Editha Grace Knocker (2 March 1869 – 19 September 1950) was an English violinist, conductor, teacher and author.

Early life

Knocker was born in

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, the youngest of six children of Royal Navy officer Hugh Horatio Knocker and Rosa Hensley (sister of

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

politician Joseph Hensley). When Knocker was born her father was patrolling the coast of

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

as commander of the gun vessel . He died of a fever at sea four months after Knocker's birth. Knocker studied the violin with Joseph Joachim in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

from 1889 to 1890. Upon her return to England she settled in York, where her mother lived, and taught at various schools, including The Mount School. A diagnosis of

neuritis Neuritis () is inflammation of a nerve or the general inflammation of the peripheral nervous system. Inflammation, and frequently concomitant demyelination, cause impaired transmission of neural signals and leads to aberrant nerve function. Neurit ...

in her arm thwarted her plans for a career as a solo performer.

Teaching career

In 1898, along with T. Tertius Noble, she was one of the co-founders of the York Symphony Orchestra. She was one of the conductors of the orchestra and also played the role of lead violin. In 1913 Knocker was invited to be an assistant to Leopold Auer at the

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...

, but had to return to England on the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914. At the end of the war she moved to

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

in London. She taught at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

where her pupils included

Watson Forbes Watson Douglas Buchanan Forbes (16 November 1909 in St Andrews – 25 June 1997 in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire) was a Scottish violist and classical music arranger. From 1964 to 1974 he was Head of Music for BBC Scotland. Early life Wats ...

and

Sidney Griller Sidney Griller CBE (10 January 1911 – 20 November 1993) was an English violinist. He was leader of the Griller Quartet from 1928 to 1963, and a teacher of chamber music at the Royal Academy of Music. Life Griller was born in 1911; his parents ...

. In 1919 she conducted the New Queen's Hall Orchestra at Wigmore Hall. In 1926 Knocker set up her own music school in Finchley Road. Pupils included Leah Willoughby,

Gerald Finzi Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...

, Phyllis Ebsworth,

Basil Cameron Basil Cameron, CBE (18 August 1884 – 26 June 1975) was an English conductor. Early career He was born Basil George Cameron HindenbergW.L. Jacob, "Hindenburg v. Cameron" (Letter to the Editor) (1991). ''The Musical Times'', 132 (1782), p. ...

, Jean Stewart, Mary Ibberson and Sybil Eaton. When Mary Ibberson set up the first Rural Music School, based in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...

, in 1929, Knocker was a member of the advisory board. In 1932 ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' published a letter from Knocker and her friend Edith Croll with the title "Good violins lying idle". The authors wrote:

All those familiar with the teaching of music are aware of the difficulties experienced by advanced students in purchasing adequate instruments and of the discouragement experienced in consequence. There must be many good violins and violas lying idle and unused in homes throughout the country, whose owners, for sentimental or other reasons. have no wish to sell them, but who would be glad to lend them to serious students.

There was an encouraging response and Knocker and Croll were able to found the Violin Loan Scheme, which evolved into the Instrument Loan Scheme of the

Benslow Music Trust Benslow Music Trust is a charitable trust established to promote music education. The trust is based in the Benslow area of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England, and primarily operates as an adult education college. Under its trading name of Be ...

Later life

At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1939, Knocker and Croll moved to Croll's estate Samalaman in

Glenuig Glenuig ( , gd, Gleann Ùige) is a small village in Moidart, Lochaber, Highland, on the west coast of Scotland. It is around west of Fort William and from Ardnamurchan Point. Geography Glenuig is a tiny community of just over thirty folk lo ...

on the west coast of Scotland. There Knocker translated Leopold Mozart's ''A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing'' from the German. Knocker died aged 81 at Glenuig.

Publications

In 1921 Knocker published her first book, ''The Making of a Violinist'', followed a year later by ''The Violin''. Knocker's translation of Leopold Mozart's ''A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing'' was published in 1948. Knocker's book ''Violinist's Vade Mecum'' was published posthumously in 1952.

References

External links

Photographs of Edith Croll's estate at Glenuig, with some showing Editha Knocker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knocker, Editha 1869 births 1950 deaths 20th-century British conductors (music) English conductors (music) British women conductors (music) English classical violinists Violin pedagogues Women classical violinists 20th-century English women musicians British music educators British women music educators 20th-century classical violinists