Gavin Williamson | |
|---|---|
 Philip Manuel and Gavin Williamson | |
| Born | 1897 Winnipeg, Canada |
| Died | 1989 (aged 91–92) Chicago, USA |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist, harpsichordist, organist, music educator |
Gavin Williamson (Winnipeg, 1897 - Chicago, 1989) was an American pianist, harpsichordist, organist and music educator. With pianist Philip Manuel, he formed a duo in 1922 that helped promote the professional use of harpsichords in the United States.
Gavin Williamson was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He studied music at the University of Chicago and was a Fellow of Oxford University studying with Artur Schnabel, Ethel Leginska and Theodor Leschetizky.
At the University of Chicago, Williamson met Philip Manuel (1893–1959) and the two developed an interest in harpsichord as a concert instrument. At this time in the 1920s, there were fewer than 50 harpsichords in the United States, most located in museums. [1] The two men went to Paris in search of a builder, where they contracted with Pleyel et Cie to produce two instruments for their use. [2] With these instruments, they initiated concert tours of the United States, and also worked as teachers of harpsichord, piano and voice. The two frequently played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and were broadcast on the National Broadcasting Company radio network. [3]
After his partner died in 1959, Williamson continued this career as a solo performer and music teacher. He died in Chicago at age 92. Notable students include Alexander Frey, Rosalyn Tureck., [4] and Dina Koston.
Artur Schnabel was an Austrian-American classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th century's most respected and important pianists, his playing displayed marked vitality, profundity and spirituality in the Austro-German classics, particularly the works of Beethoven and Schubert.
Rosalyn Tureck was an American pianist and harpsichordist who was particularly associated with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. However, she had a wide-ranging repertoire that included works by composers Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms and Frédéric Chopin, as well as more modern composers such as David Diamond, Luigi Dallapiccola and William Schuman. Diamond's Piano Sonata No. 1 was inspired by Tureck's playing.
Sir Clifford Michael Curzon CBE was an English classical pianist.
Trevor David Pinnock is a British harpsichordist and conductor.
Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky, Polish: Teodor Leszetycki; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915 was an Austrian-Polish pianist, professor, and composer born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land of Austria-Hungary.
Leon Fleisher was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most refined and transcendent musicians the United States has ever produced".
A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied sonatas for harpsichord or concertos accompanied by orchestra. Accompanist harpsichordists might accompany singers or instrumentalists, either playing works written for a voice and harpsichord or an orchestral reduction of the orchestra parts. Chamber musician harpsichordists could play in small groups of instrumentalists, such as a quartet or quintet. Baroque-style orchestras and opera pit orchestras typically have a harpsichordist to play the chords in the basso continuo part.
Olga Samaroff was an American pianist, music critic, and teacher. Among her teachers was Charles-Valentin Alkan's son, Élie-Miriam Delaborde. Her second husband was the conductor Leopold Stokowski.
Frank Merrick CBE (1886–1981) was an English pianist and composer in the early 20th century.
Katharine Goodson was an English pianist.
Great Pianists of the 20th Century was a 200-CD box set released by Philips Records in 1999 and sponsored by Steinway & Sons.
The harpsichord was largely obsolete, and seldom played, during a period lasting from the late 18th century to the early 20th. The instrument was successfully revived during the 20th century, first in an ahistorical form strongly influenced by the piano, then with historically more faithful instruments. The revival was the joint work of performers, builders, and composers who wrote new harpsichord pieces. However the harpsichord never completely disappeared from the public eye as it was used through the mid-19th century for basso continuo because despite its low volume, it had considerable power to "cut through" the orchestra. The earliest revival efforts began in the mid-19th century due to its increasingly infrequent usage and there was concern that the instrument could become a forgotten relic of the past.
Peter Ritzen is a Flemish pianist composer and conductor.
Florence Marga Richter was an American composer of classical music, and pianist.
Ethel Liggins was a British pianist, conductor and composer. A student of Theodor Leschetizky, she became widely known as the ‘Paderewski of woman pianists’ and established herself as one of the first female conductors.
Helen Schnabel, née Fogel, was an American pianist. She was married to the pianist Karl Ulrich Schnabel.
Philip Manuel was an American pianist, organist, harpsichordist and music educator. With pianist, organist and harpsichordist Gavin Williamson, he formed a duo in 1922, known as Manuel and Williamson, that helped promote the use of harpsichords as concert instruments. In the spring of 1935, the duo were the first professionals to play Bach's Concerto for Four Harpsichords in the United States on this instrument.
Ethel Newcomb (1875–1959) was an American pianist. A pupil of Theodor Leschetizky, she became a successful soloist and ensemble performer across Europe and the United States during the early 1900s. Respected for her interpretations of the work of Beethoven, she was reportedly sought out as a mentor herself by students from across the globe after she opened her own music studio in New York prior to World War I.
The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 17, is the only piano concerto written by the Polish composer and pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski. It was written in the composer's twenties, with the first movement dating back to 1882, although the majority of the work was composed in 1888 and scored in 1889. After its completion, the composer showed the concerto to his friend Saint-Saëns, who admired it, and especially the andante movement. It premiered the same year in Vienna, achieving great success, where it was conducted by Hans Richter.
Kathleen Riddick was a British musician, one of the first women in Britain to establish herself in the male-dominated profession of conducting. To do so at a time when it was "considered impossible" for a woman to become a conductor Riddick was initially obliged to found her own ensembles to lead. They included the Surrey Philharmonic Orchestra in 1932, the London Women's String Orchestra in 1938, and The London Opera Group Orchestra which was led by Miriam Morley. But she also appeared as guest conductor of BBC orchestras and the London Symphony Orchestra.
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