Peter Hope (composer)

Peter Hope (born 2 November 1930) is a British composer and arranger. He is particularly noted for his light music compositions, such as the Ring of Kerry Suite, which won an Ivor Novello award, and for his arrangements, such as “Mexican Hat Dance”. He has also written a Recorder Concerto and arranged music for the 2003 Spanish royal wedding, as well as Jessye Norman and José Carreras. He is sometimes credited as William Gardner. Career Born in Edgeley, Stockport, Hope spent a lot of time at the cinema during his childhood, absorbing the musical scores, and began learning piano at the age of thirteen. One of his teachers was Dora Gilson, on the staff of the Royal Manchester College of Music. He began composing while still at school. From 1949 he studied music at Manchester University under Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895-1980) and Maurice Aitchison. His time there overlapped with Peter Maxwell-Davies and Elgar Howarth, who joined in 1952. With help from mentor Ernest Tomlinson, who Hope met while at Manchester, he gained employment at Mills Music in London as a copyist and arranger, where he stayed until 1954. He began providing regular arrangements for the BBC Concert Orchestra, usin