Description

ELI HUDSON RENNISON (WORSLEY, LANCASHIRE, 1877 – LONDON, 1919)

 

 

 

 

Eli Hudson was born Eli Hudson Rennison in Worsley, Lancashire, in 1877. He was the son of John Capstack Hudson (a piano tuner and violinist) and Emma Rennison, who eventually married in 1891. In the meantime, Eli was known as Eli Rennison Hudson, and formally adopted that name in 1905. (By then, his mother had died and his father had remarried.)

Hudson studied flute and organ at the Royal College of Music, where he was regarded as ‘an artist of outstanding merit’ who had ‘extraordinary executive ability’ on the flute and ‘a beautiful tone.’ It was little surprise to his colleagues that he became first flute in the London Symphony Orchestra. He also held teaching posts at the RCM and at the Military School of Music, Kneller Hall.

On 30 March 1899, he married Welsh soprano Eleanor Jones (1874-1945). The couple had three sons, Richard, Hubert and Alfred.

As well as having a career as an orchestral musician and teacher, Hudson together with his wife and sister Winifred formed a trio, which performed on the music halls with considerable success. Instead of her usual ‘Eleanor Jones-Hudson,’ his wife became ‘Olga’ and Winifred called herself ‘Elgar,’ thus they were billed as ‘Eli, Olga and Elgar Hudson.’ As such, they made a number of recordings, which supplemented numerous solo recordings by Hudson (principally as a piccolo soloist) and Eleanor.

Hudson enlisted in January 1917 and subsequently served with the Royal Garrison Artillery. He returned home to England after the Armistace, but was in poor health. He was admitted to the Royal Alexandra Military Hospital in London, where he died of cancer on 18 July 1919. He was buried in the Military Section of Highgate Cemetery.

One hundred years after his premature death, Hudson’s artistry deserves to be appreciated by a new generation of listeners. His recordings have been written of as displaying ‘his clean articulation, perfect intonation and brilliant, even scale passages.’ Charles le Thiere’s ‘Danse de Satyrs’–recorded on 20 May 1903–shows all of these things and more. The quality of Hudson’s playing and the excitement it generates is simply breathtaking.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. Danse de Satyrs (Thiere) G&T C-9028
2. Danse des Satyres (Thiere) with Orchestral accompaniment Zonophone X-89000
3. Danse des satyres Zonophone X-89000
4. Du, Du liegst mir im Herzen’ (Boehm) HMV C487
5. Le Carnaval de Venise Variations Sterling cylinder 126
6. Naila Valse (Delibes) played by Mayfair Orchestra conducted by Eli Hudson HMV 0882
7. Old Nick (Howgill) with Orchestral accompaniment Zonophone X-49009
8. Old Nick (Howgill) Zonophone X-49009
9. Polka du Roitelet (Damaré) with Orchestral accompaniment Zonophone X-89001
10. Polka du Roitelet (Damaré) Zonophone X-89001
11. Scherzo (Bonnisseau) HMV C-9042
12. The Dragon Fly Winner 3110
13. The Nightingale of the Opera (Damaré) with Orchestral accompaniment Zonophone X-49001
14. The Nightingale of the Opera (Damaré) Zonophone X-49001
15. The sunshine of your smile (Lilian Ray) (Olga, Elgar & Eli Hudson) HMV C446 03392
16. The Wren Polka (Damaré) with Orchestral accompaniment Zonophone X-49348
17. The Wren Polka (Damaré) Zonophone X-49348
18. The Wrenn Winner 3110
19. Variations sur un air allemande, Op. 22 (Boehm) G&T 09150
20. Whistling polka Edison Bell 295
21. Wiggle Woggle Zonophone T-5208
22. Youth and Love (Saker) Olga, Elgar and Eli Hudson Flute, Celeste, Piano and Orchestra HMV C489