Richard Beattie Davis
28 August 1922 - 6 September 2008
Richard Beattie Davis, was a native of Sandhurst, Kent,
England and was for many years a keen collector of first
and early editions of Western and Russian
music. He wrote articles on Henselt, Hummel, Balakirev, Lyapunov and Belaieff
and mounted exhibitions and gave talks in London, Germany and south Florida.
He contributed works listings of a number of other Russian composers, together
with sleeve-notes for recorded works of Lyapunov, Balakirev, Henselt, Rakhmaninov
and Scriabin.
He was, for many years, on the governing board of the 'Purcell
School of Music' (London). In the 1950s he sang under John Minchington
and with Al Cuieno with the London Bach Group. In the 1960s
he was a founding member
of the 'Haydn Opera Society' (London). He contributed articles to the 2nd.Edition
of 'The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians', and a forthcoming
encyclopaedia of Russian music, currently in preparation.
He wrote the definitive work on
the Russian music publisher, Mitrofan Petrovich Belaieff many of whose
publications are lodged with the 'Special Collections' of
the S.E.Wimberly Library, Florida
Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida. (www.library.fau.edu/depts/spc/davis.htm)
Richard Davis was the honorary president of the 'Internationale Adolph-Henselt-Gesellschaft'
(Schwabach, Germany) and presented papers, made listings and mounted music
exhibitions.
Richard Beattie Davis was born in Croydon, England on 28 August
1922. He died of cancer in Kent on 6 September 2008.
Gillian Wimbourne
