Frank Kidson

Frank Kidson, folksong collector, writer and antiquary. Born 15 November 1855 in Leeds; died, also in Leeds, 7 November 1926. Obituary by J T Lightfoot, published in The Choir

External links

Roy Palmer, ‘Kidson, Frank (1855–1926)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2006. [1]

Herbert Thompson, William C. Smith, Frank Howes, Rosemary Williamson, 'Kidson, Frank', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy [2]

John Francmanis & Vic Gammon (compilers) 'Frank Kidson's 'Collector' Articles in "The Choir", [3]

Publications

• Kidson, Frank, ed., Traditional Tunes: A Collection of Ballad Airs, Chiefly Obtained in Yorkshire and the South of Scotland; Together with their Appropriate Words from Broadsides and from Oral Tradition (Oxford: Chas. Taphouse, 1891; repr. East Ardsley: S. R. Publishers, 1970; repr. Felinfach: Llanerch Press, 1999. ISBN 1 86143 088 4).

Collection of songs edited in a scholarly manner (with the emphasis on the melody), mainly from Yorkshire, some illustrative of nineteenth-century social conditions.

• Kidson, Frank, ed., A Garland of English Folk-Songs, Being a Collection of Sixty Folk-Songs, with pianoforte accompaniments by Alfred Moffat (London: Ascherberg, Hopwood and Crew, 1926).

Mostly amended texts, with accompaniments.

• Kidson, Frank, Folk Songs from the North Countrie, with their Traditional Airs, ed. by Ethel Kidson, arranged for medium voice with piano accompaniment by Alfred Moffat, Foreword by Lucy E. Broadwood (London: Ascherberg, Hopwood and Crew, 1927).

Edition prepared by Kidson’s niece, who made many revisions (Kidson died in 1924); many of the 60 songs appeared in Traditional Tunes.

• Kidson, Frank, English Peasant Songs, with their Traditional Airs, Being the Third (and Last) Selection of Sixty Folk Songs from the Frank Kidson Collection, ed. by and rev. by Ethel Kidson, airs arranged for medium voice with piano accompaniment by Alfred Moffat (London: Ascherberg, Hopwood and Crew, 1929).

Further edition of 60 songs prepared by Kidson’s niece, who made many revisions.

• Kidson, Frank, British Music Publishers, Printers and Engravers from Queen Elizabeth's reign to George the Fourth's (First published London 1900 - then Benjamin Blom, New York 1967).

Articles

• 'Frank Kidson: his 'Grove' contributions' (reproduction of some of Kidson's contributions to Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians), Musical Traditions Article MT038, 1999.

• Francmanis, John, 'Folk song and the "folk": a relationship illuminated by Frank Kidson's Traditional Tunes'; in Folk Song: Tradition, Revival, and Re-Creation (Aberdeen: Elphinstone Institute, 2004 ISBN 0 9545682 0 6), 186-194.

• Francmanis, John, 'The Roving Artist: Frank Kidson, Pioneer Song Collector' (London: FMJ, 8.1 (2001), 41-66

• Graham, John, 'The Late Mr. Kidson' (London: JEFDSS, 2.1 (1927), 48-51

• Palmer, Roy, 'Kidson's Collecting' (London: FMJ, 5.2 (1986), 150-75

• Palmer, Roy, 'Checklist of Manuscript Songs and Tunes collected from Oral Tradition by Frank Kidson', (London & Glasgow, EFDSS & The Mitchell Library (1986)

Key Texts

A number of key texts are available on the library pages of the Traditional Song Forum website.