Brian Lewis Trowell (21 February 1931 – 12 November 2015) was an English musicologist and the

Heather Professor of Music The Heather Professor of Music is the title of an endowed chair at the University of Oxford. The post and the funding for it come from a bequest by William Heather (c. 1563 – 1627). Following the example of his friend William Camden who had left ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

. Prior to his post at Oxford, he was the King Edward Professor of Music at King's College London. In the mid-1980s, he served as president of the

Royal Musical Association The Royal Musical Association (RMA) is a British scholarly society and charity. Founded in 1874, the Association claims to be the second oldest musicological society in the world, after that of the Netherlands. Activities include organizing and ...

Education and career

Brian Trowell was born in Wokingham in 1931. He received his BA from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1953, and a doctorate there in 1960, under Thurston Dart. Trowell taught at

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

from 1957 to 1962, at King's College London in 1964–64, was Director of Opera at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jaz ...

in 1963–67, became the

Gresham Professor of Music The Professor of Music at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1597, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to nine and in addition the c ...

, and from 1967 to 1970 was the Head of Radio Opera at the BBC. He returned to King's College in 1970 and was the King Edward VII Professor of Music there from 1974 to 1988. When Denis Arnold, the Heather Professor of Music at Oxford (1974–1986) died in 1986, Trowell eventually succeeded him and took the Heather Professor chair at Oxford in 1988. His scholarship focussed on

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

, among other composers. Trowell served as president of the

1984 to 1989. He died in Oxford in 2015.

Selected publications

* *

References

1931 births 2015 deaths People from Wokingham Alumni of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of King's College London Academics of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Professors of Gresham College Heather Professors of Music English musicologists {{Musicologist-stub