Arthur Alexander (pianist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arthur Alexander (25 March 1891 – 8 July 1969) was a New Zealand-born pianist, teacher and composer who spent most of his career in the United Kingdom.[1]
Alexander was born in Dunedin and educated at Wellington College, where he studied piano with Maughan Barnett and composition and harmony with Lawrence Watkins. In 1907 he left for London to study at the Royal Academy of Music under Tobias Matthay (piano) and Frederick Corder (composition). He won the largest number of prizes ever at the academy, including the Macfarren and Chappell gold medals for piano playing, and was appointed a sub-professor there.[2] He was also a singer, and in early recitals he sometimes accompanied himself.[3]
Soloist and teacher
In 1912 he began his international career as a pianist with concerts in Berlin (with the Australian violinist Leila Doubleday) and Vienna. There were also many recitals in London including first performances of Bax (the Second Sonata, at the Aeolian Hall on 24 November 1919),[4] Scriabin (the Fifth Sonata),[5] Medtner (a personal friend) and others. From 1912 he was also professor at the Matthay Pianoforte School (1912–1939) and from 1920 a professor at the Royal College of Music. His many pupils included Malcolm Binns, Ruth Gipps, Thea King, John Longmire, Elizabeth Maconchy, Helen Perkin, Freda Swain (his future wife), John Tilbury and John White. His friends and associates included Arnold Bax, Sam Hartley Braithwaite, Harriet Cohen, John Ireland and Nikolai Medtner.