Born in
Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire, shortly after the death from
tuberculosis of his father (who was a
captain in the
Indian Army), he learnt the piano and studied
music theory as a child. He was attracted to the singing of
Elena Gerhardt, whom he heard sing in London and developed an interest in
lieder, especially those of
Johannes Brahms,
Franz Schubert and
Robert Schumann. After reading
Ernest Newman's book on the composer
Hugo Wolf he determined to become a songwriter, which occupation he pursued through study at the
Guildhall School of Music with
Orlando Morgan. He was attracted to the music of
Frederick Delius after approaching him at a London restaurant in 1915 and Delius became his mentor, helping him with his early compositions. He also came to know Philip Heseltine (
Peter Warlock), who helped him in publishing his early songs. He married in 1929 and moved to
Painswick, Gloucestershire, to get away from the busy atmosphere of London, which was detrimental to his health; a
vaccination as a child had left him with
eczema, and he contracted
tuberculosis as an adult. He would remain in Painswick for the rest of his life. His work as a composer was dominated by the composition of songs accompanied by piano; his life's study was the expressive setting of poetry to music. He was a particular admirer of A. E. Housman, and wrote more settings of his poetry than any other composer. He became acquainted with Housman's poetry just after
World War I, during which he had enlisted, but was unable to fight for medical reasons. He undertook research visits to
Shropshire, taking photographs, and attended one of Housman's lectures as
Kennedy Professor of Latin at
Cambridge University. He asked for permission to translate
A Shropshire Lad into German so he could bring his songs into wider circulation, but the request was refused. His piano accompaniments and
postludes are an integral part of each song, providing more than bare
harmony; examples of its use for
programme music include fluttering
semiquavers depicting
aspen leaves in
Along the Field and heavy
chords in a march to the
scaffold in ''The Carpenter's Son''. His
harmonic language is a mixture of English
modality and late Romanticism. ==Works==