Arthur Somervell

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Sir Arthur Somervell (5 June 1863 – 2 May 1937) was an English composer.

He was born in Windermere, the son of the founder of K Shoes, and studied in Cambridge, Berlin and London. He studied composition with Friedrich Kiel.

He achieved success in his own day as a composer of choral works such as The Forsaken Merman (1895) and The Passion of Christ (1914) but is now chiefly remembered for his song cycles such as Maud (after Tennyson, 1898) and A Shropshire Lad (the first known setting of Housman, 1904). His style was conservative, and shows the influence of Mendelssohn and Brahms. He was also active in music education, and became Chief Inspector of Schools in 1920. He was knighted in 1929.