Felix Aprahamian
Encyclopedia
Felix Aprahamian born Apraham Felix Bartev Aprahamian, was an English music critic, writer, concert promoter, publisher's adviser, supporter of young musicians, and friend to some of the last century's most notable musicians. Aprahamian, however, usually described himself as a music critic.
He was considered an urbane, flamboyant and warm-hearted man, described by his old friend and colleague John Amis
(in The Guardian
, 21 January 2005) as "a mixture of characters from Proust and P.G. Wodehouse".
to just Felix Aprahamian. His father changed his surname from Hovanessian, deciding to take his own father's Christian name, Apraham, and attach the patronymic
–ian, to form Aprahamian, or son of Apraham.
At the age of 17, Aprahamian became Assistant Secretary to the Organ Music Society, and he developed into a highly proficient keyboard player. He later recalled that it was his passion for music which led him to fail his school matriculation: he was self-taught in almost every area of music, as well as literature and the other arts. In 1933, he went to France with two friends (Douglas Peart and Ernest Chapman) to visit the ageing Frederick Delius
in Grez-sur-Loing, and in Paris he met Charles-Marie Widor
.
and from 1942 onwards he helped Tony Mayer organise the extraordinary series Concerts de Musique Française at the Wigmore Hall in London. In 1946 he joined United Music Publishers
as a consultant and, with Mayer at the French Embassy, played a central role in bringing French music to post-war British audiences. In 1948 he became Deputy Music Critic of the Sunday Times and stayed for 41 years; his reviews were notable for their prose and enthusiasm.
He first corresponded with Olivier Messiaen
in 1936 and was responsible for organising the first complete performance in England of Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur, played by the composer himself at St Alban's Church, Holborn
, in 1938. They developed a warm friendship which lasted until the composer's death in 1992. His first encounter with Francis Poulenc
was well before the start of World War II; their first meeting was at J. & W. Chester's music shop, when he asked the composer to sign a photograph, duly inscribed "Qui est ce monstre?" ("Who is this monster?"). The two became firm friends and Aprahamian often visited Poulenc in Paris. His talent for making friends such as these led to many memorable events at his house in Muswell Hill
. Poulenc first played through his Elégie in memory of Dennis Brain there, and in 1945 Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod
gave a private rendition of Messiaen's Visions de l’Amen before the British première.
Among British composers, his greatest passion was for Delius
(he was an adviser to the Delius Trust from 1961, and later the President of the Society), and he was on amicable terms with Benjamin Britten
, William Walton
and Michael Tippett
: while at the LPO, he was instrumental in arranging the premiere of Tippett's A Child of Our Time in 1944. Other friends included the conductors Thomas Beecham
, Victor de Sabata
, Roger Désormière
, Ernest Ansermet
and Charles Münch
, as well as the singer Maggie Teyte
, the cellist Pierre Fournier
and the pianist Monique Haas
.
in 1982 has been a constant musical inspiration to his protégé, the organist and composer David Liddle, who became David Aprahamian Liddle shortly after Felix's death, as a tribute to his mentor and friend.
, the only music critic to receive this accolade, and he was touched to be in the same company as Berlioz, Ravel and Sibelius. He was "Membre d'Honneur" of the Centre International Albert Roussel. Aside from music his passions included tropical fish
, Proust and his Japanese garden
(a miniature Giverny in London N10
).
Nigel Simeone has written a series of books based on materials in Felix Aprahamian's archives which are listed in the Bibliography. Aprahamian never wrote his planned autobiography, but Lewis Foreman is currently working on the detailed documentation of his life and work.
. Speakers included Lewis Foreman, Peter Andry, Gordon Honey, Geoffrey Ford, Armen Tertsakian, Nigel Simeone, David Aprahamian Liddle and David Cairns
.
He was considered an urbane, flamboyant and warm-hearted man, described by his old friend and colleague John Amis
John Amis
John Preston Amis , is a British broadcaster, classical music critic, music administrator, and writer. He has been a frequent contributor for The Guardian and to BBC radio and television music programming....
(in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 21 January 2005) as "a mixture of characters from Proust and P.G. Wodehouse".
Background
Felix Aprahamian was born in London in 1914. Christened Apraham Felix Bartev Aprahamian, he changed his name by deed pollDeed poll
A deed poll is a legal document binding only to a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an active intention...
to just Felix Aprahamian. His father changed his surname from Hovanessian, deciding to take his own father's Christian name, Apraham, and attach the patronymic
Patronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
–ian, to form Aprahamian, or son of Apraham.
At the age of 17, Aprahamian became Assistant Secretary to the Organ Music Society, and he developed into a highly proficient keyboard player. He later recalled that it was his passion for music which led him to fail his school matriculation: he was self-taught in almost every area of music, as well as literature and the other arts. In 1933, he went to France with two friends (Douglas Peart and Ernest Chapman) to visit the ageing Frederick Delius
Frederick 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...
in Grez-sur-Loing, and in Paris he met Charles-Marie Widor
Charles-Marie Widor
Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor was a French organist, composer and teacher.-Life:Widor was born in Lyon, to a family of organ builders, and initially studied music there with his father, François-Charles Widor, titular organist of Saint-François-de-Sales from 1838 to 1889...
.
Early career
In 1935 Aprahamian was made Secretary of the Organ Music Society, and the same year one of his first articles, "Eugene Goossens in London", was published in the Musical Times. During World War II, he worked as Concert Director of the London Philharmonic OrchestraLondon Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
and from 1942 onwards he helped Tony Mayer organise the extraordinary series Concerts de Musique Française at the Wigmore Hall in London. In 1946 he joined United Music Publishers
United Music Publishers
United Music Publishers is a publisher of sheet music and a music distribution firm based in Waltham Abbey, Essex. They are well known for being the sole representative in the UK and Ireland for all the major French classical sheet music publishers and a selection of international catalogues.They...
as a consultant and, with Mayer at the French Embassy, played a central role in bringing French music to post-war British audiences. In 1948 he became Deputy Music Critic of the Sunday Times and stayed for 41 years; his reviews were notable for their prose and enthusiasm.
He first corresponded with Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
in 1936 and was responsible for organising the first complete performance in England of Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur, played by the composer himself at St Alban's Church, Holborn
Holborn
Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...
, in 1938. They developed a warm friendship which lasted until the composer's death in 1992. His first encounter with Francis Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
was well before the start of World War II; their first meeting was at J. & W. Chester's music shop, when he asked the composer to sign a photograph, duly inscribed "Qui est ce monstre?" ("Who is this monster?"). The two became firm friends and Aprahamian often visited Poulenc in Paris. His talent for making friends such as these led to many memorable events at his house in Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated about north of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. Muswell Hill is in the N10 postal district and mostly in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.- History :The...
. Poulenc first played through his Elégie in memory of Dennis Brain there, and in 1945 Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod
Yvonne Loriod
Yvonne Loriod was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod.-Life:...
gave a private rendition of Messiaen's Visions de l’Amen before the British première.
Among British composers, his greatest passion was for Delius
Frederick 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...
(he was an adviser to the Delius Trust from 1961, and later the President of the Society), and he was on amicable terms with Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
, William Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
and 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...
: while at the LPO, he was instrumental in arranging the premiere of Tippett's A Child of Our Time in 1944. Other friends included the conductors 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...
, Victor de Sabata
Victor de Sabata
Victor de Sabata was an Italian conductor and composer. He is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished operatic conductors of the twentieth century, especially for his Verdi, Puccini and Wagner. He is also acclaimed for his interpretations of orchestral music...
, Roger Désormière
Roger Désormière
Roger Désormière was a French conductor.Désormière was born in Vichy in 1898. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where his professors included Philippe Gaubert , Xavier Leroux and Charles Koechlin , and Vincent d'Indy...
, Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Alexandre Ansermet was a Swiss conductor.- Biography :Ansermet was born in Vevey, Switzerland. Although he was a contemporary of Wilhelm Furtwängler and Otto Klemperer, Ansermet represents in most ways a very different tradition and approach from those two musicians. Originally he was a...
and Charles Münch
Charles Münch
Charles Munch was an Alsatian symphonic conductor and violinist. Noted for his mastery of the French orchestral repertoire, he is best known as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.-Biography:...
, as well as the singer Maggie Teyte
Maggie Teyte
Dame Maggie Teyte DBE was an English operatic soprano and interpreter of French art song.-Early years:Margaret Tate was born in Wolverhampton, England, one of ten children of Jacob James Tate, a successful wine and spirit merchant and proprietor of public houses and later lodgings. Her parents...
, the 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....
and the pianist Monique Haas
Monique Haas
Monique Haas was a French pianist.Born in Paris, she studied at the Conservatoire there with Joseph Morpain and Lazare Lévy, taking a Premier Prix in 1927. She went on to study with Rudolf Serkin and Robert Casadesus. She was married to the French-Romanian composer Marcel Mihalovici...
.
Organ music
Organ music was a lifelong enthusiasm of Aprahamian, and his vast library of organ music is now at the Royal College of Organists. The installation in his Muswell Hill house of an organ inherited from his friend André MarchalAndré Marchal
André Marchal was a French organist and organ teacher. He was one of the great initiators of the twentieth-century organ revival in France.Marchal was born blind...
in 1982 has been a constant musical inspiration to his protégé, the organist and composer David Liddle, who became David Aprahamian Liddle shortly after Felix's death, as a tribute to his mentor and friend.
Honours
In 1994, Aprahamian was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic SocietyRoyal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
, the only music critic to receive this accolade, and he was touched to be in the same company as Berlioz, Ravel and Sibelius. He was "Membre d'Honneur" of the Centre International Albert Roussel. Aside from music his passions included tropical fish
Tropical fish
Tropical fish include fish found in tropical environments around the world, including both freshwater and salt water species.Tropical fish are popular as aquarium fish, due to their often bright coloration...
, Proust and his Japanese garden
Japanese garden
, that is, gardens in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles....
(a miniature Giverny in London N10
Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated about north of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. Muswell Hill is in the N10 postal district and mostly in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.- History :The...
).
Nigel Simeone has written a series of books based on materials in Felix Aprahamian's archives which are listed in the Bibliography. Aprahamian never wrote his planned autobiography, but Lewis Foreman is currently working on the detailed documentation of his life and work.
Following Aprahamian's death
On 20 February 2006, Putney Music (London) held an evening in celebration of its long-time President: "Remembering Felix Aprahamian - our late President Emeritus" was chaired by John AmisJohn Amis
John Preston Amis , is a British broadcaster, classical music critic, music administrator, and writer. He has been a frequent contributor for The Guardian and to BBC radio and television music programming....
. Speakers included Lewis Foreman, Peter Andry, Gordon Honey, Geoffrey Ford, Armen Tertsakian, Nigel Simeone, David Aprahamian Liddle and David Cairns
David Cairns (writer)
David Cairns is a British journalist, non-fiction writer and musician. He is a leading authority on the life of Berlioz.-Biography:...
.
Further reading
- Simeone, Nigel: "Bien Cher Félix" – Letters from Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod to Felix Aprahamian (Cambridge, 1998).
- Simeone, Nigel: Poulenc in London and Dreamland – His Letters to Felix Aprahamian, Commentaries on Songs and London Concerts (Cambridge, 2000).
- Simeone, Nigel: "Dear Maître Tournemire" – Charles Tournemire's Correspondence with Felix Aprahamian and his Visit to London in 1936 (Bangor Monographs in Musicology, 2003).
- Simeone, Nigel: French Music in Wartime London – The Festival of French Music and the Concerts de Musique Française (Bangor Monographs in Musicology, 2005).
- Simeone, Nigel: In Memoriam – Felix Aprahamian (Musical Times, Spring 2005, pp.4–5).