Astra Desmond

Astra Desmond (10 April 1893 - 16 August 1973) was a British contralto of the early and middle twentieth century.

Biography

Early years

Astra Desmond was born Gwendolyn Mary Thompson, in Torquay, England. She was educated at Notting Hill High School and Westfield College, where she was a classical scholar."The Times", obituary notice, Friday, 17 August 1973, p. 16] She studied singing with Blanche Marchesi (as did her colleague Muriel Brunskill) and Louise Trenton and in Berlin with Ernst Grezebach and Conrad von Bos. "The Times", obituary notice, Friday, 17 August 1973, p. 16]

Singing career

Desmond's career was mostly in concert and recital, but she made some operatic appearances. A 1916 review of the Carl Rosa Opera Company described her as a new singer of great promise. ["The Musical Times", 1 December 1916, p. 518] At Sadler's Wells she sang Delilah and Carmen and at Covent Garden, Ortrud and Fricka."The Times", obituary notice, Friday, 17 August 1973, p. 16]

In recital, Desmond was noted for her performances of songs by Edvard Grieg about which she wrote a 25-page article in "Music and Letters" in 1941, ["Music and Letters", Vol. 22, No. 4 (October 1941), pp. 333-357] reprinted in "Grieg. A Symposium", ed. Gerald Abraham. ['Music of the Masters' series, Lindsay Drummond, London, 1948.] She also made a number of singing translations of Grieg's songs, published by Augener. For her work in this field she was awarded the Order of St. Olav by the Norwegian government. Her interpretation of Jean Sibelius songs was also admired."The Times", obituary notice, Friday, 17 August 1973, p. 16]

On 5 October 1938 Desmond was one of the original 16 singers in Vaughan Williams’s "Serenade to Music," the recording of which, made at EMI's Abbey Road studio shortly thereafter, has been transferred to compact disc by several companies. [notes to Dutton CD transfer, CDBP 9707] Earlier, in 1932, Vaughan Williams had dedicated to her his "Magnificat" (for contralto solo, women's choir, solo flute and orchestra. [ [http://www.rvwsociety.com/workschoral.html RVW Works List Choral ] ] (Later, she received the contrasting tribute of having a variety of rose named after her. [ [http://www.classicroses.co.uk/roses/a/astra_desmond.html Astra Desmond Rose (Climbers, ramblers and scramblers) from Classic Roses - English Roses Rose UK Roses UK : Classic Roses the Peter Beales Collection : ] ] )

As well as the regular standard concert works including "The Dream of Gerontius" (in which she frequently sang under the baton of the composer)The Times, obituary notice, Friday, 17 August 1973, p. 16] and "Messiah", Desmond sang a wide repertoire, taking part in the first broadcast performance of Stravinsky’s "Oedipus Rex" in 1928"The Times", obituary notice, Friday, 17 August 1973, p. 16] and a rare performance of Mahler’s "Das Lied von der Erde", with Peter Pears, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Adrian Boult in 1942, ["The Musical Times", December 1942, p. 383] and she was the first to introduce the songs of Yrjö Kilpinen to British audiences. ["The Musical Times", October 1973, p. 1045.]

Recordings

Apart from the "Serenade to Music" Desmond made few gramophone recordings, but is preserved on disc in a series of recordings for Decca of songs by Purcell and Grieg. ["The Musical Times", June 1941, p. 222; October 1943, p. 308; and April 1944, p 115.]

Later career

Like many singers Desmond took up teaching later in her career (becoming Professor of Singing at the Royal Academy of Music) from 1947 to 1963.The Times, obituary notice, Friday, 17 August 1973, p. 16] but also wrote educational books on music, including one for the BBC Music Guides on Schumann's Lieder which is still (2007) in print. [ISBN 0563205563]

Desmond succeeded Liza Lehmann, Cécile Chaminade, Fanny Davies, Rosa Newmarch and Myra Hess as president of the Society of Women Musicians in the UK, and also president of the Incorporated Society of Musicians. "The Times", obituary notice, Friday, 17 August 1973, p. 16]

Family

In 1920, Desmond married Sir Thomas Neame. They had three sons."The Times", obituary notice, Friday, 17 August 1973, p. 16] She was awarded the C.B.E. in 1949.

Desmond died at the age of eighty.

Notes

References

*Brook, D: "Singers of Today" (Revised Edition - Rockliff, London 1958), 64-69.
*Desmond, Astra: Schumann Songs, BBC Music Guide, ISBN 0563205563