Norman Charles Suckling (24 October 1904 – August 1994) was an English biographer,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

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 ...

, and writer on music. Born in the

Forest Gate Forest Gate is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross. The area's name relates to its position adjacent to Wanstead Flats, the southernmost part of Epping Forest. The town ...

neighborhood of

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 ...

, he studied at the Bancroft's School in Woodford Green,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in his youth. He then entered

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

where he earned a diploma in History. He taught at Liverpool College before joining the faculty of

King's College, Newcastle Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick univer ...

(now Durham University) where he was a professor of the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

. He contributed articles to a number of periodicals and is the author of several books, including biographies on

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

and

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

. While at Durham, Suckling sometimes performed as a pianist, presenting concerts of mostly French music. His Fauré monograph of 1946 was the first full length study to appear in English. He contributed articles on English, French and Russian music to ''The Listener'' and other publications. He composed many songs setting English poets. Other works include:''Dictionary of Music'' by Eric Blom, page 583 * ''Introduction and Scherzo'' for string quartet (1923) * ''Ode'' for Violin and Piano (OUP, 1925) * ''A Vision of Avalon'' (chamber opera, 1928) * ''A Cycle of Shakespeare Sonnets'' for tenor, violin and piano (1928) * Violin Sonata (1928) * ''Man in the Beginning'', ballet (1934) * ''Berceuse élégiaque'' for clarinet and piano (1943) * ''Pastorale saugrenue'' for flute and bassoon (1944) * ''Variations on a Theme of Rameau'' for flute and piano (1947) * Mass for eight voices

References

1904 births 1994 deaths Academics of Durham University Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford English biographers English classical composers English classical pianists English opera composers English male opera composers 20th-century British biographers 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century English composers English male pianists 20th-century English male musicians Fauré scholars {{England-musician-stub