Wilfred Brown (5 April 19215 March 1971) was an accomplished English tenor. He was born in

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, Sussex and educated first at Collyer's School, then at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

School, Horsham before winning a scholarship in 1939 to

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...

. Brown was a lifelong member of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

. After war-time service with the Friends Relief Service he returned to Cambridge and graduated in 1947. He then moved to University College School, Hampstead where he taught German and French. He left two years later to teach at

Bedales School Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conven ...

, where he was form master of amongst others

Gerald Finzi Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...

's two sons McVeagh, Diana. ''Gerald Finzi: His Life and Music''. Boydell Press, 2005: p. 207 before becoming a full-time singer in 1951. Like fellow

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

resident Michael John Hurd, he championed the work of Gerald Finzi, who was a friend. He first sang Finzi's '' Dies natalis'' in 1952 under the composer's baton, and was to become Finzi's favoured soloist in several subsequent performances of the work. Brown also gave the first performance of '' Till Earth Outwears'', a posthumous collection of Finzi's settings of poems by

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

, in 1957 at Ashmansworth. In 1958, he was co-dedicatee and original performer with the oboist

Janet Craxton Janet Helen Rosemary Craxton (17 May 192918 July 1981) was an English oboe player and teacher. She was the youngest of the six children and the only daughter of the pianist and teacher Harold Craxton. Her older brothers included the artist John C ...

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

Ten Blake Songs ''Ten Blake Songs'' is a song cycle for tenor or soprano voice and oboe composed over the Christmas period of 1957 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (18721958), for the 1958 film ''The Vision of William Blake'' by Guy Brenton for Morse Films. The firs ...

''. In 1963 he recorded what is often cited as the definitive performance of ''Dies Natalis'' with the

English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. The orchestra regularly tours in the UK and internationall ...

, under the direction of the composer's son,

Christopher Finzi Christopher "Kiffer" Finzi (12 July 1934 — 28 November 2019) was a British orchestral conductor. He was the son of composer Gerald Finzi and artist Joyce Black (known as Joy Finzi). Background Born in Hampstead, London in 1934, Finzi was th ...

. He was also a great friend of the guitarist

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

and together they recorded an album of music by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

Stephen Dodgson Stephen Cuthbert Vivian Dodgson (17 March 192413 April 2013) was a British composer and broadcaster. Dodgson's prolific musical output covered most genres, ranging from opera and large-scale orchestral music to chamber and instrumental music, as ...

and

John Dowland John Dowland (c. 1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", "Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", ...

(released in 1969 on Columbia Odyssey), and a collection of English folk songs. Brown died in Petersfield from a brain tumour on 5 March 1971, aged 49. In his last recital, given at

Highclere Castle Highclere Castle is a Grade I listed country house built in 1679 and largely renovated in the 1840s, with a park designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. The estate is in Highclere in Hampshire, England, about south of Newbury, ...

in Hampshire, he had sung ''Dies Natalis''.Sleeve notes from Wilfred Brown and John Williams: Folk songs (Belart 461 4892, released 1998), John T. Hughes

Notes

1921 births 1971 deaths People educated at The College of Richard Collyer People from Horsham People from Petersfield English tenors English Quakers Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge 20th-century English singers 20th-century British male singers 20th-century Quakers {{Quaker-stub