Harold Rutland (August 21, 1900 – July 23, 1977) was a British pianist, music critic and composer. He began studying 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 ...

, became organ scholar at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

, and completed his studies 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 Herbert Fryer,

Arthur Bliss Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he qui ...

and

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 ...

.Obituary, ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 118, No. 1614, August 1977), p. 663 A contemporary at the RCM in the early 1920s was

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founding music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Dame Ninette de Valois and Sir Frederick Ashton) he was a major figu ...

.'Harold Rutland's Music Diary', ''Radio Times'' Issue 1444, 13 July, 1951, p.7
/ref> Earning his living as an organist, choirmaster and pianist, he lived in

Cheyne Walk Cheyne Walk is a historic road in Chelsea, London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It runs parallel with the River Thames. Before the construction of Chelsea Embankment reduced the width of the Thames here, it fronted t ...

, Chelsea during the late 1920s. In the early part of the war he toured the provinces with Lambert, playing the piano for the

Sadler's Wells Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

(then known as the Vic Wells Ballet), substituting for an orchestra. From 1941 until 1956 he worked at the BBC and was a frequent contributor to the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'', a broadcaster of talks on music and an accompanist. From 1957 to 1960 he was editor of the ''

Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...

'' with

Robin Hull Robin Hull (born 16 August 1974) is a Finnish former professional snooker player. For some time, he was the sole Nordic countries, Nordic player on the game's Snooker world rankings, main tour. He is known as a solid -builder, having compiled o ...

his assistant and eventual (though unfortunately very short-lived) successor. He then took on the role of lecturer and examiner at

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

, involving much travel abroad. He was the author of the book ''Trinity College of Music: The First Hundred Years'' (1972). Through

E J Moeran Ernest John Smeed Moeran (; 31 December 1894 – 1 December 1950) was an English composer whose work was strongly influenced by English and Irish folk music of which he was an assiduous collector. His output includes orchestral pieces, concerto ...

, Rutland met

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian-American actor and film director. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in New York City, he came to prominence with film audiences for his supporting roles i ...

in 1926, and became a long-standing advocate of his music. He chaired the John Ireland Society from 1960 until his death.

Kaikhosru Sorabji Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (born Leon Dudley Sorabji; 14 August 1892 – 15 October 1988) was an English composer, music critic, pianist and writer List of compositions by Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, whose music, written over a period of s ...

was also a friend of Rutland's and dedicated some of his works to him, including the ''Fourth Symphony for Piano Alone''. Rutland became a champion of Sorabji’s music, describing him as "one of the very few I would unhesitatingly describe as a genius ��I will only add that I have always felt honoured by your friendship, and not a little unworthy of it; indeterminate dabbler that I am." He gave the first performance of Sorabji's ''Fragment for Harold Rutland'' at the Aeolian Hall in London on 12 October 1927.

Eric Blom Eric Walter Blom (20 August 188811 April 1959) was a Swiss-born British-naturalised music lexicographer, music critic and writer. He is best known as the editor of the 5th edition of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1954). Earl ...

in the ''Manchester Guardian'' reported that it was "received with a mixture of derision, indignation, and bewilderment". His compositions include a ''Siciliana'' and a ''Toccata'', both for piano, published by the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, and songs such as ''To the Moon'' (setting Shelley), published by Curwen. Mark Hambourg recorded his arrangements of ''Two Sea Shanties'' in 1928. Rutland lived at 27, Eccleston Square in London. After his death in July 1977 he bequeathed has collection of books, scores and musical materials to the Central Music Library, Westminster. There is a sketch of him by the artist

Juliet Pannett Juliet Kathleen Pannett (née Somers; 15 July 1911 – 22 August 2005) was an English portrait painter. Background Born in Hove, East Sussex, Pannett started painting at three, and wanted to be a professional artist by seventeen. She trained ...

.Foreman, Lewis. ''The John Ireland Companion'' (2011), p. 162, Fig.16

References

External links

Harold Rutland's obituary of Sibelius, ''Gramophone'', December, 1957

Mark Hambourg plays ''Two Sea Shanties''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutland, Harold 1900 births 1977 deaths English male journalists English writers about music English music critics British classical music critics British pianists Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge