Related:
Tony Payne’s elaboration of Elgar’s sketches for Symphony 3; Andrew Davis conducts the BBCSO during BBC Proms 1998:
Sad news: composer Anthony Payne has died at the age of 84.
Related:
Tony Payne’s elaboration of Elgar’s sketches for Symphony 3; Andrew Davis conducts the BBCSO during BBC Proms 1998:
Evening Land:
I am shocked to hear of the death of Tony Payne. I was in touch with dear Tony, including by phone, after Jane died. He seemed calm and reconciled, and many people were giving him aid and comfort. He spoke of a problem with – I believe – his heart, but it seemed to be under control. Only today I thought that I must ring him again, over the weekend….
John and Jane gave many performances of Tony’s wonderful Evening Land. I can still hear Jane’s voice, singing the opening of this work. Footfalls echo in the memory: another work of Tony’s that John and Erich Gruenberg premiered. Memories are what we now have of Jane and Tony, a well-nigh inseparable couple – blessed memories of their brilliance, and their kindness and generosity.
RIP both Jane and Tony, together again,
Monica
Like Monica I am shocked and upset to hear the news of Tony leaving us all so soon after his own loss.
My first contact with Tony came in 1965 when he wrote a provocative article for the Sibelius centenary published in Music and Musicians. It was written in the teeth of hostility / indifference towards Sibelius’s reputation. Tony heard humour in the Fourth Symphony as in a clown’s humour, presumably a little manic with lots of sadness.
We kept in touch until
he awarded Adrian Brown his Elgar Medal at the last concert I attended before the pandemic hit us all.
Tony was a man of great convictions, an unsurpassed reviewer / critic and a supporter of free speech in his early student days supporting Vaughan Williams when fellow students were dismissive. He was also a very fine composer himself and I always enjoyed hearing his premieres whenever possible.
He will
be sorely missed in the musical fraternity but his legacy of deep understanding of the mysteries that lie behind the notes will endure as an example of an ever fresh mind exploring eternity.
As a former Chairman of the ElgarSociety I got to know Tony through this work on Elgar’s Third Symphony which, invariably attracted criticism and praise in equal measure – not for the quality if his work but whether it should be done at all.Tony’s passion for the music was so affecting that most doubters were convinced when he heard his advocacy for what he was doing. He had an instinct for ‘getting’ Elgar’s sound; nowhere more obviously that in his orchestration of Elgar’s Ode from 1932 ‘So many true princesse who have gone’. Tony never seemed to mind that his work on Elgar’s music came to overshadow his own music in the minds of the general listening public. The world really is the poorer now.
An especially poignant but unsurprising death so soon after that of Tony’s wife, Jane Manning. All who knew them speak of a marriage of particular mutual devotion and artistic fruitfulness. It’s a shame that the obituary headlines have tended towards the ‘Man who completed Elgar’s Third Symphony’ variety, which, though predictable, gives a disproportionate picture. Here was a composer with his own voice, embodying fine craftsmanship and integrity. I met him several times, and wish I’d had the chance to get to know him better. Vanity and affectation seemed to occupy no part of this approachable man. The fact that he knew my views on the idea of ‘completing’ ‘Elgar 3’ never once cast a shadow over our cheerful and civilised exchanges, and I trust that he also knew that, like many of us who shared the same opinion that the sketches should have been left alone, respecting the composer’s wishes, we were nevertheless relieved that someone of Tony’s Elgarian credentials had been chosen by the Elgar estate to carry out the work, fearing as we all did that, with copyright imminently expiring, the sketches would fall prey to all manner of ill-qualified amateurs. Tony’s is a scholarly, informed and idiomatic realisation. No-one could have done it better, probably none as well. Now let’s have some matching recognition of his own composer’s voice!
Really sad to hear of the loss of Tony Payne. He was a wonderfully articulate contributor to several of my music films, and had such insight into the work of Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Delius, among others. And he was a great encourager as well as enthusiast. He and Jane were always so welcoming and friendly. I will never forget filming an interview with him in their house in Fittleworth, when he kept darting out to keep across the cricket score! I last saw him at the thrilling performance of his Elgar 3 at the Festival Hall in February last year, conducted by John Wilson. Tony was really excited, and reckoned it was the best performance yet of that great work. How much we shall miss him – particularly his generous presence at so many concerts and recitals.
This performance reminds me that I took my young son to the premiere at the RFH. It may have been his first live concert certainly one of the most important.
Tony got to see the world as guest of honour when foreign orchestras took up
his masterful work. He never seemed to mind it oversaw his own compositions and I always encouraged him to write as he wished whenever we met.
I was shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Tony Payne, so soon after that of his lovely wife Jane Manning. My late husband, Michael, spent much time with him when Tony was working on the completion of Elgar’s Third Symphony – Michael thought Tony had done an excellent job. Although we lived so far apart, we remained good friends, always pleased to bump into each other at concerts and operas where we would all greet each other warmly. I will miss them both. May thy rest in peace, together.
It came as a tremendous shock to see that Tony had died so soon after the death of his wife Jane. I met them both by accident when they were looking for the resting place of Peter Warlock in Godalming where I live. I went on to help them with the management of Jane’s Minstrels at various festivals and concert venues in London and elsewhere. They became good friends and I, and many others, will miss them dearly.