The peak of her success occurred just after the Second World War; a time characterised by austerity, but also the burgeoning of hope. For that reason, her loss at the age of just 41 in was a bitter blow. She had been greatly admired for her sincerity and the warmth of her personality which always shone through in her performances.
Yet, in the distinctively rich colour of her voice, there was a hint of deep sadness; a vulnerability belying her happy-go-lucky exterior. In the post-war period, the country needed to grieve the many social upheavals of the preceding decades, and Ferrier articulated that grief with compassionate humanity. Her melancholy found its most sublime expression in her interpretations of the music of Gustav Mahler; the provincial boy who rose to the top of the musical world.
His was a journey of many difficult separations, and Ferrier shared that journey, from an ordinary, provincial background to the heights of cosmopolitan culture and international success. Yet her voice was anything but ordinary. It was a rare and precious instrument, which carried her towards destiny and away from what was familiar and provincial. While Kathleen Ferrier remained unspoilt by her rise to prominence, she nonetheless took great personal risks in pursuit of a career, paying a high price for success.
There could be no compromise in the eyes of her cruel mentor. Misery and self-destruction follow. While Kathleen Ferrier had no such cruel mentor behind her, her single-minded dedication to her work stretched her physically and mentally to the limit. Like Mahler, she never found happiness in a personal relationship.
On leaving school she qualified as a teacher. In Kathleen entered a national piano-playing competition organised by the Daily Express. She won the Northern region contest and was awarded an upright piano.
The 72 finalists then competed for six grand pianos at the Wigmore Hall. As their mother was ill, Win escorted Kathleen to London. Kathleen was nervous, and did not play her best, so she was not among the winners. To console themselves the sisters went to see Showboat at Drury Lane Theatre, where Paul Robeson's singing impressed them greatly.
When war broke out Win was teaching in London; Kathleen, now married and living near Carlisle, was studying singing seriously and giving many concerts locally. When her husband was called up in Win obtained a teaching post in Carlisle in order to look after Kathleen and William, now a widower. Two years later the sisters once more travelled to London to the Wigmore Hall, where Kathleen auditioned for Ibbs and Tillett, the agents, who agreed to represent her.
Win got back her former post in London, and she, Kathleen and William moved to a flat in Hampstead. He had to know how and why things worked. He started to teach singing while still a student, and later became chorus master of the Nottingham Harmonic Society, conductor of Huddersfield Glee and Madrigal Society , the Bournemouth Municipal Choir and founder-conductor of the Nottingham Oriana Choir During the second world war, he was prominent in promoting the work of the Council for the Encouragement of Music and Arts, and maintaining musical life in difficult conditions.
It was at a performance of Elijah, in Runcorn in , that he first met Kathleen Ferrier - there on her first engagement. Henderson reported: "It was a good voice but too dark, and she kept her nose buried in the score. I told her to learn her words and throw away the book. After the war, Roy continued his concert work, which included recitals at the first Edinburgh festivals in and He was also in demand as an adjudicator at international competitions and master-classes in Canada and Holland.
He retired from the concert platform in to devote himself full-time to teaching. His career blossomed again, in his th year, when a CD of some of his earlier recordings was released. A Centenary Recital, which includes A Shropshire Lad and lesser-known English songs, has already sold more than 1, copies. A man of integrity, Roy was a staunch friend and devoted to his family.
He was also a keen fisherman and cook. He died at the Musicians' Benevolent Fund home in Bromley. His wife Bertha, whom he married in , died in , and he is survived by a son and a daughter; another daughter predeceased him.
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