Algernon Bennet Langton Ashton (9 December 1859 – 10 April 1937) was a British composer, pianist, and Professor of piano at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

1884–1910. Ashton was born in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

. He studied at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

as a pupil of

Carl Reinecke Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (23 June 182410 March 1910) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist in the mid-Romantic era. Biography Reinecke was born in what is today the Hamburg district of Altona; technically he was born a Dane, as ...

and

Theodor Coccius Theodor Coccius (8 March 1824 – 24 October 1897) was a German pianist and pedagogue. Coccius was born in Knauthain near Leipzig in 1824. He was a pupil of Sigismond Thalberg. He taught at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1864 for the rest of his ...

. He later studied at

Hoch Conservatory Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on 22 September 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for ...

in Frankfurt under

Joachim Raff Joseph Joachim Raff (27 May 182224 or 25 June 1882) was a German-Swiss composer, pedagogue and pianist. Biography Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. His father, a teacher, had fled there from Württemberg in 1810 to escape forced recruitme ...

. He was a prolific composer in many instrumental genres. His published works exceeded 160, but there were many other unpublished works, some of which are lost. These included five symphonies, a piano concerto, a violin concerto, 24 piano sonatas, one in each key, and 24 string quartets along the same lines. The orchestral version of his ''Three English Dances'' was heard at

The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in October 1912. Modern recordings of four of the highly virtuosic piano sonatas and two cello sonatas have been released. The ''Tarantella'' for clarinet, Op. 107, has also been recorded.Colin Bradbury and Oliver Davies. ''The Victorian Clarinet Tradition'', Clarinet Classics CC0022 (1997) In later years he became well known for his many letters to English newspapers concerning the upkeep of the graves of distinguished people.''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 5th ed, 1954, Vol. I, p. 241 These letters were published in two volumes - ''Truth Wit and Wisdom'' and ''More Truth Wit and Wisdom'' published by

Chapman & Hall Chapman & Hall is an imprint owned by CRC Press, originally founded as a British publishing house in London in the first half of the 19th century by Edward Chapman and William Hall. Chapman & Hall were publishers for Charles Dickens (from 1840 ...

. Ashton was also well known for keeping a daily diary for the majority of his life from the age of 15 running to some 58 volumes. The diaries and the unpublished works are believed to have been destroyed during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

when his family home was hit by German bombs.

Recordings

* ''Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1'', Leslie De’ath, Dutton Epoch CDLX 7248 (2010) ** No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 164 (published 1925) ** No. 5 in F Sharp, Op. 168 ** No. 6 in A Minor, Op. 170 ** No. 8 in F, Op. 174 (published 1926) ** 4 Klavierstücke, Op. 72 ** Nocturne und Menuet, Op. 39 (published 1888) * ''Piano Works Vol. 1'', Daniel Grimwood, Toccata Classics TOCC0063 (2010) ** Nocturne and Menuet, Op.39 ** Sonata No.4 in D minor, Op.164 ** Sonata No. 8 in F major, Op.174 ** Vier Bagatellen, Op.79 (published 1892) * ''Music for Cello and Piano, Vol.1'', Emma Abbate, Evva Mizerska, Toccata Classics TOCC0143 (2012) ** ''Arioso'', Op. 43 (published 1889) ** Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 6 (published 1880) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in G major, Op. 75 (1885) ** Phantasiestücke, Op. 12 (published 1883) *''The Victorian Clarinet Tradition'', Colin Bradbury and Oliver Davies, Clarinet Classics CC0022 (1997) **''Tarantella'' for clarinet, Op. 107

References

External links

* * A 2004 partial reprint of 2 articles that first appeared in ''Musical Opinion'' and ''The Musical Standard'' in 1906 and 1907. 1859 births 1937 deaths British composers Academics of the Royal College of Music People from Durham, England University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni {{UK-composer-stub