![Walter Cecil Macfarren 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Walter_Cecil_Macfarren_001.jpg)
Walter Cecil Macfarren (28 August 1826 – 20 September 1905) was an English pianist, composer and conductor, and a teacher at the
Royal Academy of Music.
Life
He was born in London in 1826, youngest son of the dramatist
George Macfarren
George Macfarren (1788–1843) was a playwright and the father of composer George Alexander Macfarren.
Life
He was born in London 5 September 1788.
He was the son of George Macfarren.
He was educated chiefly at Archbishop Tenison's school in Cast ...
, and brother of the musician Sir
George Alexander Macfarren
Sir George Alexander Macfarren (2 March 181331 October 1887) was an English composer and musicologist.
Life
George Alexander Macfarren was born in London on 2 March 1813 to George Macfarren, a dancing-master, dramatic author and journalist, wh ...
. In his fourth year he showed gifts for music; he was a choir-boy at
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
under
James Turle
James Turle (5 March 1802 – 28 June 1882) was an English organist and composer, best known today as the writer of several widely sung Anglican chants and the hymn tune "Westminster" sung to the words of Frederick William Faber "My God, how wond ...
(1836–41), and sang at the
coronation of Queen Victoria
The coronation of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom took place on Thursday, 28 June 1838, just over a year after she succeeded to the throne of the United Kingdom at the age of 18. The ceremony was held in Westminster Abbey after a public ...
. When his voice broke, he had thoughts of becoming an artist, and took some lessons in painting, and then served as salesman in a piano shop in Brighton.
At the persuasion of his brother, Macfarren entered the
Royal Academy of Music in October 1842, studying the piano under
W. H. Holmes and composition under his brother and
Cipriani Potter. In January 1846 he became a Sub-professor of the pianoforte, and remained on the staff of the Royal Academy for fifty-seven years, for many years lecturing there six times annually and teaching the piano.
The assessment of the ''
Dictionary of National Biography'' was that "He always remained a sound performer of the older school. He composed many small but solid piano pieces, natural, pleasing, and always highly finished in style, recalling
Felix Mendelssohn and
William Sterndale Bennett
Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 18161 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. B ...
."
Macfarren's vocal works included two church services and many short secular pieces; the part-song "You stole my Love" was successful. He produced an overture to ''The Winter's Tale'' (1844); an overture to ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1845); and ''Beppo'', a concert overture (1847).
From 1873 to 1880 he conducted the concerts at the Royal Academy, and from 1877 to 1880 was treasurer of 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 ...
. Resuming the composition of large works, he produced with success at
Wilhelm Kuhe
Wilhelm may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm"
* Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
Other uses
* Moun ...
's Brighton Festivals his ''Pastoral Overture'' (1878), ''Hero and Leander'' (1897), and a Symphony in B flat (1880).
A reviewer of the symphony wrote: "The merit of this composition is unquestionable, and nothing but a sustained manner of its own is wanting to place it, as a work of high pretension, beyond the pale of criticism. Mozart, Mendelssohn and Sterndale Bennett, however, continually peeping out, the impression is in a great degree what may be termed kaleidoscopic.... Apart from these considerations, the symphony is interesting throughout...."
In 1881 he wrote a concert-piece for piano and orchestra, written for his pupil Miss Kuhe, and the only large composition of his to be printed; and he produced an overture to ''Henry V'' at the Norwich Festival.
Macfarren was appointed musical critic to ''
The Queen
In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to:
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death
The Queen may also refer to:
* Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
'' newspaper in 1862, and contributed articles until his death. For the music publishers Ashdown and Parry (afterwards Edwin Ashdown) he edited ''Popular Classics'', which reached 240 numbers; he also edited Mozart's complete piano works and Beethoven's sonatas. His complete ''Scale and Arpeggio Manual'' appeared in 1882.
On the occasion of his jubilee in 1896 Macfarren founded two prizes, gold medals for pianoforte playing, at the Royal Academy. In 1904 he retired from all active work, save that of contributor to ''The Queen''. He published in the summer of 1905 an autobiography, ''Memories''. He died in London on 2 September 1905, and was buried in
St Pancras and Islington Cemetery
St Pancras and Islington Cemetery is a cemetery in East Finchley, North London. Although it is situated in the London Borough of Barnet, it is run as two cemeteries, owned by two other London Boroughs, Camden (formerly St Pancras) and Isling ...
.
He married in 1852 Julia Fanner, daughter of an artist: she died in 1902 without issue.
His students included
Stewart Macpherson
(Charles) Stewart Macpherson (29 March 1865 – 27 March 1941) was an English musician of Scottish descent. He was born in Liverpool, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He was a student of the composer Walter Cecil Macfarren. I ...
,
Tobias Matthay
Tobias Augustus Matthay (19 February 185815 December 1945) was an English pianist, teacher, and composer.
Biography
Matthay was born in Clapham, Surrey, in 1858 to parents who had come from northern Germany and eventually became naturalised Brit ...
, and
Henry Wood
Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the The Proms, Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introd ...
.
References
Attribution
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macfarren, Walter Cecil
1826 births
1905 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century conductors (music)
19th-century English musicians
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music
Academics of the Royal Academy of Music
English conductors (music)
British male conductors (music)
English male classical composers
Burials at St Pancras and Islington Cemetery
19th-century British composers