World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Percy Alfred Scholes

パーシー・アルフレッド・スコールズ

Pāshī Arufureddo Sukōruzu

Aliases: Percy A. Scholes / Percy Scholes

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1877-07-24 （Leeds (Headingley), England）
Died
1958-07-31 （Vevey, Switzerland） age 81
Nationality
British, English
Languages
English
Residence History
Leeds, England → Canterbury, England → Vevey, Switzerland → Grahamstown, South Africa → England → Cornaux, Chamby sur Montreux, Switzerland

Career

Occupations
Musician, Journalist, Writer, Organist, Schoolteacher, Music critic, Lecturer, Inspector of Music in Schools
Active Years
1907-1958
Affiliations
Kent College, Canterbury, All Saints, Vevey, Kingswood College, Grahamstown, City of Leeds (Municipal) School of Music
Memberships
Vice-president of the Vegetarian Society, Vice-president of the London Vegetarian Society, Patron of the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports
Influenced By
Charles Burney
Influenced
John Owen Ward

Education

Private education
None
Country: United Kingdom
Educated privately due to poor health as a child

Awards

James Tait Black Memorial Prize
1948
Work: The Great Dr Burney
Organization: University of Edinburgh
Result: winner
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
1956
Organization: British Government
Result: recipient
Officer of the Star of Rumania
1930
Organization: Romania
Result: officer
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA)
1938
Organization: Society of Antiquaries of London
Result: fellow
Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS)
Organization: Royal Historical Society
Result: fellow

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Oxford Companion to Music

1938 Music encyclopedia

Comprehensive music encyclopedia with over a million words, largely written by Scholes himself.

Music appreciationFor amateur audiences

The Great Dr Burney

1948 Biography

Biography of Charles Burney, winner of James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

Music historyBiographical literature

The Mirror of Music

1947 Music history 960 pages

Two-volume compilation from The Musical Times 1844-1944.

Music history

Bibliography

  • Candidates Self Examiner in Scales, etc. (1907)
  • The Music Student (ed). (1908 – 1921, later renamed The Music Teacher)
  • Introduction to French Music (1917)
  • Everyman and his Music (1917)
  • An Introduction to British Music (1918)
  • Listener’s Guide to Music (1919)
  • Musical Appreciation in Schools (1920)
  • Learning to Listen by Means of the Gramophone (1921)
  • New works by modern British composers, Carnegie UK Trust (1921, 1924)
  • Beginner’s Guide to Harmony (1922)
  • The Book of the Great Musicians (1923)
  • The First Book of the Gramophone Record (1924)
  • The Appreciation of Music by Means of the Pianola and Duo-Art (1925)
  • Everybody’s Guide to Broadcast Music (1925)
  • Miniature History of Music (1928)
  • Columbia History of Music Through Ear and Eye (1930)
  • Miniature History of Opera (1931)
  • Some Aesthetic and Everyday Reflections on the Vegetarian System of Diet (1931)
  • Practical Lesson Plans in Musical Appreciation by Means of the Gramophone (1933)
  • Puritans and Music (1934)
  • Music: the Child and the Masterpiece (1935)
  • Radio Times Music Handbook (1935)
  • Oxford Companion to Music (1938)
  • God Save the King! Its History and Romance (1942)
  • The Mirror of Music (1947)
  • The Great Doctor Burney (1948)
  • Why I am a Vegetarian (1948)
  • The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (1952)
  • The Life and Adventures of Sir John Hawkins (1953)
  • Oxford Junior Companion to Music (1954)
  • God Save the Queen! The History and Romance of the World's First National Anthem (1954)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
AnecdotalQuirkySalty personal styleSimplification for amateurs
Recurring Motifs
Music appreciationGramophone for educationPlayer-piano rollsVegetarianism

Health

  • Poor health in childhood
    幼少期
    Forced private education

Legacy

Best known for compiling the first edition of The Oxford Companion to Music, promoting music appreciation to wider audiences. Strict vegetarian.

Archives

  • Library and Archives Canada

Quotes

  • Handel was the more elegant composer, but Bach was the more thorough.
    Source: The Oxford Companion to Music (1938)
  • Jazz is to serious music as daily journalism is to serious writing.
    Source: The Oxford Companion to Music (1938)

Trivia

  • Strict vegetarian who ate two carrots for dinner at the Savile Club
  • Pronounced 'skolz'
  • Oldest brother was a Methodist missionary and vegetarian who lived to 98
  • Publicly denounced plagiarism by Arthur Eaglefield Hull