Arthur Hinton 1869-1942

[Mark Thomas]

The Symphony in particular does indeed look forward to British music of the first decade of the 1900s, which is telling for a work written in 1895 by a comparatively young unknown. It has a confidence to it, almost an swagger in the faster movements, which transcends Stanford and predicts Elgar. The orchestration is particularly colourful and virtuosic.  No disrespect to Chris Fifield, to whom we must be grateful for unearthing it, but it would be wonderful to hear what a major orchestra could make of this truly impressive score.

[Sydney Grew]

Much more could be (and I hope will be) said about Hinton (and his wife) .  . .

His entry in Who's Who in Music (1913) may then be of interest. I believe much of the matter of these entries was provided by the respective subjects:

"HINTON, Arthur, composer; b. Beckenham, Kent, 1869; was educated at Shrewsbury School, and destined for a commercial career; this proving distasteful, he entered the R.A.M., where he studied the violin under the late Prosper Sainton and Sauret, and composition under F. W. Davenport. After remaining at the Academy for three years he was appointed a sub-professor, a position which he occupied for another three years, during which time he frequently played at important concerts in London and the provinces. Desirous of further study he went to Munich and placed himself under Prof. Rheinberger, and here he wrote his first important work, a symphony which was played under his own direction at the Munich Conservatoire. He next proceeded to Vienna, and later to Rome, where he worked upon an opera, "Tamara," which has not yet been produced. Remaining in Italy he spent a summer at Albano, and wrote a fantasia, "The Triumph of Cæsar," first played at the Queen's Hall, 1906. Among his compositions are a symphony in B flat and another in C minor; a suite in D, for violin and pianoforte, played at Broadwood's Concerts; a trio in D minor, produced at the Bechstein Hall, 1903, at his own concert, and which has since been played in the provinces, also in Germany at Düsseldorf and Cologne, and at Miss Nettie Carpenter's concert, Dec., 1906; a concerto in D minor for pianoforte and orchestra, first played at the Queen's Hall, 1 Nov., 1905, the solo part being taken by Miss Katherine Goodson, the eminent pianist, to whom the composer is married; quintette in G minor for pianoforte and strings, produced at the Wessely Quartette Concerts, Nov., 1910; a dramatic romance, "Porphyria's Lover," founded on Browning's poem; dramatic scena from Shelley's "Epipsychidion," for tenor solo and orchestra, produced at Bournemouth, Nov., 1905, and repeated with much success at the Bechstein Sunday Orchestral Concerts; "Chant des Vagues" for violoncello and orchestra; a violin sonata, played by M. Sauret, and numerous pianoforte pieces and songs which have been sung by Mr. Plunket Greene, Mr. Denis O'Sullivan, and many other well-known artistes. Visited Australia twice, also Canada and Jamaica, as Examiner for the Associated Board of R.A.M. and R.C.M. Address: 14 St. John's Wood Road, N.W."

I wonder whether "Tamara" has ever been produced? If not, it would be a suitable work for some enthusiastic amateur company to put on would it not.

[Sydney Grew]

. . .  (and his wife) . . .

So while I am at it, here is Mrs. Hinton's entry:

"GOODSON, Katherine, pianist; e. at R.A.M. under Oscar Beringer, and afterwards for four years under the famous Prof. Leschetizky at Vienna; first appeared as solo pianist on 16 Jan., 1897, at the Saturday Popular Concerts, making four appearances during the season; at Richter's London Concert, 20 May, 1901, she played Tschaikovsky's pianoforte Concerto in B flat minor; has appeared at least twice each season at Chappell's Popular Concerts; her appearances on the Continent have been very numerous; at Vienna she was solo pianist at the Bohemian String Quartette's Concert, 1901, and she played with the Vienna Philharmonic Concertverein in the same year; in Paris she played with the Lamoureux Orchestra, under Chevillard, a Liszt Concerto, 1903, and at Versailles she appeared at the Concerts Classiques in 1898-9 and 1900, her programme including Beethoven's C Minor Concerto and concertos by Grieg and Tschaikovsky; Monte Carlo Symphony Concerts, 1903; Leipzig Gewandhaus, 1905, Grieg Concerto under Nikisch; Cologne Gurzenich Concerts, 1905, Grieg Concerto; Queen's Hall, with London Symphony Orchestra, new concerto, by Arthur Minton [sic!]; Lower Rhine Festival, Aix-la-Chapelle, under Weingartner, Liszt Concerto, 1906; besides tours in Ireland, Scotland, Belgium, France, Holland, Germany, Italy and Austria, also four extended tours with Kubelik through the English provinces; m. Arthur Hinton, composer, 1903. Agent: Concert direction - E. L. Robinson, 7 Wigmore Street, W."

[Very incidentally, I am interested in whether there is or should be a difference between the pronunciations of "Tschai," "Tchai" (the current orthography), and the "Chi" of "China." But that is probably material for a new thread if any one has any views.]

[eschiss1]

yes, according to her Wikipedia entry her boundary-dates were 1872 to 1958 (with her name spelled as Katharine.) I don't know if she composed, which i wonder about.

Her list of Proms appearances does contain works by Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Brahms and also one work by her husband (in 1902) and Delius' concerto (in 1931 and 1932).

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks Sydney for the two biographies. Fascinating stuff.

[Alan Howe]

Just noticed that Hinton's rather splendid Symphony No.1 conducted by Chris Fifield is now on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzRhZPjJCn8