Cyril Smith (pianist)
Cyril James Smith (born Middlesbrough, England, August 11, 1909; died London, August 2, 1974) [1] was a virtuoso concert pianist of the 30s, 40s and 50s, piano teacher and composer.
Performing Career
Cyril Smith studied at the Royal College of Music from 1926 to 1930, winning the Daily Express Piano Contest in 1928 and making his concert début in Birmingham in 1929.[2] Cyril Smith performed as off-screen piano accompanist in several of the 30-line Baird system television broadcasts of 1935.[3][4] In 1937 Cyril married pianist Phyllis Sellick (born Ilford, England, June 16, 1911 and died May 26 2007)[1][5][6] and they began performing together in 1941[7] making many international tours and recordings as a duo, along with solo recordings. Cyril's work was largely from the Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Schubert, Balakirev, and Albéniz repertoire. Malcolm Arnold, Sir Arthur Bliss, Gordon Jacob and Vaughan Williams also wrote music for the duo.[8][9][10]
Among Cyril Smith's many performances[11][12][13][14][15] were appearances at The Barn Theatre,[2] Oxted in the 1930s and at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts in 1929, 1937, 1944, 1946, 1953 and 1969.[16] During a tour of Russia (then the Soviet Union) in 1956 he suffered a stroke which paralyzed his left arm,[2][8][9][10][17][18] however with music arranged by themselves, or written or arranged by composer friends Cyril and Phyllis were able to continue to perform three-handed music concerts as a piano duo.[10] Notable among the works composed for them was Malcolm Arnold's Concerto for Two Pianos (3 hands), opus 104 dedicated to Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick[19] who premiered it at the Proms in 1969.[20]
Teaching Career
Cyril and Phyllis both taught piano at the Royal College of Music[7] - Cyril starting in 1934. Among those who studied piano with Cyril Smith are: Ray Alston,[21] John Barstow, Clifford Benson,[22] Philip R Buttall,[23][24][25][26][27] Maureen Challinor, June Clark,[28][29][30] Patrick Flynn,[31] Joan Havill,[32][33][34] David Helfgott,[35] Peter Hill,[36][37][38][39][40][41] Niel Immelman,[42][43][44][45][46] Rae de Lisle,[47] Barry Morgan,[34] Thalia Myers,[48][49] Siva Oke,[50] Aydin Önaç,[51] Jennifer Pearce,[52] June Pepin,[53] Joan Ryall,[29] Stephen Savage,[54] Kimberly Schmidt,[55] Jo Spanjer,[56] Kathron Sturrock,[57] Sharon Joy Vogan,[58] David Ward,[59] Fanny Waterman,[60] Gillian Weir,[61][62][63][64]Kenneth Weir,[65] and Simon Young.[66] Cyril was Professor of Pianoforte from 1973 until his death in East Sheen in 1974.[2]
Autobiography
Cyril Smith's autobiography is entitled Duet for Three Hands (Angus & Robertson, 1958).[1][2]
Honours
Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick were both appointed member of the Order of the British Empire in 1971.[6]
External Links
- Brief Biography: The Barn Theatre, Oxted
- Photographs: York Symphony Orchestra website, National Portrait Gallery and of Phyllis Sellick at R Gross Music and at the York Symphony Orchestra website.
References
- ^ a b c Women at the Piano Cite error: The named reference "pianoWomen" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b c d e Past Performers, The Barn Theatre Cite error: The named reference "barnTheatre" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ University of Strathclyde, Talk given by Diana Richardson
- ^ Bruce Norman, Here's Looking at You - The Story of British Television , Royal Television Society
- ^ Phyllis Sellick Obituary, Guardian
- ^ a b Phyllis Sellick Obituary, Daily Telegraph
- ^ a b Duopianists, Women at the Piano Cite error: The named reference "pianoWomenDuo" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Malcolm Arnold by Adrian Tan, The Flying Inkpot Cite error: The named reference "inkpot" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Malcolm Arnold a record review by Steve Schwartz, Classical Net, 1996 Cite error: The named reference "classicalNet" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b c Piano Music for the Left Hand Alone, Hans Brofeldt Cite error: The named reference "brofeldt" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society
- ^ History of the Chichester Symphony Orchestra by Edward Richards
- ^ Egham & District Music Club, History
- ^ Epsom Symphony Orchestra
- ^ Discover Leeds
- ^ Rob Wilton Theatricalia
- ^ OZarts review, 2004
- ^ University of Maryland, A Buyer's Guide to Historic Piano Recordings Reissued on Compact Discs
- ^ The Malcolm Arnold Discography, MusicWeb International
- ^ Pianos online
- ^ Piano Masterclass by Ray Alston, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Music, 2006
- ^ Clifford Benson biography, Hyperion Records
- ^ Phillip R Buttall biography, Saxtet Publications
- ^ The Lone Ar-ranger!, Thorne Music
- ^ Marcophon, Editions Marc Reift
- ^ Classical Artists
- ^ Phillip R Buttall
- ^ CDBaby
- ^ a b Joan Ryall and June Clark in Concert, Charlemagne Music Cite error: The named reference "charle" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Piano Pieces by June Clark, Charlemagne Music
- ^ Symphony Silicon Valley
- ^ Joan Havill biography, Guildhall School of Music
- ^ Joan Havill biography, Guildhall School of Music
- ^ a b The Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966 Cite error: The named reference "teara" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ David Helfgott's biography, Geocities
- ^ Peter Hill biography, Music Now
- ^ Peter Hill biography, allmusic
- ^ Peter Hill biography, The University of Sheffield
- ^ Professor Peter Hill biography, The University of Sheffield
- ^ Electrocd.com
- ^ Annual Peter Gram Swing Lecture and Concert to Feature 'Music of Olivier Messiaen', Swarthmore
- ^ Fourth International Piano Festival - Niel Immelman, Oxford Philomusica
- ^ Niel Immelman biography, Oxford Philomusica
- ^ Piano Masterclass and Recital, Peter Hill, The University of Hull, 2005
- ^ Niel Immelman, Recitals, Jacques Samuels Piano, 2006
- ^ Niel Immelman biography, Meridian Records
- ^ Alumni Newsletter, Guildhall School of Music, 2005
- ^ Thalia Myers biography on thaliamyers.com
- ^ Thalia Myers biography, ABSRM Publishing
- ^ Bill Newman, Tete-a-Tete, Music and Vision Daily
- ^ Chandos
- ^ Guests, Unstructured Light
- ^ June Pepin biography, Best Books Online
- ^ Stephen Savage Artist, Move Records
- ^ Acclaimed Pianist Concludes IHM Chapel Concert Season, Immaculate Heart of Mary
- ^ Paul Amphlett, A Poetry Kit Interview
- ^ Kathron Sturrock biography, The Royal College of Music
- ^ Anthony Ritchie, Piano Preludes, Atoll
- ^ David Ward biography on ABRS Publishing
- ^ Fanny Waterman biography, Faber Music
- ^ Gillian Weir biography, Linn Records
- ^ Key player in the uprising by Kenneth Walton, gillianweir.com
- ^ Gillian Weir biography, gillianweir.com
- ^ She really captivates the audience by Kelley Kirk-Swindell, The Daily Reflector
- ^ Kenneth Weir biography, kennethweir.com
- ^ Simon Young, Professor of Piano, Trinity College of Music