Sydney Errington
Born Leeds 1905, died Leeds 1980. Viola player.
He studied at the old Leeds College of Music, later becoming a favourite pupil of the great Lionel Tertis. Errington eventually joined the (professional) Leeds Symphony Orchestra as principal violist. In 1928 he became a member of the Halle Orchestra and was appointed principal violist, a position he occupied with distinction throughout the Barbirolli era from 1943-1970. He married Edward Maude's daughter Barbara, an accomplished amateur cellist, in 1939. The couple chose to remain in Leeds and Errington calculated that he had motored some 800,000 miles from the family home in Hyde Park to Halle concerts in Manchester and elsewhere. Ill health forced his retirement from the Halle in 1970. Sydney Errington's artistry rescued the viola from its "cinderella status" in the symphony orchestra and brought the instrument into the limelight. He was frequently dubbed the "Northern Tertis" after his legendary former tutor.