Eaton Faning
Encyclopedia
Joseph Eaton Faning known as Eaton Faning, was an English composer and teacher. The son of a music teacher, he became the organist of a church at the age of twelve. He attended the Royal Academy of Music
, where his teachers included Arthur Sullivan
. He was an outstanding student, winning many awards. He joined the staff of the Academy in 1874 and later taught at the Guildhall School of Music, the Royal College of Music
and Harrow School
.
As a composer, Faning's works ranged from operetta
s, including a one-act Savoy Opera
, to church music, including a Mass
and a Magnificat
. He also composed orchestral music including a symphony, and was best-known for his songs, of which the most popular was the part-song The Vikings.
, Cornwall
, where his father, Roger Faning, was a music teacher. Faning received his first instruction in music (piano and violin) from his parents. At the age of five he made his first public appearance at a local function, when he played a violin solo on a tiny fiddle. When he was nine years old, his father died, and the family moved to Ipswich
, Suffolk
. Faning sang alto
in the choir of a local church and studied the organ and the violin with local teachers. At the age of twelve, he became organist of All Saints' Church Holbrook
, a village seven miles from Ipswich, where he had to walk when the carrier's cart was not available. He subsequently studied under Lindley Nunn, organist of St. Mary-le-Tower, Ipswich, who appointed Faning his deputy. This post was of the greatest practical value to the young musician. He played at the daily evening service for five years, and was deputy trainer of the choir, which consisted of sixty voices.
In April 1870, just before his twentieth birthday, Faning entered the Royal Academy of Music
as a student. He studied composition under Sterndale Bennett
(then Principal) and Arthur Sullivan
, and, with other professors, singing, piano, cello and organ. He later recalled how much he learnt from Bennett about form, and from Sullivan about orchestration. His first appearance at an Academy concert was as a pianist, when he played Beethoven
's Moonlight Sonata
in October 1870. In 1871 he was awarded the Academy's bronze medal, and the silver medal the following year. As a student, he sang in the chorus at the Royal Albert Hall
when Richard Wagner
conducted, and he visited Bayreuth and Dresden
. He later prepared the Royal Choral Society
in Wagner's Parsifal
for two concert performances at the Royal Albert Hall
in 1884.
Faning began composing while a student, producing an overture and two string quartets in 1871, and a symphony in 1872. In 1873 he was elected an extra Mendelssohn Scholar
, and in 1876 he obtained the Lucas silver medal for composition for his setting of the Magnificat. Sir John Stainer
heard the work and selected it for performance at the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy in 1878, and the publishers Novello & Co printed an edition of the score. During his Academy years, he was organist successively of St. Thomas's Church, Paddington
and St. John's Church, Lewisham
. He conducted two amateur musical societies and "Mr. Eaton Faning's Select Choir," a professional group that sang at Boosey's
London Ballad Concerts.
in one act, The Two Majors. The libretto, by Edward Rose
, was adapted from one of W. S. Gilbert
's "Bab Ballads
". Sullivan "took a warm and practical interest" in the composition of Faning's score. The piece was described by The Musical Times
as "highly amusing and capital … with its clever parodies of some of the absurdities of Italian opera … capitally rendered, under the composer's direction". Another critic praised the music and the staging, though adding that as it was a student performance, "there was a necessary elongation of those garments over which the Lord Chamberlain traditionally keeps such jealous watch and ward." The success of Faning's piece led the faculty of the Academy to establish an operatic class.
In October 1881 Faning's second comic operetta, Mock Turtles
was produced at the Savoy Theatre
as a curtain-raiser to Gilbert and Sullivan
's Patience
. It ran in tandem with Patience and then Iolanthe
until March 1883. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
also toured the piece in the British provinces. In 1882 Faning wrote his third short operetta The Head of the Poll, presented by the German Reeds
, with a libretto by Arthur Law
. The reviews were good, though they concentrated on the libretto, praising the music in passing as "very spirited", "pretty" and "merry and melodious". In the same year Faning's overture The Holiday was played at the promenade concerts, Covent Garden
.
In August 1882 Faning married Caroline Pare Galpin. They had one son and three daughters. Faning composed a comic "Savage Dance" (intermezzo) for orchestra, and he conducted it, dressed "in the garb of a savage", for The Savage Club entertainment at the Royal Albert Hall
in July 1883. This was a fund-raising concert for the Royal College of Music
in the presence of the Prince
and Princess of Wales
. His other compositions ranged from Buttercups and Daisies, a pastoral cantata
for children's voices (1892), a Mass
in B minor, works for solo piano, and a variety of songs and choral works. His two most popular songs were "I've something sweet to tell you," and a part song (originally with piano accompaniment, later orchestrated), "The Vikings".
In addition to his professorship at the Royal Academy of Music, Faning was a professor of the piano at the Guildhall School of Music from 1882; a professor of the piano and harmony, and conductor of the choral class at the National Training School of Music
. He remained in those posts when the School became the Royal College of Music in 1883, continuing there until 1887. In 1885, Faning accepted the post of director of music of Harrow School
, where music was given great importance. He had a staff of six assistant music masters, and remained at Harrow until 1901.
Faning retired to Brighton
, where he died at the age of 77.
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, where his teachers included Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
. He was an outstanding student, winning many awards. He joined the staff of the Academy in 1874 and later taught at the Guildhall School of Music, 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...
and Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
.
As a composer, Faning's works ranged from operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s, including a one-act Savoy Opera
Savoy opera
The Savoy Operas denote a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house...
, to church music, including a Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
and a Magnificat
Magnificat
The Magnificat — also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn...
. He also composed orchestral music including a symphony, and was best-known for his songs, of which the most popular was the part-song The Vikings.
Early years
Faning was born in HelstonHelston
Helston is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately 12 miles east of Penzance and nine miles southwest of Falmouth. Helston is the most southerly town in the UK and is around further south than...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, where his father, Roger Faning, was a music teacher. Faning received his first instruction in music (piano and violin) from his parents. At the age of five he made his first public appearance at a local function, when he played a violin solo on a tiny fiddle. When he was nine years old, his father died, and the family moved to Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. Faning sang alto
Alto
Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
in the choir of a local church and studied the organ and the violin with local teachers. At the age of twelve, he became organist of All Saints' Church Holbrook
Holbrook, Suffolk
Holbrook is a village situated close to the northern shore of the Stour estuary in Suffolk, England. It is located on the Shotley peninsula in Babergh district, around 8⅓ km south of Ipswich....
, a village seven miles from Ipswich, where he had to walk when the carrier's cart was not available. He subsequently studied under Lindley Nunn, organist of St. Mary-le-Tower, Ipswich, who appointed Faning his deputy. This post was of the greatest practical value to the young musician. He played at the daily evening service for five years, and was deputy trainer of the choir, which consisted of sixty voices.
In April 1870, just before his twentieth birthday, Faning entered the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
as a student. He studied composition under Sterndale Bennett
William Sterndale Bennett
Sir William Sterndale Bennett was an English composer. He ranks as the most distinguished English composer of the Romantic school-Biography:...
(then Principal) and Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
, and, with other professors, singing, piano, cello and organ. He later recalled how much he learnt from Bennett about form, and from Sullivan about orchestration. His first appearance at an Academy concert was as a pianist, when he played Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Moonlight Sonata
Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata , was completed in 1801...
in October 1870. In 1871 he was awarded the Academy's bronze medal, and the silver medal the following year. As a student, he sang in the chorus at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
when Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
conducted, and he visited Bayreuth and Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
. He later prepared the Royal Choral Society
Royal Choral Society
The Royal Choral Society is an amateur choir, based in London. Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir's first conductor Charles Gounod included the Hallelujah Chorus from...
in Wagner's Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
for two concert performances at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in 1884.
Faning began composing while a student, producing an overture and two string quartets in 1871, and a symphony in 1872. In 1873 he was elected an extra Mendelssohn Scholar
Mendelssohn Scholarship
The Mendelssohn Scholarship refers to two scholarships awarded in Germany and in the United Kingdom. Both commemorate the composer, Felix Mendelssohn, and are awarded to promising young musicians to enable them to continue their development.-History:...
, and in 1876 he obtained the Lucas silver medal for composition for his setting of the Magnificat. Sir John Stainer
John Stainer
Sir John Stainer was an English composer and organist whose music, though not generally much performed today , was very popular during his lifetime...
heard the work and selected it for performance at the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy in 1878, and the publishers Novello & Co printed an edition of the score. During his Academy years, he was organist successively of St. Thomas's Church, Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
and St. John's Church, Lewisham
Lewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
. He conducted two amateur musical societies and "Mr. Eaton Faning's Select Choir," a professional group that sang at Boosey's
Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
London Ballad Concerts.
Composer and teacher
Faning was appointed to the staff of the Academy in 1874 as a sub-professor of harmony, an assistant professor of the piano in 1877, and full professor a year later. In 1877 he was elected an Associate, and in 1881 a Fellow of the Academy, its highest honour for a former student. On 18 July 1877, the Academy hosted the performance of Faning's comic operettaOperetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
in one act, The Two Majors. The libretto, by Edward Rose
Edward Rose
Edward Rose was an English dramatist and playwright, best known for his adaptations of novels for the stage, mainly The Prisoner of Zenda. He was also the theatre critic for The Sunday Times.-Biography:...
, was adapted from one of W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
's "Bab Ballads
Bab Ballads
The Bab Ballads are a collection of light verse by W. S. Gilbert, illustrated with his own comic drawings. Gilbert wrote the Ballads before he became famous for his comic opera librettos with Arthur Sullivan...
". Sullivan "took a warm and practical interest" in the composition of Faning's score. The piece was described by The Musical Times
The Musical Times
The Musical Times is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It is currently the oldest such journal that is still publishing in the UK, having been published continuously since 1844. It was published as The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular until...
as "highly amusing and capital … with its clever parodies of some of the absurdities of Italian opera … capitally rendered, under the composer's direction". Another critic praised the music and the staging, though adding that as it was a student performance, "there was a necessary elongation of those garments over which the Lord Chamberlain traditionally keeps such jealous watch and ward." The success of Faning's piece led the faculty of the Academy to establish an operatic class.
In October 1881 Faning's second comic operetta, Mock Turtles
Mock Turtles (opera)
Mock Turtles is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Frank Desprez and music by Eaton Faning. It was first produced at the Savoy Theatre on 11 October 1881 as a curtain raiser to Patience, then from 26 November 1882 to 30 March 1883 with Iolanthe. The piece also toured from December 1881...
was produced at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
as a curtain-raiser to Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
's Patience
Patience (opera)
Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...
. It ran in tandem with Patience and then Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
until March 1883. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
also toured the piece in the British provinces. In 1882 Faning wrote his third short operetta The Head of the Poll, presented by the German Reeds
German Reed Entertainment
German Reed Entertainment was founded in 1855 and operated by Thomas German Reed together with his wife, Priscilla Reed née Horton...
, with a libretto by Arthur Law
Arthur Law
William Arthur Law , better known as Arthur Law, was an English playwright, actor and scenic designer.-Life and career:...
. The reviews were good, though they concentrated on the libretto, praising the music in passing as "very spirited", "pretty" and "merry and melodious". In the same year Faning's overture The Holiday was played at the promenade concerts, Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
.
In August 1882 Faning married Caroline Pare Galpin. They had one son and three daughters. Faning composed a comic "Savage Dance" (intermezzo) for orchestra, and he conducted it, dressed "in the garb of a savage", for The Savage Club entertainment at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in July 1883. This was a fund-raising concert for 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...
in the presence of the Prince
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
and Princess of Wales
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
. His other compositions ranged from Buttercups and Daisies, a pastoral cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
for children's voices (1892), a Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
in B minor, works for solo piano, and a variety of songs and choral works. His two most popular songs were "I've something sweet to tell you," and a part song (originally with piano accompaniment, later orchestrated), "The Vikings".
In addition to his professorship at the Royal Academy of Music, Faning was a professor of the piano at the Guildhall School of Music from 1882; a professor of the piano and harmony, and conductor of the choral class at the National Training School 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...
. He remained in those posts when the School became the Royal College of Music in 1883, continuing there until 1887. In 1885, Faning accepted the post of director of music of Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
, where music was given great importance. He had a staff of six assistant music masters, and remained at Harrow until 1901.
Faning retired to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, where he died at the age of 77.
External links
- Text of W. S. Gilbert's Bab Ballad, The Two Majors, on which Faning's 1877 operetta is based.