Lilias Mackinnon | |
---|---|
Born | 20 April 1889 Aberdeen, Scotland |
Died | 1974 |
Other names | Lillias L. Harley |
Occupation(s) | Pianist, lecturer, writer, educator |
Relatives |
Doris Mackinnon (sister) Esther Blaikie MacKinnon (sister) George Thompson (great-grandfather) Aileen Fox (cousin) |
Lilias Livingstone Mackinnon LRAM (20 April 1889 – 1974) was a Scottish pianist and music educator.
Mackinnon was born in Aberdeen, the daughter of Lachlan Mackinnon and Theodora Thompson. [1] Her father was a lawyer and a consular agent, and her mother ran a home for unemployed women. Her older sisters were zoologist Doris Mackinnon and artist Esther Blaikie MacKinnon. [2] Her great-grandfather was shipowner George Thompson.
She studied piano with Julian Rossetti, and with Carlo Albanesi at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM). [1] She won the Macfarren Gold Medal at the RAM in 1916. [3] She also studied with Tobias Matthay. [4]
In Mackinnon gave concerts of piano works by Scriabin in London, beginning in 1917. [3] [5] In 1918 she joined Mary Ramsay and Oscar Beringer for a benefit concert of works to two pianos, at London's Aeolian Hall. [6] In 1933 she played at the BBC Proms concerts at Queen's Hall. [7] Her cousin, archaeologist Aileen Fox, remembered seeing a concert by Mackinnon at Wigmore Hall. [8] [9] She toured Canada [10] [11] and the United States [12] several times in the 1930s. [13] [14]
Critics generally praised Mackinnon's technique and choice of programme, [6] though Scriabin was considered quite "futuristic" in the 1920s. [15] [16] Ezra Pound described her playing as having "a fluid, not an architecture manner; it is not a confusion." [17] The Guardian expressed admiration for her charm and intelligent choices in 1932, but some disappointment at her restraint, when "something more of audacity is wanted." [18] The Oakland Tribune's critic highlighted her "meticulous taste" and "refined and poetic sensibility". [19]
Mackinnon devised her own method of memorising piano music, which she taught by correspondence. In 1935, she conducted a summer music school in St. Andrews. [20] She wrote Music by Heart (1938), "the only non-technical book in English devoted primarily to memorization", and "a classic", according to a 1955 review. [21]
During World War II, Mackinnon taught at Dominican College in California, and at Bradley Polytechnic Institute in Illinois. [22] She lectured on musical memory in Chicago in 1942, [23] in New York in 1945, [24] and at a piano clinic in North Carolina in 1956. [4] Composer Nancy Laird Chance was one of her students. [25]
Alexander Stuart-Hill painted Mackinnon's portrait in about 1920; she donated that painting to the Perth Art Gallery. [26] Maurice Besly dedicated a 1928 composition to Mackinnon. [27] She also donated some of her sister's art to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. [28] [29]
Mackinnon married a younger American man, William P. Harley, in 1959. They divorced in 1965. [32] She died in 1974, in her eighties. [26]
Lilias Mackinnon | |
---|---|
Born | 20 April 1889 Aberdeen, Scotland |
Died | 1974 |
Other names | Lillias L. Harley |
Occupation(s) | Pianist, lecturer, writer, educator |
Relatives |
Doris Mackinnon (sister) Esther Blaikie MacKinnon (sister) George Thompson (great-grandfather) Aileen Fox (cousin) |
Lilias Livingstone Mackinnon LRAM (20 April 1889 – 1974) was a Scottish pianist and music educator.
Mackinnon was born in Aberdeen, the daughter of Lachlan Mackinnon and Theodora Thompson. [1] Her father was a lawyer and a consular agent, and her mother ran a home for unemployed women. Her older sisters were zoologist Doris Mackinnon and artist Esther Blaikie MacKinnon. [2] Her great-grandfather was shipowner George Thompson.
She studied piano with Julian Rossetti, and with Carlo Albanesi at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM). [1] She won the Macfarren Gold Medal at the RAM in 1916. [3] She also studied with Tobias Matthay. [4]
In Mackinnon gave concerts of piano works by Scriabin in London, beginning in 1917. [3] [5] In 1918 she joined Mary Ramsay and Oscar Beringer for a benefit concert of works to two pianos, at London's Aeolian Hall. [6] In 1933 she played at the BBC Proms concerts at Queen's Hall. [7] Her cousin, archaeologist Aileen Fox, remembered seeing a concert by Mackinnon at Wigmore Hall. [8] [9] She toured Canada [10] [11] and the United States [12] several times in the 1930s. [13] [14]
Critics generally praised Mackinnon's technique and choice of programme, [6] though Scriabin was considered quite "futuristic" in the 1920s. [15] [16] Ezra Pound described her playing as having "a fluid, not an architecture manner; it is not a confusion." [17] The Guardian expressed admiration for her charm and intelligent choices in 1932, but some disappointment at her restraint, when "something more of audacity is wanted." [18] The Oakland Tribune's critic highlighted her "meticulous taste" and "refined and poetic sensibility". [19]
Mackinnon devised her own method of memorising piano music, which she taught by correspondence. In 1935, she conducted a summer music school in St. Andrews. [20] She wrote Music by Heart (1938), "the only non-technical book in English devoted primarily to memorization", and "a classic", according to a 1955 review. [21]
During World War II, Mackinnon taught at Dominican College in California, and at Bradley Polytechnic Institute in Illinois. [22] She lectured on musical memory in Chicago in 1942, [23] in New York in 1945, [24] and at a piano clinic in North Carolina in 1956. [4] Composer Nancy Laird Chance was one of her students. [25]
Alexander Stuart-Hill painted Mackinnon's portrait in about 1920; she donated that painting to the Perth Art Gallery. [26] Maurice Besly dedicated a 1928 composition to Mackinnon. [27] She also donated some of her sister's art to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. [28] [29]
Mackinnon married a younger American man, William P. Harley, in 1959. They divorced in 1965. [32] She died in 1974, in her eighties. [26]