[2] Hopkins entered the Royal College of Music (RCM) in 1939, where he studied harmony with Harold Darke and composition with Gordon Jacob.
[4] While still studying at the RCM, he became involved with the choir at Morley College, conducted by Michael Tippett who also gave Hopkins informal lessons in composition.
[1] Hopkins's first opera, Lady Rohesia (1947), based on the Ingoldsby Legends supposedly of sixteenth-century England, was staged at Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1948.
[6] Other works include the ballet Café des Sports; and Scena for soprano and strings (which was later arranged for three solo voices and full orchestra).
[7] Hopkins also wrote extensively for films, including Here Come the Huggetts (1948), The Pickwick Papers (1952), Johnny on the Run (1953), The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp (1954), Child's Play (1954), Cast a Dark Shadow (1955), The Blue Peter (1955), Seven Thunders (1957), and Billy Budd (1962).