Austin, Frederic (30th March 1872-10th April 1952)

He was a baritone singer, composer, arranger and teacher born Frederick William Austin in Poplar, Middlesex, England toa family where his brother was the composer Ernest Austin. He was sent to Birkenhead on Merseyside when he was 12 years old to be taught by the singer Charles Lunn and to study music and organ by his uncle, Dr. W.H. Hunt. He went on to study at Durham University where he had earned his BMus by 1896.

He played the organ at several churches in Birkenhead and went on to become a teacher at Liverpool College of Music where he taught harmony and composition. While in Liverpool he and the composer Cyril Scott became friends and Scott introduced him to the musician and composer H. Balfour Gardiner. With these two friends he became a member of the Frankfurt Group which included Percy Grainger, Norman O’Neill and Roger Quilter and other acquaintances such as Arnold Bax, Ernest Bryson and Eugene Goossens. Occasionally Frederick Delius would also make an appearance and Austin would play piano improvisations with Arnold Bax.

1900 saw his first orchestral work Overture Richard II completed and performed in 1901 by the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra. In 1902 he was the composition teacher for the conductor Thomas Beecham and in the Henry Wood Promenade Concert he performed “Pilgrim’s Song” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. After that performance he was introduced to the conductor Hans Richter and went on to give performances of St. Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach and Missa solemnis and the Choral Symphony by Beethoven.

He got married to Amy Oliver in 1902 and in 1904 he moved to Pinner, later having a son and a daughter and his son Richard became the conductor of the Bournemouth Municipal, later to become the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and even later the Head of the Opera Department of the Royal College of Music. Also in 1904 he performed at the Wagner Nights at the Proms Concerts and performed in Elijah by Mendelssohn at the Three Choirs Festival. The following year he performed in London in the debut performance of Ballad of Fair Helen of Kilconnell which had been dedicated to him by the composer Cyril Scott. Also in 1905 he performed at the Sheffield Festival, at Hereford, at the Queens Hall in London, gave a recital with the pianist Hamilton Harty at the Aeolian Hall in London and also sang for the Philharmonic Society. That same year he had started to perform his arrangement of the melody of the Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” which he performed in many of his recitals and was published in 1909.

In 1906 he performed at Southport under the conductorship of Sir Edward Elgar and in 1907 he performed at Reading, Hanley, Preston and Birmingham. His composition Rhapsody: Spring was introduced by the conductor Henry Wood and he appeared in a minor role when he made his Covent Garden debut in Tannhauser.

Two years later in 1908 he appeared in several oratorios and was a lead performer in and English version of the Ring Cycle by Wagner. Also that year he was a recitalist of songs by Cyril Scott and performed at the Sheffield Festival, where he gave the English premiere of Sea Drift by Frederick Delius, where Henry Wood said he was the only person who could sing it con amore. The following year in 1909 he performed in the premiere of Omar Khayyam Part III by Granville Bantock and his symphonic poem Isabella was one of the compositions performed at The Musical League in Liverpool.

At the beginning of the 1910s he began to perform as a regular opera singer and appeared with the Denhof Opera Company in the Ring Cycle and went onto perform it again at Covent Garden in 1910. He performed in many concerts during 1911 and in 1912 he appeared with the Denhof Opera Company’s version of Ring Cycle on a tour of various venues in the UK and in many other performances by the company, which was reformed as the Beecham Company in 1913. Also in 1912 he sang various performances of his own and others the Balfour Gardiner Queen’s Hall concerts, which were for English contemporary music. In the years before WWI he performed in Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany and in England he participated in English musical drama being established at Glastonbury. His composition Danish Sketches, Alsgaard was first performed by the Royal Philharmonic Society in 1916 where it was conducted by Thomas Beecham. He gave his last operatic performance for Thomas Beecham at Covent Garden in 1920.

Also in 1920 he undertook to restore John Gay and Dr. Johann Pepush’s Beggars Opera and completed it that same year in time for the production at Hammersmith’s Lyric Theatre, which he appeared in. It’s run went for 1,463 performance and was given national and international acclaim. The sequel Polly was revived by him in 1922. Also in 1922 he became the artistic director for the British National Opera Company and the next year became an elected member of the Royal Philharmonic Society.

In 1924 he composed the music for the radio short drama The Blacksmith’s Serenade which was based on a poem by the US poet Vachel Lindsay and broadcast by the BBC. He continued to compose but as he got older he leant more towards composing incidental music for theatre and film until his death. he also continued to train singers.

He died in a Kensington hospital in London in 1952 when he was 80 years old.

Chicago Symphony Low Brass Ensemble recordings
The Twelve Days of Christmas (Unknown English c18th century/Frederic Austin)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner

Sources:

Austin, Frederic (30th March 1872-10th April 1952)

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