This article is about the English composer. For the free jazz trio, see Joseph Holbrooke (band). For the Mormon pioneer, see Joseph Holbrook.Joseph Holbrooke by E.O. Hoppé, 1913Joseph Charles Holbrooke (5 July 1878 – 5 August 1958) was an English composer, conductor, and pianistJoseph Holbrooke was born Joseph Charles Holbrook in Croydon, Surrey. His father, also named Joseph, was a music hall musician and teacher, and his mother Helen was a Scottish singer. He had two older sisters (Helen and Mary) and two younger brothers (Robert and James), both of whom died in infancy. The family travelled around the country, with both parents participating in musical entertainments. Holbrooke's mother died in 1880 from tuberculosis, leaving the family in the care of Joseph senior, who settled the family in London and took the position of pianist at Collins' Music Hall, Islington, and later at the Bedford Music Hall. Holbrooke was taught to play the piano and the violin by his father, who was not averse to the use of violence as a method of instruction, and played in music halls himself before entering the Royal Academy of Music as a student in 1893.