Weisse, Sophie, 1852-1945 (Scottish music teacher)
Person
Dates
- Existence: 1852-1945
Sophie Weisse was born in Edinburgh in 1852 to a German father and Lithuanian mother. Little is known of her early life and education. In 1892, she founded the all-girls school of Northlands in Surrey, which she ran for twenty-five years. Although Northlands was a school of general education, music was given a particularly prominent place in the curriculum, and musical celebrities were often invited to visit and perform. Weisse employed the young Donald Tovey as a pianist at the school’s concerts, which provided a launch for his career as a musician and composer. Weisse had discovered Tovey’s talent at the age of four and had managed all aspects of his education. She further supported his career by funding the publication of his works between 1903 and 1913. Weisse and Tovey maintained a lifelong relationship. When Tovey was appointed to Edinburgh University’s Reid Chair of Music in 1914, Weisse followed him to Edinburgh. As Reid Professor, Tovey bestowed on Weisse an honorary degree of Doctor of Music in 1936. Weisse died in Guildford in 1945.
Weisse was a major benefactor of the University of Edinburgh. On Tovey’s death in 1941, she gifted 18 Buccleuch Place to the University as 'The Tovey Memorial Rooms', with the intention that it be used for student study. She also gifted the University portraits of Tovey and herself by Philip de Laszlo and endowed the Tovey Memorial Prize as an annual award for the most promising undergraduate composer or performer in the Faculty of Music. Her collection of around 600 books and scores relating to Beethoven was purchased by the University in 1948.
Found in 8 Collections and/or Records:
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 15 March 1895
Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L384
Scope and Contents
Letter, 15 March 1895, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Discussion of technique and spontaneity in music and criticism of a music committee. Holograph signed, in pencil, with stamped envelope.
Dates:
15 March 1895
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 21 February 1895
Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L403
Scope and Contents
Letter, 21 February 1895, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Covering note for the themes of a first movement of a composition by Tovey. Holograph signed, with stamped envelope.
Dates:
21 February 1895
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 20 October 1895
Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L425
Scope and Contents
Letter, 22 October 1895, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Description of a pianoforte quintet Tovey is composing. Holograph, with stamped envelope.
Dates:
20 October 1895
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 12 February 1896
Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L432
Scope and Contents
Letter, 12 February 1896, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Discussion of musical scoring, details of a concert. Holograph signed, incomplete.
Dates:
12 February 1896
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 24 February 1897
Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L449
Scope and Contents
Letter, 24 February 1897, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Anxiety over the pressures of Oxford life and doubting his skills of composition. Typescript copy.
Dates:
24 February 1897
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 20 May 1897
Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L456
Scope and Contents
Letter, 20 May 1897, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Notes describing Oxford life and Tovey's plans for composition in University holidays. Holograph signed, with duplicate typescript copy, [2]p. 27 x 20cm.
Dates:
20 May 1897
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 01 October 1894
Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L2679
Scope and Contents
Letter, 1 October 1894, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Talk of Tovey's finances, Tovey's plans for vacation work and news of Tovey's composition work. Photocopy of Holograph signed.
Dates:
01 October 1894
Postcard to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 22 February 1895
Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L400
Scope and Contents
Postcard, [22 February 1895], Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Informing Miss Weisse of the development of a composition. Holograph signed.
Dates:
22 February 1895