Edith Ellen Furmedge (London, 27 March 1890—London, 9 October 1956) was a British operatic

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

and singing teacher. After secondary school she attended

Homerton College, Cambridge Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the co ...

to train as a teacher. While in attendance she took up singing and abandoned a career in teaching. She studied with

Dinh Gilly Dinh Gilly (19 July 1877 – 19 May 1940) was a French-Algerian operatic baritone and teacher. Biography He studied in Toulouse, Rome (with Antonio Cotogni), and at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he won a first prize in 1902. That same year ...

whom she eventually married on 2 June 1932. The first mention of Furmedge in the ''

Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...

'' from 1921 speaks of her as a participating soloist the Sheffield Amateur Musical Society. Endowed with a powerful voice she obtained small parts in

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

. She participated in early acoustic recordings of excerpts from The Ring.Discus robably Herman Klein "Gramophone Notes," ''Musical Times'' (Vol. 64, Apr. 1, 1923), p. 249. Reviewing one of her earliest performances, a highly astute critic in the ''

'' reported:

Miss Edith Furmedge, a contralto, sang on March 21, and excited considerable interest in her prospects. Her gifts are well above the ordinary. It is a stately voice. (The singer's stately presence was no disadvantage either.) She has the power to sing with the depth of a full contralto and the means to relieve the heaviness of such singing at appropriate moments. There was a fine fervour, a ready interpretative wit. miss Furmedge's voice was placed where it could tell most vividly, and there was a ring of decision in her tones. in the ''
Alto Rhapsody The ''Alto Rhapsody'', Op. 53, is a composition for contralto, male chorus, and orchestra by Johannes Brahms, a setting of verses from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's '' Harzreise im Winter''. It was written in 1869, as a wedding gift for Robert ...
'' of Brahms she made a particular impressions. The way of this singer toward a still higher accomplishment will be by closer attention to detail. She needs to loosen certain vowels and sharpen her diction. And she showed a habit f lungeing at detached upper notes. her v's, among other consonants, needed vivifying. Certain items of Miss Furmedge's programme were a trifle disconcerting, as indicating a not very assured taste.

She sang regularly under

Sir Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the The Proms, Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introd ...

in London and at provincial festivals. By the 1930s she was appearing regularly as Erda and Fricka in ''The Ring''. In addition to Wood, she sang under

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the Un ...

Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major ...

, Albert Coates and others. She was a member of the

British National Opera Company The British National Opera Company presented opera in English in London and on tour in the British provinces between 1922 and 1929. It was founded in December 1921 by singers and instrumentalists from Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham's Beecham O ...

. Her participation in radio broadcasts helped raise her profile among the public. As noted in her obituary, "her impressive voice and majestic sense of style came over particularly well on the air." After a hiatus she returned to singing the Wagnerian roles in 1948–49. For many years she taught in the "music school" (actually their studio) her husband Dinh Gilly, had established, and continued teaching after his death in 1940. Her obituary in ''Opera'' magazine noted her "refreshing sense of calm" that she imparted to others. Furmedge's self-effacing character provided a sense of ease to her students and the many who came in contact with her.

References

Sources

*"Furmedge, Edith" Algemene Muziek Encyclopedie, 19800101, Vol. 3 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Furmedge, Edith 1898 births 1956 deaths English contraltos 20th-century British women opera singers