John Douglas Louis Veale was born at Shortlands in 1922. He was educated at Repton, read modern history at Oxford (1939 to 1941) and also studied music with Wellesz.
For fifteen years he was film correspondent for the Oxford Mail and he himself wrote many film scores.
From 1965 until the early 1980s he stopped composing altogether, and even stopped listening to music.
His music is tonal and may show an indebtedness to the mystic and modal styles of Dr. Williams. He had a gift for colour and orchestral texture, heard in Kubla Khan, a work that marries the indigenous atmosphere of the East with the English choral tradition. The Song of Radha is an erotic love poem of Indian origin.
What he left us;
Symphony no. 1, 1947
Symphony no. 2, 1965
Symphony no. 3, 1996 - or as some say 2003
Demos Variations for orchestra, 1986
Clarinet concerto, 1953
Violin concerto, 1984
String quartet, 1946 - or as some say 1950
Kubla Khan, for baritone, chorus and orchestra, 1956
Song of Radha, for soprano and orchestra, 1964
Apocalypse, for chorus and orchestra, 1988 - a massive work as yet unperformed
For fifteen years he was film correspondent for the Oxford Mail and he himself wrote many film scores.
From 1965 until the early 1980s he stopped composing altogether, and even stopped listening to music.
His music is tonal and may show an indebtedness to the mystic and modal styles of Dr. Williams. He had a gift for colour and orchestral texture, heard in Kubla Khan, a work that marries the indigenous atmosphere of the East with the English choral tradition. The Song of Radha is an erotic love poem of Indian origin.
What he left us;
Symphony no. 1, 1947
Symphony no. 2, 1965
Symphony no. 3, 1996 - or as some say 2003
Demos Variations for orchestra, 1986
Clarinet concerto, 1953
Violin concerto, 1984
String quartet, 1946 - or as some say 1950
Kubla Khan, for baritone, chorus and orchestra, 1956
Song of Radha, for soprano and orchestra, 1964
Apocalypse, for chorus and orchestra, 1988 - a massive work as yet unperformed
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