Stuart Angus Morrison

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(28 May 1902 - 23 January 1989) was an English pianist and teacher who played a significant role in the revival of British music during the inter-war years. Angus Morrison was born in Bray, near

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

, Berkshire into a musical family, and began playing piano at the age of four. At nine years old he began lessons with Harold Samuel. By 13 he was playing for Margaret Morris's dancing classes in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

.Greenfield, Edward. 'An inspiring teacher' in ''The Guardian'', 1 February 1989, p 47 At the age of 16 he was admitted to 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 ...

through an open scholarship. His composition teachers there were

Thomas Dunhill Thomas Frederick Dunhill (1 February 187713 March 1946) was a prolific English composer in many genres, though he is best known today for his light music and educational piano works. His compositions include much chamber music, a song cycle, '' ...

and

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 ...

, and his contemporaries included

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...

, with whom he enjoyed a lifelong friendship. While at the college, Morrison helped Lambert with the scenario for his early ballet ''Adam and Eve''. He was the dedicatee of Lambert's '' The Rio Grande'', and played the solo piano part in the first broadcast performance on 27 February 1928 from the BBC's Savoy Hill Studios. Through Lambert, Morrison also became a close friend of

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

, and offered help and advice to Walton while he was struggling with the composition of his

Viola Concerto A viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments such as an orchestra or chamber music ensemble. Early examples of viola concertos include Telemann's concerto in G major and several concertos by Carl St ...

and First Symphony. Angus Morrison lived at 9, Oakley Street in Chelsea. He made his London debut as a pianist in 1923 at the RCM, playing two pieces by Albéniz and the F minor sonata, Op. 5 by

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

, and made his

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 ...

debut in 1927. In 1926 he began teaching at the Royal College, carrying on for over 45 years until his retirement in 1972. From the mid-1930s he also played in a trio with violinist

Jean Pougnet Jean Pougnet (20 July 1907 – 14 July 1968) was a Mauritian-born concert violinist and orchestra leader, of British nationality, who was highly regarded in both the lighter and more serious classical repertoire during the first half of the twent ...

and cellist

Anthony Pini Carlos Antonio Pini Order of the British Empire, OBE (15 April 1902 – 1 January 1989) was a cello, cellist, known as a soloist, orchestral section leader and chamber musician. He was principal cellist of five major British orchestras between 1932 ...

. He was a champion of French and English music in particular, playing

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

Piano Concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

several times, including at the Proms in 1933. Morrison left no recordings. At the Royal College his pupils included

Armand D'Angour Armand D'Angour (born 23 November 1958) is a British classical scholar and classical musician, Professor of Classics at Oxford University and Fellow and Tutor in Classics at Jesus College, Oxford. His research embraces a wide range of areas acros ...

Ruth Dyson Ruth Suzanne Dyson (born 11 August 1957) is a former New Zealand politician. She was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2020. She represented the electorate from the election to 2020. She also held a number of senior offices i ...

Colin Horsley Colin Robert Horsley (23 April 1920 – 28 July 2012) was a New Zealand classical pianist and teacher who was based in the United Kingdom all his working life. He had a significant artistic association with the composer Sir Lennox Berkeley. Biog ...

John Lill John Richard Lill (born 17 March 1944 in London) is a British classical pianist. Biography Lill studied at the Royal College of Music with Angus Morrison, and with Wilhelm Kempff. His talent emerged at an early age, he gave his first piano rec ...

Alan Rowlands Alan Rowlands (1 March 1929 – 2 January 2012) was an English pianist (though born in Swansea, Wales) who made notable contributions to British musical life both as a teacher and as a performer. He obtained a degree in chemistry at Jesus Col ...

Melvyn Tan Melvyn Tan Ban Eng (; born 13 October 1956) is a Singapore-born British classical pianist, noted for his study of historical performance practice. From a young age, he went to England to study, first at the Yehudi Menuhin School when he was twelv ...

and Julius Drake. He was pianist for the Ballet Rambert from 1931–41 and was music director there between 1940 and 41. He was also an occasional actor, appearing as the pianist in the 1940 film ''

Gaslight Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either direct ...

''. Morrison was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in 1979. To mark his 80th birthday a concert was held at the Royal College of Music on 27 May, 1982, with Morrison once again performing the solo part of ''The Rio Grande'', soloist Mary Hart and the RCM chorus and orchestra conducted by

Sir David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambrid ...

.Royal College of Music programme, including notes on ''The Rio Grande'' by Angus Morrison

References

External links

National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Angus 1902 births 1989 deaths English classical pianists Male classical pianists Alumni of the Royal College of Music Academics of the Royal College of Music Piano pedagogues Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British male musicians