Theodore Holland

Theodore Samuel Holland, OBE (25 April 1878 – 29 October 1947), was a British composer and academic. Born in Wimbledon, Holland attended Westminster School and then the Royal College of Music, where his composition teacher was Frederick Corder. A further period of study followed at the Musikhochschule in Berlin under Joseph Joachim. War service (which earned him an OBE) interrupted his career in theatre music and afflicted him with shell-shock for the rest of his life. He was appointed Professor of Harmony and Counterpoint at the Royal Academy of Music in 1927, a post he held until he died. His address in the 1930s was 10, Eldon Road, London W8. Among his students were the composer John Joubert, and also Iris du Pré, mother of cellist Jacqueline du Pré. Holland’s wife Isména, godmother to du Pré, bought the Davydov Cello in 1964 for $90,000 and presented it to her. Much younger than her husband, Isména survived him by nearly 60 years. She died in October 2004, aged 101. Composition Holland began as a composer of incidental music for the theatre. The orchestral Christmas Suite, based on music for a children’s play, Santa Claus (produced at the London Scala in 1912) remained popular