Haydn Wood was born into a
large musical family in Slaithwaite,
Yorkshire, in 1882. His father Clement, an innkeeper, was a
brilliant amateur who conducted the local brass band. The family moved
to Douglas, Isle of Man, where Haydn first
studied the violin with his brother Harry, an orchestra conductor known
as 'Manxland's King of Music'.
At age 15, Haydn entered the
Royal College of Music in London where he excelled in violin, piano and
composition. He was soon known as a prodigy, 'a bright-looking little
lad, all smiles and collar, who plays the fiddle as it were the easiest
thing in the world, as easy as eating jam tarts' (The
Musical Times, 1 January 1898).
As a virtuoso violinist, he
toured the British Isles and Empire for eight years with the famous
Canadian soprano Emma Albani and her Concert Party.
In 1909, Haydn Wood married
Savoyard soprano Dorothy Court whom he had met while they were both
students at the Royal College of Music.
From 1913 to 1925, Haydn and
Dorothy toured the British music halls, week after week, two or three
shows a day, six days a week, spending their day off Sunday driving to
the next town. Their act consisted of songs and ballads of his own
composition, and well loved violin gems. Together with their pianist,
Haydn played obbligatos on his violin while Dorothy was singing.
Haydn Wood became a
multi-talented professional, as a well-known violinist, a successful
composer of light and classical music, and a conductor of his own
works. The BBC, who commissioned some of his compositions and for whom
he conducted many concerts of his works, often broadcast his music.
He succeeded in getting 180
songs and ballads published, as well as 86 light orchestral pieces
(suites, overtures, morceaux de concert, entr'actes, intermezzi,
rhapsodies, marches...), a piano concerto, a violin concerto,
variations for cello and orchestra, works for string orchestra, a
string quartet, solo works for piano, violin, flute, oboe, choral works
with orchestra, and a musical play. He also composed a symphony, which was never published.
Haydn Wood died in 1959 in
London.
His heart-warming melodies
have entertained millions of listeners of all classes over the first
half of the 20th century. His legacy still casts a major influence over
British Light Music today.