Florence Hooton (8 July 1912 – 14 May 1988) was an English cellist, chamber music performer and teacher, responsible for many important British music premieres in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

Life

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She was born in Scarborough, the daughter of a cellist, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Douglas Cameron, then in Zurich with Emanuel Feuermann.[1]

Her debut recital was in 1934 at the Wigmore Hall and her BBC Proms debut a year later, playing Beethoven's Triple Concerto.[2] During the 1930s she was a member of the Grinke Trio (with violinist Frederick Grinke and pianist Dorothy Manley, and later Kendall Taylor) and the New English String Quartet. She later formed the Loveridge-Martin-Hooton Trio with pianist Iris Loveridge and her husband, the violinist David Martin. It was active between 1956 and 1976.[3]

Hooton became a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in 1964 and also gave private lessons in Suffolk and Sheffield.[4] The Academy holds a portrait of her by Wilfrid Gabriel de Glehn, painted in 1936. It is hanging in the Duke's Hall.[5]

Hooton recorded with Decca from the late 1930s and was a frequent broadcaster.[4] Her last public performance was in 1978. In 1981 she commissioned Gordon Jacob to write a Cello Octet for her students at the Royal Academy.[6] She was appointed OBE in 1982. Following her death the Academy established the annual David Martin/Florence Hooton Concerto Prize in her memory.[7]

She married David Martin in 1938. They lived in Ickenham in Middlesex at 34, Thornhill Road,[8] and later at 345 Stag Lane, London NW9. There were two daughters. Martin died in 1982.[4][9]

Selected premiere performances

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  • Gordon Jacob's Divertimento for unaccompanied Cello (1934) which Jacob dedicated to her.
  • Frank Bridge's Oration on 18 January 1936, after the work had been turned down by Felix Salmond and by Guilhermina Suggia;[10]
  • John Ireland's Trio No.3 in E Minor, first public performance on 20 June 1938 at Boosey & Hawkes’ Music Room, Regent Street, with Frederick Grinke and John Ireland.[4]
  • William Busch's Cello Concerto on 13 August 1943 at the Proms.[11]
  • Arnold Bax's Legend-Sonata in F sharp minor for cello and piano (with Harriet Cohen) premiered in 1943. The work is dedicated to her.[12]
  • Gordon Jacob's Cello Concerto at the Royal Albert Hall in 1955
  • Kenneth Leighton's Cello Concerto at the Cheltenham Festival in 1956.
  • Alan Bush's Concert Suite at the Royal Albert Hall in 1956.
  • Helen Perkin's Cello Sonata in Eb in 1957 with the composer at the piano.[13]
  • Kenneth Leighton’s Partita in February 1963, with Wilfred Parry at the Wigmore Hall.[4]
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References

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