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CEDRIC THORPE DAVIE (1913-1983)

David Wright

Cedric Thorpe Davie had a charisma but was not a God-like figure. He was not an arrogant or pompous man in the Elgar/Britten mould. He had a big, beaming smile and was unpretentious, lively, full of fun but could be unsure of himself and, as a result, occasionally juvenile. It was rarely that he was in a black mood. Indeed, he had a childlike, mischievous behaviour at times which endured him both to his friends and students alike. He was never a foolish man but very hospitable and fond of children. They were never a nuisance to him.

He was a neat, well-groomed man with good looks, iron-gray hair and an almost supercilious look due to the his full lips and prominent mouth and thick arched eyebrows. He never lost his dignity but was not forbidding. He retained his Glaswegian accent with its sing-song quality. He was a warm and friendly man. As a man of fun and wit his students liked him. For the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, he wrote his engaging Diversions on a theme of Thomas Arne which was revived at the Last Night of the Proms in 1955.

He was a good conductor and particularly loved working at Boyce symphonies and music by the Earl of Kelly. He was exceptionally good at rehearsals with the St. Andrews University Orchestra

Like many of his generation his political views were left-wing and, as to religion, he was a sceptic.

After composing the score for the Walt Disney film he called his car Rob Roy and this was a part of the curious enthusiasm he had for trivial things. He was a cat lover as, for example, were Humphrey Searle and Alan Rawsthorne. Cedric had a Siamese cat. To take time off from his teaching, he went weekly to Scottish Country Dancing and collected Scots malt whisky. He was an accomplished book binder and bound his own scores and he was very interested in spiders. He seldom told a joke but maintained a dry style of speech. In his teaching on the history of music and its analysis he displayed a real keenness for Tovey. He never condemned a student or their work. He had some interest in Carl Czerny and loved "Catholic" Bach. Among his friends were Gerald Finzi and Howard Ferguson. In fact, he edited some of Finzi's scores. At one time at St Andrews the set works for study were Ferguson's Octet and Walton's magnificent Viola Concerto.

Cedric was a good pianist and wrote a Concerto for piano and string orchestra for his friend, Wight Henderson. He played the organ at St Andrews University Chapel.

He was born in Glasgow on 13 May, 1913 and attended the Scottish National Academy of Music. He was one of the first Caird scholars and in 1932 began his studies in London both at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music where his teachers included Vaughan Williams, Gordon Jacob, R. 0. Morris and Harold Craxton. He was a prize-winning student. His studies continued with Egon Petri in Germany, Zoltan Kodaly in Bucharest and Yryo Kilpinen in Helesinki. He returned to Glasgow in 1936 and began to teach at the Scottish Academy supplementing his income as a church organist. Perhaps his first real success was his Fantasy no. 1 on Scottish Tunes broadcast by the BBC Scottish Orchestra under Ian Whyte in 1938. No less a person than George Szell took it up and first conducted it in December of the same year.

In 1945, Cedric Thorpe Davie was appointed to the Music Department of St. Andrews. He was meticulous in his teaching and believed that all music should have form , hence his excellent book Musical Structure and Design. From 1973 to 1978 he was professor of music , and then he retired. He was at St Andrews for 33 years.

After the Second World War the Daily Express launched a composition competition to those who had served in the war and they had to write a symphony. Cedric won second prize with his attractive

Symphony in C which is inscribed "In Honour of My Brother" and was first performed at the Albert Hall under the legendary Constant Lambert. The finale is a victory march and is very tuneful and impressive recalling the final movement of The Pines of Rome by Respighi. The symphony has been taken up by Ian Whyte, Norman Del Mar and Sir John Barbirolli. As a result of this endearing success, Cedric was asked to write the score for the film The Brothers. Other film scores followed including Walt Disney productions such as Rob Roy and Kidnapped. The tight deadline for writing film scores led him to write certain scores which imply a deadline such as Directions for a map, a setting by his friend Alistair Reid, which work is scored for soprano and string quartet having been commissioned for the 1956 McEwan Memorial Concerts. He used to say that he was given three weeks to write Rob Roy and two months for Directions.

Cedric wrote an opera, Ganuner Gurton's Needle, based on the fifteenth century morality play.

 

When Robert Kemp was asked to prepare David Lindsay's extensive play The Three Estates for the first Edinburgh International Festival, Cedric was asked to write the music. Tyrone Guthrie was the producer and the year was 1959.

As I have said, Cedric got on well with his students and with children. He adjudicated at festivals, examined for various bodies and occasionally conducted the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland. The Aberdeen Education Committee commissioned The Thistle and the Rose at the time of the Coronation of Queen Elisabeth in 1953. It was an amazing success and the famous story is that the children loved it so much that they would not return their scores!

He was awarded the OBE in 1955.

He was particularly interested in all things Scottish and, late in life, wrote a short book Scotland's

Music. He was an expert on Scots songs and this has inspired Alan Workman and I to prepare

recording of many less-known Scots songs. We will be using Cedric's compilation with George C.

McVicar's The Oxford Scottish Song Book. Cedric also set Robbie Burns' The Jolly Beggars.

One of the many endearing qualities that Cedric had was that he eschewed pomp, incompetence and sentimentality in music. Therefore, it will be realised who the composers were that he did not like. His early work may show influences of Vaughan Williams and Sibelius. If he had a weakness it was that his dislike for anything modern kept his own style unadventurous. He had a passion for reviving ancient composers " as shown, for example, in his engaging Variations on a theme of Lully.

He died on 18 January, 1983.

Copyright David C. F. Wright 2000. No part of this article may be reproduced or stored in any form whatsoever without the prior written permission of the author

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