Antony Hopkins

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Antony Hopkins

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(21 March 1921 – 6 May 2014) was a composer, pianist, and conductor, as well as a writer and radio broadcaster. He was widely known for his books of musical analysis and for his radio programmes ''Talking About Music'', broadcast by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

from 1954 for approaching 40 years, first on the

Third Programme The BBC Third Programme was a national radio station produced and broadcast from 1946 until 1967, when it was replaced by Radio 3. It first went on the air on 29 September 1946 and quickly became one of the leading cultural and intellectual f ...

, later Radio 3, and then on Radio 4.

Life and career

Hopkins was born Ernest William Antony Reynolds in London. Following the death of Antony's father in 1925, the headmaster at

Berkhamsted School Berkhamsted School is an independent day school in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. The present school was formed in 1997 by the amalgamation of the original Berkhamsted School, founded in 1541 by John Incent, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, ...

, Major Thomas Hopkins, and his wife volunteered to take the five-year-old Antony under a joint guardianship agreement; seven years later they officially adopted him, and his surname was changed to Hopkins. In 1937 he went to a summer school for pianists in Schwaz on the Innthal in Austria, where, hearing a performance of

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

's Op. 90 Impromptus, he was inspired with the desire to become a musician. Hopkins entered the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

(RCM) in 1939, where he studied harmony with

Harold Darke Harold Edwin Darke (29 October 1888 – 28 November 1976) was an English composer and organist. He is particularly known for his choral compositions, which are an established part of the respertoire of Anglican church music. Darke had a fifty-y ...

and composition with

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about m ...

. After an unsatisfactory start in his piano studies, he left his teacher to study under

Cyril Smith Sir Cyril Richard Smith (28 June 1928 – 3 September 2010) was a prominent British politician who after his death was revealed to have been a prolific serial sex offender against children. A member of the Liberal Party, he was Member of ...

. He also studied organ (though he described himself as "the world's worst organist").Haddon, Elizabeth. ''Making Music in Britain''. Ashgate, 2006. p. 92 He won several scholarships as well as the Chappell Gold Medal for piano and the

Cobbett prize Cobbett is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Hilary Dulcie Cobbett (1885–1976), British artist * William Cobbett (1763–1835), British radical agriculturist and prolific journalist. * Walter Willson Cobbett Walter Willson ...

for composition.Haddon (2006). p. 90 While still studying at the RCM, he became involved with the choir at

Morley College Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the lat ...

, conducted by

Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten ...

who also gave Hopkins informal lessons in composition. In 1944 Tippett passed to Hopkins the job of composing incidental music for a production of '' Doctor Faustus'' at the

Liverpool Playhouse The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actress ...

; following its success,

Louis MacNeice Frederick Louis MacNeice (12 September 1907 – 3 September 1963) was an Irish poet and playwright, and a member of the Auden Group, which also included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis. MacNeice's body of work was widely a ...

asked Hopkins to write incidental music for a radio play. For the next 15 years, Hopkins earned his living mostly from composing. Hopkins's first opera, ''Lady Rohesia'' (1947), based on the

Ingoldsby Legends ''The Ingoldsby Legends'' (full title: ''The Ingoldsby Legends, or Mirth and Marvels'') is a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poetry written supposedly by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, actually a pen-name of an English cle ...

of sixteenth-century England, was staged at

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

in 1948. His other operas include ''The Man from Tuscany'', ''Three's Company'' (1953), and ''Hands Across the Sky''.Cooke, Richard
"Hopkins, Antony"
''Grove Music Online'', accessed 29 June 2014 Other works include the ballet ''Café des Sports''; and ''Scena'' for soprano and strings (which was later arranged for three solo voices and full orchestra). Hopkins also wrote extensively for films, including ''

Here Come the Huggetts ''Here Come the Huggetts'' is a 1948 British comedy film, the first of the The Huggetts (film series), Huggetts series, about a working class English family. All three films in the series were directed by Ken Annakin and released by Gainsborough ...

'' (1948), ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to s ...

'' (1952), ''

Johnny on the Run ''Johnny on the Run'' is a 1953 adventure film directed by Lewis Gilbert. It was produced by the Children's Film Foundation It includes documentary footage of streets in the south side of Edinburgh in the early 1950s and of rural Perthshire. P ...

'' (1953), ''

The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp ''The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp'' is a 1954 British fantasy comedy film directed by Alan Bromly and starring Felix Aylmer, Diane Cilento and Jerry Desmonde. The film was based on a novel by Charles Terrot and is a remake of his television p ...

'' (1954), '' Child's Play'' (1954), ''

Cast a Dark Shadow ''Cast a Dark Shadow'' is a 1955 black-and-white British suspense film noir directed by Lewis Gilbert, based on the play ''Murder Mistaken'' by Janet Green. The story concerns a husband played by Dirk Bogarde who murders his wife. Plot After ...

'' (1955), '' The Blue Peter'' (1955), '' Seven Thunders'' (1957), and '' Billy Budd'' (1962). In November 1953, Hopkins gave a BBC radio talk in which he explained, using musical examples, the intricacies of a Bach fugue. Martin Armstrong in '' The Listener'' magazine described Hopkins' programme as "a pyrotechnic display, by which I mean not flashy but brilliant – it did not seem to promise amusing entertainment, yet this was what Mr Hopkins's half-hour analysis was". A producer of the BBC Third Programme, Roger Fiske, subsequently offered Hopkins carte blanche to do whatever he wanted on the radio: Hopkins suggested a half-hour programme on talking about works to be broadcast in the coming week. The resulting series, ''Talking About Music'', ran from 1954 to 1992, and was syndicated to 44 countries. In the 1970s, he revived the long forgotten oratorio ''Ruth'' (infamous as 'the Worst Oratorio in the World') by the English composer

George Tolhurst George Tolhurst (5 June 182718 January 1877) was an English composer, resident from 1852 to 1866 in Australia. Born in Maidstone, Kent, George emigrated to Melbourne with his father, where he practised as a teacher of music. He returned to Engla ...

; this was heard again in 2009 on the

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

programme ''The Choir''. From 1952 he was Artistic Director of the

Intimate Opera Company The Intimate Opera Company was an English opera company based in London which specialized in performances of chamber operas. Founded in 1930 by British baritone and impresario Frederick Woodhouse, the company was established with the professed ai ...

, being replaced by Stephen Manton in 1963 though remaining a director and as music adviser of the company. From 1959 until his death he was President of Luton Music Club, and also from 1994 President of Radlett Music Club.

Personal life

Hopkins was appointed a CBE in 1976 for his services to music. He died on 6 May 2014, in

Ashridge Ashridge is a country estate and stately home in Hertfordshire, England in the United Kingdom. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, about north of Berkhamsted and north west of London. The estate com ...

, Hertfordshire in England.Obituary in: The Independent
/ref> He was survived by his second wife, Beatrix née Taylor. His first wife, Alison Purves, whom he married in 1947, died in 1991.

Books

*''Beating Time'' – autobiography (1982) *''Downbeat Music Guide'' *''Music all Around Me'' *''Musicamusings'' *''Music Face to Face'' (with

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

) *''Pathway to Music'' *''Sounds of the Orchestra: A Study of Orchestral Texture'' *''Talking About Concertos'' *''Talking About Sonatas'' *''Talking About Symphonies'' *''The Dent Concertgoer's Companion'' *''The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven'' *''The Seven Concertos of Beethoven'' *''Understanding Music'' *''The Concertgoer's Companion Volume 1 Bach To Haydn'' *''The Concertgoer's Companion Volume 2 Holst To Webern''

Articles

*'Talking About Hopkins': Antony Hopkins, CBE, in conversation with Mark Doran, ''Musical Opinion'', March 2011, pp. 14–17.

Recordings

*''Talking about Symphonies'' EMI 12" vinyl LP: CFP 40058 *''Talking about Rachmaninoff'' Jupiter 7" vinyl: jep OC13 *''Talking about Bach'' Jupiter 7" vinyl: jep OC18 *''Talking about Beethoven'' Jupiter 7" vinyl: jep OC23

References

External links

*
BBC Radio 4 Last Word podcast (Anthony Hopkins begins at about 6 minutes 50 seconds)

Radlett Music Club

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Antony 1921 births 2014 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English film score composers English male film score composers English classical pianists Male classical pianists Musicians from London People educated at Berkhamsted School Place of death missing English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) Alumni of the Royal College of Music English autobiographers BBC Radio 3 presenters People from Edmonton, London Prix Italia winners 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century English composers 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians Classical musicians associated with the BBC