He was born in 1884, in
Liverpool, and was educated at
Merchant Taylors' School and later in
France. He studied with
Engelbert Humperdinck in
Berlin. In 1910, he conducted
Oscar Straus's
The Chocolate Soldier, which he toured in England. He was said to be the youngest operatic conductor in England. He composed for and participated in wartime charity concerts. In 1920 and 1921, Reynolds toured the Far East with the
Royal Opera. On his return, he wrote the music for
Baroness Orczy's play,
Leatherface. Reynolds worked on the revival of 18th century
ballad operas. In 1923, he became musical director of the
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, where he performed revivals of
Sheridan's The Duenna (1924),
Lionel And Clarissa (1925), with music mainly by
Charles Dibdin, and
Love in a Village (1928), with music by
Thomas Arne. He wrote incidental music for several plays, including those by
Molière,
Farquhar,
Shakespeare and
Goldsmith, and review music for
Nigel Playfair. The Lyric staged Reynolds's comic operas
The Fountain of Youth and
Derby Day. Reynolds left the Lyric in 1932 for the
Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He wrote
1066 And All That (a musical based on the comic book by of that name) and a score for
The Swiss Family Robinson. In 1947, he wrote music for a
Stratford-upon-Avon adaptation of
Alice in Wonderland and
Through the Looking-Glass. A two-act comic opera,
The Limpet in the Castle, was premiered in 1958 at
Wombwell,
Yorkshire. Much of his theatre music has been played in the concert hall. Reynolds died on 18 October 1969, aged 84, in
Bognor Regis. ==References==