White was born in Fetcham, Surrey into a Jewish family originally called Weiss.[2] He was the oldest of five children, and initially worked with his coal merchant father and his brothers transporting coal around Surrey. But his mother had taught him piano from the age of five and he made rapid progress, and soon developed a career as a music teacher. Other than that he was largely self taught, though Hubert Parry took an interest in his work and helped secure some early performances.
In 1914, White married Marta Scholten, a Swiss-German, and in 1916 he registered as a conscientious objector. For the rest of the war he was sent off away from his family to work on a farm in Cornwall, and then to another farm in Hemel Hempstead. His Fanfare for a Challenge to Accepted Ideas of 1921 was inspired by his resistance to the war and militarism.[3]
Post waredit
Before and during the war White was living in Kingston-upon-Thames.[4] During the 1920s, White and his family were living at 28, Hilldrop Crescent, London N7.[5]
Between 1933 and 1935 White played with the London Philharmonic Orchestra as piano, harpsichord and celeste player, and as a répétiteur at Covent Garden under Sir Thomas Beecham. He published A Dictionary of Musical Terms (1934), wrote composer monographs and edited the piano works of Scriabin. There was some renewed attention to White's orchestral output from the BBC in the late 1930s, but then came the Second World War and his composition tailed off. He became somewhat embittered about the lack of interest in his serious works.[2] He died in London.
Worksedit
One of his first successes as a composer was a performance of his orchestral overture Shylock under Henry Wood at the Proms on 26 September 1907.[6] The composer described it as "a little 'Straussy' here and there", but it was well received by the Proms audience, with White called back to the platform three times. His Romance in D for cello and piano was also performed in December 1907 at the Bechstein Hall alongside pieces by George Dyson, Joseph Holbrooke and Hubert Bath.[2] And the orchestral tone poem Astarte Syriaca, a musical commentary on a sonnet by Rossetti, secured its first performance at a Queen's Hall Patron's Fund concert on 23 January 1911.[7]
Further orchestral works followed the ending of the war, including the orchestral Impressions of England (written for the 1918 Proms, but seemingly not performed), a tone poem The Deserted Village (1923, unperformed), and the first performance of Meditation, first planned in 1911, revised in 1920 and given by Dan Godfrey at Bournemouth in 1923.[8] White also contributed a movement to Captions: Five Glimpses of an Anonymous Theme (1923), a suite with other movements by Herbert Bedford, Arthur Bliss, Eugene Goossens and Gerrard Williams.[9]
But chamber music and songs were his primary focus after the war.[2] Two chamber works won the Carnegie Trust award and were published in the Carnegie Collection of British Music series, The Nymph's Complaint (1921) and Four Proverbs (1925). There have been three recordings of The Nymph's Complaint.[10] His (second?) String Quartet was performed by the Lyra Quartet for the first time in 1935 and broadcast by the BBC.[11] Up to 250 songs and vocal works were composed but only 50 or so published and the rest mostly lost.
List of compositionsedit
Orchestral
Shylock, overture (1907)
Polonaise (1908)
Astarte Syriaca, tone poem (1909)
Meditation (1911, revised 1920)
Suite, four movements (1913)
Impressions of England, suite (1918)
Fanfare for a Challenge to Accepted Ideas, brass (1921)[12]
The Mermaid Tavern, a revel for orchestra (1921) (broadcast 30 October 1936)[13]
To Miranda, serenade for string orchestra (1921)
The Deserted Village, tone poem after Goldsmith (1923)
Two Idylls for small orchestra ('Indoor' and 'Outdoor') (1923)
Arietta (1929)
Nocturne (1936)
Rhapsody on English Airs (1936, first broadcast 29 October 1937)[14]
Overture (1937)
Rhapsody No 2 (based on Irish airs) (1938)
Two English Dances
Cakes and Ale: suite
La Charmante, for piano and small orchestra
Chamber
Romance in D for cello and piano (1907)
Cello Sonata (1910)
The Nymph's Complaint for the Death of her Fawn, poem (after Andrew Marvell) for oboe (or violin), viola and piano (1921)
Dawn study for 12 Cellos (1922, written for Herbert Waleau's cello school)
Trio for oboe (or violin, viola) and piano (1922)
Four Japanese Proverbs for flute, oboe, violin, viola, and cello (1922)
^"Captions", in The Land of Lost Content, 14 March, 2012
^Poetic Inspirations, Cedille Records CDR90000102 (2008): 20th Century English Music for Oboe, CG9326 (2013): Wordless Verses, Oberlin Music OC1603 (2016)
felix, harold, white, april, 1884, january, 1945, english, composer, music, teacher, pianist, contents, early, career, post, works, list, compositions, references, external, linksearly, career, editwhite, born, fetcham, surrey, into, jewish, family, originally. Felix Harold White 27 April 1884 31 January 1945 was an English composer music teacher and pianist 1 Contents 1 Early career and war 2 Post war 3 Works 4 List of compositions 5 References 6 External linksEarly career and war editWhite was born in Fetcham Surrey into a Jewish family originally called Weiss 2 He was the oldest of five children and initially worked with his coal merchant father and his brothers transporting coal around Surrey But his mother had taught him piano from the age of five and he made rapid progress and soon developed a career as a music teacher Other than that he was largely self taught though Hubert Parry took an interest in his work and helped secure some early performances In 1914 White married Marta Scholten a Swiss German and in 1916 he registered as a conscientious objector For the rest of the war he was sent off away from his family to work on a farm in Cornwall and then to another farm in Hemel Hempstead His Fanfare for a Challenge to Accepted Ideas of 1921 was inspired by his resistance to the war and militarism 3 Post war editBefore and during the war White was living in Kingston upon Thames 4 During the 1920s White and his family were living at 28 Hilldrop Crescent London N7 5 Between 1933 and 1935 White played with the London Philharmonic Orchestra as piano harpsichord and celeste player and as a repetiteur at Covent Garden under Sir Thomas Beecham He published A Dictionary of Musical Terms 1934 wrote composer monographs and edited the piano works of Scriabin There was some renewed attention to White s orchestral output from the BBC in the late 1930s but then came the Second World War and his composition tailed off He became somewhat embittered about the lack of interest in his serious works 2 He died in London Works editOne of his first successes as a composer was a performance of his orchestral overture Shylock under Henry Wood at the Proms on 26 September 1907 6 The composer described it as a little Straussy here and there but it was well received by the Proms audience with White called back to the platform three times His Romance in D for cello and piano was also performed in December 1907 at the Bechstein Hall alongside pieces by George Dyson Joseph Holbrooke and Hubert Bath 2 And the orchestral tone poem Astarte Syriaca a musical commentary on a sonnet by Rossetti secured its first performance at a Queen s Hall Patron s Fund concert on 23 January 1911 7 Further orchestral works followed the ending of the war including the orchestral Impressions of England written for the 1918 Proms but seemingly not performed a tone poem The Deserted Village 1923 unperformed and the first performance of Meditation first planned in 1911 revised in 1920 and given by Dan Godfrey at Bournemouth in 1923 8 White also contributed a movement to Captions Five Glimpses of an Anonymous Theme 1923 a suite with other movements by Herbert Bedford Arthur Bliss Eugene Goossens and Gerrard Williams 9 But chamber music and songs were his primary focus after the war 2 Two chamber works won the Carnegie Trust award and were published in the Carnegie Collection of British Music series The Nymph s Complaint 1921 and Four Proverbs 1925 There have been three recordings of The Nymph s Complaint 10 His second String Quartet was performed by the Lyra Quartet for the first time in 1935 and broadcast by the BBC 11 Up to 250 songs and vocal works were composed but only 50 or so published and the rest mostly lost List of compositions editOrchestral Shylock overture 1907 Polonaise 1908 Astarte Syriaca tone poem 1909 Meditation 1911 revised 1920 Suite four movements 1913 Impressions of England suite 1918 Fanfare for a Challenge to Accepted Ideas brass 1921 12 The Mermaid Tavern a revel for orchestra 1921 broadcast 30 October 1936 13 To Miranda serenade for string orchestra 1921 The Deserted Village tone poem after Goldsmith 1923 Two Idylls for small orchestra Indoor and Outdoor 1923 Arietta 1929 Nocturne 1936 Rhapsody on English Airs 1936 first broadcast 29 October 1937 14 Overture 1937 Rhapsody No 2 based on Irish airs 1938 Two English Dances Cakes and Ale suite La Charmante for piano and small orchestraChamber Romance in D for cello and piano 1907 Cello Sonata 1910 The Nymph s Complaint for the Death of her Fawn poem after Andrew Marvell for oboe or violin viola and piano 1921 Dawn study for 12 Cellos 1922 written for Herbert Waleau s cello school Trio for oboe or violin viola and piano 1922 Four Japanese Proverbs for flute oboe violin viola and cello 1922 Romance for violin and piano 1928 Habanera for flute and piano 1929 Suite for four horns 1934 String Quartet 1935 Orison for four cellos 1937 Poem for cello and piano Three piano quintets Trio in C minor for flute viola and harp 1942 Piano Thereby hangs a Tale 1913 The Tangles of Neaera s Hair 1914 Cajolery 1917 Time s Bitter Flood 1923 The Blossoming Idyll 1925 Diversions suite for piano 1929 Off for the holidays suite for piano 1930 A Dickens Notebook Neptune and Amphitrite Robinson Crusoe Suite 15 approximately 100 pieces and six suites for piano 11 Vocal I look into the eyes I love solo song 1911 New life new love solo song 1911 Golden Slumbers solo song 1921 The Northern Star song 1921 Stephano s Song from The Tempest solo song 1922 The Song of the Minutes and Little Bo Peep for children s chorus and piano 1923 We cobblers lead a merry life part song for men s voices 1923 The Cockle Boat a musical vision for children in one act 1923 From the mountains to the champaign unison chorus and piano 1928 also many choral pieces part songs solo songs 250 composed 50 or so published 16 References edit Baker s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians a b c d Stewart R Craggs Felix White A Centenary Note in The Musical Times April 1984 p 207 8 Felix Harold White from The Men Who Said No Conscientious Objectors 1916 19 Surrey Advertiser 9 August 1916 The Musical Times October 1926 p 934 BBC Proms performance archive The Musical Times March 1911 p 187 Radio Times issue 740 5 December 1937 p 88 Captions in The Land of Lost Content 14 March 2012 Poetic Inspirations Cedille Records CDR90000102 2008 20th Century English Music for Oboe CG9326 2013 Wordless Verses Oberlin Music OC1603 2016 a b Radio Times issue 612 23 June 1935 p 24 Score at IMSLP Radio Times Issue 682 23 October 1936 p 74 Radio Times Issue 734 24 October 1937 p 78 Wier Albert E The Piano its history makers players and music 1940 p 207 Holbrooke Joseph Contemporary British Composers 1925 pp 247 252External links editThe Nymph s Complaint soloist Pauline Oostenrijk Free scores by Felix Harold White at the International Music Score Library Project IMSLP Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Felix Harold White amp oldid 1212551951, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
