castles", "Harvest Time" and "East of Suez".

He died in 1959.

Answer: George Dyson

George Dyson taught for many years at various English private schools, before becoming Director of the Royal College of Music in London, where he had himself studied. His liturgical works for the Church of England remain a popular part of the church music repertoire. "The Canterbury Pilgrims" is still occasionally performed, and has been recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Hickox.

He was knighted in 1941 and died in 1964.

Answer: Eric Fenby

In his later years, Delius, living in France, became almost incapacitated with blindness and paralysis, and was unable to write. Eric Fenby went to live and work with him from 1928 until Delius's death in 1934. Works such as "A Song of Summer", "Songs of Farewell" and the third Violin Sonata, were all committed to paper with Fenby's assistance.

After Delius' death, Fenby continued to work in music and was Professor of Harmony at London's Royal Academy of Music from 1964-1977. He destroyed several early works, including a symphony and cello concerto, but those that survive include the overture "Rossini on Ilkla Moor" (1938) and a "Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis" (1932).

Answer: They were the same person

Wally Stott underwent a sex change operation in 1972, becoming Angela Morley. During her later years she lived and worked in the USA, composing for both film and television, including working on such long-running series as "Dynasty" and "Dallas". She died in 2009.

Answer: Wakefield

Kenneth Leighton claimed that his time in the choir at Wakefield gave him a life-long love of English choral music, and he wrote a considerable amount of liturgical music which is still regularly performed today. He also wrote a number of large-scale works, including three symphonies and the same number of piano concertos.

Answer: Gavin Bryars

The Portsmouth Sinfonia was primarily a "performance art" ensemble, formed with the intention of experimenting with the nature of music. Anyone was encouraged to join, whether or not they could play their particular instrument. Players were expected to try their best to play the right notes in whatever piece they were performing, so the results were usually recognisable - but only just. The fact that the results were usually very funny was a bonus, and meant that they became popular with the general public (who needless to say often failed to appreciate details of the group's artistic credo).

Other, more recent, important works by Bryars include his 1995 cello concerto "Farewell to Philosophy" and the operas "Medea" (1982) and "Dr Ox's Experiment" (1999).

The composers Hoyland, Rands and Standford were also born in Yorkshire in the 1930s and 1940s.

Answer: James Bond

John Barry wrote the score for 11 out of the first 14 James Bond films (excluding "Dr No", on which he worked but was not credited), his last being "The Living Daylights" in 1987. He has won five Oscars, for his music for the films "Born Free" (1966 - two awards, for best music and best original song); "The Lion in Winter" (1968); "Out of Africa" (1985); and "Dances with Wolves" (1990).

He died in January 2011.