Maurice Ward, (1899–1957) was a British violist and violinist. He was principal violist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Covent Garden Opera Orchestra, and was a violinist and violist with The Hallé Orchestra.

Maurice Ward was born in Shipley, Yorkshire on 30 November 1899.[1][2] His father Ernest was an accountant and his grandfather Thomas Ward was a professor of music and a draper. His mother Blanche Ethel Boyes was the daughter of the painter William Joseph Boyes.[3] His sister Margaret was a violinist who played with the Liverpool Philharmonic Society Orchestra[4] and the William Rees Orchestra.[5]

Little is known of his early musical studies, as the family moved to Canada in 1913.[6] They returned to England in the late 1910s when Maurice joined the Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM),[7] studying violin with Adolph Brodsky[8][9] and graduating in 1923.[10] Upon leaving the RMCM he played violin with The Hallé Orchestra[11] and played with a number of string quartets, most notably the Leonard Hirsch Quartet,[12][13] the Catterall Quartet,[14] and the 2ZY String Quartet,[15] (later titled the Hyden String Quartet),[16][17] and the Edith Robinson Quartet.[18][19] He also played viola with these quartets and took viola lessons with the distinguished violist Lionel Tertis.[20]

At the Free Trade Hall in Manchester in 1932, Ward played Richard Strauss's symphonic poem for 'cello, viola and orchestra, Don Quixote (Op.35) with Stuart Knussen and The Hallé, conducted by Hamilton Harty.[21] After Harty's death in 1941 Ward wrote an appreciation of him in the London Philharmonic Post.[22][23]

In 1932, with Sir Thomas Beecham, he helped found the London Philharmonic Orchestra.[24]

At the BBC Proms in July 1942, Ward played the obbligato part to Henry Wood's arrangement of the aria, Stein, der über alle Schätze (Stone, Above All Others Treasured) from Bach's Cantata No. 152, Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn, (BWV 152). Elsie Suddaby was the vocal soloist, with Henry Wood conducting.[25]

In November 1943, Ward performed Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the violinist Jean Pougnet, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Society Orchestra under Sir Adrian Boult.[26] Also in November 1943, at Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Ward performed a new Sonatina for Viola and Piano, specially written for him by his friend, the composer Thomas Baron Pitfield. Frank Merrick, a former tutor of Ward at the RMCM, was the pianist.[27]

In 1953 he was selected by Sir Adrian Boult to play in the orchestra for the Coronation of Elizabeth II.[28]

He died on the 20th of February 1957, the 10th anniversary of his marriage to his second wife, having collapsed at a rehearsal at the Royal Opera House.[29]

Ward appeared in the 1943 film Battle for Music (directed by Donald Taylor). The film is set in the year 1939 and highlights the struggle the London Philharmonic Orchestra was going through to make ends meet. Following a meeting of creditors of the LPO, the players form a new company and arrange bookings themselves.[30][31] In the film, in a response to Thomas Russell of the orchestral committee, when Russell (later to become manager of the LPO) is suggesting a tour to raise funds, Ward says: I hope it does come off Tom. We're not impatient but we haven't earned a cent for months. And we can't live on air – at least I can't. We know you members of the committee can't work miracles and we'll stick to the bitter end, but it’s a wise man who knows when it is the end.[32]

References

  1. ^ 1939 England and Wales Register for Maurice Ward
  2. ^ 1901 England Census for Maurice Ward
  3. ^ West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813–1935 for Blanche Ethel Boyes
  4. ^ "Merseyside Music – A Going Concern". Liverpool Echo. 14 November 1940. p. 2.
  5. ^ "Day by Day". Staffordshire Sentinel. 7 September 1938. p. 4.
  6. ^ 1916 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta for Ernest Ward
  7. ^ 1921 census
  8. ^ Kennedy, Michael (1971). The History of the Royal Manchester College of Music. Manchester University Press. p. 77. ISBN 0719004357.
  9. ^ "Musical Notes". Rochdale Observer. 30 May 1925. p. 6.
  10. ^ "Tonight's wireless". Lancashire Evening Post. 14 February 1934. p. 7.
  11. ^ "Organ Recital Notes". The Musical Times. 72 (1055): 57. 1 Jan 1931.
  12. ^ "The Hirsch String Quartet". Staffordshire Sentinel. 16 November 1931. p. 5.
  13. ^ "Today's Broadcast". Daily News (London). 15 February 1928. p. 6.
  14. ^ "Rodewald Concert". Liverpool Daily Post. 18 October 1927. p. 9.
  15. ^ "Radio Programmes Manchester". Runcorn Weekly News. 24 July 1925. p. 5.
  16. ^ "Weekend Wireless". Manchester Evening News. 12 June 1926. p. 7.
  17. ^ "Broadcasting – Tonight's Programme". Derby Daily Telegraph. 8 February 1927. p. 2.
  18. ^ "The Evening's Recital". Nelson Leader. 1 March 1929. p. 12.
  19. ^ "Wireless Programmes". Rochdale Observer. 6 October 1926. p. 8.
  20. ^ Riley, Maurice W. (1980). The History of the Viola. Michigan, U.S.A: Braun-Brumfield, Ann Arbor. p. 243. ISBN 0960315004.
  21. ^ "Performance: 074/11/3, Don Quixote". halle.co.uk. 7 Jan 1932.
  22. ^ Ward, Maurice (1941). Sir Hamilton Harty — an Appreciation, London Philharmonic Post.
  23. ^ Greer, David (1980). Hamilton Harty, His Life and Music. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0856401312.
  24. ^ "The Orchestra". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 3 October 1934. p. 4.
  25. ^ "Prom 10, Wed 8 Jul 1942 Royal Albert Hall". BBC. 8 Jul 1942.
  26. ^ "London Concerts". The Musical Times. 85 (1211): 29. January 1944. doi:10.2307/921671. JSTOR 921671.
  27. ^ "Music Notes". Wolverhampton Express and Star. 15 November 1943. p. 3.
  28. ^ "Coronation Music". The Musical Times. 94 (1325): 305–307. July 1953. doi:10.2307/933633. JSTOR 933633.
  29. ^ "Local Wills". Hampstead News. 1 August 1957. p. 6.
  30. ^ Moore, Jerrold Northrop (1982). Philharmonic Jubilee 1932-1982, a Celebration of the London Philharmonic Orchestra's Fiftieth Anniversary. Hutchinson, London. p. 20. ISBN 9780091473006.
  31. ^ Morris, John Vincent, (2011). Battle for Music: Music and British Wartime Propaganda 1935–1945, [PhD thesis], University of Exeter
  32. ^ Battle for Music (UK, 1943); dir. Donald Taylor
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Ward_(musician)
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