Antony Hopkins (1921-2014) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and broadcaster. He became widely known for explaining classical music to radio and television audiences with rare clarity and charm.

As a composer he wrote operas, ballets, film music, chamber works and pieces for the concert hall. His opera Hands Across the Sky is represented in the Pristine catalogue alongside music by Arthur Bliss.

Hopkins’s music is direct, theatrical and practical, shaped by a craftsman’s understanding of performers and listeners. It often favours lucid expression over fashionable complexity.

His broadcasting made him a familiar guide to music for generations of listeners. Hopkins’s legacy lies partly in composition, partly in communication, and strongly in the bridge between the two.