Walter Leigh

Walter Leigh (born June 22, 1905 in London / Wimbledon; † died June 12, 1942 near Tobruk in Libya ) was a British composer and pianist.

Leigh studied in Cambridge and from 1927 to 1929 in Berlin at the Hochschule für Musik under Paul Hindemith , whose personality and work made a strong impression on him. Walter Leigh was, among other things, musical director of the Festival Theater Cambridge , for which he wrote new stage music almost every week . He has received assignments from the BBC and several London theaters. He joined the British Army in 1941 and died at the age of 36 on June 12, 1942 near Tobruk in Libya .

His early death is considered a grave loss for British musical life.

Walter Leigh composed a comic opera , an operetta , orchestral works , several stage music , film music , works for amateurs , chamber music , piano pieces and songs .

The Concertino for Harpsichord (or Piano) and Strings from 1934 is Leigh's best-known work and one of the best pieces of its genre of the 20th century. It was recorded by Kathleen Long, George Malcolm and Trevor Pinnock , among others .

Leigh's works are almost forgotten today. Only his Concertino enjoys lasting popularity in Great Britain and occasionally with amateur orchestras in Germany.

The British label Dutton released a CD (CDLX 7143) with all of Leigh's chamber music in 2004. In 2007 a CD with Leigh's most important orchestral works was re-released on the Lyrita label (SRCD.289). In 2015, the same label released a BBC recording of Leigh's comic opera Jolly Roger from 1972 (Lyrita REAM.2116).

Works (selection)

• Reverie for violin and piano, 1922
• Student String Quartet , 1929
• Three movements for string quartet, 1930 (Wilhelm Hansen Verlag)
• Sonatina for viola and piano, 1930 (Comus Edition, 2004)
• Music for String Orchestra , 1931 (Kalmus Verlag)
• Suite for amateur orchestra, 1931
• Aladdin, or Love will find out the Way , Pantomime, 1931
• Trio for three pianos, 1932
• The Pride of the Regiment or Cashiered for his Country , Operetta, 1932
• Jolly Roger or The Admiral's Daughter , comic opera, 1933
• Pett and Pott , animation score, 1934
• The Song of Ceylon , soundtrack, 1934
• Three pieces for amateur orchestra, 1934
• Concertino for harpsichord (or piano) and strings, 1934 (Kalmus Verlag)
• Trio for flute, oboe and piano, 1935
• Charlemagne , music for a radio play, 1935
• Agincourt ( Jubilee Overture ) - Overture for orchestra, 1935 (for the 25th anniversary of George V's reign )
• The Frogs ( Frogs of Aristophanes ), incidental music, 1936
• A Midsummer Night's Dream ( A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare ), incidental music, 1936
• Nine Sharp , Revue, 1938
• The Little Revue , 1939
• Sonatina for treble recorder and piano, 1939 (Schott Verlag)
• Eclogue for piano, 1940 (Oxford University Press)
• Romance for two violins, viola, cello and piano
• Air for soprano recorder and piano (Forsyth Brothers Ltd.)
• 3 waltzes for two pianos
• Piano album for piano
• Polka for piano
• Five Playtime Pieces for piano
• Piano album for piano

swell

• MGG Volume 8, p. 539 (Winfried F. Williamson).
• MGG 2
• CD booklets

Web links

• Stage works
• Walter Leigh in the Internet Movie Database (English)