Franklin Taylor (February 5, 1843 – March 19, 1919) was an English

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

, and writer on music.

Life and career

Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Franklin Taylor was trained as a pianist at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

Louis Plaidy Louis Plaidy (28 November 1810 – 3 March 1874) was a celebrated German piano pedagogue and compiler of books of technical music studies. Life Born in Hubertusburg, Saxony, Plaidy initially focused on the violin, and toured as a concert violini ...

and

Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano at the ...

, and later by

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

in Paris; notably later becoming an important exponent of Schumann's methods in piano pedagogy. In 1862 he returned to England, and became a celebrated concert pianist in London in the 1860s and 1870s. He was a regular performer at

The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...

concerts during this period among appearances at other venues. In 1876 Taylor was appointed to the piano faculty of the National Training School of Music. When the school was absorbed into the newly created

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

in 1882 he was appointed professor of piano at that institution; a post he held until his retirement in 1916. From 1891 to 1893 he was director of the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

. He also worked concurrently as an organist at several London churches. Taylor authored several influential piano pedagogy texts, some of which are still in use. These include ''Technique and Expression in Pianoforte Playing'' (London, 1897), ''Primer of Pianoforte Playing'' (London, 1877), and ''Progressive Studies for the Pianoforte'' (London, 1893–4). He also authored several entries in the early editions of ''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the History of music, ...

''. Franklin Taylor died in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on March 19, 1919.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Franklin 1843 births 1919 deaths English pianists English organists Academics of the Royal College of Music