Horace Stevens

{{For|the Australian footballer|Horrie Stevens}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Horace Stevens | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Horace Ernest Stevens self-portrait.jpg | alt = | caption = Horace Stevens, circa 1936 | birth_name = Horace Ernest Stevens | birth_date = 26 October 1876 | birth_place = Prahran, Victoria, Australia | death_date = 18 November 1950 (aged 75) | death_place = South Yarra, Victoria | body_discovered = | resting_place = St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne | resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|-37.816853|144.967384|type:landmark_dim:5km|display=inline}} | monuments = | other_names = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Operatic bass-baritone dentist army officer singing teacher sculler | years_active = 1918–1949 | employer = | organization = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | height =  | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | movement = | opponents = | boards = | spouse = Nellie Chapman (m. 26 August 1905 – d. 1931) Ella Elizabeth Hallam (m. 5 December 1934 – 18 November 1950, Stevens' death) | partner = | children = 3 | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }}

'''Horace Ernest Stevens''' (26 October 1876{{spaced ndash}}18 November 1950) was an Australian bass-baritone opera singer,<ref>{{cite book|title=Singers to Remember|year=1972|author=Harold Simpson|page=202|location=Lingfield, England|publisher=Oakwood Press}}</ref> army officer during the First World War, singing teacher, and sculler.<ref name=oner>{{cite book|title=Melbourne Savages: A History of the First Fifty Years of the Melbourne Savage Club|author=D. M. Dow|publisher=Melbourne Savage Club|location=Melbourne|year=1947}}</ref>

==Early life and career== Stevens was born on 26 October 1876<ref>{{cite book|title=Who's Who in Australia|volume=12|year=1941|publisher=The Herald and Weekly Times|page=662}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Who's Who in Music |year=1950|location=London|publisher=Shaw Publishing|page=315|author=L. G. Pine}}</ref> in Prahran, Melbourne, Australia<ref name="The new grove">{{cite book|title=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|year=1980 |author=Stanley Sadie|location=London|publisher=Macmillan|title-link=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians |author-link=Stanley Sadie}}{{full citation needed|date=April 2024|reason=Entry? Page? Author?}}</ref> to Horace Stevens, a dentist and Fanny Stevens (née Gittins), a homemaker. In 1884, at the age of 8, he joined the All Saints Grammar School and Anglican Church in St Kilda, where he sang in the choir. The choir was being trained in singing for the 1891 opening of St Paul's Cathedral. Climbing up the ranks, Stevens became a lay clerk in 1898 and a few years later, as a temporary choirmaster.<ref>{{cite book|author=Emily I. Moresby|year=1948|title=Australia Makes Music|publisher=Longman, Greens}}</ref> He resigned from the choir in 1949. An apprentice to his father, the younger Stevens was also a dentist for twenty years. He worked as his father's dental clinic, which was situated in Collins Street, Melbourne. Stevens served as an army officer during the First World War, during which he attained the title of Honorary Lieutenant. He served on HMAT ''Medic'', A7.<ref name=twor>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/nominal_rolls/first_world_war_embarkation/person.asp?p=268649| publisher=Australian War Memorial |title=First World War Embarkation Roll – Horace Ernest Stevens (Digitised Record) |access-date=23 December 2012 }}</ref> In 1918, Stevens was invalided to England. After performing impromptu at a café in London, he was persuaded by Sir Henry Wood to give up dentistry and take up singing as a career. In 1919, Stevens made his debut as an opera singer in ''Elijah'' with the Queen's Hall Orchestra, in which he sang the title role. His performance received positive comment, with Sir Edward Elgar dubbing him as the "best Elijah" of the period. Stevens went on to perform at many major music festivals in the UK and the United States.<ref>{{cite book|title=Singers of Australia: From Melba to Sutherland |location=Melbourne|year=1967|author=B. and F. Mackenzie|publisher=Lansdowne Press}}</ref> He returned to Australia in 1934.

He also appeared with the British National Opera Company as Wotan and other Wagnerian roles.<ref>''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 5th ed., 1954, vol. VIII, p. 84</ref>

In his later years, Stevens gave music lessons at the University of Melbourne from 1938 until his death in 1950.<ref name="Choir Victoria">{{cite web |url=http://www.choirvictoria.org.au/housecomp.php |title=House Competition |access-date=23 December 2012 |publisher=Choir Victoria |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217034124/http://www.choirvictoria.org.au/housecomp.php |archive-date=17 December 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Personal life== An undefeated champion sculler until his retirement at 35,<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Canberra Times|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2349337|title=Horace Stevens Was Champion Sculler|page=3|date=25 April 1934 |access-date=1 April 2024|via=Trove}}</ref> Stevens was also an active marksman and tennis player. A member of the London and Melbourne Savage Clubs, he was said to be a bohemian.

On 26 August 1905, Stevens married Nellie Chapman, who died in 1931. On 5 December 1934, Stevens married Australian builder and constructor Ella Elizabeth Hallam (née Davis) at Scots' Church, Melbourne. They had three sons.<ref name=oner/><ref>''The Sun News-Pictorial'', Melbourne, 20 November 1950{{full citation needed|date=April 2024|reason=Article name? Page?}}</ref>

==Death and legacy== On 18 November 1950,<ref name="The new grove"/><ref>''The Argus'', Melbourne, 20 November 1950{{full citation needed|date=April 2024|reason=Article name? Page?}}</ref> Stevens died of an unanticipated coronary occlusion-caused heart attack at his house in South Yarra, Melbourne.<ref>''The Age'', Melbourne, 20 November 1950{{full citation needed|date=April 2024|reason=Article name? Page?}}</ref><ref>''The Herald'', Glasgow, 20 November 1950{{full citation needed|date=April 2024|reason=Article name? Page?}}</ref> His death was said to have been "sudden".<ref name=oner /> His funeral service was at St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne, and he was cremated.<ref>''The Herald'', Melbourne, 21 November 1950{{full citation needed|date=April 2024|reason=Article name? Page?}}</ref>

One of the houses in the ensemble Choir Victoria, ''Stevens'', is named after him.<ref name="Choir Victoria" />

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Griffin|first=James|year=1990|id2=stevens-horace-ernest-8653|title=Stevens, Horace Ernest|access-date=23 December 2012|ref=none}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Horace}} Category:1876 births Category:1950 deaths Category:People from Prahran, Victoria Category:Australian Army officers Category:Australian military personnel of World War I Category:Military personnel from Melbourne Category:Singers from Melbourne Category:Boy sopranos Category:Australian bass-baritones Category:20th-century Australian male opera singers