Marmaduke Barton

Marmaduke Barton FRCM (29 December 186524 July 1938) was an English pianist, composer and teacher at the Royal College of Music for almost 50 years.

Career Marmaduke Miller Barton was born in Manchester, the son of a United Methodist Free Church minister, He was educated at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London under one of the first 50 scholarships. His teachers were John Francis Barnett (piano) and Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.

He met Hamish MacCunn at this time and the two became lifelong friends. He made piano duet arrangements of two of MacCunn's orchestral works, and some smaller works were dedicated to him. He and MacCunn played piano duets in some student concerts.

In 1888 he was awarded a travelling scholarship, enabling him to study with the Franz Liszt pupil Bernhard Stavenhagen in Weimar. and also appeared at the Albert Hall, the Proms (he played the Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor on 11 October 1911 under Sir Henry Wood), and in the provinces. He gave frequent solo recitals in London, and he toured South Africa and the Netherlands. and some piano pieces. His students included: Marion Scott, Cyril Rootham, Clara Butt, Lloyd Powell, and the entertainer Anna Russell (presumably no relation to his wife).

Legacy The Marmaduke Barton Prize for Pianoforte Playing is awarded by the RCM. Recipients include David Helfgott and Marianna Prjevalskaya.

Personal life In 1891 he married Anna Russell, one of his co-students at the RCM, a pupil of Jenny Lind and Sir George Henschel.