Graphical version

Royal College of Music

BATE, Stanley (1913-1959)


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 1249 MS 5946-5948

Held at: Royal College of Music

Title: BATE, Stanley (1913-1959)

Date(s): 1940-1956

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 3 files

Name of creator(s): Bate | Stanley | 1913-1959 | composer and pianist

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born Plymouth, 12 Dec 1913; produced and conducted an opera in Plymouth at age 17; won open scholarship to Royal College of Music, 1932; studied there under Ralph Vaughan Williams, R.O. Morris, Gordon Jacob and Arthur Benjamin, one of his fellow students being Peggy Glanville-Hicks, whom he was later to marry; won various prizes and studied under Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Paul Hindemith in Berlin; returned to England and commissioned to write his Piano Concertino, first performed at the Eastbourne Festival, 1937; became associated with the London stage and composed incidental music for a number of plays; two of his ballets Perseus and Cap over mill were produced in London, 1938; visited Australia as a lecturer and a solo performer of his own piano works; toured USA and Brazil in the 1940s where his music was well received, including the premier of his Second Piano concerto under Sir Thomas Beecham with the New York Philharmonic and his Second Sinfonietta at the festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music in California, 1943; received further commissions for ballet and film music; returned to London in 1949; visited Brussels and Amsterdam as a soloist, later performances included the premier of his Concerto Grosso in Paris and the premier of his Third Symphony at the Cheltenham Festival, 1954; became depressed at the lack of recognition his music received in the UK, and committed suicide, London, 19 Oct 1959.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Stanley Bate, 1940-1956, comprising letters received and written by Bate, mainly in regard to the publication or performance of his music, particularly his Second Sinfonietta at the festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music in California, 1941-1943, 1947-1948, 1954; programmes of concerts featuring Bate's music, c1948-1958; newspaper cuttings on Bate and his music, 1940-1956, largely consisting of reviews of the first performances of Bate's Third Symphony at the Cheltenham Festival, 1954, and his Fourth Symphony at the Royal Festival Hall, London, 1955.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English.

System of arrangement:

Arranged as follows: 5946) cuttings; 5947) programmes; 5948) correspondence.

Conditions governing access:

Usual conditions of the Library of the Royal College of Music apply. See the RCM website or contact the RCM Library for details.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Photocopying is permitted at the discretion of the Archivist for research purposes only.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

A detailed catalogue of all Bate's papers is available in volume 3 of the Manuscripts catalogue in the library of the Royal College of Music.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Formerly in the custody of Bate's widow.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Presented by Virgil Thomson, Consul General for Brazil in 1986 and 1987.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

These papers form part of a larger deposit of Bate's manuscript music at the Royal College of Music (Ref: MS 5867-5950).

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Compiled by Robert Baxter as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project. Sources: Obituary, Musical Times, Dec 1959; article by Michael Barlow, Grove Dictionary of Music.

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: Jul 2001


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Classical music | Musical styles
Composers | Musicians | Performers | Artists
Musical performances | Music | Performing arts

Personal names
Bate | Stanley | 1913-1959 | composer and pianist

Corporate names

Places