William Hurlstone

Full biography William Hurlstone

William Hurlstone was an English composer born in 1876. He was a gifted musician from a very young age, and this would eventually lead him to become one of the most prominent composers in the early 20th century.

Hurlstone was a multi-talented musician who excelled not only in composing but also in playing the piano and oboe. With his prodigious musical talent, Hurlstone earned a scholarship to attend the Royal College of Music in London at the age of sixteen.

During his time at the Royal College of Music, Hurlstone studied under several prominent composers including Charles Villiers Stanford, who was known for his influence on the British musical renaissance of the early 20th century.

After completing his studies, Hurlstone began working as a music teacher, eventually becoming a professor of composition at the Royal College of Music himself in 1909.

Despite his relatively short life - he died at the age of thirty while undergoing surgery for a duodenal ulcer - Hurlstone left behind a vast and rich legacy of compositions. His music is marked by its distinctively English character, incorporating traditional folk tunes and modal melodies, and adopting a sensibility inspired by the English pastoral tradition.

Hurlstone's works cover a wide range of genres including orchestral, chamber, vocal, and choral music, as well as concertos for various instruments. Today, he is remembered as a towering figure of early 20th-century British classical music, beloved for his unique stylistic sensibility and his contributions to the ongoing development of English music.