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William Henry Reed AI simulator
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William Henry Reed AI simulator
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William Henry Reed
William Henry Reed MVO (29 July 1875 – 2 July 1942; his birth year is often given in error as 1876) was an English violinist, teacher, composer, conductor and biographer of Edward Elgar. He was leader of the London Symphony Orchestra for 23 years (1912–1935), but is best known for his long personal friendship with Elgar (1910–1934) and his book Elgar As I Knew Him (1936), in which he goes into great detail about the genesis of the Violin Concerto in B minor.
The book also provides a large number of Elgar's sketches for his unfinished Third Symphony, which proved invaluable sixty years later when Anthony Payne elaborated and essentially completed the work, although Reed wrote that in his view the symphony could not be completed.
His name appears in various forms: William Henry Reed, W. H. Reed, W. H. "Billy" Reed, Billy Reed and Willie Reed. He was known to his friends as Billy.
William Henry Reed was born in Frome, Somerset. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London under Émile Sauret, Frederick Corder and others, graduating with honours.
He first met Edward Elgar in 1902, as a violinist in the Queen's Hall Orchestra. On 17 January, Elgar had just completed a rehearsal of his incidental music to Grania and Diarmid with the orchestra, when Reed approached him, introduced himself, and asked whether he gave lessons in harmony and counterpoint. Elgar said "My dear boy, I don't know anything about those things". They did not become personal friends at that time; however, their paths continued to cross in the course of their work. Reed was a founding member of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1904. His physical appearance was quite similar to that of Elgar's close friend August Jaeger (the "Nimrod" of the Enigma Variations of 1899), and that may have played some part in Elgar's always having something positive and encouraging to say to Reed whenever they happened to meet.
On 27 May 1910, Elgar and Reed happened by chance to meet in Regent Street, London. Elgar said he was having some problems with the writing of his Violin Concerto and asked Reed if he could assist him. This was the real beginning of their great friendship, which lasted until Elgar's death in February 1934. Reed played through the sketches of the concerto, at Elgar's flat. He was also the first to play the concerto before an audience, in a semi-public performance at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester on 4 September 1910. The official premiere of the work was on 10 November, with the dedicatee Fritz Kreisler as soloist.
Elgar was Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1911–1912, and Reed became the leader of the orchestra in 1912. In 1914 Elgar dedicated his piece for strings and organ, Sospiri, Op. 70 to Reed. Reed had himself been composing for some years by now: his String Quartet No. 5 in A minor won a second prize in the Cobbett Competition in 1916.
Elgar continued to turn to Reed for advice on technical problems involving the violin, such as the Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82 (1918). The sonata was premiered in 1919 at the Aeolian Hall, London, by Reed, with Landon Ronald at the piano. Reed also gave the second performance, but the work's main players then became Albert Sammons and William Murdoch. Reed also participated in the first performances of the String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83 and the Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84. These three works were written concurrently, when Elgar was living at Brinkwells, near Fittleworth in Sussex, and Reed often stayed at his house and went walking with him during this time.
William Henry Reed
William Henry Reed MVO (29 July 1875 – 2 July 1942; his birth year is often given in error as 1876) was an English violinist, teacher, composer, conductor and biographer of Edward Elgar. He was leader of the London Symphony Orchestra for 23 years (1912–1935), but is best known for his long personal friendship with Elgar (1910–1934) and his book Elgar As I Knew Him (1936), in which he goes into great detail about the genesis of the Violin Concerto in B minor.
The book also provides a large number of Elgar's sketches for his unfinished Third Symphony, which proved invaluable sixty years later when Anthony Payne elaborated and essentially completed the work, although Reed wrote that in his view the symphony could not be completed.
His name appears in various forms: William Henry Reed, W. H. Reed, W. H. "Billy" Reed, Billy Reed and Willie Reed. He was known to his friends as Billy.
William Henry Reed was born in Frome, Somerset. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London under Émile Sauret, Frederick Corder and others, graduating with honours.
He first met Edward Elgar in 1902, as a violinist in the Queen's Hall Orchestra. On 17 January, Elgar had just completed a rehearsal of his incidental music to Grania and Diarmid with the orchestra, when Reed approached him, introduced himself, and asked whether he gave lessons in harmony and counterpoint. Elgar said "My dear boy, I don't know anything about those things". They did not become personal friends at that time; however, their paths continued to cross in the course of their work. Reed was a founding member of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1904. His physical appearance was quite similar to that of Elgar's close friend August Jaeger (the "Nimrod" of the Enigma Variations of 1899), and that may have played some part in Elgar's always having something positive and encouraging to say to Reed whenever they happened to meet.
On 27 May 1910, Elgar and Reed happened by chance to meet in Regent Street, London. Elgar said he was having some problems with the writing of his Violin Concerto and asked Reed if he could assist him. This was the real beginning of their great friendship, which lasted until Elgar's death in February 1934. Reed played through the sketches of the concerto, at Elgar's flat. He was also the first to play the concerto before an audience, in a semi-public performance at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester on 4 September 1910. The official premiere of the work was on 10 November, with the dedicatee Fritz Kreisler as soloist.
Elgar was Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1911–1912, and Reed became the leader of the orchestra in 1912. In 1914 Elgar dedicated his piece for strings and organ, Sospiri, Op. 70 to Reed. Reed had himself been composing for some years by now: his String Quartet No. 5 in A minor won a second prize in the Cobbett Competition in 1916.
Elgar continued to turn to Reed for advice on technical problems involving the violin, such as the Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82 (1918). The sonata was premiered in 1919 at the Aeolian Hall, London, by Reed, with Landon Ronald at the piano. Reed also gave the second performance, but the work's main players then became Albert Sammons and William Murdoch. Reed also participated in the first performances of the String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83 and the Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84. These three works were written concurrently, when Elgar was living at Brinkwells, near Fittleworth in Sussex, and Reed often stayed at his house and went walking with him during this time.