Lamar Crowson
Encyclopedia
John Lamar Crowson was an American concert pianist
and a chamber music
ian.
His early education was in Portland, Oregon where he attended Reed College
(1943–1948), majoring in art, history and literature. He later studied piano under Arthur Benjamin
who invited him to study at the Royal College of Music
in 1948 and was appointed to the staff in 1957. During the 1950s he won many major prizes, including the Chappell Gold Medal, the Dannreuther Prize and the Harriet Cohen International Medal. In 1952 he was laureate in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. This initiated his career as a concert pianist performing with such notable conductors as Sir John Barbirolli
, Daniel Barenboim
, Pierre Boulez
, Sir Adrian Boult
, Sir Colin Davis
and Pierre Monteux
among others.
Crowson was pianist for the Melos Ensemble for many years. Emanuel Hurwitz
, leader of the Ensemble, said, "When you walk on to a platform with someone of his artistic integrity, you feel nothing but total confidence". His recordings with the Melos Ensemble include the Beethoven as well as the Mozart quintets for piano and wind, Johann Nepomuk Hummel
's quintet and septet, Leoš Janáček
's Concertino, which earned the Edison Award and Schubert
's "Trout" Quintet. The New York Times praised his recording of the Fauré
Piano Quartet with the Pro Arte Quartet
. He played and recorded with the Pro Arte Piano Quartet, Kenneth Sillito (violin), Cecil Aronowitz
(viola) and Terence Weil
(cello).
Some of the other major artists with whom he worked were Janet Baker
, Itzhak Perlman
and Jacqueline du Pré
. He introduced the European premières of Poulenc’s
Sonata for clarinet and piano and Copland’s
Fantasy. Crowson also gave the first performance of Peter Racine Fricker
's Twelve Studies, in Cheltenham
in 1961 and the composer dedicated the work to him. In 1981 Alfred Brendel
wrote that Crowson was "one of the finest chamber music pianists of our day".
In 1963 Crowson travelled to Cape Town
as an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and lectured at the South African College of Music
at the University of Cape Town
from 1965 to 1968. In 1972 he settled in South Africa permanently where he became a leading concert performer and contributed greatly to the musical life of the country while retaining his international links. He was appointed a music professor at UCT in 1980 from which he received an honourary doctorate in 1996. He also taught at the Britten-Pears Academy, Dartington
, the University of Queensland
and elsewhere.
Some of Crowson's students included Clifford Benson, Ian Brown of the Nash Ensemble
, Niel Immelman
, Jan Latham-Koenig, Gwenneth Pryor, Roucher du Toit and the late Steven De Groote. Of his students he wrote, "Records get deleted; critiques crumble; but good students, like children and grandchildren, perpetuate".
Crowson was married three times and had two sons by his first marriage, John and Paul.
In his obituary the New York Times wrote, "... though little known in the United States, [he] was regarded by many colleagues as one of the finest chamber musicians of his time."
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and a 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...
ian.
His early education was in Portland, Oregon where he attended Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
(1943–1948), majoring in art, history and literature. He later studied piano under Arthur Benjamin
Arthur Benjamin
Arthur Leslie Benjamin was an Australian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is best known as the composer of Jamaican Rhumba, composed in 1938.-Biography:...
who invited him to study 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...
in 1948 and was appointed to the staff in 1957. During the 1950s he won many major prizes, including the Chappell Gold Medal, the Dannreuther Prize and the Harriet Cohen International Medal. In 1952 he was laureate in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. This initiated his career as a concert pianist performing with such notable conductors as Sir John Barbirolli
John Barbirolli
Sir John Barbirolli, CH was an English conductor and cellist. Born in London, of Italian and French parentage, he grew up in a family of professional musicians. His father and grandfather were violinists...
, Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings....
, Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
, Sir Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
, Sir Colin Davis
Colin Davis
Sir Colin Rex Davis, CH, CBE is an English conductor. His repertoire is broad, but among the composers with whom he is particularly associated are Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Tippett....
and Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux was an orchestra conductor. Born in Paris, France, Monteux later became an American citizen.-Life and career:Monteux was born in Paris in 1875. His family was descended from Sephardi Jews who came to France in the wake of the Spanish Inquisition. He studied violin from an early age,...
among others.
Crowson was pianist for the Melos Ensemble for many years. Emanuel Hurwitz
Emanuel Hurwitz
Emanuel Hurwitz CBE was a British violinist. He was born in London with parents of Russian-Jewish ancestry....
, leader of the Ensemble, said, "When you walk on to a platform with someone of his artistic integrity, you feel nothing but total confidence". His recordings with the Melos Ensemble include the Beethoven as well as the Mozart quintets for piano and wind, Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.- Life :...
's quintet and septet, Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's Concertino, which earned the Edison Award and 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 "Trout" Quintet. The New York Times praised his recording of the Fauré
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
Piano Quartet with the Pro Arte Quartet
Pro Arte Quartet
The Pro Arte String Quartet was founded in Belgium in 1912, and transferred permanently to Madison, Wisconsin in 1941. After becoming the Court Quartet to Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, the Pro Arte began the first of many international tours in 1919. Bartok, Milhaud and Honegger entrusted the...
. He played and recorded with the Pro Arte Piano Quartet, Kenneth Sillito (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).
Some of the other major artists with whom he worked were Janet Baker
Janet Baker
Dame Janet Abbott Baker, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.She was particularly closely associated with baroque and early Italian opera and the works of Benjamin Britten...
, Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...
and Jacqueline du Pré
Jacqueline du Pré
Jacqueline Mary du Pré OBE was a British cellist. She is particularly associated with Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor; her interpretation has been described as "definitive" and "legendary." Her career was cut short by multiple sclerosis, which forced her to stop performing at 28 and led to her...
. He introduced the European premières of Poulenc’s
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...
Sonata for clarinet and piano and Copland’s
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
Fantasy. Crowson also gave the first performance of Peter Racine Fricker
Peter Racine Fricker
Peter Racine Fricker was an English composer who lived in the United States for the last thirty years of his life....
's Twelve Studies, in Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
in 1961 and the composer dedicated the work to him. In 1981 Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel KBE is an Austrian pianist, born in Czechoslovakia and a resident of the United Kingdom. He is also a poet and author.-Biography:...
wrote that Crowson was "one of the finest chamber music pianists of our day".
In 1963 Crowson travelled to Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
as an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and lectured at the South African College of Music
South African College of Music
The South African College of Music, abbreviated as SACM, is a department of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town. It is located on the University's Lower Campus in Rondebosch, Cape Town.-Study opportunities:...
at the University of Cape Town
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
from 1965 to 1968. In 1972 he settled in South Africa permanently where he became a leading concert performer and contributed greatly to the musical life of the country while retaining his international links. He was appointed a music professor at UCT in 1980 from which he received an honourary doctorate in 1996. He also taught at the Britten-Pears Academy, Dartington
Dartington
Dartington is a village in Devon, England. Its population is 1,917. It is located west of the River Dart, south of Dartington Hall and about two miles from Totnes...
, the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
and elsewhere.
Some of Crowson's students included Clifford Benson, Ian Brown of the Nash Ensemble
Nash Ensemble
The Nash Ensemble of London is an acclaimed English chamber ensemble. It was founded by Artistic Director Amelia Freedman in 1964, while she was a student at the Royal Academy of Music, and was named after the Nash Terraces around the Academy...
, Niel Immelman
Niel Immelman
Niel Immelman is a South African classical pianist.He studied with Cyril Smith, Ilona Kabos and Maria Curcio. He was still a student at the Royal College of Music when Bernard Haitink invited him to play Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the London Philharmonic Orchestra...
, Jan Latham-Koenig, Gwenneth Pryor, Roucher du Toit and the late Steven De Groote. Of his students he wrote, "Records get deleted; critiques crumble; but good students, like children and grandchildren, perpetuate".
Crowson was married three times and had two sons by his first marriage, John and Paul.
In his obituary the New York Times wrote, "... though little known in the United States, [he] was regarded by many colleagues as one of the finest chamber musicians of his time."