Harold Truscott
Encyclopedia
Harold Truscott was a British
composer, pianist, broadcaster and writer on music. Largely neglected as a composer in his lifetime, he made an important contribution to the British piano repertoire and was influential in spreading knowledge of a wide range of mainly unfashionable music.
. Truscott emerged after 20 weeks with his resolve undimmed. Later he did attend the Guildhall School of Music (1934) and Royal College of Music
(1943-5) in London on a part-time basis; at the latter he studied piano with Orlando Morgan
and Angus Morrison, and received instruction in composition from Herbert Howells
. Truscott spent much of his subsequent career teaching music, and eventually became principal lecturer in Music at Huddersfield
Polytechnic College. He benefited from his friendship with the composer and broadcaster Robert Simpson
, and during the 1950s he performed many broadcast recitals for the BBC, and some of his own compositions were broadcast by notable artists such as John Ogdon
.
in the mid-1950s, Truscott’s music ceased to receive attention, but he remained active as a copious giver of broadcast talks and contributor to journals on a wide range of subjects. He had an encyclopedic range of knowledge and enthusiasms, ranging from the central composers of the Classical tradition to marginalized figures of the 19th and 20th centuries who were then deeply unfashionable. His advocacy of Granville Bantock
, Havergal Brian
, Dussek
, Medtner, Hans Pfitzner
, Max Reger
, Franz Schmidt
, Robert Volkmann
and others was as sincere, and informed by an acquaintance with the music as close, as his discussions of Schubert
’s piano sonatas or Haydn's
string quartets. His principal writings include books on Beethoven's
Late String Quartets (Dobson, 1968) and Franz Schmidt’s Orchestral Music (Toccata Press, 1984), as well as important contributions to The Symphony edited by Robert Simpson (Penguin Books, 1966). Unfinished at his death were a volume on Schmidt’s chamber music, a study of the music of Korngold
, another of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
and a near-complete book on Schubert and the piano. He also left an unfinished autobiography entitled Laughter in the Dark.
, and his Elegy for string orchestra, composed in 1944 and never performed in his lifetime, is an utterance of astonishing romantic intensity. Beethoven, Schubert, Medtner and Nielsen
are among obvious influences which were subsumed into an individual musical language. He wrote a fairly small amount of vocal and orchestral music, though apart from the Symphony in E major several other symphonies were either lost or remained unfinished. He also composed some notable chamber music, including sonatas for clarinet and piano, cello and piano, and a set of sonatas for solo violin. But the bulk of his output was for his own instrument, the piano, and this includes no less than 22 sonatas, some of epic length and others of pithy concision. He also made completions of all Schubert’s unfinished piano sonatas.
Chamber:
Piano:
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
composer, pianist, broadcaster and writer on music. Largely neglected as a composer in his lifetime, he made an important contribution to the British piano repertoire and was influential in spreading knowledge of a wide range of mainly unfashionable music.
Life
Born into a working-class family in Seven Kings, east London, Truscott was largely self-taught. By the age of 15 his strong native urge to compose was interpreted by his father as a sign of mental illness and, finding a psychiatrist to endorse this view, he had his son committed to an asylum in RomfordRomford
Romford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
. Truscott emerged after 20 weeks with his resolve undimmed. Later he did attend the Guildhall School of Music (1934) and 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...
(1943-5) in London on a part-time basis; at the latter he studied piano with Orlando Morgan
Orlando Morgan
Robert Orlando Morgan was an English music teacher, composer and musicologist. He is best remembered as an influential teacher at the Guildhall School of Music in London, where he taught for 64 years, from 1887 to 1951, as Professor of Pianoforte and Composition...
and Angus Morrison, and received instruction in composition from Herbert Howells
Herbert Howells
Herbert Norman Howells CH was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music.-Life:...
. Truscott spent much of his subsequent career teaching music, and eventually became principal lecturer in Music at Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
Polytechnic College. He benefited from his friendship with the composer and broadcaster Robert Simpson
Robert Simpson (composer)
Robert Simpson was an English composer and long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster.He is best known for his orchestral and chamber music , and for his writings on the music of Beethoven, Bruckner, Nielsen and Sibelius. He studied composition under Herbert Howells...
, and during the 1950s he performed many broadcast recitals for the BBC, and some of his own compositions were broadcast by notable artists such as John Ogdon
John Ogdon
John Andrew Howard Ogdon was an English pianist and composer.-Biography:Ogdon was born in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, and attended Manchester Grammar School, before studying at the Royal Northern College of Music between 1953 and 1957, where his fellow students under Richard Hall...
.
Writings
After the change in BBC music policy initiated by Sir William GlockWilliam Glock
Sir William Frederick Glock was a British music critic and musical administrator.-Biography:Glock was born in London. He read history at the University of Cambridge and was an organ scholar at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
in the mid-1950s, Truscott’s music ceased to receive attention, but he remained active as a copious giver of broadcast talks and contributor to journals on a wide range of subjects. He had an encyclopedic range of knowledge and enthusiasms, ranging from the central composers of the Classical tradition to marginalized figures of the 19th and 20th centuries who were then deeply unfashionable. His advocacy of 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...
, Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian , was a British classical composer.Brian acquired a legendary status at the time of his rediscovery in the 1950s and 1960s for the many symphonies he had managed to write. By the end of his life he had completed 32, an unusually large number for any composer since Haydn or Mozart...
, Dussek
Jan Ladislav Dussek
Jan Ladislav Dussek was a Czech composer and pianist. He was an important representative of Czech music abroad in the second half of 18th century and the beginning of 19th century...
, Medtner, Hans Pfitzner
Hans Pfitzner
Hans Erich Pfitzner was a German composer and self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera Palestrina, loosely based on the life of the great sixteenth-century composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.-Biography:Pfitzner was born in Moscow, Russia, where his...
, Max Reger
Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...
, Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt was an Austrian composer, cellist and pianist of Hungarian descent and origin.- Life :Schmidt was born in Pozsony , in the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . His father was half Hungarian and his mother entirely Hungarian...
, Robert Volkmann
Robert Volkmann
Friedrich Robert Volkmann was a German composer.-Life:He was born in Lommatzsch, Saxony, Germany. His father was a music director for a church, so he trained his son in music to prepare him as a successor...
and others was as sincere, and informed by an acquaintance with the music as close, as his discussions of Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
’s piano sonatas or Haydn's
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...
string quartets. His principal writings include books on Beethoven's
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...
Late String Quartets (Dobson, 1968) and Franz Schmidt’s Orchestral Music (Toccata Press, 1984), as well as important contributions to The Symphony edited by Robert Simpson (Penguin Books, 1966). Unfinished at his death were a volume on Schmidt’s chamber music, a study of the music of Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
, another of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
and a near-complete book on Schubert and the piano. He also left an unfinished autobiography entitled Laughter in the Dark.
The Music
As a composer, Truscott perfected an expanded tonal idiom of contrapuntal intricacy and sometimes terse, no-nonsense expression, but a mystical streak sometimes emerges, as in the finale to his only completed SymphonySymphony
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...
, and his Elegy for string orchestra, composed in 1944 and never performed in his lifetime, is an utterance of astonishing romantic intensity. Beethoven, Schubert, Medtner and Nielsen
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
are among obvious influences which were subsumed into an individual musical language. He wrote a fairly small amount of vocal and orchestral music, though apart from the Symphony in E major several other symphonies were either lost or remained unfinished. He also composed some notable chamber music, including sonatas for clarinet and piano, cello and piano, and a set of sonatas for solo violin. But the bulk of his output was for his own instrument, the piano, and this includes no less than 22 sonatas, some of epic length and others of pithy concision. He also made completions of all Schubert’s unfinished piano sonatas.
Selected list of works
Orchestral:- Grasmere Symphony (1938; lost)
- Elegy for string orchestra (1944)
- Symphony in E major (1949–50)
- Suite in G major (1966)
Chamber:
- Piano Quintet (c.1930)
- 2 String Quartets (1944, 1945)
- Trio in A major for flute, violin and viola (1950)
- 3 Sonatas for clarinet and piano (1959, 1965, 1966)
- 3 Sonatas for violin and piano
- 5 Sonatas for violin unaccompanied (1946)
- Sonata for oboe and piano (1965)
- Sonata for horn (or cor anglais) and piano (1975–81)
- Sonata for cello and piano (1982-7)
Piano:
- 22 Piano Sonatas
- 2 preludes and Fugues
External links
- Article on Truscott's music by Guy Rickards http://www.musicweb-international.com/Truscott/index.htm
- Brief Biography and Discography http://www2.prestel.co.uk/horwood/truscott.htm
- Composer webpage with catalogue of Truscott works, by Guy Rickards http://www.bardic-music.com/truscott.htm
- Article by Harold Truscott on Algernon Ashton http://www.musicweb.uk.net/classrev/2004/Nov04/ashton.htm
- New Oxford DNB article: Richard Stoker, ‘Truscott, Harold (1914–1992)’, first published Sept 2004, 1040 words.
- Havergal Brian As I Knew Him, by Harold Truscott http://www.havergalbrian.org/asIknewhim1.htm