Gervase Henry Cary-Elwes,DL^[1] (15 November 1866 – 12 January 1921), better known asGervase Elwes, was an Englishtenor of great distinction, who exercised a powerful influence over the development ofEnglish music from the early 1900s up until his death in 1921 due to a railroad accident inBoston at the height of his career.

Elwes was born inBilling Hall,Northampton, the son of Valentine Dudley Henry Cary-Elwes (1832-1909) and his second wife, Alice Geraldine, daughter of Rev. Henry Ward, of Killinchy, County Down, brother of the3rd Viscount Bangor. A relative was the famous miserJohn Elwes.^[2][3] Of theNorthamptonshire andLincolnshirelanded gentry, he was educated atThe Oratory School (aRoman Catholic school) and Woburn School, Weybridge, where he arrived in 1885,^[4] and finally atChrist Church, Oxford, where he was active as acricketer and violinist. At the age of 22 he married Lady Winifride Mary Elizabeth Feilding, a daughter ofRudolph Feilding, 8th Earl of Denbigh.^[5] After Oxford he trained as a lawyer and diplomat, spending some years inBrussels, where he began his first formal singing lessons at the age of 28. However, he had to overcome a social convention which resisted a member of the upper classes from becoming a professional singer, and it was not until the early 1900s, in his late thirties, that he gave his first professional performances in London. His principal teachers wereJacques Bouhy in Paris (1901–03), and in London Henry Russell andVictor 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.^[6]

His first professional appearance in London was oppositeAgnes Nicholls, inWallfahrt nach Kevlaar byEngelbert Humperdinck at the St James's Hall, with the Handel Society under J. S. Liddle in late April 1903,^[7] and immediately afterwards he appeared at the Westmorland Festival. In June 1903 he was auditioned at theRoyal College of Music in London byCharles Villiers Stanford, who left the room and broughtHubert Parry 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 inEdward Elgar'sThe Dream of Gerontius early in 1904 as an addition to hisBeethoven Festival.Harry Plunket Greene, who had encouraged Elwes through this audition, also remained his lifelong friend.^[8]

Elwes had a voice entirely in the English colouring^{[clarification needed]}, 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 inflexions.^[9] His singing possessed a spiritual fervour deriving from the religious disposition of his parents, who had taken the unusual step of converting to Roman Catholicism when he was five years old.^[10]

Victor Biegel, a "little round, bald Viennese", was for some time accompanist to the celebrated German lieder singerRaimund von zur-Mühlen^[11] and had a special understanding of the songs ofJohannes Brahms, which he imparted to Elwes.^[12] There was a great rapport, and his teaching, especially during his six-month residence atBilling Hall (an Elwes estate)^[13] 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.^[14]

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 atBrigg.

In 1905, at the suggestion of his friendPercy Grainger, an open competition class for folk singers was included.^[15] As a result, many wonderful songs were collected, notably fromJoseph Taylor (who made some commercial records for theGramophone Company).^[16] Taylor was the source of the melody used byDelius for hisBrigg Fair.^[17]

Elwes became the greatest living exponent (alongsideJohn Coates) ofEdward Elgar'sThe Dream of Gerontius, which he first performed on 9 April 1904, withMuriel Foster andDavid Ffrangcon-Davies at theQueen's Hall under the baton ofFelix Weingartner. He was inspired by the music on hearing the concert performance in May 1903 just preceding the ceremonial opening ofWestminster Cathedral.^[18] The religious authenticity of his interpretation was immediately recognised.^[19] He performed the work 118 times in all. He was also completely identified with the role of theEvangelist inBach'sSt Matthew Passion. His appearances at theThree Choirs Festivals, and at those ofPeterborough andNorwich, became annual fixtures. In 1908 at the Norwich Festival he was partnered (according toHenry Wood) inGerontius by the Dutch contraltoJulia Culp, and in the same festival performed Bach'sMagnificat withLouise Kirkby Lunn andHerbert Witherspoon.^[20] In 1909 Elwes sang Gerontius and theSt Matthew Passion Evangelist in New York underWalter Damrosch.^[21]

Culp sang the Gerontius Angel role at theLondon Music Festival on 22 May 1911 with Elwes, Herbert Brown and theNorwich 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.^[22] Five days later Wood and Elwes closed the 1911 Festival with a performance of theSt Matthew Passion withAgnes Nicholls,Edna Thornton, Herbert Brown,Herbert Heyner andRobert Radford.^[23] (It was also in 1911, at the Queen's Hall, that he gave the premiere ofFranco Leoni's oratorio on the Passion,Golgotha, withClara Butt,Kennerley Rumford andMaggie Teyte in the other solo roles.^[24])

In May 1916 he gave six performances ofGerontius on consecutive days, with Clara Butt as the Angel,Charles Mott (Angel of the Agony) and Herbert Brown (Priest), theLeeds Choral Union andLondon Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Elgar himself, in aid of theRed Cross.^[25] 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.^[26]

Elwes became the foremost English-born performer of theBrahmslieder in the first decades of the 20th century. In January 1907, he made a singing tour of Germany which included Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Frankfort, and Cologne, giving recitals withFanny Davies (a celebrated pupil ofClara Schumann's). He sang mixed programmes, but his performance of GermanLieder, and especially of Brahms, in German, was greatly admired. He was then singing such songs asKomm bald,Am Sonntag Morgen,Salamander,Ein Wanderer,Wir wandelten,Auf dem Kirchhof,Magyarisch,Die Kränze,Ständchen, andBotschaft.^[27] He sang the BrahmsLiebeslieder inBrussels in 1908 withMarie Brema, and in London gave a recital withPaderewski.^[28] In January 1913 at theQueen's Hall, underHenry Wood, he sangMahler'sDas Lied von der Erde in company with the contraltoDoris Woodall: Wood thought it 'excessively modern but very beautiful'.^[29] Brahms remained central to Elwes's repertoire to the end, and he also performed lieder ofGrieg,Dvořák, andGeorge Henschel. Early in his career he found an ideal accompanist inFrederick B. Kiddle, and they remained associated until his death.

In January 1912 in a recital for Henry Wood at Queen's Hall Elwes introduced the settings of poems ofPaul Verlaine byPoldowski (Lady Dean Paul, born Régine Wieniawski, the daughter ofHenryk Wieniawski). These songs then had a great vogue in Paris and this performance made a deep impression.^[30] During theFirst World War he sang in concert tours for British soldiers in France organized byLena Ashwell.^[31]

But it was as a singer of English art-song, and the friend of many leading English composers, that Elwes left his most permanent legacy. He was the dedicatee and first performer of (and the first person to record)Ralph Vaughan Williamssong cycleOn Wenlock Edge and many of the finest songs ofRoger Quilter (including the cycleTo Julia), both of whom wrote with his voice in mind.^[32] In 1912 he gave the first performance ofThomas Dunhill's song cycleThe Wind Among the Reeds for thePhilharmonic Society.^[33] He had the wholehearted admiration of every generation fromCharles Villiers Stanford toFrank Bridge, 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 testify.^[34]

He was the brother ofDudley Cary-Elwes, Roman CatholicBishop of Northampton. Elwes was married inKensington on 11 May 1889 to Lady Winefride Mary Elizabeth Feilding (died 24 February 1959), National President of theCatholic Women's League, daughter ofthe 8th Earl of Denbigh and Mary Berkeley. They lived at The Manor House,Brigg, Lincolnshire, and atBilling Hall, Northamptonshire,^[35] and had six sons and two daughters together:^[36]

• Robert Geoffrey Gervase John Elwes (1890–1956),First World War soldier
• Rudolph Philip Cary Elwes (1892–1962),Coldstream Guards Captain
• Francis Guy Robert Elwes (1896–1966), architect and interior designer
• Monsignor Aubrey Valentine Denis Elwes (1899–1966 Brigg, Lincolnshire), Roman Catholic cleric
• Sir Richard Everard Augustine Elwes (1901–1968), High Court judge and Recorder ofNorthampton
• Simon Edmund Vincent Paul Elwes (1902–1975), a portrait artist and Royal Academician; grandfather of the actorCary Elwes.
• Margaret Mary Katharine Elwes (1903–), who married Lt. Col. John Eric William Graves Sandars (1906–1974) of Gate Burton Hall. They had one daughter, child actressClare Sandars, who married Sir James McEwen, Bt.
• Clare Mary Alice Cynthia Catherine Celia Elwes (1905–1998),^[37] who marriedSir John Henry Keswick, KCMG^[38] (1906–1982), and had one daughter Margaret, known asMaggie Keswick, gardening author (1941–1995), who foundedMaggie's Centres for those suffering from cancer.^[39] She left two children by her husband, the landscape architectCharles Jencks.

On 12 January 1921, Elwes was killed in a horrific accident atBack Bay railway station inBoston, Massachusetts, in the midst of a high-profile recital tour of the United States at the height of his powers. Elwes and his wife had alighted on the platform when the singer attempted to return to the conductor an overcoat that had fallen off the train. He leaned over too far and was hit by the train, falling between the moving carriages and the platform. He died of his injuries a few hours later. He was 54 years old.^[40] A week after the event,Edward Elgar wrote toPercy Hull, '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.'^[41] He is buried in the cemetery ofOur Lady of Perpetual Succour Church, Great Billing.^[42]

Among many memorial concerts nationwide, a memorial performance ofThe Dream of Gerontius was given at theRoyal Albert Hall, at whichJohn Coates andFrederick Ranalow sang with the Royal Choral Society.^[43] TheMusicians' Benevolent Fund was first established as theGervase Elwes Memorial Fund for Musicians,^[44] and his figure became a presiding genius of twentieth-centuryEnglish music. His particular association with the lyrics ofA. E. Housman and the music ofElgar, 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 theGlasgow Orpheus Choir instituted aGervase Elwes Silver Medal, and the Feis Ceoil inDublin inaugurated itsGervase Elwes Memorial Cup. A choir named after him was established atWalsall. A portrait plaque byArthur Vokes was set up in the centre of the village of Billing.^[45]

A portrait bust of him byMalvina Hoffman was sent by MrsVincent Astor and was set in a specially prepared niche on the grand tier of the oldQueen's Hall (the original venue of thePromenade Concerts) 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 twoBach chorales were conducted byVaughan Williams.^[46]

SirJohn Barbirolli (a successor of the original conductor ofGerontius,Hans Richter, as conductor of theHallé Orchestra, who had played as an orchestral cellist inGerontius under Elgar's baton with Elwes performing the Soul) remembered Elwes as 'that great and noble artist'.^[47] 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.

Elwes recorded first in 1911–1913 for theGramophone Company, and later for theColumbia Graphophone Company. This listing is thought to be complete for known recordings of this artist.

HMV^[48][49]

• 4-2156 Phyllis hath such charming graces (Lane Wilson arr.) recorded 29 July 1911 (matrix y13904e).
• 4-2161 Absent yet present (Maude Valérie White) recorded 29 July 1911 (matrix y13902e).
• 4-2189 Morning Hymn (Henschel) recorded 17 November 1911 (matrix ab14297e).
• 4-2195 To Daisies,and Song of the Blackbird (Quilter) recorded 17 November 1911 (matrix ab14296e).
• 4-2232 Sigh no more, ladies (Aiken) recorded 3 September 1912 (matrix y15619e).
• 7-42004 Ich liebe dich (Grieg) recorded 17 November 1911 (matrix ab14298e).
• 02379So we'll go no more a-roving (M.V. White) recorded 17 October 1911 (matrix ac5577f) onYouTube.
• 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
• 6847Blow, blow thou winter wind (Quilter) 1916 onYouTube.
• 6848 Fill a glass with golden wine (Quilter)
• 6849 In Summertime on Breedon (Peel)
• 6850Now sleeps the crimson petal,and Love's Philosophy (Quilter) 1916 onYouTube.
• 6851The Roadside Fire (Vaughan Williams) 1920 onYouTube.
• 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
• 75329O Mistress Mine!and Fair House of Joy (Quilter) onYouTube
• 75330 Songs my mother taught me (Dvorak)
• 75357 A carol of bells (C.V. Stanford)/F.B. Kiddle
• 75360Where'er you walk (Handel)/F.B. Kiddle onYouTube
• 75419On Wenlock Edge (Vaughan Williams)/London String Quartet onYouTube
• 75420 From far, from eveand 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
• 76093Lift up your heads on high (Bach)/F.B. Kiddle onYouTube

• 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).
• T. E. Goodbody,'Gramophone Celebrities – VIII: Gervase Elwes',The Gramophone March 1925 p. 23 ff^{[permanent dead link‍]}.
• V. Langfield,Roger Quilter, His Life and Music (Boydell, Woodbridge 2002).
• M. Scott,The Record of Singing, II:1914 to 1925, pp. 172–3. (Duckworth, London 1979).
• D. Taylor, Gervase Cary Elwes, inMusic 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)).

• 1866 births
• 1921 deaths
• Alumni of the Royal College of Music
• English Roman Catholics
• English tenors
• People from Billing, Northamptonshire
• Railway accident deaths in the United States
• 19th-century English male opera singers

• Webarchive template wayback links
• CS1 maint: archived copy as title
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Oxford spelling from August 2014
• Use dmy dates from September 2020
• Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2023
• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from December 2019
• Articles with permanently dead external links