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Weisse, Sophie, 1852-1945 (Scottish music teacher)

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1852 - 1945

Biography

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 16 Collections and/or Records:

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Harold H. Joachim, 25 November 1908

 Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L2254
Scope and Contents

Letter, 25 November 1908, Oxford, Harold H. Joachim to Sophie Weisse. Thanking Miss. Weisse and Tovey their kindness, and allowing Harold Joachim to hear wonderful music. Holograph signed.

Dates: 25 November 1908

Letter to Sophie Weisse from John Farmer, 08 May 1899

 Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L2139
Scope and Contents

Letter, 8 May 1899, Oxford, John Farmer to Sophie Weisse. Praising Tovey's exceptional talent, comparing the young Tovey to Brahms. Holograph signed.

Dates: 08 May 1899

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Oxford Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 01 October 1895

 Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L438
Scope and Contents

Letter, [1895], Oxford Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. List of works by Bach, Schumann and Brahms. Holograph.

Dates: 01 October 1895

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, c1895

 Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L2676
Scope and Contents

Letter, 1895, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Thanking Miss. Weisse for the present of some scores and notes on the scores. Photocopy of Holograph signed.

Dates: c1895

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

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 01 December 1894

 Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L375
Scope and Contents

Letter, 1 December 1894, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Discussion of Tovey's progress in classical scholarship, and his anxiety over balancing music scholarship and classical scholarship. Holograph signed.

Dates: 01 December 1894

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, 04 March 1895

 Item
Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L385
Scope and Contents

Letter, 4 March 1894, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Expressing anxiety over the Amsterdam choir. Holograph signed, with envelope.

Dates: 04 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

Filtered By

  • Subject: Music X
  • Subject: Oxford Oxfordshire England X

Additional filters:

Subject
Composition (Music) 8
Surrey (England) 6
Music 4
Social Interaction 4
Instruction and Study 2