Cyril Scott

Cyril Scott’s Contemporaries

Sir Thomas Beecham 1879-1961

Conductor. Ardent champion of Delius and notable interpreter of Mozart, Haydn, Sibelius and Strauss.Gave first performance of many of Scott's orchestral works including The Ballad of Fair Helen (1905); Two Passacaglias on Irish Themes (1914); Piano Concerto No 1 (1915); The Melodist & the Nightingales (1929) and La Belle Dame Sans Merci (1934).

Sir Eugene Goossens (1893-1962)

Conductor, violinist and composer. Gave first performance in England of Scott's Aubade op 77 (1921). Described Scott as the 'Father of modern British music'. Friend. Best man at Scott and Rose's wedding (1921). Brother of Leon Goossens for whom Scott wrote his Oboe Concerto (1948) and Sidonie Goossens, for whom Scott wrote his Celtic Fantasy for solo harp (1926).

Sir Henry Wood (1869-1944)

Conductor and organist. Best known for introducing Promenade Concerts to London. 'Last night of the Proms' enormously popular even today. Gave first performances of Scott's Symphony No 2 (1903); Rhapsody No 1 (1904); Princess Maleine Overture (1907) and Christmas Overture and Nativity Hymn (1932).

Percy Grainger (1882-1961)

Australian born composer, pianist. First major interpreter of Grieg, particularly his Piano Concerto. Fellow student of Scott's in Frankfurt and lifelong friend and advocate. Without Grainger and his museum in Melbourne many of Scott's works would have been lost including the 1st and 3rd Symphonies.Scott dedicated his Festival Overture and his Handelian Rhapsody (a revision of the piano sonata op.17) to Grainger and Grainger performed Scott's Piano Sonata No 1 all over the world, praising him for his use of fast irregular rhythms and frequent time changes.

John Ireland (1879-1962)

Composer and pianist. Made his reputation largely with chamber music and piano solos but also wrote a piano concerto and orchestral suites. His music is now coming back into favour. He and Scott corresponded and Ireland wrote to Scott in 1949 "You were,the first British composer to write music which was non-academic, free and individual in style and of primary significance. Long before I could write anything in the least worthwhile you had made a great reputation in England and on the Continent". After Ireland's death Scott contributed to a memoir of him by John Longmire published in 1969 in which he praised Ireland for not being swayed by fashion but remaining faithful to his own personal vision of music and remarked, referring to Ireland's feeling of being overlooked that whether a given composer was neglected or not was largely a matter of fortuitous circumstances – which could apply equally well to both composers!

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Playwright, music critic. Author of St Joan; Arms and the Man; Major Barbara; Caesar and Cleopatra etc., etc., Invited Scott to spend two weeks with him during WW I. Told him that when he remarked to Elgar that for a British composer he had become quite daring in his harmonies, Elgar replied, 'Yes, but don't forget it was Scott who started it all.' Shaw also told Scott he was the only composer of the younger generation in whom he could detect a sense of style.(Remember this was around 1916) Shaw's wife, Charlotte, said Shaw often played Scott's pieces of an evening on the piano and even tried singing some of his songs.