Born in Manchester in 1923 Arthur Butterworth was at first attracted by "the sight and sound of gleaming brass instruments." A composition pupil of Richard Hall at the Royal Manchester College of Music, where he also studied the trumpet and conducting. He played the trumpet in the Scottish National and Hallé orchestras and as a freelance until 1963, after which he combined composing with conducting and teaching at the Huddersfield School of Music. He conducted Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra for 31 years, and frequently conducted radio performances of his own orchestral works with various BBC orchestras.
Though he experimented with 12-note techniques as a student, his mature and characteristic compositions are conservative in idiom, influenced primarily by Sibelius and Nielsen, Elgar and other English symphonists of a generation before his own. The major inspirational source of his music, particularly of his four large-scale and expansive symphonies, is the north country in which he lives, its poetry, its painting and its landscapes. He also declares a fascination for Scandinavia, Iceland, and northern Europe generally, especially the landscape and the climate. He has been captivated by the Scottish Highlands since serving in the 51st Highland Division during the Second World War, and says "this is the most potent inspiration to the music I write". His contributions to the brass band repertory have been notable.
After retiring from music lecturing, he continued to compose and was made an MBE in 1995. He died in November, 2014.
