William Wallace (Scottish composer)

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For the Irish composer, see William Vincent Wallace.

Sir William Wallace (1860-1940) was a Scottish classical composer.

Born in Greenock, he studied medicine in Glasgow, Vienna and Paris before deciding to study music at the Royal Academy in London in 1889.

Wallace was greatly influenced by Liszt, and introduced the symphonic poem to Britain. His compositions include the symphonic poem, Sir William Wallace (1905; based on his namesake, the freedom fighter William Wallace, one of Scotland’s national heroes), a cantata, The Massacre of the Macphersons, and an overture, In Praise of Scottish Poesie (1894). He also wrote several books on music, including The Musical Faculty (1914), The Threshold of Music (1908) and biographies on Wagner and Liszt.He tends to be most associated with Glasgow and attended the University of Glasgow. He would frequently use the Hebrew letter shin in his artwork, due to its resemblance to a W.He also created a musical version of Pelléas and Mélisande. There was a revival of interest in his work, along with that of Sir John Blackwood McEwen in the late 20th century.