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14 Facts About Victor Hely-Hutchinson

1.

Christian Victor Noel Hope Hely-Hutchinson was a British composer, conductor, pianist and music administrator.

2.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson is best known for the Carol Symphony and for humorous song-settings.

3.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson's parents were Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, Governor of Cape Colony from 1901 to 1910 during and after the Boer War, and May Hely-Hutchinson.

4.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson initially lived in Kent, then moved back to South Africa in 1907.

5.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson was taught the piano by Dr Thomas Barrow Dowling, the organist of Cape Town cathedral.

6.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson was then educated at Eton College, and then read history at Balliol College, Oxford.

7.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson joined the BBC at Savoy Hill in 1926, becoming a conductor, pianist, and accompanist.

8.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson moved to Hampstead, where his two sons were born.

9.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson never purchased a car, always using his bicycle.

10.

The winter of 1947 was very long-lasting and to save fuel, Victor Hely-Hutchinson refused to switch on the radiators in his office.

11.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson died from acute meningitis on 11 March 1947 at the age of 45.

12.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson remains well known for his settings of various nursery rhymes and children's poems.

13.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson's setting of "Old Mother Hubbard" is arranged in the manner of Handel.

14.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson's song setting of Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat" was notably recorded in 1955 by Elton Hayes and featured regularly on the BBC's Children's Favourites radio show.