Description
Peter Warlock (the pseudonym of Philip Arnold Heseltine) was born in London in 1894. His musical tastes were diverse: he was an expert in Elizabethan music and he wrote first biography on Delius as well as the first, English-written, study on the pioneering Austrian composer, Arnold Schoenberg. He was also eccentric in the extreme: as well as being an accomplished composer of obscene limericks, he is also known to have tried Cossack dancing at railway stations and nude motor-biking. Living up to his name he was also said to have dabbled with the occult. Like many geniuses, however, he was also, sadly, a tortured soul and committed suicide aged just 36.
Although he wrote little instrumental music Capriol Suite became his most famous work. It is based around melodies derived from 16th century dance music and there are six movements: Basse-Danse, Pavane, Tordion, Bransles, Pieds-en-l’air and Mattachins. It is particularly in the last movement, subtitled Sword Dance, that the harmonies adopt a distinctly 20th century edge.
