Lindsay Sloper

Sloper was born in London in 1826. After studying the piano in London under Ignaz Moscheles, he went, around 1841, to Aloys Schmitt in Frankfurt, and later to Georg Jacob Vollweiler in Heidelberg and Xavier Boisselot in Paris. He remained in Paris until 1846, when he returned to London. He appeared occasionally as a pianist at the concerts of the Musical Union (1846) and the Royal Philharmonic Society (1849), of which he subsequently became a member.{{cite DNB|first=Robin Humphrey|last=Legge|wstitle=Sloper, Edward Hugh Lindsay|volume=52|page=380}} He claimed to have taught Jane Stirling, and to have introduced her to Frédéric Chopin.Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger, Chopin: Pianist And Teacher As Seen By His Pupils (Cambridge University Press, 1986), p. 180.

A reviewer of a concert in 1847 (one of many of his concerts reviewed in The Musical World) wrote: "Mr. Sloper's powers of expression and unerring mechanism were more finely developed in the Sonata Apassionata of Beethoven than in any other part of the programme. The last movement was taken with extraordinary rapidity, but the energy, precision and finish of the performer's style were preserved throughout with undiminished power."{{cite journal |title=Concerts|date=March 6, 1847|url=http://www.ripmfulltext.org/RIPM/Source/ImageLinks/1298613|journal=The Musical World|volume=22|issue=10|pages=156–157|url-access=subscription |via=RIPM}}

As his teaching connection grew, his public appearances waned. A reviewer of a concert in 1868 wrote: "Mr. Sloper of late years has appeared much too rarely in public; and yet few belonging to the profession of which he is a member can bring forward more honourable credentials. A composer and pianist of distinguished ability, Mr. Sloper is one of the small number who have never deviated from the right path, but, looking at art from a serious point of view, have treated it accordingly."{{cite journal |title=Mr. Lindsay Sloper's concert|date=June 13, 1868|url=http://www.ripmfulltext.org/RIPM/Source/ImageLinks/1358350|journal=The Musical World|volume=46|issue=24|page=404|url-access=subscription |via=RIPM}}

Ultimately he devoted himself entirely to teaching, for which his services were in constant demand. Sloper was a prolific composer, chiefly for the piano. They include a sonata for violin and piano, twenty-four studies op. 3, twelve studies op. 13, and a Technical Guide to Touch, Fingering and Execution on the Pianoforte.{{cite journal |title=Advertisements|date=Jan 18, 1879|url=http://www.ripmfulltext.org/RIPM/Source/ImageLinks/1390382|journal=The Musical World|volume=57|issue=3|page=48|url-access=subscription |via=RIPM}}

Sloper died in London on 3 July 1887.

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Attribution

• {{DNB|first=Robin Humphrey|last=Legge|wstitle=Sloper, Edward Hugh Lindsay|volume=52|page=380}}

• {{IMSLP|author=Sloper, Lindsay|cname=Lindsay Sloper}}

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Category:1826 births

Category:1887 deaths

Category:19th-century English classical composers

Category:19th-century English musicians

Category:English male classical composers

Category:English classical pianists

Category:English male pianists

Category:19th-century English male musicians

Category:19th-century British classical pianists