Steuart Wilson
Encyclopedia
Sir James Steuart Wilson (21 July 1889 – 18 December 1966) was an English singer, known for tenor
roles in oratorio
s and concerts in the first half of the 20th century.
After service in the First World War, Wilson became known for singing tenor roles in oratorios by composers from Bach
to Elgar
. He also appeared from time to time in operatic tenor roles.
After retiring from his singing career at the age of 50, Wilson embarked on a second career as a musical administrator, in which he was generally regarded as unsuccessful. He campaigned strenuously against homosexuals in the musical profession.
, the youngest child of the Rev James Maurice Wilson
, headmaster of Clifton College
. His elder brother was Arnold Talbot Wilson. Wilson was educated at Winchester College
and King's College, Cambridge
, where he read classics but developed a strong interest in music. His first public appearance as a singer was in Vaughan Williams's
incidental music for Aristophanes
' The Wasps
in 1909. He made his first appearance in opera as Tamino in Mozart's
The Magic Flute
in 1911. He studied singing with Sir George Henschel
and Jean de Reszke
.
At the outbreak of World War I
Wilson volunteered for action and was commissioned as an army officer. He was badly wounded and was invalided out of the army. Authorities differ on whether his wounds affected his singing voice. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that they did not; The Times
, in its obituary states that they did.
, the English Singers in 1920. From 1921 to 1923 he taught music at Bedales School
, an appointment that left him time to take singing engagements all over the country. He was a leading interpreter of the Evangelist
in Bach
's Passions
, and of the title part in Elgar's
The Dream of Gerontius
, which he sang under the baton of the composer and other conductors including Hamilton Harty
, Malcolm Sargent
, Albert Coates
, and Adrian Boult
. The Times called him "the best exponent of [Gerontius] at the present time". The tenor Peter Pears
said that it was hearing Wilson singing as Evangelist in Bach's St Matthew Passion that "started me off".
Wilson made respected English translations of German Lieder and choral texts, and achieved a wider fame for his successful libel action against the BBC
in what became known as "the case of the intrusive H". The BBC had printed in its weekly magazine The Listener a letter accusing Wilson of the technical fault of aspirating his runs in decorated music: "I am amazed that the BBC engaged anyone quite so incompetent in his breath control. … 'Pilate's wife' became 'pigh-highlet's wife'; 'high priest' was turned into 'high-high pree-hiest', 'purple robe' into 'purple ro-hobe', and 'to' into 'too-hoo' – and so on through the entire performance. It was simply ghastly." When Wilson sued the BBC it vigorously defended the action, believing the letter was justified criticism of a performer. Wilson demolished the accusations against him, pointing out in court that the supposed examples were fictitious, as the words quoted did not appear in the work in question. He won £2,000 damages. On Wilson's victory the BBC Director General, John Reith
, banned him from broadcasting for a year, a decision widely criticised as Wilson had won his case.
in Philadelphia. In 1943 he was appointed music director for the BBC Overseas Service
. In 1945 he was appointed music director of the newly formed Arts Council of Great Britain
. In 1948 he became director of music for the BBC following the sudden death of Victor Hely-Hutchinson
. The Times described this appointment as "not a success", and it is chiefly remembered for the controversy Wilson provoked by engineering the forced retirement of Sir Adrian Boult
as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra
; Wilson had described his "first priority" as being "to plan for the future of the Symphony Orchestra, gradually replacing Boult while looking for his successor". It was widely thought that Wilson had a personal motive for Boult’s removal: in 1932 Wilson's wife Ann had divorced him for cruelty, and the following year she married Boult. Wilson was said to be "an implacable enemy". In a 1970 biography English Singer Wilson's third wife, Margaret Stewart, discounts this and says that relations between the two were now quite amiable and it was others at the BBC who were pressing for Boult's removal. Boult was immediately recruited by the London Philharmonic Orchestra
where he carried on a successful career for many years.
In 1949 Wilson moved to Covent Garden
to take the post of deputy general administrator of the Royal Opera House. While in that position he gave support to the Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik
, who had recently defected from communist Poland, by introducing him to the concert agent Harold Holt
. He was also responsible for securing the premiere of Ralph Vaughan Williams
's The Pilgrim's Progress
at the Royal Opera House in 1951. However Wilson resented being subordinate to David Webster
and he resigned from his Royal Opera House post in June 1955. The following month it was announced that Wilson was launching "a campaign against homosexuality in British music" and was quoted as saying: "The influence of perverts in the world of music has grown beyond all measure. If it is not curbed soon, Covent Garden and other precious musical heritages could suffer irreparable harm."
Wilson's last major appointment was as principal of the Birmingham School of Music
, 1957–1960, but this is described by Grove
as "an unhappy episode".
Wilson died in Petersfield, Hampshire
, aged 77.
, London, Wilson sings in extracts from The Dream of Gerontius conducted by the composer. He also recorded Vaughan Williams's On Wenlock Edge and songs by Denis Browne
.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
roles in oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
s and concerts in the first half of the 20th century.
After service in the First World War, Wilson became known for singing tenor roles in oratorios by composers from 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...
to 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...
. He also appeared from time to time in operatic tenor roles.
After retiring from his singing career at the age of 50, Wilson embarked on a second career as a musical administrator, in which he was generally regarded as unsuccessful. He campaigned strenuously against homosexuals in the musical profession.
Early years
Wilson was born in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, the youngest child of the Rev James Maurice Wilson
James Maurice Wilson
Rev. James Maurice Wilson was a British theologian, maths and science teacher, and astronomer.-Early life:...
, headmaster of Clifton College
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
. His elder brother was Arnold Talbot Wilson. Wilson was educated at Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
and King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, where he read classics but developed a strong interest in music. His first public appearance as a singer was in Vaughan Williams's
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph 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...
incidental music for Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
' The Wasps
The Wasps
The Wasps is the fourth in chronological order of the eleven surviving plays by Aristophanes, the master of an ancient genre of drama called 'Old Comedy'. It was produced at the Lenaia festival in 422 BC, a time when Athens was enjoying a brief respite from The Peloponnesian War following a one...
in 1909. He made his first appearance in opera as Tamino in Mozart's
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang 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...
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
in 1911. He studied singing with Sir George Henschel
George Henschel
Sir George Henschel , was a British baritone, pianist, conductor, and composer of German birth....
and Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke, born Jan Mieczyslaw, , was a Polish tenor. Renowned internationally for the high quality of his singing and the elegance of his bearing, he became the biggest male opera star of the late 19th century....
.
At the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Wilson volunteered for action and was commissioned as an army officer. He was badly wounded and was invalided out of the army. Authorities differ on whether his wounds affected his singing voice. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that they did not; 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...
, in its obituary states that they did.
Singing career
Wilson developed an interest in early English music, and was instrumental in founding the sextetSextet
A sextet is a formation containing exactly six members. It is commonly associated with vocal or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
, the English Singers in 1920. From 1921 to 1923 he taught music at Bedales School
Bedales School
Bedales School is a co-educational independent school situated in Hampshire, in the south east of England. Founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventional Victorian schools, today the school is one of the most expensive in the UK, charging £9,985 per term for a...
, an appointment that left him time to take singing engagements all over the country. He was a leading interpreter of the Evangelist
Evangelist (Bach)
The Evangelist in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is the tenor part in his oratorios and Passions who narrates the exact words of the Bible, translated by Martin Luther, in recitative, namely in the works St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and the Christmas Oratorio, also in the St Mark...
in 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...
's Passions
Passions (Bach)
According to his obituary, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote "five passions, of which one is for double chorus". Two works have survived: the St John Passion and the St Matthew Passion , this last using double chorus...
, and of the title part in Elgar's
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...
The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory...
, which he sang under the baton of the composer and other conductors including Hamilton Harty
Hamilton Harty
Sir Hamilton Harty was an Irish and British composer, conductor, pianist and organist. In his capacity as a conductor, he was particularly noted as an interpreter of the music of Berlioz and he was much respected as a piano accompanist of exceptional prowess...
, Malcolm Sargent
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...
, Albert Coates
Albert Coates (musician)
Albert Coates was an English conductor and composer. Born in Saint Petersburg where his English father was a successful businessman, he studied in Russia, England and Germany, before beginning his career as a conductor in a series of German opera houses...
, and 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...
. The Times called him "the best exponent of [Gerontius] at the present time". The tenor Peter Pears
Peter Pears
Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears CBE was an English tenor who was knighted in 1978. His career was closely associated with the composer Edward Benjamin Britten....
said that it was hearing Wilson singing as Evangelist in Bach's St Matthew Passion that "started me off".
Wilson made respected English translations of German Lieder and choral texts, and achieved a wider fame for his successful libel action against the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in what became known as "the case of the intrusive H". The BBC had printed in its weekly magazine The Listener a letter accusing Wilson of the technical fault of aspirating his runs in decorated music: "I am amazed that the BBC engaged anyone quite so incompetent in his breath control. … 'Pilate's wife' became 'pigh-highlet's wife'; 'high priest' was turned into 'high-high pree-hiest', 'purple robe' into 'purple ro-hobe', and 'to' into 'too-hoo' – and so on through the entire performance. It was simply ghastly." When Wilson sued the BBC it vigorously defended the action, believing the letter was justified criticism of a performer. Wilson demolished the accusations against him, pointing out in court that the supposed examples were fictitious, as the words quoted did not appear in the work in question. He won £2,000 damages. On Wilson's victory the BBC Director General, John Reith
John Reith, 1st Baron Reith
John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron Reith, KT, GCVO, GBE, CB, TD, PC was a Scottish broadcasting executive who established the tradition of independent public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom...
, banned him from broadcasting for a year, a decision widely criticised as Wilson had won his case.
Musical administrator
At the age of 50 Wilson gave up singing, and took up a post at the Curtis Institute of MusicCurtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
in Philadelphia. In 1943 he was appointed music director for the BBC Overseas Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
. In 1945 he was appointed music director of the newly formed Arts Council of Great Britain
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
. In 1948 he became director of music for the BBC following the sudden death of Victor Hely-Hutchinson
Victor Hely-Hutchinson
Christian Victor Hely-Hutchinson was a British composer, born in Cape Town, Cape Colony ....
. The Times described this appointment as "not a success", and it is chiefly remembered for the controversy Wilson provoked by engineering the forced retirement of Sir 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...
as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
; Wilson had described his "first priority" as being "to plan for the future of the Symphony Orchestra, gradually replacing Boult while looking for his successor". It was widely thought that Wilson had a personal motive for Boult’s removal: in 1932 Wilson's wife Ann had divorced him for cruelty, and the following year she married Boult. Wilson was said to be "an implacable enemy". In a 1970 biography English Singer Wilson's third wife, Margaret Stewart, discounts this and says that relations between the two were now quite amiable and it was others at the BBC who were pressing for Boult's removal. Boult was immediately recruited by 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...
where he carried on a successful career for many years.
In 1949 Wilson moved to 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...
to take the post of deputy general administrator of the Royal Opera House. While in that position he gave support to the Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik
Andrzej Panufnik
Sir Andrzej Panufnik was a Polish composer, pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He became established as one of the leading Polish composers, and as a conductor he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra after World War II...
, who had recently defected from communist Poland, by introducing him to the concert agent Harold Holt
Harold Holt
Harold Edward Holt, CH was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.His term as Prime Minister was brought to an early and dramatic end in December 1967 when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.Holt spent 32 years...
. He was also responsible for securing the premiere of Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph 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...
's The Pilgrim's Progress
The Pilgrim's Progress (opera)
The Pilgrim's Progress is an opera by Ralph Vaughan Williams, based on John Bunyan's allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. The composer himself described the work as a 'Morality' rather than an opera, while nonetheless he intended the work to be performed on stage, rather than in a church or cathedral...
at the Royal Opera House in 1951. However Wilson resented being subordinate to David Webster
David Webster (opera manager)
Sir David Webster was the chief executive of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, from 1945 to 1970. He played a key part in the establishment of the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera companies....
and he resigned from his Royal Opera House post in June 1955. The following month it was announced that Wilson was launching "a campaign against homosexuality in British music" and was quoted as saying: "The influence of perverts in the world of music has grown beyond all measure. If it is not curbed soon, Covent Garden and other precious musical heritages could suffer irreparable harm."
Wilson's last major appointment was as principal of the Birmingham School of Music
UCE Birmingham Conservatoire
Birmingham Conservatoire is an international conservatoire and a major concert venue, its main platform being the Adrian Boult Hall. Prior to 1989, it was known as the Birmingham School of Music and was one of the faculties of Birmingham City University, the only one out of the nine conservatoires...
, 1957–1960, but this is described by Grove
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...
as "an unhappy episode".
Wilson died in Petersfield, Hampshire
Petersfield, Hampshire
Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth, on the A3 road. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth and London. The town is situated on the...
, aged 77.
Recordings
On a recording made in 1927 during a performance at the Royal Albert HallRoyal 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....
, London, Wilson sings in extracts from The Dream of Gerontius conducted by the composer. He also recorded Vaughan Williams's On Wenlock Edge and songs by Denis Browne
William Denis Browne
William Charles Denis Browne , primarily known as Billy to family and as Denis to his friends, was a British composer, pianist, organist and music critic of the early 20th century. He and his close friend, poet Rupert Brooke, were commissioned into the Royal Naval Division together shortly after...
.