Ian Whyte (conductor)


Ian Whyte was a Scottish conductor and composer, and founder of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Born in Dunfermline, Whyte studied in London, and was a pupil of Stanford and Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music. He became head of BBC music in Scotland in 1931, holding the position until 1945. With Guy Warrack he founded the BBC Scottish Orchestra, which Warrack conducted for the first ten years. Whyte took over as conductor in 1945 and stayed until 1960. He appointed young assistants to help with the orchestra that went on to be very influential in their own right: Alexander Gibson, Colin Davis and Bryden Thomson.
His own considerable output of compositions and arrangements includes the ballet Donald of the Burthens, influenced by Scottish themes and folk tunes. His Eightsome Reel for orchestra is a predecessor of Scottish light music for orchestra by Malcolm Arnold, Iain Hamilton, Thea Musgrave and others. There are also two symphonies, concertos for piano, violin and viola, three symphonic poems, three string quartets, and much else. The Scottish Music Information Centre holds 668 Whyte manuscripts, mostly unplayed.
He died in Glasgow, March 27, 1960.

Selected works

OperaComalaThe ForgeThe Tale of the Shepherds
Ballet
  • Goblin HaaThe TroutDonald of the Burthens
Orchestral
  • Symphony No. 1
  • Symphony No. 2Edinburgh, symphonic poem Tam O’Shanter, symphonic poemThe Rose Garden, symphonic poemThe Treadmill, overtureOragif, overture
  • Concert OvertureDunfermline, orchestral preludeQueen and Country, marchFestival March Dark LochnagarThe Isle of SkyeGlamis CastleScottish DancesA PrayerIntermezzoFighting for the EmpireThe Ghost of the StrathEightsome Reel
Concertos
StringsAirs and Dances from the Scottish Past Interlude, Elegy and Melody
VocalSonnet 30 for chorus and stringsEt Incarnatus EstThe Beatitudes for soprano, chorus and orchestra
  • Part songs and solo songs
  • Scottish traditional song arrangements
Chamber
Piano Solo
  • Piano Sonata
  • Six Preludes
  • *'Scottish Humour'
  • *'Primavera'
  • *'The Casino'
  • *'Scottish Sabbath'
  • * 'The Tyrrhenian Sea'
  • *'Cascade des Alpes'CanzonettaPittencrief SuiteEdinburgh Suite
  • *'St Giles'
  • *'Holyrood'
  • *'Princes Street'