English Choral Sound: 20th Century

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The Lord is my Shepherd - Lennox Berkeley


On this day in 1903, the British composer, Sir Lennox Berkeley was born. Listen to this performance of Berkeley's setting of Psalm 23, 'The Lord is my Shepherd' sung by The Choir of St. John's College Cambridge: 



Sir Lennox Berkeley (12 May, 1903, Oxford - 26, December, 1989, London)

Berkeley studied at Merton College, Oxford, and then studied in Paris under the renowned teacher Nadia Boulanger. While in Paris, he met Igor Stravinsky and Francis Poulenc, the latter of whom remained a lifelong friend. Berkeley returned to Britain in 1935 and in '36, met the composer Benjamin Britten. The two composers maintained a strong professional, as well as personal, association, although Berkeley seemed wary of entering into a romantic relationship with Britten saying, "we have come to an agreement on that subject." Nevertheless, the two composers shared a house for a year, living in Suffolk. He worked for the BBC during the Second World War, where he met his future wife, Elizabeth Freda Bernstein. Together they had three sons; their eldest son Michael Berkeley, is also a composer, and their youngest son is the photographer Nick Berkeley. 

Lady Berkeley with Sir Lennox Berkeley



Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia

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