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{{Short description|French-born musician and instrument maker (1858–1940)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
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| death_place = [[Surrey]], England
| death_place = [[Surrey]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1940|02|28|1858|02|24|df=yes}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1940|02|28|1858|02|24|df=yes}}
| alma_mater = [[Royal College of Music]]<br>[[Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles|Brussels Conservatoire]]
| alma_mater = {{ubl|[[Royal College of Music]]|[[Brussels Conservatoire]]}}
| spouse = {{plainlist|
| parents = Rudolph Arnold-Dolmetsch<br>Marie Zélie-Guillouard
* {{marriage|Marie Morel|1878|1898|end=div.}}
| spouse = Marie Morel<br>(1878-1898)<br>Elodie Désirée<br>(1899-1903)<br>Mabel Johnston<br>(1903-1940, his death)
* {{marriage|Elodie Désirée|1899|1903|end=div.}}
* {{marriage|Mabel Johnston|1903}}
}}
| children = 4
| children = 4
| awards = [[Legion of Honour|Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur]]
| awards = Chevaliers of the [[Legion of Honour]]
| occupation = musician, instrument maker
| occupation = {{hlist|Musician|instrument maker}}
}}
}}
'''Eugène Arnold Dolmetsch''' (24 February 185828 February 1940), was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in [[Haslemere]], Surrey. He was a leading figure in the 20th-century [[early music revival|revival]] of interest in [[early music]].
'''Eugène Arnold Dolmetsch''' (24 February 1858{{sndash}}28 February 1940), was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in [[Haslemere]], Surrey. He was a leading figure in the 20th-century [[early music revival|revival]] of interest in [[early music]].


==Early life==
==Early life==
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The Dolmetsch family was originally of Bohemian origin, but (Eugène) Arnold Dolmetsch, the son of Rudolph Arnold Dolmetsch and his wife Marie Zélie (née Guillouard) was born at [[Le Mans]], France, where the family had established a piano-making business. It was in the family's workshops that Dolmetsch acquired the skills of instrument-making that would later be put to use in his early music workshops.
The Dolmetsch family was originally of Bohemian origin, but (Eugène) Arnold Dolmetsch, the son of Rudolph Arnold Dolmetsch and his wife Marie Zélie (née Guillouard) was born at [[Le Mans]], France, where the family had established a piano-making business. It was in the family's workshops that Dolmetsch acquired the skills of instrument-making that would later be put to use in his early music workshops.


He studied music at the [[Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles|Brussels Conservatoire]] and learnt the violin with [[Henri Vieuxtemps]]. In 1883 he travelled to London to attend the [[Royal College of Music]], where he studied under [[Henry Holmes (composer)|Henry Holmes]] and [[Frederick Bridge]], being awarded a Bachelor of Music degree in 1889.
He studied music at the [[Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles|Brussels Conservatoire]] and learnt the violin with [[Henri Vieuxtemps]]. In 1883 he travelled to London to attend the [[Royal College of Music]], where he studied under [[Henry Holmes (composer)|Henry Holmes]] and [[Frederick Bridge]] and was awarded a Bachelor of Music degree in 1889.


==The early music revival==
==The early music revival==
[[File:Arnold Dolmetsch piano.jpg|left|thumb|A piano with Arnold Dolmetsch's inscription, in the studio of Swiss luthier, Claude Lebet]]
[[File:Arnold Dolmetsch piano.jpg|left|thumb|A harpsichord spinet with Arnold Dolmetsch's inscription, in the studio of Swiss luthier, Claude Lebet]]
[[File:Horniman_instruments_08.jpg|thumb|Instruments built and restored by Dometsch in the Horniman museum, London, UK.]]
[[File:Horniman instruments 08.jpg|thumb|Instruments built and restored by Dolmetsch in the Horniman museum, London, UK.]]
Dolmetsch was employed for a short time as a music teacher at [[Dulwich College]], but his interest in early instruments was awakened by seeing the collections of historic instruments in the [[British Museum]], and, after constructing his first reproduction of a [[lute]] in 1893, he began building keyboard instruments. William Morris encouraged him to build his first [[harpsichord]]. He left England to build [[clavichord]]s and harpsichords for [[Chickering & Sons|Chickering]] of Boston (1905–1911), then for [[Gaveau]] of Paris (1911–1914).
Dolmetsch was employed for a short time as a music teacher at [[Dulwich College]], but his interest in early instruments was awakened by seeing the collections of historic instruments in the [[British Museum]]. After constructing his first reproduction of a [[lute]] in 1893, he began building keyboard instruments. William Morris encouraged him to build his first [[harpsichord]]. In 1900, he conducted the orchestra at [[Carpenters' Hall|Carpenter’s Hall]] playing 17th century instruments in a revival of the [[First Quarto of Hamlet|First Quarto]] version of Hamlet by the [[Elizabethan Stage Society]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 February 1900 |title=Summary of News - Domestic |pages=9 |work=The Manchester Guardian}}</ref> He left England to build [[clavichord]]s and harpsichords for [[Chickering & Sons|Chickering]] of Boston (1905&ndash;1911), then for [[Gaveau]] of Paris (1911&ndash;1914).


During Dolmetsch's time at Chickering, he resided in a house in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], partially of his own design, with the aid of architects Luquer and Godfrey.<ref>{{cite web|website=Dolmetsch Online|title=The Dolmetsch Story|last=Blood|first=Brian|archive-date=June 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602211739/https://www.dolmetsch.com/Dolworks.htm|url=https://www.dolmetsch.com/Dolworks.htm|publisher=Dolmetsch Organization}}</ref> It was through Dolmetsch's work in Cambridge that a wealthy benefactress, Miss [[Belle Skinner]], was able to restore a number of rare instruments, including a [[spinet]] owned by [[Marie Antoinette]], which today comprise the founding collection of [[Yale University|Yale's]] [[Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments|Collection of Musical Instruments]].<ref>{{cite AV media | people=Fanny Reed Hammond | time =6:16 (Track 1, Side A) | year=1958 | title=The Belle Skinner Collection of Old Musical Instruments | medium=LP | location=Holyoke, Mass. | publisher=Privately pressed|oclc=79919027|quote=Miss Skinner was fortunate in having close at hand, in our Cambridge, the foremost genius of the century, in making and restoring old musical instruments, Arnold Dolmetsch. Who, with his gifted family, lived over here during the First World War.}}</ref>
During Dolmetsch's time at Chickering, he resided in a house in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], partially of his own design, with the aid of architects Luquer and Godfrey.<ref>{{cite web|website=Dolmetsch Online|title=The Dolmetsch Story|last=Blood|first=Brian|archive-date=June 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602211739/https://www.dolmetsch.com/Dolworks.htm|url=https://www.dolmetsch.com/Dolworks.htm|publisher=Dolmetsch Organization}}</ref> It was through Dolmetsch's work in Cambridge that a wealthy benefactress, Miss [[Belle Skinner]], was able to restore a number of rare instruments, including a [[spinet]] owned by [[Marie Antoinette]], which today comprise the founding collection of [[Yale University|Yale's]] [[Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments|Collection of Musical Instruments]].<ref>{{cite AV media | people=Fanny Reed Hammond | time =6:16 (Track 1, Side A) | year=1958 | title=The Belle Skinner Collection of Old Musical Instruments | medium=LP | location=Holyoke, Mass. | publisher=Privately pressed|oclc=79919027|quote=Miss Skinner was fortunate in having close at hand, in our Cambridge, the foremost genius of the century, in making and restoring old musical instruments, Arnold Dolmetsch. Who, with his gifted family, lived over here during the First World War.}}</ref>
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In 1925 he founded an annual chamber music festival, the International Dolmetsch Early Music Festival, which is held every July at Haslemere in the Haslemere Hall.
In 1925 he founded an annual chamber music festival, the International Dolmetsch Early Music Festival, which is held every July at Haslemere in the Haslemere Hall.


Dolmetsch was active in the cultural life of London, and his friends and admirers included [[William Morris]], [[Selwyn Image]], [[Roger Fry]], [[Gabriele D'Annunzio]], [[George Bernard Shaw]], [[Marco Pallis]], [[Ezra Pound]], [[George Moore (novelist)|George Moore]], whose novel ''Evelyn Innes'' celebrates Dolmetsch's life and work, and [[W. B. Yeats]].
Dolmetsch settled in Dulwich (at 'Dowlands', 172 Rosendale Road) and was active in the cultural life of London. His friends and admirers included [[William Morris]], [[Selwyn Image]], [[Roger Fry]], [[Gabriele D'Annunzio]], [[George Bernard Shaw]], [[Marco Pallis]], [[Ezra Pound]], [[George Moore (novelist)|George Moore]], whose novel ''Evelyn Innes'' celebrates Dolmetsch's life and work, and [[W. B. Yeats]].


He was responsible for rediscovering the school of English composers for viol [[Consort of instruments|consort]] (including [[John Jenkins (composer)|John Jenkins]] and [[William Lawes]]), leading to [[William Henry Hadow|Sir Henry Hadow]]'s tribute that Dolmetsch had "opened the door to a forgotten treasure-house of beauty". He was also largely responsible for the revival of the [[Recorder (musical instrument)|recorder]], both as a serious concert instrument, and as an instrument which made early music accessible to amateur performers. He went on to promote the recorder as an instrument for teaching music in schools.
He was responsible for rediscovering the school of English composers for viol [[Consort of instruments|consort]] (including [[John Jenkins (composer)|John Jenkins]] and [[William Lawes]]), leading to [[William Henry Hadow|Sir Henry Hadow]]'s tribute that Dolmetsch had "opened the door to a forgotten treasure-house of beauty". He was also largely responsible for the revival of the [[Recorder (musical instrument)|recorder]], both as a serious concert instrument, and as an instrument which made early music accessible to amateur performers. He went on to promote the recorder as an instrument for teaching music in schools.
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==Dolmetsch family==
==Dolmetsch family==
[[File:Cécile Dolmetsch and family.png|thumb|Arnold Dolmetsch and his family: c.1928 Back row: Leslie Ward (Ceciles husband), [[Carl Dolmetsch|Carl]], Rudolph, Millicent Wheaton–Dolmetsch, George Carley. Front row: [[Mabel Dolmetsch|Mabel]], Nathalie Dolmetsch–Carley, Arnold, [[Cécile Dolmetsch|Cécile Dolmetsch-Ward]], Christopher Ward - Arnold and Mabel Dolmetsch's family outside Jesses]]

Arnold Dolmetsch was married three times. On 28 May 1878 he married Marie Morel of [[Namur, Belgium]] (a widow, ten years his senior) but was divorced in 1898. His second wife, to whom he was married on 11 September 1899, in [[Zürich]], was Elodie Désirée, the divorced wife of his brother. This marriage ended in divorce in 1903. Thirdly, he was married on 23 September 1903 to Mabel Johnston, one of his pupils.
Arnold Dolmetsch was married three times. On 28 May 1878 he married Marie Morel of [[Namur, Belgium]] (a widow, ten years his senior) but was divorced in 1898. His second wife, to whom he was married on 11 September 1899, in [[Zürich]], was Elodie Désirée, the divorced wife of his brother. This marriage ended in divorce in 1903. Thirdly, he was married on 23 September 1903 to Mabel Johnston, one of his pupils.


Dolmetsch encouraged the members of his family to learn the skills of instrument-making and musicianship and the family frequently appeared together in concerts, playing instruments constructed in the Dolmetsch workshops. Following the death of Arnold Dolmetsch at Haslemere in 1940, his family continued to promote the building and playing of early instruments.
Dolmetsch encouraged the members of his family to learn the skills of instrument-making and musicianship and the family frequently appeared together in concerts, playing instruments constructed in the Dolmetsch workshops. Following the death of Arnold Dolmetsch at Haslemere in 1940, his family continued to promote the building and playing of early instruments.


* Mabel Dolmetsch, his wife, was a noted player of the bass viol. She wrote "Dances of England and France 1450 - 1600" which includes tunes set by Arnold Dolmetsch.
* [[Mabel Dolmetsch]] (1874–1963), his third wife, was a noted player of the bass viol. She wrote "Dances of England and France 1450 - 1600" which includes tunes set by Arnold Dolmetsch.
* [[Rudolph Dolmetsch]], his son, was a gifted keyboard player, who died in the sinking of the [[SS Ceramic|SS ''Ceramic'']] in 1942.
* [[Cécile Dolmetsch]] (1904–1997), his daughter, was a soprano and specialist of the [[pardessus de viole]].
* [[Nathalie Dolmetsch]] (31 July 1905{{snd}}14 Feb 1989),{{r|Grove-Dolmetsch}} his daughter, was born in Chicago to Dolmetsch and his wife Mabel. Nathalie continued her mother's tradition of early dancing and specialised in playing the viola de gamba. She founded the Viola da Gamba Society in 1948 and edited music and wrote on the viols.{{r|Campbell-Dolmetsch|p=298}} Her publications include ''Twelve Lessons on the Viola da Gamba, with Advice by [[Christopher Simpson (musician)|Christopher Simpson]] (1659), [[Thomas Mace]] (1676), [[Marin Marais]] (1686), [[Jean Rousseau (violist)|Jean Rousseau]] (1687), and [[Hubert Le Blanc]] (1740)'' (Schott & Co., London, 1950), and ''The Viola da Gamba: its Origin and History, its Technique and Musical Resources'' (Hinrichsen, London, 1962, Hinrichsen No. 759).{{r|Jisc-NDolmetsch}}
* Nathalie Dolmetsch, his daughter, was a viol player and leading member of the [[Viola da Gamba Society]].
* [[Rudolph Dolmetsch]] (1906–1942), his son, was a gifted keyboard player, gamba player, and composer, who died in the sinking of the [[SS Ceramic|SS ''Ceramic'']] in 1942. His Concerto for clarinet, harp and orchestra (1939) was revived and recorded in 2020.<ref>[https://signumrecords.com/product/rediscovered-british-clarinet-concertos-by-dolmetsch-maconchy-spain-dunk-wishart/SIGCD656/ ''Rediscovered: British Clarinet Concertos'', Signum Classics SIGCD656 (2020)]</ref>
* [[Carl Dolmetsch]], his son, was a noted recorder player and took over the running of his father's instrument-making business.
* Cecile Dolmetsch, his daughter, was a viol player.
* [[Carl Dolmetsch]] (1911–1997), his son, was a noted recorder player and took over his father's instrument-making business.

== Books and Writings ==

* "The Interpretation of Music From The 17th and 18th Centuries" (1915/1946)
* "Select English songs and dialogues of the 16th and 17th centuries" (1954)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dolmetsch, Arnold, 1858-1940 {{!}} The Online Books Page |url=https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Dolmetsch,%20Arnold,%201858-1940 |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu}}</ref>
* "The Viols," ''The Consort'' (1982): 467–471.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dolmetsch Online - Dolmetsch Viol Writings |url=https://www.dolmetsch.com/dolviolwritings.htm |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=www.dolmetsch.com}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
Line 59: Line 69:


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Campbell-Dolmetsch>{{cite book
|last1=Campbell
|first1=Margaret
|title=Dolmetsch: The Man and His Work
|year=1975
|publisher=Hamilton
|location=London
|url=https://archive.org/details/dolmetschmanhisw0000camp
|accessdate=2020-12-04
|url-access=registration
|isbn=978-0-241-89176-6
|via=The [[Internet Archive]] }}</ref>
<ref name=Grove-Dolmetsch>{{cite web
|last1=Campbell
|first1=Margaret
|title=Dolmetsch family
|website=Grove Music online
|year=2001
|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.07949
|isbn=9781561592630
|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.07949
|accessdate=2020-12-04 }}</ref>
<ref name=Jisc-NDolmetsch>{{cite web
|title=Search Results for author: dolmetsch, nathalie
|website=Library Hub Discover
|url=https://discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk/search?q=author%3A+dolmetsch%2C+nathalie
|accessdate=2020-12-04 }}</ref>
}}


* H. C. G. Matthews and Brian Harrison (editors): ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-19-861366-0}}
* H. C. G. Matthews and Brian Harrison (editors): ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-19-861366-0}}
* [[Percy Scholes]]: ''[[The Oxford Companion to Music]]'', 10th edition, Oxford University Press, 1970
* [[Percy Scholes]]: ''[[The Oxford Companion to Music]]'', 10th edition, Oxford University Press, 1970
* Margaret Campbell: ''Dolmetsch. The Man and His Work''. London, Hamilton, 1975. {{ISBN|0295954167}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
* [http://www.dolmetsch.com/Dolworks.htm The Dolmetsch Story] at dolmetsch online, accessed 2 March 2005
* [http://www.dolmetsch.com/Dolworks.htm The Dolmetsch Story] at dolmetsch online, accessed 2 March 2005
* [http://www.dhds.org.uk/ The Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society], founded 1970 in memory of Mabel Dolmetsch
* [http://www.dhds.org.uk/ The Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society], founded 1970 in memory of Mabel Dolmetsch
* Jannis Wichmann, Art. [https://www.sophie-drinker-institut.de/dolmetsch-familie Dolmetsch, Familie], in: Lexikon "Europäische Instrumentalistinnen des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts", hrsg. von Freia Hoffmann, 2013/2023.
* {{IMSLP|id=Dolmetsch, Arnold}}
* {{IMSLP|id=Dolmetsch, Arnold}}


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[[Category:1940 deaths]]
[[Category:1940 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Le Mans]]
[[Category:People from Le Mans]]
[[Category:French classical violinists]]
[[Category:19th-century French violinists]]
[[Category:19th-century male musicians]]
[[Category:French male classical violinists]]
[[Category:British classical musicians]]
[[Category:British classical musicians]]
[[Category:French multi-instrumentalists]]
[[Category:French multi-instrumentalists]]
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[[Category:British multi-instrumentalists]]
[[Category:British multi-instrumentalists]]
[[Category:French performers of early music]]
[[Category:French performers of early music]]
[[Category:Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur]]
[[Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music]]
[[Category:Royal Conservatory of Brussels alumni]]
[[Category:Royal Conservatory of Brussels alumni]]
[[Category:French people of German descent]]
[[Category:French people of German descent]]
[[Category:French expatriates in Belgium]]
[[Category:French emigrants]]
[[Category:French expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Expatriates in Belgium]]
[[Category:Immigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British performers of early music]]
[[Category:British performers of early music]]
[[Category:Recorder makers]]
[[Category:Recorder makers]]

Latest revision as of 20:19, 18 May 2024

Arnold Dolmetsch
Portrait of Arnold Dolmetsch playing a recorder, by Alvin Langdon Coburn, 1916
Born
Eugène Arnold Dolmetsch

24 February 1858
Le Mans, France
Died28 February 1940(1940-02-28) (aged 82)
Surrey, England
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Musician
  • instrument maker
Spouses
Marie Morel
(m. 1878; div. 1898)
Elodie Désirée
(m. 1899; div. 1903)
Mabel Johnston
(m. 1903)
Children4
AwardsChevaliers of the Legion of Honour

Eugène Arnold Dolmetsch (24 February 1858 – 28 February 1940), was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey. He was a leading figure in the 20th-century revival of interest in early music.

Early life

[edit]

The Dolmetsch family was originally of Bohemian origin, but (Eugène) Arnold Dolmetsch, the son of Rudolph Arnold Dolmetsch and his wife Marie Zélie (née Guillouard) was born at Le Mans, France, where the family had established a piano-making business. It was in the family's workshops that Dolmetsch acquired the skills of instrument-making that would later be put to use in his early music workshops.

He studied music at the Brussels Conservatoire and learnt the violin with Henri Vieuxtemps. In 1883 he travelled to London to attend the Royal College of Music, where he studied under Henry Holmes and Frederick Bridge and was awarded a Bachelor of Music degree in 1889.

The early music revival

[edit]
A harpsichord spinet with Arnold Dolmetsch's inscription, in the studio of Swiss luthier, Claude Lebet
Instruments built and restored by Dolmetsch in the Horniman museum, London, UK.

Dolmetsch was employed for a short time as a music teacher at Dulwich College, but his interest in early instruments was awakened by seeing the collections of historic instruments in the British Museum. After constructing his first reproduction of a lute in 1893, he began building keyboard instruments. William Morris encouraged him to build his first harpsichord. In 1900, he conducted the orchestra at Carpenter’s Hall playing 17th century instruments in a revival of the First Quarto version of Hamlet by the Elizabethan Stage Society.[1] He left England to build clavichords and harpsichords for Chickering of Boston (1905–1911), then for Gaveau of Paris (1911–1914).

During Dolmetsch's time at Chickering, he resided in a house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, partially of his own design, with the aid of architects Luquer and Godfrey.[2] It was through Dolmetsch's work in Cambridge that a wealthy benefactress, Miss Belle Skinner, was able to restore a number of rare instruments, including a spinet owned by Marie Antoinette, which today comprise the founding collection of Yale's Collection of Musical Instruments.[3]

He went on to establish an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey, and proceeded to build copies of almost every kind of instrument dating from the 15th to 18th centuries, including viols, lutes, recorders and a range of keyboard instruments. His 1915 book The Interpretation of the Music of the XVIIth and XVIIIth Centuries was a milestone in the development of 'authentic performances' of early music.

In 1925 he founded an annual chamber music festival, the International Dolmetsch Early Music Festival, which is held every July at Haslemere in the Haslemere Hall.

Dolmetsch settled in Dulwich (at 'Dowlands', 172 Rosendale Road) and was active in the cultural life of London. His friends and admirers included William Morris, Selwyn Image, Roger Fry, Gabriele D'Annunzio, George Bernard Shaw, Marco Pallis, Ezra Pound, George Moore, whose novel Evelyn Innes celebrates Dolmetsch's life and work, and W. B. Yeats.

He was responsible for rediscovering the school of English composers for viol consort (including John Jenkins and William Lawes), leading to Sir Henry Hadow's tribute that Dolmetsch had "opened the door to a forgotten treasure-house of beauty". He was also largely responsible for the revival of the recorder, both as a serious concert instrument, and as an instrument which made early music accessible to amateur performers. He went on to promote the recorder as an instrument for teaching music in schools.

In 1937 he received a British Civil list pension and in 1938 he was created a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by the French government.

Dolmetsch family

[edit]
Arnold Dolmetsch and his family: c.1928 Back row: Leslie Ward (Ceciles husband), Carl, Rudolph, Millicent Wheaton–Dolmetsch, George Carley. Front row: Mabel, Nathalie Dolmetsch–Carley, Arnold, Cécile Dolmetsch-Ward, Christopher Ward - Arnold and Mabel Dolmetsch's family outside Jesses

Arnold Dolmetsch was married three times. On 28 May 1878 he married Marie Morel of Namur, Belgium (a widow, ten years his senior) but was divorced in 1898. His second wife, to whom he was married on 11 September 1899, in Zürich, was Elodie Désirée, the divorced wife of his brother. This marriage ended in divorce in 1903. Thirdly, he was married on 23 September 1903 to Mabel Johnston, one of his pupils.

Dolmetsch encouraged the members of his family to learn the skills of instrument-making and musicianship and the family frequently appeared together in concerts, playing instruments constructed in the Dolmetsch workshops. Following the death of Arnold Dolmetsch at Haslemere in 1940, his family continued to promote the building and playing of early instruments.

  • Mabel Dolmetsch (1874–1963), his third wife, was a noted player of the bass viol. She wrote "Dances of England and France 1450 - 1600" which includes tunes set by Arnold Dolmetsch.
  • Cécile Dolmetsch (1904–1997), his daughter, was a soprano and specialist of the pardessus de viole.
  • Nathalie Dolmetsch (31 July 1905 – 14 Feb 1989),[4] his daughter, was born in Chicago to Dolmetsch and his wife Mabel. Nathalie continued her mother's tradition of early dancing and specialised in playing the viola de gamba. She founded the Viola da Gamba Society in 1948 and edited music and wrote on the viols.[5]: 298  Her publications include Twelve Lessons on the Viola da Gamba, with Advice by Christopher Simpson (1659), Thomas Mace (1676), Marin Marais (1686), Jean Rousseau (1687), and Hubert Le Blanc (1740) (Schott & Co., London, 1950), and The Viola da Gamba: its Origin and History, its Technique and Musical Resources (Hinrichsen, London, 1962, Hinrichsen No. 759).[6]
  • Rudolph Dolmetsch (1906–1942), his son, was a gifted keyboard player, gamba player, and composer, who died in the sinking of the SS Ceramic in 1942. His Concerto for clarinet, harp and orchestra (1939) was revived and recorded in 2020.[7]
  • Carl Dolmetsch (1911–1997), his son, was a noted recorder player and took over his father's instrument-making business.

Books and Writings

[edit]
  • "The Interpretation of Music From The 17th and 18th Centuries" (1915/1946)
  • "Select English songs and dialogues of the 16th and 17th centuries" (1954)[8]
  • "The Viols," The Consort (1982): 467–471.[9]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Summary of News - Domestic". The Manchester Guardian. 3 February 1900. p. 9.
  2. ^ Blood, Brian. "The Dolmetsch Story". Dolmetsch Online. Dolmetsch Organization. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019.
  3. ^ Fanny Reed Hammond (1958). The Belle Skinner Collection of Old Musical Instruments (LP). Holyoke, Mass.: Privately pressed. Event occurs at 6:16 (Track 1, Side A). OCLC 79919027. Miss Skinner was fortunate in having close at hand, in our Cambridge, the foremost genius of the century, in making and restoring old musical instruments, Arnold Dolmetsch. Who, with his gifted family, lived over here during the First World War.
  4. ^ Campbell, Margaret (2001). "Dolmetsch family". Grove Music online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.07949. ISBN 9781561592630. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  5. ^ Campbell, Margaret (1975). Dolmetsch: The Man and His Work. London: Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-241-89176-6. Retrieved 4 December 2020 – via The Internet Archive.
  6. ^ "Search Results for author: dolmetsch, nathalie". Library Hub Discover. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  7. ^ Rediscovered: British Clarinet Concertos, Signum Classics SIGCD656 (2020)
  8. ^ "Dolmetsch, Arnold, 1858-1940 | The Online Books Page". onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Dolmetsch Online - Dolmetsch Viol Writings". www.dolmetsch.com. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
[edit]