British music critic
Hugh Ottaway (27 July 1925 – 6 November 1979) was a prominent British writer and lecturer on classical music.[1]
Ottaway studied history at Exeter University (then the University of the South-West) from 1944. His career began as a teacher, freelance writer and from the 1950s as a presenter of musical talks on BBC Radio.[2] His most significant contributions to music criticism were as a commentator on that portion of twentieth-century music which retained an allegiance to tonality; thus Nielsen, Shostakovich, Sibelius and William Walton featured largely in his output.
Ottaway was especially associated with British composers such as Edmund Rubbra and Robert Simpson, and a staunch supporter of the politically active Alan Bush.[3] But David Scott has pointed out that he "was not limited by a nationalist outlook. His ability to view English composition in a broader context also made his reviews valuable".[1]
He died in Malvern, aged 54.[4] An archive of his papers is held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.[5]
