William Hurlstone

William (Yeates) Hurlstone (7 January 1876 – 30 May 1906) was an English composer who died young, before his potential could be realised. His teacher Sir Charles Villiers Stanford considered him the most talented of his pupils, above Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst.

Career

Hurlstone studied piano and composition at the Royal College of Music, after gaining a scholarship by writing a Trio for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano, performed at his local church. His piano professors were Algernon Ashton and Edward Dannreuther.[1] His composition teacher, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, considered Hurlstone to have been the most talented of the many brilliant students he taught. Those also included Frank Bridge, John Ireland and Coleridge-Taylor.[2]

In 1904 he was highly commended for Variations on a Swedish Air, performed at the first Patron's Concert. In 1905 he won first prize in the Cobbett competition for a single-movement String Quartet. One of his former teachers, Walford Davies, appointed him accompanist to the Bach Choir. In 1906, Hurlstone returned to the college as Professor of Counterpoint, but died later that year of bronchial asthma, from which he had suffered all his life. He is buried in Croydon Cemetery with members of his family. The monumental cross over William's grave was designed as a broken cross to signify that he had died before reaching his peak.

Musical works

The greater part of Hurlstone's body of work consists of works for chamber ensembles. Although they are of consistently high quality, none achieved any great fame, but the Bassoon Sonata has become particularly popular along with the Characteristic Pieces for Clarinet and Piano. Among the better known are:

  • Phantasie for String Quartet in A minor (published early 1905),[3] which won first prize in the inaugural Cobbett Chamber Music Competition
  • Piano Quartet in E minor, Op. 43
  • Piano Trio in G major, dating from 1905
  • Trio in G minor for clarinet, bassoon and piano and
  • Four Characteristic Pieces for clarinet and piano (Ballade, Croon Song, Intermezzo and Scherzo).

Additionally, he composed four instrumental sonatas for:

  • piano solo (in F minor)[4]
  • violin and piano
  • cello and piano, and
  • bassoon and piano.

There is also a Quintet in G minor for flute, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano.

His orchestral works include

  • Variations on a Swedish Air
  • Variations on a Hungarian Air
  • Variations on an Original Theme
  • Magic Mirror Suite (based on the fairy tale of Snow White), and
  • a Piano Concerto in D major.

Editions of his music

  • Four Characteristic Pieces (B♭ clarinet and piano) Emerson Edition (Ref: E97)
  • Quintet in G minor (flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn and piano; ed. Jonathan Kershaw 1998) Emerson Edition (Ref: E324)
  • Scherzo (clarinet, bassoon and piano; missing movement from Trio in G minor; ed. Richard Moore) Emerson Edition (Ref: E404)
  • Trio in G major (violin, cello and piano; published by Edition Silvertrust in 2008, Catalogue No. ES 2008–90)
  • Trio in G minor (clarinet, bassoon, and piano; new complete edition 2006) Emerson Edition (Ref: E488) – This replaces the original Edition E62 (1982) which was found to contain many inaccuracies.[5]
  • Sonata in F (bassoon and piano) Emerson Edition (Ref: E75)

Recordings

  • Hurlstone: Chamber Works (Dutton Vocalion) CDLX7128 (2003)
  • William Hurlstone: Orchestral Works (Lyrita) SRCD208 (orig. 1993 – reissued 2006)
    • features variation sets on an Original Theme and a Hungarian Air, as well as the Magic Mirror Suite
  • William Hurlstone: Piano Concerto, Variations on a Swedish Air, Piano Quartet, Piano Trio (Lyrita) SRCD2286 (orig. 1979, 1984 – reissued 2007)
  • (The) English Romantics – Works for Clarinet, Bassoon & Piano (Clarinet Classics) CC0023 (1998)
    • features Trio for clarinet, bassoon and piano (1998 edition NOT the 2006 edition) and the Four Characteristic Pieces
  • Goossens, Hurlstone and Turnbull: Violin Sonatas (Somm Recordings) SOMMCD031 (2003)
  • Romantic Cello (Dutton Vocalion) CDLX7102 (1999)
    • features Sonata for cello and piano.
  • Dale and Hurlstone: Piano Sonatas (Somm Recordings) SOMMCD097 (2010)
  • William Hurlstone: Complete Piano Music – Kenji Fujimura (Toccata Classics) TOCC0289 (2015)
  • Romantic Piano Trios – Trio Anima Mundi (Divine Art) DDA 25102 (2013)
    • features Piano Trio in G Major

References

  1. ↑ "HURLSTONE, William Yeates". Grove's dictionary of music and musicians. 1: 447–448. 1906. templatestyles stripmarker in |title= at position 12 (help)
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Musical Times, May 1, 1905 list of recently published music. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
  4. ↑ The British Piano Sonata: 1870 – 1945 (at Google Books), by Lisa Hardy, page 39, Boydell & Brewer, 2001, ISBN 0-85115-822-6
  5. ↑ Richard J. Moore, 'The Trio in G Minor for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano by William Yeates Hurlstone, a Critical Reassessment'
  • William Yeates Hurlstone: A Web Resource These pages, prepared by Dr Peter Horton and Katy Hamilton, offer a biography of the composer, a catalogue of his works, facsimiles of letters, documents concert programmes in the collections of the Royal College of Music, some audio recordings, and facsimiles of some of Hurlstone's childhood writings.
  • [Web site for book] Black Mahler: The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Story, by Charles Elford, 2008, Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd., London, England, ISBN 978-1-906210-78-6
  • "Biography", a 2000-word appendix of Richard J. Moore's The Trio in G Minor for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano by William Yeates Hurlstone: a Critical Reassessment—The ... Reassessment also cites dozens of sources.
  • "Hurlstone Piano Trio in G Major", 2- to 3-minute audio excerpt per movement, Edition Silvertrust
  • William Hurlstone at Find a Grave
  • Free scores by William Hurlstone at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

William Hurlstone, Croydon's forgotten Musical Genius by Christopher Redwood (Sequoia PublishingUK, 2016)

Sources

  •  Corder, Frederick (1912). "Hurlstone, William Yeates". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement​. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  • Graves, R. E.; Morales. "Hurlstone, Frederick Yeates (1800–1869)first2= Patricia". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14254. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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