Ralph Hill (8 October 1900 - 19 October 1950) was an English writer on music. Hill was born in Watford into a musical family: one of his grandfathers was Joseph Williams the music publisher; the other was Thomas Henry Weist Hill, violinist, conductor and the first director of the Guildhall School of Music. After attending

Latymer Upper School (Slowly Therefore Surely) , established = , closed = , sister_school = Godolphin and Latymer School , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , head_label = H ...

Hill was taught cello by his father at Guildhall. By 1920, following military service for two years, he was active in music publishing, influenced by the example of

Ernest Newman Ernest Newman (30 November 1868 – 7 July 1959) was an English music critic and musicologist. ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' describes him as "the most celebrated British music critic in the first half of the 20th century." His ...

. His first full-time appointment was as editor of the ''Musical Mirror and Fanfare'' from 1929 to 1932. The following year he became music editor of the '' Radio Times'', a post he held until 1945. He was also assistant music critic with the '' Daily Mail'' from 1933, and was later (1945–48) appointed chief music critic on the paper, succeeding Edwin Evans.Obituary, ''The Times'', October 20, 1950, p. 6 Hill was editor of '' The Liverpool Daily Post'' and (for two years) ''

The Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'', and from the 1940s a regular BBC broadcaster on classical music. In 1946 he was appointed editor of ''The Penguin Music Magazine'' (nine issues, 1946-1949) and the Pelican annual book series ''Music'' (1950 and 1951). Hill, who lived at 39 Hazlewell Rd in

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

, founded the Putney Gramophone Society in the autumn of 1949. He was also a

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

enthusiast, and arranged several friendly matches with the pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch, who was also a skilled wrestler.Palmer, Russell. ''British Music'' (1947), p. 167 Hill died at his home on October 19, 1950, having been taken ill after attending 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 ...

concert at the

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

the previous evening.

Publications

* ''An Outline of Musical History'' (1929) * ''Brahms: A Study in Musical Biography'' (1933) * ''Liszt'' ('Great Lives' series) (1936; 2nd ed., 1949) * ''Brahms'' ('Great Lives' series) (1941) * ''Challenges: A Series of Controversial Essays on Music'' (1943)
'Some Reflections on Music Criticism'
in ''Musical Quarterly'', April 1943, pp. 188–197 * ''Music without Fears'' (1945) * ''The Symphony'' (ed.) (1949) * ''Music 1950'' * ''Music 1951'' * ''Prelude to Music'' (1951) * ''The Concerto'' (ed.) (1952)

References

British music critics English music critics Classical music critics Opera critics 1900 births 1950 deaths Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama People from Putney {{UK-writer-stub