Biography

Arthur Knox Duff was born in Dublin on 13th March 1899. He was educated privately in the local Church of Ireland school and as a young boy showed a great aptitude for music. He was chorister both in the Chapel Royal choir in Dublin Castle and the choir of Christ Church Cathedral and at the age of 14 he won the gold medal in the Boys Solo Singing competition at the Dublin Feis Ceoil. During this time he was studying piano under Dr. G.H.P. Hewson and organ under Dr. C.H. Kitson at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. At the age 15 he was playing the organ in Christ Church Cathedral where Dr. C.H. Kitson was organist.

Duff won the Vandeleur Academy Scholarship and Gold Medal for organ playing in the Royal Irish Academy of Music in 1917. Later that year, Dr. C.G. Marchant helped Duff in obtaining a much-needed grant to enable him to pay the fees to enter into the arts course in Trinity College, Dublin. He spent five years in Trinity College and received his BMus in 1922. After university he studied composition under Sir Hamilton Harty (1879-1941), the conductor of the Hallé Orchestra, 'who thought very highly of him'.

In 1923 Duff joined the newly formed Army School of Music and became the first Irish-born bandmaster in the Irish Army. He trained as a conductor under Colonel Fritz Brasé and was quickly made Lieutenant and put in charge of the No. 2 Army Band in Cork. While the music professor, Aloys Fleischmann was a music student in University College Cork he had the privilege, as Fleischmann said years later, of attending rehearsals of the No. 2 Army Band in Cork. Lieutenant Duff gave him his first conducting lesson and quite often left Fleischmann in charge of the band. Duff resigned from the army in 1931 and became involved in Irish theatre.

In 1933 Duff's ballet 'The Drinking Horn' was first produced in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. This performance marked his debut in Irish theatre. For five nights the theatre was crowded out. W.B. Yeats was present every night and was very pleased with the work. The music of the ballet was broadcast shortly afterwards on radio and as he said himself, it was his 'first rung on the ladder to fame and fortune'. Dame Ninette de Valois, who had been a member of the Diaghilev Russian Ballet company, asked Duff to write her a ballad after the success of his own. Duff's own play, Cadenza in Black, was later produced at the Gate Theatre by Lord Longford's Company and directed by Hilton Edwards.

In 1942 Duff returned to Trinity College Dublin to sit for the Doctor of Music examination. It is believed that the exercise he submitted for the examination was his Irish Suite for Strings, written in 1940. He signed his graduation photograph with the opening two bars of the third movement 'Fishamble Street - Dublin 1742'. This snippet of music was written to remind us of another big day, two hundred years after the first performance of Handel's Messiah in Dublin. Duff was the third man in Ireland to receive his doctorate by examination. Dr. J.F. Larchet and Dr. G.H.P. Hewson being the other two.

In 1945 Duff becoming Assistant Music Director at Radio Éireann. Duff observed with interest the work of the conductors who had come as guests from countries such as Switzerland and Germany and who were technically more advanced. Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt was his favourite conductor. Duff regularly conducted the Radio Éireann Orchestra wartime public concerts, often at short notice, due to the unavailability of conductors and new music at the time. At least twice a week he would conduct studio broadcasts, especially from 1943-45. He was always available to conduct a concert when a visiting conductor failed to turn up. Duff was one of the most highly valued members of the broadcasting staff during his years there. He supported and encouraged younger musicians, composers and conductors such as Havelock Nelson and Seán Ó Riada. His influence and charm made him well known not only in the music circle in Dublin, where he was an important figure, but also to music lovers throughout Ireland. His arrangements of Irish airs and his involvement in music for the Children's Concerts made him a household name.

One of Duff's closest friends, Nancie Lord, performed the first performance in Ireland of E.J. Moeran's Violin Concerto under his direction. Duff was a close friend of E.J. Moeran and conducted many of his pieces. Duff also conducted English music by Frederick Delius, Sir Arnold Bax and Vaughan Williams, many of which were first performances in Ireland. Many have commented on his interpretation of Sir Arnold Bax's Tintagel in a concert on 12th July 1947, in the presence of the composer. Duff had also at one time or other conducted Bax's 'In the Fairy Hill', and his Third Symphony. The formation of the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra in 1948 gave Duff many opportunities to conduct live broadcasts.

Duff died on Sunday, 23 September 1956 in the Adelaide Hospital, Dublin after a few years of illness.