Thomas Pitfield
Encyclopedia
Thomas Baron Pitfield was a British composer
, poet
, artist
, engraver, calligrapher, craftsman
, furniture
builder
and teacher
.
He was born in Bolton
. Although he was essentially self taught as a composer, he studied piano
, cello
and harmony
at the Royal Manchester College of Music
, where his teachers were Thomas Keighley, Frank Merrick
and Carl Fuchs. Later he won a scholarship to study art and cabinet-making at the Boston School of Art.
His music was published by more than 50 publishers. Hubert J. Foss
of the Oxford University Press published many of his compositions, illustrations, frontispieces
and cover-designs, which he made for various publications, including the one for Benjamin Britten
's Simple Symphony
.
As a composer he was influenced by Ralph Vaughan Williams
, Percy Grainger
and Frederick Delius
. He was a prolific composer and his compositions include collections of miniatures for students and amateurs, a five-movement Sinfonietta, a Trio for flute, oboe and piano, concertos for piano, violin, recorder
and percussion, a Xylophone
Sonata, an Oboe Sonata, and solo works for accordion
, clarsach, and harmonica
. He also invented an instrument called “patterphone” to produce rain-like sounds.
He wrote for many notable artists, such as Léon Goossens
, Evelyn Rothwell
, Archie Camden
, Dolmetsch, and Osian Ellis
.
After training as a teacher, he became art master at Tettenhall College, Wolverhampton
. Whilst there, as a pacifist, he joined the Peace Pledge Union
. In the Second World War, he registered as a conscientious objector
, with a condition that he continue teaching. He taught composition at the Royal Manchester College of Music from 1947 to 1973, having pupils like David Ellis, John Golland
, John McCabe
, John Ogdon
and Ronald Stevenson
.
Between 1986 and 1993 he wrote a three volume autobiography
.
He continued to create art and music until his nineties.
He died in Bowdon
, Greater Manchester
, in 1999.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, engraver, calligrapher, craftsman
Master craftsman
A master craftsman or master tradesman was a member of a guild. In the European guild system, only masters were allowed to be members of the guild....
, furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
builder
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
and teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
.
He was born in Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
. Although he was essentially self taught as a composer, he studied piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
and harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
at the Royal Manchester College of Music
Royal Manchester College of Music
The Royal Manchester College of Music was founded in 1893 by Sir Charles Hallé who assumed the role as Principal. For a long period of time Hallé had argued for Manchester's need for a conservatoire to properly train the local talent. The Ducie Street building, just off Oxford Road, was purchased...
, where his teachers were Thomas Keighley, Frank Merrick
Frank Merrick
Frank Merrick was an English pianist in the early 1900s. He was born in Clifton, now part of Bristol.Merrick's peers included Artur Schnabel and Mark Hambourg, and he studied with Theodor Leschetizky. From 1911 to 1929, he taught at the Royal Manchester College of Music and from 1929 at the Royal...
and Carl Fuchs. Later he won a scholarship to study art and cabinet-making at the Boston School of Art.
His music was published by more than 50 publishers. Hubert J. Foss
Hubert J. Foss
Hubert James Foss was an English pianist, composer, and first Musical Editor for Oxford University Press at Amen House in London. His work at the Press was a major factor in promoting music and musicians in England between the world wars, most notably Ralph Vaughan Williams, through publishing...
of the Oxford University Press published many of his compositions, illustrations, frontispieces
Book frontispiece
A frontispiece is a decorative illustration facing a book's title page. The frontispiece is the verso opposite the recto title page. Elaborate engraved frontispieces were in frequent use, especially in Bibles and in scholarly books, and many are masterpieces of engraving...
and cover-designs, which he made for various publications, including the one for Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's Simple Symphony
Simple Symphony
The Simple Symphony, Op.4 is a work for string orchestra or string quartet by Benjamin Britten.It was written as a piece for string orchestra and received its first performance in 1934 in Norwich, with Britten conducting an amateur orchestra....
.
As a composer he was influenced by 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...
, Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
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...
. He was a prolific composer and his compositions include collections of miniatures for students and amateurs, a five-movement Sinfonietta, a Trio for flute, oboe and piano, concertos for piano, violin, recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
and percussion, a Xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
Sonata, an Oboe Sonata, and solo works for accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, clarsach, and harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
. He also invented an instrument called “patterphone” to produce rain-like sounds.
He wrote for many notable artists, such as Léon Goossens
Léon Goossens
Léon Jean Goossens CBE, FRCM was a British oboist.He was born in Liverpool and studied at the Royal College of Music...
, Evelyn Rothwell
Evelyn Barbirolli
Evelyn, Lady Barbirolli OBE was an English oboist, and wife of the conductor Sir John Barbirolli.She was born Evelyn Rothwell, and was known professionally by that name until after she was widowed, when she became known as Evelyn Barbirolli...
, Archie Camden
Archie Camden
Archie Camden was a British bassoonist; he was a pedagogue and soloist of international acclaim. His career began in 1906 when he joined the Hallé Orchestra where he became principal bassoonist in 1914. In 1933 he moved to the BBC Symphony Orchestra, where he stayed until 1946 when he took up...
, Dolmetsch, and Osian Ellis
Osian Ellis
Osian Gwynn Ellis CBE is a Welsh harpist and composer.-Career:Osian Ellis was born in Ffynnongroyw, Flintshire in 1928. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Gwendolen Mason, whom he later succeeded as Professor of Harp from 1959 to 1989. He joined the London Symphony Orchestra in 1961...
.
After training as a teacher, he became art master at Tettenhall College, Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
. Whilst there, as a pacifist, he joined the Peace Pledge Union
Peace Pledge Union
The Peace Pledge Union is a British pacifist non-governmental organization. It is open to everyone who can sign the PPU pledge: "I renounce war, and am therefore determined not to support any kind of war...
. In the Second World War, he registered as a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
, with a condition that he continue teaching. He taught composition at the Royal Manchester College of Music from 1947 to 1973, having pupils like David Ellis, John Golland
John Golland
John Golland was an English composer.He is most famous for his works for brass band, such as Sounds, Atmospheres, Peace, Rêves d'Enfant,his two euphonium concerti and a flugelhorn concerto. He also composed incidental music for the BBC sitcom Dear Ladies.-External links:*...
, John McCabe
John McCabe
John McCabe may refer to:*John McCabe , British composer and classical pianist*John McCabe , Shakespearean scholar and biographer*John McCabe , author and geneticist...
, John Ogdon
John Ogdon
John Andrew Howard Ogdon was an English pianist and composer.-Biography:Ogdon was born in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, and attended Manchester Grammar School, before studying at the Royal Northern College of Music between 1953 and 1957, where his fellow students under Richard Hall...
and Ronald Stevenson
Ronald Stevenson
Ronald Stevenson is a British composer, pianist, and writer about music.-Biography:The son of a Scottish father and English mother, Stevenson studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music , studying composition with Richard Hall and piano with Iso Elinson, graduating with distinction...
.
Between 1986 and 1993 he wrote a three volume autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
.
He continued to create art and music until his nineties.
He died in Bowdon
Bowdon, Greater Manchester
Bowdon is a suburban village and electoral ward in the Altrincham area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England.-History:...
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
, in 1999.