Eric David Wetherell (30 December 1925 – 31 January 2021) was a British composer, conductor, radio producer and author on musical subjects. Wetherell was born in

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne, hence its name. It is east-northeast of Newcastle up ...

and attended Carlisle Grammar School for Boys. As a teenager he acted as assistant organist to Dr F.W. Wadeley at

Carlisle Cathedral Carlisle Cathedral, formally the , is a Listed building, Grade I listed Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It was founded as an Augustinian priory and became a cathedral in 1133. It is a ...

. He studied at Queen's College Oxford where his teachers included Thomas Armstrong, Bernard Rose and

Egon Wellesz Egon Joseph Wellesz, CBE, FBA (21 October 1885 – 9 November 1974) was an Austrian, later British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music. Early life and education in Vienna Egon Joseph Well ...

, and afterwards at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

with

Harold Darke Harold Edwin Darke (29 October 1888 – 28 November 1976) was an English composer and organist. He is particularly known for his choral compositions, which are an established part of the repertoire of Anglican church music. Darke had a fifty-ye ...

(organ),

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...

(composition) and

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...

(orchestration). Wetherell joined the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

in 1949 as a French Horn player, spending the next decade playing in various orchestras under conductors such as

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...

Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was a British conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...

Serge Koussevitzky Serge Koussevitzky (born Sergey Aleksandrovich Kusevitsky;Koussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his sig ...

and others. In 1960 he joined the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

, Covent Garden as a répétiteur, then became Assistant Musical Director and conductor with

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) () is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales. WNO gave its first performances in 1946. The company began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days, the ...

in 1963. In the 1970s he served as musical director for

Harlech Television ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchisee in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to broadcast by the regulator Ofcom. There is no channel, past or present, named "ITV Wales and Wes ...

for six years, where he provided incidental music to HTV programmes including ''Thick as Thieves'' (1971),

Michael Hardwick John Michael Drinkrow Hardwick (10 September 1924 − 4 March 1991), known as Michael Hardwick, was an English author who was best known for writing books and radio plays which featured Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation Sherlock Holmes. He adapte ...

's ''The Inheritors'' (1974) and ''

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

'' (1975). He later became a senior music producer at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

.Michael Quinn: 'Eric Wetherell' obituary, in ''The Stage'', 31 March 2021 In 1976 he was appointed as the final conductor of the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra, taking over from

Kenneth Alwyn Kenneth Alwyn Wetherell (28 July 1925 – 10 December 2020) was a British conductor, composer, and writer. Described by BBC Radio 3 as "one of the great British musical directors", Alwyn was known for his many recordings, including with the Lo ...

. He was there for six years until the orchestra was absorbed into the

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra is a full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. Based in Belfast, the orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United Kingdom ...

in 1981. His interest in jazz also led to his conducting, arranging and producing for the

BBC Big Band The BBC Big Band, originally known as the BBC Radio Big Band is a British big band, previously run under the auspices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The band broadcasts exclusively on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2's long ...

, with frequent appearances on '' Friday Night is Music Night'' in the 1970s. Wetherell also formed his own jazz quartet, playing piano. As an author he completed various musical biographies on

Arnold Cooke Arnold Atkinson Cooke (4 November 1906 – 13 August 2005) was a British composer, a pupil of Paul Hindemith. He wrote a considerable amount of chamber music, including five string quartets and many instrumental sonatas, much of which is only n ...

Patrick Hadley Patrick Arthur Sheldon Hadley (5 March 1899 – 17 December 1973) was a British composer. Biography Patrick Sheldon Hadley was born on 5 March 1899 in Cambridge. His father, William Sheldon Hadley, was at that time a fellow of Pembroke Coll ...

, his teacher Gordon Jacob and

Albert Sammons Albert Edward Sammons CBE (23 February 188624 August 1957) was an English violinist, composer and later violin teacher. Almost self-taught on the violin, he had a wide repertoire as both chamber musician and soloist, although his reputation re ...

, and was a contributor to ''Grove’s Dictionary of Music''. He composed throughout his life, but particularly after his retirement from the BBC in 1985, when his home was in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. He was married twice: in 1949 to Jean Mary Bettany (one son, one daughter), and then in 1976 to the poet Elizabeth Major (two daughters), who provided the text for many of his works, including his two operas ''A Foreign Field'' and ''The Snow Child''. He died at the age of 95.'Eric Wetherell, musical polymath', in ''The Daily Telegraph'', 15 March 2021 A memorial concert was held at St Mary Redcliffe Church on 19 November 2022. A memoir, ''Having A Hand In It'', was published in 2022.

Selected works

* ''Bristol Quay'' (1987), suite for string orchestra. * ''Bushes and Briars'', choral orchestral work commissioned by the

Britten Sinfonia Britten Sinfonia is a chamber orchestra ensemble based in Cambridge, UK. It was created in 1992, following an initiative from Eastern Arts and a number of key figures including Nicholas Cleobury, who recognised the need for an orchestra in the ...

. *''A Christmas Cantata'' (2013) for girl's choir, text Elizabeth Major * Concerto for alto saxophone and strings (2010) * ''The Diaries of Adam and Eve'' (2000), an entertainment for two actors, chorus and chamber orchestra, text by Elizabeth Major, based on two short stories by Mark Twain. * ''A Foreign Field '' (2010), three-act opera set in the First World War, based on the book by

Ben Macintyre Benedict Richard Pierce Macintyre (born 25 December 1963) is a British author, reviewer and columnist for ''The Times'' newspaper. His columns range from current affairs to historical controversies. He has written some 15 books, and received n ...

.Richard Morrison. 'A Foreign Field', in ''The Times'', 24 September 2010, p. 68 *''A Matching of Powers'' (2003) for soprano, baritone and orchestra, soprano, and baritone, commissioned by the New Bristol Sinfonia, text Elizabeth Major. * ''Missa Brevis'', first performance, All Saints Durham Road, East Finchley, 25 November 2018. *''Portrait of a City'' (world premiere 2022) for orchestra, inspired by Bristol. * ''The Snow Child'' (2014), an opera in two acts, based on the novel by Eowyn Ivey. * ''Three Shakespeare Sonnets'' (1994), jazz influenced. *''We Are the Women'' (2001), song cycle focused on the First World War, text Elizabeth Major.

References

External links

Composer's website

'A Song for Eric', BBC Radio ''Today'' report by Jon Kay, broadcast 4 April 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wetherell, Eric 1925 births 2021 deaths British composers English conductors (music) Alumni of the Royal College of Music Brass band composers Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford