Editing Lennox Berkeley (section)

== Biography ==

Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in [[Oxford]], England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of [[James Charles Harris|Sir James Charles Harris]], former British consul in Monaco, and [[Royal Navy]] Captain Hastings George FitzHardinge Berkeley (1855–1934), the illegitimate and eldest son of George Lennox Rawdon Berkeley, the 7th [[Baron Berkeley|Earl of Berkeley]] (1827–1888).<ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-39902|title=Berkeley, Sir Lennox Randal Francis (1903–1989), composer|date=2004-09-23|volume=1|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/39902}}</ref> He attended the [[Dragon School]] in Oxford, going on to [[Gresham's School]], in [[Holt, Norfolk]] and [[St George's School, Harpenden|St George's School]] in [[Harpenden]], Hertfordshire. He studied French at [[Merton College, Oxford|Merton College]], Oxford, graduating with a fourth class degree in 1926. While at university he coxed the college [[Eight (rowing)|rowing eight]]. He became an honorary fellow of Merton College in 1974.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="MCreg">{{cite book|title=Merton College Register 1900–1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|location=Oxford|page=149}}</ref>

In 1927, he went to Paris to study music with [[Nadia Boulanger]], and there 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.

In 1936, he met [[Benjamin Britten]], also a former pupil of [[Gresham's School]], at the [[ISCM]] Festival in [[Barcelona]]. Berkeley fell in love with Britten, who appears to have been wary of entering a relationship, writing in his diary, "we have come to an agreement on that subject."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Oliver|first1=Michael|title=Benjamin Britten|date=1996|publisher=Phaidon|location=University of Michigan|isbn=9780714832777|page=60}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = Journeying Boy: The Diaries of the Young Benjamin Britten 1928–1938|last = Evans|first = John|publisher = Faber and Faber|year = 2010|isbn = 9780571274642|pages = 366}}</ref> Nevertheless, the two composers shared a house for a year, living in the Old Mill at [[Snape, Suffolk|Snape]], Suffolk, which Britten had acquired in July 1937.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Journeying Boy: The Diaries of the Young Benjamin Britten 1928–1938|last = Evans|first = John|publisher = Faber and Faber|year = 2010|isbn = 9780571274642|pages = 494}}</ref> They subsequently enjoyed a long friendship and artistic association, [[Classical music written in collaboration|collaborating]] on a number of works; these included the suite of Catalan dances titled ''[[Mont Juic (suite)|Mont Juic]]'', and ''[[Variations on an Elizabethan Theme]]'' (the latter also with four other composers).

He worked for the [[BBC]] during the [[Second World War]], where he met his future wife, Elizabeth Freda Bernstein (1923–2016) whom he married on 14 December 1946. Together they had three sons: their eldest son [[Michael Berkeley]], Baron Berkeley of Knighton, is also a composer, and their youngest son is the photographer [[Nick Berkeley]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{harvp|Dickinson|2003|p=77}}: "Colin Horsley remembered Berkeley's time at the BBC because he was reputed to have kept manuscript paper under his desk and was obviously longing to get more time to compose. Since it was there that he met his wife it is no wonder ..."</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Scotland|first1=Tony|title=Lennox Berkeley and his Music (biography)|url=http://www.lennoxandfreda.com/biography/lennox_berkeley|access-date=7 October 2014}}</ref><ref>Death notice, ''The Times'', London, 25 February 2016, p. 61</ref>

He wrote several piano works for the pianist [[Colin Horsley]], who commissioned the [[Trio for horn, violin, and piano (Berkeley)|Horn Trio]] and some piano pieces, and gave the first performances and/or made the premier recordings of a number of his works, including his third Piano Concerto (1958).<ref>Musical leader 1958 Page 21 "Lennox Berkeley launched his Third Piano Concerto with Colin Horsley, for whom the work was written, at the Royal Philharmonic Society's Festival Hall series recently"</ref>

He was Professor of Composition in the [[Royal Academy of Music]] from 1946 to 1968. His students included [[Richard Rodney Bennett]], [[David Bedford]], [[Adam Pounds]], [[Richard Stoker]], Clive Strutt, [[John Tavener]] and [[Brian Ferneyhough]]. Ferneyhough felt that he learned nothing from Berkeley because of the gap between their musical conceptions, remembering him as "a notably urbane and well-meaning presence" whose "Nadia Boulenger {{sic}} influenced gallic aesthetics were completely unable to deal with my compositional needs."<ref>[https://musicguy247.typepad.com/my-blog/2016/08/brian-ferneyhough-composer-professor-new-complexity-stamford-university.html Brian Ferneyhough – An interview with the English composer/professor who now resides in California. "I am always actively thinking of current activities."]. Musicguy 247</ref>

1954 saw the premiere of his first opera, ''[[Nelson (opera)|Nelson]]'', at [[Sadler's Wells]]. He was knighted in 1974 and from 1977 to 1983 was President of the [[Cheltenham Festival]].

He resided at 8 Warwick Avenue, London, from 1947 until his death in 1989. On 20 March 1990 a memorial service was held for him at [[Westminster Cathedral]], London.<ref name=":0" />