Hilda Wilson
Hilda Wilson (7 April 1860 – 1 December 1918)[1] was a British contralto and composer who also used the name Matilda Ellen Wilson and composed under the name Douglas Hope.[2]
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Life
Wilson was born into a musical family in Monmouth.[3] Her father James Wilson was the bandmaster of the Monmouth Volunteer Corps. However, her early years were largely spent in Gloucester, where her family moved when she was young.[4]
Her sister Agnes was also a contralto and her brother James taught at the West London Conservatoire of Music. In 1890, Wilson gave a series of vocal recitals assisted by Agnes, James, and another unidentified brother. Edward Elgar composed some songs for Wilson in October 1890, one of which was called "Garlands."[5]
Wilson studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London,[6] where she was a Westmorland Scholar, won the Parepa-Rosa scholarship[7] and bronze, silver, and gold medals.[8] She married Ashley Hart. Wilson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, a member of the Royal Society of Musicians, and an associate of the London Philharmonic Society.[9]
Wilson's performances included:
- 1874 - solo vocalist for the Gloucester Choral Society
- 1880 – Gloucester Festival
- 1883 – Leeds Festival
- 1885 – Messiah (Handel)
- 1887 – Norwich Festival
- 1889 – Requiem (Dvorak; conducted by the composer)[10]
- 1890 - vocal recitals at Steinway Hall (probably in London)
- 1891 – Birmingham Festival
- Nov 10, 1900 The Proms (the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts)
Wilson's compositions included:
Musical Theatre
- Nymphs and Shepherds (includes poems by Frederick Keel)
References
- Greene, Frank (1985). Composers on Record: An Index to Biographical Information on 14,000 Composers Whose Music Has Been Recorded. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-1816-3.
- Frenger, Carolyn (2004). "Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 11,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins". Reference Reviews ((4th edition). ed.). Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland. 19 (1): 53–54. doi:10.1108/09504120510573936. ISSN 0950-4125.
- Brown, James Duff; Stratton, Stephen Samuel (1897). British Musical Biography: A Dictionary of Musical Artists, Authors, and Composers Born in Britain and Its Colonies. S.S. Stratton.
- Bennett, Joseph (1892). "Some Singers of the Day". English Illustrated Magazine 1891-1892: 538.
- Reed, W. H. (2013-05-31). The Master Musicians - Elgar. Read Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4733-8828-4.
- Hixon, Donald L. (1993). Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography. Hennessee, Don A. (2nd ed.). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2769-7. OCLC 28889156.
- "Euphrosyne Parepa | Opera Scotland". www.operascotland.org. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
- Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International encyclopedia of women composers (Second edition, revised and enlarged ed.). New York. ISBN 0-9617485-2-4. OCLC 16714846.
- International Who's who in Music and Musical Gazetteer. Current Literature Publishing Company. 1918.
- "antonin-dvorak requiem PREMIERE - PERFORMER(S)". www.antonin-dvorak.cz. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
- "hilda wilson". www.unsungcomposers.com. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
- "Hilda Wilson - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-08-01.