Haydn Who?

The Lincoln Community Concert Band is performing a mostly British concert Monday, March 19th, at 7:30 p.m. While several of the composers are well known, one in particular, is not -- especially in the U.S. That's Haydn Wood. In the UK, Wood is remembered as a composer of light orchestral music, but he was much more.

Haydn Wood (1882-1959) was born in Yorkshire, England into a very musical family, but at the age of 2, moved with his family to the Isle of Man, where he grew up. He was considered a violin prodigy, who entered the Royal College of Music at 15. He made a life of music, touring as a musician, composing songs, light music and serious classical music. A few of his songs became so popular in the World War I era (Roses of Picardy in particular) that Haydn Wood was able to compose what he wanted, rather than worrying about if his music would be published or performed.

Wood always considered the Isle of Man to be his home, and a number of his compositions recall that island in the Irish Sea. The band will be performing one of them, A Manx Overture: The Isle of Mountains and Glens. Some 40 of Wood's works are for band, either written or arranged. That's not suprising in that Haydn Wood's father conducted a brass band.

A Manx Overture can be heard Monday, March 19th, 7:30 p.m. at the College View Seventh Day Adventist Church here in Lincoln.

If you're interested in hearing more of Haydn Wood's works, the library has some CDs, including one with his Violin Concerto.