Alan Richardson

Alan Richardson was born on 29 February 1904 in Edinburgh (Scotland). He learned the piano and worked as a pianist for the BBC in Scotland, before moving to London to study piano and composition under Harold Craxton at the Royal Academy of Music. Alan Richardson then worked as a pianist, he toured Australia and New Zealand in 1931 and was the accompanist for famous violinist Carl Flesch from 1936 to 1939. He also gave piano lectures at the Royal Academy of Music and was appointed professor in 1960, a position he held until his death. In 1961 Alan Richardson married renowned oboist Janet Craxton, the daughter of his former teacher Harold Craxton.
Alan Richardson died on 29 November 1978 in London.

Witold Lutoslawski composed the "Epitaph: in memoriam Alan Richardson, for oboe and piano" on commission of Janet Craxton shortly after the death of the composer. The instrumentation reflects the couple: oboe (=Janet Craxton) and piano (=Alan Richardson)

Alan Richardson also composed through his lifetime, mainly chamber music with an emphasis on piano and oboe. His first Piano Sonatina was premiered by himself at the Edinburgh Festival in 1949. His only orchestral piece is a "Junior concerto for piano and orchestra"

In my possession are 12 sketch books which Alan Richardson used to pen down ideas and complete compositions during the years 1934 to 1936. His earliest published composition - the "Roundelay for oboe and piano" - dates from 1935, so these sketch books contain the first compositions by Alan Richardson. To investigate which of these compositional ideas made it into completed works, one has to compare my sketch books with the manuscripts in the Alan Richardson Archive at the Royal Academy of Music Library. I didn't have the opportunity of a comparison so far and therefore can here only present details like titles from the sketch books:

The twelve sketch books are all in 8vo format, eleven of them are "Augener's Manuscript Music Books No.86 - A L No.63" and one is by "Bosworth & Co. B.C. No.26c". All writings are made by pencil. The sketch books are not numbered and there is no obvious order, but for the description I number them:

1. Includes only piano compositions, one is titled "Bagatelle" and two other works have tempo markings "Andante con moto" and "Allegro moderato, poco maestro". A total of 32 pages, all filled.
   The piano piece with the tempo indication "Andante con moto" is completed. Although it is not titled I have typeset the work and published below with the reference "Piano piece 1".
2. The title page bears the handwritten words "Completed Pieces for Piano Solo / April 1934". Included are the piano pieces "Seguidillas from 'Carmen' - freely transcribed A.R.", "Introduction", "Three pieces", "Rondo - The Non-Stop" and a short beginning of a piece for cello and piano. A total of 30 pages, all filled. Both the "Three pieces", the "Seguidilla" as well as the "Rondo" are complete works and the scores can be found below for free download.
3. The title page bears the handwritten words "Variations for pianoforte / Alan Richardson". Included are 13 variations for piano. A total of 30 pages, all filled. The work is complete and so I have typeset the composition, the score can be downloaded below.
4. Includes compositions for different settings. The first is "A la Sicilienne, for violin and piano", a "Naughty arrangement of Boccherini's 'Minuet', for piano", an untitled idea for piano, a continuation of "Orientale for two pianos" and a few bars for a work for viola and piano with tempo marking "Quasi recitativo". A total of 30 pages, 28 are filled. The back cover shows a handwritten note with calculations including "meats, shoes, suit, bracket, milk" and an address "Bruce Lockhart / 14A, Circus Road, N.W.8 / Primrose 6521".
5. Includes only piano compositions. There are no titles and only a few tempo markings: "Moderato", "Allegro" and "Con moto". A total of 30 pages, 29 are filled. On the back cover is the handwritten note "3 Grosvenor Square at 6.30".
6. The title page show the handwritten words "Rondel / Siciliana". The book contains several pages of a composition for 2 pianos, followed by a "Humoreske for piano", "Sicilienne (continued), for piano"and "Rondel for piano". A total of 22 pages, 21 are filled. On the back cover is a handwritten note "Guelda / Friday, 22nd / 3.30"
   The included composition "Rondel" is complete and was published 1935 by Oxford University Press under the title "The Dreaming Spires: A Rondel for pianoforte". The published score is prefaced by an extract of the poem "Thyrsis" by Matthew Arnold, but the "Rondel" in my sketch is both missing the full title and the reference to the poem.
7. The title page show the words "Piano / Sketches for sonata". Included are only piano compositions with tempo indications "Lento espressivo" and "Allegro". A total of 16 pages, all filled.
8. Includes only piano compositions. On the first page after a few bars of a piano work the following list of headwords was penned down: Harmonic sub-structure / Decoration / Differenatiation of style / Harmonic in melodic condensation / Treatment of words / Management of Pedals / Management of Cadences / The building of bass - Strength of fundamental chords / Key distribution". Page 4 is titled "Practice specimens" and followed by piano accompaniments to Bach works "Das alte Jahr vergangen ist", Die Nacht ist kommen", "Ein feste Burg" and "Warum sollt ich mich denn grämen". Pages 8-11 show small complete movements for piano titled Andante - Andantino - Allegro - Vivace. An incomplete piano work is headed "Fast and full of beans". The composition on the last page is titled "Palestrina". A total of 22 pages, all filled. On the back cover is the handwritten note "Percy Buck - Unfigured Harmony (Oxford Press) / Chorales of Bach (Feldman) / Excercises in Composition - Frederick Corder".
9. Includes only compositions for violin and piano. One work is titled "Bagatelle for violin and piano", other show only tempo indications "Lento, ma non troppo", "Allegro" and "Andante moderato". A total of 28 pages, all filled.
   The "Bagatelle for violin and piano" can be downloaded below.
10. Contains four finished compositions for two voices and piano. The title page shows the title of all four works is "Animal Nursery Rhymes". The text was written by Richard Willis. The four complete works are titled "The Silly Billy Rabbit", "A pound, a penny, a pig-in-a-poke", "A year and a day" and "Neddy he-haw". The book also includes the first few bars of a fifth song titled "Caw-caw, the cow". On the last page Alan Richardson wrote down titles which seem to belong to more songs. But it is unclear if he ever composed music for these works. The title page mentions "Animal Nursery Rhymes" and then lists the four complete songs. So it seems the four songs are the final version. These "Animal Nursery Rhymes" received an immediate performance and were broadcasted through BBC on 1 August 1936, sung by Guelda Waller and Very Maconochie with the composer at the piano.
11. Contains two complete compositions: a "Minuet for piano" and a transcription of the "Moto perpetuo" by Niccolo Paganini for piano. Other incomplete sketches include piano works with titles like "Polly's Tune", "Gavotte", "Old Scottish Melody", "Moment musical", "Prelude" and "Aria".
12. This sketch book is the one by Bosworth & Co. Included are ideas for a piano concerto, penned down in short score. The beginning of "Sonnet, for violin and piano" and several pages of compositions for piano, one with the tempo indication "Allegretto con moto". A total of 24 pages, all filled. On the back cover is the handwritten note "Penn Studios / Rudall Crescent / N.W.3".
    The piano piece with the tempo indication "Allegretto con moto" is completed. Although it is not titled I have typeset the work and published below with the reference "Piano piece 2".

With kind permission of the Richardson-Craxton family I am allowed to publish the completed compositions from these sketch books. Below one can find the scores for free download:

Alan Richardson: Animal Nursery Rhymes, for 2 voices and piano

Alan Richardson: Moto perpetuo, for piano (Paganini transcription)

Alan Richardson: Minuet for piano

Alan Richardson: Variations for pianoforte

Alan Richardson: Three pieces for piano

Alan Richardson: Bagatelle for violin and piano

Alan Richardson: Rondo "The Non-Stop", for piano

Alan Richardson: Seguidilla from 'Carmen', for piano

Alan Richardson: Piano piece 1

Alan Richardson: Piano piece 2

And for those who are interested to see the autograph manuscripts, I made a scan of the only composition from the sketch books in my possession that made it into a published score: The Dreaming Spires - A Rondel for pianoforte. Here is the scan of the original sketch:

archive of published scores

To compare the sketches in the manuscripts with the published works I tried to find as many publications of Alan Richardson's early compositions as possible. So far my archive contains the following compositions:

• Bagatelle for piano solo (dedicated to Maurice Cole). London: Oxford University Press, 1935.
• Sussex lullaby for pianoforte solo (dedicated to Harry Isaacs). London: Oxford University Press, 1937.
• The Dreaming Spires - A Rondel for Pianoforte (dedicated to W.R.). London: Oxford University Press, 1935.
• Pavane for pianoforte on a 16th century tune (dedicated to Harold Craxton). London: Oxford University Press, 1935
• Sonnet for violin and piano (dedicated to Winifred Small). London: Oxford University Press, 1938.
• Clorinda for pianoforte solo (dedicated to Madeleine Windsor). London: Joseph Williams, 1938.
• Meadowlands for pianoforte solo (dedicated to Shepherd Munn). London: Augener, 1937.