Arthur Eaglefield Hull

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Arthur Eaglefield Hull (10 March 1876 – 4 November 1928)[1] was an English music critic, writer, composer and organist.[2] He was the founder of the British Music Society.[3]

Early life and education[]

Initially a music student of the pianist and theorist Tobias Matthay, he graduated with a Doctorate of Music (Mus. Doc.) from Oxford University.

Career[]

Hull lived in Huddersfield in Yorkshire, and became an editor of several music publications including The Monthly Musical Record,[4] International Library of Books on Music, Library of Music and musicians (a series of books on composers), The Music Lover's library (short books on classical music subjects) and others.[2] He also taught the piano and organ privately with Frederic Lord and George Oldroyd among his notable pupils.[5][6]

Hull wrote a biography of Alexander Scriabin, and coined the term "mystic chord"[7] to describe the harmonic and melodic device which the Russian composer used in some of his later works.[8] He also wrote a living biography of another mystically inclined composer, Cyril Scott, for whom he had a high regard, calling him "at the least, the equal of those (composers) of any other country".[9] Hull translated and edited biographies of Mussorgsky, Handel, Beethoven and others.[10] He also wrote books and articles on subjects such as musical harmony and organ technique[11] (see bibliography), was a composer and arranger,[12] and produced editions of music scores (such as the "Organ Sonatas" of Alexandre Guilmant[13]).[2] He was the general editor for the reference work, "A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians" (Dent, 1924), which covered the period from 1880 onwards.[14]

In 1927, his book Music: Classical, Romantic and Modern was published but material in it was found to be borrowed from other writers. How much of this was plagiarism and how much a mere careless, hasty failure to cite sources is not known, but the resultant public denunciations (led by Percy Scholes)[15] left Hull very upset. He took his own life by throwing himself under a train at Huddersfield station.[2]

Bibliography[]

Books written by Hull[]

  • Organ playing: its technique and expression (London: Augener, 1911).
  • Modern harmony, its explanation and application (London, Augener Ltd, 1915).
  • A great Russian tone poet, Scriabin ("Library of Music and Musicians", London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1916).[16]
  • Harmony for students (London: Augener ltd., 1918).
  • Cyril Scott, composer, poet and philosopher ("Library of Music and Musicians", London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1919).

Books co-written by Hull[]

  • Scott, Cyril & Hull, A. E. The Philosophy of modernism – its connection with music (London: Waverley Book Co.).
  • Calvocoressi, M. D. & Hull, A. E. The national music of Russia, Musorgsky and Scriabin (London: Waverley Book).

Books translated and/or edited by Hull[]

  • Rolland, Romain. Handel (New York : Henry Holt and Co., 1916).
  • Musorgsky, the Russian musical nationalist (London : K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1919?).
  • A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians (Dent, London & Toronto 1924).

References[]

  1. ^ Sadie, S. (ed.) (1980) The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, [vol. #8]
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Arthur Eaglefield Hull (Sibley Music Library – 7 September 2010).
  3. ^ Alexandre Guilmant. Organ sonatas. Courier Corporation; 1913. ISBN 978-0-486-40620-6. p. 137–.
  4. ^ "An English Progressivist". The Cambridge Companion to Vaughan Williams. Cambridge University Press; 14 November 2013. ISBN 978-0-521-19768-7. p. 67, 76.
  5. ^ Margaret Frazer. "Frederic Lord". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  6. ^ Leach, Gerald. British Composer Profiles (2001), p. 152
  7. ^ "Skryabin and the Impossible", p.314. Simon Morrison. Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 51, No. 2. (Summer, 1998), pp. 283–330.
  8. ^ A great Russian tone poet, Scriabin ("Library of Music and Musicians", London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1916) pp. 101–115.
  9. ^ Cyril Scott, composer, poet and philosopher ("Library of Music and Musicians", London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1919) p180.
  10. ^ See advertisement at the front of Handel (London : K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1920).
  11. ^ Grainger the Modernist. Routledge; 9 March 2016. ISBN 978-1-317-12502-0. p. 80–.
  12. ^ Compositions and arrangements for the organ by A. E. Hull (University of Rochester).
  13. ^ Organ Sonatas by Alexandre Guilmant.
  14. ^ "A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians". Music and Letters (review). V (4): 374–375. October 1924. doi:10.1093/ml/V.4.374.
  15. ^ Scholes, Percy. "The Ethics of Borrowing", Musical Times, No 1019, 1 January 1928, p 59
  16. ^ The Alexander Scriabin Companion: History, Performance, and Lore. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 27 June 2017. ISBN 978-1-4422-3262-4. p. 274–.

External links[]

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