Florence Hooton (8 July 1912 – 14 May 1988) was an English cellist. She was born in Scarborough, the daughter of a cellist, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Douglas Cameron, then in Zurich with Emanuel Feuermann.[1]
Her debut recital was in 1934 at the Wigmore Hall and her BBC Proms debut a year later, playing Beethoven's Triple Concerto.[2] During the 1930s she was a member of the Grinke Trio (with violinist Frederick Grinke and pianist Dorothy Manley) and the New English String Quartet. She later formed the Loveridge-Martin-Hooton Trio with pianist Iris Loveridge and her husband, the violinist David Martin. It was active between 1956 and 1976.[3]
Hooton became a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in 1964 and also gave private lessons in Suffolk and Sheffield.[4] The Academy holds a portrait of her by Wilfrid Gabriel de Glehn, painted in 1936. It is hanging in the Duke's Hall.[5]
Her premiere performances included:
- Gordon Jacob's Divertimento for unaccompanied Cello (1934) which Jacob dedicated to her.
- Frank Bridge's Oration on 18 January 1936, after the work had been turned down by Felix Salmond and by Guilhermina Suggia;[6]
- William Busch's Cello Concerto on 13 August 1943 at the Proms.[7]
- Arnold Bax's Legend-Sonata in F sharp minor for cello and piano (with Harriet Cohen) premiered in 1943. The work is dedicated to her.[8]
- Gordon Jacob's Cello Concerto at the Royal Albert Hall in 1955
- Kenneth Leighton's Cello Concerto at the Cheltenham Festival in 1956.
- Alan Bush's Concert Suite at the Royal Albert Hall in 1956.
- Helen Perkin's Cello Sonata in Eb in 1957 with the composer at the piano.[9]
Hooton recorded with Decca from the late 1930s and was a frequent broadcaster.[4] Her last public performance was in 1978. In 1981 she commissioned Gordon Jacob to write a Cello Octet for her students at the Royal Academy.[10] She was appointed OBE in 1982. Following her death the Academy established the annual David Martin/Florence Hooton Concerto Prize in her memory.[11]
Hooton married David Martin in 1938. They lived in Ickenham in Middlesex at 34, Thornhill Road,[12] and later at 345 Stag Lane, London NW9. There were two daughters. Martin died in 1982.[4][13]
External links
- Notes to Lyrita CD REAM.2104, Florence Hooton Plays Bax & Jacob Cello Works
- Portrait of Florence Hooton by Wilfrid Gabriel de Glehn
References
- ^ Palmer, Russell. British Music (1947), p. 127-8
- ^ BBC Proms performance archive, 23 August, 1935
- ^ Obituary, The Times, 24 May 1988, p.16
- ^ a b c Biographical Note, MusicWeb International
- ^ ArtUK.org
- ^ Campbell, Margaret. The Great Cellists (2004), p. 176
- ^ BBC Proms performance archive, 13 August, 1943
- ^ Bodleian Library Archives & Manuscripts
- ^ Musical Times Vol. 99, No. 1385, July 1958, p. 379
- ^ Jacob: Cello Octet, SJ Music
- ^ Johnstone, David. The Late Romantic English Cello School (2019)
- ^ Andrews, Cyrus. Radio Who's Who (1947)
- ^ David Martin obituary, The Times, 24 February 1982