Amy Elise Horrocks (23 February 1867 – 4 December 1919) was an English music educator, composer (particularly of songs) and pianist. She had a close association with the Royal Academy of Music as a student, teacher, and Fellow. She enjoyed a degree of professional success, including several performances of her work at the Proms.
Early life
Childhood
Amy Horrocks was born on 23 February 1867 to English parents, Francis James Horrocks (8 July 1829 – 27 April 1913) and his wife Hannah (née Allen, 1833 – 22 April 1913)Parish records for Kent, census returns and death certificates in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where it is suggested that Francis Horrocks was constructing tramways. Her early education from the age of about six was at Miss Frances Anne Gregson's Highbury College in Bowdon, Cheshire.
In 1879 the family relocated to London and were living at 35 Bartholomew Road, Kentish Town. Amy joined North London Collegiate School for Girls in May 1880North London Collegiate School for Girls, Jubilee Calendar 1900, Kenny & Co, Printers (London) and was a pupil of Music Master John Blockley, a composer.North London Collegiate School for Girls, Our Magazine, April 1898, p124, Warren Hall and Lovitt Printers (London) She left the school in Easter 1882. The school recorded her successes at the Royal Academy of Music, noting her Certificate of Merit for Harmony,North London Collegiate School for Girls, List of Honours and Prizes Gained During the Year Ending May 1888, Warren Hall and Lovitt Printers (London) Bronze and Silver Medals for Pianoforte,North London Collegiate School for Girls, List of Honours and Prizes Gained During the Year Ending May 1889, Warren Hall and Lovitt Printers (London) Potter Exhibition and Sterndale Bennett prize.Frances Mary Buss Schools: North London Collegiate School for Girls, Scholarships and Honours 1871 – 1896, Kenny & Co, Printers (London); North London Collegiate School for Girls, List of Honours and Prizes Gained During the Year Ending May 1890, Warren Hall and Lovitt Printers (London) Her song, "At Peep of Dawn" was performed at the school concert in 1897North London Collegiate School for Girls, Our Magazine, November 1897, p120, Warren Hall and Lovitt Printers (London) and her Collection of Two-Part Songs was bought for the library in 1902.North London Collegiate School for Girls, Our Magazine, March 1902, p15, Warren Hall and Lovitt Printers (London)
Education
By 1881, the family were living at 17 Goldhurst Terrace in Hampstead. From 1882, she studied piano and composition under the pianist Adolf Schlösser and the musician Francis William Davenport at the Royal Academy. In 1883 she won prizes in piano and French at the Royal Academy.The Musical Times, 1 September 1883 In 1885 she won the Academy's silver medal for piano and a bronze medal for harmony.The Musical Times, 1 August 1885
From 1886 to 1888, she took part in student concerts at St James's Hall.The Musical Times, 1 April 1886; The Era, 9 April 1887; The Standard, 18 February 1888; The Era, 25 February 1888 The Musical Times, 1 March 1888 In 1888, her "The Return of May" was performed in the Steinway Hall.The Musical Times, 1 August 1888 Her "Variations for pianoforte, violin, viola and violincello" was performed in St James's Hall in 1889.Lloyds Weekly London Newspaper, 10 March 1889 Also in 1889, she won the Academy's Sterndale Bennett prize.Bath Chronicle, 16 May 1889; Reading Mercury, 25 May 1889; The Western Daily Press, 18 May 1889; The Queen, 18 May 1889
By 1891, she was a Professor of Music; she was elected as an Associate of the Academy in 1890 and as a Fellow in 1895. She won the Potter Exhibition prize in 1888 and the Sterndale Bennett Prize in 1889.
Career
Composer and performer
From 1891, Horrocks's works were performed around Britain, such as at the Prince's Hall.The Morning Post, 11 and 14 May 1891; The Standard, 11 and 14 May 1891; The Weekly Dispatch, 17 May 1891 Her "Sonata in G, for piano and violincello" was praised by The Musical Times.The Musical Times, 1 June 1891 Other works performed early in her career include "The Return of May";The Morning Post, 27 December 1886; The Queen, The Lady's Newspaper, 15 January 1887; The Graphic, 29 January 1887 "Bonnie Wee Thing" (words by Robert Burns)The Queen, The Lady's Newspaper, 24 November 1888; The Graphic, 12 January 1889 "An Idyll of New Years Eve";The Morning Post, 30 December 1889; The Globe, 1 February 1890 "A Midsummer Song";The Daily Telegraph, 1 April 1890 "Berceuse in F. Waltz in C";The Queen, The Lady's Newspaper, 1 November 1890 "Four Songs in Two BooksThe Musical Times, 1 February 1891; The Musical Times, 1 March 1891 "When Mortals are at Rest";Birmingham Daily Post, 1 January 1894 "Six Songs, Two Fairy Songs for Treble Voices and Six Pieces for Piano";The Gentlewoman, 29 April 1893 "The Skylark's Wooing, Hill Tops";The Queen, The Lady's Newspaper, 14 March 1896 "On a Nankin Plate";The Queen, The Lady's Newspaper, 12 December 1896; Black and White, 6 March 1897; The Gentlewoman, 1 January 1898 and "The Bird and The Rose" (words by Robert Smythe Hichens, 1895).Lücker, Arno, 128/250 female composers. Episode 128: Amy Horrocks, Van-magazine.com (2022) The song features in many contemporary reports from concerts around Britain by Horrocks, and from covers by other performers.The Queen, The Lady's Newspaper, 4 June 1887; The Daily Chronicle, 2 September 1887; The Queen, The Lady's Newspaper, 10 December 1887; The Era, 17 March 1888; Music Trade Review 1894; London Evening Standard, 21 March 1896; The Daily News, 3 December 1891; The Liverpool Mercury, 25 February 1893; Morning Post, 15 June 1895; Wimbledon News, 9 November 1895; Huddersfield Daily Chronicle, 16 January 1896; Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 24 January 1896; Derby Daily Telegraph, 23 January 1896; The Norfolk News, 30 May 1896; Eastern Daily Press, 20 February 1897; Windsor and Eton Express, 6 June 1896; The Oban Times, 13 June 1896; Folkestone Express, 14 November 1896; Tavistock Gazette, 26 February 1897; The Standard, 31 October 1896; The Standard, 2 November 1896; The Standard, 3 November 1896; The Standard, 4 November 1896; The Queen, 30 October 1897; Sheffield Independent, 3 March 1898; Blackburn Standard, 15 October 1898; Oxfordshire Weekly News, 26 October 1898; Evening Star, 24 January 1899; Bury Free Press, 28 January 1899; Eastern Evening News, 31 January 1899; Norfolk News, 11 February 1899; Maidenhead Advertiser, 18 February 1899; Eastbourne Chronicle, 18 February 1899; The Dunstable Borough Gazette, 14 February 1900
A performance of her "Eight Variations" features at another St James's Hall concert, conducted by Royal Academy principal Alexander MacKenzie on 27 February 1893.The Weekly Dispatch, 8 March 1893; The Musical Times, 1 April 1893; The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, 4 March 1893; The Era, 4 March 1893
She continued to perform as a pianist and became a teacher at the Academy. She served as one of the Academy's examiners for the 1893 and 1897 Hine Exhibition Prize for compositionThe Morning Post, 19 December 1893; London Evening Standard, 19 December 1893; London Evening Standard, 20 December 1897; The Morning Post, 20 December 1897; The Era, 25 December 1897 and the 1896 Robert Cocks Prize for piano playing.The Morning Post, 18 December 1896 One of her songs ("To Music To Becalm His Fever") featured at the Academy's annual prize giving in 1894The Morning Post, 26 July 1894; The Queen, 4 August 1894 and two of her duets, "April Showers" and "The Skylark's Wooing", at an Academy concert in 1898.The Musical Times, 1 August 1898; The Queen, 30 July 1898
Amy performed Antonín Dvořák and one of her own piano compositions in 1894,Westerham Herald, 30 March 1894 and featured as soloist and composer at a Birmingham Chamber Concert.Birmingham Daily Post, 9 April 1894; Birmingham Mail, 9 April 1894 She contributed to a collection of Artistic Songs, published by Robert Cocks & Co.The Musical Times, 1 March 1896; The Musical Times, 1 May 1896 Her song "Holly" was performed in 1895.The Queen, 6 April 1895 A concert by the D'Oyly Carte singer Esther Palliserconsists entirely of works by female composers including Horrocks and Clara Schumann.The Weekly Dispatch, 16 June 1895; The Social Review, 29 June 1895 Horrocks composed two songs, "Garden Voices" and "Lullaby" for a performance by the singer Marian McKenzie in 1895.Western Morning News, 26 October 1895; Newark Advertiser, 12 February 1896 Horrocks accompanied the Russian pianist Wassily Sapellnikoff at the Steinway Hall performing two of her duets, "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" and "A Flower".Morning Post, 2 March 1896; London Evening Standard, 3 March 1896
The singer Rosa Leo performed Horrocks's "Lullaby" at an 1895 recital at the Steinway Hall.The Musical Times, 1 April 1895 Horrocks's songs feature at three more Rosa Leo concerts in 1896. The first Steinway Hall event on 3 March includes "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" and "A Flower".The Morning Leader, 4 March 1896; The Morning Post, 4 March 1896; The Queen, 14 March 1896(1); London Evening Standard, 4 March 1896; Jewish Chronicle, 6 March 1896 At later concerts in the series,The Morning Post, 16 March 1896; London Evening Standard, 16 March 1896 "Forget-me-not" and "The Answer" were sung.Morning Post, 19 March 1896; The Morning Leader, 19 March 1896; London Evening Standard, 18 March 1896; The Weekly Dispatch, 22 March 1896; The Queen, 28 March 1896; The Musical Times, 1 April 1896
The London Ballad Concerts
Horrocks was performed at a concert in 1896Clifton Society, 26 March 1896 and her song, "A Romany Spring Song" featured in the annual Wilhelm Ganz concert.The Era, 27 June 1896; The Queen, 4 July 1896; The Morning Leader, 26 June 1896 Two more of Horrocks's songs ("The Bird and the Rose" and "My Pretty Jane") were performed by Jack Robertson as part of a 1896 London Ballad Concert, sponsored by Boosey & Co.;The Era, 7 November 1896; The Morning Post, 7 January 1897; London Evening Standard, 4 January 1897 these were followed by "Romany Spring Song" at a Queen's Hall Ballad Concert in 1897. "The Bird and the Rose" features in a Queen's Hall Ballad Concert later in 1897,The Standard, 16 October 1897; The Standard, 19 October 1897 performed by Edwardian actress, Georgina Delmar, and again at a Ballad Concert in 1898.The Standard, 24 March 1898; The Standard, 25 March 1898; The Standard, 26 March 1898 Horrocks appeared at an 1898 Ballad Concert and later occasionsThe Standard, 18 November 1898 accompanying Ellen Bowick in Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" to Horrocks's accompaniment of violin, cello and piano.The Morning Post, 21 November 1898; The Globe, 21 November 1898; Cheltenham Looker-On, 26 November 1898; The Standard, 3 February 1899; The Standard, 4 February 1899; The Queen, 11 February 1899; Daily Telegraph, 8 April 1899; Daily Telegraph, 29 April 1899; Hampstead News, 11 May 1899; Morning Post, 21 July 1899; The Queen, 29 July 1899; London Evening Standard, 21 July 1899; The Era, 22 July 1899; Daily Telegraph, 2 April 1900; Eastbourne Chronicle, 15 September 1900; Kent and Sussex Courier, 24 May 1901
Success
One of her pieces, "Sing Heigh-ho!", was performed by Australian contralto Ada Crossley at a Ballad concert in December 1898;The Standard, 1 December 1898; Daily Telegraph, 3 December 1898; Daily News, 6 December 1898 her work was also performed at a recital given by the English operatic soprano and contralto, and occasional pianist, Greta Williams.The Era, 3 December 1898