Norman O'Neill

Norman O’Neill (1875–1934) is principally remembered as a composer of theatrical music. A student in Frankfurt, he became acquainted there with Balfour Gardiner, Percy Grainger and Roger Quilter before returning to England in 1897.

He was appointed permanent conductor of the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in 1909, where he worked for over 20 years, and composed scores for plays by numerous writers including Maurice Maeterlinck and J. M. Barrie. He acted as the treasurer of the Royal Philharmonic Society from 1916 and he taught for the last 10 years of his life at the Royal Academy of Music. The Royal College of Music holds most of O’Neill’s manuscript collection.