(b. Nottingham, May 13, 1874), bass singer. This versatile and capable artist, after his successful debut a t the Norwich Festival in 1899, secured and maintained a high position among contemporary British vocalists. He was trained chiefly a t the R.A.M., where he studied under Alberto Randegger, Frederic King and Battison Haynes. Possessing a voice of rich and resonant quality with the timbre and compass of a genuine basso, he was able by combined intelligence and industry to make the most of his natural musical gifts ; and his progress, as he gained experience both in opera and in concert work, was proportionately rapid. He developed a sound and dignified oratorio style, and during many years was engaged as the leading English bass soloist a t all the chief provincial festivals, the Handel Festivals, etc. At the same time his bent as a dramatic artist early marked him out for a career on the operatic stage. He made his first appearance a t Covent Garden, on the opening night of the summer season of 1904, in the small but important role of the Commendatore in ' Don Giovanni,' Emmy Destinn making her debut on the same occasion, with Hans Richter as conductor. He next took pa rt in the English cycles of the ' Ring ' given in the winter of 1908 under the same distinguished conductor, filling with credit the parts of Fasolt and Hunding. This was really the s ta r t of his long and successful labours in connexion with opera sung in the vernacular, first under the Grand Opera Syndicate a t Covent Garden, then under Sir Thomas Beecham a t the same house, a t Drury Lane, and His Majesty's ; and subsequently with the British National Ope ra Company (q.v.), of which he was a founder and director from its inception in 1921. He added steadily to his repertory, and among the parts in which he became especially popular were, besides tho Wagnerian, those of Sarastro, Osmin, Mephistopheles, the Father in 1 Louise,' and ' Boris Godounov.' Alike in the older and the more modem operas his excellent enunciation and diction stood him in good stead, and the same valuable quality lent a notable weight and impressiveness to his declamation in the pa r t of Elijah and the oratorios of Handel and Haydn. H. K.