HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Robin Milford
OR:
Robin Milford on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Robin Humphrey Milford (22 January 1903 – 29 December 1959) was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
and music teacher.


Biography

Milford was born in
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, son of Sir Humphrey Milford, publisher with
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. He attended
Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...
from 1916 where his musical talent for the
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
,
flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
and
theory A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...
was first recognised by Arthur Peppin, the director of music. From 1921 until 1926 he studied at 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 ...
where his composition teachers were
Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
and
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 ...
, and he studied harmony and counterpoint under R. O. Morris. He also studied organ. In 1927, he married. Realising that he would not be able to make a living solely as a composer he worked for a time with the Aeolian Company correcting
Duo-Art Duo-Art was one of the leading reproducing piano technologies of the early 20th century, the others being American Piano Company (Ampico), introduced in 1913 too, and Welte-Mignon in 1905. These technologies flourished at that time because of th ...
pianola rolls until 1930. He also taught part-time at
Ludgrove School Ludgrove School is an English independent boys preparatory boarding school. Ludgrove was founded in 1892 at Ludgrove Hall in Middlesex by the Old Etonian sportsman Arthur Dunn. Dunn had been employed as a master at Elstree School, which sent boys ...
(where his pupils included the music enthusiast George Lascelles, later 7th Earl of Harewood) and at
Downe House School Downe House School is a selective independent girls' day and boarding school in Cold Ash, a village near Newbury, Berkshire, for girls aged 11–18. The ''Good Schools Guide'' described Downe House as an "Archetypal traditional girls' full ...
. In 1929 he had met fellow-composer
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 ...
, with whom he found he had much in common, personally and musically, and the two formed a lifelong friendship. His early compositions met with some success, his ''Double Fugue'' Op. 10 winning a Carnegie Trust award, being published in the
Carnegie Collection of British Music __NOTOC__ The Carnegie Collection of British Music was founded in 1917 by the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, Carnegie Trust to encourage the publication of large scale British musical works. Composers were asked to submit their manuscripts to an a ...
series and performed by the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
under
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 ...
. In September 1931 his oratorio ''A Prophet in the Land'' Op. 21 was performed in
Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to S ...
as part of the
Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...
- the work was somewhat overshadowed by the splash made by
William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...
's ''
Belshazzar's Feast Belshazzar's feast, or the story of the writing on the wall (chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel), tells how Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple. A hand appears and ...
'' performed the same year. In 1937 a performance of his ''Concerto Grosso'' Op. 46 was directed by
Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...
, and his ''Violin Concerto'' Op. 47 was 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. ...
...
in early 1938. Hurd, Michael.
'Milford, Robin ( Humphrey )
in ''Grove Music Online'' (2001) At the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Milford volunteered for the army, and was posted to the Pioneer Corps. After just one week, he suffered a breakdown, and after treatment he and his family moved to
Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
. His depression was deepened by the death of his mother in 1940. He returned to England, to teach and compose, but soon afterwards his five-year-old son, Barnaby, was killed in a road accident. His grief at this tragedy prompted him to attempt suicide; sent back to hospital after this, he tried to kill himself yet again while a patient there. In 1946, he had recovered sufficiently to resume teaching (at
Badminton School Badminton School is an independent, boarding and day school for girls aged 3 to 18 years situated in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, England. Named after Badminton House in Clifton, Bristol, where it was founded, the school has been located at its ...
) and to undertake musical activities. He continued composing throughout this period. After the death of his father in 1952, he was prescribed occasional
shock therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive the ...
. He did continue to enjoy successes: his ''Overture for a Celebration'' Op. 103 was performed under
John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 194 ...
at the 1955
Cheltenham Music Festival The Cheltenham Music Festival is a British music festival, held annually in Cheltenham in the summer months (June, July) since 1945. The festival is renowned for premieres of contemporary music, hosting over 250 music premieres as of July 200 ...
. He also continued to receive moral and material support from his friends, Finzi (who led a performance of ''Fishing by Moonlight'' Op 96 in 1956) and Vaughan Williams (who arranged a performance of the ''Concertino'' Op 106 in 1958, and gave financial help). The deaths of Finzi (1956) and Vaughan Williams (1958) affected Milford deeply, aggravating the effects of his physical decline, which involved loss of vision and impaired balance. He died by his own hand, taking an overdose of aspirin in December 1959.


Music

It has been observed that Milford's writing shows strongly the influence of Vaughan Williams, as might be expected. His use of diatonic melodies, often harmonised with gentle discords, and with
false relation A false relation (also known as cross-relation, non-harmonic relation) is the name of a type of dissonance that sometimes occurs in polyphonic music, most commonly in vocal music of the Renaissance. The term describes a "chromatic contradiction" ...
s occurring occasionally, led Eric Blom (1942) to crystallise these musical traits (also shown by other English composers of the period) as "''musical Englishry''". Vaughan Williams once wrote to
Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...
, "If I wanted to show the intelligent foreigner something worth doing which could only possibly come out of England, I think I would show him something of the work of Milford…" In particular, Milford's lyrical nine minute tone poem for violin and orchestra ''The Darkling Thrush'', (1928) inspired by a poem of
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 ...
and first recorded in 2011, has been compared to Vaughan Williams' ''The Lark Ascending''. His more substantial Violin Concerto in G minor, Op, 47 of 1937 is in similar English pastoral style, and was first recorded in 2014. Despite the tragic events of Milford's life, and his resultant depression, he seems to have had a capacity for incidental enjoyment and his music is by no means all gloomy. However, a factor contributing to Milford's depression was that his brand of English music, as handed down from Vaughan Williams and Holst, was going out of fashion, and his music was not appreciated in a musical scene which was increasingly modernist even while Milford's own music was becoming more conservative. As well as large scale works such as the two symphonies (1927 and 1933), his oratorio ''A Prophet in the Land'' (1929) and the Violin Concerto (1937), Milford also wrote smaller pieces, for example organ pieces suitable for playing as church voluntaries (he was himself a village church organist) and piano works. Milford was able to show the character of a song setting with just a few notes, for example in the very brief piano introduction to ''If it's ever Spring Again''. The Hyperion CD ''Fishing by Moonlight'' Op. 96 includes a selection of his music for strings ranging from the sombre ''Elegiac Meditation'' for viola and string orchestra of 1946–7 – Milford's reaction to the horror and losses of the war – to his light ''Festival Suite'' written in 1950 for the
Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...
, as well as perhaps his best known work, ''Fishing by Moonlight'' for piano and strings, inspired by the Dutch artist
Aert van der Neer Aert van der Neer, or Aernout or Artus (c. 16039 November 1677), was a landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, specializing in small night scenes lit only by moonlight and fires, and snowy winter landscapes, both often looking down a canal ...
. His Suite for Oboe and String Orchestra was recorded by British oboist John McDonough and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in 2011. There's also a CD of chamber music, including the ''Phantasy Quintet'' for clarinet and string quartet (1933), the Violin Sonata in D Major (1945), and the Trio in F major (1948). Other recordings of his music include piano music and songs, his ''Mass for Five Voices'' Op. 84, and 'Mr John Peel Passes By' (originally one of the ''Two Orchestral Interludes'', circa 1930).


Notable compositions

A more complete list may be found in Copley (1984). Orchestral * ''Double Fugue'' Op. 10 (1926) * Symphony (No 1) (1927) * ''The Darkling Thrush'' Op. 17, violin and orchestra (1929) * ''Go Little Book'' Op. 18, suite for flute, optional soprano and orchestra (1928) * ''Two Orchestral Interludes'' Op. 19e (arrangements of two easy piano duets, written before 1930) **'Mr John Peel Passes By' **'Ben Jonson’s Pleasure' * ''Concertino for Harpsichord and String Orchestra'' Op. 20 (1929) * ''Symphony'' Op. 34 (1933, perhaps never performed in full, withdrawn in 1956 although admired by Vaughan Williams, revived at the English Music Festival, May 2019) * ''Miniature Concerto in G'' Op. 35, for orchestra or string quartet with optional double basses (1933) * ''Concerto Grosso'' Op. 46 (1936) * ''Violin Concerto'' Op. 47 (1937) * ''Elegy for James Scott, Duke of Monmouth and Buccleugh'' Op. 50, for string orchestra (1939) * ''Elegiac Meditation'' Op. 83, for viola and string orchestra (1946–47) * ''Fishing by Moonlight'' Op. 96 for piano and string orchestra (1952 arrangement of 1949 piece for two harpsichords or two pianos) * ''Festival Suite'' Op. 97, for string orchestra (1950) * ''Overture for a Celebration'' Op. 103 (1952–54) * ''Concertino in E'' Op. 106, for piano and string orchestra (1955) Dramatic * ''The Shoemaker'' Op. 3, children's opera (1923) * ''The Scarlet Letter'' Op. 112, opera based on novel by
Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...
(1958–59) Choral * ''A Prophet in the Land'' Op. 21, dramatic oratorio (1929) * ''A Mass for Children's Voices'' Op. 62 (1941–42) * ''A Mass for Christmas Morning'' Op. 84, for five voices (1945–47) * ''Days and Moments'' (1953), cantata for soprano, chorus and strings, setting
Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for a highly acclaimed selection of ...
Song * ''Daybreak'' (1930), setting
John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...
* ''Four Songs'' Op. 36 (1933), setting
Robert Bridges Robert Seymour Bridges (23 October 1844 – 21 April 1930) was an English poet who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is ...
* ''Cradle Song'' (1935), setting
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
* ''Four Seasonable Songs'' (before 1936) * ''Four Hardy Songs'' Op. 48 (1938) includes 'The Colour' and 'If it's ever Spring Again' * ''Swan Songs'' (1940s), nine songs Chamber and instrumental * ''My Lady's Pleasure'', suite for piano (before 1925) * ''A Chorale Prelude on "St. Columba"'' Op. 14 (1928) for organ (arranged for orchestra as film music for a television episode of Star Trek) * ''Phantasy Quintet'' for clarinet and string quartet (1933) * ''Prelude, Air and Finale (on a well-known mordent)'' for piano (1935) * ''Reputation Square'', six hornpipes for piano (1937) * ''Idyll: Under the Greenwood Tree'', Op. 57, for violin and piano (1941) * ''Sonata in C for flute and piano'', Op. 69a (1944), of which Milford arranged the slow movement for flute and string orchestra * Violin Sonata in D Major (1945) * ''Six Easter Meditations'' for organ (1943-46)
The Organ Works of Robin Milford
', Priory CD PRCD1246 (2022), reviewed at ''MusicWeb International'' * Trio in F major (1948) * ''Three Airs'', for treble recorder or flute and piano (1958)


References

* * Blom, Eric (1942). ''Music in England.'' Penguin Books, London.


External links


''Robin Milford Trust''


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milford, Robin 1903 births 1959 suicides Drug-related suicides in England English classical composers Alumni of the Royal College of Music People from Oxford English opera composers Male opera composers People educated at Rugby School 20th-century classical composers 20th-century English composers English male classical composers 20th-century British male musicians 1959 deaths Oratorio composers