Frederick Craig Riddle OBE (20 April 1912  5 February 1995) was a British violist. He was considered to be in the line from Lionel Tertis and William Primrose, through to the violists of today such as Lawrence Power.[1]

Early life and career

Frederick Riddle was born in Liverpool in 1912. He studied at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London from 1928 to 1933. He had a solo career while playing with the London Symphony Orchestra from 1933 to 1938. In 1938, was appointed principal viola with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He was a professor of the RCM from 1948 onwards. In 1953, he succeeded Harry Danks as principal violist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.[2]

Riddle was distinguished as a chamber music player and a concerto soloist. He made the first recording of William Walton's Viola Concerto, on 6 December 1937,[3] with the composer conducting.[4] He was recommended for this recording by Lionel Tertis. He made some revisions to the concerto, with Walton's approval.[5] Although Walton conducted the work many times with leading soloists such as Tertis and William Primrose, the interpretation he liked above all others was Riddle's.[6] He also performed the work in concert under Beecham.[2]

Personal life and death

Riddle was married twice, and had three daughters. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1980.[4] His first wife was soprano, conductor, and voice teacher Audrey Langford.[7] In 1946, he married soprano singer Helen Clare.[8]

He died in Newport on the Isle of Wight in 1995, aged 82. He was survived by Clare, his second wife, who died in 2018, at the age of 101.[8]

Premieres

Works that Frederick Riddle premiered included:

Appearances and recordings

He appeared in such works as:

Sources

References

  1. "BBC Music Magazine". Archived from the original on 16 May 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Alan Denson (25 February 1995). "Obituary: Frederick Riddle". The Independent.
  3. 1 2 3 4 ArkivMusik
  4. 1 2 Answers.com
  5. williamwalton.net Archived 2010-06-16 at the Wayback Machine
  6. The Walton Viola Concerto: A Synthesis Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Elizabeth Forbes (30 August 1994). "Obituary: Audrey Langford". The Independent.
  8. 1 2 Obituaries, Telegraph (25 September 2018). "Helen Clare, singer – obituary". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  9. Naxos
  10. howardblake.com
  11. clsassicalcdreview
  12. somm recordings
  13. Classical.net
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