Arthur Catterall
Encyclopedia
Arthur Catterall was an English concert violin
ist, orchestral leader and conductor, one of the best-known English classical violinists of the first half of the twentieth century.
violin concerto in Manchester
at the age of 9. He studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music
under Willy Hess
in 1894 and under Adolph Brodsky
in 1895. In 1902, at the age of 18, he was invited to Bayreuth by Hans Richter
and played at all of Cosima Wagner
's musical evenings in that season. He appeared at a Hallé Orchestra concert in 1903 playing Tchaikovsky's concerto.
. In 1911 he acquired the violin made by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume
, c. 1843, which had belonged to Ferdinand David. In 1912 he was appointed Professor of violin at the Royal Manchester College of Music (a post he held for many years) and became leader of the Hallé Orchestra, where he remained until 1925. In 1913 he obtained the 'Baillot-Pommereau'
1694 instrument by Antonio Stradivarius, and in September of that year performed the Violin Concerto BV 243 of Ferruccio Busoni
with the Queen's Hall Orchestra under Henry Wood. He later gave the English premiere, also at a prom, of the (1911-1912) Violin concerto of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
, which had been dedicated to Maud Powell
.
wrote a Sonata for violin and piano for Catterall and the pianist R.J. Forbes. He led the Catterall Players, an ensemble for chamber performance, which performed the Elgar quintet in 1921. He had connections with the London Chamber Music Players (led by Albert Sammons
), with the pianist William Murdoch
and 'cellist W. H. Squire, and founded and in 1910 founded and led a string quartet under his own name as the Catterall Quartet. In this John S. Bridge played 2nd violin, Frank S. Park (viola) and Johan C. Hock (cello). Hans Keller described their work as 'imaginative'. From 1926-1931 Laurance Turner was second violin in the quartet.
The quartet made recordings for His Master's Voice in the early 1920s, including Beethoven's op 18 nos 1 (1922-1923) and 2 (1923-1924), Arensky 2nd Quartet op 35a, and the Brahms Quartet no 1 (June 1923). They also recorded Beethoven op 130 at full length by the acoustic process, but this remained unissued. Catterall also played in a Trio called The Manchester Trio.
At the same time Catterall was recording for Columbia Records
as a soloist in complete versions of Mozart's Concerto no 5 in A minor K219, and Bach
's concerto for two violins with John S. Bridge, both under the direction of Hamilton Harty
, c. 1924. The quartet also transferred to recording for Columbia. He recorded the Brahms violin sonata in D minor with Murdoch in November 1923. He also recorded by the electrical microphone process after 1925. In the 1933 Columbia catalogue the standard recording of Tchaikovsky's Trio no 2, op 50 (on 12 sides) was by Catterall, Murdoch and Squire.
in London. Among his pupils were Harry Blech, Walter Appleyard, Eugene Genin, Arthur Leavins, Laurance Turner, Gloria Pashley, and also Olive Zorian (b. 1916) (founder and leader of the Zorian Quartet which pioneered works by Michael Tippett
in 1943-44 and those of Britten soon afterwards). After leaving the Hallé orchestra he concentrated on solo work, performing for example the Beethoven concerto under Thomas Beecham
with the London Symphony Orchestra
in March 1927. He also developed as a conductor, taking the third concert of the 1929 Delius
Festival at the Queen's Hall (Eventyr, Cynara, Piano concerto, Arabesk and Appalachia).
In 1929, Catterall became the founding leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra
, though the proms were at first led by his assistant violin Charles Woodhouse. When the orchestra first appeared in full strength (115 players), on October 22, 1930, at the Queen's Hall in its inaugural concert with the Flying Dutchman overture, Brahms' Fourth Symphony, the Saint-Saëns cello concerto (with Guilhermina Suggia
) and Ravel's Symphonic Fragments from Daphnis et Chloé
, under Adrian Boult
, Catterall led the orchestra.
In 1932, Granville Bantock
dedicated his second violin sonata to Catterall (the first having been to Albert Sammons
). Catterall retired from his position with the BBC Orchestra in 1936, to devote his time to solo work and teaching. He formed another chamber orchestra for young string players, The Catterall String Orchestra, led from 1940-1943 by Audrey Catterall (b. 1917).
He remained busy into the first years of the war, still a champion of contemporary composers. He performed the Brahms double concerto (with cellist Thelma Reiss) and gave the English premiere of Felix Weingartner
's Sinfonietta (with Reiss and violist Bernard Shore) under Weingartner's baton at a Royal Philharmonic concert in February 1939. He was memorably associated with the cellist Antonia Butler in a prom performance at the Queen's Hall of the Brahms double concerto in August 1940. After an air-raid warning was heard and the audience was obliged to remain indoors, the musicians improvised an all-night concert. The work of the Catterall Quartet (with Audrey Catterall as second violin) continued, for on 5 February 1942 it gave the first performance of the String Quartet in G minor ('Kenilworth'), op 99, by Armstrong Gibbs at Windermere
. On 8 July 1942 he gave the world premiere of the Violin concerto dedicated to him by E.J. Moeran, under Henry Wood, and repeated his performance, with Wood, for the Royal Philharmonic concert of 5 December 1942.
He died in London in November 1943: Moeran was present at the death or soon after. An Arthur Catterall Cup for violin or viola concerto performance is competed for in the Feis Ceoil
.
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist, orchestral leader and conductor, one of the best-known English classical violinists of the first half of the twentieth century.
Early training
Arthur Catterall was an extremely gifted musician in childhood. He first played the violin in public at a concert in Preston when he was 6 years old. He played the MendelssohnMendelssohn
Mendelson is a Polish/German Jewish family name, meaning "son of Mendel", Mendel being a Yiddish diminutive of the Hebrew given name Menahem, meaning "consoling" or "one who consoles".Mendelssohn is the surname of a number of people:...
violin concerto in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
at the age of 9. He studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music
Royal Manchester College of Music
The Royal Manchester College of Music was founded in 1893 by Sir Charles Hallé who assumed the role as Principal. For a long period of time Hallé had argued for Manchester's need for a conservatoire to properly train the local talent. The Ducie Street building, just off Oxford Road, was purchased...
under Willy Hess
Willy Hess (violinist)
Willy Hess was a German violin virtuoso and violin teacher.-Biography:Will Hess was born in Mannheim in 1859. He was a student of Joseph Joachim and he also studied with his father, who was a pupil of Louis Spohr....
in 1894 and under Adolph Brodsky
Adolph Brodsky
Adolph Davidovich Brodsky was a Russian violinist.He enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a performer and teacher, starting early in Vienna, going on to Moscow, Leipzig, and New York City and finally Manchester. During its course he met and worked with composers such as Tchaikovsky and...
in 1895. In 1902, at the age of 18, he was invited to Bayreuth by Hans Richter
Hans Richter (conductor)
Hans Richter was an Austrian orchestral and operatic conductor.-Biography:Richter was born in Raab , Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother was opera-singer Jozsefa Csazenszky. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory...
and played at all of Cosima Wagner
Cosima Wagner
Cosima Francesca Gaetana Wagner, née de Flavigny, from 1844 known as Cosima Liszt; was the daughter of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt...
's musical evenings in that season. He appeared at a Hallé Orchestra concert in 1903 playing Tchaikovsky's concerto.
Orchestral leader
In 1909 Catterall became leader of the promenade concerts at the Queen's HallQueen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect T.E. Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it was the home of the promenade concerts founded by Robert...
. In 1911 he acquired the violin made by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume
Jean Baptiste Vuillaume
Jean Baptiste Vuillaume was an illustrious French violin maker. He made over 3,000 instruments and was also a fine businessman and an inventor.-Early life:...
, c. 1843, which had belonged to Ferdinand David. In 1912 he was appointed Professor of violin at the Royal Manchester College of Music (a post he held for many years) and became leader of the Hallé Orchestra, where he remained until 1925. In 1913 he obtained the 'Baillot-Pommereau'
Stradivarius
The name Stradivarius is associated with violins built by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or reproduce, though this belief is controversial...
1694 instrument by Antonio Stradivarius, and in September of that year performed the Violin Concerto BV 243 of Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...
with the Queen's Hall Orchestra under Henry Wood. He later gave the English premiere, also at a prom, of the (1911-1912) Violin concerto of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was an English composer who achieved such success that he was once called the "African Mahler".-Early life and education:...
, which had been dedicated to Maud Powell
Maud Powell
Maud Powell was an American violinist who gained international acclaim for her skill and virtuosity. She was born in Peru, Illinois. She was the first American violinist to achieve international rank...
.
Chamber music
In addition to his orchestral and teaching work, Catterall was active in chamber music throughout his career. In c.1916 Frederick DeliusFrederick Delius
Frederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH was an English composer. Born in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family of German extraction, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce...
wrote a Sonata for violin and piano for Catterall and the pianist R.J. Forbes. He led the Catterall Players, an ensemble for chamber performance, which performed the Elgar quintet in 1921. He had connections with the London Chamber Music Players (led by Albert Sammons
Albert Sammons
Albert Edward Sammons CBE was an English violinist, composer and later violin teacher. Almost self-taught on the violin, he had a wide repertoire as both chamber musician and soloist, although his reputation rests mainly on his association with British composers, especially Elgar...
), with the pianist William Murdoch
William Murdoch
William Murdoch was a Scottish engineer and long-term inventor.Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton and Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten years, spending most of the rest of his life in Birmingham, England.He was the inventor of the oscillating steam...
and 'cellist W. H. Squire, and founded and in 1910 founded and led a string quartet under his own name as the Catterall Quartet. In this John S. Bridge played 2nd violin, Frank S. Park (viola) and Johan C. Hock (cello). Hans Keller described their work as 'imaginative'. From 1926-1931 Laurance Turner was second violin in the quartet.
The quartet made recordings for His Master's Voice in the early 1920s, including Beethoven's op 18 nos 1 (1922-1923) and 2 (1923-1924), Arensky 2nd Quartet op 35a, and the Brahms Quartet no 1 (June 1923). They also recorded Beethoven op 130 at full length by the acoustic process, but this remained unissued. Catterall also played in a Trio called The Manchester Trio.
At the same time Catterall was recording for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
as a soloist in complete versions of Mozart's Concerto no 5 in A minor K219, and Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
's concerto for two violins with John S. Bridge, both under the direction of Hamilton Harty
Hamilton Harty
Sir Hamilton Harty was an Irish and British composer, conductor, pianist and organist. In his capacity as a conductor, he was particularly noted as an interpreter of the music of Berlioz and he was much respected as a piano accompanist of exceptional prowess...
, c. 1924. The quartet also transferred to recording for Columbia. He recorded the Brahms violin sonata in D minor with Murdoch in November 1923. He also recorded by the electrical microphone process after 1925. In the 1933 Columbia catalogue the standard recording of Tchaikovsky's Trio no 2, op 50 (on 12 sides) was by Catterall, Murdoch and Squire.
Move to London
After many years teaching at the Manchester College, Catterall became Professor at the Royal Academy of MusicRoyal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
in London. Among his pupils were Harry Blech, Walter Appleyard, Eugene Genin, Arthur Leavins, Laurance Turner, Gloria Pashley, and also Olive Zorian (b. 1916) (founder and leader of the Zorian Quartet which pioneered works by Michael Tippett
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
in 1943-44 and those of Britten soon afterwards). After leaving the Hallé orchestra he concentrated on solo work, performing for example the Beethoven concerto under Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
with 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:...
in March 1927. He also developed as a conductor, taking the third concert of the 1929 Delius
Delius
Delius is a surname. It may refer to:* Ernst von Delius - German racing car driver* Frederick Delius - English composer* Nicolaus Delius - German philologist* Tobias Delius Delius is a surname. It may refer to:* Ernst von Delius (1912–1937) - German racing car driver* Frederick Delius...
Festival at the Queen's Hall (Eventyr, Cynara, Piano concerto, Arabesk and Appalachia).
In 1929, Catterall became the founding leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
, though the proms were at first led by his assistant violin Charles Woodhouse. When the orchestra first appeared in full strength (115 players), on October 22, 1930, at the Queen's Hall in its inaugural concert with the Flying Dutchman overture, Brahms' Fourth Symphony, the Saint-Saëns cello concerto (with Guilhermina Suggia
Guilhermina Suggia
Guilhermina Augusta Xavier de Medim Suggia Carteado Mena, known as Guilhermina Suggia, was a Portuguese cellist. She studied in Germany with Pablo Casals, and built an international reputation. She spent many years living in England, where she was particularly celebrated...
) and Ravel's Symphonic Fragments from Daphnis et Chloé
Daphnis et Chloé
Daphnis et Chloé is a ballet with music by Maurice Ravel. Ravel described it as a "symphonie choréographique" . The scenario was adapted by Michel Fokine from an eponymous romance by the Greek writer Longus thought to date from around the 2nd century AD...
, under Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH 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 for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
, Catterall led the orchestra.
In 1932, Granville Bantock
Granville Bantock
Sir Granville Bantock was a British composer of classical music.-Biography:Granville Ransome Bantock was born in London. His father was a Scottish doctor. He was intended by his parents for the Indian Civil Service but was drawn into the musical world. His first teacher was Dr Gordon Saunders at...
dedicated his second violin sonata to Catterall (the first having been to Albert Sammons
Albert Sammons
Albert Edward Sammons CBE was an English violinist, composer and later violin teacher. Almost self-taught on the violin, he had a wide repertoire as both chamber musician and soloist, although his reputation rests mainly on his association with British composers, especially Elgar...
). Catterall retired from his position with the BBC Orchestra in 1936, to devote his time to solo work and teaching. He formed another chamber orchestra for young string players, The Catterall String Orchestra, led from 1940-1943 by Audrey Catterall (b. 1917).
He remained busy into the first years of the war, still a champion of contemporary composers. He performed the Brahms double concerto (with cellist Thelma Reiss) and gave the English premiere of Felix Weingartner
Felix Weingartner
Paul Felix von Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.-Biography:...
's Sinfonietta (with Reiss and violist Bernard Shore) under Weingartner's baton at a Royal Philharmonic concert in February 1939. He was memorably associated with the cellist Antonia Butler in a prom performance at the Queen's Hall of the Brahms double concerto in August 1940. After an air-raid warning was heard and the audience was obliged to remain indoors, the musicians improvised an all-night concert. The work of the Catterall Quartet (with Audrey Catterall as second violin) continued, for on 5 February 1942 it gave the first performance of the String Quartet in G minor ('Kenilworth'), op 99, by Armstrong Gibbs at Windermere
Windermere
Windermere is the largest natural lake of England. It is also a name used in a number of places, including:-Australia:* Lake Windermere , a reservoir, Australian Capital Territory * Lake Windermere...
. On 8 July 1942 he gave the world premiere of the Violin concerto dedicated to him by E.J. Moeran, under Henry Wood, and repeated his performance, with Wood, for the Royal Philharmonic concert of 5 December 1942.
He died in London in November 1943: Moeran was present at the death or soon after. An Arthur Catterall Cup for violin or viola concerto performance is competed for in the Feis Ceoil
Feis Ceoil
Feis Ceoil is an annual Irish cultural festival of music and dance. It was first organized in 1897 by Dr. Annie Patterson and Edward Martyn. It consisted of competitions for performance and composition and was supported by all musicians of the day, both national and classical...
.