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Denis Matthews (27 February 191925 December 1988) was an English pianist and musicologist whose performing career flourished after the war, during the 1950s and into the 1960s. He later turned increasingly to broadcasting, writing and teaching.Denis Matthews Memorial Trust, Denismatthews.org
Resuming his professional career after the war, he toured extensively as a concert pianist and formed successful partnerships with the Griller Quartet and the Amadeus Quartet. His particular liking was for the music of Joseph Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Franz Schubert, and his edition of the Mozart piano sonatas, prepared with Stanley Sadie, became widely used. He also produced many recordings, especially of modern British piano music, and performed the BBC Proms premiere of Edmund Rubbra's Piano Concerto in 1956.Joan Chissell, rev. Stanley Sadie. 'Matthews, Denis ( James )', in Grove Music Online (2001) During the 1950s and 1960s he was a regular broadcaster and presenter on musical subjects for BBC Radio.Christopher Howell. Forgotten Artists: Denis Matthews (2016)
His autobiography In Pursuit of Music appeared in 1966. In Pursuit of Music, Victor Gollancz Ltd, London 1966, The following year he was interviewed for the BBC radio programme Desert Island Discs. Denis Matthews. Desert Island Discs, 30 October, 1967 Between 1971 and 1984 he was Professor of Music at Newcastle University. He wrote a biography of Arturo Toscanini in 1982, and in 1985 he published a study of Beethoven in the Dent "Master Musicians" series. His short book on Beethoven's piano sonatas (published as a BBC Music Guide) is particularly valuable. In the few years before his death, he and his third wife, the pianist and teacher Beryl Chempin, both taught at the Birmingham School of Music.
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