Rowsby Woof Explained

Edward Rowsby Woof (18 January 1883 – 31 December 1943) was an English violinist and music educator. He became professor of violin at the Royal Academy of Music (FRAM) in London, and wrote instructional works on violin technique and violin studies, as well as some pieces for violin.^[1] Among his pupils were Arthur Kennedy, Nona Liddell, William Waterhouse, Frederick Grinke, Jean Pougnet, Priaulx Rainier, Rosemary Rapaport, Sidney Griller, Peter Mountain, Colin Sauer, David Carl Taylor of the Stratton Quartet and Felix Kok.He also tutored the actress Meggie Albanesi.^[2]

Early life

Woof was born in Coalbrookdale, son of Edward Woof and his wife Sarah (née Rowsby).^[3] He studied violin with Hans Wessely at the Royal Academy of Music.^[4]

Career

From information in prospectuses of the Royal Academy of Music.^[5]

• Violin sub-professor: 1904-1905

In 1904 Woof won the Messrs. Hill & Sons’ Prize, and the Charles Rube Prize for quartet playing with Ivy L. St. Aubyn Angove, James T. Lockyer, and B. Walton O'Donnell. Woof was a Wessely Exhibitioner at the RAM.^[6] Woof was also awarded the Royal Academy of Music's Bronze Medal for Violin in 1904,^[7] the Silver Medal for Violin in 1905^[8] as well as the Hannah Mayer Fitzroy Prize,^[9] and the James Tubbs and Son’s Prize^[10] and the Dove Prize in 1906.^[11] In 1907, he made his debut at Bechstein Hall (now Wigmore Hall).^[12]

• Violin professor: 1909-1939
• Viola professor: 1912-1939
• Ensemble playing classes: 1914-1923

Personal life

In 1911, Woof married Victoria Mary Fox, a music teacher. They had no children.^[13] He died 31 December 1943.^[14]

Legacy

The Rowsby Woof Prize for Royal Academy of Music violin students, founded by his wife in 1944, was awarded annually in the years 1945 to 1963. The Prize Board listing the awardees was added to the RAM Museum's collection in 2011. Recipients include Colin Sauer (1945), Beryl Kimber (1949), Clarence Myerscough (1952), Brendan O' Reilly (1956) and John Georgiadis (1959) of the Gabrieli String Quartet, and Roy Malan (1963), founding concertmaster of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra.^[15]

Rowsby Woof is listed in the Musicians' Book of Remembrance in the Musician's Chapel at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate.^[16]

Selected works

Compositions

• Diamond Jubilee, children's song, words by S. R. W.,^[17] R.Cocks & Co.: London [1897]
• Reverie, for violin & piano, C. Woodhouse: London, 1909
• Little Waltz in first position, for violin & piano, C. Woodhouse: London, 1910
• Scherzo, for violin & piano, C. Woodhouse: London, 1910
• Scherzo, for piano, Cary & Co.: London, 1912
• Swinging, for violin & piano, Cary & Co.: London, 1913
• Forsaken, for violin & piano. Cary & Co.: London, 1914
• The North Wind, for violin & piano, J. Williams: London, 1919
• A Romp, for violin & piano, J. Williams: London, 1919
• Four Fancies, for violin & piano. I Caprice II Romance III Minuet IV In church, Anglo-French Music Co.: London, 1920
• Valse Capriccio, for violin & piano, J. Williams: London, 1927

Arrangements

• Bach, J. S.: Largo and Allegro, arr. violin & piano
• Paganini, N. Caprice, arr. violin & piano [1922]
• Geminiani, F.: Sonata Op.4 No. 10, Two Minuets [1927]

Instructional works

• The First Position Six short pieces for beginners for violin. Anglo-French Music Co.: London, 1910
• Technique and Interpretation in Violin-playing [1920]
• Thirty Studies of Moderate Difficulty for Violin
• Fifty Elementary Studies for Violin
• Official book of Scales and Arpeggios for the Violin ed. R. Woof, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music: London, 1922

Notes and References

1. R. A. M. Club Magazine No. 38, Feb 1913, p.10
2. Book: Gray . Frances . Meggie Albanesi : a life in the theatre . 2010 . London: Society for Theatre Research . 978-0854300761 . 9.
3. Shropshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1900
4. R. A. M. Magazine No. 128, May 1944, p.33
5. Information supplied thanks to the librarian at the London Royal Academy of Music. No prospectus available for 1940, and his name is not listed in the 1941 prospectus.
6. 1904 Prize List Royal Academy of Music
7. Web site: Medal: Royal Academy of Music medal awarded to Rowsby Woof for violin, 1904. Bronze . Royal Academy of Music Museum . January 7, 2019.
8. Web site: Medal: Royal Academy of Music medal awarded to Rowsby Woof for violin, 1905. Silver . Royal Academy of Music Museum . January 7, 2019.
9. 1905 Prize List Royal Academy of Music
10. 1906 Prize List Royal Academy of Music
11. Royal Academy of Music . Musical News . July 28, 1906 . London, England . January 7, 2019.
12. Book: Who's who in Music: A Biographical Record of Contemporary Musicians . 318 . 1915 . 2nd . H. Saxe . Wyndham . Geoffrey . L'Epine . London, England . January 7, 2019.
13. Who's Who 1942, 94th edition, A. & C. Black
14. The Monthly Musical Record, collected volumes 74-75, Augener & Co., 1944, p. 42
15. Web site: Rowsby Woof Prize Board . Royal Academy of Music Museum . January 7, 2019.
16. Web site: Book of Remembrance: Rowsby Woof . Friends of the Musicians’ Chapel . January 7, 2019.
17. Probably his mother, Sarah Rowsby Woof