Michael Head (28 January 1900 – 24 August 1976) was a British composer, pianist, organist and singer who left some enduring works still popular today.
(see Bush, 1982, and Armstrong, 1976)
Michael Head was born in
EastbourneEastbourne is a large town and borough of East Sussex, on the south coast of England, with an estimated population of 106,652 as of 2009. The area has seen human activity since the stone age and it remained one of small settlements until the 19th century when its four hamlets gradually merged to...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
on January 23, 1900. His father was a
barristerA barrister is a lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions that employ a split profession in relation to legal representation. In split professions, the other types of lawyers are mainly solicitors...
and
journalistA journalist is a person who practises journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that are not biased.Reporters are one type of journalist...
and his mother an accomplished amateur singer and pianist. His mother’s influence evidently dominated, and at age 10 he commenced his musical training, taking piano lessons with Jean Adair and singing with Fritz Marston at the Adair-Marston School of Music.
Michael Head (28 January 1900 – 24 August 1976) was a British composer, pianist, organist and singer who left some enduring works still popular today.
Biographical details
(see Bush, 1982, and Armstrong, 1976)
Michael Head was born in
EastbourneEastbourne is a large town and borough of East Sussex, on the south coast of England, with an estimated population of 106,652 as of 2009. The area has seen human activity since the stone age and it remained one of small settlements until the 19th century when its four hamlets gradually merged to...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
on January 23, 1900. His father was a
barristerA barrister is a lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions that employ a split profession in relation to legal representation. In split professions, the other types of lawyers are mainly solicitors...
and
journalistA journalist is a person who practises journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that are not biased.Reporters are one type of journalist...
and his mother an accomplished amateur singer and pianist. His mother’s influence evidently dominated, and at age 10 he commenced his musical training, taking piano lessons with Jean Adair and singing with Fritz Marston at the Adair-Marston School of Music. He was educated at
Monkton Combe SchoolMonkton Combe School is an independent Christian mixed boarding and day school near Bath, England. The Senior School is located in the village of Monkton Combe, while the Prep School, Pre-Prep and Nursery are in Combe Down on the southern outskirts of Bath....
in
SomersetSomerset is a county in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The ceremonial county of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west...
. In 1919, after a period of study at the
Royal Academy of MusicThe Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, he won the Sir Michael Costa scholarship for composition. During
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
he was called up for service, and while working at an ammunition factory, composed the song cycle
Over the rim of the moon (Head et al., 1920). This was to become his first published work.
After the war, Head resumed his studies at the Royal Academy of Music. He studied composition with
Frederick CorderFrederick Corder was an English composer and music teacher.-Biography:Born into a musical family he started music lessons, particularly piano, early. Later he studied with Henry Gadsby...
,
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
with T B Knott and
organThe organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet...
with Reginald Steggall. In addition to the Costa Scholarship, he won several awards for composition, sight singing and
harmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches, or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
. In 1924 Michael Head was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. Two years later, he took up a post at
Bedales SchoolBedales School is an English independent school located in the village of Steep, near Petersfield, Hampshire.Bedales was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of the conventional Victorian Public School, and consequently has a progressive ethos...
,
PetersfieldPetersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth, on the A3 road.Petersfield has its own railway station, on the Portsmouth Direct Line....
, where he taught for three years. Head gave his first public recital as a self accompanied singer at
Wigmore HallWigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...
in 1929. After this debut performance, his fame grew rapidly. He gave several more recitals in the
British IslesThe British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain, Ireland and numerous smaller islands. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Ireland...
and in many parts of the world. Additionally he gave several radio recitals, both in
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
and
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He took up the post of Pianoforte Professor at the Royal Academy in 1927 after an invitation by Sir John McEwen. This post he was to hold until his retirement in 1975. Head was appointed as an examiner for the
Associated Board of the Royal Schools of MusicThe Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music or ABRSM is an educational body that provides examinations in music. Often referred to simply as the "Associated Board", or "the Royal Schools of Music", the organisation is based in London, but runs examination centres all over the world...
and as such toured many countries, including
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
and
ZimbabweZimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers...
(then
RhodesiaWhen the former colony of Northern Rhodesia changed its name to Zambia on independence in 1964, the colony of Southern Rhodesia changed its name to just plain 'Rhodesia'. The change had not yet been officialy ratified when Rhodesia declared itself independent on 11 November 1965...
). At the outbreak of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he returned to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
and continued teaching throughout the blitz. During this time, he gave hundreds of concerts in factories and in small towns. Michael Head died in
Cape TownCape Town is the second most populous city in South Africa, and the largest in land area, forming part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. It is the provincial capital of the Western Cape, as well as the legislative capital of South Africa, where the National Parliament and many...
whilst examining for the Associated Board in Rhodesia and South Africa, from a sudden and unexpected illness on the 24th August, 1976.
His music
Most of Head’s works are songs. However, his early works include a
piano concertoA piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...
, a tone poem, and
scherzoA scherzo is a piece of music or a movement, in a certain style, that forms part of a larger piece such as a symphony, and the scherzo is often the third movement of a symphony, sonata, or string quartet. The word "scherzo" means "joke" in Italian...
for
orchestraAn orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. The term orchestra derives from the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
. His best known albums are
Over the Rim of the Moon (1918-19) and
Songs of the Countryside. The first of these contains probably his most famous song, Ships of Arcady. The second were poems of
W. H. DaviesWilliam Henry Davies or W. H. Davies was a Welsh poet and writer.- The People's Poet :He spent a significant part of his life as a tramp or vagabond in the United States and United Kingdom, but became known as one of the most popular poets of his time...
, set to
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. Another well-known work is
The piper, a setting of
Seamus O'SullivanSeumas or Seamus O'Sullivan, real name James Sullivan Starkey, was an Irish poet and editor of The Dublin Magazine. He was born in Dublin and spent his adult life in the suburb of Rathgar...
's famous poem of the same name. One of his popular songs is the
Christmas CarolA Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas, or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ....
,
The little road to Bethlehem, the words of which are by Margaret Rose. Other famous songs include,
Sweet chance that led my steps abroad and
Why have you stolen my delight? (see Bush, 1982).
Head used two types of
scaleIn music, a scale is a group of musical notes collected in ascending and descending order, that provides material for or is used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical work including melody and/or harmony...
in his compositions; diatonic and chromatic. Using the former, he produced simple, melodic
tunes-Places:*Tunes, Norway, a village in Norway*Tunes , a parish in Portugal*Tunes, Tunisia, now Tunis in Tunisia-Things:*Tunes , a brand of boiled sweet*Tune in plural form*iTunes music software...
, easily remembered and easily sung. As they are pleasant and easily understood, people who have heard them often find themselves humming or whistling them to themselves (see Bush, 1982). They are thus the type for which he is best remembered. Ships of
ArcadyARCADY is the acronym for This software, produced by the Transport Research Laboratory , provides information on traffic flow including modelling capacity queues and delays at roundabouts...
is an example of these. The chromatic style is best represented by
Nocturne, A Piper. In all of his songs Michael Head exhibits two areas of equal importance; musical content, and the effectiveness of the word setting to create a complete whole.
Assessment
Head’s contribution to music is a modest but real one. Many of his songs are still performed and loved. They are safe choices for present-day choral recitals, especially at a point where a quieter or more contemplative mood is required, as, for example, between two faster and louder items. Head’s songs are frequently performed during formal ceremonies, such as university or college graduations.
External links