Ebenezer Prout
Encyclopedia
Ebenezer Prout was an English musical theorist, writer, teacher and composer, whose instruction, afterwards embodied in a series of standard works, underpinned the work of many British musicians of succeeding generations.

Career

Prout was born in Oundle
Oundle
Oundle is an ancient market town on the River Nene in Northamptonshire, England, with a population of 5,345 or 5,674 . It lies some north of London and south-west of Peterborough...

. He studied pianoforte under Charles Salaman
Charles Kensington Salaman
Charles Kensington Salaman was a British pianist and composer.Salaman was born and died in London. His music teachers included Charles Neate and William Crotch, and he became a member of the Royal Academy of Music at the age of ten. He studied in Paris under Henri Herz, and returned to London in...

, but was otherwise self-taught. He attended the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

 intended for a career as a scholar, but chose to follow one in music through his love of it. From 1861 to 1873 he was organist of the Union Chapel, Islington
Union Chapel, Islington
The Union Chapel is a Grade II* listed church and music venue in Islington, North London, England, located on Compton Terrace.An example of Victorian gothic architecture, it was designed by James Cubitt, and constructed between 1874 and 1877, with further additions 1877-90, providing an ambitious...

. He was awarded first prizes for a string quartet (1862) and a pianoforte quartet (1865) by the Society of British Musicians. In 1871–74 he became Editor of the Monthly Musical Record, and in 1874–79 was music critic for the Academy.

In 1879 he was appointed professor of harmony and composition at 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...

 in London, and became music critic of the Athenaeum
Athenaeum (magazine)
The Athenaeum was a literary magazine published in London from 1828 to 1921. It had a reputation for publishing the very best writers of the age....

. In 1884 he became professor at the Guildhall School of Music. In 1894 he was appointed Professor of Music in the University of Dublin
University of Dublin
The University of Dublin , corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin , located in Dublin, Ireland, was effectively founded when in 1592 Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter for Trinity College, Dublin, as "the mother of a university" – this date making it...

, being awarded an Honorary Mus.Doc. in the following year. During this period he not only trained his students but delivered memorable public lecture series, notably one on the Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

 cantatas illustrated by singers whom he had trained.

It was also to this period that his principal theoretical works belong, which became classics and were translated into many languages. Prout produced editions of many of the classics, not least for the Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...

 oratorios. He was directly connected with the rediscovery of the original wind parts for Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...

, from which new full and vocal scores were introduced by him to the Royal Society of Musicians
Royal Society of Musicians
The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain is a charity in the United Kingdom that supports musicians. It is the oldest music-related charity in Great Britain, founded in 1738 as the "Fund for Decay'd Musicians" by a declaration of trust signed by 228 musicians, including Edward Purcell ,...

 in 1902. He was furthermore a composer of concert, church and chamber music.

Among his many students were Arthur Goring Thomas
Arthur Goring Thomas
Arthur Goring Thomas was an English composer. He was the youngest son of Freeman Thomas and Amelia, daughter of Colonel Thomas Frederick.He was born at Ratton Park, Sussex, and educated at Haileybury College...

, Eugen d'Albert
Eugen d'Albert
Eugen Francis Charles d'Albert was a Scottish-born German pianist and composer.Educated in Britain, d'Albert showed early musical talent and, at the age of seventeen, he won a scholarship to study in Austria...

, John Waterhouse
John Waterhouse (violinist)
John Fereday Preston Waterhouse was a Canadian violinist, conductor, and music educator of English birth. Born in Bilston, West Midlands, he was educated at the Royal Academy of Music where he was a pupil of Émile Sauret , Ebenezer Prout , and Stewart Macpherson . He was later named a Fellow of...

, 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...

 and Edward German
Edward German
Sir Edward German was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera.As a youth, German played the violin and led the town orchestra, also...

. His son Louis B. Prout (b. Hackney, 1864) was also a writer on musical theory, having trained under his father at the Royal Academy, and becoming professor at the Guildhall School. Louis Prout's principal works are an Analysis of Bach's 48 Fugues (Weekes); Harmonic Analysis (Augener); Sidelights on Harmony (Augener); and Time, Rhythm and Expression (Augener).

He died in 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...

.

Compositions

Orchestral
  • Concerto No. 1 in E minor for organ and orchestra, Op. 5
  • Concerto No. 2 in E major for organ and orchestra, Op. 35
  • Minuet and Trio for orchestra, Op. 14
  • Suite de ballet for orchestra, Op. 28 (1892)
  • Symphony No. 1
  • Symphony No. 2
  • Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 22 (1885)
  • Symphony No. 4


Chamber and instrumental
  • Concertante Duet in A major for piano and harmonium
  • Piano Quartet No. 1 in C major, Op. 2 (1865)
  • Piano Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 18
  • Piano Quintet in G major, Op. 3
  • Romance in F major for viola and piano, Op. 32
  • Sonata for organ, Op. 4
  • Sonata for flute and piano, Op. 17 (1883)
  • Sonata in D major for clarinet (or viola) and piano, Op. 26 (1890)
  • String Quartet No. 1, Op.1
  • String Quartet No. 2 in B major, Op. 15
  • Organ arrangements


Vocal
  • Magnificat for solo voices, chorus and orchestra, Op. 7
  • Evening Service (Magnificat and Nunc dimittis) in E major for solo quartet, chorus, orchestra and organ, Op. 8
  • Hereward (Hereward the Wake), Dramatic Cantata, Op. 12; words by William Grist
  • The Morning and Evening Service Together with the Office for the Holy Communion, Set to Music in the Key of F, Op. 13
  • Alfred (King Alfred), Dramatic Cantata, Op. 16; words by William Grist
  • Freedom, Ode for baritone solo, chorus and orchestra, Op. 20; words by Peter Taylor Forsyth
    Peter Taylor Forsyth
    Peter Taylor Forsyth, also known as P. T. Forsyth, was a Scottish theologian.The son of a postman, Forsyth studied at the University of Aberdeen and then in Göttingen...

  • Queen Aimée, or The Maiden's Crown, Cantata for female voices (soli and chorus) and piano, Op. 21; words by Jetty Vogel
  • The Hundredth Psalm for soprano solo, chorus and orchestra (organ ad lib.), Op. 23
  • The Red Cross Knight, Dramatic Cantata in 6 scenes, Op. 24; words by William Grist
  • Damon and Phintias, Dramatic Cantata for male voices (soli and chorus) and orchestra, Op. 25; words by R.W. Bloor
  • Church music

Theoretical works

  • Harmony, its Theory and Practice (1889, rev. 1901: 20 editions by 1903)
  • Counterpoint (1890)
  • Double Counterpoint and Canon (1891)
  • Fugue (1891). New York, Greenwood Press Edition, 1969: ISBN 0837118727
  • Fugal Analysis (1892)
  • Form (1893)
  • Applied Forms (1895)
  • The Orchestra, Vol I (1898)
  • The Orchestra, Vol II (1899)

Sources

  • A. Eaglefield-Hull, A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians (Dent, London 1924).

External links

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