Arnold Wilberforce Trowell, also known as Thomas Wilberforce Trowell, (25 June 1887 – 16 December 1966) was a New Zealand composer, cellist and teacher, who became Professor of Music at the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...

in London.

Biography

Arnold Trowell was born in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand in 1887. He was the son of Thomas Trowell and twin of Garnet Carrington Trowell. In 1903 both brothers went to Europe to study; Arnold the cello and Garnet the violin. Trowell studied at the Hoch Conservatorium in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, winning the Concours prize for the cello. He settled in London in 1907. Before leaving for Europe Trowell had become friends, and romantically involved, with

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer and critic who was an important figure in the Literary modernism, modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world and have been ...

and they continued to correspond when Mansfield was living in London and Trowell was studying in Brussels. Mansfield later fell in love with Garnet. Trowell became a member of The Chamber Music Players, a group formed by Lionel Tertis, in 1922 until 1923. He became Professor of Cello at the Guildhall School of Music in 1924 and joined the staff of the

Royal School of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first ...

from 1937. Trowell was both performer and composer. He wrote seven concertos, three sonatas, four symphonic poems and numerous pieces for cello and piano and songs. Like

Fritz Kreisler Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, with marked por ...

, Trowell forged in 1924 a version of

Louis Francœur Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

's cello/violin sonata in E (which is also often misattributed to Francœur's brother,

François Francœur François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire; ...

). Trowell replaced Francœur's second movement with his own ''Allegro Vivo'' movement and modified the final ''Gigue'' movement. There are several recordings of the forgery with this misattribution.Griffiths, M. 2012. Arnold Trowell: Violincellist, composer and pedagogue. Doctoral dissertation: The University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Selected works

* ''Six morceaux pour violoncelle avec accomp. de piano'' (1908) - dedicated to Kathleen M. Beauchamp * ''Concerto for violoncelle avec accompagnement d'orchestre (ou piano)'' (c1909) * ''Quartet for two violins, viola and violoncello, G major'' (c1917) * ''Viola Sonata, E-flat major'' (c1922) - dedicated to

Lionel Tertis Lionel Tertis, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (29 December 187622 February 1975) was an English viola, violist. He was one of the first viola players to achieve international fame, and a noted teacher. Career Tertis was born ...

* ''Technology of violoncello playing - Books 1–3'' (1922–1925) * ''Suite for orchestra : the golden age : childhood'' (c1930)

References

External links

Formal seated portrait of Arnold Trowell with cello, 1924, on National Library of New Zealand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trowell, Arnold 1887 births 1966 deaths New Zealand composers 20th-century New Zealand classical composers New Zealand classical cellists Musicians from Wellington City 20th-century cellists New Zealand expatriates in England Academics of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Academics of the Royal Academy of Music

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links