Marian Ursula Arkwright (25 January 1863 – 23 March 1922) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, pianist and string player (viola and double bass). She was one of the first women in England to earn a Bachelor of Music degree (in 1895), and the first woman to earn a doctorate in music, which she gained in 1913. Arkwright worked as an orchestral musician, composer and conductor, and received a prize for an orchestral work from ''

The Gentlewoman ''The Gentlewoman'' was a weekly illustrated paper for women founded in 1890 and published in London. For its first thirty-six years its full title was ''The Gentlewoman: An Illustrated Weekly Journal for Gentlewomen''.Nos. 1 to 1,853 dated bet ...

''.''The Gentlewoman'', 10 March 1906, p. 15

Life

Marian Arkwright was born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England on 25 January 1863, a descendent of

Richard Arkwright Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as ...

, the inventor of the

Spinning Jenny The spinning jenny is a multi- spindle spinning frame, and was one of the key developments in the industrialisation of textile manufacturing during the early Industrial Revolution. It was invented in 1764–1765 by James Hargreaves in Stan ...

. Her brother was the musicologist Godfrey Edward Pellew Arkwright. Arkwright studied piano with Bernhard Althaus (1831-1917) and also took piano lessons from

Charles Hallé Sir Charles Hallé (born Karl Halle; 11 April 181925 October 1895) was a Prussian and British pianist and conductor. In 1858, he founded the Hallé Orchestra. Life Charles Frederick Hallé was born Carl Friederich Halle on 10 April 1819 in H ...

. She also studied double bass with Charles Henry Winterbottom and composition with J.S. Liddle, organist at Newbury. She was awarded the L.R.A.M. in 1891, earned a Bachelor of Arts in music at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

in 1895, and a doctorate in music at the same university in 1913, making her the first English woman to gain a PhD in music. After completing her studies, she worked as an orchestral musician and composer and conducted orchestras including the Newbury Amateur Orchestral Society. She served as secretary of the

English Ladies' Orchestral Society The English Ladies' Orchestral Society was one of the first and largest amateur orchestras for women in the UK, founded in 1893. It had over 100 members, including a full band of wind and strings. The primary organisers were Mary Venables and Mar ...

and the Highclere Choral Society, and was a leader of the Rural Music Schools movement. In 1906 she received the £25 first prize ( Edith Swepstone came second) from ''The Gentlewoman'' for an original orchestral work ''The Winds of the World'', inspired by the

Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

ballad ‘The Flag of England’. It was first performed at Newbury in 1907 and repeated in the same year by the

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra, founded in 1893 and originally based in Bournemouth. With a remit to serve the South and South West of England, the BSO is administratively based in the adjacent town of Poole, s ...

, with the composer conducting. Her ''Melbourne Suite'' for strings was composed for the 1907

Australian Exhibition of Women's Work The first Australian Exhibition of Women's Work was a national exhibition held over thirty-nine days in 1907 in Melbourne, and in the seventh year of the country's Federation of Australia, Federation. The exhibition was a celebration of the creat ...

. She died unexpectedly on the 23 March 1922 at Crowshott,

Highclere Highclere (pronounced ) is a village and civil parish in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Hampshire, England, in the northern part of the county, near the Berkshire border. It is famous as the location of Highclere Cas ...

(where she lived with her brother), a few hours after performing in the orchestra for a Newbury Choral Society performance of ''The Messiah''.

Works

Arkwright published three volumes of violin and piano duets and two ''Concert Pieces'' for viola and piano. She was noted for unusual instrument combinations. She took an interest in folk music and her ''Japanese Symphony'' contained Japanese airs that she had noted down herself, following a trip to Japan with

Lucy Broadwood Lucy Etheldred Broadwood (9 August 1858 – 22 August 1929) was an English folksong collector and researcher, and great-granddaughter of John Broadwood, founder of the piano manufacturers Broadwood and Sons. As one of the founder members of the ...

. (It's possible that this work and the ''Japanese Suite'' are the same work - a London performance of the "symphonic suite" ''In Japan'' was noted in the papers in 1915). Nigel Burton considers her ''The Dragon of Wantley'', a ballad for three voices, to be her best children's work. Her 1914 ''Requiem Mass'' was well received in the early stages of World War 1, though Kate Kennedy has since judged it "jingoistic in the extreme". A more authentic response to the war came later, in ''Through the Mist'', a musical account of the returning of the body of the Unknown Warrior on HMS Verdun in 1920. Orchestral * ''A Blackbird's Matins'', concert overture (performed in Cambridge, 1900)''Musical News'', 20 January 1900, p.55 * ''Hymn of Pan'', scena for baritone and orchestra * ''Japanese Suite'' for strings (1911) (aka ''In Japan''?) * ''Melbourne Suite'' for strings (1907) * Symphony in A minor, ''The Japanese'' (before 1912) * ''Through the Mist'' (1920) * ''Variations on an air by Handel'' * ''Winds of the World'', symphonic suite (1913) Choral * ''Atalanta in Calydon'', cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra * ''The Dragon of Wantley'', ballad for treble voices, piano and string quartet (1915, published Cary & Co) * ''In convertendo'', psalm, three part canon * ''The Last Rhyme of True Thomas'', for chorus with string quartet and piano * ''Requiem Mass'' for chorus and orchestra (1914, published Cary & Co) * ''Three Kings from out the Orient'', psalm, with bassoon obligato *''Up to those bright and gladsome hills'', psalm, two part canon Operetta * ''The Water Babies'', based on the book by

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...

Chamber music * Piano and violin duets, Vol. 1, 2 and 3 (published A Cary & Co) *''Quintet'' for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon * ''A Retrospect'', cello solo *''Rêveries'' for piano, oboe and viola *''Scherzo and Variations'' for piano, clarinet and bassoon *''Trio'' for piano, oboe and horn *''Trio'' for pianoforte, oboe and viola * Two concert pieces for viola and piano (published Breitkopf & Hartel) Song * ''Bright is the ring of words'' (published Cary & Co) * ''Children's song'' (published Cary & Co) * ''Come, pretty wag'' (1897) * ''In the midst of the woods'', two part song * ''The Lark now leaves his watery nest'' (published Banks & Son, York) * ''Renewal'', two part song with piano

References

External links

Arkwright, Marian Ursula
at imslp.org
List of works
at www.unsungcomposers.com
''Two Concert Pieces for Viola and Piano''
performed by Corey Johnson and Lee MeLaugh. {{DEFAULTSORT:Arkwright, Marian 1863 births 1922 deaths English classical musicians English women classical composers Composers from Norwich Alumni of Durham University People from Highclere