Percy Hilder Miles

[2][3] Percy's earliest compositions date from when he was 8 years-old and at the age of 13, he performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto at St. James' Hall, Piccadilly, with the Principal of the Royal Academy of Music, Alexander MacKenzie, conducting.

His teachers there included Francis William Davenport (for harmony), Walter Battison Haynes (for composition) and violinist Hans Wessely.

[3][4] In 1895 Miles suggested to Lionel Tertis (then also a violin pupil of Wessely at the RAM) the idea of switching to the viola, in order for them to form a string quartet.

[6] He won the first Sauret prize in 1897, plus the prestigious Charles Lucas (musician) Medal for composition in mid summer 1898.

[7] He was made a sub-professor at the RAM in 1899 and in 1903, upon his return from Mendelssohn Scholarship studies, Percy became a full professor of Harmony and Counterpoint.

[13] A cello concerto by Miles initially dedicated to and rehearsed with Herbert Withers (1880–1961) was announced for performance on 3 September 1908 in Henry Wood's Promenade Concerts.

Financially secure from Examining, though still living with his parents in Erith, he paid off his father's mortgage and debts and in 1909 he purchased a grand piano and a Stradivarius violin made in 1720, known as the General Kyd.

He was reluctant to have his works published[20] although a handful were; his biggest success came in 1920 when his String Sextet, (alongside works by Sir George Dyson, Charles Villiers Stanford and Gustav Holst) was selected from 64 entries for the Carnegie Collection of British Music award, the prize being publication of the score by Stainer & Bell.