H Heathcote Statham

Henry Heathcote Statham (Everton, Liverpool, 1839 – Torquay, 1924) was an English architect who, without pursuing music as a professional career, left a notable mark on music criticism and on the study of concert hall acoustics. His written output places him in Victorian England, where he combined architectural practice with popular writing and journalism.

He studied the organ at the Liverpool Collegiate Institution and practised architecture in Liverpool for several years. In 1869 he moved to London, where he devoted increasing time to journalism and writing. In the late 1870s he gave, over several seasons, a series of Sunday afternoon organ recitals at the Royal Albert Hall, although he never held a permanent post as organist; his only position was an honorary one at St Jude's, Whitechapel. Between 1883 and 1910 he was chiefly editor of the journal The Builder, and during that period he published several reference works on the history of architecture.

As a critic, he brought together his knowledge of architecture and music to analyse the design of concert halls. He argued that several of the great halls built in his day, such as the Royal Albert Hall or St George's Hall in Liverpool, were erected primarily as spectacular venues, disregarding the basic principles of acoustics. In My Thoughts on Music and Musicians he presented a controversial analysis of what he saw as a squandering of Schubert's exceptional gifts. He was also an outspoken critic of Wagner, and he championed the music of William Sterndale Bennett when it was beginning to fall out of fashion.

His legacy rests chiefly on his writings on musical aesthetics and architectural acoustics, which are still cited as evidence of the critical outlook of his time. He was the father of the musician Heathcote D. Statham.