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Robert Orlando Morgan (16 March 1865 – 16 May 1956) was an English music teacher, composer and Musicology. He is best remembered as an influential teacher at the Guildhall School of Music in London, where he taught for 64 years, from 1887 to 1951, as Professor of Pianoforte and Composition. His pupils included the composer Benjamin Frankel and the pianist Myra Hess.
Morgan composed many songs and classical pieces, as well as the music for the last Savoy opera, Two Merry Monarchs (1910), which had poor notices and a brief run. Morgan wrote no more operas but continued to compose prolifically throughout his life.
A diversion in his normal teaching curriculum was what Fred Astaire called "an attempt" to teach harmony and composition to Astaire and Noël Coward in 1923.Astaire, p. 119 Morgan played over a piece that Coward had written and objected to his harmonisation. Coward later recalled, "I was told by my instructor that I could not use consecutive Perfect fifth. He went on to explain that a gentleman called Ebenezer Prout had announced many years ago that consecutive fifths were wrong and must in no circumstances be employed.… I argued back that Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel had used consecutive fifths like mad.… I left his presence forever with the parting shot that what was good enough for Debussy and Ravel was good enough for me."Coward, pp. 12–13
As a musicologist, Morgan was known for his practical approach. The Times said of his editions of the classics, "They are meant for performance rather than for the study. The performer is not bothered by extensive footnotes and alternative readings, but has a clear and on the whole reliable text from which to work." Morgan's editions include Bach's Forty-Eight Preludes and Fugues and French Suites; Beethoven's Sonatas; and Robert Schumann's Novelletten, Kinderszenen and Album für die Jugend. In the 1970s, his edition of the Forty-Eight was regarded as "still the best of all student editions".Heppner, Sam. "Basic piece of furniture", The Guardian, 25 March 1977, p. 16
Morgan's Two Merry Monarchs was the last Savoy opera, produced in 1910 by C. H. Workman. Morgan's contribution to the piece received generally negative reactions in the press. The Times pronounced the music "not very distinguished". The Times, 11 March 1910, p. 10 The Sunday Times even hinted at plagiarism: "The music was tuneful in parts, sometimes strangely familiar." The Sunday Times, 13 March 1910. The Daily Telegraph was mostly critical, writing "the composer falls below the level of accomplishment one might have reasonably expected. There are numbers in the piece, however, which seem to point to his possession of a gift for facile melody. ... The scoring throughout is decidedly thin even for musical comedy." The Daily Telegraph, 11 March 1910. The Evening Standard and St. James, however, had some praise for the music, saying: "It is not extraordinary, but neither is it commonplace except occasionally. He does not write particularly well for the voice, but he has, generally, originality and is always melodious. Some of his songs, not the purely sentimental ones, are fresh, 'catchy', well-written and full of tune." Evening Standard & St. James's, 11 March 1910 The piece had one of the shortest runs of any Savoy opera, a total of 43 performances, The Times, 10 March 1910, p. 10; and 23 April 1910, p. 14. after which it had another week's run at the Novello Theatre, The Times, 2 May 1910, p. 8 a summer tour, and then disappeared. The Times, 11 July 1910, p. 12 The score is considered to be lost.Farrell, p. 74
Composer
Morgan was a prolific composer. Among his works were three , The Crown of Thorns, Zitella and The Legend of Eloisa; two song-cycles for four voices, In Fairy Land and Love Rhapsodies; more than 200 songs and pianoforte pieces; and a comic opera, Two Merry Monarchs.Scowcroft, Philip L. "A 123rd Garland of British Light Music Composers", Classical MusicWeb, accessed 7 January 2009 Dedicatees of his works included a wide range of performers including Wilhelm Backhaus, Clara Butt, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Landon Ronald and Myra Hess. The Times wrote of him, "though he manifested sensitiveness and good workmanship, he failed to awaken any lasting impression in original composition." Many of his songs were ballads, perhaps the best-known of which is "Clorinda", with a lyric by John Bledlowe.Morgan, Orlando. "Clorinda", included in The Stanford Archive Series: Richard Crooks, 1997, issued on CD by Delos Records ASIN: B00000072Q "Clorinda", performed by Frederick Schauwecker, 14 December, 1955 His short dance piece La bal poudre was chosen as one of ten test pieces for the Daily Express national piano playing competition in 1928.Greenbank, Stephen. Review of The Complete Columbia Solo Electrical Recordings, MusicWeb International, October 2019William Murdoch. "Le bal poudre", YouTube, September 5, 2019 Other songs included "Fair Rosalind", "At Christmastide", "Before the Dawn", "My Gentle White Dove", "Where the Lotus Blooms" and "When Snowflakes Dance".
Family and death
Morgan married the singer Annie Elizabeth Morley. The couple had two sons, Raymond and Cyril Douglas. Cyril became a City Freeman in 1920 and Principal Clerk of the Chamberlain's Office of the Corporation of London in 1946. In later years, Morgan and his wife lived at 9 Harvard Court, Honeybourne Road, Hampstead."Musician's Will", Hampstead News, 23 August 1956, p. 1 Morley died in 1952, and Morgan died four years later in London, aged 91."R. Orlando Morgan", The Stage, 24 May 1956, p.13 He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium.
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