Peter Warlock (1894-1930); ENG

Peter Warlock was the pseudonym of Philip Arnold Heseltine (1894–1930), an English composer, critic, editor, and scholar born in London. Largely self-taught as a composer, he developed an early enthusiasm for Frederick Delius, whom he knew personally, and became an important scholar and editor of Elizabethan and Jacobean music. His colorful and sometimes turbulent personal life accompanied an intense period of musical and literary activity before his death in London at the age of thirty-six.

Warlock is remembered especially for songs, in which his sensitivity to English poetry and fascination with earlier music produced an unmistakable personal style. His best-known instrumental work is the string-orchestra suite Capriol Suite, based on Renaissance dance tunes. Among his songs are Sleep, The Curlew, and Lilligay. His music ranges from delicate lyricism to earthy humor, combining modal and Renaissance influences with the harmonic language of the early twentieth century.

###

Read biography at allmusic.com.