Anthony Vincent Collins
Encyclopedia
Anthony Collins was a British conductor and composer
.
, East Sussex
in 1893. At the age of seventeen he began to perform as violinist in the Hastings Municipal Orchestra. He then served four years in the army
. Beginning in 1920 he studied violin with Achille Rivarde
and composition with Gustav Holst
at the Royal College of Music
. In 1926, he began his musical career performing as principal viola
in the London Symphony Orchestra
. For ten years he performed in that orchestra and also in the Royal Opera House
Covent Garden Orchestra. He resigned these positions in 1936. For the rest of his career he divided his time between conducting, beginning with opera and moving to orchestra; and composition. His conducting debut was on 20 January 1938, when he led his former colleagues in the London Symphony Orchestra in Elgar
's 1st symphony
, and the following year he founded the London Mozart Orchestra.
He moved to the United States in 1939 to conduct orchestras in Los Angeles
and New York
as well as composing film music for RKO Pictures
. He was nominated for three Academy Awards
for best music and original score in three consecutive years (1940–1942) for Nurse Edith Cavell
, Irene and Sunny
. He returned to England in 1945, continuing to conduct the major British orchestras and also compose for British film studios. He retired at the end of the 1950s, returning to Los Angeles, where he died at the age of 70 in 1963.
. Collins also edited the Threnody for a Soldier Killed in Action from sketches left by Michael Heming
, a young composer killed in World War II
. His Elegy for Edward Elgar has been recorded, including a theme from the third movement of Elgar's third symphony
.
Other works include two symphonies, two violin concertos, four short operas: Perseus and Andromeda, Catherine Parr, The Blue Harlequin and Kanawa, a cantata The Lay of Rosabelle, and chamber works and songs.
, for Decca Records
and EMI
. His Decca recordings made between 1952-1955 of the seven Sibelius symphonies (the first complete cycle with one orchestra and conductor) and tone poems were regarded very highly. He recorded with Decca from May 1945 to December 1956.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Biography
Anthony Vincent Benedictus Collins was born in HastingsHastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
in 1893. At the age of seventeen he began to perform as violinist in the Hastings Municipal Orchestra. He then served four years in the army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. Beginning in 1920 he studied violin with Achille Rivarde
Achille Rivarde
Achille Rivarde was an American-born British violinist and teacher, who worked mainly in Europe and London.-Biography:...
and composition with Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
. In 1926, he began his musical career performing as principal viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
in the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
. For ten years he performed in that orchestra and also in the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
Covent Garden Orchestra. He resigned these positions in 1936. For the rest of his career he divided his time between conducting, beginning with opera and moving to orchestra; and composition. His conducting debut was on 20 January 1938, when he led his former colleagues in the London Symphony Orchestra in Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
's 1st symphony
Symphony No. 1 (Elgar)
Sir Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 55 is one of his two completed symphonies. The first performance was given by the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Hans Richter in Manchester, England, on 3 December 1908. It was widely known that Elgar had been planning a symphony for more than...
, and the following year he founded the London Mozart Orchestra.
He moved to the United States in 1939 to conduct orchestras in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
as well as composing film music for RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
. He was nominated for three Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for best music and original score in three consecutive years (1940–1942) for Nurse Edith Cavell
Nurse Edith Cavell
Nurse Edith Cavell is a 1939 American film directed by Herbert Wilcox.The film was nominated at the 1939 Oscars for Best Original Score.- Cast :*Anna Neagle as Nurse Edith Cavell*Edna May Oliver as Countess de Mavon*George Sanders as Capt. Heinrichs...
, Irene and Sunny
Sunny (1941 film)
Sunny is a 1941 film American film directed by Herbert Wilcox. It was adapted by Sig Herzig from the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical play Sunny...
. He returned to England in 1945, continuing to conduct the major British orchestras and also compose for British film studios. He retired at the end of the 1950s, returning to Los Angeles, where he died at the age of 70 in 1963.
Compositions
Collins arranged and composed many major works and lighter pieces, which include the still-popular Vanity Fair. This work and numerous other miniatures and suites by Collins are to be found on a 2005 CD, featuring John Wilson conducting the BBC Concert OrchestraBBC Concert Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five which is not a full-scale symphony orchestra....
. Collins also edited the Threnody for a Soldier Killed in Action from sketches left by Michael Heming
Michael Heming
Michael Heming was a British composer. He was the son of Percy Alfred Heming, a well-known baritone, and Joyce Savage....
, a young composer killed in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His Elegy for Edward Elgar has been recorded, including a theme from the third movement of Elgar's third symphony
Symphony No. 3 (Elgar)
Edward Elgar's Third Symphony was incomplete at the time of his death in 1934. Elgar left 130 pages of sketches which the British composer Anthony Payne worked on for many years, producing a complete symphony in 1997, officially known as "Edward Elgar: the sketches for Symphony No 3 elaborated by...
.
Other works include two symphonies, two violin concertos, four short operas: Perseus and Andromeda, Catherine Parr, The Blue Harlequin and Kanawa, a cantata The Lay of Rosabelle, and chamber works and songs.
Recordings
Collins conducted a series of classical recordings, notably of music of Elgar and SibeliusJean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
, for Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
and EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
. His Decca recordings made between 1952-1955 of the seven Sibelius symphonies (the first complete cycle with one orchestra and conductor) and tone poems were regarded very highly. He recorded with Decca from May 1945 to December 1956.
Film music
- Victoria the GreatVictoria the GreatVictoria the Great is a 1937 British historical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Anton Walbrook and Walter Rilla. The film biography of Queen Victoria concentrating initially on the early years of her reign with her marriage to Prince Albert and her subsequent rule after...
, 1937 - The RatThe Rat (1937 film)The Rat is a 1937 British drama film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Anton Walbrook, Ruth Chatterton, and René Ray. It is based on the play The Rat by Ivor Novello which had previously been made into a 1925 film The Rat starring Novello...
, 1937 - A Royal Divorce, 1938
- Sixty Glorious YearsSixty Glorious YearsSixty Glorious Years is a 1938 British film directed by Herbert Wilcox. The film is a sequel to the 1937 film Victoria the Great.The film is also known as Queen of Destiny in the US.- Cast :*Anna Neagle as Queen Victoria...
, 1938 - Marigold, 1938
- Nurse Edith CavellNurse Edith CavellNurse Edith Cavell is a 1939 American film directed by Herbert Wilcox.The film was nominated at the 1939 Oscars for Best Original Score.- Cast :*Anna Neagle as Nurse Edith Cavell*Edna May Oliver as Countess de Mavon*George Sanders as Capt. Heinrichs...
, 1939 - Allegheny UprisingAllegheny UprisingAllegheny Uprising is a 1939 film produced by RKO Pictures, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne as pioneers of early American expansion in south central Pennsylvania. Clad in buckskin and a coonskin cap , Wayne plays real-life James Smith, an American coping with British rule in colonial America...
, 1939 - Swiss Family RobinsonSwiss Family Robinson (1940 film)Swiss Family Robinson is a 1940 film released by RKO Radio Pictures and directed by Edward Ludwig. It is based on the novel The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss and is the first feature-length film version of the story.-Plot:...
, 1940 - Tom Brown's School Days, 1940
- Irene, 1940
- SunnySunny (1941 film)Sunny is a 1941 film American film directed by Herbert Wilcox. It was adapted by Sig Herzig from the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical play Sunny...
, 1941 - Unexpected Uncle, 1941
- The Nazis StrikeThe Nazis StrikeThe Nazis Strike was the second film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series. It introduces Germany as a nation whose aggressive ambitions began in 1863 with Otto von Bismarck and with the Nazis as their latest incarnation....
, 1943 - Appointment in Berlin, 1943
- DestroyerDestroyer (1943 film)Destroyer is a 1943 war film starring Edward G. Robinson and Glenn Ford as U.S. Navy sailors in World War II.-Plot:Steve "Boley" Boleslavski helps build the destroyer John Paul Jones, the namesake of the ship he served on in World War I...
, 1943 - I Live in Grosvenor SquareI Live in Grosvenor SquareI Live in Grosvenor Square is a British war film, directed and produced by Herbert Wilcox—a forerunner of his "London films" collaboration with his wife, actress Anna Neagle. The film deploys a tragi-comic plot in a context of US-British wartime co-operation, and displays icons of popular music...
, 1945 - Piccadilly IncidentPiccadilly IncidentPiccadilly Incident is a 1946 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Coral Browne, Edward Rigby and Leslie Dwyer. A married woman is believed dead in a shipwreck, but returns home with the Second World War at its height to find her husband remarried....
, 1946 - The Courtneys of Curzon StreetThe Courtneys of Curzon StreetThe Courtneys of Curzon Street is a 1947 British drama film starring Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding....
, 1947
- The Fabulous Texan, 1947
- OdetteOdette (film)Odette is a 1950 film that was directed by Herbert Wilcox and used a screenplay by Warren Chetham-Strode. The film starred Anna Neagle as Odette Sansom, an Allied French-born heroine of World War II who joined the Special Operations Executive and was sent to France to work with the resistance...
, 1950 - Thunder in God's Country, 1951
- The Lady With The Lamp, 1951
- MacaoMacao (film)Macao is a 1952 black-and-white film noir adventure film directed by Josef von Sternberg and Nicholas Ray. Producer Howard Hughes fired director von Sternberg during filming and hired Nicholas Ray to finish it...
, 1952 - Derby DayDerby Day (1952 film)Derby Day is a 1952 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Googie Withers, John McCallum and Alfie Bass. An ensemble piece, it portrays several characters on their way to the Derby Day races at Epsom Downs Racecourse...
, 1952 - Trent's Last CaseTrent's Last CaseTrent's Last Case is a detective novel written by E.C. Bentley and first published in 1913. Its central character reappeared subsequently in the novel Trent's Own Case and the short-story collection Trent Intervenes .-Plot summary:...
, 1952 - Laughing AnneLaughing AnneLaughing Anne is a 1953 British adventure film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Wendell Corey, Margaret Lockwood, Forrest Tucker and Ronald Shiner. A sea captain has a tempestuous affair with a French singer...
, 1953
External links
- Classics Online biography http://www.classicsonline.com/conductorbio/Anthony_Collins_27125/#