English pianist, composer and teacher
Marmaduke Barton FRCM (29 December 1865 – 24 July 1938) was an English pianist, composer and teacher at the Royal College of Music for almost 50 years.
Career
Marmaduke Miller Barton was born in Manchester , the son of a United Methodist Free Church minister,[ 1] the Rev Samuel Saxon Barton.[ 2] He was educated at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London under one of the first 50 scholarships. His teachers were John Francis Barnett (piano) and Sir Charles Villiers Stanford .[ 2]
On 2 July 1884 he opened the very first concert ever given by students of the RCM, in the West Theatre of the Royal Albert Hall , with a performance of Chopin 's Ballade No. 3 in A-flat .[ 1] [ 3]
He met Hamish MacCunn at this time and the two became lifelong friends.[ 1] [ 4] He made piano duet arrangements of two of MacCunn's orchestral works, and some smaller works were dedicated to him.[ 5] [ 6] He and MacCunn played piano duets in some student concerts.[ 4]
Barton was the inaugural winner of the Hopkinson Gold Medal for piano performance at the RCM.[ 2] He was the soloist at the premiere performance of Charles Wood 's Piano Concerto.[ 1] In 1887 he played before Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle in a concert celebrating her Golden Jubilee.[ 2]
On 20 December 1887, he participated in the first English performance of Palestrina 's Stabat Mater , at the Princes' Hall, under Sir Hubert Parry .[ 7]
In 1888 he was awarded a travelling scholarship, enabling him to study with the Franz Liszt pupil Bernhard Stavenhagen in Weimar .[ 2] He was appointed to the teaching staff of the RCM on his return in 1889, while continuing his career as a solo performer. In February 1891 he played Brahms ' Piano Concerto No. 2 under Sir August Manns at The Crystal Palace ,[ 8] and also appeared at the Albert Hall, the Proms (he played the Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor on 11 October 1911 under Sir Henry Wood ),[ 9] and in the provinces. He gave frequent solo recitals in London, and he toured South Africa and the Netherlands.[ 2]
Of his playing of the Schumann Piano Concerto in 1910, Ernest Newman wrote:
A more superb performance of Schumann's Concerto it would be hard to imagine. When we get a piece of playing so thoroughly splendid in every quality of technique and brain and temperament, there is no room for any feeling but one of thankfulness.[ 1]
Barton taught at the Guildhall School of Music from 1911, and regularly acted as Examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music .[ 2] He published a small number of compositions, including a Mass in A major[ 10] and some piano pieces. His students included: Marion Scott ,[ 11] Cyril Rootham , Clara Butt ,[ 12] Lloyd Powell ,[ 1] Henry Ley ,[ 13] and the entertainer Anna Russell (presumably no relation to his wife).[ 14]
Legacy
The Marmaduke Barton Prize for Pianoforte Playing is awarded by the RCM. Recipients include David Helfgott and Marianna Prjevalskaya .[ 15]
Personal life
In 1891 he married Anna Russell, one of his co-students at the RCM, a pupil of Jenny Lind and Sir George Henschel .[ 2] She had sung Agathe in the college's production of Der Freischütz . He became a Roman Catholic soon afterwards.[ 1]
Death
Barton died in 1938, aged 72, survived by his widow, a daughter and three sons.[ 1] He was buried at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery , Kensal Green .[ 10] [ 16]
References
^ a b c d e f g h cph.rcm Archived 11 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
^ a b c d e f g h Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed. (1954), Vol. I, p. 476
^ upbeat, The Magazine for the Royal College of Music , Summer 2012 , Rcm.ac.uk
^ a b Alasdair Jamieson, The Music of Hamish MacCunn: A Critical Study , vol. 1 , Etheses.dur.ac.uk
^ Alasdair Jamieson, The Music of Hamish MacCunn: A Critical Study , vol. 2 , Etheses.dur.ac.uk
^ "Alexander Mackenzie: Scottish Composer" . Musicweb-international.com . Retrieved 23 July 2020 .
^ "Search" . Concert Programmes . Retrieved 23 July 2020 .
^ "WHO'S WHO IN MUSIC" . SMALL, MAYNARD AND COMPANY. 23 July 1913. Retrieved 23 July 2020 – via Internet Archive.
^ "The Proms Archive" . Bbc.co.uk . Retrieved 23 July 2020 .
^ a b "Mr. Marmaduke Barton" , obituary, Catholic Herald , 29 July 1938]
^ Blevins, Pamela (23 July 2008). Ivor Gurney & Marion Scott: Song of Pain and Beauty . Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 9781843834212 . Retrieved 23 July 2020 – via Google Books.
^ Leonard, Maurice (23 July 2012). Hope and Glory: A Life of Dame Clara Butt . Victorian Secrets. ISBN 9781906469382 . Retrieved 23 July 2020 – via Google Books.
^ Henry George Ley , citing The Musical Times from 1 December 1922
^ "Anna Russell | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links" . AllMusic . Retrieved 23 July 2020 .
^ Marmaduke Barton Prize for Pianoforte Playing , Opencharities.org; accessed 25 June 2014.
^ "Persons of Note - St Mary's Catholic Cemetery" . Sites.google.com . Retrieved 23 July 2020 .
International National Artists