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John Blackwood McEwen 1868 - 1948
Artists | Classical | Composers and Arrangers
Sir John Blackwood McEwen (1868-1948) was born in Hawick, and after taking an Arts degree at Glasgow University he studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He came back to Glasgow to teach at the Athenaeum from 1895 to 1898, thereafter returning to the Royal Academy as Professor of Harmony and Composition before becoming Principal there in 1924. First and foremost, though, he was a gifted and prolific composer, displaying his Scottish colours in works such as the Pibroch Suite and Scottish Concerto, although his stylistic range – also taking in operas, oratorios, overtures, songs and numerous other smaller work – was impressively varied.
McEwen’s ultimate legacy included a far-reaching bequest to Glasgow University, providing for annual commissions of new Scottish chamber music and a series of triennial concerts, which – at a time when commissions to composers were rare anywhere in Britain – gave invaluable stimulus to post-war developments in this field.
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