Dr David Wright
David C F Wright was born in 1946, the great nephew of Sir Ivor Atkins, the organist at Worcester Cathedral for fifty years, and the conductor of the Three Choirs Festival. As a boy, David was a head chorister and sang solos in many cathedrals and at festivals. He learned the piano and organ and gave his first organ recital at the age of eleven. In his teenage years he played all the Beethoven piano sonatas and concertos at various Musical Festivals. In 1962 he met the composer Humphrey Searle and had private lessons with him and, later with Sir Adrian Boult, Pierre Boulez and Alan Rawsthorne. He received his BMus and DMus by study and examination.
Since 1961 David Wright has composed over 80 works from intimate chamber pieces to three symphonies, five string quartets, six piano sonatas, a violin concerto, an oboe concerto and concertante works for flute and piano and violin and piano respectively. He writes about music and specialises in less familiar composers. His String Quartet no 2, written for his Irish girl friend, won a prodigious prize.
The purpose of this site is:
- to introduce readers to such composers
- to present the composers as human beings and not as gods or as infallible. Dr Wright believes that the life style and character of the composer is inherent in some of his music and quotes, as examples Haydn for his wit and diplomacy, Schubert for his laziness and plagiarism, Bruckner for his Catholic spirituality, Elgar for his pride and pomposity and Britten for his homosexuality and pederasty.
One of Dr Wright's famous saying is, "Some people would rather believe a beautiful lie than an ugly truth."
The composer Ruth Gipps wrote that she only met two truly sincere and knowledgeable musicians and one of those was David Wright. The Irish composers, Gerard Victory and James Wilson, have written similar sentiments.
Because Dr Wright has the original letters that Elgar wrote to his great uncle, he has produced a definitive article about Elgar which truths have upset Elgar fans.
David Wright has received many degrees and awards for his service to music. Composers and performers regularly seek his advice and many composers have dedicated works to him such as John Veale, Richard Hall, Reginald Smith Brindle, James Brown, Derek Bourgeouis and Antonin Tucapsky.
Dr Wright's efforts have secured recordings of rare music. He has from his own resources produced CDs of world premiere recording of songs. He does not only write about music but pays to get performances.
He has worked in the legal profession, industry and as a teacher of English, History and Music. He lectures on history and music often to put right what may be existing wrong concepts. He works hard for children's rights and women's rights. He has conducted orchestras and choirs and is highly regarded, but also subject to libel and abuse by devotees of composers because of the proven truths he writes about them. Some people would rather believe a beautiful lie than an ugly truth.
There are other writers on music who object to Dr Wright's articles out of jealousy and/or because his writings are scholarly, definitive and reliable and, consequently, other writers may feel diminished .
He has two daughters from his first marriage and, in recent years, has had major health problems.
He also writes on both moral issues and theology with a powerful but easy to understand style. Some of these writings, as well as his writings on music, are used in universities from the USA to New Zealand.
Linda Karen Dowson, MMus
