John Veale

John Douglas Louis Veale (15 June 1922 – 16 November 2006) was an English classical composer.

Early career He was born in Shortlands, Bromley, Kent; his father, the civil servant Douglas Veale, later served as Registrar of the University of Oxford (1930–1958) and received a knighthood. Discovering Sibelius and Shostakovich, and receiving encouragement from William Walton, Sir Hugh Allen and Humphrey Searle, he decided to become a composer, taking some lessons from Egon Wellesz.

Veale sketched out his first symphony during the war while serving in the Army's Education Corps. After demobilisation he returned to Corpus Christi for more composition lessons with Wellesz and counterpoint and harmony with Thomas Armstrong. While there he began composing incidental music for Oxford University Dramatic Society productions, in which Kenneth Tynan and Lindsay Anderson were involved. Between 1949 and 1951 he won a scholarship to study in California with Roger Sessions and Roy Harris (the latter's only English pupil). The Symphony No. 1 was premiered by Sir John Barbirolli at the Cheltenham Music Festival in 1952. The Clarinet Concerto had its premiere at the Royal Festival Hall in 1954, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent.

Later career After 15 years of silence, Veale returned to composition with the Violin Concerto, which was broadcast by the BBC in 1986 with soloist Erich Gruenberg and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Edward Downes. There followed (among other scores) the massive choral and orchestral work Apocalypse (which remains unperformed) and the Symphony No. 3, completed in 2003, which received its broadcast premiere in the year of his death. The Chandos recording of the Violin Concerto with soloist Lydia Mordkovitch, issued in 2001, resulted in a further revival of interest in his music.

Veale wrote in a tonal idiom and felt that his early work suffered neglect in the 1960s and 1970s under the avant garde musical regime at the BBC and its Director of Music William Glock. He died in Bromley, (a south-eastern suburb of London) on 16 November 2006 after a struggle with prostate cancer. The Violin Concerto is available on the Chandos CD label, played by Lydia Mordkovitch with Richard Hickox conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The Symphony No. 2 has been recorded by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Martin Yates. There are also some chamber music recordings, including the String Quartet. Panorama, the Metropolis Overture and the Symphony No. 1 were broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2002 by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by David Porcelijn to mark the composer's 80th birthday. The Symphony No. 3 was broadcast by the BBC in 2006 with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Barry Wordsworth.

Selected works

Concert music Symphony No. 1 (1945–7, rev. 1951) Panorama for orchestra (1949) String Quartet (1950) Elegy for Flute, Harp and Strings (1951) Clarinet Concerto (1953) The Metropolis, concert overture (1954) Kubla Khan, for chorus, baritone and orchestra (1956) Symphony No. 2 (1964) The Song of Radha for soprano and orchestra (1966, rev. 1980) Violin Concerto (1984) Demos Variations (1986) Apocalypse for chorus and orchestra (1987–9) Triune, for oboe, cor anglais and orchestra (1993) Encounter for two guitars (1994) Triptych for recorder and guitar (2000) Symphony No. 3 (2003)

Film music The Purple Plain (1954) Portrait of Alison (1955) The Spanish Gardener (1956) High Tide at Noon (1957) No Road Back (1957) The House in Marsh Road (1959) Freedom to Die (1961) Emergency (1962) Clash by Night (1963) A Gift for Sarah (1988)