Derek Simpson (cellist)
Encyclopedia
Derek Simpson was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 cellist, known primarily from his work with the Aeolian Quartet
Aeolian Quartet
The Aeolian Quartet was a highly reputed string quartet based in London , with a long international touring history and presence, an important recording and broadcasting profile. It was the successor of the pre-War Stratton Quartet...

, and as the teacher of many contemporary cellists.

Career

Simpson was born in Worksop
Worksop
Worksop is the largest town in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England on the River Ryton at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. It is about east-south-east of the City of Sheffield and its population is estimated to be 39,800...

, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

, to musician parents, and started playing the cello at 10 years old. At 19 he moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to study at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal 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 1952 he won the Suggia Prize, which gave him the chance to study in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 for a year, with the famous cellist Pierre Fournier
Pierre Fournier
Pierre Fournier was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists," on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound....

. On his return to England, Simpson soon got work both for the Brighton Philharmonic, the London Chamber Orchestra
London Chamber Orchestra
The London Chamber Orchestra ' is the longest established professional chamber orchestra in the UK. Based in London, LCO has a residency at St John's Smith Square in Westminster.-History:...

, and as a solo performer.

In 1956 he received an offer to join the very prestigious Aeolian String Quartet. He remained with the quartet until it disbanded in 1981. The ensemble, among other things, made a complete recording of Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

's string quartets – a project that took six years to complete. Simpson also had time for other projects, however, and his playing can be heard on The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

' single Eleanor Rigby
Eleanor Rigby
"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by The Beatles, simultaneously released on the 1966 album Revolver and on a 45 rpm single. The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney...

. He's also on Strawberry Fields Forever
Strawberry Fields Forever
"Strawberry Fields Forever" is a song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and attributed to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. It was inspired by Lennon's memories of playing in the garden of a Salvation Army house named "Strawberry Field" near his childhood home."Strawberry Fields...

, etc., and on the Revolver
Revolver (album)
Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...

album.

He taught at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal 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...

, where several of his many pupils took part in memorial tribute concerts in January and February 2008 (see External Links). He was among the teachers of Raphael Wallfisch
Raphael Wallfisch
Raphael Wallfisch is a British cellist.Wallfisch was born into a family of distinguished musicians, his father the pianist Peter Wallfisch and his mother the cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who is one of the last known surviving members of the Girl orchestra of Auschwitz...

. Among his active pupils are: Angela East
Angela East
Angela East is a British cellist and member of baroque group Red Priest.Angela won the Arts Council's Suggia Award at the age of 14 and continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music under Derek Simpson and later with André Navarra and Christopher Bunting.Angela East is considered to be one of...

, Benedict Rogerson, Mary Pells, Justin Pearson, Hafliði Hallgrímsson, Robert Ibell, Susan Sheppard, Sebastian Comberti and Alasdair Strange. Many of his students share an interest in historically informed performance
Historically informed performance
Historically informed performance is an approach in the performance of music and theater. Within this approach, the performance adheres to state-of-the-art knowledge of the aesthetic criteria of the period in which the music or theatre work was conceived...

.

Simpson was married three times; his last wife was his colleague in the Aeolian Quartet, Margaret Major. His first wife, Fiona Cameron, was the daughter of his teacher Douglas Cameron, and a concert pianist with whom he would occasionally perform. With Fiona he had two children. He also had a third son who died in a car accident in 1972.

Selected recordings

  • Monteverdi, Il ballo dell'ingrate (London Chamber Players/Ambrosian Singers
    Ambrosian Singers
    The Ambrosian Singers are one of the best-known London choral groups, particularly appreciated for its great variety of recorded repertory.They were founded after World War II in England...

     cond. Alfred Deller
    Alfred Deller
    Alfred George Deller CBE , was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularizing the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th Century....

    , with various instrumentalists) (Vanguard CD)
  • Purcell Instrumental works (Yehudi Menuhin
    Yehudi Menuhin
    Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...

    /Roy Jesson/Ambrose Gauntlett/Cecil Aronowitz
    Cecil Aronowitz
    Cecil Aronowitz was a British viola player, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.-Biography:...

    /Derek Simpson/Albert Lysy/Robert Masters
    Robert Masters
    Robert Masters was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party, and a cabinet minister.He was Minister of Education in the Liberal-Reform coalition Government of New Zealand from 1931 to 1934 as a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council, after being a Minister without Portfolio from 1930...

    /Walter Gerhard.)
  • Handel Concerti Grossi, Water music, Firework music (Ambrose Gauntlett/Colin Tilney
    Colin Tilney
    -Education and professional life:Born in London, Tilney studied music and modern languages at Cambridge University, studied harpsichord with Mary Potts at Kings College, Cambridge, and became a student of Gustav Leonhardt...

    /Derek Simpson/George Malcolm
    George Malcolm (musician)
    George Malcolm CBE was an English harpsichordist and conductor.Malcolm's first instrument was the piano, and his first teacher was a nun who recognised his talent and recommended him to the Royal College of Music. Malcolm went on to study at Balliol College, Oxford...

    )
  • J.S. Bach, Trio Sonata from The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 (Yehudi Menuhin/Elaine Schaffer/Derek Simpson/Ronald Kinloch Anderson) (EMI 5744392 (2 CDs))
  • Brahms String sextets nos 1 & 2 (Yehudi Menuhin/Robert Masters/Cecil Aronowitz/Derek Simpson/Ernst Wallfisch
    Ernst Wallfisch
    Ernst Wallfisch was a prominent viola soloist, recording artist and pedagogue, primarily remembered along with his wife, pianist Lory Wallfisch, as partners of the Wallfisch Duo....

    /Maurice Gendron
    Maurice Gendron
    Maurice Gendron was a French cellist and teacher. He is widely considered one of the greatest French cellists of the twentieth century....

    ) (Encore CD B00005RHIA)
  • John Ireland
    John Ireland (composer)
    John Nicholson Ireland was an English composer.- Life :John Ireland was born in Bowdon, near Altrincham, Manchester, into a family of Scottish descent and some cultural distinction. His father, Alexander Ireland, a publisher and newspaper proprietor, was aged 70 at John's birth...

    , G minor sonata for cello & piano (Derek Simpson/Leonard Cassini) (Revolution RCB 5)
  • 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...

    , Fantasia Concertante on a theme of Corelli (Derek Simpson/Robert Masters/Yehudi Menuhin, Bath Festival Orchestra cond. Tippett, rec. 1964) (EMI Classics CD 63522)
  • Lennox Berkeley
    Lennox Berkeley
    Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley was an English composer.- Biography :He was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School, Gresham's School and Merton College, Oxford...

    , Alan Rawsthorne
    Alan Rawsthorne
    Alan Rawsthorne was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex.-Career:...

     and Alan Bush
    Alan Bush
    Alan Dudley Bush was a British composer and pianist. He was a committed socialist, and politics sometimes provided central themes in his music.-Personal life:...

    , Chamber music (Music Group of London/Margaret Major/Derek Simpson/Thea King
    Thea King
    Dame Thea King DBE FRCM FGSM was a British clarinettist.Thea King was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, the daughter of Henry Walter Mayer King, the manager of a family engineering business, George. W. King Ltd., based in Hitchin then Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and his wife, Dorothea...

    )
  • Nikos Skalkottas
    Nikolaos Skalkottas
    Nikos Skalkottas was one of the most important Greek composers of 20th-century music. A member of the Second Viennese School, he drew his influences from both the classical repertoire and the Greek tradition....

    , Variations on a Greek folk tune for piano trio (Robert Masters/Derek Simpson/Marcel Gazelle) (HMV ASD 2289 (Argo ZRG 753))

and recordings with the Aeolian Quartet
Aeolian Quartet
The Aeolian Quartet was a highly reputed string quartet based in London , with a long international touring history and presence, an important recording and broadcasting profile. It was the successor of the pre-War Stratton Quartet...

.

External links

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