Gervase Henry Cary-Elwes (15 November 1866 – 12 January 1921), always known as
Gervase Elwes, was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
tenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly...
of great distinction, who exercised a powerful influence over the development of
English musicEnglish music may refer to:*English folk music*Music of the United Kingdom...
. His career was cut short in 1921 when he was involved in fatal railroad accident in
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact. Boston city proper had a 2009 estimated...
, Massachusetts.
Background to his career
He was born in
BillingBilling may refer to:*The process of sending a bill to customers for goods or services is called billing...
,
NorthamptonNorthampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. It is about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, and lies on the River Nene...
, the son of Alice Geraldine (
néeA married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage In many cultures it is common practice for a person to assume the family name of his or her spouse; this new name typically replaces the maiden name....
Ward) and Valentine Dudley Henry Cary-Elwes. Of the
NorthamptonshireNorthamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census...
and
LincolnshireLincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire. It also borders Northamptonshire for just 19 metres , England's shortest county boundary...
county gentry, he attended
The Oratory SchoolThe Oratory School is a Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding senior school in Woodcote in Oxfordshire. It is the last Catholic all-boys boarding school remaining in Great Britain. It has approximately 420 pupils...
(a Roman Catholic school) and moved to Woburn School, Weybridge in 1885, leaving for
Christ Church, OxfordChrist Church , is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As well as being a college, Christ Church is also the cathedral church of the diocese of Oxford, namely Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford...
in 1885, where he was active as a cricketer and violinist. At the age of 22 he married Lady Winifride Feilding. He first trained as a lawyer and diplomat, spending some years in
BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium...
. It was there that he began formal singing lessons at the age of 28. However he had to overcome a social convention of resistance to one of his class his making a professional career as a singer, and not until the early 1900s, in his late thirties, did he gave his first professional performances in
LondonLondon is the capital of England and the United Kingdom . It is Britain's largest and most populous metropolitan area. A major settlement for two millennia, its history goes back to its founding by the Romans, who called it Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, or the 'square mile'...
. His principal teachers were
Jacques BouhyJacques-Joseph-André Bouhy a Belgian baritone, most famous for being the first to sing the Toreador Song in the role of Escamillo in Carmen....
in
ParisParis is the capital and largest city of France. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(1901-1903), and in London Henry Russell and Victor Biegel, who remained his friend and teacher throughout his life. Bouhy asked him to decide between a baritone career in opera or a tenor career in oratorio and concert (and he chose the latter).
His first professional appearance in London was opposite
Agnes NichollsAgnes Nicholls was one of the greatest English sopranos of the 20th century, both in the concert hall and on the operatic stage....
, in
Wallfahrt nach Kevlaar by
Engelbert HumperdinckEngelbert Humperdinck was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel. Humperdinck was born at Siegburg in the Rhine Province.-Life:...
at the St James's Hall, with the Handel Society under J. S. Liddle in late April 1903, and immediately afterwards he appeared at the Westmorland Festival. In June 1903 he was auditioned at the
Royal College of MusicThe Royal College of Music is a conservatoire located in the South Kensington district in Central London, England.-Background:The Royal College of Music was founded by Royal Charter in 1882. The first director was Sir George Groves and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
in London by
Charles Villiers StanfordSir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish-born composer, resident in England for much of his life. He is particularly notable for his choral music...
, who left the room and brought
Hubert ParrySir 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...
in to hear him as well. The violinist Professor Kruse, who was then attempting to revive the Saturday 'Pops' at the St James's Hall jumped out of his chair and promptly engaged him, and it was Kruse who arranged for his first appearance in
Edward ElgarSir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have achieved enduring popularity. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two...
's
The Dream of GerontiusThe Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is an oratorio in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by Cardinal Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. It is widely...
early in 1904 as an addition to his
Beethoven Festival.
Harry Plunket GreeneHarry Plunket Greene was an Irish baritone singer who was most famous in the formal concert and oratorio repertoire. He made a great contribution to British musical life also by writing and lecturing upon his art, and in the field of competitions and examinations...
, who had encouraged Elwes through this audition, also remained his lifelong friend.
The character of his voice
Elwes had a voice entirely in the English colouring, but with an unusual quality of sincerity and passion, and of considerable power. His diction and intonation were very secure, his delivery somewhat ‘gentlemanly’ but his phrasing long in conception and serving intense melodic inflections. His singing possessed a spiritual fervour deriving from the religious disposition of his parents, who had taken the unusual step (for their class) of conversion to Catholicism when he was five years old.
Victor Biegel, a 'little round, bald Viennese', was for some time accompanist to the celebrated German lieder singer
Raimund von zur-MühlenBaron Raimund von zur-Mühlen was a celebrated tenor Lieder singer who also became a famous teacher of singing, instructing many famous artists...
and had a special understanding of the songs of
Johannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms , was a German composer and pianist, 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...
, which he imparted to Elwes. There was a great rapport, and his teaching, especially during his six-month residence at
Billing HallBilling is a civil parish in eastern Northampton in England, covering the Great Billing, Little Billing, Ecton Brook and Bellinge areas. It is geographically the largest area of Northampton. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 8,642, but is now over 10,000...
(an Elwes estate) in 1903, completely freed and relaxed Elwes' voice, opening the way for the sustained power and brilliance of his upper register, and the vocal stamina which enabled him to maintain great oratorio roles (for which he was much in demand) with absolute conviction through a singing career of nearly two decades.
Elwes and Lincolnshire music
During the early 1900s Elwes and his wife played an important part in encouraging and organizing the provincial Music Competition Festivals in Lincolnshire (Elwes often conducting or singing), centred upon their family home, the Manor at
BriggBrigg in North Lincolnshire, England, is a small market town on the River Ancholme with a population of 5,076 in 2,213 households .-History:The parish is dedicated to St John the Evangelist....
. In 1905, at the suggestion of his friend
Percy GraingerGeorge Percy Grainger was an Australian-born composer, and pianist, who worked under the stage name of Percy Aldridge Grainger.-Early life and career :...
, an open competition class for folk-singers was included. As a result, many wonderful songs were collected, notably from
Joseph TaylorJoseph Taylor may refer to:* Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. , American astrophysicist* Joseph C. Taylor, American baseball player* Joseph D. Taylor , U.S. Representative from Ohio...
(who made some commercial records for the
Gramophone Company- History :The UK Gramophone Company was founded by William Barry Owen and his partner/investor Trevor Williams in 1897 as the UK partner of Emile Berliner's United States based United States Gramophone Company, which had been founded in 1892...
). Taylor was the source of the melody used by
DeliusFrederick Albert Theodore Delius CH was an English composer. He spent much of his early adulthood in St. Johns County, Florida. His time in the US influenced his music, especially his interest in African-American spirituals and folk music.- Life :Frederick Delius was born in Bradford in the West...
for his ‘
Brigg Fair"Brigg Fair" is an English folk song. It is best known in a choral arrangement by Percy Grainger and a subsequent set of orchestral variations by Frederick Delius....
’.
Gerontius and the St Matthew Passion
Elwes became the greatest living exponent (alongside
John CoatesJohn Coates was a leading English tenor, who sang in opera and oratorio and on the concert platform. His repertoire ranged from Bach and Purcell to contemporary works, and embraced the major heldentenor roles in Richard Wagner's operas...
) of
Edward ElgarSir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have achieved enduring popularity. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two...
's
The Dream of GerontiusThe Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is an oratorio in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by Cardinal Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. It is widely...
, which he first performed on 9 April 1904, with
Muriel FosterMuriel Foster was an English contralto, excelling in oratorio. Grove's Dictionary describes her voice as "one of the most beautiful voices of her time"....
and
David Ffrangcon DaviesDavid Thomas Ffrangcon Davies was a Welsh operatic baritone.-Early life and education:Davies was born in Bethesda, Gwynedd. He took the name Ffrangcon, an early variant spelling of the nearby valley Nant Ffrancon. He attended Friars School, Bangor and Jesus College, Oxford, matriculating in 1876...
at the
Queen's HallThe Queen's Hall was a classical music concert hall in Central London, England, opened in 1893 and was beloved by Londoners until its destruction by an incendiary bomb in 1941. It is best known for being where the Promenade Concerts were founded by Robert Newman, with Henry J...
under the baton of
Felix WeingartnerPaul Felix von Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.-Biography:...
. He was inspired by the music on hearing the concert performance in May 1903 just preceding the ceremonial opening of the
Westminster CathedralWestminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Roman Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster. It is dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ....
. The religious authenticity of his interpretation was immediately recognized. He performed the work 118 times in all. He was also completely identified with the role of the
EvangelistThe Evangelist in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is the tenor part in his oratorios and passions who narrates the exact words of the Bible, translated by Martin Luther, in recitative, namely in the works St John Passion, St Matthew Passion and the Christmas Oratorio, also in the Ascension...
in
BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose ecclesiastical 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
St Matthew Passion. His appearances at the
Three Choirs FestivalThe Three Choirs Festival is a music festival, held each August alternately at the cathedrals of the Three Counties, and originally featuring their three choirs, which remain central to the week-long programme...
s, and at those of
PeterboroughThe Peterborough Festival is held annually in the UK city of Peterborough. The festival takes place over a two-week period, usually the last week of June and the first week of July....
and
NorwichInternational arts festival for the East of England held in and around Norwich every May. The Norfolk & Norwich Festival was established in 1772 to support the building of the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital...
, became annual fixtures. In 1908 at the Norwich Festival he was partnered (according to Henry J. Wood) in
Gerontius by the Dutch contralto
Julia CulpJulia Bertha Culp , the "Dutch nightingale", was an internationally celebrated mezzo-soprano in the years 1901-1919....
, and in the same festival performed Bach's
MagnificatThe Magnificat in D major, BWV 243, is one of the major vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach. It was composed for an orchestra and five voices. The text is the canticle of Mary, mother of Jesus, as recounted by Luke the Evangelist...
with
Louise Kirkby LunnLouise Kirkby Lunn was an English contralto. Sometimes classified as a mezzo-soprano, she was one of the leading English-born singers of the first two decades of the 20th century, earning praise for her performances in concert, oratorio and opera.- Training :Kirkby Lunn had her early vocal training...
and
Herbert WitherspoonHerbert Witherspoon was an American bass singer and opera manager.A native of Buffalo, New York, Witherspoon graduated from Yale University, where he performed in a glee club, in 1895; after leaving school he studied music with Horatio Parker, Edward MacDowell, and Gustav Stoeckel; he also studied...
. In 1909 Elwes sang Gerontius and the
St Matthew Passion Evangelist in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
under Walter Damrosch.
Culp sang the Gerontius angel role at the London Music Festival on 22 May 1911 with Elwes, with Herbert Brown and the Norwich Festival Chorus, and Wood states that this was the occasion upon which Elwes finally established his reputation as the greatest exponent of the name part. Five days later Wood and Elwes closed the 1911 Festival with a performance of the
St Matthew Passion with
Agnes NichollsAgnes Nicholls was one of the greatest English sopranos of the 20th century, both in the concert hall and on the operatic stage....
, Edna Thornton, Herbert Brown, Herbert Heyner and
Robert RadfordRobert Radford was a British bass singer who made his career entirely in the United Kingdom, participating in concerts and becoming one of the foremost performers of oratorios and other sacred music...
. In May 1916 he gave six performances of
Gerontius on consecutive days, with
Clara ButtDame Clara Ellen Butt DBE , sometimes called Clara Butt-Rumford after her marriage, was an English contralto with a remarkably imposing voice and a surprisingly agile singing technique. Her main career was as a recitalist and concert singer.-Early life and career:Clara Butt was born in Southwick,...
as the Angel, Charles Mott (Angel of the Agony) and Herbert Brown (Priest), the Leeds Choral Union and
London Symphony OrchestraThe London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
, conducted by Elgar himself, in aid of the
Red CrossThe International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers worldwide which started to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for the human being, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering, without any...
. His last performance of the work was in Northampton in October 1920, with Robert Radford and Norah Dawnay, shortly before leaving for his American tour.
Elwes and Lieder
He was the foremost English-born performer of the
BrahmsJohannes Brahms , was a German composer and pianist, 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...
lieder in the first decades of the 20th century. In January 1907 he made a tour in Germany which included Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Frankfort and Cologne, giving recitals with
Fanny DaviesFanny Davies was an English pianist who was particularly admired in Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, and the early schools, but was also a very early London performer of the works of Debussy and Scriabin...
(a celebrated pupil of
Clara SchumannClara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...
's). He sang mixed programmes, but his performance of German lieder, and especially of Brahms (in German) was greatly admired. (He was then singing 'Komm bald,' 'Am Sonntag Morgen,' 'Salamander,' 'Ein Wanderer,' 'Wir wandelten', 'Auf dem Kirchhof', 'Magyarisch,' 'Die Kränze,' Ständchen' and 'Botschaft.') He sang the Brahms
Liebeslieder in
BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium...
in 1908 with
Marie BremaMarie Brema was an English dramatic mezzo-soprano singer in concert, operatic and oratorio work in the last decade of the 19th and the first decade of the 20th centuries...
, and in London gave a recital with
PaderewskiIgnacy Jan Paderewski GBE was a Polish pianist, composer, diplomat, politician, and the third Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.-Biography:...
. In January 1913 at the
Queen's HallThe Queen's Hall was a classical music concert hall in Central London, England, opened in 1893 and was beloved by Londoners until its destruction by an incendiary bomb in 1941. It is best known for being where the Promenade Concerts were founded by Robert Newman, with Henry J...
, under Henry Wood, he sang
MahlerGustav Mahler was an Austrian late-Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century...
's
Das Lied von der ErdeDas Lied von der Erde is a large-scale work for two vocal soloists and orchestra by the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler...
in company with the contralto Doris Woodall: Wood thought it 'excessively modern but very beautiful'. Brahms remained central to Elwes's repertoire to the end, and he also performed lieder of
Edvard GriegEdvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the Romantic period. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric...
,
Antonín DvořákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. His works include operas, symphonic, choral and chamber music...
and
George HenschelSir George Henschel , was an English baritone, pianist, conductor, and composer. He was knighted in 1914....
. Early in his career he found an ideal accompanist in
Frederick B. KiddleFrederick B. Kiddle was a prominent English pianist, organist and accompanist.Kiddle was born at Frome, Somerset, and studied at the Royal College of Music under Sir Walter Parratt, Rockstro and Higgs...
, and they remained associated until his death.
In January 1912 in a recital for Henry Wood at Queen's Hall he introduced the settings of poems of
Paul VerlainePaul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
by
PoldowskiPoldowski was the professional pseudonym of a Belgian-born British composer and pianist born Régine Wieniawski , the daughter of the Polish violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski. Some of her early works were published under the name Irène Wieniawska. She married Sir Aubrey Dean Paul, 5th...
(Lady Dean Paul, born Régine Wieniawski, the daughter of
Henryk WieniawskiHenryk Wieniawski was a Polish violinist and composer.-Biography:He was born in Lublin, Congress Poland, Russian Empire, into a family of Jewish heritage. His father, Tobiasz Pietruszka, had converted to Catholicism. His talent for playing the violin was recognized early, and in 1843 he entered...
). These songs then had a great vogue in Paris and this performance made a deep impression.
During the First World War he participated in the concert tours for British soldiers in France organized by Lena Ashwell. His work was extremely well received.
Elwes and English art-song
But it was as singer of English art-song, and the friend of many leading English composers, that he left his most permanent legacy. He was the dedicatee and first performer of (and the first person to record)
Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores...
cycle
On Wenlock Edge and many of the finest songs of
Roger QuilterRoger Quilter , was an English composer.Born in Hove, Sussex, Quilter was a younger son of Sir William Quilter, 1st Baronet, who was a noted art collector. Quilter was educated at Eton College, later becoming a fellow-student of Percy Grainger, Cyril Scott and Henry Balfour Gardiner at the Hoch...
(including the cycle
To Julia), both of whom wrote with his voice in mind. In 1912 he gave the first performance of
Thomas DunhillThomas Frederick Dunhill was an English composer and writer on musical subjects. He is best-known for his song-cycle The Wind among the Reeds.-Life and career:Thomas Dunhill was born in Hampstead, London...
's song-cycle
The wind among the reeds for the
Philharmonic SocietyThe 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...
. He had the wholehearted admiration of every generation from
Charles Villiers StanfordSir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish-born composer, resident in England for much of his life. He is particularly notable for his choral music...
to
Frank Bridge-Life:Bridge was born in Brighton and studied at the Royal College of Music in London from 1899 to 1903 under Charles Villiers Stanford and others. He played the viola in a number of string quartets, most notably the English String Quartet, and conducted, sometimes deputising for Henry Wood, before...
, and their successors still acknowledge the authority of his influence. He was also a wonderful inspiration to leading British singers of his time, as their many private and published memorials of him testify.
His death
Elwes died aged 55, at the height of his powers, in a horrific accident at
Back BayBack Bay Station, located at 145 Dartmouth Street, between Stuart Street and Columbus Avenue, is a train station in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston...
railway station in
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact. Boston city proper had a 2009 estimated...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
, in the midst of a high-profile recital tour of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D...
. Elwes and his wife had alighted on the platform when the singer attempted to return to the conductor an overcoat which had fallen off the train. He leaned over too far and was hit by the train, falling between the train and the platform. He died of his injuries a few hours later. The tremendous loss felt by the musical establishment, the churches, and the population in general left the impression not merely of a great singer, but of a great man, whom many who never met him felt they knew personally through his singing. In short, he was loved. A week after the event,
Edward ElgarSir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have achieved enduring popularity. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two...
wrote to
Percy HullSir Percy Clarke Hull was an English organist and composer who revived the Three Choirs Festival during his time as organist of Hereford Cathedral from 1918 to 1949...
, 'my personal loss is greater than I can bear to think upon, but this is nothing - or I must call it so - compared to the general artistic loss - a gap impossible to fill - in the musical world.'
Memorials
Among many memorial concerts nationwide, a memorial performance of
The Dream of GerontiusThe Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is an oratorio in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by Cardinal Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. It is widely...
was given at the
Royal Albert HallThe Royal Albert Hall is an arts venue situated in the Knightsbridge area of the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, at which
John CoatesJohn Coates was a leading English tenor, who sang in opera and oratorio and on the concert platform. His repertoire ranged from Bach and Purcell to contemporary works, and embraced the major heldentenor roles in Richard Wagner's operas...
and Frederick Ranalow sang with the Royal Choral Society. The
Musicians' Benevolent Fund- About :The Musicians Benevolent Fund is a unique, UK based, charity which provides essential help to musicians of all ages. It supports music professionals throughout their working lives when a crisis such as an accident or illness can have a devastating impact and, in later life, with the...
was first established as the
Gervase Elwes Memorial Fund for Musicians, and his figure became a presiding genius of twentieth-century
English musicEnglish music may refer to:*English folk music*Music of the United Kingdom...
. His particular association with the lyrics of A. E. Housman and the music of
ElgarSir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have achieved enduring popularity. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two...
, and his death soon after the First World War, reinforce his embodiment of the lost Edwardian generation, perhaps the last in which his religious conviction could so thoroughly have endeared him to so many.
At much the same time the Glasgow Orpheus Choir instituted a
Gervase Elwes Silver Medal, and the Feis Ceoil in
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
inaugurated its
Gervase Elwes Memorial Cup. A choir named after him was established at
WalsallWalsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation, and is sometimes described as part of the Black Country.Walsall...
. A portrait plaque by Arthur Vokes was set up in the centre of the village of Billing.
A portrait bust of him by
Malvina HoffmanMalvina Hoffman , was an American sculptor and author, well known for her life-size bronze sculptures of people. She also worked in plaster and marble....
was sent by Mrs
Vincent AstorWilliam Vincent Astor was a businessman and philanthropist and a member of the prominent Astor family.-Early life:...
and was set in a specially prepared niche on the grand tier of the old
Queen's HallThe Queen's Hall was a classical music concert hall in Central London, England, opened in 1893 and was beloved by Londoners until its destruction by an incendiary bomb in 1941. It is best known for being where the Promenade Concerts were founded by Robert Newman, with Henry J...
(the original venue of the
Promenade ConcertsThe Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in South Kensington, London...
) as a memorial by his American friends, being unveiled in 1922. Around the arch of the niche was a motto, 'With his whole heart he sang songs and loved Him that made him.' On that occasion two
BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
chorales were conducted by
Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores...
.
Sir
John BarbirolliSir John Barbirolli, CH, 2 December 1899 – 29 July 1970) was an English conductor and cellist. He was particularly associated with the Hallé Orchestra, Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 and conducted for the rest of his life. Earlier in his career he was Arturo Toscanini's...
(a successor of the original conductor of
Gerontius,
Hans RichterHans Richter was an Austrian orchestral and operatic conductor.Richter was born in Raab , Hungary, and studied at the Vienna Conservatory. He had a particular interest in the horn, and developed his conducting career at several different opera houses in the Austro-Hungarian Empire...
, as conductor of the
Hallé OrchestraThe Hallé is a symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It is the UK's oldest extant symphony orchestra , supports a choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasionally released recordings on Angel Records and EMI...
, who had played as an orchestral cellist in
Gerontius under Elgar's baton with Elwes performing the Soul) remembered Elwes as 'that great and noble artist'. In addition to being a great singer, Elwes was a capital game shot, and devoted much of his spare time to shooting on his estates.
Recordings: Discography
Elwes recorded first in 1911-1913 for the
Gramophone Company- History :The UK Gramophone Company was founded by William Barry Owen and his partner/investor Trevor Williams in 1897 as the UK partner of Emile Berliner's United States based United States Gramophone Company, which had been founded in 1892...
, and later for the
Columbia Graphophone CompanyThe Columbia Graphophone Company was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Under EMI, as 'Columbia Records', it became a very successful label in the 1950s and 1960s...
. This listing is thought to be complete for known recordings of this artist.
HMV
- 4-2156 Phyllis hath such charming graces (Lane Wilson arr.) recorded 29 July 1911 (matrix y13904e).
- 4-2161 Absent yet present (Maude Valerie White
Maude Valérie White was a French-born English composer who became one of the most successful songwriters of the Victorian period.-Early years:...
) recorded 29 July 1911 (matrix y13902e).
- 4-2189 Morning Hymn (Henschel) recorded 17 November 1911 (matrix ab4297e).
- 4-2195 To Daisies, and Song of the Blackbird (Quilter) recorded 17 November 1911 (matrix ab4296e).
- 4-2232 Sigh no more, ladies (Aiken) recorded 3 September 1912 (matrix y15619e).
- 7-42004 Ich liebe dich (Grieg) recorded 17 November 1911 (matrix ab4298e).
- 02379 So we'll go no more a-roving (M.V. White) recorded 17 October 1911 (matrix ac5577f). Sample at YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google...
- 02379X So we'll go no more a-roving (M.V. White) recorded 27 December 1912 (matrix z6936f).
Columbia
- 65826 Battle Hymn (arr Stanford) /F.B. Kiddle
- 65827 Sonnet XVIII (W.A. Aiken) /F.B. Kiddle
- 6847 Blow, blow thou winter wind (Quilter) 1916. Sample at YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google...
- 6848 Fill a glass with golden wine (Quilter)
- 6849 In Summertime on Breedon (Peel)
- 6850 Now sleeps the crimson petal, and Love's Philosophy (Quilter) 1916. Sample at YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google...
- 6851 The Roadside Fire (Vaughan Williams) 1920. Sample at YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google...
- 6852 Cuckoo Song (Quilter)
- 71017 Listen to the voice of love
- 71018 Brittany
- 71051 Gifts (Taylor)/F.B. Kiddle
- 71052 By Wenlock Town (Janet Hamilton) /F.B. Kiddle
- 74150 The Lake Isle of Innisfree (Ley)/F.B. Kiddle
- 74151 A Sea Dirge (Dunhill)/F.B. Kiddle
- 75329 O Mistress Mine! and Fair House of Joy (Quilter)
- 75330 Songs my mother taught me (Dvorak)
- 75357 A carol of bells (C.V. Stanford) /F.B. Kiddle
- 75360 Where'er you walk (Handel)/F.B. Kiddle
- 75419 On Wenlock Edge (Vaughan Williams) /London String Quartet
- 75420 From far, from eve and Oh when I was in love with you (Vaughan Williams) /London String Quartet
- 75421 Is my team ploughing? (Vaughan Williams) /London String Quartet
- 75422 Bredon Hill (Vaughan Williams) /London String Quartet
- 75423 Clun (Vaughan Williams) /London String Quartet
- 76089 So sweet love seemed (Piggot) and Jenny kissed me (Brougham)/F.B. Kiddle
- 76091 A Pastoral (Colin Taylor) /F.B. Kiddle
- 76092 Love went a-riding (Bridge)/F.B. Kiddle
- 76093 Lift up your heads on high (Bach)/F.B. Kiddle
Family
He was the brother of Dudley Cary Elwes II, the Roman Catholic
Bishop of NorthamptonThe Bishop of Northampton heads the Catholic Northampton Diocese, a suffragan see of the Province of Westminster, England.The see is in the town of Northampton where the Bishop's cathedral or seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Our Lady and Saint Thomas of Canterbury.The current bishop is...
.
Elwes married in
KensingtonKensington is a district of West London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington....
in 1889 to Lady Winifride Feilding, daughter of
Rudolph Feilding, 8th Earl of DenbighRudolph William Basil Feilding, 8th Earl of Denbigh, 7th Earl of Desmond was a British peer, succeeding to his titles on the death in 1865 of his father, the 7th Earl of Denbigh...
. They had six sons together:
- Robert Geoffrey Gervase John Elwes (1890-1956), a World War I
World War I was a military conflict centered on Europe that began in the summer of 1914. The fighting ended in late 1918 in western Europe and by 1922 in eastern Europe. This conflict involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Central Powers...
veteran
- Rudolph Philip Cary Elwes (1892-1962), an actor
- Francis Guy Robert Elwes (1896-1966 Belgium), an architect and interior designer
- Monsignor Aubrey Valentine Denis "Aubrey" Elwes (1899-1966 Brigg, Lincolnshire), a Roman Catholic cleric
- Sir Richard Everard A. Elwes (1901-1968), a High Court judge and Recorder of Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. It is about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, and lies on the River Nene...
- Simon Vincent Edmund Paul Elwes
Lieut.-Col. Simon Edmund Vincent Paul Elwes, better known as Simon Elwes, RP, RA, was a British war artist and society portrait painter whose patrons included kings, queens, statesmen, sportsmen, prominent social figures and many members of Britain's Royal Family...
(1902-1975), a portrait artist and Royal Academician
Further reading
- J. Barbirolli, The Dream of Gerontius – A Personal Note (EMI 1965).
- J.R. Bennett, Voices of the Past, 1: The HMV English Catalogue (Oakwood Press 1955).
- R.D. Darrell, The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music (The Gramophone Shop, New York 1936).
- A. Eaglefield-Hull (Ed), A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians (Dent, London 1924).
- R. Elkin, Queen's Hall 1893-1941 (Rider, London 1944).
- R. Elkin, Royal Philharmonic (Rider, London 1946).
- Lady W. Elwes and R. Elwes, Gervase Elwes, The Story of his Life (Grayson & Grayson, London 1935).
- V. Langfield, Roger Quilter, His Life and Music (Boydell, Woodbridge 2002).
- M. Scott, The Record of Singing
The Record of Singing is a compilation of classical-music singing from the first half of the 20th century, the era of the 78-rpm record.It was published by EMI, successor to the British company His Master's Voice , the leading organization in the early history of audio recording.The project was...
, II:1914 to 1925, 172-173 (Duckworth, London 1979).
- D. Taylor, Gervase Cary Elwes, in Music Lovers' Encyclopedia (5th edn), 1950.
- H. Wood, My Life of Music (Gollancz, London 1938).
- (MS Source): "Elwes (Great Billing)": Northamptonshire Family and Estate collections records 1610-1921. (1749 docs. & 9 boxes, ref. E(GB) & CE(B)).