Frank Titterton (31 December 1893, in Handsworth – 24 November 1956, in London) was a well-known British lyric

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

of the mid-twentieth century. He was noted for his musicianship. Titterton trained originally as an actor and was a member of The Pilgrim Players (which became the

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre c ...

) run by Sir Barry Jackson. He began to sing as an amateur, appearing in operettas by

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

and others in Birmingham before studying singing with Ernesto Beraldi and Charles Victor in London. He then left his stage career to work as a song recitalist and in Oratorio in Britain and Holland. He later became a sought-after singing teacher in London. Titterton's career was mainly in the concert hall, though he was also a prolific broadcaster and recording artist for Vocalion, Broadcast, Columbia and Decca. Most titles were recorded under his own name, but he also used the pseudonyms 'Francesco Vada' and 'Norton Collyer'. Like many British singers of his era he spent much time touring the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, appearing in popular

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

s, rather than performing in

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s or giving

lieder In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...

recitals. A Birmingham City Choir website lists some typical dates and casts for performances of

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

'', for example: *12 December 1936: with

Lilian Stiles-Allen Lilian Stiles-Allen (28 July 189015 July 1982) was a British soprano of the mid 20th century. Early life She was born Lilian Elizabeth Allen in Devonshire Street, Marylebone in 1890, and later added her mother's maiden name.''The Times'', 17 Ju ...

Gladys Ripley Gladys Ripley (9 July 190821 December 1955) was an English Alto, contralto. Early life She was born in Forest Gate, Essex, England, the daughter of Alfred and Amy Ripley, and was educated at St. Edmund Roman Catholic School, East Ham, and at Cla ...

, Frank Titterton, Horace Stevens; and *26 December 1943: with

Joan Cross Joan Cross (7 September 1900 – 12 December 1993) was an English soprano, closely associated with the operas of Benjamin Britten. She also sang in the Italian and German operatic repertoires. She later became a musical administrator, taking on ...

Muriel Brunskill Muriel Lucy Brunskill (18 December 1899 – 18 February 1980) was an English contralto of the mid-twentieth century. Her career included concert, operatic and recital performance from the early 1920s until the 1950s. She worked with many of the ...

, Frank Titterton, Norman Lumsden. Along with fellow-tenors

Heddle Nash William Heddle Nash (14 June 189414 August 1961) was an English lyric tenor who appeared in opera and oratorio. He made numerous recordings that are still available on CD reissues. Nash's voice was of the light tenor class known as "tenore di g ...

Walter Widdop Walter Widdop (19 April 1892 – 6 September 1949) was a British operatic tenor who is best remembered for his Wagnerian performances. His repertoire also encompassed works by Verdi, Leoncavallo, Handel and Bach. Career Widdop was born at N ...

and Parry Jones, Titterton was chosen as one of the sixteen soloists for the first performance, and subsequent recording, of

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 ...

's ''

Serenade to Music ''Serenade to Music'' is an orchestral concert work completed in 1938 by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, written as a tribute to conductor Sir Henry Wood. It features an orchestra and 16 vocal soloists, with lyrics adapted from the disc ...

'' in 1938. One of his pupils was

John Fryatt John James Fryatt (7 July 1927 – 7 January 2011) was an English actor and opera singer best known for his performance in comic character roles. Fryatt began his career with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1952 in Gilbert and Sullivan roles ...

. In addition Titterton undertook some film roles, including parts in ''Barnacle Bill'' (1935), ''Song at Eventide'' (1934) and ''Waltz Time'' (1933). According to the

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

Roy Henderson (

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Radio interview 1988), Titterton always travelled with 'a sort of apothecary's case' and would produce medicines for anyone's ailments.

Recordings

Titterton can be heard on record singing

Michael Balfe Michael William Balfe (15 May 1808 – 20 October 1870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially ''The Bohemian Girl''. After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to co ...

's duet ''

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

'' (a setting of Longfellow's poem) with

Malcolm McEachern Walter Malcolm Neil McEachern (1 April 1883 – 17 January 1945) was a noted Australian Bass (voice type), bass singing, singer who enjoyed a successful career in the United Kingdom, both as a concert soloist and as one half of the comic music ...

(Pearl GEMM CD9455). He can also be heard at the following address: http://oldgramophonerecords.co.uk/titterton.htm He was selected by the composer

Alma Rattenbury Alma Victoria Rattenbury ( Wolfe, also Clarke, Dolling and Pakenham; 1897/8–1935) was an English-Canadian songwriter and accused murderer. Born and educated in Canada, she was a talented musician and played with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. S ...

, also known as 'Lozanne', to record some of her songs, recording twelve in all for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

between 1932 and 1935, the first two to her own accompaniment. ef. Sir Michael Havers, et al., 'Tragedy in three voices - the Rattenbury Murder' - William Kimber, London, 1980; see also The Record Collector, Ipswich, Vol 27. 11/12, March 1983]

References

1893 births 1956 deaths 20th-century British male opera singers {{UK-opera-singer-stub