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(Reid Music Library)

Sir Donald Francis Tovey

(1875-1940)
Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh

Educated at Balliol College Oxford, the young Tovey soon achieved fame as a pianist, scholar, composer and organiser of concerts in Britain and in Europe. This brought into contact with many of the major music figures of the day, with whom he corresponded extensively and who held him in high regard. He was appointed to the Reid Chair of Music at the University of Edinburgh in 1914, in succession to Frederick Niecks, and held the Chair until his death. During his tenure his output of compositions and research publications continued unabated. His opera "The Bride of Dionysius" was produced in Edinburgh in 1929, and his "Cello Concerto" was performed and recorded by Pablo Casals. He created the University's professional Reid Orchestra which brought together professional orchestral performers from the worlds of the University and professional music, and the Orchestra continued in existence until the 1980s. He was knighted in 1935.

He bequeathed to the University his substantial library of scores and books on music, and a later brought a substantial archive of his letters and papers to join them.