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Council (seemingly by telephone) to recommend a consultant for the proposed organ for the new Royal
Festival Hall. His immediate (and sole) nomination was Ralph Downes who was duly appointed and both designed the organ and saw its construction through to completion, thereafter remaining curator of the organ until his death. Downes initiated a series of weekday concerts which brought the organ to a new, wider audience, also appearing sometimes as performer. For these concerts Aprahamian provided brilliantly written programme notes which were at the same time elegant, concise and authoritative. He also reviewed the performances in his weekly column as deputy music critic (to Desmond Shawe-Taylor) of the
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224:, and he developed into a highly proficient keyboard player. He later recalled that it was his passion for music which led him to fail his school matriculation: he was self-taught in almost every area of music, as well as literature and the other arts. In 1933, he went to France with two friends (Douglas Peart and Ernest Chapman) to visit the ageing
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For much of the 20th century
Aprahamian occupied a pivotal position in the organ world and, most notably, the organ reform movement from its earliest years in the UK. Arguably its most noteworthy achievement, the organ of the Royal Festival Hall, is due to him. He was consulted by the London County
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music shop, when he asked the composer to sign a photograph, duly inscribed "Qui est ce monstre?" ("Who is this monster?"). The two became firm friends and
Aprahamian often visited Poulenc in Paris. His talent for making friends such as these led to many memorable events at his house in
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as a consultant and, with Mayer at the French
Embassy, played a central role in bringing French music to post-war British audiences. In 1948 he became Deputy Music Critic of the Sunday Times and stayed for 41 years; his reviews were notable for their prose and enthusiasm.
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Organ music was a lifelong enthusiasm of
Aprahamian, and his vast library of organ music is now at the Royal College of Organists. The installation in his Muswell Hill house of an organ inherited from his friend
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in 1982 has been a constant musical inspiration to his protégé, the organist and composer David Liddle, who became David
Aprahamian Liddle shortly after Felix's death, as a tribute to his mentor and friend.
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has written a series of books based on materials in Felix
Aprahamian's archives which are listed in the Bibliography. Aprahamian never wrote his planned autobiography, but in 2023
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On 20 February 2006, Putney Music (London) held an evening in celebration of its long-time president: "Remembering Felix
Aprahamian – our late President Emeritus" was chaired by
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Simeone, Nigel: "Dear Maître
Tournemire" – Charles Tournemire's Correspondence with Felix Aprahamian and his Visit to London in 1936 (Bangor Monographs in Musicology, 2003).
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In 1935 Aprahamian was made secretary of the Organ Music
Society, and the same year one of his first articles, "Eugene Goossens in London", was published in the
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Simeone, Nigel: French Music in Wartime London – The Festival of French Music and the Concerts de Musique Française (Bangor Monographs in Musicology, 2005).
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to just Felix Aprahamian. His father changed his surname from Hovanessian, deciding to take his own father's Christian name, Apraham, and attach the
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Simeone, Nigel: Poulenc in London and Dreamland – His Letters to Felix Aprahamian, Commentaries on Songs and London Concerts (Cambridge, 2000).
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Simeone, Nigel: "Bien Cher Félix" – Letters from Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod to Felix Aprahamian (Cambridge, 1998).
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Foreman, Lewis and Susan: Felix Aprahamian - Diaries and Selected Writings on Music (Boydell Press, 2018, 422p,
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Felix Aprahamian was born in London in 1914. Christened Apraham Felix Bartev Aprahamian, he changed his name by
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He was considered an urbane, flamboyant and warm-hearted man, described by his old friend and colleague
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Simeone, Nigel: In Memoriam – Felix Aprahamian (Musical Times, Spring 2005, pp. 4–5).
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in 1936 and was responsible for organising the first complete performance in England of
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Foreman, Lewis: "Felix Aprahamian", obituary, The Independent, 18 January 2005.
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and his wife Susan produced an annotated volume of his diaries and essays.
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Liddle, David Aprahamian: Recollections of Felix Aprahamian, February 2005
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Amis, John: "Felix Aprahamian", obituary, The Guardian, 21 January 2005.
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was well before the start of World War II; their first meeting was at
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At the age of 17, Aprahamian became assistant secretary to the
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and from 1942 onwards he helped Tony Mayer organise the
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Felix Aprahamian Diaries and Selected Writings on Music
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In 1994, Aprahamian was made an honorary member of the
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Among British composers, his greatest passion was for
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612:. Aside from music his passions included
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16:English music critic, writer and promoter
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367:gave a private rendition of Messiaen's
228:in Grez-sur-Loing, and in Paris he met
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834:Archived
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336:Messiaen
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67:May 2023
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