Gerald Wilfred Cockshott (14 November 1915 – 3 February 1979) was an English composer, librettist, writer and teacher.
[2] He had originally written the libretto for the chamber opera Apollo and Persephone for Vaughan Williams, but decided to compose the work himself before showing it to him.
Vaughan Williams gave the work his blessing and it was premiered in London in 1954 by the Intimate Opera Company.
Apollo and Persephone went on to multiple performances in Europe and North America in the ensuing years.
[1] From 1947 to 1964 Cockshott was the senior English master at Whittingehame College, a boarding school for boys in Brighton founded by the British Zionist Jacob Halevy.