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1949 In British Music
This is a summary of 1949 in music in the United Kingdom. Events *February – On hearing of the death of Ernest Walker, Albert Schweitzer writes: "Now the dear, gentle, kind, distinguished Dr. Walker has left this life. Seeing him impressed me deeply each time." *14 July – Kathleen Ferrier performs in the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's ''Spring Symphony'' in Amsterdam, with Eduard van Beinum and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, a work written specifically for her. *5 September – Wagnerian tenor Walter Widdop makes his last appearance at The Proms, singing an aria from ''Lohengrin'', only one day before his sudden death. *''date unknown'' – The Tempo Records jazz record label is founded by Colin Pomroy, Jack Clough, and R.E.G. (Ron) Davies. Popular music *"Snowy White Snow and Jingle Bells" by Billy Reid, performed by Dorothy Squires *"The Wedding of Lili Marlene" by Tommie Connor Classical music: new works *Malcolm Arnold – Symphony No. 1 *Havergal Brian – Symph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 170 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian (born William Brian; 29 January 187628 November 1972) was an English composer. He is best known for having composed 32 symphonies (an unusually high total for a 20th-century composer), most of them late in his life. His best-known work is his Symphony No. 1, ''The Gothic'', which calls for some of the largest orchestral forces demanded by a conventionally structured concert work. He also composed five operas and a number of other orchestral works, as well as songs, choral music and a small amount of chamber music. Brian enjoyed a period of popularity earlier in his career and rediscovery in the 1950s, but public performances of his music have remained rare and he has been described as a cult composer. He continued to be extremely productive late into his career, composing large works even into his nineties, most of which remained unperformed during his lifetime. Life Early life William Brian (he adopted the name "Havergal" from a family of hymn-writers, of whom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Irving
Kelville Ernest Irving (6 November 1878 – 24 October 1953) was an English music director, conductor and composer, primarily remembered as a theatre musician in London between the wars, and for his key contributions to British film music as music director at Ealing Studios from the 1930s to the 1950s. Early life Irving was born in Godalming, Surrey, and from the age of seven sang in the choir at Godalming Parish Church. He attended Charterhouse School.Lamb, Andrew'Irving, (Kelville) Ernest'in ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004) Other than that he was self-taught, and began his career applying for music director jobs advertised in ''The Stage''. His first professional job conducting an orchestra was for the musical burlesque ''Villiano the Vicious'' at the Theatre Royal, Maidenhead in 1895. He then spent the next two decades learning his trade by touring with productions (of variable quality) all around the UK - in his own words conducting "third rate opera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fredric March
Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary ''Variety'', April 16, 1975, page 95. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for '' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' (1931) and ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (1946), as well as the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for ''Years Ago'' (1947) and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'' (1956). March is one of only two actors, the other being Helen Hayes, to have won both the Academy Award and the Tony Award twice. Early life March was born in Racine, Wisconsin, the son of Cora Brown Marcher (1863–1936), a schoolteacher from England, and John F. Bickel (1859–1941), a devout Presbyterian Church elder who worked in the wholesale hardware business. March attended the Winslow Elementary School (established in 1855), Racine High School, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Columbus (1949 Film)
''Christopher Columbus'' is a 1949 British biographical film starring Fredric March as Christopher Columbus and Florence Eldridge as Queen Isabella. It is loosely based on the 1941 novel ''Columbus'' by Rafael Sabatini with much of the screenplay rewritten by Sydney and Muriel Box. Plot Christopher Columbus, an explorer from Genoa, Italy, arrives in Spain with his son seeking funds for a trip to India. He obtains an introduction at court from Father Perez, the former confessor for Queens Isabella. Columbus is opposed by Francisco de Bobadilla, who uses Beatriz to distract Columbus, However eventually the Queen agrees to finance Columbus's ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, on its journey. On the trip over, the crew threaten mutiny. Columbus promises to turn back if no land is found in three days. On the third night, Columbus sees a light and they reach the New World. Columbus returns to Spain a hero but continues to face opposition at court, even as his discoveries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Bliss
Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he quickly became known as an unconventional and Modernism (music), modernist composer, but within the decade he began to display a more traditional and romantic side in his music. In the 1920s and 1930s he composed extensively not only for the concert hall, but also for films and ballet. In the Second World War, Bliss returned to England from the US to work for the BBC and became its director of music. After the war he resumed his work as a composer, and was appointed Master of the Queen's Music. In Bliss's later years, his work was respected but was thought old-fashioned, and it was eclipsed by the music of younger colleagues such as William Walton and Benjamin Britten. Since his death, his compositions have been well represented in recordin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Lean
Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' (1957), ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962), ''Doctor Zhivago'' (1965), and ''A Passage to India'' (1984). He also directed the film adaptations of two Charles Dickens novels, '' Great Expectations'' (1946) and '' Oliver Twist'' (1948), as well as the romantic drama ''Brief Encounter'' (1945). Originally a film editor in the early 1930s, Lean made his directorial debut with 1942's '' In Which We Serve'', which was the first of four collaborations with Noël Coward. Beginning with '' Summertime'' in 1955, Lean began to make internationally co-produced films financed by the big Hollywood studios; in 1970, however, the critical failure of his film ''Ryan's Daughter'' led him to take a fourteen-year break from filmmaking, during which he pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Passionate Friends (1949 Film)
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun '' thee'') when followed by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Addinsell
Richard Stewart Addinsell (13 January 190414 November 1977) was an English composer, best known for film music, primarily his ''Warsaw Concerto'', composed for the 1941 film ''Dangerous Moonlight'' (also known under the later title ''Suicide Squadron''). Biography Early life Richard Addinsell was born in Woburn Square, London, to William Arthur Addinsell, who was a chartered accountant, and his wife, Annie Beatrice Richards.Lamb, Andrew (2004)'Addinsell, Richard Stewart (1904–1977)' ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 13 September 2011. The younger of two brothers, Addinsell was educated at home before attending Hertford College, Oxford, to study Law but went down after just 18 months. He then became interested in music. Early career In 1925, he enrolled at the Royal College of Music but lasted only two terms before leaving, again without obtaining any formal qualification. By this time Addinsell was already collaborating with Noel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pilgrim's Progress (opera)
''The Pilgrim's Progress'' is an opera by Ralph Vaughan Williams, based on John Bunyan's 1678 allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress''. The composer himself described the work as a 'Morality' rather than an opera. Nonetheless, he intended the work to be performed on stage, rather than in a church or cathedral. Vaughan Williams himself prepared the libretto, with interpolations from the Bible and also text from his second wife, Ursula Wood. His changes to the story included altering the name of the central character from 'Christian' to 'Pilgrim', so as to universalise the spiritual message. The musical gestation of this opera was protracted, and was reflected in a number of musical projects in Vaughan Williams' life. For example, his earlier one-act opera ''The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains'' from 1921 was incorporated into Act 4, Scene 2 of the later opera. His Symphony No. 5 also made use of themes originally conceived for his John Bunyan project. In 1940 he wrote a motet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over sixty years. Strongly influenced by Tudor music and English folk-song, his output marked a decisive break in British music from its German-dominated style of the 19th century. Vaughan Williams was born to a well-to-do family with strong moral views and a progressive social life. Throughout his life he sought to be of service to his fellow citizens, and believed in making music as available as possible to everybody. He wrote many works for amateur and student performance. He was musically a late developer, not finding his true voice until his late thirties; his studies in 1907–1908 with the French composer Maurice Ravel helped him clarify the textures of his music and free it from Music of Germany, Teutonic influences. Vaughan Williams i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Little Sweep
''The Little Sweep'', Op. 45, is an opera for children in three scenes by the English composer Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Eric Crozier. ''Let's Make an Opera!'' ''The Little Sweep'' is the second part of a stage production entitled ''Let's Make an Opera!''. The first part takes the form of a play in which the cast portray contemporary amateur performers conceiving, creating and rehearsing the opera. Intended as an introduction to and demystification of the operatic genre, the play also provides an opportunity to rehearse the audience in the four "Audience Songs" they will sing after the interval. The format of the play altered radically in the early months of its existence, passing through at least three versions (including one specially written for radio) utilising different approaches to the exposition. An initial version set "on the stage of any village hall" during an open dress-rehearsal for an already-written work morphs into one where the "Little Sweep" narrati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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