Heward, Leslie (Hays)
Heward, Leslie (Hays)
Heward, Leslie (Hays), esteemed English conductor; b. Littletown, Liversedge, Yorkshire, Dec. 8, 1897; d. Birmingham, May 3, 1943. He studied with his father, an organist; then continued his training at the Manchester Cathedral Choir School, where he served as asst. cathedral organist. He was made organist of St. Andrew’s, Ancoats (1914), and then won a scholarship in composition to the Royal Coll. of Music in London (1917), where he studied with Stanford and Vaughan Williams. After appearing as a conductor with the British National Opera Co., he was music director of the South African Broadcasting Corp. and conductor of the Cape Town Orch. (1924–27). He then was conductor of the City of Birmingham Orch. (from 1930). He was acknowledged as one of England’s finest conductors. He was also a composer, but he destroyed many of his MSS; his works included 2 unfinished operas, a symphonic poem, several orch. suites, choral works, chamber music, and songs.
Bibliography
E. Blom, ed., L. H.: A Memorial Volume (London, 1944).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire