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, c 25 April 1920

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L658

Scope and Contents

Letter, [25 April 1920], Kent, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Notes on the progress of the opera, comments on Tovey's wife's condition, and details of copying a vocal score. Holograph signed.

Dates: c 25 April 1920

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, c1921

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L659

Scope and Contents

Letter, [January 1921], Edinburgh, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. News of Tovey's wife and son, hopes for the New Year. Holograph signed.

Dates: c1921

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, c1922

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L660

Scope and Contents

Letter, [1922], Dusseldorf, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. News of the Busch family, Tovey's symphony, details of a successful concert at Prague, news of Mr. and Mrs. Rontgen, . Holograph signed.

Dates: c1922

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 August 1922

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L661

Scope and Contents

Letter, 1 August 1922, London, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Requesting that Miss. Weisse send Tovey a couple of dress shirts, news of his host Sir William McCormick. Holograph signed.

Dates: 01 August 1922

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, c01 May 1922

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L663

Scope and Contents

Letter, [May 1922], Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Plans for the schooling of Tovey's son and developments in Tovey's composition. Holograph signed.

Dates: c01 May 1922

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, c1922

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L664

Scope and Contents

Letter, [1922], Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Covering letter for a book by Arnold which Tovey believes to be his best. Holograph signed.

Dates: c1922

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, c01 May 1922

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L665

Scope and Contents

Letter, [May 1922], Edinburgh, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. News of Tovey's wife's recovery, details of forthcoming engagements and discussion of the status of the music faculty within the University. Holograph signed.

Dates: c01 May 1922

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 August 1922

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L666

Scope and Contents

Letter, 1 August 1922, Freudenstadt, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Tovey's plans to go to Stuttgart with Fritz Busch and then return to Edinburgh, expressing an interest in the Moor duplex piano. Holograph signed.

Dates: 01 August 1922

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, c1922

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L667

Scope and Contents

Letter, [1922], Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse . News that the University has agreed to Tovey's Sunday concerts and of the University musical society and the Reid Orchestra, criticism of an article by A. C. Benson, Necks illness. Holograph signed.

Dates: c1922

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, c1922

Item

Identifier: Coll-411/1/1/L668

Scope and Contents

Letter, [1922], Canstatt, Donald Tovey to Sophie Weisse. Informing Miss. Weisse of Tovey's receipt of a letter from Lady Berry and a discussion of Tovey's illness. Holograph signed.

Dates: c1922

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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