Harold Rutland (August 21, 1900 – July 23, 1977) was a British pianist, music critic and composer. He began studying at the Guildhall School of Music, became organ scholar at Queen's College, Cambridge, and completed his studies at the

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 ...

with

Herbert Fryer George Herbert Fryer (21 May 1877 – 7 February 1957) was an English pianist, teacher and composer. Career Fryer was born in Hampstead, London in 1877, the only son of three children. His father George Henry Fryer was an insurance broker. He wa ...

Arthur Bliss Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he qu ...

and Adrian Boult.Obituary, ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 118, No. 1614, August 1977), p. 663 A contemporary at the RCM in the early 1920s was

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...

.'Harold Rutland's Music Diary', ''Radio Times'' Issue 1444, 13 July, 1951, p.7
/ref> Earning his living as an organist, choirmaster and pianist, he lived in

Cheyne Walk Cheyne Walk is an historic road in Chelsea, London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It runs parallel with the River Thames. Before the construction of Chelsea Embankment reduced the width of the Thames here, it fronted ...

, Chelsea during the late 1920s. In the early part of the war he toured the provinces with Lambert, playing the piano for the

Sadler's Wells Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded i ...

(then known as the Vic Wells Ballet), substituting for an orchestra. From 1941 until 1956 he worked at the BBC and was a frequent contributor to the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'', a broadcaster of talks on music and an accompanist. From 1957 to 1960 he was editor of the ''

Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...

''. He then took on the role of lecturer and examiner at

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

, involving much travel abroad. He was the author of the book ''Trinity College of Music: The First Hundred Years'' (1972). Through E J Moeran, Rutland met

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

in 1926, and became a long-standing advocate of his music. He chaired the John Ireland Society from 1960 until his death. Kaikhosru Sorabji was also a friend of Rutland's and dedicated some of his works to him, including the ''Fourth Symphony for Piano Alone''. Rutland became a champion of Sorabji’s music, describing him as "one of the very few I would unhesitatingly describe as a genius ��I will only add that I have always felt honoured by your friendship, and not a little unworthy of it; indeterminate dabbler that I am." He gave the first performance Sorabji's ''Fragment for Harold Rutland'' at the Aeolian Hall in London on 12 October 1927. Eric Blom in the ''Manchester Guardian'' reported that it was "received with a mixture of derision, indignation, and bewilderment". His compositions include a ''Siciliana'' and a ''Toccata'', both for piano, published by the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, and songs such as ''To the Moon'' (setting Shelley), published by Curwen.

Mark Hambourg Mark Hambourg (russian: Марк Михайлович Гамбург, 1 June 1879 – 26 August 1960) was a Russian British concert pianist. Life Mark Hambourg was the eldest son of the pianist Michael Hambourg (1855–1916), a pupil o ...

recorded his arrangements of ''Two Sea Shanties'' in 1928. Rutland lived at 27,

Eccleston Square Eccleston Square is a square in Pimlico, London. History The square dates to the 1830s, an integral part of Thomas Cubitt's planned design of "South Belgravia", which is now called Pimlico. Cubitt designed many of the houses on the square and b ...

in London. After his death in June 1977 he bequeathed has collection of books, scores and musical materials to the Central Music Library, Westminster. There is a sketch of him by the artist

Juliet Pannett Juliet Kathleen Pannett ( née Somers; 15 July 1911 – 22 August 2005) was an English portrait painter. Background Born in Hove, East Sussex, Pannett started painting at three, and wanted to be a professional artist by seventeen. She trained ...

.Foreman, Lewis. ''The John Ireland Companion'' (2011), p. 162, Fig.16

References

External Links

Harold Rutland's obituary of Sibelius, ''Gramophone'', December, 1957

Mark Hambourg plays ''Two Sea Shanties''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutland, Harold 1900 births 1977 deaths English male journalists English writers about music British music critics English music critics Classical music critics British pianists