Donald Francis Tovey
Encyclopedia
Sir Donald Francis Tovey (17 July 187510 July 1940) was a British
musical analyst
, musicologist
, writer on music
, composer
, conductor
and pianist
. He had been best known for his Essays in Musical Analysis
and his editions of the works of Bach
and Beethoven
but since the 1990s his compositions (relatively small in number but very substantial in musical content) have been recorded and performed with increasing frequency. It remains to be seen, however, if these recordings, which have mostly been well-received by reviewers, will earn Tovey a permanent place in the canon of 20th century British music, or whether he will remain a niche composer.
and compose at an early age. He eventually studied composition with Hubert Parry
.
Tovey became a close friend of Joseph Joachim
, and played piano with the Joachim Quartet in a 1905 performance of Brahms
's Piano Quintet
. He gained some moderate fame as a composer, having his works performed in Berlin
and Vienna
as well as London
. He performed his own Piano Concerto under the conductorship
of Sir Henry Wood
in 1903 and under Hans Richter
in 1906. During this period he also contributed heavily to the music articles in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
, writing a large portion of the content on music of the 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1914 he began to teach music at the University of Edinburgh
, succeeding Frederick Niecks
as Reid Professor of Music; there he founded the Reid Orchestra. For their concerts he wrote a series of programme notes, many of which were eventually collected into the books for which he is now best known, the Essays in Musical Analysis
.
As he devoted more and more time to the Reid Orchestra, to writing essays and commentaries and to editing his editions of Bach
and Beethoven
, Tovey composed and performed less often later in life but the few major pieces that he completed during this later period are on a large scale, such as his Symphony
of 1913 and the Cello Concerto that he completed in 1935 for his longtime friend Pablo Casals
. The latter concerto is on Mahlerian
scale and requires about sixty minutes to perform. Tovey also wrote an opera
, The Bride of Dionysus. In illustrated radio talks recorded in his last few years, his playing can be heard to be severely affected by a problem with one of his hands.
Tovey made several editions of other composers' music and in 1931 produced a completion of Bach's The Art of Fugue
. His edition of the 48 Preludes and Fugues of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier
, in two volumes (Vol. 1, March 1924; Vol. 2, June 1924), with fingering by Harold Samuel
, for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music
, has been reprinted continually ever since. Tovey's completion of the (presumed) final unfinished fugue in The Art of Fugue has nothing of pastiche about it and has often been recorded as the final piece of the set.
Tovey was knighted
in 1935, reportedly through the recommendation of Sir Edward Elgar
, who greatly admired Tovey's edition of Bach.
He died in 1940 in Edinburgh
. His archive, including scores, letters, hand-written programme notes and annotations to the scores of others, is housed in the Special Collections Unit of the library of the University of Edinburgh. In 2009 Richard Witts created a simple catalogue of the archive material, which is available from the university on-line.
, Tovey 1922):
Tovey's belief that classical music has an aesthetic
that can be deduced from the internal evidence of the music itself has influenced subsequent writers on music.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
musical analyst
Musical analysis
Musical analysis is the attempt to answer the question how does this music work?. The method employed to answer this question, and indeed exactly what is meant by the question, differs from analyst to analyst, and according to the purpose of the analysis. According to Ian Bent , analysis is "an...
, musicologist
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
, writer on music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, composer
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...
, conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
and pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. He had been best known for his Essays in Musical Analysis
Essays in Musical Analysis
Donald Francis Tovey's Essays in Musical Analysis are a series of analytical essays on classical music.The "essays" actually came into existence as programme notes written by Tovey to accompany concerts given by the Reid Orchestra in Edinburgh. Between 1935 and 1939 they were published in six...
and his editions of the works of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
and Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
but since the 1990s his compositions (relatively small in number but very substantial in musical content) have been recorded and performed with increasing frequency. It remains to be seen, however, if these recordings, which have mostly been well-received by reviewers, will earn Tovey a permanent place in the canon of 20th century British music, or whether he will remain a niche composer.
Career
Tovey began to study the pianoPiano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and compose at an early age. He eventually studied composition with Hubert Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
.
Tovey became a close friend of Joseph Joachim
Joseph Joachim
Joseph Joachim was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant violinists of the 19th century.-Origins:...
, and played piano with the Joachim Quartet in a 1905 performance of Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
's Piano Quintet
Piano Quintet (Brahms)
The Piano Quintet in F minor, opus 34, by Johannes Brahms was completed during the summer of 1864. It was dedicated to Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Hesse...
. He gained some moderate fame as a composer, having his works performed in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
as well as 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...
. He performed his own Piano Concerto under the conductorship
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
of Sir Henry Wood
Henry Wood
Henry Wood was a British conductor.Henry Wood may also refer to:* Henry C. Wood , American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient* Henry Wood , English cricketer...
in 1903 and under 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...
in 1906. During this period he also contributed heavily to the music articles in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time...
, writing a large portion of the content on music of the 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1914 he began to teach music at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, succeeding Frederick Niecks
Frederick Niecks
Frederick Niecks was a German musical scholar and author, who was resident in Scotland for the bulk of his life. He is best remembered now for his biographies of Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann.-Biography:...
as Reid Professor of Music; there he founded the Reid Orchestra. For their concerts he wrote a series of programme notes, many of which were eventually collected into the books for which he is now best known, the Essays in Musical Analysis
Essays in Musical Analysis
Donald Francis Tovey's Essays in Musical Analysis are a series of analytical essays on classical music.The "essays" actually came into existence as programme notes written by Tovey to accompany concerts given by the Reid Orchestra in Edinburgh. Between 1935 and 1939 they were published in six...
.
As he devoted more and more time to the Reid Orchestra, to writing essays and commentaries and to editing his editions of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
and Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Tovey composed and performed less often later in life but the few major pieces that he completed during this later period are on a large scale, such as his Symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
of 1913 and the Cello Concerto that he completed in 1935 for his longtime friend Pablo Casals
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...
. The latter concerto is on Mahlerian
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
scale and requires about sixty minutes to perform. Tovey also wrote an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, The Bride of Dionysus. In illustrated radio talks recorded in his last few years, his playing can be heard to be severely affected by a problem with one of his hands.
Tovey made several editions of other composers' music and in 1931 produced a completion of Bach's The Art of Fugue
The Art of Fugue
The Art of Fugue , BWV 1080, is an incomplete work by Johann Sebastian Bach . It was most likely started at the beginning of the 1740s, if not earlier. The first known surviving version, which contained 12 fugues and 2 canons, was copied by the composer in 1745...
. His edition of the 48 Preludes and Fugues of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier
The Well-Tempered Clavier
The Well-Tempered Clavier , BWV 846–893, is a collection of solo keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach...
, in two volumes (Vol. 1, March 1924; Vol. 2, June 1924), with fingering by Harold Samuel
Harold Samuel
Not to be confused with Harold Samuel, Baron Samuel of Wych Cross Harold Samuel was a distinguished English pianist and pedagogue. He was one of the first pianists of the 20th century to focus purely on the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, and was known for his academic and cerebral approach...
, for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music
Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music
ABRSM is an internationally recognised educational body and charity that provides examinations in music The organisation, based in London, UK, runs exams in centres all over the world...
, has been reprinted continually ever since. Tovey's completion of the (presumed) final unfinished fugue in The Art of Fugue has nothing of pastiche about it and has often been recorded as the final piece of the set.
Tovey was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1935, reportedly through the recommendation of Sir Edward 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...
, who greatly admired Tovey's edition of Bach.
He died in 1940 in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. His archive, including scores, letters, hand-written programme notes and annotations to the scores of others, is housed in the Special Collections Unit of the library of the University of Edinburgh. In 2009 Richard Witts created a simple catalogue of the archive material, which is available from the university on-line.
Tovey as a theorist of tonality
In his essays, Tovey developed a theory of tonal structure and its relation to classical forms that he applied in his descriptions of pieces in his famous program notes for the Reid Orchestra, as well as in more technical and extended writings. His aesthetic regards works of music as organic wholes, and he stresses the importance of understanding how musical principles manifest in different ways within the context of a given piece. He was fond of using metaphors to illustrate his ideas, as in this quotation from the Essays (on Brahms' Handel VariationsVariations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel
The Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, is a work for solo piano written by Johannes Brahms in 1861. It consists of a set of twenty-five variations and a concluding fugue, all based on a theme from George Frideric Handel's Harpsichord Suite No...
, Tovey 1922):
The relation between Beethoven's freest variations and his theme is of the same order of microscopical accuracy and profundity as the relation of a bat's wing to a human hand.
Tovey's belief that classical music has an aesthetic
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
that can be deduced from the internal evidence of the music itself has influenced subsequent writers on music.
Recordings
- Recordings of Tovey performing on piano were made for the National Gramophonic Society (NGS-114-117) on June 6th and 11th, and September 4th, 1928, playing Tovey's conjectural completion of BachBạchBạch 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 The Art of FugueThe Art of FugueThe Art of Fugue , BWV 1080, is an incomplete work by Johann Sebastian Bach . It was most likely started at the beginning of the 1740s, if not earlier. The first known surviving version, which contained 12 fugues and 2 canons, was copied by the composer in 1745...
, BachBạchBạch 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 Sonata No. 2 in A Major BWV1015 (1st mvt), and BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's 10th Violin Sonata in G majorViolin Sonata No. 10 (Beethoven)The Violin Sonata No. 10 of Ludwig van Beethoven in G major, his Opus 96, was written in 1812, published in 1816, and dedicated to Beethoven's pupil Archduke Rudolph Johannes Joseph Rainier of Austria, who gave its first performance, together with the violinist Pierre Rode...
, Op. 96) accompanied by the violinist Adila FachiriAdila FachiriAdila Fachiri was a Hungarian violinist who had an international career but made her home in England. She was the sister of the violinist Jelly d'Arányi....
. The latter is the celebrated recording in which, during the first movement, after playing the exposition, the musicians stop playing and Tovey calls out 'Return to the beginning of the record. Second time...' (and then resumes playing), so that the listener shall (literally) have the da capo. - The recording of The Art of FugueThe Art of FugueThe Art of Fugue , BWV 1080, is an incomplete work by Johann Sebastian Bach . It was most likely started at the beginning of the 1740s, if not earlier. The first known surviving version, which contained 12 fugues and 2 canons, was copied by the composer in 1745...
with the Roth String Quartet (1934–1935) has Tovey's conjectural completion of the work, played by Tovey on the piano. - Symphony in D, Op. 32 (1913): Reid Orchestra, cond. Donald F. Tovey, rec. 25 February 1937. SYMPOSIUM #1352; also:Malmö Opera Orchestra, cond. George Vass – with
- The Bride of Dionysus – Prelude. TOCCATA #TOCC 0033; also Prelude and vocal extracts from the full opera DUTTON EPOCH CDLX 7241.
- Piano Concerto in A, Op. 15: Steven OsborneSteven Osborne (pianist)Steven Osborne is a Scottish pianist who has performed concertos and solo recitals worldwide.He was taught by Richard Beauchamp at St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh before going to the Royal Northern College of Music/Manchester University in Manchester to study under Renna Kellaway...
, piano; BBC Scottish Symphony OrchestraBBC Scottish Symphony OrchestraThe BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is a broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow, Scotland. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation , it is the oldest full-time professional orchestra in Scotland...
, cond. Martyn BrabbinsMartyn BrabbinsMartyn Brabbins is a British conductor. He studied at Goldsmiths College, London University, and later was a conducting student of Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory....
, HYPERIONHyperion-Computing:* Hyperion , an early portable computer* Hyperion Entertainment, a computer game producer* Hyperion Solutions, a business software company owned by Oracle* Hyperion, an IRC daemon previously used by the Freenode IRC network-In fiction:...
#CDA 67023 - Cello Concerto, Op. 40 (1935). Pablo CasalsPablo CasalsPau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...
, soloist, BBC Symphony OrchestraBBC Symphony OrchestraThe BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
, cond. Adrian BoultAdrian BoultSir 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...
, rec. 1937, SYMPOSIUMSymposiumIn ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...
#1115; also: Alice Neary, Cello, Ulster OrchestraUlster OrchestraThe Ulster Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Belfast, the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall...
, cond. George Vass TOCCATA #TOCC 0038 - Elegiac Variations for cello and piano, Op. 25, Alice Neary (cello) and Gretel Dowdeswell (piano) TOCCATA #TOCC 0038
- Cello Sonata in F, Op. 4, Rebecca RustRebecca RustRebecca Rust is an American cellist.-Biography:Rust was born in Oakland, California, U.S.A., March 17, 1954.She studied with Margaret Rowell in San Francisco, Bernard Greenhouse from the Beaux Arts Trio in New York, Paul Szabo from the Végh Quartet in Cologne, Germany, and took masterclasses with...
(cello) & David Apter (piano), MARCO POLO #8.223637
Selected publications and links
- Sir Donald F. Tovey (1936) — Normality and Freedom in Music The Romanes LectureRomanes LectureThe Romanes Lecture is a prestigious free public lecture given annually at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, England.The lecture series was founded by, and named after, the biologist George Romanes, and has been running since 1892. Over the years, many notable figures from the Arts and Sciences have...
Delivered In The Sheldonian TheatreSheldonian TheatreThe Sheldonian Theatre, located in Oxford, England, was built from 1664 to 1668 after a design by Christopher Wren for the University of Oxford. The building is named after Gilbert Sheldon, chancellor of the university at the time and the project's main financial backer...
20 May 1936. Oxford, At the Clarendon Press. - Sir Donald F. Tovey, editor, Forty-Eight Preludes and Fugues, JS Bach, 1924, published by (British) Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music
- Rob Barnett: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2007/Jan07/Tovey_cello_TOCC0038.htm
- Dave Lewis: