Lloyd, George (Walter Selwyn)
Lloyd, George (Walter Selwyn)
Lloyd, George (Walter Selwyn), English composer and conductor; b. St. Ives, Cornwall, June 28, 1913; d. London, July 3, 1998. He began violin lessons at 5 and commenced composing at 10. He later was a student of Albert Sammons (violin), C.H. Kitson (counterpoint), and Harry Farjeon (composition). In 1933 he attracted notice as a composer with the premiere of his First Sym. in Bournemouth, and then had further success with his operas Iernin (1933–34) and The Serf (1936–38). His career was interrupted when he enlisted in the Royal Marines in 1939. He served on Arctic convoy duty until he was severely shell-shocked in the attack on the HMS Trinidad in 1942. Following a long and arduous recuperation, he resumed composition with great ernestness. He was also active as a conductor and served as principal guest conductor and music advisor of the Albany (N.Y.) Sym. Orch. (1989–91). In his compositions, which included the operas Iernin (1933–34; Penzance, Nov. 6, 1934), The Serf (1936–38; London, Oct. 20, 1938), and John Socman (1949–51; Bristol, May 15, 1951), Lloyd embraced an unabashedly Romantic style of pleasurable accessibility.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire