Henry Cotter Nixon 1842-1907

[giles.enders]

Henry Cotter Nixon  Born 17.5 1842 Southwark, London  -  Died 25.12.1907 Bromley, Kent

Organist, concert pianist and composer.
He was born in Southwark and was the fourth son of composer and organist Henry George Nixon 1796-1857, from whom he received his early music lessons.  He later studied under Harry Deval in Hull and then with Henry Smart, George Macfarren and Walter Macfarren at the Royal Academy.
His maternal Grandfather was John Danby 1757-1798  composer and organist.
His maternal Grandmother, Sarah Danby became J M W Turner's (painter)  mistress

He had a brother, James Cassana Nixon 1823-42 who also composed a few pieces but he was better known for his precocious ability with the violin..

Orchestral

'Palamon and Arcite' symphonic poem in five movements, The Battle, Emilie, The Dream, Encounter and Combat, The Tournament. 1882 
'Titania' concert overture 1880
Concert overture 'Animo et Fide'
Concert overture 'Jacta est alea'
Concert stuck Op.14 1882
Fantasia for violin and orchestra No.1 (there is no trace of this)
Fantasia for violin and orchestra No.2
Romance for violin and orchestra  Op.17
Pizzicato for string orchestra 'Dance of the Sea Nymphs'  1889
Coronation March  1902 (orchestration completed by Paul Mann)
May Day  scherzo  Op.16  1884
Nightingale Quadrilles, sets 1 and 2  1861
Gavotte in E flat
Tarantella by Heller orchestrated by HCN  Op.85/2

Chamber

Quintet for piano, violin, clarinet, horn and cello.
Wind quintet in D for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon.
Piano trio in C major 1879  'Sub Judice'
Piano trio in C minor  'Ex post facto'
String quartet Op.15  1884
Violin sonata
Fantasia in E for violin and piano  1871
Cello sonata 'Uno anima' 1881

Piano  

Dance tunes for little folks  1877
Sonata
Tarentella
2nd Tarentella  pub. by Weekes & Co

Organ

Organ sonata  1876

Songs

'Dawn,gentle flower' words by B Cornwall  1872
'Gaily goes the ship' words by C Mackay  1872
'Love and Hope'  words by T Moore
'The Tramps'   words by W Beaumont 1902
'Now EveryTree Renews' six part madrigal with orchestra  1889
'Sylvan Whispers'  twelve, six part songs for even voices and cello obligato  1893
(There is a total of approx 50 songs)

Cantata

'Aslauga' with orchestra words by E Beckett Lamb  1893
'Apollo' words By E Oxenford

Operetta

'The Gay Typewriter'  operatic farce libretto by Byam Wyhe  1895
'The Witch of Esgair'  operetta libretto by Byam Wyhe 

Opera

'Osmond'  five act opera  only the libretto survives

HCN was one of thirteen children.

HCN married in 1873 and had three children:
Henry Danby Nixon 1879-1892
Alice Violet Sophie Nixon 1883-1984
Conrad Uriel Malcolm Heath Nixon 1885-1962

Conrad had one son Anthony Nixon 1925-1999 he married Elizabeth Birch in 1951

[Mark Thomas]

Intriguing. I have been trying to find out more about him from catalogue searches at the BL, RCM and RAM and a trawl through the music journals accessible via JSTOR and can add nothing worthwhile to Giles' post. Even Brown & Stratton's British Musical Biography, which does at least have an entry, adds nothing of value other than his authorship of a setting of Psalm 95, for soli, chorus and orchestra.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Cotter Nixon has been called the "Father of the English Tone Poem", as his 'Palamon & Arcite' is supposed to have been the first actual symphonic poem written by an English composer.
Robert Horton, the librarian at the RCM supplied the following details regarding orchestral MSS of Nixon's held at the RCM:

Orchestral music
Symphonic poem 'Palamon and Arcite'*
Concert Stück for piano & orchestra*
1st concert overture, Titania*
2nd concert overture
3rd concert overture
Scherzo, May Day*
Pizzicato for string orchestra, Dance of the Sea Nymphs*
1st Fantasia for violin & orchestra
2nd Fantasia for violin & orchestra
Romance for violin & orchestra*
Gavotte in E flat*
Nightingale Quadrilles, sets 1 & 2*
Coronation March (unfinished)

*Parts also held
Italics = query about whereabouts of the score

I was intending at one time to do some work on Nixon - but, alas, other things got in the way (e.g. the need to earn a crust! - as so often happens).

The BMS Journal, Vol. 19, 1997 has an article by Anthony Nixon titled: "Henry Cotter Nixon: The First British Symphonic Poem 'Palamon and Arcite',". Unfortunately, I have not read it.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I see that Toccata Classics is planning a series of recordings of Cotter Nixon's orchestral music. Hurray!

[Mark Thomas]

Whoop de doo! It's truly a golden age for us UC enthusiasts. Nixon's Piano Trio (Guild - UC thread here) is overlong, but his material is very attractive, and I'm intrigued by the prospect of hearing his orchestral works.

[giles.enders]

This is really good news.  Do you know who the performers are?

[Gareth Vaughan]

From what I can gather from the Blog by David Brown on the Toccata Classics website, it is likely to be the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra under Paul Mann (same band as did the Charles O'Brien disks). Paul Mann has been editing Nixon's extant MSS at the RCM.

[Alan Howe]

That'll be a good choice of performers. They did a fine job with O'Brien.

[Martin Anderson]

It is Paul Mann, indeed, but this time with the Kodály Philharmonic, Debrecen. The first recording will feature the Overture No. 3, Jacta est Alea, the Romance for Violin and Orchestra (soloist Ana Török) and the five-movement symphonic poem Palamon and Arcite. (BTW, pace an earlier comment, it's not the first symphonic poem by an English composer: that was Henry Pierson's Macbeth (1859), performed at Crystal Palace in 1875.)

[Alan Howe]

That's definitely up my Strasse - thanks, Martin. Can you give us an idea of a timeframe for release?

[semloh]

Ooh, this is a very nice prospect. It would be good if it were out in time to go in Santa's virtual sack. A very welcome present indeed, and far superior to socks.
(yes, some of the shops here at least have already begun the Christmas madness)

[jasthill]

How did this pop up?
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/w/286379/Henry-Cotter-Nixon-Palamon-and-Arcite-Symphonic-Poem

[Mark Thomas]

Full details of this intriguing release, together with very generous audio extracts, are now available at the Toccata website here. There's also a blog post about the project here. Release date: 1 December. Cotter's idiom seems to be very conservative for the 1880s (mainly Mendelssohn, with the odd whiff of something from the 1860s), but these works do sound attractive and I look forward to discovering them.

[Alan Howe]

My copy's on order...

[Alan Howe]

...and it arrived today.

It's very conservative stuff - none the worse for that, I suppose, but hardly music to set the world alight. I'm listening as I type to Palamon and Arcite, Nixon's five-movement, 48-minute long symphonic poem. It's well played and recorded - Martin Anderson has a gift for finding good orchestras that one's never heard of - and the conductor Paul Mann obviously knows what he's doing in this repertoire.

A nice CD. But no more than that.