David Wilde

For the English cricketer, see David Wilde (cricketer). For the American writer and critic, see David Wild.

David Wilde (25 February 1935 – 23 October 2025) was an English pianist and composer.

David Wilde
David Wilde in 2020 at The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh
Born	(1935-02-25)25 February 1935 Manchester, England
Died	23 October 2025(2025-10-23) (aged 90)
Occupations	Classical pianist Composer Academic teacher
Website	david-wilde.com

Life and career

Born in Manchester on 25 February 1935,^[1][2] he studied as a boy with Solomon and his pupil Franz Reizenstein. He studied composition at the Royal Manchester College of Music with Richard Hall from 1949, elected a fellow in 1953. He won the 1961 Liszt-Bartók competition in Budapest in 1961.^[2] Nadia Boulanger, a jury member, invited him to Paris for further study. They remained in touch for the rest of her life.^[2][3]

A frequent soloist at the Henry Wood Proms, working with such conductors as Horenstein, Boulez, and Downes, he shared with Jacqueline du Pré the honour of opening the BBC's second TV Channel in the North of England with Sir John Barbirolli and the Hallé Orchestra in 1962. In the same year, Wilde won the Queen's Prize and was invited to play at the Royal Concert in the Royal Festival Hall, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic conducted by Sir John Pritchard, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, to whom he was afterwards presented by Sir Malcolm Sargent.^[3]

During the 1990s he composed many works protesting against human rights abuses at the time and was twice honoured by the city of Sarajevo. "The Cellist of Sarajevo", (1992) dedicated to Vedran Smailovic, was recorded by Yo-Yo Ma^[1] for Sony Classical, and the opera London Under Siege, after an idea by Bosnian poet Goran Simic, was produced by the State Theatre of Lower Saxony in 1998.^[4]

Recordings include Beethoven's Violin Sonatas with Erich Gruenberg, Reizenstein's Violin Sonata, also with Gruenberg, Thomas Wilson's Piano Concerto, especially composed for him, and works by Schumann, Liszt, and Chopin. He recorded for His Master's Voice, Decca Oiseau Lyre, Lyrita Saga and CRD, and latterly exclusively for Delphian Records of Edinburgh, who issued a recordings of music by Dallapiccola, Busoni, and Liszt, Schumann and Brahms. A Brahms recital was issued in 2010.^[5]

Wilde was professor of piano at the Musikhochschule Hannover from 1981 to 2000, and on his return to the UK in 2001 was appointed visiting professor in keyboard studies at the University of Edinburgh.^[6]

Wilde died on 23 October 2025, at the age of 90.^[7][8]