What is Lord Berners?
'''Lord Berners''', whose full name was '''Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners''', (born Apley Hall, [[Shropshire]], 18 September 1883; died Faringdon House, [[Berkshire]], 19 April 1950), was a [[British people|British]] [[composer]] of [[classical music]], [[novelist]] and [[painter]]. He is usually called '''Lord Berners'''. He was an [[amateur]] composer who is remembered for his strange, [[eccentricity|eccentric]] behaviour. ==Life== Berners was born in Apley Hall, [[Bridgnorth]], [[England]]. The Berners family were related to King [[Edward III of England]]. His father was a [[navy|naval]] [[officer]] who was not often at home. He was looked after by his mother and grandmother who was very [[religious]] and very strict. Berners was very interested in lots of things, especially music, but his mother did nothing to help him. At first he went to boarding school in [[Cheam]]. Then he went to [[Eton College|Eton]]. He taught himself to compose. He became a [[diplomat]] and travelled to [[Rome]] and [[Constantinople]]. In 1919, when his uncle died, he became 14th Baron Berners and 5th Baronet. He had already composed some music which had been published under the name Gerald Tyrwhitt. Berners lived an eccentric life. He lived in Berkshire but also had houses in [[London]] and [[Rome]]. He had plenty of money, so that he did not have to work. He had many friends, including the composers [[Stravinsky]], [[Lambert]] and [[William Walton]] who dedicated his ''Belshazzar’s Feast'' to him. ==His music== Berners’s music is full of Romantic feeling, [[irony]] and [[parody]]. He wrote a lot for the [[theatre]]. He composed ''The Triumph of Neptune'' in [[1926]] for [[Diaghilev]]’s [[Ballets Russes]]. His music could often be described as [[light music]]. ==His eccentricities== Berners started his strange behaviour when he was quite small. He had heard that a dog could be taught to swim by throwing it into water, so he decided to teach his dog to fly by throwing it out of the window. Th