George Walter Selwyn Lloyd (born 28 June 1913, St Ives, Cornwall; died 3 July 1998, London) was a British composer.
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Of Cornish ancestry, Lloyd grew up in a family with great enthusiasm for music. He was mainly home-schooled because of rheumatic fever. He later studied violin with Albert Sammons and composition with Harry Farjeon. He was a student at Trinity College London. Lloyd showed his talent as a composer early. His first symphony, written at age 19, was premiered in 1933. A second symphony had its premiere in 1935 and was soon followed by a third. His first opera, Iernin, was performed in 1934 at Penzance. His second opera, The Serf, was staged by Vladimir Rosing at Covent Garden in 1938.[1]
Lloyd served in World War II with the Royal Marines as a bandsman. On board the cruiser HMS Trinidad on Arctic convoys he was one of the Bandsmen manning the Transmitting Station, which was situated deep in the hull of the ship. In 1942, the ship fired a faulty torpedo which travelled in a circular track and hit the ship, fracturing a large fuel oil tank. Many of Lloyd's shipmates were drowned in the fuel oil, and he was the last man to escape from the compartment.[2] He suffered severe mental trauma from the shell shock, exacerbated by his frail childhood health, but recovered through the devotion and love of his wife, Nancy.
After the war, Lloyd resumed composition and wrote two symphonies and the opera John Socman, the last commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain. Lloyd's health deteriorated further, and in 1952, he took up full-time residence in Dorset. For 20 years, in addition to intermittent composition, he was a market gardener and grew mushrooms and carnations. He composed regularly from 4:30 AM to 7:30 AM, before the start of the rest of working day. During this period, he met with difficulties in obtaining performances of his music. He recalled:
"I sent scores off to the BBC. They came back, usually without comment. I never wrote 12-tone music because I didn't like the theory. I studied the blessed thing in the early 1930s and thought it was a cock-eyed idea that produced horrible sounds. It made composers forget how to sing."[3]
Lloyd's champions included conductors Charles Groves and Edward Downes and the pianist John Ogdon, for whom Lloyd wrote his first piano concerto (Scapegoat). He devoted more time to composition from 1973 onwards, and began to receive greater attention in subsequent years. The BBC broadcast his Symphony No. 8 in 1977, 8 years after its acceptance for broadcast in 1969. His Symphony No. 6 received a performance at The Proms in 1981.[3] Lyrita Records[4] and the American record label Albany Records championed Lloyd's music through recordings.[5] For Albany Records, Lloyd conducted his own music,[6] [7] with orchestras including the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the BBC Philharmonic.
Lloyd had heart trouble toward the end of his life, but recovered sufficiently to complete his Requiem three weeks before he died at age 85. Lloyd inscribed the score, his last composition, "Written in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales".
Lloyd and his Swiss-born wife Nancy married in 1937. The marriage lasted until Lloyd's death. She survived him, and the couple had no children.
Lloyd's works include 12 symphonies and 4 piano concertos, 2 violin concertos and a cello concerto. For his 3 operas, Lloyd's father wrote the libretti. Lloyd also wrote 4 works for brass band: Royal Parks, Diversions on a Bass Theme, English Heritage and Kings Messenger. His choral-orchestral works include The Vigil of Venus and a Symphonic Mass.