Hope Hambourg née Timpson (October 5, 1902 – September 28, 1989) was a British violist. She played with a number of ensembles in the early half of the twentieth century. She was a pupil of Lionel Tertis. With Jean Le Fèvre and Ruth Dyson she played viola in the Le Fèvre Trio.
Hope Hambourg | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Margaret Hope Timpson |
| Born | 5 October 1902 Kettering, Northamptonshire, England |
| Died | 28 September 1989 (aged 86) Looe, Cornwall, England |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments | Viola |
Early life and education
editMargaret Hope Timpson was born in Kettering, Northampton, on 5 October 1902 to William and Katherine Timpson. Her father, William Timpson was the founder of the Timpson shoemaking firm. She was educated at Queenswood School and studied violin with Arthur Catterall, and later viola with Lionel Tertis at the Royal Academy of Music.[1]
Career
editIn the 1930s, Timpson performed at the Wigmore Hall with the pianist Kathleen Cooper[2][3] and played with the Leicester Symphony Orchestra, under Malcolm Sargent.[4]
Hambourg played in a number of ensembles, performing regularly with the Le Fèvre String Quartet,[5][6] Maddison Trio[7] and Quartet,[8] Richards Piano Quartet,[9][10] Pearl String Quartet,[11] Marie Wilson Quartet[12][13] and the Kettering String Quartet[14] and Quintette.
In 1940 she married Charles Hambourg, cousin of Russian pianist Mark Hambourg. Charles was a cellist and conductor who, like Hambourg, had studied at the Royal Academy of Music.[15]
In December 1950, Lionel Tertis arranged a concert at the Wigmore Hall in London to demonstrate his Tertis Model Viola. Hambourg was one of a small group of violists who were asked to perform, alongside William Primrose.[16]
Hambourg was a member of the Society of Women Musicians and during the war years was a member of the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA), and the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA).[17]
Hambourg played on an Amati viola which was sold at Sotheby's in 1981 to fund the Hope Hambourg Music Trust, an organisation set up by her cousin, pianist Michal Hambourg.[18]
Hambourg died at the age of 86 in Cornwall, where she had moved with her husband in 1972.[19]
References
edit- ^ Pine, L.G. (1949). Who's Who in Music. London: Shaw Publishing.
- ^ "Viola and Piano Recital". Liverpool Daily Post. 22 June 1945.
- ^ "Our London Letter: Modern Music Recital". Western Morning News. 6 June 1947.
- ^ "Public Announcements". Market Harborough Advertiser and Midland Mail. 15 March 1940.
- ^ "Public Notices: Laing Art Gallery, Thursday Lunch Hour Concerts". Newcastle Journal. 13 October 1942.
- ^ "Quartet Pleases, Sunderland C.E.M.A. Concert". Sunderland Daily Echo. 19 October 1942.
- ^ "Kettering Pianist on the Air". Northants Evening Telegraph. 24 June 1939.
- ^ "Music at St. Andrew's". Dundee Courier. 4 August 1930.
- ^ "Piano Quartets at Bath". Western Daily Press. 7 February 1949.
- ^ "Inspired Playing". Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette. 12 February 1949.
- ^ "Entertainments: Horsham Music Circle". West Sussex County Times. 2 July 1948.
- ^ Jan Bell, Groh (July 1994). Evening the Score - Women in Music and the Legacy of Frédérique Petrides. Fayetteville, North Carolina, US: University of Arkansas Press. p. 50. ISBN 1557283257.
- ^ "Morpeth Music Society (C.E.M.A.) Presents". Morpeth Herald. 11 January 1946.
- ^ "Quartet's Visit - Sunday Concert at the Royal Infirmary". Leicester Evening Mail. 1 July 1935.
- ^ Ronald, Sir Landon (1935). Who's Who in Music. London: Shaw Publishing.
- ^ White, John (2006). Lionel Tertis, The First Great Virtuoso of the Viola. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. ISBN 184383278X.
- ^ Pine, L.G. (1949). Who's Who in Music. London: Shaw Publishing. p. 91.
- ^ Anderson, Martin (23 October 2004). "Obituaries – Michal Hambourg. Pianist and teacher with direct links to the 19th century". The Independent.
- ^ "Orchestra founder retiring after 21 years". Harrow Observer. 12 May 1972. p. 22.
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