Directing and Composition
See also: List of works by Frederic Austin
In 1922 he became Artistic Director of the British National Opera Company, reformed out of Beecham's company, and in 1923 was elected member of the Royal Philharmonic Society. In this way, and through his teaching, he continued to train and encourage English singers for many years more. He continued to compose theatre incidental music, notably for The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1923), The Insect Play (1923), Congreve's The Way of the World (1924), John Drinkwater's Robert Burns (1925), Vallombrossa (1926), and Prudence (1931). He wrote a cello sonata in 1927. In 1932 he made a last singing appearance in Alfred Reynolds’ Derby Day.
He composed the music for the Ealing Studios film Undercover (1943), aka Underground Guerrillas (USA), The Insect Play (1939) (TV), The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1938) (TV), and for the movie Midshipman Easy (1935), aka Men of the Sea (USA: reissue title).
Frederic Austin's son Richard (1903-89) was the chief conductor of the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra (now the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra) from 1934 until 1939, and became Head of the Opera Department of the Royal College of Music in 1953.
Read more about this topic: Frederic Austin
Famous quotes containing the word composition:
“There is singularly nothing that makes a difference a difference in beginning and in the middle and in ending except that each generation has something different at which they are all looking. By this I mean so simply that anybody knows it that composition is the difference which makes each and all of them then different from other generations and this is what makes everything different otherwise they are all alike and everybody knows it because everybody says it.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)