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 692 Collections and/or Records:

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 14 May 1898

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L495

Scope and Contents

Letter, 14 May 1898, Littlehampton, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. News of Tovey's progress at Oxford and details of a bad copy of a quintet by Tovey. Holograph incomplete.

Dates: 14 May 1898

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / The Tovey Collection / Papers of Donald Francis Tovey / Correspondence

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 19 May 1898

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L496

Scope and Contents

Letter, 19 May 1898, Littlehampton, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Description of Tovey's revision for exams. Typescript copy, incomplete, of L497.

Dates: 19 May 1898

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / The Tovey Collection / Papers of Donald Francis Tovey / Correspondence

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 19 May 1898

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L497

Scope and Contents

Letter, 19 May 1898, Surrey, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Description of Tovey's revision for exams. Holograph signed, in pencil.

Dates: 19 May 1898

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / The Tovey Collection / Papers of Donald Francis Tovey / Correspondence

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 21 May 1898

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L498

Scope and Contents

Letter, 21 May 1898, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Comments on a letter from J. L. Strachan Davidson, and thanking Miss. Weisse for a cheque. Holograph signed, with letter from J. L. Strachan Davidson to Donald Tovey.

Dates: 21 May 1898

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / The Tovey Collection / Papers of Donald Francis Tovey / Correspondence

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 21 May 1898

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L499

Scope and Contents

Letter, 21 May 1898, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Comments on a letter from J. L. Strachan Davidson, and thanking Miss. Weisse for a cheque. Typescript copy.

Dates: 21 May 1898

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / The Tovey Collection / Papers of Donald Francis Tovey / Correspondence

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 14 June 1898

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L500

Scope and Contents

Letter, 14 June 1898, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. News of Tovey's progress at Oxford and news of his contemporaries. Typescript copy of L501.

Dates: 14 June 1898

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / The Tovey Collection / Papers of Donald Francis Tovey / Correspondence

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 14 June 1898

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L501

Scope and Contents

Letter, 14 June 1898, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. News of Tovey's progress at Oxford and news of his contemporaries. Holograph signed.

Dates: 14 June 1898

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / The Tovey Collection / Papers of Donald Francis Tovey / Correspondence

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 15 June 1898

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L502

Scope and Contents

Letter, 15 June 1898, Oxford Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Informing Miss. Weisse of a trip to Liverpool to visit V. M. Coutts Trotter. Holograph signed.

Dates: 15 June 1898

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / The Tovey Collection / Papers of Donald Francis Tovey / Correspondence

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 25 June 1898

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L503

Scope and Contents

Letter, 25 June 1898, Oxford, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Explaining his actions to Miss. Weisse and chastising her for hers. Holograph signed.

Dates: 25 June 1898

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / The Tovey Collection / Papers of Donald Francis Tovey / Correspondence

Letter to Sophie Weisse from Sir Donald Francis Tovey, 01 July 1898

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L504

Scope and Contents

Letter, 1 July 1898, Surrey, Donld Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Description of Tovey's Viva examination in Latin. Holograph signed.

Dates: 01 July 1898

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / The Tovey Collection / Papers of Donald Francis Tovey / Correspondence

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

Dates

Biography

Found in 692 Collections and/or Records:

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