John Thomson (28 October 1805 – 18 May 1841) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

classical composer. He was born in Sprouston,

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and ...

, the son of

Andrew Mitchell Thomson Andrew Mitchell Thomson (1779–1831) was a minister of the Church of Scotland, known as an evangelical activist and political reformer. Life The second son of the Rev. John Thomson, D.D., by his first wife, Helen Forrest, he was born in the ma ...

, the minister of Sprouston Church. Among Thompson's compositions admired by his younger contemporary Felix Mendelssohn when they met in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in the summer of 1829 was a G minor piano trio of 1826, in which stormy and sometimes fierce passages are mixed with Schubertian warmth. Another favourite of Mendelssohn's was his lively rondo of 1828. They became friends and

Fanny Mendelssohn Fanny Mendelssohn (14 November 1805 – 14 May 1847) was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was also known as Fanny (Cäcilie) Mendelssohn Bartholdy and, after her marriage, Fanny Hensel (as well as Fanny Mendelssohn He ...

is cited as saying that she liked Thomson "best of all the Britons I know". Thomson's C major trio is described as a fine work. Thomson studied in Germany with a letter of introduction to the Mendelssohn family, and his ''Drei Lieder'' were published in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

in 1838.

John Purser John Purser (born 1942) is a Scottish composer, musicologist, and music historian. He is also a playwright.cover notes from ''Scotland's Music'' CD Purser was born in Glasgow. He initiated the reconstruction that commenced in 1991 of the Iron ...

contends that we have to look to

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

to find anything comparable to these songs published two years before Schumann composed any songs in his mature style. The first song, ''Keiner von den Schönheit Töchtern'', is based on the poem ''There be none of beauty's daughters'' by

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

, set in German by Thomson to match the other songs. Thomson became the first

Reid Professor of Music The Reid Professorship in Music was a position founded within the University of Edinburgh in 1839 using funds provided in a bequest from General John Reid. History On his death in 1807 General John Reid left a fortune of more than £50,000. Subj ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1838. As a musicologist he edited the ''Vocal Melodies of Scotland'', and he was one of the first conductors to provide his audience with a programme of his concerts giving a critical analysis of the works to be performed. His other compositions included a fine bagatelle for solo piano, a six-part ''Glee With Whispering Winds'', three operas, a flute concerto and a flute quartet, and concert arias. However his career was cut short by his death in 1841. Subsequently, his work was little performed, but it was featured in John Purser's ''Scotland's Music'' series, and a group of people in Kelso organised a bicentennial festival in 2005. Scores of some of John Thomson's compositions are available on the website of the

International Music Score Library Project The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project, which uses MediaWiki softwar ...

References

*Article by

Scotland on Sunday ''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate ''The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 2013 ...

, 3 May 1992

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, John 1805 births 1841 deaths Academics of the University of Edinburgh Scottish classical composers British male classical composers Scottish opera composers Male opera composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century British composers 19th-century British male musicians