This from Mr. Clark:
[quote]:John More Smieton is not written up in any musical reference book - he is not even mentioned in the standard books on Scottish music (which I find slightly frustrating but typically parochial of Scotland’s two major cities…) He was held in high enough regard by his contemporaries to merit a full obituary notice in Musical Times, and two of his cantatas (one being King Arthur, from which one of your pieces is taken - but can I assume arranged in some way by Parks?) had been performed throughout Great Britain over 100 times in 20 years, and another of his pieces, Ariadne, featured regularly on singers’ advertisements for available in the run-up to new seasons.
Born in 1857, he was the son of a linen manufacturer, Thomas Smieton and his wife, Jane Paxton Smieton, the daughter of a churchman and philosopher from a town near Edinburgh. She was very artistic-minded - she published several books of poetry, wrote several musical pieces herself (including an opera), and exhibited watercolours and oil paintings not only at local exhibitions but nationally as well. John More was something of a prodigy (not in the Mozart sense, but meaning that he took to music very early and showed a clear creative streak) and was sent, after schooling in the town to Edinburgh University, then he went to Manchester and London. Returning to Dundee he and his brother, James (who was a scientist who studied at the University of St Andrews, and was interested in astronomy - an internet search brings up an obscure reference to him being the first person to record a meteor shower in the 1890s, but my enquiries regarding the sources of that material have remained unanswered - unlike mine to you!) ran the family business (about which I could tell you reams, but mostly uninteresting, except for the fact that, at their father’s instigation, they not only built a whole street of modern houses for their workers and their families, but also The Panmure Institute, where they and their children could take lessons, and generally improve themselves), fitting their artistic pursuits around what free time they had.
James was, in fact, also a bit of a poet, and composed several librettos for his older brother: King Arthur, Ariadne and Connla (the last major work) are all texts by him.
John More Smieton was actively involved in the musical activities of Dundee and Broughty Ferry, where the family lived. He was President of the local Orchestral Society, devoting pieces to them, and a Patron of the Dundee Choral Union. His wife was an amateur actress, something in which his elder daughter, Pearl, followed, while the younger one, Gladys, was a singer.
He died in 1904 and I’m trying to convince various bodies to commemorate the event in some way, but that’s never easy when he isn’t known to anyone… [end quote]
Mr. Clark’s (www.geocities.com/dundee1900/jms.htm) page listing the musical output of Mr. Smieton and the other members of his family and (www.geocities.com/dun69ders/Smieton1.html) devoted to the Smieton family’s musical and artistic output have disappeared (as of Jan., 2010).
Mr. Smieton was noted in passing as the composer of the melody of the Holiday Song of the Harris Academy in Dundee. The citation is in the 5th paragraph of the old Extra-Curricular page.
A set of newer web pages about the Smietons include Smieton Family; Jane Paxton Smieton; Poetry and Art; John More Smieton (songs). The family’s industrial activities and Panmure are described in the wikipedia article on Carnoustie (accessed 12 Jan 2010).