Ferruccio Bonavia

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Ferruccio Zernitz Bonavia (20 February 1877 – 5 February 1950) was an Italian born violinist, composer and critic who spent his working life in England.[1]

Born in Trieste, Bonavia was the son of a musician, Eduardo Zernitz. He studied music in his home town and later in Milan. He moved to England at the age of 20 and was naturalised two years later. As a practising musician he played violin in the Halle Orchestra under Hans Richter from 1902 until 1912.[2] Willy Hess, the orchestra's leader, was also his teacher. He married Hilda Anne Tucker in July 1907.[3] During the 1914-18 war he served as a private soldier and worked at the Foreign Office, furthering Anglo-Italian relations.[1]

Bonavia is best remembered as a music critic and author. Before the war he worked for the

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Kobbe's Complete Opera Book
. His book Musicians in Elysium contains imaginary conversations with composers of the past.

His compositions included a Violin Concerto (1911, premiered in Blackpool with the composer as soloist),[5] chamber music (including a string octet and two string quartets, the first composed in 1909,[6] the second completed in 1950 only a month before his death),[1] and some songs, including a choral setting of Shelley's Autumn (1935).[7]

Bonavia lived at various locations in London, including 352 Kew Road, Kew from 1914 to 1919, and 41 Royal Crescent, Holland Park, from 1919 to 1928.[8] At the end of his life Bonavia's address was 39 Belsize Park Gardens, London NW3.[9] He died in London, survived by his wife and their two sons.[10]

His son, Dr Michael Robert Bonavia (1909–1999) had a long career in the transport industry and wrote over 20 books, including Economics of Transport (1936) and The Four Great Railways (1980).[11]

Books

  • Verdi (1930, rev. 1947)
  • Mozart (1938, Novello Short Biography)
  • Rossini (1941, Novello Short Biography)
  • 'The Solo Instrument', in
    A.L. Bacharach
    (ed.) The Musical Companion (1941)
  • Musicians in Elysium (1949), With illustrations by Beatrice MacDermott.
  • Musicians on Music (1956), anthology prepared for the press by Frank Howes.

References

  1. ^ a b c Obituary, The Musical Times, Vol. 91, No. 1285 (March 1950), pp. 101-102
  2. ^ Michael Kennedy. The Halle Tradition: a Century of Music (1960), p. 150
  3. ^ Marriages at St Chrysostom, Rusholme, 1904-1914
  4. ^ The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (2007)
  5. ^ Manchester Guardian, 12 August 1911, p. 11
  6. ^ The Musical Times, Vol. 50, No. 791 (January 1909), p. 41
  7. ^ Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Fifth Edition (1958)
  8. ISBN 1-85421-082-3
    .
  9. ^ Who's Who in Music (1950), p.23
  10. ^ Obituary, Daily Telegraph, 6 February 1950, p.3
  11. ^ Michael Bonavia biography, Science Museum
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