Sam Hartley Braithwaite

Sam Hartley Braithwaite (20 July 1883 – 13 January 1947) was a British composer and artist.

Braithwaite was born in Egremont, Cumberland. He trained at the Royal Academy of Music, studying piano, organ and clarinet, as well as composition with Frederick Corder[1] An exact contemporary there was Arnold Bax. They became close friends and Bax dedicated his piano piece Apple Blossom Time (1915) to Braithwaite.[2][3] While still in his twenties he began teaching piano at the RAM, where his pupils included Eric Coates, only three years his junior.[4] He was musical director of the Passmore Edwards Settlement (Mary Ward Centre) in London from 1910 to 1913, succeeding Holst.[3] Braithwaite lived most of his life in Bournemouth and many of his works were performed there, often conducted by him.[5][6] Later in life he shifted his activities towards etching, painting and printmaking.

Two of his works - the characteristically pictorial Snow Picture for orchestra (1924) and the Elegy for orchestra (1927) - won Carnegie Trust awards and were published as part of the Carnegie Collection of British Music.[7] (There's an arrangement of Snow Picture for keyboard, two players by Leslie Woodgate).[8] His Overture for military band was written for a Pageant of Empire at the Crystal Palace. The 14 minute long orchestral scherzo A Night By Dalegarth Bridge was performed for the first time in Bournemouth in 1921,[9] and repeated the following year.[10] There is currently only one modern recording of his music, the Pastoral Lullaby for horn and organ [11]

As an artist Braithwaite made etchings of landscapes in Dorset and Lancashire. He exhibited with the New Forest Group formed in 1923[12] and was a member of the Lake Artists Society in the 1940s.[13] Some of his paintings, such as Foxtrot and Pavan (both exhibited at the Arlington Gallery, Old Bond Street, London in 1927)[14] were more abstract with musical themes. He died in Arnside, Westmorland, aged 64.[5]

List of Works
  • By the Hot Lake, scherzo for orchestra
  • Chopinesque – mazurka for piano duet (1937)
  • Elegy for orchestra (pub. 1927)
  • Elfin Fountain, for piano (1923)
  • English Dance, piano
  • Fantasia in C minor, for piano (1917)
  • The Fighting Temeraire, overture for orchestra
  • Idyll for orchestra
  • Invention for piano or harpsichord (pub. 1951)
  • Musical Box with two tunes (pub. 1940)
  • Near an Eastern Bazaar for orchestra
  • A Night By Dalegarth Bridge, symphonic scherzo for orchestra (1921)
  • Nocturne for piano (1944)
  • Oriental Fragment for orchestra
  • Overture for military band (1911)
  • Pastorale for piano duet (pub. 1937)
  • Pastoral Lullaby for horn and organ (pub. 1949)
  • Prelude in the style of the 18th Century, for piano duet (pub. 1937)
  • Prelude to a Drama (1940)
  • Serenade for piano (1944)
  • Snow Picture for orchestra (pub. 1924)
  • Suite of Ancient Dances for piano

References
  1. Nenshaw, W.B. Biographical Dictionary of Organists (2003)
  2. Score at IMSLP
  3. Foreman, Lewis. Bax: A Composer and His Times (1983) p 124-5
  4. Payne, Michael. The Life and Music of Eric Coates (2016)
  5. Scowcroft, Philip. An 89th Garland of British Light Music Composers (2000)
  6. Godfrey, Dan. Memories and Music: Thirty Five Years of Conducting (1924), p 200
  7. Leach, Gerald. British Composer Profiles (3rd edition, 2012) p 37
  8. British Music Collection
  9. 'Music in the Provinces: Bournemouth' in Musical Times, 1 February 1921, p 123
  10. 'Bournemouth: The End of the Season' in Musical News and Herald, 27 May 1922
  11. Ifor, James and Bleicher, S.J. Meditations for Horn and Organ, EBS (1996)
  12. 'The New Forest Painters' in The Times, 2 September 1924, p 13
  13. Aberystwyth University School of Art
  14. 'Art Exhibitions' in The Times, 17 February 1927, p 12
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.