Frederick Riddle
Encyclopedia
Frederick Riddle OBE (20 April 19125 February 1995) was an important 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
.
in 1912. He studied at the Royal College of Music
(RCM) in London
1928-33. He had a solo career while playing with the London Symphony Orchestra
1933-38, then in 1938 was appointed Principal Viola with the London Philharmonic Orchestra
. He was a professor of the RCM from 1948. In 1953 he was appointed by Sir Thomas Beecham
to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
.
Riddle was distinguished as a chamber music player and a concerto soloist. He made the first recording of William Walton
's Viola Concerto
, on 6 December 1937, with the composer conducting. He was recommended for this recording by Lionel Tertis
. He made some revisions to the concerto, with Walton's approval. Although Walton conducted the work many times with leading soloists such as Tertis and William Primrose
, the interpretation he liked above all others was that of Frederick Riddle. He also performed the work in concert under Beecham.
's Viola Sonata in the 1940s.
He premiered Arthur Benjamin
's Viola Concerto in 1948, with the Hallé Orchestra
under Sir John Barbirolli
.
He premiered Giorgio Federico Ghedini
's Viola Concerto in 1953, with Beecham conducting.
(OBE) in 1980.
He died at Newport
on the Isle of Wight
in 1995, aged 82.
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
. He was considered to be in the line from Lionel Tertis
Lionel Tertis
Lionel Tertis, CBE was an English violist and one of the first viola players to find international fame.Tertis was born in West Hartlepool, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, and initially studied the violin in Leipzig and at the Royal Academy of Music in London...
and William Primrose
William Primrose
William Primrose CBE was a Scottish violist and teacher.-Biography:Primrose was born in Glasgow and studied violin initially. In 1919 he moved to study at the then Guildhall School of Music in London. On the urging of the accompanist Ivor Newton, Primrose moved to Belgium to study under Eugène...
, through to the violists of today such as Lawrence Power
Lawrence Power
Lawrence Power is a British viola player, born 1977, noted both for solo performances and for chamber music with the Nash Ensemble and Leopold String Trio.-Career:...
.
Biography
Fredrick Craig Riddle was born in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in 1912. He 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...
(RCM) 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...
1928-33. He had a solo career while playing with the London Symphony Orchestra
London 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:...
1933-38, then in 1938 was appointed Principal Viola with the London Philharmonic Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
. He was a professor of the RCM from 1948. In 1953 he was appointed by 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...
to 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"...
.
Riddle was distinguished as a chamber music player and a concerto soloist. He made the first recording of William Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
's Viola Concerto
Viola Concerto (Walton)
The Viola Concerto by William Walton was written in 1929 for the violist Lionel Tertis at the suggestion of Sir Thomas Beecham. The concerto carries the dedication "To Christabel" ....
, on 6 December 1937, with the composer conducting. He was recommended for this recording by Lionel Tertis
Lionel Tertis
Lionel Tertis, CBE was an English violist and one of the first viola players to find international fame.Tertis was born in West Hartlepool, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, and initially studied the violin in Leipzig and at the Royal Academy of Music in London...
. He made some revisions to the concerto, with Walton's approval. Although Walton conducted the work many times with leading soloists such as Tertis and William Primrose
William Primrose
William Primrose CBE was a Scottish violist and teacher.-Biography:Primrose was born in Glasgow and studied violin initially. In 1919 he moved to study at the then Guildhall School of Music in London. On the urging of the accompanist Ivor Newton, Primrose moved to Belgium to study under Eugène...
, the interpretation he liked above all others was that of Frederick Riddle. He also performed the work in concert under Beecham.
Premieres
He premiered Malcolm ArnoldMalcolm Arnold
Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
's Viola Sonata in the 1940s.
He premiered Arthur Benjamin
Arthur Benjamin
Arthur Leslie Benjamin was an Australian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is best known as the composer of Jamaican Rhumba, composed in 1938.-Biography:...
's Viola Concerto in 1948, with the Hallé Orchestra
The Hallé
The Hallé is a symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It is the UK's oldest extant symphony orchestra , supports a choir, youth choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasionally released recordings on Angel Records and EMI...
under Sir John Barbirolli
John Barbirolli
Sir John Barbirolli, CH was an English conductor and cellist. Born in London, of Italian and French parentage, he grew up in a family of professional musicians. His father and grandfather were violinists...
.
He premiered Giorgio Federico Ghedini
Giorgio Federico Ghedini
Giorgio Federico Ghedini was an Italian composer.-Life:Ghedini was born in Cuneo in 1892. He studied organ, piano and composition in Turin, then graduated in composition in Bologna under Marco Enrico Bossi in 1911...
's Viola Concerto in 1953, with Beecham conducting.
Appearances and recordings
He appeared in such works as:- BerliozHector BerliozHector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
: Harold en Italie (recorded with Beecham and Hermann ScherchenHermann ScherchenHermann Scherchen was a German conductor.-Life:Scherchen was originally a violist and played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens...
) - He gave the first performance of Howard BlakeHoward BlakeHoward Blake, OBE is an English composer , particularly noted for his film scores, although he is prolific in several fields of classical and light music...
's Prelude for Solo Viola, Op. 402, in 1980, and many other performances - DeliusFrederick DeliusFrederick 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...
: Serenade from incidental musicIncidental musicIncidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
to James Elroy FleckerJames Elroy FleckerJames Elroy Flecker was an English poet, novelist and playwright. As a poet he was most influenced by the Parnassian poets.-Biography:...
's Hassan (recorded with Beecham) - E.J. MoeranErnest John MoeranErnest John Moeran was an English composer who had strong associations with Ireland .-Early life:...
: Trio for Strings in G major, R. 59 (recorded with Jean PougnetJean PougnetJean 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.- Origins and training :Jean Pougnet was born in Mauritius to British...
, violin; and Anthony Pini, 2nd viola) - MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
: Duo for Violin and Viola No. 1 in G major, K 423 (recorded with Szymon GoldbergSzymon GoldbergSzymon Goldberg was a Polish-born American violinist and conductor.Born in Włocławek, Congress Poland, Goldberg played the violin as a child growing up in Warsaw...
) - Mozart: Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano in E flat, K 498Kegelstatt TrioThe Kegelstatt Trio , also referred to as the Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano in E-flat, is a classical chamber music composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-History:...
("Kegelstatt Trio") (recorded with Reginald KellReginald KellReginald Clifford Kell was a British clarinetist.-Career:Born in York, England, Kell was the first prominent player to apply vibrato consciously and consistently to his tone, in which respect he modelled himself on his colleague the oboist Léon Goossens...
and Louis KentnerLouis KentnerLouis Kentner was a Hungarian, later British, pianist who excelled in the works of Chopin and Liszt, as well as the Hungarian repertoire....
) - RubbraEdmund RubbraEdmund Rubbra was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak of his fame in the mid-20th century. The most famous of his pieces are his eleven...
: Viola Concerto in A, Op. 75 (with Beecham) - Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
: Don QuixoteDon Quixote (Strauss)Don Quixote, Op. 35, is a composition by Richard Strauss for cello, viola and large orchestra. Subtitled Phantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Charakters , the work is based on the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. Strauss composed this work in Munich in 1897...
(recorded with John KennedyJohn Kennedy (cellist)John Kennedy was a noted British cellist who had significant associations with Australia, where he worked in the latter part of his life and where he died. He was the natural father of the violinist Nigel Kennedy....
, RPO, Beecham conducting) - Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
: Flos CampiFlos CampiFlos Campi: suite for solo viola, small chorus and small orchestra is a composition by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, completed in 1925. Its title is Latin for "flower of the field". It is neither a concerto nor a choral piece, although it prominently features the viola and a...
(with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta and Bournemouth Sinfonietta Chorus, under Norman Del MarNorman Del MarNorman Del Mar CBE was a British conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialized in the music of late romantic composers; including Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss. He left a great legacy of recordings of British music, in particular Elgar, Vaughan Williams,...
) - Vaughan Williams: Suite for Viola
Other
Frederick Riddle was married twice, and had three daughters. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(OBE) in 1980.
He died at Newport
Newport, Isle of Wight
Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
in 1995, aged 82.
Sources
- Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed, 1954, Vol. VII, p. 160
- Music Web International