A year ago this month, my beloved friend Oliver Davies died, and a fine and richly detailed tribute has just been posted online, which I thought might interest many on this forum, especially those who support the active promotion of forgotten British composers of the 19th century - and indeed composers of any nationality.
Oliver was a remarkable man, a truly geat musician that was never honoured by the music estabishment or the media - he just quietly did what he did best: perform rare music superbly well and preserve our great heritage as much as he could.
https://www.momh.org.uk/exhibitions-detail.php?cat_id=5&prod_id=398&iotm=1
A remarkable man whose life was obviously packed with hard work, and major achievements that will serve as a fitting memorial.
At the time of his death, Oliver was in the process of trying to find premises for his proposed museum. He had saved many original scores as well as music dumped by music publishers and colleges. He had also just acquired the earliest known portrait of Charles Groves. I miss him greatly as he had an encyclopedic knowledge of classical music and performance. Any query about anything musical usually led to anecdotes about many well known names, some very amusing and not for publication. He had a talent for making some very ordinary, even banal music sound worthwhile. He had recently started organizing and performing in a series of concerts in the Grand Salon at Drury Lane theatre, sadly interrupted by the Covid crisis.
What a truly extraordinary fellow! Does anyone know what became of the material he amassed?
best wishes,
Daniel
As of this date, Oliver's house is still being sorted and cleared. Much will go into storage. Meanwhile, the quest for premises go on.
The Musuem of Music History has an excellent website at:
www.momh.org.uk