Peter Crossley-Holland

However, his composition "Fantasy Quintet" for piano and strings enjoyed a professional performance in Sheffield by George Linstead.

1 for strings",[8] both composed in 1938, won him a composition scholarship at the Royal College of Music, where he was taught by John Ireland.

[13] Writing for AllMusic, James Leonard criticised it saying "...though well-composed and effectively orchestrated, lacks drive and cogency.

Each movement rolls forward without going anywhere in particular..."[14] Greenfield and Layton, writing in The Penguin Guide, note that "...the ideas unfolding inevitably and organically.

"[15] For MusicWeb International, Rob Barnett has described it as "a fine reflective symphony [which] ends with the confidence of serenity matched up against patent dramatics".

[21] He subsequently married Dr. Nicole Crossley-Holland (née Marzac), a French medieval historian who taught at Aberystwyth University.