Albert Sammons

Albert Edward Sammons CBE (23 February 1886 – 24 August 1957) was an English violinist, composer and later violin teacher. Almost self-taught on the violin, he had a wide repertoire as both chamber musician and soloist, although his reputation rests mainly on his association with British composers, especially Elgar. He made a number of recordings over 40 years, many of which have been re-issued on CD.

Albert Sammons was born in Fulham, the second eldest of four children. His father was a shoemaker and good amateur violinist. Sammons started to receive some lessons from his father around the age of seven. Apart from these lessons, he was virtually self-taught. His first professional engagement was in the band at the Earls Court Exhibition in 1898; the conductor was so impressed by the 12-year-old that he made him leader. He left school at this time and became a professional musician – partly to bring extra income to the household, as his father was a compulsive gambler.

Sammons's father took both Albert and his eldest brother Tom to symphony concerts at St James's Hall and Queen's Hall. The boy began to gain a reputation for his reliability and was engaged by many London musical establishments, as well as in the 'Hungarian' and 'White Viennese' bands popular at the time. Sammons also received a few free lessons from the Eugène Ysaÿe-trained Spanish violinist Alfredo Fernandez. At 16, relations with his father reached a point where Albert and his brother left home to stay with friends, only returning when his father walked out to join the band on an ocean liner and the two brothers were therefore obliged to provide for the rest of the family.

His first concerto performance was the Mendelssohn E minor Concerto at the Kursaal Concert Hall in Harrogate in 1906. He married Laura Tomkins in Middlesbrough on 31 October 1907 (divorced 1920). Around this time Sammons was recruited to play at musical parties for the upper classes at their country houses.

In 1910, with Thomas Petre (second violin), Warwick Evans (cello), and H. Waldo Warner (viola) he formed the London String Quartet, with whom he remained until 1917. The quartet gave concerts mainly in the UK but travelled to Amsterdam and Paris, with a repertoire extending from the classical period to contemporary works – including Verklärte Nacht in the presence of the composer. He was also engaged by Ernesto Bucalossi at the Waldorf Hotel and Wyndham's Theatre. It was at the Waldorf that Thomas Beecham heard him and in August 1909 offered him the position of sub-leader (soon to be leader) of his orchestra, which later included opera seasons at Covent Garden, and the 1911 Diaghilev season. He also consolidated his solo career by playing the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Queen's Hall in 1910. The conductor Adrian Boult commented on his rise in British violin-playing, "he had had no special preparations, no training abroad, no scholarship luxuries".

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