Weisse, Sophie, 1852-1945 (Scottish music teacher)
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 55 Collections and/or Records:
Letter to [Sophie Weisse] from Joseph Joachim, 16 April 1904
Letter, 16 April 1904, Berlin, Joseph Joachim to [Sophie Weisse]. Discussing concert dates and sending best wishes to Tovey. Holograph signed.
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Louis Fleury, c1900
Letter, [n.d], Louis Fleury to Sophie Weisse. Discussing dates for concert performances at Northlands. Holograph signed.
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 12 October 1892
Letter, 12 October 1892, Oxford, Hubert C. Parry to Sophie Weisse. Sympathy over Tovey's crooked spine, details of Parry's engagements, and comment on a musical fund for scholars. Holograph signed.
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, c1895
Letter, 1895, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Thanking Miss. Weisse for sending presents, details of a concert given by Paderewski, criticising a piano, Tovey's studying plans, and other news. Photocopy of Holograph signed.
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, c1894
Letter, [n.d], Surrey, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Deciding which works by which composers to play at a performance. Photocopy of Holograph signed.
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 01 October 1893
Letter, [1 October 1893], Surrey, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Outlining a concert programme. Photocopy of Holograph signed.
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 13 November 1893
Letter, 13 November 1893, Surrey, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Suggestions for a concert programme. Holograph signed, in pencil, with stamped envelope.
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, c1895
Letter, [1895], Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Criticism of a concert Tovey attended, description of a concert Tovey gave and description of Tovey's Oxford contemporaries. Holograph signed.
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, c1895
Letter, [n.d], Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Apologising for Tovey's delay in arrival and concerned that Dr. Parry should sanction a concert performance. Holograph signed, in pencil, with envelope.
Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 10 November 1895
Letter, 10 November 1895, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Tovey describing concerts he has performed in and explaining his feelings of inadequacy compared to other Balliol scholars. Holograph signed.
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