Harry Danks

Last updated

Harry Danks
Birth nameSamuel Henry Danks
Born(1912-05-18)18 May 1912
Pensnett, Worcestershire, England
Died26 April 2001(2001-04-26) (aged 88)
Cambridge, England
GenresClassical
Occupation(s)Musician, professor, author
Instrument(s)Viola
Formerly ofBBC Symphony Orchestra, The London Consort of Viols, City of Birmingham Orchestra, The London Octet

Harry Danks, (1912-2001) was a British violist and principal viola of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1946 to 1978. He was the founder and director of the London Consort of Viols.

Biography

Harry Danks was born in Pensnett near Bridgnorth in Worcestershire, England, on 18 May 1912, the eldest of three sons born to Samuel Henry and Elizabeth Icke.

His early music lessons on the violin were given by two uncles and he then sought lessons with the leader of the City of Birmingham Orchestra (CBO), Paul Beard. His early career was playing in silent film and variety theatres. [1]

After tuition from Beard, Danks became a pupil of Alfred Cave who arranged for Danks to play for Leslie Heward, the conductor of the CBO, who offered Danks a violin position in the orchestra. Danks became a violist in the orchestra in 1935, and began having lessons with Lionel Tertis. [1] In 1936, Danks married Leonora (Nora) Shrimpton, a pianist he met when they were playing in a cinema orchestra. [2] He had a brief period with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra before being offered a position with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1937. He played with the BBCSO until his retirement in September 1978. [3]

When war broke out Danks joined the Royal Regiment of Artillery and was stationed in Herefordshire, attaining the rank of Sergeant. He became leader of the Western Command Symphony Orchestra and played the Mendelssohn and Bruch Violin Concertos in Chester Cathedral. [1]

Once the war had ended, Danks returned to London in 1946 and was offered the principal viola position with the BBCSO, under Sir Adrian Boult. Under Boult and the BBCSO, he performed the Walton Viola Concerto in May 1949 [2] and gave first performances of many viola concertos including those by Quincy Porter (1952), Graham Whettam (1956), Boris Blacher (1959), Mario Zafred (1961), Gordon Jacob (revised version 1977), Hilding Rosenberg and Hans Henkemans. [1]

He gave many first performances including the Sonata da Chiesa for viola and organ by Frank Martin in May 1954 at All Souls Church in Langham Place with the organist James Lockhart. [4] Also in 1954 he premiered the Sonata for Viola and Piano by John Prideaux-Brune with Robert Collett. [5] In 1964 he was amongst the instrumental ensemble who gave the first performance of Peter Maxwell Davies's Shakespeare Music. [6]

At a concert in the Wigmore Hall on 1 January 1977, to commemorate Lionel Tertis's centenary, Danks, along with other members of the viola section of the BBCSO gave first performances of three works: Edmund Rubbra's Meditation on a Byzantine Hymn for two violas; John Wray's Suite for 6 Violas and Gordon Jacob's Suite for 8 Violas. [7] [8]

He gave the first broadcast performances of many other works, including Giorgio Frederico Ghedini's Pezzo Concertante for two violins, (Paul Beard and Thomas Peatfield), viola and orchestra in 1950. The work was conducted by Igor Markevitch; the Duet Rhapsody for Soprano and Viola by Kenneth Harding (1953), Pamela Petts was the soprano soloist; Also in 1953, Benjamin Dale's Introduction and Andante for Six Violas, performed by: Danks, Zingra Bunbury, Stanley Wotton, Kenneth Harding, Sheila Spencer and Joan Wolstencroft; In September 1955, Sonata for Viola and Piano by Horace Somerville; In December 1955, The Death of Tintagiles for orchestra and viola d'Amore by Charles Martin Loeffler; the Prelude, Aria and Finale for viola d'Amore and chamber orchestra by Leighton Lucas in 1956 and Four Pieces for solo viola by Frank Stiles (1984). [9]

He was a soloist at several BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. In July 1947 he performed Richard Strauss's Don Quixote with the cellist Zara Nelsova. He performed the same work in July of the following year with the cellist Paul Tortelier. In August 1949 he performed Hector Berlioz's Harold in Italy , Op 16, with the BBC under the conductor Malcolm Sargent. Again, under Sargent and the BBCSO, he performed Ralph Vaughan Williams' Flos Campi in January 1950. In August 1958 at the Royal Albert Hall he performed Don Quixote by Richard Strauss with the cellist Pierre Fournier. In August 1959 he performed the same work with the cellist Erling Blöndal Bengtsson. He performed Don Quixote once again in September 1962 with the cellist János Starker, with a further performance at the 1964 Proms with Mstislav Rostropovich which was recorded and released on the BBC Legends Label. [10]

As well as his orchestral and consort playing, he played throughout England in a number of ensembles such as the London Octet, The London Harpsichord Ensemble, The Herbert Downes Quartet, The Amati String Quartet, The Laurance Turner String Quartet and The Armada Orchestra. He was the founder (in 1948) and director of the London Consort of Viols which played and broadcast regularly from 1949 to 1965. [10]

He published two editions of his book, The Viola D'Amore, in 1976 and an enlarged edition in 1979. [11] [12] [1] [13]

He was Professor of Viola at the Guildhall School of music from 1978 to 1981. [14]

Danks's daughter Ysobel was a violinist in the BBCSO and was married to the cellist Alexander Kok. Danks's son Eugene was also a violinist and conductor, once conducting Danks in a performance of Harold in Italy . [2]

Two years after the death of Lionel Tertis, Danks was asked by Lionel Tertis's widow, Lillian Tertis to form a committee to organize a competition and festival in Tertis's memory. The Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition has taken place every three years at the Port Erin Arts Centre on the Isle of Man since its inception in 1980. Harry Danks sat on the judging panel of the competition in 1980, 1988 and 1991. [15]

Danks played on a viola made by Amati of Cremona in 1615, known as the 'Stauffer'. [16] He also played on a 1750 Eberle viola d’Amore once owned by Louis van Waefelghem. [17]

Harry Danks died on 26 April 2001. After his death, his daughter Ysobel gave to the violist John White (a pupil of Danks), [18] a large collection of music which had belonged to Lionel Tertis. In a piano score of the Walton Viola Concerto is an inscription : 'To Harry Danks, a most sincere player of the viola to whom I wish all success. Lionel Tertis 1 March 1937'. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viola</span> Bowed string instrument

The viola ( vee-OH-lə, Italian:[ˈvjɔːla,viˈɔːla]) is a string instrument that is bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the violin family, between the violin (which is tuned a perfect fifth higher) and the cello (which is tuned an octave lower). The strings from low to high are typically tuned to C3, G3, D4, and A4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lionel Tertis</span> English violist (1876 - 1975)

Lionel Tertis, CBE was an English violist. He was one of the first viola players to achieve international fame and a noted teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viola concerto</span>

A viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments such as an orchestra or chamber music ensemble. Throughout music history, especially during the Baroque, Classical, Romantic eras, viola was viewed mostly as an ensemble instrument. Though there were a few notable concertos written for the instrument in this time period, these instances were quite rare and the instrument continued to be ignored. However, during the 20th century, the instrument was revitalized thanks to the work of a number of violists and composers, which led to the commission and composition of many more viola concertos, expanding the repertoire significantly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuri Bashmet</span> Russian conductor, violinist and violist (born 1953)

Yuri Abramovich Bashmet is a Russian conductor, violinist, and violist.

The Viola Concerto by William Walton was written in 1929 and first performed at the Queen's Hall, London on 3 October of that year by Paul Hindemith as soloist and the composer conducting. It had been written with the violist Lionel Tertis in mind, and he took the work up after initially rejecting it. The concerto established Walton as a substantial figure in British music and has been recorded by leading violists internationally. Walton revised the instrumentation of the concerto in 1961, lightening the orchestral textures.

The Primrose International Viola Competition (PIVC), also referred to as the Primrose Memorial Scholarship Competition (PMSC), is an international music competition for viola players sponsored by the American Viola Society and named for the 20th-century virtuoso William Primrose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Catterall</span> English violinist, orchestral leader and conductor (1883 - 1943)

Arthur Catterall was an English concert violinist, orchestral leader and conductor, one of the best-known English classical violinists of the first half of the twentieth century.

Jean Pougnet was a Mauritian-born concert violinist and orchestra leader, of British nationality, who was highly regarded in both the lighter and more serious classical repertoire during the first half of the twentieth century. He was leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1942 to 1945.

Frederick Craig Riddle OBE was a British violist. He was considered to be in the line from Lionel Tertis and William Primrose, through to the violists of today such as Lawrence Power.

Matthew Jones is a British violist, violinist and composer primarily known for his international performance work as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. He also holds a Viola Professorship and is Head of Chamber Music at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and runs an in-demand performance health consultancy practice. He is fluent in Italian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Fleischman</span> American musician

Richard Fleischman is an American violist and viola d'amore player, conductor and pedagogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winifred Copperwheat</span> English violist (1905 - 1976)

Winifred May Copperwheat was an English classical viola player and teacher.

Herbert Henry Kinsey (Kinze) was a British violinist and composer. Kinsey was a founder member and 2nd violinist of the English String Quartet in 1902, and a member of the famed London String Quartet from 1918. He played with the London Symphony Orchestra 1913–1928. His tutor books for the violin have been published by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music since the 1930s.

Paul Cropper, MBE, (1913-2006) was a British violist and principal viola of the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra from 1947 to 1982.

James Lockyer was a British violist. He was the former principal violist of the Queen’s Hall Orchestra and the Beecham Orchestra. He also played with the London Symphony Orchestra and the British Chamber Music Players, and was the violist in many string quartets and ensembles in the first half of the twentieth century.

Kenneth Harding was a violist in the BBC Symphony Orchestra for thirty-five years and a British composer, composing primarily for viola.

Jacqueline Mary Townshend,, was a British pianist, violinist and violist who played with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Consort of Viols. She was a pupil of Lionel Tertis, performing and broadcasting with a number of ensembles from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Harry Berly was a British violist, saxophonist, clarinetist and violinist, who played with a number of British Dance Bands in the 1920s and 30s. He also appeared at the Proms and played with the International String Quartet.

Timothy Ridout is a British violist and 1st Prizewinner of the prestigious Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition.

Gilbert Shufflebotham (1907–1978) was a British violist and violinist. He started his playing career on the violin, performing for radio broadcasts in the 1920s.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 White, John (1997). The Anthology of British Viola Players. Colne, Lancashire: Comus Edition. pp. 75, 76. ISBN   095310690X.
  2. 1 2 3 Potter, Tully (9 May 2001). "Obituaries: Harry Danks - Gifted musician with many strings to his bow". The Guardian.
  3. Kenyon, Nicholas (1981). The BBC Symphony Orchestra 1930-1980. BBC, London. p. 442. ISBN   0563176172.
  4. Mitchell, Donald (May 1954). "Some First Performances". The Musical Times. 95 (1335): 201–202. doi:10.2307/934774. JSTOR   934774.
  5. "London Concerts". The Musical Times. 96 (1345): 151–153. March 1955. doi:10.2307/937168. JSTOR   937168.
  6. Henderson, Robert (Spring 1965). "Peter Maxwell Davies's 'Shakespeare Music'". Tempo. New Series. 72: 15–18.
  7. White, John (1984). "Gordon Jacob and the Viola". Music and Musicians. 72: 10.
  8. Wigmore Hall Programme of January 1st 1977
  9. Mitchell, Alastair; Poulton, Alan (April 2019). A Chronicle of First Broadcast Performances of Musical Works in the United Kingdom, 1923-1996. London: Taylor and Francis (Routledge Revivals). ISBN   978-1138635456.
  10. 1 2 BBC Programme Index: https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/
  11. Riley, Maurice W. (1980). The History of the Viola. Michigan, U.S.A: Braun-Brumfield, Ann Arbor. p. 354. ISBN   0960315004.
  12. https://www.napier.ac.uk/~/media/worktribe/output-185447/the-viola-damore-its-heritage-reconsidered.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  13. Durkin, Rachael (2020). The Viola d'Amore: Its History and Development. Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire: Routledge. ISBN   9781138358966.
  14. London Metropolitan Archives, Guildhall School Of Music And Drama: Members of the Academic Staff
  15. Riley, Maurice W. (1980). The History of the Viola. Michigan, U.S.A: Braun-Brumfield, Ann Arbor. ISBN   0960315004.
  16. "Historical Owners (A-Z)".
  17. Watson, Elizabeth (2001). "Harry Danks". Journal of the American Viola Society. 17 (3).
  18. Riley, Maurice W. (1980). The History of the Viola. Michigan, U.S.A: Braun-Brumfield, Ann Arbor. p. 398. ISBN   0960315004.
  19. https://www.britishviolasociety.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/The-Lionel-Tertis-John-White-Archive.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]