From the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, NZ
Arthur Alexander (Arthur Louis Alexander Isaacs)
Arthur Alexander was born in St Clair, Dunedin on the 25th March 1891. His sister Caroline was born on the 28th December 1893. Alexander was educated at Wellington College, where he studied piano with Maugham Barnett and composition with Lawrence Atkins.
Otago Witness 30th November 1899
From the Evening Star dated 5th June 1901 and 8th November 1902.
The Evening Star dated the 5th November 1902 there is an account of the third day of the Dunedin Competitions Society. The category was pianoforte solo for players under fourteen years of age. Sixteen competed in this category. The judge awarded first prize to Arthur Isaacs which was half a point ahead of two other players. The article states that ‘this was Arthur Isaac’s third win – a most creditable performance for a boy of only eleven years of age’.
In the Evening Post dated 28th November 1904 it informs their readers that ‘on Saturday afternoon a considerable company of guests met at the Dresden Rooms for the purpose of listening to a short recital of pianoforte music by a very young New Zealander, Master Arthur Isaacs, of Dunedin. He was not introduced as a prodigy nor is any claim put forward, but all the same it was a somewhat remarkable performance for a lad of 13 to sit down for the best part of an hour at the piano and entertain his audience with gems of Beethoven, Schubert, Field and others. Master Isaacs, it is understood, distinguished himself at the age of 11, when he carried off all the prizes for pianoforte playing for pupils up to 18 years of age at the Dunedin musical competitions. He was afterwards confided to the tuition of Mr Maughan Barnett, of Wellington who foresaw a promising career before the young musician. His judgement in this respect appeared justified on Saturday’s performance. The lad, who played from the score, disclosed admirable technique, a fine appreciation of the beauty of the music set before him and an utter absence of “frill”.
On the 23rd April 1907 the Marlborough Express says ‘a private letter from London states that Master Arthur Isaacs, a young musician who went abroad from Wellington a couple of months ago to continue his studies, has favourably impressed well-known masters. Professor Gustave Ernest, after hearing Master Isaacs at the piano a couple of days after he had gone ashore, said he would be delighted to have him as a pupil. Another professor, Tobias Matthay, an authority on tone-production, testes Master Isaacs for three hours, and gave the following opinion:- “His general knowledge is very good, his sight reading is remarkable, his composition is extremely good”.
The Daily News London of the 23rd November 1908 there is the following article ‘there was nothing to be urged against Mr Arthur Alexander’s plan of acting as his own accompanist in the songs of Handel and Giordano, and even in Donizetti’s “Una Furtiva Lagrima”, which made up the first group in his recital in the Aeolian Hall. It is a different matter when he came to the “Eliland” cycle of Von Fielitz, for its character is such that either voice or piano part is bound to suffer when undivided attention cannot be given to each. That Mr Alexander should have sung and played it as well as he did was proof of his skills in both capacities but there were several places in which the accompaniment had to give way to the voice. As a singer, Mr Alexander on the whole did remarkably well; when he has learned to “let himself go” a little more he should become a decidedly interesting artist, for he possesses a good sense of character, and he has already acquired a control over his tone that enables him to bring of his effects naturally. The voice is a tenor of resonant timbre, though the quality is inclined to be veiled at times”.
Arthur Isaacs was appointed a sub-professor at the Royal Academy, London in 1911.
In the 1911 Census Arthur Alexander, aged 20 years old, single, a student of music is living in a boarding house in West Kensington.
The following is written in the Pall Mall Gazette on the 16th March 1912. ‘At the Queen’s Ha;; an orchestral concert was given by the students at the Royal Academy of Music. A new march by Mr Arthur Alexander, the Sterndale Bennett scholar of the institution was introduced. This shows distinct promise in the orchestral writing. As a march the music suffered somewhat by its rhythmic looseness of theme; but then it is no easy matter to escape the obvious in this respect, which seemingly is what the young composer tried to do. There was a pleasing fluency in the music which augurs well for the future’.
In the Gentlewoman on the 23rd March 1912 there is an article about a work or Alexander’s called “Tone Picture’ that was performed at a concert where performers were able to perform works of their own choice. The article states that ‘in spite of its great ingenuity, was too diffuse. However, Mr Alexander, in his analytical notes, remarked that “at first hearing difficulty may be experienced in fully comprehending the flow of the music” so familiarity may possibly reveal beauties which at present must be taken for granted’.
In the American Register and Anglo-Colonial World dated 24th March 1912 there is an article concerning a composition by Arthur Alexander entitled “A Festival March”. It states ‘in listening to this interesting work one realises that the imaginative work of our young composers is beginning to lose its authority. Even though not well-performed, it gives wonderful promise of the future of the composer. Through the entire “March”, an air of cheerfulness is maintained, and for this we are very thankful’.
In the Acton Gazette of the 14th February 1913, there is an article concerning the Ealing Conservatoire of Music. It states that ‘the Conservatoire has just added to its staff of piano professors, Mr Arthur Alexander, a young artist already well known in the world of music. Mr Alexander received the greater part of his musical education at the R.A.M., where, in addition to his many other distinctions, he won the Sterndale Bennett Scholarship, the Macfarren and Chappell gold medals, and the Dove Prize for general excellence, assiduity, and industry. During his studentship he studied the piano with Mr Tobias Matthay, at whose school he is now a professor, and composition with Mr Frederick Corder, from whom he received a very thorough and advanced training as a composer. Works from his pen include a piano concerto, a string quartet, a festival march for full orchestra (all performed in public), and various smaller works. Following his two recitals at the Aeolian Hall last June came a successful continental tour, including such musical centres as Vienna and Berlin, where he was accorded the warmest of welcomes’.
Alexander won the largest number of prizes ever at the Academy. In his recitals he gave debut performances of some works such as the Scriabin Fifth Sonata and Bax’s Second Sonata.
The Illustrated London News on the 1st November 1913 says ‘of altogether a different calibre is Mr Arthur Alexander, who at the Aeolian Hall last week showed a very complete understanding of modern pianoforte work. A prelude and fugue by Tanaiev, and the Fifth Piano Sonata by Scriabin might have been written for Mr Alexander to play. It was apparent that the player had thought out his own reading, and that he is one of the few to whom the chosen instrument offers the precise medium for artistic expression’.
The Dominion has this to say about Arthur Alexander on the 2oth December 1913. ‘Recent London papers to hand tell of the success of Mr Arthur Alexander, a Wellington pianist, who was a pupil here of Mr Maughan Barnett (now of Auckland) and an erstwhile student of Wellington College. Mr Arthur Alexander has evidently adopted his Christian names for professional purposes, his real name being Mr A. A. Isaacs’. The article then carries on reviewing a concert that Alexander gave at the Aeolian Hall in London.
Otago Daily Times 28th October 1914
On the 23rd November 1914 there is an interview with Mr Arthur Alexander of St Clair. It says ‘he has come out on a visit to his family after studying music for about eight years in England. At the Royal Academy he won, amongst other awards, the gold medal, the Sterndale Bennett scholarship for composition, the club prize for sight-reading, the Westlake prize for Beethoven playing, the Macfarren medal for pianoforte playing and the Dove prize for general excellence. At the conclusion of his studies the associateship of the institution was conferred on him. He has so far gained recognition as a composer as to be commissioned to write a lot of music for the Festival of Empire pageant in 1911, also to have his name on a string quartet that has been, played in three of the principal concert halls in London and won recognition when put on a programme in Vienna, whilst he won a very high compliment, when Sir Alexander Mackenzie conducted one of his orchestral pieces in the Queen’s Hall. During the last year of his studentship he was sub-professor at the Royal Academy, and is now a professor at Matthay’s famous Piano School in London. His music library is considered to be on of the largest in England, especially as regards modern works’.
From the Dominion 26th February 1915
Freelance 27th February 1915
This programme is in the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, NZ.
In the Evening Post’s copy on the 3rd March 1915 there is an article concerning Arthur Alexander’s concert at the Concert Chamber. Alexander played the Scriabin Prelude in G flat Op. 32 No. 2. It states ‘this music is still new and strange to the great majority of listeners but not necessarily beyond their comprehension and enjoyment in time. Mr Alexander is unquestionably a fine exponent of Scriabin, and it rests with players with such gifts and attainments as he possesses to make the modern Russians better understood’. The article continues listing other music Alexander played, one of which was the first movement of the “Emperor” Concerto by Beethoven with orchestral accompaniment on a second piano played by Miss Isaacs (his sister). The article continues ‘the impression left upon the mind by Mr Alexander’s playing is what when the red wine of youth now coursing through his veins has become mature, he will play far more from the heart than the head. The knowledge is all there; the feeling to yet to come’.
New Zealand Herald 26th March 1915
Auckland Star 31st March 1915
On the 21st August 1915 there is an article in the Dominion which describes the concert on the 15th September. It states that Alexander came up from Dunedin especially to play the Schumann A minor Concerto for piano and orchestra. It carries on to say that Alexander is about to return to England to take up his duties at one of the leading London musical institutions. The Wellington Orchestral Society had hope to play Alexander’s own pianoforte concerto however Alexander’s departure prevented it.
There is a programme in the Alexander Turnbull Library for an orchestral concert given by the Wellington Orchestral Society on the 15th September 1915 in aid of ‘our wounded soldiers, sailors and dependents’. Arthur Alexander was the piano soloists. The following is what is written in the programme concerning Arthur Alexander. ‘Arthur Alexander was born in St Clair, Dunedin. From an early age he showed remarkable musical ability as a pianist and composer and can look back on a musical career almost unique in fertility and prosperity. After an absence of eight years, he is paying a visit to the Dominion. In 1907 he left for England to continue his studies. He entered the Royal Academy of Music, and during his first five years he carried off a larger number of prizes, etc, than had ever been won in the institution. Amongst those were the Sterndale Bennett Scholarship, an open scholarship for any musical subject; the R.S.M. Club Prize for sight-reading; the Westlake Prize for Beethoven playing; the Chappell Gold Medal; the Macfarren Gold Medal (the highest award obtainable for pianoforte playing in England); the Dove Prize for general excellence as a musician for assiduity and industry, the most coveted distinction in the Academy; numerous bronze and silver medals at the institution, and appeared in London on many occasions as pianist, composer and conductor.
His astonishing versatility and the extraordinary extent and depth of his knowledge soon took him to Berlin and Vienna where he gave concerts with great success. On his return from the continent he was appointed a professor at the renowned Matthay Pianoforte School, a position he still holds. As a composer he stands for all that is best in English Musical Art, his name has been associated with Elgar, Mackenzie, Corder and Edward German in composition. In his compositions there are sharp outlines of a strongly marked personality. A mere list of his works would serve no good purpose; upon looking through them it is a pleasure to find that his academic training has not had the effect of limiting his individual musical consciousness. Brought up on Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Cesar Franck, he nevertheless absorbed all the musical tendencies of the age, and has a great knowledge of the modern Russian School.
Like so many of our musicians, Arthur Alexander has been compelled to roam over Europe discovering countries which will accept and appreciate his work as an artist and composer, he has recitals in Vienna, Berlin, St Petersburg and Moscow for the end of this year, but owing to the war these engagements are now impossible.
Arthur Alexander has laid a genuine foundation to his life’s work, he is an artist with loftiness of ideals and great natural gifts, he does not pursue fame and reputation for mere self-glorification, his incontestable sincerity and devotion to his art are bound to achieve for him the desire of an artistic life, and will undoubtedly do much to help English musical art to manifest itself. With great gifts, strength and youth in his favour it is inevitable that we shall in the future look to him as one our leading English composers and instrumental executants. When he leaves New Zealand we lose a musician that it will be difficult to replace, but with all music lovers of this country I feelingly with him Bon Voyage’.
In the 1921 Census, Arthur Alexander aged 30 years old is living in London with his sister Rita Alexander aged 27 years old. Arthur is a musician and is working at the Royal College of Music. Rita is a music student.
In late 1921, Alexander married Freda Swain, a composer. Before WW2 the couple toured Australia and South Africa where the performed, lectured and gave broadcasts.
New Zealand Herald 17th February 1926
Music from personal ephemera collection.
In the Bay of Plenty Times on the 26th July 1930 it has this to say about Arthur Alexander ‘Mr Arthur Alexander, who began his music studies in Dunedin, has just given a piano recital, which was a marked success, according to advice from London. He was preparing to go again to South Africa as official examiner.
Arthur Alexander’s father Alfred Leon Isaacs died in England in May 1935. The article in the Evening Star on the 16th May 1935 states that “Mr Isaacs leaves two children, one Albert (sic) Alexander, being a prominent pianist in local musical circles before going to England. He is now an examiner on the board of the Royal College of Music. The daughter, who is also at Home, is a violinist of accomplishment’.
There is unfortunately an unflattering review in the Bournemouth Graphic on the 6th June 1936 where it informs their readers that ‘The Concerto for piano and orchestra in C minor, by Rachmaninoff, with Arthur Alexander as soloist, was disappointing. Although technically adequate, his tempo in the first movement was too slow and he had hardly enough beauty of tone playing to do justice to the Adagio of the second movement’.
In the Bristol Evening Post of the 4th November 1960 it informs their readers about the debut of the Bristol Conservatoire Orchestra with Arthur Alexander as conductor. It informs their readers that ‘the orchestra has been rehearsing only since last September, but already, I am told have the solid nucleus of a highly skilled amateur group. Their programme is both impressive and ambitious’.
Arthur Alexander died on the 8th July 1969, his address at the time of his death was Highwoods Chinnor Hill, Chinnor, Oxfordshire.
In the Buckinghamshire Examiner on the 9th October there is the following article ‘two very fine musicians – composer and pianist Freda Swain and flautist Hilary Du Pre – will be giving a recital at Jordans village hall tomorrow evening, the proceeds of which will go to the Chalfont Centre for Epilepsy. The recital is being given under the auspices of Nemo Concerts, of which Miss Swain is founder and director. It is also one of the tribute concerts being held in memory of that wonderful teacher and musician, Arthur Alexander, who died last year. Miss Swain and her husband, the late Arthur Alexander, played all over the world, and played at the London Promenade Concerts several times under Sir Henry Wood. In recent years they performed many two-piano recitals throughout this area under the auspices of Nemo Concerts’.
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Alexander_(pianist)
www.paperspast.natlib.co.nz