Peter Warlock

Eighty-four years ago today, the world said goodbye to Philip Heseltine.  Better known under the pseudonym of Peter Warlock, Heseltine was one of Britain's foremost composers of the early twentieth century.  Although concentrated largely on songs and other vocal music, Heseltine did produce some fine orchestral works.

Born in London, Heseltine developed an interest in music at a young age, and was particularly fond of the works of Frederick Delius.  After first meeting Delius in 1911, a close friendship developed between the two, and Heseltine became one of the biggest champions of Delius' music along with the conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham.

As a music critic and writer, Heseltine first used "Peter Warlock", when submitting an article for The Music Student, and the name stuck.  That was in 1916.

As a young man, Heseltine combined his musical talents with some wild - and somewhat eccentric - behaviour, like riding naked on his motorcycle.  Of course, we can look back now, and see that Heseltine did suffer from chronic insecurity and depression, but more of that in a minute...

Heseltine's most popular works include the Capriol Suite (a set of six dances), and The Curlew, a remarkably haunting song-cycle based on the poems of W.B. Yeats.  The summer of 1930 saw Heseltine compose two original compositions, The Fox, and The Fairest May (for voice and string quartet).  The composer Constant Lambert called Heseltine, "one of the greatest song-writers that music has ever known".Sadly, this summer was also marked by severe depression.

On 17th December, 1930, Philip Heseltine was found dead at his flat in Chelsea.  The doors and windows were all closed and locked, and the cause of death was by coal-gas poisoning.  While there is no definitive proof (an open verdict was returned at the inquest), it is widely believed that Heseltine took his own life.

Philip Arnold Heseltine PETER WARLOCK 1894-1930 by Spudgun67 is licensed under CC BY 2.0