Paul Beard (4 August 1901 – 22 April 1989) was an English violinist, known particularly as

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

of Sir Thomas Beecham's original

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

and Sir Adrian Boult's

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

. He was also a teacher, holding posts at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

and the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

Life and career

Beard was 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 ...

."Beard, Paul"
''Oxford Dictionary of Music'', Oxford University Press, accessed 17 June 2013 He was taught by his father, a professional

violist ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

, and first played in public in 1907 at the age of six. He was educated at the

Birmingham Oratory The Birmingham Oratory is an English Catholic religious community of the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, located in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham. The community was founded in 1849 by St. John Henry Newman, Cong.Orat., the fi ...

and St. Philip's Grammar School and when he was fourteen he won a scholarship to the

."Paul Beard – Violinist who led the BBC Symphony Orchestra in its great heyday", ''The Times'', 24 April 1989, p. 20 In 1920 Beard was appointed to lead the spa orchestra at

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, and from 1922 to 1932 he was leader of the

City of Birmingham Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

. When

Sir Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...

established the

in 1932, Beard was its first leader, remaining there until 1936, when he had the choice between offers to become concertmaster of the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

or leader of the

. He chose the latter, attracted, he said, by the number and quality of the conductors and soloists with whom he would be working, and also by the very broad repertoire of the BBC orchestra.

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

, who was a guest conductor of the orchestra between 1935 and 1939, acknowledged Beard as the greatest orchestral leader he had met. Boult shared Toscanini's view, and said that he knew of no conductor who did not also do so. Beard remained with the BBC Symphony Orchestra until his retirement in 1962, having been awarded an OBE in 1952. He taught at the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music (from 1936 to 1940) and the

. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music (FRAM) in 1939. He died in

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

. In 1925 Beard married Joyce Cass-Smith, who predeceased him. They had a son and a daughter. An uncle,

Frederic Beard Frederic William Beard (c. 1865 – 5 May 1912) was an English organist and choirmaster, remembered in Australia for his influence on choral and symphonic musicianship. History Beard was organist in Birmingham, England, and director of the city's ...

(c. 1865 – 5 May 1912), was a choirmaster and organist in Birmingham, then in 1906 moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Victoria, where he had a profound influence on choral performance. He died of appendicitis in Colombo while returning to Australia after a European holiday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Paul 1901 births 1989 deaths Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands British classical violinists British male violinists Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Fellows of the Royal Academy of Music 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century English musicians 20th-century British male musicians Male classical violinists Officers of the Order of the British Empire