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4 unusual facts about Thomas Beecham


Betty Humby Beecham

Betty Humby Beecham, Lady Beecham (1908 – 2 September 1958) was a British pianist, who married the English conductor and impresario Sir Thomas Beecham in February 1943.

Herbert Trench

In 1908 a Dramatic Symphony, opus 51, written by Joseph Holbrooke setting Trench's poem Apollo and the Seaman was performed, under Thomas Beecham.

Marion Marlowe

According to Richard Lamparksi's 1975 book Whatever Became of...?, Marlowe began taking vocal lessons when she was twelve years old and studied at London's Royal Conservatory under Sir Thomas Beecham.

Sarrusophone

In 1908 when Sir Thomas Beecham wished to perform the work "Apollo and the Seaman" by the British composer Josef Holbrooke (who had included parts for several sizes of sarrusophones), the sarrusophone parts had to be played by performers brought over from France.


Bruce Boyce

His recordings made a strong impression at the same time, especially in Sir Thomas Beecham's celebrated versions of Delius' (A Mass of Life (1953) and Sea Drift (1954).

Edna Iles

Iles broadcast frequently for the BBC, and appeared as concerto soloist with distinguished conductors including Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Adrian Boult, and Willem Mengelberg.

Julia Culp

Before long, she was performing all over Europe and America, sharing the stage with such notable composers, conductors and singers as Edvard Grieg, Richard Strauss, Camille Saint-Saëns, Enrico Caruso, Otto Klemperer, Willem Mengelberg, Pablo Casals, Percy Grainger, Enrique Granados and Thomas Beecham.

Smedley's Hydro

By the outbreak of war in 1939, Smedley's Hydro was world famous, its guests having included Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Thomas Beecham, Ivor Novello, Jimmy Wilde, and Gilbert Jessop, to name but a few.

Tamaki Miura

Positive reviews led to further performances in both Madama Butterfly and Mascagni's Iris in New York, San Francisco and Chicago, before returning to London to work with the Beecham company.


see also

Beecham's Pills

The pills, and their marketing, were the basis for Beecham's Patent Pills, which became Beecham Estates and Pills in 1924, eight years after the death of Sir Joseph Beecham, the son of Thomas Beecham.

Joseph Holbrooke

Collaboration on two further operas, The Children of Don (first performed at the London Opera House, conducted by Thomas Beecham, on 12 June 1912) and Bronwen, brought about the completion of Holbrooke's most ambitious project, a trilogy under the collective title The Cauldron of Annwn setting Scott-Ellis' versions of tales from the Welsh Mabinogion.