John Ernest Hollingsworth

John Hollingsworth (20 March 191629 December 1963) was a British orchestral conductor prominent in the concert hall, the ballet and opera theatre, and the film studio. He was Sir Malcolm Sargent's assistant conductor at The Proms, where he conducted over 60 times including some world and British premieres. He also conducted at the Royal Opera and Sadlers Wells, and became associated with music for British horror films of the 1950s and early 1960s.

Career

John Ernest Hollingsworth was born in Enfield, Middlesex in 1916. He was educated at Bradfield College, Berkshire, and the Guildhall School of Music. When he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in 1937, at the age of 21, he was the youngest man up to that time ever to conduct that orchestra. He later set similar records with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra.

Still only 23 when World War II broke out, he volunteered He took the RAF Symphony Orchestra to the Potsdam Conference for six concerts; the leaders Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin were given the opportunity to make their requests, and Hollingsworth was surprised when Stalin chose Borodin's 1st Symphony instead of a contemporary Soviet work.

During the 1950s, he conducted at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and directed the Tunbridge Wells Symphony concerts. He also worked in Europe (guest conductor of the Danish State Radio Orchestra)

John Hollingsworth made numerous recordings, mainly of ballet and light orchestral music. His recordings include: Tchaikovsky's Suite from The Nutcracker, with the Sinfonia of London Grieg's Elegiac Melodies and Sigurd Jorsalfar, with the Covent Garden Orchestra Charles Mackerras's Gilbert and Sullivan ballet pastiche Pineapple Poll, with the Pro Arte Orchestra Malcolm Arnold's Tam O'Shanter Overture

He died suddenly of pneumonia in London in 1963, aged only 47.