# David Wilde

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{{Short description|English pianist and composer (1935–2025)}}
{{About||the English cricketer|David Wilde (cricketer)|the American writer and critic|David Wild}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = David Wilde
| image              = David Wilde BW (3x4 cropped).jpg
| caption            = Wilde in 2020
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1935|02|25|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [Stretford](/source/Stretford), Greater Manchester, England
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2025|10|23|1935|02|23|df=y}}
| death_place        = 
| education          = [Royal Manchester College of Music](/source/Royal_Manchester_College_of_Music)
| occupation         = {{ubl| Classical pianist | Composer | Academic teacher }}
| organizations      = [Musikhochschule Hannover](/source/Musikhochschule_Hannover)<br>[University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh)
| website            = {{url|https://david-wilde.com/}}
}}

'''David Wilde''' (25 February 1935 – 23 October 2025) was an English pianist, composer and academic teacher. He won the 1961 [Liszt–Bartók Competition](/source/Franz_Liszt_International_Piano_Competition_(Budapest)). In 1962, he won the Queen's Prize and was invited to play with the [Royal Liverpool Philharmonic](/source/Royal_Liverpool_Philharmonic) at the Royal Concert in the [Royal Festival Hall](/source/Royal_Festival_Hall) in the presence of Queen [Elizabeth II](/source/Elizabeth_II). Wilde was a professor of piano at the [Musikhochschule Hannover](/source/Musikhochschule_Hannover) from 1981 to 2000 and later became a visiting professor in keyboard studies at the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh). During the 1990s, he composed many works which protested against [human rights abuses](/source/human_rights_abuses) that were happening at the time and was twice honoured by the city of [Sarajevo](/source/Sarajevo). Wilde frequently played as a soloist at the [Proms](/source/BBC_Proms).

== Life and career ==
Born in [Stretford](/source/Stretford), Greater Manchester, on 25 February 1935,<ref name="AM">{{cite web|publisher=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) |title=David Wilde |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/david-wilde-mn0001616318}}</ref><ref name="Delphian" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=12 November 2025 |title=David Wilde, 'magnificently berserk' pianist and composer of The Cellist of Sarajevo |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/11/12/david-wilde-piano-yo-yo-ma-cellist-sarajevo-composer/ |access-date=12 November 2025 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> he studied as a boy with [Solomon](/source/Solomon_(pianist)) and his pupil [Franz Reizenstein](/source/Franz_Reizenstein)<!--, who had also studied composition with [Hindemith](/source/Paul_Hindemith) and [Vaughan Williams](/source/Ralph_Vaughan_Williams)-->. He studied composition at the [Royal Manchester College of Music](/source/Royal_Manchester_College_of_Music) with [Richard Hall](/source/Richard_Hall_(composer)) from 1949, elected a fellow in 1953. He won the 1961 [Liszt–Bartók Competition](/source/Franz_Liszt_International_Piano_Competition_(Budapest)) in Budapest.<ref name="Delphian" /> [Nadia Boulanger](/source/Nadia_Boulanger), a jury member, invited him to Paris for further study. They remained in touch for the rest of her life.<ref name="Delphian" /><ref name="Mollison" />

A frequent soloist at the [Proms](/source/BBC_Proms), working with such conductors as [Horenstein](/source/Jascha_Horenstein), [Boulez](/source/Pierre_Boulez), and [Downes](/source/Edward_Downes), he shared with [Jacqueline du Pré](/source/Jacqueline_du_Pr%C3%A9) the honour of opening the BBC's second TV channel in the North of England with [Sir John Barbirolli](/source/Sir_John_Barbirolli) and the [Hallé Orchestra](/source/Hall%C3%A9_Orchestra) in 1962. In the same year, Wilde won the Queen's Prize and was invited to play at the Royal Concert in the [Royal Festival Hall](/source/Royal_Festival_Hall), with the [Royal Liverpool Philharmonic](/source/Royal_Liverpool_Philharmonic) conducted by Sir [John Pritchard](/source/John_Pritchard_(conductor)), in the presence of Queen [Elizabeth II](/source/Elizabeth_II), to whom he was afterwards presented by Sir [Malcolm Sargent](/source/Malcolm_Sargent).<ref name="Mollison" />

During the 1990s, he composed many works protesting against [human rights abuses](/source/human_rights_abuses) at the time and was twice honoured by the city of [Sarajevo](/source/Sarajevo).<ref name="Delphian" /> ''The Cellist of Sarajevo'' for cello solo (1992), dedicated to [Vedran Smailovic](/source/Vedran_Smailovic), was recorded by [Yo-Yo Ma](/source/Yo-Yo_Ma)<ref name="Mollison" /> for [Sony Classical](/source/Sony_Classical),<ref name="AM" />  and the opera ''London Under Siege'', after an idea by Bosnian poet [Goran Simic](/source/Goran_Simi%C4%87_(poet)), was produced by the State Theatre of Lower Saxony in 1998.<ref name="Delphian" />

Wilde was professor of piano at the [Musikhochschule Hannover](/source/Musikhochschule_Hannover) from 1981 to 2000; his pupils include [Jack Gibbons](/source/Jack_Gibbons).<ref name="Delphian" /> On his return to the UK, he was appointed visiting professor in keyboard studies at the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh).<ref>[https://www.reidconcerts.music.ed.ac.uk/performer/wilde-david-1935 ''Concerts in the University of Edinburgh from 1841'']</ref>

=== Personal life and death ===
Wilde's first marriage ended in divorce in the 1980s.<ref name="Mollison" /> He was later married to Jane Mary Wilde who was a poet, linguist, historian and musician.<ref name="Delphian" />

Wilde died from complications of dementia on 23 October 2025, at the age of 90.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWtjlzeil1I 'David Wilde (25 Feb 1935 – 23 Oct 2025)'], [Delphian Records](/source/Delphian_Records) via YouTube</ref><ref>[https://slippedisc.com/2025/10/death-of-noted-british-pianist-90/ "Death of noted British pianist, 90"], ''Slipped Disc''.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=David Wilde obituary: pianist and composer |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/david-wilde-obituary-death-pianist-and-composer-j78vcntjh |access-date=26 November 2025 |publisher=The Times |date=25 November 2025}}</ref>

== Recordings ==
Wilde's recordings include [Beethoven's Violin Sonatas](/source/Beethoven's_violin_sonatas) with [Erich Gruenberg](/source/Erich_Gruenberg), Reizenstein's Violin Sonata, also with Gruenberg, [Thomas Wilson](/source/Thomas_Wilson_(composer))'s Piano Concerto, especially composed for him, and works by [Schumann](/source/Robert_Schumann), [Liszt](/source/Franz_Liszt), and [Chopin](/source/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin). He recorded for [His Master's Voice](/source/His_Master's_Voice_(British_record_label)), [Decca Oiseau Lyre](/source/%C3%89ditions_de_l'Oiseau-Lyre), [Lyrita](/source/Lyrita) Saga and [CRD](/source/CRD_Records), and latterly exclusively for [Delphian Records](/source/Delphian_Records) of [Edinburgh](/source/Edinburgh), who issued a recordings of music by [Dallapiccola](/source/Luigi_Dallapiccola), [Busoni](/source/Ferruccio_Busoni), and Liszt, Schumann and [Brahms](/source/Johannes_Brahms). A Brahms recital was issued in 2010.<ref>[https://www.chandos.net/chanimages/Booklets/DC4040.pdf ''Wilde Plays Brahms'']. [Chandos Records](/source/Chandos_Records).</ref>

He recorded [Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 2](/source/Piano_Concerto_No._2_(Bart%C3%B3k)) with the [BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra](/source/BBC_Scottish_Symphony_Orchestra), released in 1977, [Stravinsky's Concerto for Piano and Wind instruments](/source/Concerto_for_Piano_and_Wind_Instruments_(Stravinsky)) with the same orchestra, and Stockhausen's ''[Gruppen](/source/Gruppen)'', in which he played first [celesta](/source/celesta) for the UK premiere in Glasgow conducted by Gibson, and first piano when Boulez conducted it in London.<ref name="Mollison" /> ''The Cellist of Sarajevo'' and chamber music was recorded in 2017.<ref name="Siôn" />

==References==
<references>

<ref name="Mollison">{{cite news
| last = Mollison
| first = Kate
| url = https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/arts_ents/15045096.musical-political-life-composer-david-wilde/
| title = The musical and political life of composer David Wilde
| newspaper = [Herald Scotland](/source/Herald_Scotland)
| date = 25 January 2017
| access-date = 30 October 2025
}}</ref>

<ref name="Siôn">{{cite magazine
| last = Siôn
| first = Pwyll ap
| url = https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/arts_ents/15045096.musical-political-life-composer-david-wilde/
| title = The Cellist of Sarajevo
| magazine = [Gramophone](/source/Gramophone_(magazine))
| date = January 2017
| access-date = 30 October 2025
}}</ref>
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/the-cellist-of-sarajevo

<ref name="Delphian">{{cite web
| url = https://www.delphianrecords.com/blogs/artists/david-wilde
| title = Artists : David Wilde
| work = [Delphian Records](/source/Delphian_Records)
| date = 2025
| access-date = 28 October 2025
}}</ref>

</references>

==External links==
* {{Official|https://david-wilde.com/}}
* {{Discogs artist|David Wilde}}
* {{IMDb name|2599930}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060218042427/http://www.delphianrecords.co.uk/monthly%20newsletter/newsletter0502.htm "''Wilde Plays Chopin at the Wigmore Hall''; David Wilde, piano; DCD34010"]—Delphian newsletter
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060221002607/http://www.cwu.edu/~michelj/Newsletter/Articles/sarajevo.html "The Cellist of Sarajevo"] in the newsletter ''Tutti Celli''

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilde, David}}
Category:1935 births
Category:2025 deaths
Category:21st-century British classical pianists
Category:21st-century British male musicians
Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Category:British male classical pianists
Category:English classical pianists
Category:English composers
Category:Musicians from Manchester
Category:People educated at Arnold School
Category:21st-century male pianists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [David Wilde](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wilde) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wilde?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.