Harriett Claiborne Dixon 1879 - 1928

[giles.enders]

Harriett Claiborne Dixon  Born 1879 Bradford  Died 9.11.1928 Folkestone, Kent.

She was the only child of Joseph Henry Dixon ¹, a linen merchant and amateur organist. Her early music training was at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She later studied music at Durham receiving her Bac in 1910. She remained unmarried and predeceased her mother.  In 1973 the RAM set up a trust/scholarship in her name.  She left a considerable estate for the time  £7.617.

Orchestra

Concertstuck for piano and orchestra
'Four Love Complaints' for organ and orchestra
'The Iberian' incidental music to a Greek play by Osborne Rennie Lamb 1903   pub. by W P Thompson & Co.
Air for cello and strings
Romance for cello and strings

Chamber

Andante Religioso for cello and piano  1910 pub. by Novello & Co.
Air d'amour for cello and piano

Songs

Seven songs of Joy and Sadness:   pub. by Laudy & Co.  except 5 & 7 which were never published
1. A Wild Rose  words by A Austin
2. Say not I never told my love for thee  words by M L Woods
3. Coquette
4. My Story is sad words by F J Jackson
5. I think of thee in the night  words by T K Harvey
6. Farewell my Joy, with violin obbligato  words by T Weelkes
7. The Rainy day  words by Longfellow
March song  words by M Garbutt   pub. by Novello& Co.
The Curfew, with obbligato for two horns & organ words by Longfellow
Winged Love's a Rover words by M L Woods
Beauty is but a Painted Snare - madrigal words by T Campion
Sweet hours of night - Christmas Carol  words by M Garbutt   pub. by Novello

Other

'Hands all round' Patriotic Ode for chorus, organ and orchestra  words by Tennyson 1897   pub. by Laudy & Co.
'Ode to Ruin' for chorus and organ
'Ode to Love' with string quartet, organ and piano.

Died while residing at 24, Earls Avenue, Folkestone, Kent.

1. There are two pieces of music in the BL by Joseph Dixon:
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in D  for four voices 1888  pub. by Novello, Ewer & Co.
Nydia's Love Song  words by Lord Lytton  pub. by C Jeffreys.

[Amphissa]

She was also the first and probably only composer who died before she was even born. Perhaps she discovered the secret of time travel.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.   

[Alan Howe]

I've made the appropriate alteration - couldn't resist nullifying the foregoing funny 

[FBerwald]

Damn! I missed it! What was it originally?

[giles.enders]

Despite having set up a trust/scholarship in her name, The RAM London have no personal details about her.

[Alan Howe]

I missed it! What was it originally?

Giles had her as born in 1980...

[semloh]

Where did you find that list of compositions, Giles? I think you must have a secret archive! 

She doesn't appear in any edition of Grove to which I have access - not even The New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. And, apart from references to the scores for some of her music, the only thing I could find on the web was at the Museum of the Royal Academy of Music, which has a wooden board listing the recipients of named scholarships and prizes - the latest is from 1920 - and on that board it has "Magpie Madrigal Society Prize - Harriett Claiborne Dixon 1896". She would only have been 15 or 16 years old at that point, so that warrants further explanation.

Sadly, I could find no evidence that any of her music was ever recorded... but that was only after a quick 'surf'. I think this is one for Eric....

[eschiss1]

Some of those compositions - 7 or so of them - appear if you search for her on Worldcat...

BTW, one can download one work at least of hers (the piano/chorus score of "The Iberian", in two volumes) from archive.org. (Just the reduction, it seems...)

[giles.enders]

in reply to Semloh: Her name along with Marian Arkwright appears in a pre 1914 publication along with some of her compositions.  I checked her birth and death dates at The London Metropolitan archives.  Some of her songs are in the British Library.  The RAM have the score of The Iberian. I would like to know where the concertstuck is?  Incidentally, she left a very substantial estate, enough to buy a row of suburban houses.

[semloh]

That explains it, Giles.
Thank you for your resourcefulness...

[chill319]

Thank you, Giles, for the superb collection of worklists you are assembling on this site.

[giles.enders]

I try and post things that are not readily available on Wikipedia and might encourage further exploration.  In some small way it seems to work.  I sometimes come across names and an interesting snippet and then the hunt is on for more information. I'm usually disappointed as I've yet to trace all the music for anyone I've posted about.  Before I post, I do need to know that some of the music has actually received a public performance.