Lionel Solomon Benson

Colonel Lionel Solomon Benson (1848–1929), a distinguished amateur musician noted for his fine tenor voice, was a member of the Royal College of Music Council from 1897 until his death. By profession a businessman and soldier, arguably his most notable achievements were in the realm of vocal music: in 1866 at the age of 18 he founded the Magpie Madrigal Society which he went on to direct in the English premieres of many of the part-songs of Brahms, as well as specially commissioned works by composers such as Stanford, Parry and Vaughan Williams. He also edited and published a wealth of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century madrigals. An intimate friend of Sir John Millais, Benson was also a collector of paintings and prints, which he bequeathed to the College upon his death, along with a valuable collection of books and music, including some fine seventeenth-century part-books.