Symphony. The first movement needed some re-working because Barbirolli was not convinced it made sense in its original form. The work was scheduled for the 1951 Cheltenham Festival where it caused a minor sensation. Many major commissions followed and Gardner was suddenly able to call himself "a composer". He resigned the job at the Opera House and there followed a remarkable period of creativity. Cantiones Sacrae, Op. 11, Variations on a Waltz of Carl Nielsen, Op. 13 and the ballet Reflection, Op. 14, were all written in 1951 and 1952 and first performed during 1952. He re-wrote A Scots Overture, previously a military band piece, for the 1954 season of Promenade Concerts in 1954. In May 1957 Sadler's Wells put on the opera The Moon and Sixpence, which they had commissioned, and two other major works were premiered that year, the Piano Concerto No. 1 (Cyril Preedy and Barbirolli at the Cheltenham Festival) and the Seven Songs, Op. 36 in Birmingham, a work which Gardner wrote as "light relief" while working on the other major works. In 1956 he was invited by Thomas Armstrong to join the staff of the Royal Academy of Music, where he would teach for the best part of thirty years. A few years later he took a part-time job as Director of Music at St Paul's Girls' School, following Gustav Holst and Herbert Howells, and was for a time Director of Music at Morley College. These teaching posts led to the composition of some of his most enduring works, and together with the many holiday courses he worked on as a conductor (Canford, Dartington, ESSYM, Bernard Robinson's Music Camp, etc.) ensured that he was able to bring practical experience and knowledge to bear on his compositions. Gardner composed prolifically throughout his life, and his works are listed on his website (see link below). Among the major works are two more symphonies, two more operas – The Visitors (1972) and Tobermory (1976), concertos for Trumpet, Flute, Oboe and Recorder and Bassoon, many cantatas, including The Ballad of the White Horse, Op. 40 (1959), Five Hymns in Popular Style, Op. 54 (1962), A Burns Sequence, Op. 213 (1993), as well as much choral, chamber, organ, brass and orchestral music. Gardner's best known work is the Christmas carol Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day, which was written for St Paul's, as was another popular carol setting, The Holly