John David Davis
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John David Davis (22 October 1867 – 20 November 1942), often known as J D Davis, was an English composer, born in Edgbaston, near
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
.Leach, Gerald. ''British Composer Profiles'' (2012), p. 73


Career

Although born into a musical family, Davis was sent to
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 ...
to train for an intended commercial career, but instead began studying music under Hans von Bulow. Davis completed his education in Germany a decade ahead of the more famous Frankfurt Group of English-speaking composers, who studied with Iwan Knorr at the Hoch Conservatory in the late 1890s. He later continued his music studies in Brussels under Léopold Wallner, Arthur De Greef and Maurice Kufferath.''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 3rd Edition (1919), pp. 194-195. He returned to Birmingham in 1889 to teach, and from 1893 to 1904 taught music at the Birmingham and Midland Institute (most of that in the pre Granville Bantock era). From 1905 he was a professor of harmony and composition 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 ...
and was also Professor of Solfège at the International Conservatoire in London.''Radio Times'' Issue 503, 24 May, 1933, p. 41
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Personal life

Davis married Helen Winifred Juta (born 1886), daughter of the South African judge Henry Juta, in 1919. They lived at 26 Trebovir Road, Earls Court until 1936, when they sailed for Lisbon. He died in
Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...
, Portugal six years later, aged 75, survived by his wife. She returned to South Africa where she died in 1952.


Music

As a composer, Davis has mostly been forgotten today. His one act Russian opera ''The Zaporogues'' (based on '' Taras Bulba'') was premiered at the Theatre Royale in Birmingham with amateur performers on 7 May 1895, receiving mixed reviews. It was staged professionally in Antwerp in 1903 using a Flemish translation. In 1919 a newly orchestrated Prelude based on the work was performed in Birmingham. There were also substantial orchestral scores, including an early ''Legend: Hero and Leander'' for bass solo and orchestra, the ''Coronation March'' (1902), ''Variations and Finale'' (1905), the suite ''Miniatures'' (performed at
The Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...
in 1905) and a symphonic ballad ''The Cenci''. A number of his orchestral works were heard in Bournemouth under Dan Godfrey. His Cello Concerto, Op. 73, premiered in Bournemouth by his friend the Dutch soloist Jacques van Lier in 1921, was overshadowed by Elgar's near contemporary Cello Concerto. There were further performances in Cheltenham and Berlin in 1922, and a London performance in 1924. The 1910 symphonic poem ''The Maid of Astolat'' (after Tennyson) gained more lasting popularity and was broadcast by the BBC in 1933. The Birmingham Philharmonic String Orchestra performed and broadcast several of his works, including the three movement ''Petite Suite Symphonique'' in 1936. Davis composed two string quartets, a string quintet and other chamber music, including ''Some variations on the Londonderry air'', Op. 43 (1910) for string quartet. The latter was extracted from the ''Suite on Londonderry Air'' (1908), a collaborative commission from the Hambourg String Quartet with separate movements composed by Davis, York Bowen, Frank Bridge, Eric Coates and Hamilton Harty. It was first performed by the Quartet at the Aeolian Hall the same year. There were also violin and cello sonatas, a ''Scherzo Symphonique'', Op. 58 (1917) for cello and piano, solo piano pieces (including a sonata), the Fantasia and Fugue for organ, Op. 45 (1911), and part-songs. His 1916 Idyl for string quartet (sub-titled ''Summer's Eve at Cookham Lock''), Op. 50, was originally written for the London String Quartet. There is a modern recording by the Tippett Quartet.Score at IMSLP
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, John David 1867 births 1942 deaths English classical organists 19th-century British musicians 20th-century English musicians 19th-century English composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century English male musicians 19th-century English male musicians Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama English male classical organists Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands British expatriates in the German Empire