FANNY DAVIES
(GUERNSEY, BAILIWICK OF GUERNSEY, UNITED KINGDOM, 27 JUNE 1861 - LONDON,
ENGLAND, 1 SEPTEMBER 1934)
One of the most celebrated of
English pianists, Fanny Davies studied first with Karl Reinecke and Oscar Paul.
From 1883 through 1885, she was tutored by Clara Schumann and is now considered
to have been one of Schumann's most gifted and distinguished pupils. During the
1888 season, George Bernard Shaw attended a performance by Davies' which led
him to remark that her playing was "full of speed, lilt, life, and energy.
She scampered through a fugue of Bach's with a cleverness and jollity that
forced us to condone her utter irreverence." The Beethoven Fourth Concerto
was one of her specialties, and her Schumann playing was highly respected, particularly
because it derived directly from the great tradition of Clara Schumann herself.
Davies championed the classical works of Beethoven and Chopin as well as what
were then new compositions by Brahms and British composers. In 1887, she and
Adolf Brodsky gave the first performance of Ethel Smyth 's violin sonata in
Leipzig. In the late 1920s, she made one of the first electrical recordings of
Robert Schumann's concerto. She also played the then almost unknown Elizabethan
composers. Davies excelled as a recital accompanist and also collaborated with
world-class virtuosos like Pablo Casals. In 1921, she was the first musician to
give a piano recital in Westminster Abbey; she also gave many recitals in the
church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and is believed to be the first woman to
play piano in a church. Sir Edward Elgar dedicated his Concert Allegro Op. 46
to her. One of her students was Kathleen Dale.
TRACKLIST
1772 WELTE-MIGNON SCHUMANN
-”Kinderscenen” (Childhood Scenes) Op. 15, Nos. 1-6
1773 WELTE-MIGNON BRAHMS -
Intermezzo, Op. 116, No. 4, Eb
1773 WELTE-MIGNON SCHUMANN
-”Kinderscenen” (Childhood Scenes) Op. 15, Nos. 7-13
1774 WELTE-MIGNON BRAHMS -
Intermezzo, Op. 119, No. 2, e
1777 WELTE-MIGNON GHEYN Prelude,
Coucou (Carillon)
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