Claude Haydon

Claude Meurisse Haydon (8 November 1884 – 25 July 1960) was an Australian-born New Zealand composer, musician and teacher.

Early life

Haydon was born on 8 November 1884 in South Yarra in Melbourne in Australia, the son of Harry Haydon, a school teacher and later Treasurer and then Secretary of the Melbourne Harbour Trust, and Amicie Meurisse, who was French. Harry Haydon died of typhoid fever on 14 April 1900. The household included a German governess, so Haydon and his brother and sister grew up speaking English, French and German. They were later to share their parents’ intellectual, literary and artistic interests. He trained at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, and in 1911 he gained the degree of Bachelor of Music. A composition that helped gain Haydon recognition was a Phastasie [sic] Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano. It was based on Edward A. Vidler’s play Rose of Ravenna which was an elaboration of the episode of Francesca da Rimini in the fifth canto of Dante’s Inferno and was performed at the Melbourne Playhouse on 6 and 7 May 1920. The work was warmly received to relatively minor criticism.

Move to New Zealand and subsequent music career

In 1920, Haydon came to New Zealand with his mother and sister, when his sister was appointed Principal to Queen Margaret College, Wellington. They settled in Lower Hutt. Due to mixed reviews, a second performance took place on 24 July 1926.

Haydon’s compositions, which he occasionally succeeded in having broadcast, covered a vast range – choral items, instrumental and piano pieces, and songs.

Haydon’s pupils included the composer Robert Burch and Sydney Josland.

Personal life and death

Haydon had intended to become a concert pianist but disease led to the amputation of his left leg in 1917. Haydon married one of his pupils, Lily Edith Hall, in 1930.