Sir Hugh Percy Allen (23 December 186920 February 1946) was an English musician, academic, and administrator. He was a leading influence on British musical life in the first half of the 20th century.

Early life and education

Hugh Allen was born in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, the youngest of seven children of John Herbert Allen (1834–1905), who worked for biscuit makers Huntley & Palmer, and Rebecca (1836–1919), daughter of Samuel Bevan Stevens, of the firm of Huntley, Bourne & Stevens, which manufactured tins for Huntley & Palmer. His musical talent was apparent from an early age, and at 11 he was organist of a local parish church. He was educated at Kendrick School, Reading, and won an organ scholarship to

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

, graduating BA from Cambridge in 1895. He became cathedral organist at

St Asaph Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saints Asaph and Cyndeyrn, commonly called St Asaph Cathedral (), is a cathedral in St Asaph, Denbighshire, north Wales. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of St Asaph. The cathedral dates back 1,400 years, while t ...

and then

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral can trace its origin to the abbey founded in Ely in 67 ...

, before, in 1901, becoming organist of

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he revitalised the musical life of the university.''The Times'', 21 February 1946, p. 7 In 1902 he launched a new amateur orchestra in Oxford, called at first Dr Allen's Orchestra; in 1919 it became the Oxford Orchestral Society. In 1907 he was appointed conductor of the Bach Choir in London, and in 1913 he shared the

Leeds Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend ...

with Artur Nikisch and Sir Edward Elgar.

Oxford and the Royal College of Music

In 1918 Sir Walter Parratt resigned the professorship of music at Oxford, and Allen succeeded him. But when

Sir Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918), was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is ...

died later in the year Allen was appointed director of 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 ...

in London, and Oxford thought it would lose him. Allen in fact retained his professorship for the rest of his life. He kept his rooms at New College, and for another seven years conducted the Oxford Bach Choir.Stanton, W. K.: ‘Allen, Sir Hugh Percy (1869–1946)’, rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 18 Nov 2007
/ref> As Director of the Royal College, as ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' later observed "he was then brought into a wider sphere and began to show unsuspected qualities of statesmanship." He expanded the size of the college from 200 to 600 students and consolidated the alliance between the Royal College and the

Royal Academy 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 firs ...

. In addition to his duties at the college, he continued to conduct. The

Royal Choral Society The Royal Choral Society (RCS) is an amateur choir, based in London. History Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir' ...

, the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

and the Incorporated Society of Musicians owed much to his help when they experienced difficult times. He became for a time "the acknowledged but unofficial head of the music profession in this country." At an Oxford dinner in honour of

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

Allen was described as "notre ami qui fait chanter tout le monde."

Retirement and death

At both the Royal College and at Oxford he modernised the curriculum and made the regulations for degrees both more liberal and more exacting. He retired from the college in 1937, but his years of work came to fruition in 1944 when Oxford founded a Faculty of Music. Allen received many honours, being

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1920 King's Birthday Honours List and appointed a

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the ...

(CVO) in the 1926 New Years Honours List. He was promoted to

Knight Commander Knight Commander (or Dame Commander) is the second most senior grade of seven British orders of chivalry, three of which are dormant (and one of them continues as a German house order). The rank entails admission into knighthood, allowing the rec ...

(KCVO in the 1928 King's Birthday Honours List 1928 and to

Knight Grand Cross A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

(GCVO) in the 1935 King's Birthday Honours List. Besides receiving his Oxford doctorate he was awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of Cambridge (1925), Reading (1938),

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

(1926), and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He was an honorary fellow of

(1926); and in 1937 was Master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. On 17 February 1946, Allen was knocked down by a motorcyclist in Oxford. He died of his injuries three days later at

Radcliffe Infirmary The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central north Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street. Closed in 2007, after refurbishment the building was re-opened in October ...

, aged 76.

Personal life

On 2 April 1902, he married Edith Winifred Hall (1877–1966) and together they had one daughter and one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Hugh Directors of the Royal College of Music English choral conductors English male conductors (music) Organists of New College, Oxford Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Knights Bachelor Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Conductors (music) awarded knighthoods 1869 births 1946 deaths Heather Professors of Music Road incident deaths in England Pedestrian road incident deaths Organists of Ely Cathedral Presidents of the Independent Society of Musicians Masters of the Worshipful Company of Musicians