George Lloyd writes: "Apart from the Fourth Symphony, my first three piano concertos are the only works in which I consciously took the Second World War period as a starting point in my mind. This may lead the listener to expect nothing but brutality and other of our nasty characteristics; he would be wrong; there was also gaiety, love and all the gentler sides of humanity as well as the horror." Lloyd was born in St. Ives, Cornwall, in1913. After early successes with operas and symphonies he was badly shell-shocked during World War II and as a result he spent many years in the country growing carnations and mushrooms and only composing intermittently. Eventually his health improved and more works were written. In 1977 his Eighth Symphony was broadcast by the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra. This event marked the beginning of the public's increasing demand for his music.