William Lloyd Webber

William Southcombe Lloyd Webber (11 March 1914 – 29 October 1982) was an English organist and composer, who achieved some fame as a part of the modern classical music movement whilst commercially facing mixed opportunities. Besides his long and prestigious career, composing works ranging from choral pieces to instrumental items and more, he is known for being the father of both fellow composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and virtuoso cellist Julian Lloyd Webber. He also notably served as a teacher, instructing pupils on music theory at the Royal College of Music for many years until his death in 1982.

Childhood
Webber was born in London. The son of William Charles Henry Webber, a self-employed plumber, he was fortunate that his father was a keen organ 'buff' who spent what little money he had travelling to hear various organs in and around the capital. Often he would take his son with him and, before long, young William started to play the organ himself and developed a keen interest that bordered on the obsessional.

By the age of 14, William Lloyd Webber had already become a well-known organ recitalist, giving frequent performances at many churches and cathedrals throughout Great Britain. He won an organ scholarship to the Mercers' School, later winning a further scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Ralph Vaughan Williams and gained his FRCO diploma at nineteen. Because there was already another student at the college with the name William Webber, William continued to use his second middle name 'Lloyd' from then on as part of his last name.

Prolific years
Lloyd Webber's earliest known composition is the "remarkably assured" Fantasy Trio in B minor for violin, cello and piano of 1936 (which didn't receive its premiere until 1995). In 1938, he was appointed organist and head of the choir school at All Saints, Margaret Street, in the Marylebone district of London. He later became musical director at Westminster Central Hall, London, the headquarters of the Methodist church in the United Kingdom. His first compositions developed in the 1930s. In 1942 he married the pianist and violinist Jean Hermione Johnstone (1921–1993). The marriage, which lasted until his death, produced two sons: composer Andrew (born 1948) and cellist Julian (born 1951).

From 1945 until the 1960s, Lloyd Webber composed vocal and instrumental music, choral and organ works, chamber music and orchestral works. Compositions from this period include the oratorio St. Francis of Assisi (1948), the orchestral tone-poem Aurora (1948), and the six Country Impressions (1960), each movement for a solo woodwind instrument and piano. There are also sonatinas for viola and flute, numerous songs, organ pieces and choral works. But Webber's roots were firmly embedded in the romanticism of such composers as Sergei Rachmaninov, Jean Sibelius and César Franck, and he became increasingly convinced that his own music was 'out of step' with the prevailing climate of the time. Rather than compromise his style, he turned to the academic side of British musical life. He taught at the Royal College of Music, directed the choir of Westminster Central Hall, and in 1964 was appointed Director of the London College of Music, a post which he held until his death in 1982.

Orchestra

 * Lento in E major for string orchestra (1939)
 * Waltz in E minor for orchestra (1939)
 * Aurora, Tone Poem for orchestra (1948)
 * Three Spring Miniatures for small orchestra (1952); orchestration of original piano work
 * Gossamer (A Little Waltz)
 * Willow Song (A lament)
 * Tree Tops (A Toccatina)


 * Serenade for Strings for string orchestra
 * I. Barcarolle (1951)
 * II. Romance (1980)
 * III. Elegy (1960)


 * Invocation for harp, timpani and string orchestra (1957)

Brass band

 * Little Suite for brass
 * I. Prelude
 * II. Adagio
 * III. Festival March

Chamber music

 * Three Pieces for cello and piano
 * In the Half-Light (1951)
 * Air Varié (adapted from Tantum Ergo by César Franck)
 * Slumber Song


 * Fantasy Trio in B minor for violin, cello and piano (1936)
 * Sonatina for flute and piano (1941)
 * Benedictus for violin and organ (1942)
 * Nocturne for cello and piano or harp (1948); from the oratorio St. Francis of Assisi
 * Sonatina for viola and piano (1951)
 * Air and Variations for clarinet and piano (1952)
 * Suite in B♭ for trumpet and piano (1952)
 * Country Impressions (1960)
 * Mulberry Cottage for flute and piano (1960)
 * On Frensham Pond, Aquarelle for clarinet and piano (1960)


 * A Lyric Suite for cello and piano (1964)
 * Summer Pastures for horn and piano
 * The Gardens at Eastwell, A Late Summer Impression for violin and piano or harp (1982)

Choral

 * Missa Sanctae Mariae Magdalenae for choir and organ (1979)
 * Missa Princeps Pacis (The Prince of Peace), mass for chorus and organ (1962)
 * The Saviour (cantata), A Meditation upon the Death of Christ for chorus and organ
 * The Divine Compassion, Sacred Cantata for tenor, baritone, chorus and organ
 * St. Francis of Assisi, Oratorio for soprano, tenor, baritone, chorus, string orchestra and harp (1948)
 * Born a King, a Christmas cantata for soloists, chorus and organ
 * Songs of Spring, Cantata for female chorus and piano
 * O Lord, Spread Thy Wings O'er Me, Anthem for soprano (or treble voice), chorus and accompaniment
 * Spirit of God, Anthem for chorus and organ
 * Dominus Firmamentum Meum, Anthem for chorus and organ
 * Lo! My Shepherd Is Divine, Anthem for soprano, alto, chorus and organ
 * Lo, God Is Here, Anthem for chorus and organ
 * Seven Anthems
 * Sing the Life, Easter Carol for chorus and accompaniment
 * A Hymn of Thanksgiving for unison voices and organ
 * O Love, I Give Myself to Thee for female chorus and organ
 * O for a Closer Walk with God for chorus and organ
 * Then Come, All Ye People, Carol for chorus and accompaniment
 * The Lord Is My Shepherd for chorus and organ
 * Love Divine, All Loves Excelling for chorus and organ (1964); from The Good Samaritan


 * Tantum Ergo, Anthem for bass solo, chorus and organ
 * Jesus, Dear Jesus, Carol for boy treble, children's choir and organ
 * The Stable Where the Oxen Stood
 * Most Glorious Lord of Lyfe, Anthem Suitable for Easter for chorus; words by Edmund Spenser
 * Meeting Place, a Meditation upon the Birth of Christ for baritone, chorus and piano or organ (1964)
 * Jamie Brown, a Happy Story in Song for two-part chorus and piano (published 1962)
 * Magnificat and Nunc Dimmitis in E minor

Partsongs
 * April for female chorus and piano
 * Corinna's Lute for female chorus and piano
 * Sun-Gold for female chorus and piano; words by May Sarson
 * Moon Silver for female chorus and piano
 * Lament for female chorus and piano
 * I heard a Rush of Wings for female (or children's) chorus and piano
 * The Moon for unaccompanied chorus
 * A Magic Morn for female chorus and piano
 * The Heather Hills for female chorus and piano

Vocal

 * The Call of the Morning (1950); words by George Darley
 * Love, Like a Drop of Dew (1950); words by W. H. Davies
 * I Looked Out into the Morning (1951); words by James Thomson (B.V.)
 * Over the Bridge (1951); words by James Thomson (B.V.)
 * How Do I Love Thee?
 * The Forest of Wild Thyme (1951)
 * The Pretty Washer-Maiden; words by William Ernest Henley
 * To the Wicklow Hills (1954); words by R.G. Leigh
 * A Rent for Love (1982); words by Irvonwy Morgan
 * So Lovely the Rose; words by Joseph Murrells
 * Eutopia; words by Francis Turner Palgrave
 * The Cottage of Dreams
 * Lullaby
 * Spring Is the Time for Love
 * Three Arias for tenor and organ
 * And I Saw a New Heaven
 * The King of Love (from The Saviour)
 * Thou Art the King (from The Divine Compassion)

Piano

 * Three Spring Miniatures (1952); also orchestrated
 * Gossamer (A Little Waltz)
 * Willow Song (A lament)
 * Tree Tops (A Toccatina)


 * Italian Idyll, 3 Piano Duets (1954)
 * Mattinata
 * Siesta
 * Napolitana


 * Six Pieces
 * A Song for the Morning (1957); composed under the pseudonym Clive Chapel
 * Scherzo in G minor
 * Arabesque
 * Romantic Evening
 * Explanation; composed under the pseudonym Clive Chapel
 * Song without Words


 * Three Pieces
 * Presto for Perseus
 * Autumn Elf
 * Badinage de Noël


 * Scenes from Childhood
 * Cake Walk
 * Sentimental Waltz
 * Air
 * Scherzo
 * Evening Hymn
 * China Doll


 * A Short Tone-Study
 * River Song for piano 4-hands
 * Danse Macabre for 2 pianos

Organ

 * Chorale, Cantilena and Finale
 * Three Recital Pieces (1952)
 * Prelude
 * Barcarolle
 * Nuptial March


 * Aria, 13 Pieces
 * Prelude on St Cross
 * Choral March
 * Communion
 * Solemn Procession
 * Prelude on Passion Chorale
 * Prelude on Rockingham
 * Festal March
 * Prelude on Gerontius
 * Aria
 * Verset
 * Prelude on Winchester New
 * Vesper Hymn
 * Meditation on Stracathro


 * Reflections, 7 Pieces
 * Prelude
 * Slumber Song
 * Summer Pastures
 * Romance
 * Intermezzo
 * Christ in the Tomb (from The Divine Compassion)
 * Postlude


 * Eight Varied Pieces
 * Arietta in A major
 * Minuet
 * Recessional
 * Andantino alla Cantilena
 * Introit
 * Dedication March
 * Pastorale
 * Epilogue


 * Songs without Words, 6 Pieces
 * Noel Nouvelet
 * Song without Words
 * Trumpet Minuet
 * God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
 * The Coventry Carol
 * Good King Wenceslas


 * Five Portraits for home organs
 * Elegy
 * Six Interludes on Christmas Carols
 * Interlude on 'The Holly and the Ivy'
 * Interlude on 'Whence is this goodly fragrance?'
 * Interlude on 'Noël nouvelet'
 * Interlude on 'Good King Wenceslas'
 * Interlude on 'Coventry Carol'
 * Interlude on 'God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen'


 * Rhapsody on "Helmsley"
 * Four Epilogues (for Frederick Geoghegan) (1953)
 * I. Allegro moderato
 * II. Risoluto
 * III. (Resurgam) Andante elegiaco
 * IV. Maestoso, ma con anima


 * ''Suite in B-flat Major for Organ" (To Frank Netherwood) (1951)
 * I. Prelude
 * II. Fugal Allegro
 * III. Minuet
 * IV. Choral Song


 * Six Interludes on Passion Hymns (out-of-print, Novello)

Discography

 * Music of William Lloyd Webber, (ASV Digital, CD DCA 961, 1996)
 * Organ Works of William Lloyd Webber, (Priory, PRCD 616, 1998)
 * William Lloyd Webber piano music, chamber music and songs, (Hyperion, CDA67008, 1998)
 * Sacred Choral Music of William Lloyd Webber, (Priory PRCD677, 1999)
 * Invocation, (Chandos CHAN 9595, 1998)