Francis Llewellyn Harrison, better known as "Frank Harrison" or "Frank Ll. Harrison" (29 September 1905 – 29 December 1987) was one of the leading
musicologists
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
of his time and a pioneering
ethnomusicologist
Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...
. Initially trained as an organist and composer, he turned to musicology in the early 1950s, first specialising in English and Irish music of the Middle Ages and increasingly turning to ethnomusicological subjects in the course of his career. His ''Music in Medieval Britain'' (1958) is still a standard work on the subject, and ''Time, Place and Music'' (1973) is a key textbook on ethnomusicology.
Education and early musical career
Born in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, Ireland, Harrison was the second son of Alfred Francis Harrison and Florence May, née Nash. The Welsh origin of his second given name, "Llewellyn", derives from his maternal grandmother, a Williams from Anglesey. He became a chorister at
St Patrick's Cathedral in 1912 and was educated at the cathedral grammar school (until 1920) and at
Mountjoy School
Mount Temple Comprehensive School is a secondary school in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under the patronage of the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, and has, as a primary objective, the provision of state-funded second-le ...
(1920–1922). A competent organist, he was deputy organist at St Patrick's from 1925 to 1928. In 1920, he also began musical studies at the
Royal Irish Academy of Music
The Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin, Ireland, is one of Europe's oldest music conservatoires, specialising in classical music and the Irish harp. It is located in a Georgian building on Westland Row in Dublin. An institution which ...
, where he studied with
John F. Larchet (composition), George Hewson (organ) and
Michele Esposito
Michele Esposito (29 September 1855 – 19 November 1929) was an Italian composer, conductor and pianist who spent most of his professional life in Dublin, Ireland.
Training
Esposito was born at Castellamare di Stabia, near Sorrento. As a boy ...
(piano). In 1926, he graduated Bachelor of Music at
Trinity College Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
and was awarded a doctorate (MusD) in 1929 for a musical setting of Psalm 19. He then worked in
Kilkenny
Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512.
Kilken ...
for one year, serving as organist at
St Canice's Cathedral
St Canice's Cathedral ( ga, Ardeaglais Naomh Cainneach, ), also known as Kilkenny Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Kilkenny city, Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. Previously the cathedral of the Dioc ...
and music teacher at
Kilkenny College
Kilkenny College is an independent Church of Ireland co-educational day and boarding secondary school located in Kilkenny, in the South-East of Ireland. It is the largest co-educational boarding school in Ireland. The school's students are mainly ...
.
In 1930, Harrison emigrated to Canada to become organist at Westminster Presbyterian Church in
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
New Glasgow is a town in Pictou County, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated on the banks of the East River of Pictou, which flows into Pictou Harbour, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait.
The town's population was 9,075 ...
. In 1933, he studied briefly with
Marcel Dupré
Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré () (3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue.
Biography
Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré was titular o ...
in France, but returned to Canada in 1934 to become organist at
Knox Presbyterian Church in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
. In 1935, he took a position as organist and choirmaster at
St. George's Cathedral in
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...
, as well as taking up the newly created post of "resident musician" at
Queen's University. His duties included "giving lectures, running a choir and an orchestra, and conducting concerts himself. His course in the history and appreciation of music was the first music course to be given for full credit at Queen's." He resigned from St. George's in 1941 to become assistant professor of music at Queen's in 1942. During his years in Canada he still pursued the idea of remaining a performing musician and composer, winning three national composition competitions: for ''Winter's Poem'' (1931), ''Baroque Suite'' (1943) and ''Night Hymns on Lake Nipigon'' (1945).
On a year's leave of absence from Queen's Harrison studied composition with
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...
at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, also taking courses in musicology with
Leo Schrade
Leo Schrade (13 December 1903 – 21 September 1964) was a German-born American musicologist. Among his notable publications are critical editions of works by Guillaume de Machaut and Francesco Landini, the former of which he established the ...
. In 1946, he took up a position at
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...
in Hamilton, New York, and then moved on to
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
, as head of the new Department of Music (1947–1950).
Musicological career
In 1951, Harrison took the degrees of Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Music (DMus) at
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...
, and became lecturer (1952), senior lecturer (1956), and reader in the history of music (1962–70) there. In 1965, he was elected Fellow the
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...
and Senior Research Fellow at Oxford. From 1970 to 1980, Harrison was Professor of Ethnomusicology at the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
, the Netherlands, retiring to part-time teaching in 1976.
He also held Visiting Professorships in musicology at Yale University (1958–9),
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
(spring 1961 and 1968–9), and
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
(winter 1968 and spring 1972). He also briefly returned to Queen's University at Kingston as Queen's Quest Visiting Professor in the fall of 1980 and was Visiting Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Music at the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
for the calendar year 1981.
Harrison's honorary titles also included Doctor of Laws at Queen's University, Kingston (1974), Corresponding Member of the
American Musicological Society
The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legitim ...
(1981), and Vice President and Chairman of the Plainsong and Medieval Music Society (1985). At Queen's also, the new Harrison-LeCaine Hall (1974) was partly named in his honour.
Harrison was married twice: with his first wife Nora he had two daughters. In 1965, he married the noted organologist
Joan Rimmer
Joan Rimmer (11 December 1918 – 29 December 2014) was an English musicologist who specialised in the history of musical instruments (especially the Irish harp) and in historical dance forms. She was also a pioneer in ethnomusicology who presen ...
, with whom he collaborated in ethnomusicological fieldwork and its scholarly documentation in a number of common publications.
Legacy
In 1989,
Harry White appreciated Harrison as "an Irish musicologist of international standing and of seminal influence, whose scholarly achievement, astonishingly, encompassed virtually the complete scope of the discipline which he espoused." David F. L. Chadd wrote of him "He was above all things an explorer, tirelessly curious and boyishly delighted in the pursuit of knowledge, experience and ideas, and totally heedless of artificially imposed constraints and boundaries."
[Chadd (1989), p. 380.]
Since 2004, the
Society for Musicology in Ireland
The Society for Musicology in Ireland (SMI) is an Irish learned society in the field of musicology. Founded in 2003, it reflects the growing research activity and the increasing academic tuition available at Irish universities in the fields of musi ...
(SMI) awards a bi-annual Harrison Medal in his honour to distinguished international musicologists.
Compositions
(all unpublished)
* ''Psalm 19'' (1929) for choir and orchestra
* ''Winter's Poem'' (1931) for organ
* ''Concertino'' (1932) for piano and orchestra
* ''Ode of Remembrance'' (1940) for choir
* ''Baroque Suite'' (1943) for orchestra
* ''Night Hymns on Lake Nipigon'' (c1944) for solo voice, chorus and orchestra
* ''Sonata for Clarinet and Piano'' (1946)
* ''Three Pieces for Clarinet and Piano'' (before 1948)
* ''Two Preludes'' (before 1948) for piano
* ''Homage to Spring'' (c.1950) for soprano and piano
* other works for organ and piano
Music editions
* ''The Eton Choirbook'' (''
Musica Britannica
''Musica Britannica'' is a trust founded in 1951, as "an authoritative national collection of British music". One of its co-founders, Anthony Lewis, served as the publication's first chief editor for many years.
A programme about the project, wit ...
'', volumes 10–12) (London, 1956–61; second edition 1969–73).
* ''
John Sheppard: Sechs Responsorien zu 4 und 6 Stimmen'' (''Das Chorwerk'', vol. 84) (Wolfenbüttel, 1960).
* ''
William Mundy: Latin Antiphons and Psalms'' (''Early English Church Music'', vol. 2) (London, 1963).
* ''Motets of French Provenance'' (''Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century'', vol. 5) (Monaco, 1968).
* ''Now Make We Merthë: Medieval and Renaissance Carols'' (London, 1968).
* (with E. J. Dobson) ''Medieval English Songs'' (London, 1979).
* ''Motets of English Provenance'' (''Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century'', vol. 15 (Monaco, 1980).
* (with Roger Wibberly) ''Manuscripts of 14th-Century English Polyphony: A Selection of Facsimile'' (''Early English Church Music'', vol. 26) (London, 1981).
* (with E. H. Sanders & P. M. Lefferts) ''English Music for Mass and Offices & Music for Other Ceremonies'' (''Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century'', vols 16–17) (Monaco, 1983–6).
* ''Musicorum collegio: 14th-Century Musicians' Motets'' (Monaco, 1986).
Writings
Books
* ''Music in Medieval Britain'' (London, 1958; second edition 1963; reprinted 1967, 1980).
* (with Jack A. Westrup) ''Collins Music Encyclopedia'' (London, 1959, second edition 1976).
* (with Mantle Hood & Claude V. Palisca) ''Musicology'' (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1963).
* (with Joan Rimmer) ''European Musical Instruments'' (London, 1964).
* ''Time, Place and Music: An Anthology of Ethnomusicological Observation c1550 to c1800'' (Amsterdam, 1973).
* ''Irish Traditional Music: Fossil or Resource?'' (Ó Riada Memorial Lecture 3) (Cork, 1988).
Articles
* "The Eton College Choirbook", in: ''International Musicological Society Congress Report 5: Utrecht 1952'', pp. 224–232.
* "An English 'Caput'", ''Music & Letters'' vol. 33 (1952) no. 3, pp. 203–214.
* "The Eton Choirbook: Its Background and Contents", in: ''Annales musicologiques'' vol. 1 (1953), pp. 151–175.
* "Music for the Sarum Rite: MS 1236 in the Pepys Library, Magdalene College Cambridge", in: ''Annales musicologiques'' vol. 6 (1958–63), pp. 99–144.
* "Rota and Rondellus in English Medieval Music", in: ''Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association'' vol. 86 (1959–60), pp. 98–107.
* "English Church Music in the Fourteenth Century", "English Polyphony (c1470–1540)", in: ''New Oxford History of Music'' vol. 3: ''Ars Nova and the Renaissance, 1300–1540'', ed. Anselm Hughes & Gerald Abraham (London, 1960), pp. 82–106 & 303–348.
* "Faburden in Practice", in: ''
Musica Disciplina
The American Institute of Musicology (AIM) is a musicological organization that researches, promotes and produces publications on early music. Founded in 1944 by Armen Carapetyan, the AIM's chief objective is the publication of modern editions ...
'' vol. 16 (1962), pp. 11–34.
* "Benedicamus, Conductus, Carol: A Newly-Discovered Source", in: ''Acta musicologica'' vol. 37 (1965), pp. 35–48.
* "Tradition and Innovation in Instrumental Usage 1100–1450", in: Jan LaRue (ed.), ''Aspects of Medieval and Renaissance Music: A Birthday Offering to Gustave Reese'' (New York, 1966), pp. 319–335.
* "Ars Nova in England: A New Source", in: ''
Musica Disciplina
The American Institute of Musicology (AIM) is a musicological organization that researches, promotes and produces publications on early music. Founded in 1944 by Armen Carapetyan, the AIM's chief objective is the publication of modern editions ...
'' vol. 21 (1967), pp. 67–85.
* "Polyphony in Medieval Ireland", in:
Martin Ruhnke
Martin Ruhnke (14 June 1921 – 25 September 2004) was a German musicologist. His main areas of research were the music theory of early baroque music, Italian baroque opera and the life and work of Georg Philipp Telemann.
Life
Born in Koszali ...
(ed.), ''Festschrift Bruno Stäblein'' (Kassel, 1967), pp. 74–78.
* "Church Music in England", in: Gerald Abraham (ed.), ''New Oxford History of Music'', vol. 4: ''The Age of Humanism, 1540–1630'' (London, 1968), pp. 465–519.
* (with
Joan Rimmer
Joan Rimmer (11 December 1918 – 29 December 2014) was an English musicologist who specialised in the history of musical instruments (especially the Irish harp) and in historical dance forms. She was also a pioneer in ethnomusicology who presen ...
) "Spanish Elements in the Music of Two Maya Groups in Chiapas", in: ''UCLA Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology'', vol. 1 (1968) no. 2, pp. 1–44.
* "The Repertory of an English Parish Church in the Early Sixteenth Century", in: Jozef Robijns (ed.), ''Renaissance-muziek 1400–1600: Donum natalicium René Bernard Lenaerts'' (Leuven, 1969), pp. 143–147.
* "Notes on the Music in the Shrewsbury Liturgical Plays", appendix to Norman Davis (ed.): ''Non-Cycle Plays and Fragments'' (London, 1970), pp. 124–133.
* "Music and Cult: The Functions of Music in Social and Religious Systems", in: Barry S. Brook, Edward O. D. Downes & Sherman van Solkema (eds), ''Perspectives in Musicology'' (New York, 1972), pp. 307–334.
* (with Joan Rimmer) "A Villancico Manuscript in Ecuador: Musical Acculturation in a Tri-Ethnic Society", Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht & Max Lütolf (eds), ''Studien zur Tradition in der Musik: Kurt von Fischer zum 60. Geburtstag'' (Munich, 1973), pp. 101–119.
* "Towards a Chronology of Celtic Folk Instruments", in: ''Studia Instrumentorum Musicae Popularis'', vol. 4 (Stockholm, 1976), pp. 98–100.
* "Polyphonic Music for a Chapel of Edward III", in: ''Music & Letters'', vol. 59 (1978) no. 4, pp. 420–428.
* "Tradition and Acculturation: A View of Some Musical Processes", in: Jerald C. Graue (ed.), ''Essays on Music for Charles Warren Fox'' (Rochester, NY, 1979), pp. 114–125.
* "Faburden Compositions in Early Tudor Organ Music", in: Albert Dunning (ed.), ''Visitatio organorum: Feestbundel voor Maarten Albert Vente'' (Buren, 1980), pp. 287–330.
* "Two Liturgical Manuscripts of Dutch Origin in the Bodleian Library, Oxford" and "Music for the Ordinary of the Mass in Late Medieval Netherlands", in: ''Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse muziekgeschiedenis'', vol. 32 (1982) no. 1–2, pp. 76–95.
* "Two Keyboard Intabulations of the Late 14th Century on a Manuscript Leaf Now in the Netherlands", in: ''Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse muziekgeschiedenis'', vol. 34 (1984) no. 2, pp. 97–108.
* "Observation, Elucidation, Utilisation: Western Attitudes to Eastern Musics c1600–c1830", in: Malcolm H. Brown & Roland John Wiley (eds), ''Slavonic and Western Music: Essays for Gerald Abraham'' (Ann Arbor & Oxford, 1985), pp. 5–32.
* "Music, Poetry and Polity in the Age of Swift", in: ''Eighteenth-Century Ireland'', vol. 1 (1986), pp. 37–64.
* "
Charles Coffey
Charles Coffey (late 17th century – 13 May 1745) was an Irish playwright, opera librettist and arranger of music from Westmeath.
Following the initial failure of his ballad opera '' The Beggar’s Wedding'' (Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre, 24 Ma ...
and Swift's Description of an Irish Feast", in: ''Swift Studies'', vol. 1 (1986), pp. 32–38.
* "La liturgie et sa musique à la Cathédrale d'Elme au XIVme siècle", in: ''Miscellània litúrgica catalona'', vol. 4 (1990), pp. 185–196.
* "The Musical Impact of Exploration and Cultural Encounter", in: Carol E. Robertson (ed.), ''Musical Repercussions of 1492: Encounters in Text and Performance'' (Washington, 1992), pp. 171–184.
* "Music at Oxford before 1500", in: J. I. Catto & Ralph Evans (eds), ''The History of the University of Oxford'', vol. 2: ''Late Medieval Oxford'' (Oxford, 1992), pp. 347–372.
* "Plainsong into Polyphony: Repertoires and Structures c1270–1400", in: Susan Rankin & David Hiley (eds), ''Music in the Medieval English Liturgy: Plainsong & Mediaeval Music Society Centennial Essays'' (Oxford, 1993), pp. 303–353.
Bibliography
* John Caldwell: "Frank Llewelyn Harrison (1905–1987)", in: ''Early Music'' vol. 16 (1988) no. 2, pp. 317–318.
* David F. L. Chadd
"Francis Llewellyn Harrison, 1905–1987" in: ''Proceedings of the British Academy'', vol. 75 (1989), p. 361–380.
* Harry White: "Frank Llewelyn Harrison and the Development of Postwar Musicological Thought", in: ''Hermathena'', vol. 146 (1989), pp. 39–47.
* Axel Klein: ''Die Musik Irlands im 20. Jahrhundert'' (Hildesheim, 1996).
* Harry White: "Francis (Frank) Llewelyn Harrison", in: ''The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture'', ed. McCormack (Oxford, 1999).
* Axel Klein: "Harrison, Frank Llewellyn (1905–1987)", in: ''Ireland and the Americas: Culture, Politics and History'', vol. 2, ed. Byrne, Coleman & King (Santa Barbara, CA, 2008), pp. 401–402.
* Robin Elliott: "Harrison, Frank
rancisLlewellyn", in: ''The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland'', ed. Harry White & Barra Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), pp. 469–471.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Frank Llewellyn
1905 births
1987 deaths
20th-century classical composers
20th-century Irish people
20th-century British musicologists
Alumni of the Royal Irish Academy of Music
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford
Fellows of the British Academy
Irish musicologists
Irish organists
Irish people of Welsh descent
Musicians from Dublin (city)
People educated at Mount Temple Comprehensive School
Pupils of Paul Hindemith
Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam