.png)
Frederic William Austin (30 March 1872 – 10 April 1952) was an Englishbaritone singer, a musical teacher andcomposer in the period 1905–30. He is perhaps best remembered for his arrangement ofJohann Pepusch's music for a 1920 production ofThe Beggar's Opera byJohn Gay, and its sequelPolly in 1922; and for his popularization of the melody of the carolThe Twelve Days of Christmas.[1] Austin was the older brother of the composerErnest Austin (1874–1947).
Frederick William Austin was born inPoplar, Middlesex on 30 March 1872, the son of William and Elizabeth Austin; his father was a shirt tailor.[2] Austin was sent at the age of about 12 to live atBirkenhead, where he received organ and music lessons from his uncle, W. H. Hunt,[3] and had singing training from Charles Lunn. By 1896 he had obtained aB.Mus. fromDurham University and was organist in several Birkenhead churches. He became a teacher ofharmony, and later of composition, atLiverpool College of Music.[4][5]
At Liverpool he became close friends with the composerCyril Scott, and through him was introduced toH. Balfour Gardiner, who became a lifelong friend. Through them he was received into the circle of young English composers known as theFrankfurt Group, and their friends. These included Scott, Gardiner,Norman O'Neill,Roger Quilter,Percy Grainger (owing to their training at theHoch Conservatory) inFrankfurt and such friends asErnest Bryson,Benjamin Dale,Gervase Elwes,Eugène Goossens,fils andArnold Bax.
This group, in whichFrederick Delius sometimes appeared, often performed each other's music in informal surroundings, and Austin in particular used to improvise at the piano with Arnold Bax. In August 1900 he completed his first orchestral work, the concert OvertureRichard II, which received its first performance on 12 December 1901 by the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra underDan Godfrey.[6] In 1902, the year of his marriage to Amy Oliver, Austin gave lessons in composition toThomas Beecham, sangTchaikovsky's "Pilgrim's Song" for aHenry Woodpromenade concert, and was introduced toHans Richter, for whom he later sang inBeethoven'sChoral Symphony andMissa solemnis, andBach'sSt Matthew Passion.
In 1904 he moved toPinner, sang underFelix Weingartner and atWagner nights at the Prom Concerts, and took the name role inMendelssohn'sElijah atGloucester in theThree Choirs Festival. In June 1905 he took part in Beecham's London debut at theBechstein Hall, in the first London performance of Scott'sBallad of Fair Helen of Kilconnell (dedicated to him).
At the 1905Sheffield Festival Frederic Austin gave the finalscena fromEugene Onegin, withOlga Wood (repeated 1911). AtHereford he appeared inFranck'sLes Beatitudes, and introduced songs byThomas Dunhill. HisQueen's Hall performances included theFour Serious Songs ofBrahms. His first major London recital (Aeolian Hall) withHamilton Harty (piano) was on 3 April 1906, and he sang for thePhilharmonic Society. For Weingartner he gave theDie Walküre finale withAgnes Nicholls, and at Queen's Hall the premiere of Balfour Gardiner'sWhen the lad for longing sighs.
In 1906 atSouthport he took baritone roles inThe Dream of Gerontius (besideJohn Coates) under the baton of the composer, SirEdward Elgar. In April 1907 he was atReading, Berkshire, inParry'sDe Profundis andStanford'sElegiac Ode: atHanley he gave the premiere ofHavergal Brian'sBy the Waters of Babylon. In October, afterGerontius at Preston, he sang for Elgar inThe Apostles atBirmingham. Henry Wood introduced Austin's symphonic compositionRhapsody: Spring, and engaged him to sing in two concerts, including that in which Delius'sPiano Concerto in C minor was first given. Austin met Delius that year, and also made aCovent Garden debut, a small role inTannhäuser, for Richter.
1908 saw much oratorio, withHandel'sMessiah (Wood, Queen's Hall),Gerontius (with Coates,Manchester, under Richter), Elgar'sKing Olaf (Norwich Festival), Judas inThe Apostles (Liverpool), Bach'sPhoebus and Pan (Queen's Hall), andColeridge-Taylor'sHiawatha's Wedding Feast. His first Covent Garden lead appearance was Gunther (Götterdämmerung) in Richter's EnglishRing cycle, repeated three times in February 1909. Late in 1908 he and Cyril Scott gave a recital of Scott's songs at the Bechstein Hall.
At the Sheffield Festival of 1908 he was exceptionally busy, with performances ofSamson and Delilah,Schumann'sParadise and the Peri, SirWalford Davies'Everyman, Beethoven's Choral Symphony, andDebussy'sL'Enfant Prodigue, specially re-scored by the composer, and delivered under Henry Wood with Austin, Agnes Nicholls, and the tenorFelix Senius. At this Festival also on 6 October he gave the English premiere (following theEssen, 1906, first) of Delius'sSea Drift. Wood chose Austin as the only man "who could be trusted to sing itcon amore". He sang it again in December, and in February 1909, for Beecham: Birmingham first heard it in 1912.
Austin premieredGranville Bantock'sOmar Khayyam Part III (Birmingham 1909), and in that year sangThe Apostles (Judas) and Parry'sJob at Hereford. At Liverpool in September 1909 was the first Festival ofThe Musical League, created by English composers for performance of their music; Austin's symphonic poemIsabella appeared, and he sang inEthel Smyth'sThe Dance andAnacreontic Ode, Havergal Brian'sBy the Waters of Babylon, andVaughan Williams’ cantataWillow-wood.
In 1910 Austin commenced his regular operatic career, appearing as Wotan and Wanderer, anddoubling as Gunther, in theEdinburghDenhof Opera CompanyRing cycle underMichael Balling. He also appeared in twoRing cycles at Covent Garden. At Hereford he performed the traditional Festival-openingElijah (and again in 1911), and gave the premiere of Bantock'sGethsemane, and in London repeated theOmar Khayyam. For the Philharmonic Society he gave songs by Ethel Smyth under her direction. In 1911 he was also singing concert performances ofThe Damnation of Faust (Berlioz) andFaust (Gounod),Dvořák choral works, Handel oratorios, BeethovenMissa solemnis, theMozartRequiem,BrahmsA German Requiem,Max Bruch'sFrithjof andLay of the Bell, Mendelssohn'sSt Paul andDie erste Walpurgisnacht, and many other works.
In 1912 Beecham took the Denhof Ring cycle toGlasgow,Hull,Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester, and in these years Austin also appeared with them in the first EnglishElektra (Richard Strauss), as Kunrad inFeuersnot, Dr Coppelius inThe Tales of Hoffmann, Gratiano inCosì fan tutte, Tomasso inTiefland (Eugen d'Albert), Escamillo inCarmen and as Vanderdecken inThe Flying Dutchman. In 1913 the Denhof Company was wound up and reformed as the Beecham Company, and until around 1920 Austin appeared for Beecham also as Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Iago (Otello), Ford (Falstaff), Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), and inMadama Butterfly,La bohème,Pagliacci,Joseph Holbrooke'sDylan, and other works.
In the spring of 1912 was the first series of the Balfour Gardiner Queen's Hall Concerts, devoted to contemporary English music, which effectually transformed the acceptance and establishment of the English composers. In the fourth concert Austin sang Scott'sHelen of Kirconnell again, and gave the premiere ofNorman O'Neill'sLa belle dame sans merci. Austin's own symphonicRhapsody: Spring was also repeated, and in March 1913 his Symphony in E was first performed. In 1912 Austin delivered his ownThree Songs of Unrest, and gave a serious lecture on the songs ofHugo Wolf. Before theFirst World War he was also singing in Germany, theNetherlands and Denmark. In 1914 at The Music Club in London he performed several songs ofArnold Schoenberg in the composer's presence.Roger Quilter dedicated his songThe Jocund Dance (Op. 18, No. 3) to him, written 1913–14.
From 1913 Austin developed close connections withRutland Boughton, and assisted in the development of the English music drama atGlastonbury. In theSummer Festivals of August 1914 and 1915 he sang the role of Eochaidh the King inThe Immortal Hour there, and again atBournemouth in 1915, withFrank Mullings andPercy Heming, and in 1916 wasKing Arthur inThe Round Table. 1916 also saw the first performance of his most lasting orchestral composition,Danish Sketches, Palsgaard, conducted by Thomas Beecham on 11 December for the Royal Philharmonic Society.
Austin's last formal operatic performance was as Count Almaviva inThe Marriage of Figaro for Beecham, at Covent Garden in 1920.Neville Cardus, who saw him in the role beside Agnes Nicholls andFrederick Ranalow, wrote: "Nobody else has passed across the closing scene of the opera with half of Austin's grace of bearing and suggestion of courtly cynicism".
The restoration of the musical score forThe Beggar's Opera byJohn Gay andDr. Pepusch (originally produced in 1728) was undertaken by Frederic Austin and completed in 1920 in time for the production byNigel Playfair, with artistic designs byClaud Lovat Fraser, which opened at theLyric Theatre,Hammersmith on 6 June 1920 and ran for a record number of 1,463 performances until 23 December 1923. Austin preferred the simpler versions made by Pepusch to the edition prepared byThomas Arne. He appeared as Peachum, with Elsie French,Frederick Ranalow (Macheath),Sylvia Nelis (Polly) and others, conducted byEugène Goossens. The entire venture received universal acclaim, and was performed in Paris, Canada, America and Australia. In 1922 Austin revived the sequel,Polly. Recordings were made of the original cast production.
Austin composed music for a made-for-radio short drama,The Blacksmith's Serenade (based on a poem byVachel Lindsay), which was aired by theBritish Broadcasting Company on 15 January 1924.[7][8]
He made recordings for both theGramophone Company and theColumbia Graphophone Company.
Austin was responsible for popularizing the now-standard melody for the Christmas Carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas". He later wrote that "[t]his song was, in my childhood, current in my family. I have not met with the tune of it elsewhere, nor with the particular version of the words, and have, in this setting, recorded both to the best of my recollection."[9] Austin's arrangement for solo voice and piano, which he performed in recitals from 1905 onwards, was published byNovello & Co. in 1909.[10][11][1]
In 1922 he became artistic director of theBritish National Opera Company, reformed out of Beecham's company, and in 1923 was elected a member of theRoyal Philharmonic Society. In this way, and through his teaching, he continued to train and encourage English singers for many years more. He continued to compose theatre incidental music, notably forThe Knight of the Burning Pestle (1923),The Insect Play (1923),Congreve'sThe Way of the World (1924),John Drinkwater'sRobert Burns (1925),Vallombrossa (1926), andPrudence (1931). He wrote a cello sonata in 1927. In 1932 he made a last singing appearance inAlfred Reynolds’Derby Day.He composed the music for the Ealing Studios filmUndercover (1943), akaUnderground Guerrillas (USA),The Insect Play (1939) (TV),The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1938) (TV), and for the movieMidshipman Easy (1935), akaMen of the Sea (USA: reissue title).
Austin had a son and a daughter, Freda, with his wife Amy. His sonRichard (1903–89) was the chief conductor of the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra (now theBournemouth Symphony Orchestra) from 1934 until 1939, and became Head of the Opera Department of theRoyal College of Music in 1953. It was probably during Richard Austin's time in Bournemouth that Frederic Austin wrote his one-movement Organ Sonata, dedicated to the composer and railway enthusiastPercy Whitlock, organist at thePavilion Theatre from 1935.
Frederic Austin died in a hospital in theKensington area of London on 10 April 1952 aged 80.[12]
[Austin] joined the staff of Liverpool College of Music where he remained teaching Harmony, until 1906
The indefatigable Frederic Austin [...] taught singing and composition at the Liverpool College of Music (where a young Thomas Beecham was among his first pupils)
