Matthews wasè bornnato ina LondonLondra intoin auna familyfamiglia thatamante wasdella musicalmusica, thoughanche notsenza aver effettuato studi in formallymodo trainedformale; theil desiredesiderio todi composecomporre didnon notsi manifestmanifestò itselffino untilall'età hedi wassedici sixteenanni, ande forper aun timecerto heperiodo andlui hise youngeril brotherfratello minore [[Colin Matthews]], alsoanche alui composercompositore, werefurono eachgli otherunici insegnanti l'suno only teachersdell'altro. TheL'inizio startdel of"boom the 'Mahler" boom'nei inprimi the[[anni early 1960s'60]], whenquando thele worksopere ofdi [[Gustav Mahler]] beganiniziarono toa enterentrare theper regularla Britishprima repertoirevolta fornel therepertorio firstbritannico timeregolare, provided a tremendousfornì creativeun impetusenorme forimpulso bothcreativo ofper thementrambi; butma althoughsebbene theyda haveallora sometimesabbiano sincetalvolta collaboratedcollaborato ascome arrangersarrangiatori (innell'orchestrare orchestratingsette sevendelle earlyprime Mahlercanzoni songsdi Mahler, forper instanceesempio) ande ascome editorscuratori (indella thepartitura publishedpubblicata versiondella of"versione esecutiva" di [[Deryck Cooke]]'s 'performing version' ofthedella draftbozza ofdella [[SymphonySinfonia Non. 10 (Mahler)|Mahler's TenthDecima SymphonySinfonia]] di Mahler), asse composersne theyandarono haveper very much gone theirstrade separate ways.
David Matthews read [[Classics]] at [[University of Nottingham|Nottingham University]] and afterwards, feeling himself still too much self-taught, studied composition with [[Anthony Milner]]; he was also much helped by the advice and encouragement of fellow British composer [[Nicholas Maw]]. Then, for three years, he was associated with [[Benjamin Britten]] and the [[Aldeburgh Festival]]. Not until he was 25 did he produce a work that satisfied him sufficiently to be pronounced his 'Opus 1'. He has largely avoided teaching, but to support his composing career has been employed in much editorial work and orchestration of [[film music]]. He has also written occasional articles and reviews for various music journals - the culmination of which activity being his 1980 book about [[Michael Tippett|Sir Michael Tippett]], a composer he admires enormously.
