Unsungs who would have become famous

[Marcus]

Gareth Vaughan mentions William Baines.(1899-1922).  A few years ago, I recieved a CD of his Symphony in C minor op.10 (1917).  A live performance was  recorded in 1992 by the Airedale Symphony Orchestra conducted by George Kennaway. I believe it was a private recording issued by Mr Kennaway.
The symphony is a fairly uneven work of four movements lasting 47'35", and if Baines had lived longer, I am sure he would have revised it, however, I appreciate Mr Kennaway's efforts to have it recorded. Any effort to bring such neglected works to public attention, no matter what quality, is to be applauded.

[peter_conole]

Hi all

Another couple to add. Frederick Septimus Kelly (1881-1916), an Australian who went to England to complete his education and settled there, except for a musical home-visit or two. He was an Olympic Games Gold medalist in 1908. He joined the Royal Navy Reserve in 1914 when war broke, mainly to serve with some of his British mates, including the poet Rupert Brooke. He ended up as an officer in the Royal Navy Division (which did its fighting on land, from what I can make out) and received the Distinguished Service Cross for valour at Gallipoli in 1915. He was killed while leading an attack during the Somme campaign of 1916. He was a good pianist and respected composer - more promising than Butterworth, according to the liner notes of a disc featuring his Elegy for Strings 'In Memoriam Rupert Brooke'. A really nice piece. At least one song (text by Shakespeare) has made it into recorded form. Anyone know of anything else?

The other is William Denis Browne (1888-1915), British composer friend of Rupert Brooke and Kelly. A noted pianist, organist and music critic. Killed at Gallipoli.

regards
Peter

[Marcus]

peter_conole thanks for reminding me of F.S.Kelley an "unsung aussie".
We are happy to call him an Australian, although, like many of that generation of Australians, he spent his formative years in England. There has been very little written about him, but the reported quality of his small repertoire would suggest that he would have been a major musical talent.
He was born in Double Bay, Sydney,NSW,Australia, on 29/5/1881. He was from a wealthy family & was sent to Engalnd for his schooling at Eton & Oxford. His goal was to become a great  pianist & great composer. From 1903-1908 he attended the Hoch Konservatorium in Frankfurt, Germany.At Oxford, he was a pupil of Donald Tovey and in Frankfurt, the renowned master of counterpoint and fugue, Iwan Knorr. With that pedigree, it is easy to see that he would have become a great composer, and the few works which he did manage, confirms this. I remember reading in Cobbett, mention some of his chamber works. He was a member of the rowing eights at Eton & Oxford, & won a gold medal at the 1908 Olympics.
When the Great War broke out, he enlisted in the Hood Battalion of the Royal Navy, and in 1915,was sent to the Dardenelles on the "Grantully Castle", together with his close friend ,poet Rupert Brooke. Brooke died of septicemia, and Kelly joined the Gallipoli campaign two days later. He attained the rank of Lieutenant-Commander. (not bad for a musician !)
Kelly wrote his "Elegy in Memory of Brooke"a few months later. It is for divided strings, harp & solo violin, and has a  melancholy reminiscent of V.W.'s Tallis Fantasia. A truly beautiful work, which has been broadcast on the ABC a few times recently.
Other works by Kelly, in addition to the Elegy, are Theme,Variation & Fugue for 2 pianos, Serenade for Solo Flute & Small Orchestra, ( 5 mvts), Sonata in G minor for Violin & Piano,Monographs, (piano), Allegro de Concert, (piano),
String Quartet ?, String Trio ?, plus songs. (The last two items mentioned ,were, from memory, listed in Cobbetts famous work, but I do not have access to those volumes here in Albury, but I do remember reading the critique of Kelly's chamber works 20+ years ago.) hopefully, someone will fill in the missing pieces for me.
He was very close to his friend Rupert Brookes, and a description of Brooke's burial & last resting place,( Skyros,nr Greece) is a poignant reminder of his ability as a writer:
"It was a most moving experience.The small olive grove in the narrow valley and the scent of wild sage, gave a strong classical tone which was so in harmony with the poet we were burying, that to some of us, the Christian ceremony seemed out of keeping..... The body lies looking down the valley towards the harbour, and, from behind, an olive bends itself over the grave as though sheltering it from the sun and rain.No more fitting resting place for a poet could be found than this small grove, and it seems as though the gods had jealously snatched him away to enrich thsi small island"
If anyone has further information about F.S.Kelly, and any other compositons not listed, I would be grateful.
Cheers!

My references for this article: John Carmody, (ABC 24 Hours magazine article 4/02, Groves (5th Ed.)

[Gareth Vaughan]

I'd very much like to hear William Baines' symphony. Marcus, do you know how I can get hold of a copy of the CD George Kennnaway produced, please?

[Marcus]

A few more for the list:
Leo Smit 1900-1943, (Dutch) (symphony in C on the NM label)
Walter Leigh 1905-1942 England
P.O.Ferroud 1900-1936 (France)
E.Bache 1833-1858 (England)
L.Boellman 1862-1897 (France)
M.K.Ciurlionis 1875-1911 (Lithuania)
J.M.Kraus 1756-1792 (Sweden)
V.Bellini 1801-1835 (Italy)
A.V.Stanchinsky 1888-1914 (Russia)
C.T.Griffes 1884-1920 (USA)
J.S.Schroeter 1752-1788  (Saxony)
A.Catalani  1854-1893 (Italy)

[Marcus]

Hello Gareth Vaughan,
I found details fof Baine's symphony, a few years ago while looking for more details of a symphony, which I thought, at best, would only be an incomplete manuscript.
On the Len Mullenger web-site, I found the details of a live performance from 1991,by Airedale S.O. with George Kellaway. I e-mailed Len, who in turn advised me to contact George Kellaway direct. George was kind enough to send me a CD of the performance.
Here is the address which I had :
[Address removed - email Mark Thomas if you want it]
E-mail: musigwk@leeds.ac.uk

Also Len Mullenger's (MusicWeb) e-mail address: Len@musicweb-international .com

If you do not have any success, let me know, and I will do my best to help. I am not going to say,I will burn a copy, as it may be copyright, however let me know if you have difficulty, and I'll take it from there.
Please send me your private e-mail address if this  happens.
All the best.
Marcus.

[thalbergmad]

George was still distributing the CD about 2 years ago when I enquired.

For some reason I did not purchase it.

Thal

[Gareth Vaughan]

Thank you very much, Marcus.

[Hovite]

Hans Rott was also a great loss. Mahler described him as a genius,

Gustav's brother Otto studied under Bruckner and was apparently considered by Gustav as gifted but lazy. His symphonies do not appear to have survived.

[Alan Howe]

The current e-mail address for George Kennaway is:
G.W.Kennaway@leeds.ac.uk

[Steven Eldredge]

David,

I was going to second the mention of Lekeu, but you beat me to it. I have loved his Violin Sonata for many years. So much fire to it. I really think he would have become something terrific.

I do second the mention of Lili Boulanger, who was an extraordinary talent.

Speaking of Mozart, Schubert and the other greats who died young, I always find it in a way heartening that they developed so precosciously, as though they knew they didn't have much time. Other composers, Verdi comes to mind, lived a long life and in his case, he seemed to need that time for his long and amazing progression from the earliest operas to such masterpieces as Otello and Falstaff. If he had died at Schubert's age, he would be the merest footnote in musical history. So perhaps in an odd way it all balances out. Who can say?

[Marcus]

In 2002, Timpani released a CD of music by Gabriel Dupont(1878-1914).He was plagued by ill health for most of his life, succumbing to TB in 1914. He wrote operas, symphonic poems, string quartet, piano quintet, piano pieces & songs.
The two items on this disc are the Poeme, for piano & string quartet, and for piano La Maison Dans Les Dunes.
The latter piece,a suite in 10 parts is reminiscent of Faure.It is beautiful gentle music, and I commend it to any who do not know it.

Marcus.

[Marcus]

Just a final anecdote re F.S.Kelly (1881-1916):
Pablo Casals, who played in chamber music ensemles with him,  wrote in his memoirs:
"whenever I was invited for a weekend to the country home of businessman & musical philanthropist, Sir Edgar Speyer, I always took my tennis racquet, in the hope of a game with Kelly, who played like a professional."
F.S.Kelly was, therefore, one of those rare geniuses who excelled in everything he did, and as well as music, he excelled in every sport he chose to play. An enormous loss to music & sport.His career in the Royal Navy would also have reached great heights, as he was a proven leader of men.

Marcus.

[Marcus]

Mention of Nicolai's symphonies reminds me of two early symphonies written by F.Herold in his youth. ( I suppose age 22 & 23 is youthful enough - Mozart spoilt it for evryone !)
A CD was released by Dynamic (#CDS-282) in 2001. The works on the dics are:
Symphony no1 in C major  (1813) and Symphony no2 in D major (1814). plus Le Pre aux Clercs & zampa overtures.
The symphonies are obviously student exercises and deserve to be heard at least once.

[Marcus]

My brother has alerted me to a Finnish composer, whose name I didn't know,(another one - I am learning something every day) :
Heikki Suolahti. I am posting the details which he sent.He didn't provide a source.
"Heikki Suolahti (2/2/1920- 27/12/1936), who died at the early age of 16, was one of the greatest prodigies in the history of Finnish music. His musical talent was oriented towards extensive work from the very first in an exceptional way, and within a short space of time, he composed a Symphony, Violin Concerto, (1934)two String quartets,a Piano quintet, Agne dei for voice & orchestra, (1936),and some minor pieces. He also began work on an opera, Parttylin yo, (St Batholomew's night),a ballet Uponnut kaupunki, (Sunken City),a second Symphony, a Piano Concerto and several Orchestral Tone Poems, but these remain unfinished.
Suolahti grew up in a musically enlightened home, where his talent was nurtured. He studied the piano, the organ and theory of music at Helsinki Conservatory from 1929-1936. His theory teacher,Arvo Laitinen, was a known Wagnerian, aned he imbued his young pupil with his enthusiasm. Suolahti saw performances of most of Wagner's operas, knew the Leitmotifs of the Ring Cycle by heart, and had been promised a trip to the Bayreuth festival in the summer of 1937, as a school leaving present, but the trip never materialised.
Sinfonia piccola:
Although Wagner was Suolahti's great idol, Wagner's musical influence can scarcely be detected in his works. His major work is the fully romantic Sinfonia piccola in B minor of 1935. Though written by a budding composer of 15 years, it is a mature four movement work, full of freshness. It was later published in the USA (1959),and it has remained in the repertoire of youth orchestras both in th USA & Europe. It has been considered particularly suitable for young musicians because of its youthful lively idiom, and the gratifying part-writing, with solos for all instruments.
When Heikki Suolahti died in December 1936, none of his compositions had ever been performed in public. His music was first heard at his funeral. The first public performance of his music took place at the memorial matinee conducted by Tauno Hannikainen in February 1938; on the program were Sinfonia piccola and three songs orchestrated by Hannikainen.
After the concert, Sibelius wrote to Suolahti's mother :
I cannot get your son's symphony (Symphony piccola) out of my mind. It made a profound impression on me, having both aptitude and heart. It is certain that in Heikki Suolahti ,Finland lost one of her greatest musical talents. "
He earns a brief mention in Groves & Oscar Thompson's Cyclopedia, and I have not yet unearthed any detail as to the cause of his early death. Does anyone know ?
What a massive loss to the musical world !
Cheers !
Marcus