Ferruccio Zernitz Bonavia (20 February 18775 February 1950) was an Italian born violinist, composer and critic who spent his working life in England.Obituary, ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 91, No. 1285 (March 1950), pp. 101-102
Born in Trieste (then part of Austria-Hungary), Bonavia was the son of a musician, Eduardo Zernitz. He studied music in his home town and later in Milan. He moved to England at the age of 20 and was naturalised two years later. As a practising musician he played violin in the Halle Orchestra under Hans Richter from 1902 until 1912. Willy Hess, the orchestra's leader, was also his teacher. He married Hilda Anne Tucker in July 1907. During the 1914-18 war he served as a private soldier and worked at the Foreign Office, furthering Anglo-Italian relations.
Bonavia is best remembered as a music critic and author. Before the war he worked for the ''
Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' under C P Scott and (from 1920 until his death) for the ''
Daily Telegraph
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
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'' in London, where he worked for the first ten years under chief music critic
Robin Legge
Robin Humphrey Legge (28 June 1862 - 6 April 1933) was an English music writer, the chief music critic of ''The Daily Telegraph'' between 1906 and 1931.The New York Times'', '' The Musical Times'', ''Music and Letters'' and contributed to reference books including '' Grove's Dictionary of Music'' and Kobbe's ''
Complete Opera Book
''The Complete Opera Book'' is a guide to operas by American music critic and author Gustav Kobbé first published (posthumously) in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom in 1922. A revised edition from 1954 by the George Lascelles, 7t ...
''. His book ''Musicians in Elysium'' contains imaginary conversations with composers of the past.
His compositions included a Violin Concerto (1911, premiered in
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
with the composer as soloist), chamber music (including a string octet and two string quartets, the first composed in 1909, the second completed in 1950 only a month before his death), and some songs, including a choral setting of Shelley's ''Autumn'' (1935).
Bonavia lived at various locations in London, including 352 Kew Road, Kew from 1914 to 1919, and 41
Royal Crescent
The Royal Crescent is a row of 30 terraced houses laid out in a sweeping Crescent (architecture), crescent in the city of Bath, Somerset, Bath, England. Designed by the architect John Wood, the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774, it is a ...
, Holland Park, from 1919 to 1928.
At the end of his life Bonavia's address was 39
Belsize Park Gardens
Belsize Park is an affluent residential area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden (the inner north-west of London), England.
The residential streets are lined with mews houses and Georgian and Victorian villas. Some nearby localities ar ...
, London NW3. He died in London, survived by his wife and their two sons.
His son, Dr Michael Robert Bonavia (1909–1999) had a long career in the transport industry and wrote over 20 books, including ''Economics of Transport'' (1936) and ''The Four Great Railways'' (1980).Michael Bonavia biography, Science Museum /ref>
Books
* ''Verdi'' (1930, rev. 1947)
* ''Mozart'' (1938, Novello Short Biography)
* ''Rossini'' (1941, Novello Short Biography)
* 'The Solo Instrument', in A.L. Bacharach (ed.) ''The Musical Companion'' (1941)
* ''Musicians in Elysium'' (1949), With illustrations by Beatrice MacDermott.
* ''Musicians on Music'' (1956), anthology prepared for the press by Frank Howes.