Richard Adeney
Encyclopedia
Richard Gilford Adeney was a British
flautist
who played principal flute with the London Philharmonic Orchestra
and the English Chamber Orchestra
, was a soloist
and a founding member of the Melos Ensemble.
and subsequently studied at the Royal College of Music
, where one of his contemporaries and close friends was Malcolm Arnold
, who composed in 1940 a Grand Fantasia for flute, trumpet and piano for him and a pianist, premiered in February 1941. In his student days in the late 1930s Adeney worked with Vaughan Williams and Sir Malcolm Sargent. During the Second World War he was a conscientious objector
.
He joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1941, initially as second flute, and played with them until 1950 and again from 1961 to 1970, under such conductors as Henry Wood
and Wilhelm Furtwängler
. He was one of the founding members of the Melos Ensemble, principal flautist of the English Chamber Orchestra
(ECO) until the 1970s when he was succeeded by William Bennett
, and also regularly performed as a soloist. Malcolm Arnold composed a Divertimento for Flute, Oboe and Clarinet for him and other particular friends. Richard Adeney, Sidney Sutcliffe and Stephen Waters gave the work its first performance in 1952. In 1954 Malcolm Arnold wrote a Concerto for Flute and Strings for his friend, who recorded it in 1979, together with the concerto for flute and orchestra (1972).
Richard Adeney was closely associated with Benjamin Britten
, and performed in many performances and recordings of the composer's works, notably in 1962 with the Melos Ensemble in the premiere and recording of the War Requiem
that Britten conducted himself. He participated in the premiere and first recording of Britten's Curlew River
in 1964. He recalled: "Curlew River had more rehearsal time than any other new work that I have ever played" In 1967 he participated in a concert in the Royal Albert Hall
including Britten's The Burning Fiery Furnace
.
Richard Adeney performed in notable recordings, such as Johann Sebastian Bach
's Brandenburg Concertos
, which was recorded under Britten's baton, or in his St Matthew Passion conducted by David Willcocks. He premiered the Elegy for flute, harp and string orchestra by John Veale
in 1951. With the Melos Ensemble he recorded chamber music
for both woodwind
s and strings
, such as Ravel's Introduction and Allegro along with Osian Ellis
(harp), Gervase de Peyer
(clarinet), Emanuel Hurwitz
and Ivor McMahon
(violin), Cecil Aronowitz
(viola) and Terence Weil
(cello). both 1961 and 1967.
Adeney performed regularly at the Aldeburgh Festival
. After having played under conductors as Sergiu Celibidache
, Bruno Walter
, Sir Thomas Beecham and Claudio Abbado
, he ended his professional career in 1990.
Adeney died on 16 December 2010 in Paddington
.
A concert to celebrate his life was held on May 6th, 2011 including performances by his colleague William Bennett
.
of flute, his autobiography
. A sample provided by the publisher refers to working with Koussevitzky
on the Symphony No. 4
by Brahms, musing on the state of mind of the player in the performance. Richard Adeney has also been a photographer whose photos appear on record covers and illustrate his autobiography and other memories, also other books. One of his pictures showing Britten and the harpist Ellis
appears in the Britten-Pears Foundation pages. For twenty-five years he was a volunteer with The Samaritans.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
flautist
Flautist
A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
who played principal flute with the London Philharmonic Orchestra
London 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 the English Chamber Orchestra
English Chamber Orchestra
The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall...
, was a soloist
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
and a founding member of the Melos Ensemble.
Biography
Richard Adeney was born the son of the painter Bernard Adeney (1878–1966). He was determined early in life, to "become the best flute player in the world", as he stated in his autobiography. He was educated at Dartington Hall SchoolDartington Hall
The Dartington Hall Trust, near Totnes, Devon, United Kingdom is a charity specialising in the arts, social justice and sustainability.The Trust currently runs 16 charitable programmes, including The Dartington International Summer School and Schumacher Environmental College...
and subsequently studied at the 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...
, where one of his contemporaries and close friends was Malcolm Arnold
Malcolm Arnold
Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
, who composed in 1940 a Grand Fantasia for flute, trumpet and piano for him and a pianist, premiered in February 1941. In his student days in the late 1930s Adeney worked with Vaughan Williams and Sir Malcolm Sargent. During the Second World War he was a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
.
He joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1941, initially as second flute, and played with them until 1950 and again from 1961 to 1970, under such conductors as 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...
and Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is widely considered to have been one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. By the 1930s he had built a reputation as one of the leading conductors in Europe, and he was the leading conductor who remained...
. He was one of the founding members of the Melos Ensemble, principal flautist of the English Chamber Orchestra
English Chamber Orchestra
The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall...
(ECO) until the 1970s when he was succeeded by William Bennett
William Bennett (flautist)
William Bennett, OBE is a British flute player, who has played with most of the major British orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and was a frequent guest artist in the Melos Ensemble. He also has a career as a soloist...
, and also regularly performed as a soloist. Malcolm Arnold composed a Divertimento for Flute, Oboe and Clarinet for him and other particular friends. Richard Adeney, Sidney Sutcliffe and Stephen Waters gave the work its first performance in 1952. In 1954 Malcolm Arnold wrote a Concerto for Flute and Strings for his friend, who recorded it in 1979, together with the concerto for flute and orchestra (1972).
Richard Adeney was closely associated 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...
, and performed in many performances and recordings of the composer's works, notably in 1962 with the Melos Ensemble in the premiere and recording of the War Requiem
War Requiem
The War Requiem, Op. 66 is a large-scale, non-liturgical setting of the Requiem Mass composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed January 1962. Interspersed with the traditional Latin texts, in telling juxtaposition, are settings of Wilfred Owen poems...
that Britten conducted himself. He participated in the premiere and first recording of Britten's Curlew River
Curlew River
Curlew River — A Parable for Church Performance is the first of three Church Parables by Benjamin Britten. The work is based on the Japanese noh play Sumidagawa of Juro Motomasa , which Britten saw during a visit to Japan and the Far East in early 1956...
in 1964. He recalled: "Curlew River had more rehearsal time than any other new work that I have ever played" In 1967 he participated in a concert in the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
including Britten's The Burning Fiery Furnace
The Burning Fiery Furnace
The Burning Fiery Furnace is one of the three Parables for Church Performances composed by Benjamin Britten, dating from 1966, and is his Opus 77. The other two 'church parables' are Curlew River and The Prodigal Son . William Plomer was the librettist.The work was premiered at Orford Church,...
.
Richard Adeney performed in notable recordings, such as Johann Sebastian 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...
's Brandenburg Concertos
Brandenburg concertos
The Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 . They are widely regarded as among the finest musical compositions of the Baroque era...
, which was recorded under Britten's baton, or in his St Matthew Passion conducted by David Willcocks. He premiered the Elegy for flute, harp and string orchestra by John Veale
John Veale
John Douglas Louis Veale was an English classical composer.He was born in Shortlands, Bromley, Kent; his father, Douglas Veale, later served as Registrar of the University of Oxford and received a knighthood. John Veale was educated at Repton and Corpus Christi College, Oxford , alongside Kenneth...
in 1951. With the Melos Ensemble he recorded chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
for both woodwind
Woodwind instrument
A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator to vibrate...
s and strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
, such as Ravel's Introduction and Allegro along with Osian Ellis
Osian Ellis
Osian Gwynn Ellis CBE is a Welsh harpist and composer.-Career:Osian Ellis was born in Ffynnongroyw, Flintshire in 1928. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Gwendolen Mason, whom he later succeeded as Professor of Harp from 1959 to 1989. He joined the London Symphony Orchestra in 1961...
(harp), Gervase de Peyer
Gervase de Peyer
Gervase Alan de Peyer is an English clarinetist and conductor.-Professional career:Gervase de Peyer was born in London and attended Bedales School. He was awarded a scholarship to the Royal College of Music where he studied clarinet with Frederick Thurston and piano with Arthur Alexander...
(clarinet), Emanuel Hurwitz
Emanuel Hurwitz
Emanuel Hurwitz CBE was a British violinist. He was born in London with parents of Russian-Jewish ancestry....
and Ivor McMahon
Ivor McMahon
Ivor McMahon was an English violinist. He played with notable orchestras including the Philharmonia Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra and is best known for playing second violin in the Melos Ensemble.-Professional career:...
(violin), 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:...
(viola) and Terence Weil
Terence Weil
Terence Weil was a British cellist, principal cellist of the English Chamber Orchestra, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher at the Royal Northern College of Music.-Biography:Terence Weil was trained as a cellist under Herbert Walenn at the...
(cello). both 1961 and 1967.
Adeney performed regularly at the Aldeburgh Festival
Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on the main concert hall at Snape Maltings...
. After having played under conductors as Sergiu Celibidache
Sergiu Celibidache
- Biography :Celibidache was born in Roman, Romania, and began his studies in music with the piano, after which he studied music, philosophy and mathematics in Bucharest, Romania and then in Paris...
, Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter was a German-born conductor. He is considered one of the best known conductors of the 20th century. Walter was born in Berlin, but is known to have lived in several countries between 1933 and 1939, before finally settling in the United States in 1939...
, Sir Thomas Beecham and Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...
, he ended his professional career in 1990.
Adeney died on 16 December 2010 in Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
.
A concert to celebrate his life was held on May 6th, 2011 including performances by his colleague William Bennett
William Bennett (flautist)
William Bennett, OBE is a British flute player, who has played with most of the major British orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and was a frequent guest artist in the Melos Ensemble. He also has a career as a soloist...
.
Teacher, Writer, Photographer, Samaritan
Richard Adeney has also been a teacher. In 1948 he was teaching courses of the first Bath Assembly (later called Bath International Music Festival). He contributed to the biography of Malcolm Arnold and is the authorAuthor
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of flute, his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
. A sample provided by the publisher refers to working with Koussevitzky
Koussevitzky
Koussvitzky is a surname, may refer to:*Moshe Koussevitzky , Belarusian-born cantor*Sergei Koussevitzky , Russian-born conductor...
on the Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 4
Among the pieces of music with the title Symphony No. 4 are:*William Alwyn's Symphony No. 4*Malcolm Arnold's Symphony No. 4*Arnold Bax's Symphony No. 4*Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 4*Franz Berwald's Symphony No. 4, "Naïve"...
by Brahms, musing on the state of mind of the player in the performance. Richard Adeney has also been a photographer whose photos appear on record covers and illustrate his autobiography and other memories, also other books. One of his pictures showing Britten and the harpist Ellis
Osian Ellis
Osian Gwynn Ellis CBE is a Welsh harpist and composer.-Career:Osian Ellis was born in Ffynnongroyw, Flintshire in 1928. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Gwendolen Mason, whom he later succeeded as Professor of Harp from 1959 to 1989. He joined the London Symphony Orchestra in 1961...
appears in the Britten-Pears Foundation pages. For twenty-five years he was a volunteer with The Samaritans.
Publications
- flute - An autobiography, Brimstone Press, ISBN 978-1-906385-20-0
- [ Entries for Richard Adeney in allmusic]
- Entries for Richard Adeney in WorldCat
Selected recordings and broadcasts
- Malcolm Arnold
- Flute Concertos
- Sonata for flute and piano http://www.joyousjam.com/jamaicasclassicalmusicians/id11.html
- J.S. Bach
- Brandenburg Concertos 1-6, Britten, ECO DeccaDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
http://www.mininova.org/tor/205381 - St John Passion Britten, ECO http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000425Q//br=1-/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000425Q
- St. Matthew Passion
- Brandenburg Concertos 1-6, Britten, ECO Decca
- Benjamin Britten
- War Requiemhttp://www.brittenpears.org/?page=britten/works/requiem.html#links
- Curlew River
- Choral Dances (6) from GlorianaGlorianaGloriana is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Elizabeth and Essex by Lytton Strachey...
Britten, ECO, BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000JWIT
- George Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
Ode for St Cecilia's Day, Britten, ECO, BBC http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000JWIT - Gustav HolstGustav HolstGustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
A Fugal Concerto for Flute, Oboe and String Orchestra (1923), ECO http://www.musicweb-international.com/british_concertos_on_cd/Page1.htm - Bruno MadernaBruno MadernaBruno Maderna was an Italian conductor and composer. For the last ten years of his life he lived in Germany and eventually became a citizen of that country.-Biography:...
Serenata #2 Decca http://www.discogs.com/Luigi-Nono--Bruno-Maderna--Luciano-Berio-Polifonica-Monodia-Ritmica-Serenata-2-Differences/release/1127159 - W.A. Mozart Four Flute QuartetsFlute quartetA flute quartet is a musical term for a type of chamber music group. They are normally found in two forms: those consisting of a flute, a violin, a viola and a cello; and those consisting of four flutes...
, Melos Ensemble - Luigi NonoLuigi NonoLuigi Nono was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music and remains one of the most prominent composers of the 20th century.- Early years :Born in Venice, he was a member of a wealthy artistic family, and his grandfather was a notable painter...
Polifonica-Monodia-Ritmica Decca http://www.discogs.com/Luigi-Nono--Bruno-Maderna--Luciano-Berio-Polifonica-Monodia-Ritmica-Serenata-2-Differences/release/1127159 - Raymond WarrenRaymond WarrenRaymond Warren is a British composer and university teacher.He studied at Cambridge, and taught at Queen's University Belfast before becoming Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music at the University of Bristol from 1972 until his retirement in 1994.His works include a choral Passion, a Violin...
Song for St. Cecilia’s Day (1967) BBC http://www.impulse-music.co.uk/raymondwarren/compositions.htm#cantata