His two older brothers were also musicians: Harry (1868-1939) was a violinist, composer and conductor known as "Manxland's King of Music",[2] while Daniel S Wood (1872-1927) was principal flautist with the London Symphony Orchestra from 1910, taught flute at the Royal Academy of Music and composed practice pieces that are still in use today.
[3] In 1897, at the Royal College of Music, Haydn Wood studied violin with Enrique Fernández Arbós and composition with Charles Villiers Stanford.
[5] He then embarked on a world tour, accompanying the Canadian soprano Dame Emma Albani and they continued their association for a further eight years.
In 1916, Haydn Wood composed his most popular song, Roses of Picardy for Dorothy,[6][7] reportedly selling 50,000 sheet music copies per month and earning a six figure royalty sum [8] The song Love's Garden of Roses was written in 1915, but didn't become well known until popularised by John McCormack's recording, one of the biggest hits of 1918.
Another is his London Landmarks Suite, particularly "Horse Guards, Whitehall", which was used for many years as the signature tune for the BBC Radio Series Down Your Way.
[14] The first of Haydn Wood's more extended concert pieces to gain attention was the Phantasie Quartet which won second prize in the first W W Cobbett chamber music competition of 1905 [15] The Piano Concerto was performed at a Patron’s Fund Concert at Queen’s Hall on 14 July 1909, with soloist Ellen Edwards and Stanford conducting.