Cyril Smith (pianist)

Cyril Smith (pianist)
For other persons with the name Cyril Smith, see Cyril Smith (disambiguation).
Cyril Smith
Birth name Cyril James Smith
Born August 11, 1909(1909-08-11)
Middlesbrough, England, United Kingdom
Died August 2, 1974(1974-08-02) (aged 64)
East Sheen, London, United Kingdom
Genres Romantic, 20th century
Occupations Virtuoso pianist, pedagogue
Instruments Piano
Years active 1929–1974

Cyril James Smith OBE (11 August 1909 – 2 August 1974)[1] was a virtuoso concert pianist of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and piano teacher.

Contents

Personal life

Cyril James Smith was born at Costa Street, Middlesbrough, England, the son of Charles Smith, a foundry bricklayer, and Eva Harrison, and had an older brother and sister.[2] Cyril married Andrée Antoinette Marie Paty in 1931 but the marriage ended in divorce.[2] In 1937 he married Phyllis Sellick. Cyril and Phyllis's recreational activities included long walks and sailing. They had a son and a daughter and remained married until his death. He died in 1974 at his home in East Sheen, London, the result of a stroke.[2][3]

Performing

Cyril Smith studied with Herbert Fryer from 1926 to 1930 at the Royal College of Music, winning medals and prizes[2] including the Daily Express piano contest in 1928 and made his concert début in Birmingham in 1929.[3] Cyril Smith performed as an off-screen piano accompanist in several of the 30-line Baird system television broadcasts of 1935[2][4][5] and joined the BBC when they took over. It was at the BBC's early television studios that he met his second-wife-to-be pianist Phyllis Sellick.[1][6][7][8] In 1934 Cyril left the BBC to take up an appointment as professor of pianoforte at the Royal College of Music. Cyril and Phyllis married in 1937 pursuing solo careers. During the second world war Cyril performed concerts for ENSA but in 1941 he and his wife began performing together as a piano duo at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts[9] making many international concert tours for ENSA and the British Council touring the Far East in 1945[2] where the hazards to contend with included small animals lodged in pianos and out-of-tune instruments.

Cyril's work was largely from the Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Schubert, Balakirev, and Albéniz repertoire. Malcolm Arnold, Sir Arthur Bliss, Gordon Jacob and Ralph Vaughan Williams also wrote music for the duo.[10][11][12] Among Cyril Smith's many performances[13] were appearances at The Barn Theatre,[3] Oxted, in the 1930s and at the Proms in 1930, 1937, 1941, 1944, 1946, 1953 and 1969.[3][14]

In 1956 while at Kharkov at the start of a concert tour of Russia (then the Soviet Union) he suffered a thrombosis and stroke which paralysed his left arm;[2][3][10][11][12][15][16] however, with music arranged by themselves, or written or arranged by composer friends Cyril and Phyllis were able to continue to perform three-handed music concerts as a piano duo.[12] Notable among the works composed for them was Malcolm Arnold's Concerto for Two Pianos (3 hands), opus 104 dedicated to Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick[17] who premiered it at the Proms in 1969 and recorded it in 1970.[18]

Teaching

Cyril and Phyllis both taught piano at the Royal College of Music[9] - Cyril was appointed professor of pianoforte in 1934.[2] Among those who studied piano with Cyril Smith are: Ray Alston,[19] John Barstow,[20] Clifford Benson,[21][22] Philip R Buttall,[23] Maureen Challinor, June Clark,[24] Patrick Flynn,[25] Joan Havill,[26][27] David Helfgott,[28] Peter Hill,[29] Niel Immelman,[30] Rae de Lisle,[31] Barry Morgan,[27] Thalia Myers,[32][33] Siva Oke,[34] Aydin Önaç,[35] Jennifer Pearce,[36] June Pepin,[37] Joan Ryall,[38] Stephen Savage,[39] Kimberly Schmidt,[40] Jo Spanjer,[41] Kathron Sturrock,[42] Sharon Joy Vogan,[43] David Ward,[44] Fanny Waterman,[45] Gillian Weir,[46] Kenneth Weir,[47] Frank Wibaut,[48] and Simon Young.[49] In 1973 Cyril was once again appointed Professor of Pianoforte until his death the next year.

Autobiography

Cyril Smith's autobiography is entitled Duet for Three Hands (Angus & Robertson, 1958).[1][3][50] One of the chapters was written by his wife Phyllis Sellick.

Honours

Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick were both made Officers of the Order of the British Empire in 1971.[7]

Discography

  • Cyril Smith, Phyllis Sellick and the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra (conductor Malcolm Sargent), Dutton, (P)1947/48[51]
  • Phyllis Sellick, Cyril Smith, Orchestras of the Bournemouth Symphony, Philharmonia, City of Birmingham and the Royal Philharmonic, Arnold: English Dances, HMV Classics[10]
  • Cyril Smith, Phyllis Sellick and Solna Brass, including Rhapsody for Piano (3 hands) by Gordon Jacob, Granada[52]
  • Cyril Smith & Phyllis Sellick, Piano Duos: Faure Mendessohn Franck Schubert, Nimbus Records, (P)1974 (Cyril's last recording)[53]

References

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