Beatrice Harrison
Encyclopedia
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.
. The Harrison family moved back to England during her childhood. She studied at the Royal College of Music
, London
, and afterwards under Hugo Becker
, and at the High School of Music in Berlin
. In 1910 she won the Mendelssohn Prize, and made her debut in the Bechstein Hall, Berlin.
; Margaret Harrison, a pianist; and Monica. Like the family of Mark Hambourg
, this was one in which the children were taught separate instruments so that they could play in ensemble. May had once stood in for Fritz Kreisler
in a Mendelssohn concert at Helsingfors
. Both May and Beatrice won the Gold Medal of the Associated Board for violin and cello respectively. The Harrison family became friends with Roger Quilter
and his circle through the Soldiers' concerts in 1916. On 11 March 1918 Beatrice performed Dvořák
's Cello Concerto in B minor
with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
under Thomas Beecham
.
Hugo Becker had spoken to Sir Henry Wood
of his admiration for Beatrice Harrison's playing even before her debut. Both Edward Elgar
and Wood were great admirers. May and Beatrice performed together under Wood's baton in Brahms
' Double Concerto
.
at the piano. Roger Quilter attended both performances, for they were also playing his music in concerts at that time. The Violin Concerto, written at Grez-sur-Loing
in 1919, had its first performance at Queen's Hall with Albert Sammons
(the dedicatee) under Adrian Boult
in the same year. Beatrice and her sister delivered the first performance of Delius's Double Concerto (which he had written in 1915, dedicated 'to the memory of all young artists fallen in the War') in his presence at a Queen's Hall Symphony Concert in January 1920. After this Delius returned to Grez and, at Beatrice Harrison's request, began work on his Cello Concerto. She performed the Cello Sonata at a concert in Paris
on 8 June. After two months' uninterrupted work in his Hampstead
flat, Delius finished the concerto in the spring of 1921, and it was performed by the cellist whom Sir Thomas Beecham
called 'this talented lady.' When Delius's remains were re-buried according to his wishes in a southern English country churchyard, on 24 May 1935, the village chosen was Limpsfield
near the Harrison home at Oxted in Surrey: Beatrice Harrison played after the service, at which Thomas Beecham gave the oration.
's Cello Concerto
outside London, at the Three Choirs Festival
in Hereford
in 1921. By 1924 she had toured in Europe and America, and in November 1925 she reappeared at the Royal Philharmonic in the all-Elgar concert, performing the Cello Concerto under Elgar's baton (he had insisted that she be the soloist whenever he conducted the work, after she studied the work with him prior to making an abridged, pre-electric recording). This was the occasion upon which the Gold Medal was awarded to Sir Edward by Henry Wood on behalf of the Society. A year or two later, when the advent of electrical recording had improved the technical potential of the gramophone, Beatrice Harrison was the soloist chosen to make the 'official' HMV recording of the concerto with Elgar conducting.
In 1929 at the Harrogate festival she was a contributor at a festival concert of works associated with the Frankfurt Group (Quilter and colleagues), and in 1933 Quilter re-arranged his 'L'Amour de moy' for her for a broadcast.
(the tune of Danny Boy
). Records were also issued of the nightingales singing alone and of the dawn chorus in the same garden. These recordings were extremely popular.
At least one person, however, has suggested that the bird sounds heard on the BBC recordings were not those of a real nightingale, but of a talented whistler, Maude Gould http://www.colander.org/gallimaufry/Birdsong.html.
Beatrice Harrison appears as herself in The Demi-Paradise
, as a cellist playing accompaniment to the singing of nightingales for a BBC broadcast.
, in the old Queen's Hall
, less than a year before it was destroyed by German bombing. On this occasion the soloist's style was particularly animated, causing her ringlets to 'dance' in such a way that the orchestral players were distracted. During the concert, there was a rattle of gunfire outside and plaster fell inside the hall. Sir Henry considered her performance the finest he had ever directed. She was one of the English solioists who took part in Wood's very final season in July 1944, a month before his death.
Beatrice Harrison owned and played a cello made by Pietro Guarneri
(Pietro da Venezia) (1695–1762).
She died in Surrey in 1965.
the Beatrice Harrison Centenary Concert was given by cellist Julian Lloyd Webber
and pianist John Lenehan. The programme consisted of works especially associated with the cellist including the Cello Sonatas by John Ireland
and Delius
as well as the Pastoral and Reel by Cyril Scott
which Lloyd Webber
played with Harrison's sister, Margaret, on the piano.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
cellist active in the first half of the 20th century. She gave first performances of several important English works, especially those of Frederick Delius
Frederick Delius
Frederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH was an English composer. Born in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family of German extraction, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce...
, and made the first or standard recordings of others.
Early training
Beatrice Harrison was born in Roorkee, North-West IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The Harrison family moved back to England during her childhood. She studied at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and afterwards under Hugo Becker
Hugo Becker
for french actor see Hugo BeckerHugo Becker was a prominent German cellist, cello teacher, and composer. He studied at a young age with Alfredo Piatti, and later Friedrich Grützmacher in Dresden.He was born in 1863 in Strasbourg; his father Jean Becker was a famous violinist...
, and at the High School of Music in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In 1910 she won the Mendelssohn Prize, and made her debut in the Bechstein Hall, Berlin.
A musical family
Beatrice was the sister of May Harrison, violinist, a student of Leopold AuerLeopold Auer
Leopold Auer was a Hungarian violinist, teacher, conductor and composer.-Early life and career:...
; Margaret Harrison, a pianist; and Monica. Like the family of Mark Hambourg
Mark Hambourg
Mark Hambourg was a distinguished Russian-British concert pianist, among the most famous of his age.- Life :Mark Hambourg was the eldest son of the pianist Michael Hambourg , and was brother of the cellist Boris Hambourg and the violinist Jan Hambourg , and of the musical organiser Clement...
, this was one in which the children were taught separate instruments so that they could play in ensemble. May had once stood in for Fritz Kreisler
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
in a Mendelssohn concert at Helsingfors
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. Both May and Beatrice won the Gold Medal of the Associated Board for violin and cello respectively. The Harrison family became friends with Roger Quilter
Roger Quilter
Roger Quilter was an English composer, known particularly for his songs.-Biography:Born in Hove, Sussex, Quilter was a younger son of Sir William Quilter, 1st Baronet, who was a noted art collector...
and his circle through the Soldiers' concerts in 1916. On 11 March 1918 Beatrice performed Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's Cello Concerto in B minor
Cello Concerto (Dvorák)
The Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191, by Antonín Dvořák was the composer's last solo concerto, and was written in 1894–1895 for his friend, the cellist Hanuš Wihan, but premiered by the English cellist Leo Stern.- Structure :...
with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
under Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
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...
.
Hugo Becker had spoken to Sir Henry Wood
Henry Wood
Henry Wood was a British conductor.Henry Wood may also refer to:* Henry C. Wood , American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient* Henry Wood , English cricketer...
of his admiration for Beatrice Harrison's playing even before her debut. Both Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
and Wood were great admirers. May and Beatrice performed together under Wood's baton in Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
' Double Concerto
Double Concerto (Brahms)
The Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102, by Johannes Brahms is a concerto for violin, cello and orchestra.- Origin of the work :The Double Concerto was Brahms' final work for orchestra. It was composed in the summer of 1887, and first performed on 18 October of that year in the Gürzenich in Köln,...
.
First performances of the Delius repertoire
Beatrice was the first performer of Delius's Cello Sonata (Wigmore Hall, 31 Oct 1918): on 11 November, May gave the first performance of the Delius Violin Sonata No. 1, which she later recorded with Arnold BaxArnold Bax
Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation...
at the piano. Roger Quilter attended both performances, for they were also playing his music in concerts at that time. The Violin Concerto, written at Grez-sur-Loing
Grez-sur-Loing
Grez-sur-Loing is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in north-central France.-People:It is located 70 km south of Paris and is notable for the artists and musicians who have lived or stayed there...
in 1919, had its first performance at Queen's Hall with Albert Sammons
Albert Sammons
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...
(the dedicatee) under Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English 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...
in the same year. Beatrice and her sister delivered the first performance of Delius's Double Concerto (which he had written in 1915, dedicated 'to the memory of all young artists fallen in the War') in his presence at a Queen's Hall Symphony Concert in January 1920. After this Delius returned to Grez and, at Beatrice Harrison's request, began work on his Cello Concerto. She performed the Cello Sonata at a concert in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 8 June. After two months' uninterrupted work in his Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
flat, Delius finished the concerto in the spring of 1921, and it was performed by the cellist whom Sir Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
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...
called 'this talented lady.' When Delius's remains were re-buried according to his wishes in a southern English country churchyard, on 24 May 1935, the village chosen was Limpsfield
Limpsfield
Limpsfield is a village and parish in the east of the county of Surrey, England near Oxted at the foot of the North Downs. It lies between the A25 to the south and the M25 motorway to the north, near the Clackett Lane service station...
near the Harrison home at Oxted in Surrey: Beatrice Harrison played after the service, at which Thomas Beecham gave the oration.
The Elgar concerto
Beatrice gave the first performance of Edward ElgarEdward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
's Cello Concerto
Cello Concerto (Elgar)
Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, his last notable work, is a cornerstone of the solo cello repertoire. Elgar composed it in the aftermath of the First World War, by which time his music had gone out of fashion with the concert-going public...
outside London, at the Three Choirs Festival
Three Choirs Festival
The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held each August alternately at the cathedrals of the Three Counties and originally featuring their three choirs, which remain central to the week-long programme...
in Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
in 1921. By 1924 she had toured in Europe and America, and in November 1925 she reappeared at the Royal Philharmonic in the all-Elgar concert, performing the Cello Concerto under Elgar's baton (he had insisted that she be the soloist whenever he conducted the work, after she studied the work with him prior to making an abridged, pre-electric recording). This was the occasion upon which the Gold Medal was awarded to Sir Edward by Henry Wood on behalf of the Society. A year or two later, when the advent of electrical recording had improved the technical potential of the gramophone, Beatrice Harrison was the soloist chosen to make the 'official' HMV recording of the concerto with Elgar conducting.
In 1929 at the Harrogate festival she was a contributor at a festival concert of works associated with the Frankfurt Group (Quilter and colleagues), and in 1933 Quilter re-arranged his 'L'Amour de moy' for her for a broadcast.
'... a nightingale singing along with her'
Beatrice Harrison's performances became well known through broadcast in the early days of BBC sound radio. She made some 'live' recordings in which she sat and played her cello in the garden of her house at Oxted, and the nightingales which frequented the place sang as she was playing. The tunes thus recorded included Songs my mother taught me (Dvorak), Chant Hindu (Rimsky-Korsakov) and the Londonderry AirLondonderry Air
Londonderry Air is an air that originated from County Londonderry in Ireland. It is popular among the Irish diaspora and is very well known throughout the world. The tune is played as the victory anthem of Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. "Danny Boy" is a popular set of lyrics to the...
(the tune of Danny Boy
Danny Boy
-Background:The words to "Danny Boy" were written by English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly in 1910. Although the lyrics were originally written for a different tune, Weatherly modified them to fit the "Londonderry Air" in 1913, after his sister-in-law in the U.S. sent him a copy. Ernestine...
). Records were also issued of the nightingales singing alone and of the dawn chorus in the same garden. These recordings were extremely popular.
At least one person, however, has suggested that the bird sounds heard on the BBC recordings were not those of a real nightingale, but of a talented whistler, Maude Gould http://www.colander.org/gallimaufry/Birdsong.html.
Beatrice Harrison appears as herself in The Demi-Paradise
The Demi-Paradise
The Demi-Paradise is a 1943 comedy film made by Two Cities Films and distributed in the U.S. by Universal Pictures. It starred Laurence Olivier as a Soviet inventor who travels to England to have his revolutionary propeller manufactured, and Penelope Dudley Ward as the woman who falls in love with...
, as a cellist playing accompaniment to the singing of nightingales for a BBC broadcast.
Wartime again
Perhaps inevitably the Elgar Concerto was the work with which she was most closely identified, not least in her performances for Henry Wood. There was a very successful performance in August 1937, and another at the Elgar Concert of 27 August 1940, with the London Symphony OrchestraLondon Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
, in the old Queen's Hall
Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect T.E. Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it was the home of the promenade concerts founded by Robert...
, less than a year before it was destroyed by German bombing. On this occasion the soloist's style was particularly animated, causing her ringlets to 'dance' in such a way that the orchestral players were distracted. During the concert, there was a rattle of gunfire outside and plaster fell inside the hall. Sir Henry considered her performance the finest he had ever directed. She was one of the English solioists who took part in Wood's very final season in July 1944, a month before his death.
Beatrice Harrison owned and played a cello made by Pietro Guarneri
Pietro Guarneri
Pietro Guarneri was an Italian luthier. Sometimes referred to as Pietro da Venezia, he was the son of Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri, filius Andreae, and the last of the Guarneri house of violin-makers...
(Pietro da Venezia) (1695–1762).
She died in Surrey in 1965.
Centenary Concert
On 9 December 1992 at Wigmore HallWigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...
the Beatrice Harrison Centenary Concert was given by cellist Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber is a British solo cellist who has been described as the "doyen of British cellists".-Early life:Julian Lloyd Webber is the second son of the composer William Lloyd Webber and his wife Jean Johnstone . He is the younger brother of the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber...
and pianist John Lenehan. The programme consisted of works especially associated with the cellist including the Cello Sonatas by John Ireland
John Ireland (composer)
John Nicholson Ireland was an English composer.- Life :John Ireland was born in Bowdon, near Altrincham, Manchester, into a family of Scottish descent and some cultural distinction. His father, Alexander Ireland, a publisher and newspaper proprietor, was aged 70 at John's birth...
and Delius
Delius
Delius is a surname. It may refer to:* Ernst von Delius - German racing car driver* Frederick Delius - English composer* Nicolaus Delius - German philologist* Tobias Delius Delius is a surname. It may refer to:* Ernst von Delius (1912–1937) - German racing car driver* Frederick Delius...
as well as the Pastoral and Reel by Cyril Scott
Cyril Scott
Cyril Meir Scott was an English composer, writer, and poet.-Biography:Scott was born in Oxton, England to a shipper and scholar of Greek and Hebrew, and Mary Scott , an amateur pianist. He showed a talent for music from an early age and was sent to the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany to...
which Lloyd Webber
Lloyd Webber
The name Lloyd Webber, composite of a middle and family name, may refer to:*William Lloyd Webber , English organist and composer*Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber , son of William, English composer of musical theatre...
played with Harrison's sister, Margaret, on the piano.
Recordings
(Not a complete list)- Elgar: Cello concerto (New Symphony Orchestra cond. by Edward Elgar) HMV D1507-9 (3 records).
- Delius: Cello Sonata (w. Harold Craxton, pno) HMV D1103-4 (2 records).
- Delius: Elegie, and Caprice (Orchestra cond. by Eric Fenby) HMV B3721 (1 record).
- Delius: Entr'acte and Serenade from Hassan Incidental Music (w. Margaret Harrison, pno). HMV B3274 (1 record).
- Nightingales/Londonderry Air/Chant Hindu HMV B2470 10"
- Dawn in an old world garden/Nightingales HMV B2469 10"
- Nightingales/Songs my mother taught me etc. HMV B2853 102
Beatrice Harrison in Literature
- Beatrice Harrison's performances with nightingales formed the subject of a poem 'The Nightingale Broadcasts' by Robert Saxton which won the 2001 Prize of the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association. See http://www.keats-shelley.co.uk/the%20nightingale%20broadcasts.html and http://www.keats-shelley.co.uk/
- Her nightingale recordings were the inspiration for a 2004 play by Patricia Cleveland Peck, The Cello and the Nightingale http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2004_20_thu_02.shtml, http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/cellonightingale-rev.htm
- Beatrice Harrison's performances with nightingales are referred to as a dramatic device in order to introduce an episode with nightingales in John Preston's 2007 novel The DigThe Dig (novel)The Dig is a novel by John Preston, published May 2007, set in the context of the 1939 Anglo-Saxon ship burial excavation at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England. The novel has been widely reviewed as ‘an account of the excavation at Sutton Hoo in 1939’...
.
Sources
- T. Beecham, Frederick Delius (Hutchinson & Co, London 1959).
- R.T. Darrell, The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music (New York 1936).
- Arthur Eaglefield HullArthur Eaglefield HullArthur Eaglefield Hull was an English music critic, writer, composer and organist.Hull was initially a music student of Tobias Matthay and graduated with a Doctorate of Music from Oxford University...
(Ed.), A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians (Dent, London 1924). - R. Elkin, Royal Philharmonic, The Annals of the Royal Philharmonic Society (Rider & Co, London 1946).
- V. Langfield, Roger Quilter, His Life and Music (Woodbridge, Boydell 2002).
- R. Pound, Sir Henry Wood (Cassell, London 1969).
- H. Wood, My Life of Music (Gollancz, London 1938).
- Beatrice Harrison, The Cello and the Nightingales. The Autobiography of Beatrice Harrison, Edited by Patricia Cleveland-Peck. Foreword by Julian Lloyd Webber. (John Murray, London 1985).
External links
- BBC recordings of Beatrice Harrison and birds
- Review of Beatrice Harrison's Centenary Concert