SIR HENRY WOOD DEAL

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 278, 21 August 1944, Page 4

SIR HENRY WOOD DEAL

Notable English Conductor News was received yesterday of the death in London of Sir Henry J, Wood, one of England’s foremost orchestral conductors, and a prominent figure in British music for more than half a century. Though he toured a good deal as a young man, his loyalty to London is indicated in the significant record he achieved in controlling and conducting the “Proms” by which means he gave more encouragement to British composers than any other conductor. The popularity of these concerts, by means of which he wooed the public to a love of the classics, has always been considered a tremendous cultural uplift to music in London. Probably the last letter Sir Henry wrote to anyone in New Zealand was addressed to the musical critic of “The Dominion.” Its text appeared in these columns on July 18 last. It related to the inauguration of the Sir Henry Wood Memorial Campaign, an effort to raise funds for the erection of a concert hall in London to replace the blitzed Queen’s Hall.