Mary Augusta Wakefield (19 August 1853 – 16 September 1910) was a British composer, contralto, festival organiser, and writer.

Biography

Early life

Wakefield was born in Kendal, where her paternal ancestors had been members of the Quaker community before converting to Anglicanism. Her mother was from an Irish-American background. In the 1860s her father took over the family business, which included a bank and a gunpowder mill. He built

Sedgwick House Sedgwick House may refer to: ;in the United Kingdom *Sedgwick House, Cumbria Sedgwick House is located to the west of the village of Sedgwick, Cumbria, Sedgwick, Cumbria, England. It was built as a country house, was later used as a school, and ...

near the gunpowder mill a few miles outside Kendal. Her parents William Henry Wakefield and Augusta Hagarty Wakefield had four sons (including the cricketer

William Wakefield William Hayward Wakefield (1801 – 19 September 1848) was an English colonel, the leader of the first colonising expedition to New Zealand and one of the founders of Wellington. As a leader, he attracted much controversy. Early life William W ...

) and two other daughters. As a child, Wakefield learned traditional

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

folksongs from her nurses, which she later included in her collection ''Northern Songs''. As a teenager she was sent to a finishing school in Brighton. She studied in London with

Alberto Randegger Alberto Randegger (13 April 1832 – 18 December 1911) was an Italian-born composer, conductor and singing teacher, best known for promoting opera and new works of British music in England during the Victorian era and for his widely used textbook o ...

and

George Henschel Sir Isidor George Henschel (18 February 185010 September 1934) was a German-born British baritone, pianist, conductor, and composer. His first wife Lillian was also a singer. He was the first conductor of both the Boston Symphony Orchestra ...

, and in Rome with

Giovanni Sgambati Giovanni Sgambati (28 May 1841 – 14 December 1914) was an Italian pianist and composer. Biography Born in Rome, to an Italian father and an English mother, Sgambati, who lost his father early, received his early education at Trevi, in Umbria ...

Later life

Wakefield corresponded with and visited many musicians and writers, including

Lucy Broadwood Lucy Etheldred Broadwood (9 August 1858 – 22 August 1929) was an English folksong collector and researcher, and great-granddaughter of John Broadwood, founder of the piano manufacturers Broadwood and Sons. As one of the founder members of the Fo ...

, J. A. Fuller Maitland, Herbert Oakeley,

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some churches of the Anglican Communi ...

, and

Maude Valérie White Maude Valérie White (1855 – 1937) was a French-born English composer who became one of the most successful songwriters (in the English serious style) of the Victorian period. Early years Although born near Dieppe in Normandy to upper midd ...

. Author

Vernon Lee Vernon Lee was the pseudonym of the British writer Violet Paget (14 October 1856 – 13 February 1935). She is remembered today primarily for her supernatural fiction and her work on aesthetics. An early follower of Walter Pater, she wrote o ...

dedicated her short ghost story ''A Wicked Voice'' to Wakefield in 1887.

Music

Wakefield was an early member of the Folk Song Society (now the

English Folk Dance and Song Society The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS, or pronounced 'EFF-diss') is an organisation that promotes English folk music and folk dance. EFDSS was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dan ...

). She presented recitals throughout England, sometimes with Maude Valerie White. While in Rome in the 1880s, she socialised with composers Theo Marzials and

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

. Grieg coached her on singing his songs and gave her an album of his compositions with this inscription: "Mary Wakefield with my best thanks for her beautiful songs. Edward Grieg. Roma. 1887." Wakefield's musical compositions included:

Vocal music

*''After Years'' *''Beyond All, Thine'' *''Bunch of Cowslips'' *''Children are Singing'' *''Courting Days'' *''For Love's Sake Only'' *''Lass and Lad'' *''Leafy June'' *''Life Time and Love Time'' *''Little Roundhead Maid'' *''Love's Service'' *''Love that Goes A-Courting'' *''May Time in Midwinter'' (text by Algernon Charles Swinburne) *''Milkmaid'' (text by

Henry Austin Dobson Henry Austin Dobson (18 January 1840 – 2 September 1921), commonly Austin Dobson, was an English poet and essayist. Life He was born at Plymouth, the eldest son of George Clarisse Dobson, a civil engineer, of French descent. When he w ...

) *''Molly Maloney'' (text by

Alfred Perceval Graves Alfred Perceval Graves (22 July 184627 December 1931), was an Anglo-Irish poet, songwriter and folklorist. He was the father of British poet and critic Robert Graves. Early life Graves was born in Dublin and was the son of The Rt Rev. Cha ...

) *''Moonspell'' *''More and More'' *''Nancy'' *''No Sir!'' *''Northern Songs'' (collection) *''Queen of Sixty Years'' (for chorus) *''Serenade'' *''Shaking Grass'' *''Shearing Day'' *''Sweet Sally Gray'' *''When the Boys Come Home'' *''Yes Sir!'' *''You May''

Writing and lectures

Wakefield knew

, whose many interests included music. Towards the end of his life she edited a collection of his observations on the subject, ''Ruskin on Music'' (1894). She presented lectures and wrote articles about various musical topics. Several of her articles were published in ''

Murray's Magazine ''Murray's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine published by the John Murray publishing house. Sixty issues were published, from January 1887 through to December 1891. It was priced at 1/- (one shilling). The magazine included limited amounts of f ...

'' from July to December, 1889, under the title ''Foundation Stones of English Music'' . The topics of her lectures and articles included: *English National Melody in the 13th, i4th, and i5th Centuries: Monks and Minstrels *English Melody under Elizabeth, Including Contemporary Settings of Some of Shakespeare's Songs *English Melody in the i7th Century: Cavaliers and Roundheads *English Melody in the i8th Century *Irish National Melodies *Jubilee Lecture on Victorian Song *Madrigal Time *Scotch National Melodies *

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's Songs and their Musical Settings *Skene and Straloch Lute Manuscripts *Songs of Four Nations (England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales) *Songs of Handel *Songs of

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

*Songs of

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

Festivals

Wakefield started several choirs in villages around Kendal, near her family home. In 1885, with her sister Agnes, she brought the choirs together for an outdoor festival to raise money for her local

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

St Thomas',

Crosscrake Crosscrake is a village in Cumbria, just off the M6 motorway, M6 Junction 36 in North West England, North West of England. It is located just South of Kendal on the A6 road (Great Britain), A6, between the villages/hamlets Stainton, South Lakela ...

, which had been built with support from her father. In addition to raising money for the church, Wakefield wanted to encourage local, amateur music and make music more important in English life.

Legacy

Her festival continues today as the Mary Wakefield Westmorland Festival, and has inspired similar music festivals in other English towns. When Wakefield died in 1910, the Association of Musical Competition Festivals created a Mary Wakefield medal to be awarded at English music festivals. The medal included an image of Wakefield and Martin Luther's quotation "Music is a fair and glorious gift from God." In 2003, a plaque was erected at Wakefield Bank House, Stricklandgate, Kendal, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Wakefield's birth and commemorate her pioneering work developing English music festivals.

References

External links

* download songs by Mary Augusta Wakefield
read Mary Wakefield: A Memoir by Rosa Newmarch

Mary Wakefield Westmorland Festival website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakefield, Mary Augusta 19th-century British women writers 20th-century British women writers British women classical composers British writers about music 19th-century British women singers Music festival founders 1853 births 1910 deaths