Frank Merrick

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(30 April 1886–1981) was an English classical pianist and composer in the early 20th century.Obituary, ''The Times'', 21 February 1981, p. 14

Life

Merrick was born in Clifton, now part of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, the son of musical parents.Methuen-Campbell, James. 'Merrick, Frank' in ''Grove Music Online'' Due to his asthma he was mostly educated at home by his parents and by a governess.University of Bristol
''Papers of Frank Merrick and Hope Squire''
/ref> At the age of eleven he was taken to play for the great Polish pianist

Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; r 1859– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's prime minister and foreign minister during which time he signed the Tre ...

, who suggested he go to Vienna to study with

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky; ; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915) was a Polish pianist, professor, and composer active in Austria-Hungary. He was born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land ...

. While in Vienna he met

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

and showed him a waltz he'd composed. After 70 or more lessons with Leschetizky he returned to London and made his debut, first in 1902 with the

Halle Orchestra Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), or Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (electoral district) ** Halle (region), a governmental district 1952–2004 ** Bezirk Halle, a district 1952–1990 ** Halle-Neustadt, a former ci ...

under Hans Richter, and the following year at the Bechstein Hall.Isserlis, Steven
Notes to ''British Solo Cello Music''
Hyperion CD CDA68373 (2021) In 1908-9 he toured Australia with the contralto

Dame Clara Butt Dame Clara Ellen Butt (1 February 1872 – 23 January 1936) was an English dramatic contralto and one of the most popular singers from the 1890s through to the 1920s. She had an exceptionally fine contralto voice and an agile singing technique, ...

and played with various chamber musicians, most notably

Henry Holst Henry Holst (25 July 1899 – 19 October 1991) was a Danish violinist. In his early career he was leader of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtwängler. From the 1930s to the mid-1950s he was based in England, as a soloist and teac ...

. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was imprisoned as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

, and learned Esperanto with the help of fellow-prisoner

Montagu C. Butler Montagu Christie Butler (25 January 1884 – 5 May 1970) was a British academic, librarian, lexicographer, musician, and Esperantist. A winner of several prizes at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he was a harpist and a versatile music teac ...

. He dedicated much time to the language and spoke it well; in 1965 he made a recording of some of the Esperanto songs with the well-known mezzo-soprano Sybil Michelow. From 1911 to 1929 he taught at the

Royal Manchester College of Music The Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) was a tertiary level conservatoire in Manchester, north-west England. It was founded in 1893 by the German-born conductor Sir Charles Hallé in 1893. In 1972, the Royal Manchester College of Mu ...

and from 1929 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 ...

. His students included

David Gow David James Gow CBE (born 1957) is the inventor of the i-Limb prosthetic hand. He was made an honorary Doctor of Science in November 2018 by the University of Edinburgh. Biography He was born in Dumfries in 1957 and was educated at Breconbeds S ...

, Michael Garrett, the pianist and teacher Stephen Gosney,

Thomas Pitfield Thomas Baron Pitfield (5 April 190311 November 1999) John McCabeObituary, ''The Guardian'', 27 November, 1999 was a British polymath, primarily remembered as a composer, but also a poet, artist, engraver, calligrapher, master craftsman, furnitur ...

, Gordon Green, and

Alan Rawsthorne Alan Rawsthorne (2 May 1905 – 24 July 1971) was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex. Early years Alan Rawsthorne was born in Deardengate House, Haslingden, Lancashire, to ...

. Late in his life he was awarded

MMus The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

, when they first introduced the degree. At the age of 80 in 1966 he gave a two hour concert at the Wigmore Hall. Around 1967 he returned to the Victoria Rooms, Clifton, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of his first public recital, as a child, largely reprising the programme he had played at his début. Even later, in 1976, he visited the London Esperanto Club to be interviewed, in Esperanto, on the occasion of his 90th birthday. He was appointed a

in the

1978 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the begin ...

. He died in London, where he lived at 16, Horbury Crescent, Notting Hill.

Pianist

Merrick's peers included

Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-born classical pianist, composer and Pedagogy, pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th ...

and

Mark Hambourg Mark Hambourg (; 1 June 1879, in Boguchar, Voronezh Governorate – 26 August 1960, in Cambridge, United Kingdom) was a Russian British concert pianist. Life Mark Hambourg was the eldest son of the pianist Michael Hambourg (1855–19 ...

, and he was perhaps the foremost exponent of the Theodor Leschetizky method in Britain (others included

Benno Moiseiwitsch Benno Moiseiwitsch (22 February 18909 April 1963) was a Russian and British pianist. Biography Moiseiwitsch was born to Jewish parents in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire, and began his studies at age seven with Dmitry Klimov at t ...

and

Mabel Lander __NOTOC__ Mabel Lander (1882 – 19 May 1955) was a British pianist and teacher, mostly remembered today as piano tutor to the Royal Family in the 1930s and 1940s, though her real legacy comes from her teaching several generations of prominent ...

). He made several recordings of the music of Sir Arnold Bax, including the composer's first violin sonata (reissued on compact disc in 2003) and the four piano sonatas. Bax's ''Pæan'' for piano is dedicated to him. With Michael Round he made a recording of the Sonata for two pianos and other works by Bax. Other enthusiasms included the keyboard music of

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

, Reger, Scarlatti and especially

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

, particularly the piano sonatas. Several later LP recordings of Frank Merrick playing various works by

John Field John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

and other British composers were released on the British label Rare Recorded Editions. A "Frank Merrick Society" was formed to release his recordings.'Frank Merrick: A Recorded Legacy', Nimbus NI8820-25 (6 CDs, 2018), reviewed at MusicWeb International
/ref> He spent many hours at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

copying by hand the works of Field, who at that time was little known; the result was his edition of Field's piano concertos which became vol. 17 of '' Musica Britannica''. Merrick also edited editions of Chopin. His book, ''Practising the Piano'', first published by

Barrie and Jenkins Barrie & Jenkins was a small British publishing house that was formed in 1964 from the merger of the companies Herbert Jenkins (founded by English writer Herbert George Jenkins) and Barrie & Rockliff (whose managing director was Leopold Ullstei ...

in 1960, has gone through at least four printings.

Composer

Merrick is particularly known for winning in 1928 the Columbia Gramophone Company competition to write the remaining movements (scherzo and finale) of Schubert's 8th Symphony. His composition was recorded by Columbia and sold, although these recordings are primarily, if not all, on 12-inch records and now very rare. Other works include a symphony (1912), two piano concertos (1901, 1936), choral music, chamber works and the Piano Sonata in A Minor (1902). His ''Suite in the eighteenth-century style'' for solo cello has been recorded by Steven Isserlis. The original manuscripts of his compositions were donated to CHOMBEC (Centre for the History of Music in Britain, the Empire and the Commonwealth) and the archives of

. There are many items, including a large number of

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

songs, over 30 of which, by his own account, he composed.

Personal life

Before World War I he married the pianist, composer and suffragette

Hope Squire Evelyn Hope Squire Merrick (1878–1936) was a British composer, pianist, and political activist who supported women's suffrage, vegetarianism, Esperanto, and new music. She opposed England’s participation in World War I. She published and perf ...

. After the death of his first wife in 1936, Merrick married one of his students, Sybil Phoebe Case, in 1937. They had three children: Phoebe Hope (1939-), Paul Antony (1941-) and Celia Frances (1946-). Merrick was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

and teetotaller. He was a vice-president of the

Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom (VSUK) is a British Registered charity in England, registered charity. It campaigns for dietary changes, licenses Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks for Vegetarianism, vegetarian and Veganism, v ...

.Biography by James Methuen-Campbell in Frank Merrick: A Recorded Legacy. Nimbus Records, 2018.

References

External links

Frank Merrick archive
University of Bristol Library Special Collections

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrick, Frank 1886 births 1981 deaths 20th-century English classical pianists 20th-century English male musicians English classical composers English male classical pianists British piano educators Academics of the Royal College of Music Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English conscientious objectors People associated with the Vegetarian Society Pupils of Theodor Leschetizky Presidents of the Independent Society of Musicians