John Alexander Fuller Maitland
Encyclopedia
John Alexander Fuller Maitland (7 April 1856 – 30 March 1936) was an influential British music critic and scholar from the 1880s to the 1920s. He encouraged the rediscovery of English music of the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly Henry Purcell
's music and English virginal
music. He also propounded the theory of an English musical renaissance
in the second half of the 19th century, particularly praising Charles Villiers Stanford
and Hubert Parry
.
Fuller Maitland was criticised for his failure to acknowledge the talents of the English composers Arthur Sullivan
, Edward Elgar
and Frederick Delius
, and later it was shown that he had falsified the facts in a critique of Sullivan. He was also slow to recognise the worth of contemporary composers from mainland Europe such as Claude Debussy
and Richard Strauss
.
, London, the son of John Fuller Maitland and his wife Marianne (née Noble). He attended Westminster School
for three terms, but for most of his childhood he was educated privately, including musical instruction. Starting in 1875, he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge
, where he was active in the Cambridge University Musical Society. There he became friends with Charles Villiers Stanford
and William Barclay Squire, whose sister Charlotte he married in 1885. He had intended to follow a career in the Church of England
but decided to instead to pursue a career in music. After leaving Cambridge he studied the piano with Edward Dannreuther
and other aspects of music with W. S Rockstro who encouraged him to explore early polyphonic music.
from 1882, later for The Guardian (1884–89) and The Times
(1889–1911). He also wrote many entries for Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians
and was appointed editor of the second edition. A later editor of the Dictionary wrote of him, "In particular, he added an important and substantial series of articles on medieval liturgical subjects … [he] was quite traditional in his own interests: he wrote a great deal on Bach and on the more conservative German music of the nineteenth century, and, as an active editor of the earlier music of his own country – the complete Purcell
edition, English virginal
music, and (again a child of his times) English folksong – he was in the mainstream of the scholarly activity of his day." More than a hundred of his articles survive, in revised form, in the online version of Grove available in 2010.
In pioneering the revival of the virginals, Fuller Maitland published an edition of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book
(1894–9). He was a member of the editorial committee of the Purcell Society
, for which he edited several of Purcell's works. With his relative Lucy Broadwood
, he edited the collection English County Songs (1893), and he was on the original committee of the Folk Song Society
, founded in 1898.
or Johannes Brahms
but not both, Fuller Maitland, according to the obituary notice in The Times, "worshipped" both Wagner and Brahms. As regards English music, he was the principal exponent of the doctrine that music had long been moribund in England until the second half of the 19th century when, he maintained, it experienced a renaissance led by his favoured composers. His book English Music in the XIXth Century is subdivided into two parts: "Book I: Before the Renaissance (1801-1850)", and "Book II: The Renaissance (1851-1900)". He used the phrase "English music" to include that of the Irish Stanford, whom, together with Hubert Parry
, Fuller Maitland regarded as leading the "English musical renaissance". Stanford and Parry were both upper-middle-class Oxbridge
graduates, like Fuller Maitland, and both were professors at music colleges. The writer Meirion Hughes describes Fuller Maitland's world as one of insiders and outsiders. Fuller Maitland rejected British composers who did not conform to his template. "Sullivan
's frequent forays into what was viewed as the questionable realm of operetta removed him from the equation at once. Elgar
was never a contender, with his unacademic, lower-middle-class background coupled with progressive tendencies, while "Fritz" Delius
was simply not English enough." The same writer suggests that Fuller Maitland's aversion to Sir Frederic Cowen
was due to anti-Semitism.
Fuller Maitland's integrity as a critic came under scrutiny, notably by Elgar in a lecture in 1905. Fuller Maitland had published a denigrating obituary of Sullivan in the Cornhill Magazine
, which Elgar alluded to as "the shady side of musical criticism … this foul, unforgettable episode." Later, it was shown that Fuller Maitland had falsified the facts, inventing a banal lyric, passing it off as genuine and condemning Sullivan for supposedly setting such inanity.
near Carnforth
in Lancashire
. He continued to write books, including an autobiography, A Door-Keeper of Music (1929), in which he admitted that he had been wrong in earlier years to dismiss Sullivan's comic operas as "ephemeral". His aversion to modern music abated in his later years, and he recognised the importance of composers such as Richard Strauss
and Claude Debussy
. He received an honorary DLitt
from Durham University
in 1928.
Fuller Maitland's wife died in 1931. There were no children of the marriage. He died at Borwick Hall at the age of 79. His personal fortune was assessed at £38,477 (equivalent to about £2 million pounds in 2010).
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
's music and English virginal
Virginals
The virginals or virginal is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family...
music. He also propounded the theory of an English musical renaissance
English Musical Renaissance
The English Musical Renaissance was a hypothetical period in the late 19th and early 20th century, when British composers, often those lecturing or trained at the Royal College of Music, were said to have freed themselves from foreign musical influences, to have begun writing in a distinctively...
in the second half of the 19th century, particularly praising Charles Villiers Stanford
Charles Villiers Stanford
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer who was particularly notable for his choral music. He was professor at the Royal College of Music and University of Cambridge.- Life :...
and Hubert Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
.
Fuller Maitland was criticised for his failure to acknowledge the talents of the English composers 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...
, 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 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 later it was shown that he had falsified the facts in a critique of Sullivan. He was also slow to recognise the worth of contemporary composers from mainland Europe such as Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
and Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard 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...
.
Biography
Fuller Maitland was born at 90 Gloucester Place, Portman SquarePortman Square
Portman Square is a square in London, part of the Portman Estate. It is located at the western end of Wigmore Street, which connects it to Cavendish Square to its east. It is served by London bus route 274...
, London, the son of John Fuller Maitland and his wife Marianne (née Noble). He attended Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
for three terms, but for most of his childhood he was educated privately, including musical instruction. Starting in 1875, he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, where he was active in the Cambridge University Musical Society. There he became friends with Charles Villiers Stanford
Charles Villiers Stanford
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer who was particularly notable for his choral music. He was professor at the Royal College of Music and University of Cambridge.- Life :...
and William Barclay Squire, whose sister Charlotte he married in 1885. He had intended to follow a career in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
but decided to instead to pursue a career in music. After leaving Cambridge he studied the piano with Edward Dannreuther
Edward Dannreuther
Edward Dannreuther was a German pianist and writer on music resident from 1863 in England. He trained as a musician at the Conservatoire at Leipzig, where he was a pupil of Ignaz Moscheles, a severe critic of the music of Wagner and Franz Liszt...
and other aspects of music with W. S Rockstro who encouraged him to explore early polyphonic music.
Music journalism
Fuller Maitland became a musical journalist, as a critic for the Pall Mall GazettePall Mall Gazette
The Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood...
from 1882, later for The Guardian (1884–89) and The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
(1889–1911). He also wrote many entries for Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
and was appointed editor of the second edition. A later editor of the Dictionary wrote of him, "In particular, he added an important and substantial series of articles on medieval liturgical subjects … [he] was quite traditional in his own interests: he wrote a great deal on Bach and on the more conservative German music of the nineteenth century, and, as an active editor of the earlier music of his own country – the complete Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
edition, English virginal
Virginals
The virginals or virginal is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family...
music, and (again a child of his times) English folksong – he was in the mainstream of the scholarly activity of his day." More than a hundred of his articles survive, in revised form, in the online version of Grove available in 2010.
In pioneering the revival of the virginals, Fuller Maitland published an edition of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book
Fitzwilliam Virginal Book
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book is a primary source of keyboard music from the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods in England, i.e., the late Renaissance and very early Baroque. It takes its name from Viscount Fitzwilliam who bequeathed this manuscript collection to Cambridge University in 1816...
(1894–9). He was a member of the editorial committee of the Purcell Society
Purcell Society
The Purcell Society, founded in 1876 is an organization dedicated to making the complete musical works of Henry Purcell available. Between 1876 and 1965, scores of all the known works of Purcell were published, in 32 volumes...
, for which he edited several of Purcell's works. With his relative Lucy Broadwood
Lucy Broadwood
Lucy Etheldred Broadwood was principally an English folksong collector and researcher during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As one of the founder members of the Folk-Song Society and Editor of the Folk Song Journal, she was one of the main influences of the English folk revival of that...
, he edited the collection English County Songs (1893), and he was on the original committee of the Folk Song Society
English Folk Dance and Song Society
The English Folk Dance and Song Society was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dance Society. The EFDSS, a member-based organisation, was incorporated as a Company limited by guarantee in 1935 and became a Registered Charity The English Folk...
, founded in 1898.
Reputation as a critic
At a time when music lovers generally admired either Richard WagnerRichard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
or Johannes 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...
but not both, Fuller Maitland, according to the obituary notice in The Times, "worshipped" both Wagner and Brahms. As regards English music, he was the principal exponent of the doctrine that music had long been moribund in England until the second half of the 19th century when, he maintained, it experienced a renaissance led by his favoured composers. His book English Music in the XIXth Century is subdivided into two parts: "Book I: Before the Renaissance (1801-1850)", and "Book II: The Renaissance (1851-1900)". He used the phrase "English music" to include that of the Irish Stanford, whom, together with Hubert Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
, Fuller Maitland regarded as leading the "English musical renaissance". Stanford and Parry were both upper-middle-class Oxbridge
Oxbridge
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior social status...
graduates, like Fuller Maitland, and both were professors at music colleges. The writer Meirion Hughes describes Fuller Maitland's world as one of insiders and outsiders. Fuller Maitland rejected British composers who did not conform to his template. "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...
's frequent forays into what was viewed as the questionable realm of operetta removed him from the equation at once. 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...
was never a contender, with his unacademic, lower-middle-class background coupled with progressive tendencies, while "Fritz" 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...
was simply not English enough." The same writer suggests that Fuller Maitland's aversion to Sir Frederic Cowen
Frederic Hymen Cowen
Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen , was a British pianist, conductor and composer.-Early years:Cowen was born Hymen Frederick Cohen at 90 Duke Street, Kingston, Jamaica, the fifth and last child of Frederick Augustus Cohen and Emily Cohen née Davis. His siblings were Elizabeth Rose Cohen ; actress,...
was due to anti-Semitism.
Fuller Maitland's integrity as a critic came under scrutiny, notably by Elgar in a lecture in 1905. Fuller Maitland had published a denigrating obituary of Sullivan in the Cornhill Magazine
Cornhill Magazine
The Cornhill Magazine was a Victorian magazine and literary journal named after Cornhill Street in London.Cornhill was founded by George Murray Smith in 1860 and was published until 1975. It was a literary journal with a selection of articles on diverse subjects and serialisations of new novels...
, which Elgar alluded to as "the shady side of musical criticism … this foul, unforgettable episode." Later, it was shown that Fuller Maitland had falsified the facts, inventing a banal lyric, passing it off as genuine and condemning Sullivan for supposedly setting such inanity.
Later years
Fuller Maitland gave up journalism in 1911, retiring to Borwick HallBorwick Hall
Borwick Hall is a 16th century manor house at Borwick, Lancashire. It is a Grade I listed building and is now used as a residential outdoor education and conference centre by Lancashire County Council.-History:...
near Carnforth
Carnforth
- References :...
in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. He continued to write books, including an autobiography, A Door-Keeper of Music (1929), in which he admitted that he had been wrong in earlier years to dismiss Sullivan's comic operas as "ephemeral". His aversion to modern music abated in his later years, and he recognised the importance of composers such as Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard 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...
and Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
. He received an honorary DLitt
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters is a university academic degree, often a higher doctorate which is frequently awarded as an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding scholarship or other merits.-Commonwealth:...
from Durham University
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
in 1928.
Fuller Maitland's wife died in 1931. There were no children of the marriage. He died at Borwick Hall at the age of 79. His personal fortune was assessed at £38,477 (equivalent to about £2 million pounds in 2010).
Publications
Fuller Maitland published the following books:- 1884 Life of Robert Schumann
- 1889 Grove's Dictionary of Music & Musicians (appendix - ed.)
- 1893 English County Songs (ed. with Lucy E. Broadwood)
- 1894 Masters of German Music
- 1899 The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (ed. with William Barclay Squire)
- 1899 The Musician's Pilgrimage
- 1902 English Music in the Nineteenth Century
- 1902 The Age of Bach & Handel (Oxford History of Music)
- 1904-1910 Grove's Dictionary of Music & Musicians (2nd edition) (ed)
- 1905 Joseph Joachim
- 1911 Brahms
- 1915 The Consort of Music
- 1921 Arthur Coleridge: Reminiscences
- 1926 The Spell of Music
- 1929 A Doorkeeper of Music
- 1931 John Lucas's History of Warton Parish (ed. with J. Rawlinson Ford)
- 1934 The Music of Stanford and Parry
External links
- Works by Fuller Maitland at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
.