1920 in British music

Last updated
List of years in British music
+...

This is a summary of 1920 in music in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Events

Classical music: new works

Musical theatre

Births

Deaths

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Boult</span> English conductor

Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH was a British conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was conductor of the City of Birmingham Orchestra in 1924. When the British Broadcasting Corporation appointed him director of music in 1930, he established the BBC Symphony Orchestra and became its chief conductor. The orchestra set standards of excellence that were rivalled in Britain only by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), founded two years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Beecham</span> British conductor and impresario (1879–1961)

Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras. From the early 20th century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to the BBC, was Britain's first international conductor.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The BBC SO is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Philharmonic Orchestra</span> Permanent symphony orchestra in London

The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony Orchestras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Wood</span> English conductor (1869–1944)

Sir Henry Joseph Wood was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundreds of new works to British audiences. After his death, the concerts were officially renamed in his honour as the "Henry Wood Promenade Concerts", although they continued to be generally referred to as "the Proms".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granville Bantock</span> British composer and conductor (1868–1964)

Sir Granville Ransome Bantock was a British composer of classical music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm Sargent</span> English conductor, organist and composer (1895–1967)

Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated included the Ballets Russes, the Huddersfield Choral Society, the Royal Choral Society, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, and the London Philharmonic, Hallé, Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Royal Philharmonic orchestras. Sargent was held in high esteem by choirs and instrumental soloists, but because of his high standards and a statement that he made in a 1936 interview disputing musicians' rights to tenure, his relationship with orchestral players was often uneasy. Despite this, he was co-founder of the London Philharmonic, was the first conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic as a full-time ensemble, and played an important part in saving the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from disbandment in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Coates (musician)</span> English conductor and composer (1882–1953)

Albert Coates was an English conductor and composer. Born in Saint Petersburg, where his English father was a successful businessman, he studied in Russia, England and Germany, before beginning his career as a conductor in a series of German opera houses. He was a success in England conducting Wagner at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1914, and in 1919 was appointed chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamilton Harty</span> Irish composer and conductor (1879–1941)

Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty was an Irish composer, conductor, pianist and organist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isobel Baillie</span> Scottish opera singer

Dame Isobel Baillie,, néeIsabella Douglas Baillie, was a Scottish soprano. She made a local success in Manchester, where she was brought up, and in 1923 made a successful London debut. Her career, encouraged by the conductor Sir Hamilton Harty, quickly developed, with breaks in the first years for vocal study in Milan. Baillie's career was almost wholly as a concert singer: she only once acted in an opera production on stage. She was associated above all with oratorio, becoming well known for her many performances in Handel's Messiah, Haydn's The Creation, Mendelssohn's Elijah and the choral works of Elgar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Sammons</span> English violinist and composer (1886 - 1957)

Albert Edward Sammons CBE was an English violinist, composer and later violin teacher. Almost self-taught on the violin, he had a wide repertoire as both chamber musician and soloist, although his reputation rests mainly on his association with British composers, especially Elgar. He made a number of recordings over 40 years, many of which have been re-issued on CD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beatrice Harrison</span> British cellist (1892–1965)

Beatrice Harrison was a British cellist active in the first half of the 20th century. She gave first performances of several important English works, especially those of Frederick Delius, and made the first or standard recordings of others, particularly the first recording of Elgar’s cello concerto in 1920 with the composer conducting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederic Austin</span> English composer and baritone (1872–1952)

Frederic William Austin was an English baritone singer, a musical teacher and composer in the period 1905–30. He is perhaps best remembered for his arrangement of Johann Pepusch's music for a 1920 production of The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, and its sequel Polly in 1922; and for his popularization of the melody of the carol The Twelve Days of Christmas. Austin was the older brother of the composer Ernest Austin (1874–1947).

Sea Drift is among the larger-scale musical works by the composer Frederick Delius. Completed in 1903–04 and first performed in 1906, it is a setting for baritone, chorus and orchestra of words by Walt Whitman.

Polonia is a symphonic prelude by the English composer Edward Elgar written in 1915 as his Op. 76.

Anthony Bernard was an English conductor, organist, pianist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Harrison</span> English composer and conductor (1885–1963)

Julius Allan Greenway Harrison was an English composer and conductor who was particularly known for his interpretation of operatic works. Born in Lower Mitton, Stourport in Worcestershire, by the age of 16 he was already an established musician. His career included a directorship of opera at the Royal Academy of Music where he was a professor of composition, a position as répétiteur at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conductor for the British National Opera Company, military service as an officer in the Royal Flying Corps, and founder member and vice-president of the Elgar Society.

Edward Elgar's Symphony No 2 was first recorded complete in 1927 by His Master's Voice conducted by the composer. This recording was reissued on LP record and later on compact disc. There was no further recording for seventeen years, until Sir Adrian Boult made the first of his five recordings of the symphony in 1944. Since then there have been many more new recordings, the majority played by British orchestras with seven of them recorded by the London Philharmonic.

Songs of Sunset is a work by Frederick Delius, written in 1906–07, and scored for mezzo-soprano and baritone soli, SATB chorus and large orchestra. The words are by Ernest Dowson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Symphony Orchestra</span>

The British Symphony Orchestra is the name of a number of symphony orchestras, active in both concert halls and recording studios, which have existed at various times in Britain since c1905 until the present day.

References

  1. Daniel Snowman, Hallelujah! An Informal History of the London Philharmonic Choir (London: London Philharmonic Choir, London 2007), pp. 127–33 – Appendix II: "The History of the Philharmonic Choir".
  2. Moore, Jerrold Northrop (1979). Music and Friends: Letters to Adrian Boult. London: Hamish Hamilton. p. 42. ISBN   0-241-10178-6. Lady Elgar's diary
  3. "Hamilton Harty", The Musical Times, Vol. 61, No. 926 (April 1920), pp. 227–230 (subscription required)
  4. Thaxter, John. I'll Leave It To You Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine , British Theatre Guide, 2009
  5. King-Smith, Beresford (1995), Crescendo! 75 years of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London: Methuen, ISBN   0413697401. page 9.
  6. "London Concerts"' The Musical Times, December 1920, p. 821 (subscription required)
  7. Lucas, John (2008). Thomas Beecham: An Obsession With Music. London: Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 156. ISBN   978-1-84383-402-1 . Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  8. Barbara Doscher (ed. John Nix) From Studio to Stage: Repertoire for the Voice, Scarecrow Press, 2002, p 32. Accessed 11 Sept 2014
  9. Mike, Celia, "Howell, Dorothy", in The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers (Julie Anne Sadie and Rhian Samuel, eds.). The MacMillan Press (London & Basingstoke), p. 231 (1994, ISBN   0-333-51598-6).
  10. Macaulay, Alastair (April 9, 2018). "Ivor Guest, 97, Dies; Transformed Study of Dance History". The New York Times . London. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  11. Sebastian Bell (28 February 2007). "Gareth Morris". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  12. Dennis Barker (15 October 2011). "Betty Driver obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  13. Tim McDonald (23 April 2003). "Johnny Douglas". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  14. "Steve Conway Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
  15. Robert Evans; Maggie Humphreys (1 January 1997). Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 229. ISBN   978-1-4411-3796-8.
  16. The Songs of Percy French, by James N. Healy (Dublin & Cork: Mercier Press, 1983)
  17. Moore, Jerrold N. (1984). Edward Elgar: a Creative Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 750–51. ISBN   0-19-315447-1.
  18. Charles W. Spurgeon (17 March 2008). The Poetry of Westminster Abbey. Xlibris Corporation. p. 179. ISBN   978-1-4535-0144-3.