William Baines: 1899 - 1922
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| William Baines 1899 - 1922 |
Baines was born at Horbury in the West Riding of Yorkshire on 26th March 1899. His father, an organist and later a cinema pianist, encouraged him to take up the piano, and in 1910 William began having piano lessons and tuition in harmony and counterpoint at the Yorkshire Training College of Music in Leeds. By the age of 12 he was composing short piano pieces, hymn tunes and chants, and during the next few years developed his knowledge of orchestral writing through attendance at concerts and the study of orchestral scores.
In 1917 Baines moved to York, where he worked (like his father) as a cinema pianist. The piano music, songs and chamber works composed in that year, along with a full-scale symphony, show signs of increasing musical maturity. In December 1917 Baines gave his first public piano recital, at which he performed several of his own compositions.
Despite having a weak constitution, Baines was called up for National Service in 1918 and sent to Dorset for training. Within two weeks he was dangerously ill with septic poisoning, and by the time he was released from hospital three months later the war was over. Baines never recovered fully, and the rest of his life was dogged by bouts of severe illness. He continued to compose and give piano recitals, however, and took great pleasure in exploring the local East Riding countryside and coastline. This love of nature is reflected in his music, much of which was inspired by his native surroundings.
In November 1919 Elkin & Co. published Baines's Paradise Gardens and Seven Preludes for Piano. The works were well received by the critics: among those to take a keen interest in the young composer was Dr A. Eaglefield Hull, who enrolled him in the British Music Society, negotiated a publishing deal for him and penned appreciative articles in the music press. "Baines", he noted, "combines a great melodic gift with a rare distinction of style. He is fond of strange chords, but somehow they are not unpleasant and irritating, and set off the melody." More piano music was published and, despite increasing periods of ill-heath, Baines was able to give recitals of his music in Yorkshire, and on one occasion in Bournemouth. In January 1921 he met the pianist Frederick Dawson, who became the young man's champion and friend. By the spring of 1922, however, Baines's health was in decline, and in November of that year he succumbed to tuberculosis, at the age of 23.
Although he composed chamber music, some songs and a few orchestral pieces, Baines was primarily a miniaturist, writing mainly for the piano. He had a particular gift for melody, and owed something to both Chopin and Scriabin in his musical language. Handsome tributes were paid to the young composer at his death: Frederick Dawson going so far as to declare that "he was the greatest composer of pianoforte music the English have ever had".
Text taken from www.bl.uk/collections/music/baines.html
By HorburyVillageEditor
Jan 3, 2007, 19:51
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