Sir Thomas Beecham Marries Again At 80

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28981, 24 August 1959, Page 12

Sir Thomas Beecham Marries Again At 80

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

LONDON, August 21. Sir Thomas Beecham, aged 80, Britain’s most famous' conductor, has secretly married his 27-year-old secretary, Shirley Hudson, the "Daily Express’* diarist reported. The wedding had taken place in the Zurich Town Hall on August 10. Sir Thomas had kept the astonishing news so quiet that not even his own family knew a thing about it until a newspaper reporter told them. His daughter-in-law, Mrs Adrian Beecham, said: "I’m absolutely staggered. His secretary. Well I’m blessed. We had absolutely no idea.” The newspaper reported that on July 31, Sir Thomas Beecham went to the British Consulate at Zurich and asked what forms were necessary for a marriage in Switzerland. He took the forms and went to a hotel just outside Lucerne. On August 10, he tpld the British Consul-General in Zurich he was getting married that day and asked him to be a guest. The “Daily Express” said it had been told by a clerk at the Zurich Town Hall he had a certificate of the marriage at the hall. Sir Thomas Beecham described himself as "artistic conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London.” Miss Hudson Is called "secretary to the orchestra.” There were two witnesses. Sir Thomas and the new Lady Beecham came to London on August 15—and told no-one about their romance, the "Daily Express” diarist said. Miss Hudson, a pretty and aler’ young woman, was still "Miss Hudson” to the members of the orchestra as she discussed with them details of Sir Thomas’s recording dates. At 10 p.m. last Tuesday he finished work on "The Great Elopement” his ballet suite ar-

ranged from the music of Handel, walked out of the studio—and disappeared, presumably on his honeymoon. Sir Thomas Beecham has married twice before. His first marriage was dissolved in 1943. His second wife, the concert pianist Betty Humby, died last September. Sir Thomas Beecham, the second baronet, is known all over the world as a temperamental man who always speaks his mind. “I will not be called the greatest musician ever,” he has said. "On the other hand, I’m a damned sight better than any foreigner.

"I’m a cold blooded monster. I get the orchestra in such a state of jitters they can’t help playing hell for leather,” and “one thing I’ve noticed about myself—l make fewer mistakes than most people,” are typical of his pronouncements.