Last night, the final episode aired of this series of Who Do You Think You Are? It explored the ancestry of BBC anchor Sophie Raworth, and provided an opportunity to reflect on the discoveries of this series, particularly the passions and professions that have been shared throughout the generations of a family — oftentimes unknowingly! Sophie’s family was no exception to this pattern. Musical Motts An early discovery in last night’s episode was that Sophie has several ancestors who were involved in …
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“I won’t be embarrassed by what I discover, bring it on! Let’s have an adventure.” – Warwick Davis In last night’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? we joined Warwick Davis, best known for his acting career, as he uncovered a few family secrets including bigamy and multiple marriages on his mother’s side of the family, as well as tragedy and another successful performer on his father’s side. Searching for a Local Pub Warwick wanted to find out …
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‘Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more’. – William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Scene V These are the lines with which Sir Ian McKellen opens his episode of Who Do You Think You Are? As a septuagenarian, looking backwards to discover from whence (and from whom) he came, it is fitting that he should read these particular lines of Macbeth’s. Furthermore, they are …
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Edward Grieg, the Norwegian composer famous for composing the music for Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, died in Bergen on 4 September 1907 – he was 64. To mark the day, here is a fascinating newspaper story that reports on Grieg’s death and also highlights the composer’s Scottish ancestry. Evening Telegraph – Thursday 05 September 1907 Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000563/19070905/025/0002 The Graphic – Saturday 02 March 1889 Image © THE BRITISH …
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Franz Liszt, the virtuoso pianist and composer, died in Bayreuth on 31 July 1886, aged 74. The two newspaper reports below (published in early August 1886), offer a fascinating picture of Liszt’s last hours and also an overview of his life as a genius musician. The second report entitled, ‘Revelations About Lizst’, is more gossipy in tone and provides a brief summary of his troubles with Wagner as well as Liszt’s spiritual struggles. Manchester Evening News – Tuesday 03 August 1886 …
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Frederick Delius, the Bradford-born composer who was famous for the lyricism of his musical compositions, died in Grez, France, on 10 June 1934, aged 72. To mark the day, here is a newspaper tribute to Delius that was published the day after the composer died. Aberdeen Journal – Monday 11 June 1934 Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000577/19340611/087/0007 Western Daily Press – Monday 11 June 1934 Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. …
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Niccolo Paganini, the genius violinist alleged to have made a Faustian pact with the devil in exchange for his sublime musical skills, died in Nice on 27 May 1840. We’ve been reading 19th Century newspaper reports about Paganini, and have found some fascinating stories. Here’s a story about Paganini refusing to play at a pre-arranged concert at the Casino Paganini in Paris, and being sued for damages and fined £800 for his non-appearance. Blackburn Standard – Wednesday 15 January 1840 …
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‘This child has a great future before her, and she will put many great musicians in the shade’ – Paganini The German pianist and composer, Clara Schumann, suffered a stroke and died in Frankfurt on 20 May 1896, aged 76. We’ve been reading stories about Madame Schumann in the Archive and we especially liked this first report, as it contains a terrific comment from Paganini about her brilliant piano playing. The second report contains a description of her funeral in Bonn, …
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Erik Satie, the French composer and pianist, was born in Honfleur, Normandy, on 17 May 1866. Satie was a member of the Parisian avant-garde of the late 19th and early 20th Century, and was famous for the eccentricity of his work. While reading articles about Satie in the Archive, we found this terrific story about what the newspaper writer calls ‘ultra modern composers’. In the last paragraph of the second section, the writer quotes the weird and wonderful instructions that Satie …
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‘Anecdotes of Dr Franklin’ Benjamin Franklin, one of the ‘Founding Fathers’ of the United States of America died in Philadelphia on 17 April 1790. Franklin was no mere politician, however, and also worked as a writer, printer, scientist, inventor and musician. In short, he was a ‘Renaissance Man’ and a true son of ‘the Enlightenment’. We found this terrific newspaper tribute to Franklin in ‘The Caledonian Mercury’ (published on 5 July 1790 – which just goes to show how fast …