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News
In this issue ...
Page Page
Address for Communications 2 Elgarian Research in Lockdown 23
Keep in touch 2 Elgar Works 27
Letter from the Chairman 2 Obituaries 30
From the Editor 4 Letters to the Editor 45
Pandemic Programming 7 Delius Society 47
AGM 2020 9 Branch Reports 48
Membership Matters 16 Branch and National Events 54
St Wulstan’s 18 Dates for your Diary 57
Crossword 62
No. 72 – December 2020
Address for Communications
Contributions for the April 2021 edition of the Elgar Society News
should be e–mailed to the Editor:
Peter James: news@elgar.org
Full contact details can be found on the back cover. The latest date
for submissions for the April 2021 issue is 25 February 2021.
Keep in Touch
Remember:
you can keep up to date with the latest Elgarian news online, at:
Facebook: Elgar Society (public group)
Edward Elgar Society (private group)
Elgar Freundeskreis (in German)
Twitter: @elgarsocietyweb
@ElgarFestival
@ElgarLondon
@ElgarNews
@elgarsouthweb
@NTTheFirs
Youtube: Numerous Elgar posts
or, search for ‘Elgar’ or ‘Elgar Society’ or ‘Elgar Birthplace’.
Letter from the Chairman
We have been much saddened by the passing of Barry Collett. Barry
was a member of the Society for almost half a century and made
a huge contribution to our knowledge of Elgar’s music, both as a
conductor and as a writer. Many of you were fortunate to know him
far better than I and moving tributes appear elsewhere. Although I
was aware of Barry’s work, owning several of his compact discs, it
was only in August of last year that I had the pleasure of actually
2 Elgar Society News
Letter from the Chairman
meeting him. A reception was organised in the Usher Hall, prior
to an Edinburgh Festival performance of The Kingdom. Perhaps
sensing my discomfort amongst so many unknown faces, he came
over, greeting me in friendly fashion, and we were soon in easy
conversation as if we had known each other for years! He will be
greatly missed and we send our condolences to his widow Pauline.
Despite the numerous challenges involved, we did manage to
hold our seventieth AGM in late September and thanks are due to
Stuart Freed for enabling this to happen through his impressive
grasp of the dark arts of technology. Although, on a personal level,
it was a disappointment not to be able to meet fellow Elgarians ‘face
to face’ as it were, there was a positive aspect in that many more
members were able to attend virtually than would have otherwise
been the case. We were also delighted to be able to welcome friends
from America.
The online interviews and presentations are now well under
way and are already attracting great interest and positive feedback
from all those who have viewed the two that, as I write, have been
made available. We are indeed much indebted to our member Peter
Newble for facilitating the technical aspects of these and future
presentations.
There are, of course, always stimulating articles to read in both
the Journal and the News, but I’m sure many of us were especially
touched to read the splendid essays on Sir Adrian and Sir John in
August’s Journal. How easy it was, in my young days, when the
choice for a record collector was between the two noble knights.
Naturally, in my adolescence, Sir John’s passionate advocacy greatly
appealed, while I found Sir Adrian’s comparative objectivity, shall
we say, frustrating. As I grew and hopefully matured musically, I
began to appreciate Boult’s sense of proportion and architecture,
while (may I be forgiven) bridling against Barbirolli’s occasional
dwelling on detail at the expense of the overall structure. (The first
movement of Elgar 2 springs to mind, for example.) Nowadays I
rejoice in being able to have them both and, of course, so many
other distinguished interpreters that have embraced Elgar’s music
subsequently.
No. 72 – December 2020 3
Letter from the Chairman
I was most grateful to Kevin Allen for sending me a link to a splendid
performance of Hugh Blair’s Adoramus Te: a most impressive piece
for organ and orchestra, much suited to a cathedral acoustic. Seek
it out and listen to it as you enjoy Kevin’s warmly sympathetic new
book on its composer. Well worth a read!
Oh, I almost forgot – doubtless you have been waiting with bated
breath (well, perhaps not) for the solution to my little poser at the
close of the August issue: the passage in Elgar’s First Symphony
apparently written by his cook. I would have guessed Sir Thomas
Beecham was the culprit (the façade of St Pancras and all that),
but it was actually another knight – Sir Adrian! In Conductors on
Conducting by Bernard Jacobson (MacDonald and Jane’s, 1979)
speaking of the Finale he said: ‘There’s that wonderful passage
where the harps come in [figure 130 ff.]. He knew that was coming
– that’s why he let the cook do that other bit, he didn’t mind what
happened beforehand.’
I do have another teaser for you but you’ll have to wait until Stuart’s
Christmas Quiz!
Neil Mantle
From the Editor
The news of Barry Collett’s death will have shocked and saddened
all of us. Tributes to that fine musician and dedicated Elgarian
appear on page 30, and you can read Barry’s last review, of Daniel
Barenboim’s new recording of Falstaff and Sea Pictures, in this
month’s Journal. Barry was a frequent and welcome contributor to
the News. I was delighted to receive his last article, published in the
August issue, which introduced an unfamiliar work – Saint–Saëns’s
Piano Quartet – and which communicated his enthusiasm for it in
such a characteristically compulsive way.
********
In the summer certain politicians and journalists took a break from
Covid–19 to get exercised about whether the words to ‘Land of
Hope and Glory’ should be sung at the Last Night of the Proms.
4 Elgar Society News
From the Editor
Some members may have been surprised to read this in the Daily
Telegraph:
Stuart Freed, vice chairman of the Elgar Society, said: “We take
the view that Rule Brittania [sic] and Land of Hope and Glory
reflect outdated values, and should be treated as museum
pieces. “Elgar did not write the words, and we presume he did
not like the sentiment.”
Stuart was never misquoted, merely under–quoted. What he actually
said was:
Elgar himself did not like Benson’s words … Benson wrote
other words to this melody ... when ‘Land of Hope and Glory’
is sung on the Last Night it is being used more as a celebration
at the end of a great musical festival rather than as a political
statement. … When all is said and done, it would be a great
shame if what Elgar said was a tune that comes once in a
lifetime is lost to such a celebration of music.
As to the comment about ‘museum pieces’, once again this is only
part of what he said. He went on to add that although the values as
represented in ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ may be at odds with current
thinking, they are part of our history and should be preserved. He
ended by saying, ‘Nevertheless, I have to ask if sentiments of this
kind would be written in our more enlightened age?’
********
Chris Fonteyn, a member in the West Midlands, reminds me that in
September the BBC One Show persuaded some football supporters
to sing an extended version of ‘He banged the leather for goal!’.
This supposed football chant was inspired by a phrase Elgar found
in a newspaper report of a Wolverhampton Wanderers match.
Sadly, the result as captured by the BBC seemed unlikely to inspire
euphoria on the terraces. Which is not surprising, when a look at
Elgar’s manuscript suggests that it was not a chant at all but a
‘jape’ – a spoof recitative supposedly to be sung by Caractacus.
Peter James
No. 72 – December 2020 5
From the Editor
The ‘chant’, which Elgar included in a letter to Dora Penny
and which she reproduced in her book
Edward Elgar: Memories of a Variation.
It’s usually quoted as ‘He banged the leather for goal’,
but interestingly Elgar wrote ‘We’ in his letter.
6 Elgar Society News
Pandemic Programming
In common with just about every other aspect of our lives at present,
the Covid crisis has impacted the Society in many ways. Most obvious
of these has been the absence of Branch meetings and other local
activities. Until we emerge from the current situation, the Society
has no choice but to make whatever adjustments may be needed in
order to serve the membership and the composer we all revere.
The continued publication of the News and Journal ensures
that all members are kept informed and engaged with the Society.
However, members who have access to the internet have been
able to enjoy other ways that the Society is trying to overcome
its difficulties in these very strange times. Members who have an
e–mail address registered with the Society will have noticed that
there has been an increase in the number of communications that
they have been receiving from me. I have been keen to pass on
any information that I think will be of interest to members, be they
Society events, online concerts or any other matters concerning our
composer.
As the national picture regarding social regulation has developed,
the Society has tried to respond by migrating many of its functions
to online means. Many of you will have attended our first ever online
AGM. This was just one of the ways that Society business has been
able to continue. Both the Council and the Executive have been
meeting virtually to ensure that the Society continues to develop
and fulfil its charitable duties.
Perhaps the happiest development arising out of the current
circumstances is the emergence of what can only be described
as online meetings. These have developed along two separate
but complementary paths: Branch meetings and national Society
meetings. Where Branches have been able to transmit presentations
over the internet, these have tended to be live–streamed events using
Zoom or a similar platform. In contrast, the national presentations
have been pre–recorded and have been made available to members
through a link for a limited period. Where appropriate, these have
been followed by a live question and answer session. All members
owe a huge debt of gratitude to everyone who has contributed to
this new aspect of the Society’s activities.
No. 72 – December 2020 7
Pandemic Programming
Peter Sutton in Stella and Stuart Freed’s ‘Pomp and Poetry’
which was streamed in October
An unforeseen but very welcome outcome of this is that members
who might otherwise not have been able to attend meetings, whether
through infirmity, geography or mobility, have now been offered
the opportunity to engage more positively with the Society and its
activities. Indeed, the Chairman was able to welcome a number of
overseas members to what was their first AGM.
Looking to the future, the popularity of the emerging
online programme has shown that there is a demand for online
presentations. Whilst the current health scare continues it is the
Society’s intention to present one national programme each month.
However, when we do get back to something resembling normal,
such events will continue three or four times each year.
Finally, if you have not been receiving the information outlined
here, it is because you do not have an e–mail address registered
with the Society. If this is the case and you would like to join in,
simply send your details to the Hon. Membership Secretary at
membership@elgar.org and you will automatically be included.
In the meantime, keep well and remember that however depressing
it may all appear, there’s always music to make us feel better.
Stuart Freed
8 Elgar Society News
AGM 2020
•
MINUTES OF THE SEVENTIETH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
OF THE ELGAR SOCIETY
HELD ON 20 SEPTEMBER 2020 AT 2.30pm BY ZOOM
1. Chairman’s welcome and opening remarks:
Neil Mantle welcomed some 65 members to the meeting and noted
that by holding the meeting online more members who would
not normally be able to attend could now do so; in particular he
welcomed members from North America. Neil also wondered what
Elgar would have thought about a virtual meeting, noting his great
interest in new inventions and his involvement in the early days of
recording.
2. Apologies for absence:
Wendy & Bernard Hill, Michael James Wilson, John R. Grieg,
Christine Tedder, Ian Morgan, John Norris, Christine MacDonald,
David Packman, Tom & Maureen Kelly, Joyce Kennedy, Liz Luder
and Malcolm Westwood.
3. Confirmation of the minutes of the Sixty–ninth AGM:
Proposer: Richard Smith Seconder: Helen Petchey
Agreed
4. Report of the Acting Chairman:
Neil Mantle began by expressing sadness on the recent death of
Barry Collett. He referred to his tremendous contribution to the
Society and Elgar’s music through his performances, writings, CD
reviews and his work on Elgar in Performance. On a personal basis
he mentioned his first meeting with Barry at the Edinburgh Festival
when he was struck by his warm and welcoming personality. Neil
noted that fuller tributes would appear later, but referred members
to that appearing on the Society’s website.
No. 72 – December 2020 9
AGM 2020
He commented on the experience of 2020 and the profound effect
it has had on the arts and in particular on the functioning of the
Society. He welcomed the Prom concerts, although in more limited
form, and particularly Sir Simon Rattle’s Prom and the performances
of Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro for Strings and the Vaughan
Williams Fifth Symphony which provided balm for troubled souls.
He thanked the Executive for their work over 2020 and in particular
Stuart Freed in helping him in many aspects and his work on coping
with Zoom and the online presentations.
The first presentation by Peter Newble was splendid and Peter
has continued to be very involved. The latest interview between
Sir Mark Elder and Joyce Kennedy is now available. The next talk
is ‘Pomp and Poetry’ compiled by Stella and Stuart Freed, with
readings by Peter Sutton. Branches are also presenting talks for
which details are being circulated. Other matters the Executive have
been progressing include arrangements in respect of the Ernie Kay
bequest, Stuart’s work on proposals for rebranding, and Philip
Petchey on safeguarding. Neil thanked Peter Newble for his work on
the presentations and technical help, Kevin Mitchell on the Journal,
Peter James on the News, Chris Bennett on membership and Gift Aid
and the Revd Robert Tickle on social media.
5. Report of the Treasurer and presentation of the Annual
Accounts for 2019
Peter Smith indicated that the accounts for 2019 are included in
the Trustees’ Annual Report (TAR) which was e–mailed to everyone
who registered to attend this meeting, and a summary of which
appeared in the April News.
Income for the year was down from £48,000 to £44,000. This
included £5,000 from the realisation of investments. Expenditure
was also down by £5,000, thanks to lower Branch expenditure,
partly offset by higher expenditure on Elgar in Performance (EiP).
This gives a deficit for the year of some £6,000, slightly lower
than in 2018, but it’s worth noting that without the investment
income, which we won’t get every year, the deficit would have been
£11,000. Within the income figures, subscription income was down
by £2,000 compared with 2018. Subscription rates have not been
increased since 2013, and there has been inflation of some 20%
10 Elgar Society NewsAGM 2020
over that time, and it had been intended to propose an increase in
subscription rates at this meeting, but in the present circumstances
that seems inappropriate.
Last year it became clear that the Society’s Gift Aid records were
incomplete, and so at the end of 2019 an exercise was undertaken
to ask all eligible members to complete a fresh Gift Aid declaration.
Nearly 300 members were thanked for having done so. However, it
is estimated that there are at least another 300 members who are
eligible to complete a declaration and have not so far completed
one. He appealed to any of these members who are UK taxpayers
to complete a Gift Aid declaration – it’s free money from the
Government! Peter also asked Branches to promote this, and the
form is available at https://elgarsociety.org/gift–aid
As a result of the deficit, he indicated that the Society’s reserves fell
to £98,000, which represents nearly two years’ expenditure. This is
still a healthy position.
Peter reported that the Independent Examiner, Adrian Benselin,
had approved the accounts and will sign them once this meeting
has approved them. He expressed thanks to Adrian, and also to
Chris Bennett for his work as Membership Secretary in dealing
with subscriptions and Gift Aid declarations, and to the Branch
Treasurers for submitting their Branch accounts on time.
Turning to the current year 2020, the Treasurer indicated that the
pandemic obviously meant that the Society has not been able to
carry on with its usual activities. We have only spent some £5,000
on Elgar in Performance out of a budgeted £18,000, and Branches
will have spent far less than planned. However, the vast bulk of
subscriptions were received in January, before the pandemic struck.
Therefore, from a narrowly financial point of view, 2020 has been
rather a good year!
In addition, Peter indicated that in July the Society received a very
generous donation of some £93,000 from a trust fund set up by
Ernie Kay, who died in January 2019. Ernie Kay was a member of the
West Midlands Branch and was well known. He had previously given
generous support to the Society, and the Society is very grateful for
No. 72 – December 2020 11AGM 2020
this further gift. The gift came with the stipulation that the funds
are to be used for long–term, lasting projects and are not to be
used for current revenue expenditure. Informal discussions have
already taken place among the members of the Executive about
possible uses for this money, and no doubt the Council will wish to
discuss this when it next meets.
The Treasurer indicated that the following question had been
submitted in advance by Roy Whittaker:
Given the size of this very generous bequest, is the Society
seeking professional investment advice for the best return on
this money?
Peter answered that no advice has been sought so far. Most of the
money is now in a building society 90–day account, where it is
earning a modest amount of interest. No decisions have yet been
made about how and when the money might be spent, so he felt
that it would be unwise to tie it up for longer than the 90 days at
this stage. Once our plans become clearer, we may wish to consider
taking advice with a view to investing on a longer–term basis.
Advisors tend to push for stock market–related products, because
that’s where they make their commission, and he felt that these are
best avoided given the present economic uncertainty, with the Bank
of England predicting a deep recession.
6. Adoption of the Accounts for 2019:
Proposed: Martyn Marsh Seconded: John Harcup
The Accounts were agreed.
7. Adoption of the Trustees’ Annual Report (TAR)
The TAR report had been circulated and published in the News.
Proposer: William Cole Seconder: Mick Bray
The Trustees’ Annual Report was agreed.
8. Appointment of the Independent Examiner
Adrian Benselin had agreed to be appointed as Independent
Examiner for the coming year.
This was endorsed by the AGM.
12 Elgar Society NewsAGM 2020
9. Hon. Secretary’s Report
The report had been circulated and included in the April Elgar News.
It outlined the personnel changes that occurred in 2019. Steven Halls
had stepped down as Chairman and, following a brief interregnum
with the Vice–Chairman, Neil Mantle became Acting Chairman. Other
changes involved a new Treasurer, Peter Smith, and Membership
Secretary, Chris Bennett. Barry Collett had also indicated a wish
to step down from co–ordinating the EiP programme, a role which
Steven Halls agreed to take over. Meinhard Saremba as Journal
Editor was replaced by Kevin Mitchell with an editorial board.
Key events of 2019 included an expanded Worcester Festival which
was given civic recognition by a Mayoral procession to Evensong and
the Mayor laying the chaplet at the memorial window. The theft of
Elgar’s OM and GCVO medals from The Firs ended happily with their
recovery. Presentations of the Elgar Medal were made to Anastasia
Vedyakova and to Adrian Brown in March 2020. Arrangements need
to be made to present the medal to Dame Janet Baker.
Sadly, tributes were made to members who had died since the
previous AGM: Ernie Kay, Martin Bird, John Buttrey, Alan Boon, Paul
Adrian Rooke, Tony Pook, Marc Seccombe and Michael Toseland.
The Secretary also echoed the Chairman’s remarks with a short
tribute to Barry Collett, who died after the report was circulated.
The AGM noted the report.
10. Nominations for Officers:
The Hon Secretary has received valid nominations as following:
Chairman Neil Mantle MBE
Vice–Chairman Stuart Freed
Hon. Treasurer Peter Smith
Hon. Secretary George Smart
There being no other nominations, the meeting was invited to
confirm the election of the above–named.
The AGM agreed these appointments.
No. 72 – December 2020 13AGM 2020
11. Nominations for Council Members
The eight members of the Council for 2019–2020 were: Paul Grafton,
Ruth Hellen, Elizabeth Luder, Peter Newble, Philip Petchey, Geoff
Scargill, Helen Whittaker and Roy Whittaker. Having completed
two terms of four years, Ruth Hellen and Geoff Scargill have stood
down. Paul Grafton had also decided to stand down. The Chairman
thanked them for their service on Council and to the Society.
Having completed one term of four years, Peter Newble and Roy
Whittaker were eligible for re–election and have been re–nominated.
Prof. David Young has been nominated to serve on the Council.
There being three nominations for four places upon the Council,
namely Peter Newble, Roy Whittaker and Prof. David Young, the
meeting is invited to confirm their election.
The AGM agreed these appointments to Council.
Martyn Marsh gave notice that he would be willing to serve on
Council and this was noted.
12. Honorary Membership Nominations
The Secretary reported on two nominations made by the Council for
Honorary Memberships:
Lani Spahr
He indicated that the award of an Honorary Membership is in
recognition of the work undertaken to re–master early recordings
made by Elgar and produce them as CDs with much improved sound
quality. George outlined the recordings that Lani had undertaken.
As a result of Lani’s work, members, the public and posterity can
study and enjoy the original Elgar recordings with good quality
reproduction.
Ruth Hellen
The award is in recognition of Ruth’s contribution to the work
of the Society. Ruth today stands down from the Council having
completed two four–year terms during which she has made
significant contributions to the Council’s work. She has also
been a distinguished Secretary of the London Branch, having
undertaken her duties in a highly efficient and reliable manner.
14 Elgar Society NewsAGM 2020
She has organised meeting speakers and venues for meetings as
well as Elgarian outings, visits and concert tickets for members
on a regular basis. She was also active in promoting Elgar as part
of her professional responsibilities and in her positions with the
International Association of Music Libraries.
The AGM endorsed the awards.
13. Any other business – None
AGM 2021
Arrangements and Nominations for Council Officers
and Members of Council
The Council has reviewed the operation of the virtual AGM held on
20 September 2020 using Zoom. The event attracted more than 65
members, which is well up on the attendance at the live events in
recent years. Also, there was a wider geographical spread of members
attending, several for the first time, which is encouraging.
The progression of the Covid–19 pandemic and possible measures
that will be in place next June are currently unclear. Council has
proposed the date for the AGM as 6 June 2021 in Worcester, to
fit in with the proposed Festival dates, and will investigate making
the event available on Zoom. This will allow for the involvement
of members who cannot attend in Worcester, and also provide a
fall–back approach should a live meeting not be possible.
Further details will be included in the April News.
Officer Nominations:
Given that the Constitution requires the annual election of the
Officers, nominations are required annually for the following Officer
posts:
Chairman
Vice–Chairman
Hon. Treasurer
Hon. Secretary
All the existing postholders are willing to be nominated.
No. 72 – December 2020 15AGM 2020
Council Members:
There are no members of Council standing down in 2021. Philip
Petchey has completed one term and is eligible and willing to be
nominated for a second term. There is one vacancy on Council and
nominations for the above posts and the vacancy can be made as
set out below.
Nominations from members of the Society for candidates for the
Officer posts (annual appointments) or for members of the Council
should be made in writing. Nomination forms for both Officers and
Council members, who must be members of the Society, can be
obtained from the Honorary Secretary at hon.sec@elgar.org. The
form should be signed by a proposer and seconder, who must both
be members of the Society, as well as by the candidate, signifying her
or his willingness to stand. Completed forms must be received by
the Honorary Secretary by 19 February 2021. Should the number
of valid nominations for Officers or individual member posts be
more than one, a postal ballot of the members of the Society would
be held. Ballot papers would need to be distributed to members with
the April Journal.
George Smart
Hon. Secretary
Membership Matters
A reminder to members that 2021 subscriptions will be due on 1
January.
Of course the Society can’t operate without membership
subscriptions, and I am very grateful to all members who pay
promptly. I’m especially grateful to those who make it easy for me
by paying by annual Standing Order. It’s easy to do, and there’s
still time to make the arrangements for your 2021 subscriptions.
Details of the various subscription rates are listed on the back cover
of this magazine, and you can download a Standing Order form
from the Membership section of the website:
https://elgarsociety.org/pp–page–columned/
If you would like me to send you a Standing Order form, please get
in touch.
16 Elgar Society NewsMembership Matters
For those who like to make arrangements directly with their
bank, payments should be made annually on 1 January, and be
credited to The Elgar Society, Sort Code 30–99–90, Account Number
00212038, at Lloyds Bank, 4 The Cross, Worcester WR1 3PY. Those
details are also applicable for those who would like to pay by Bank
Transfer. However, whether paying by Standing Order or Bank
Transfer, please make sure that you include a unique reference with
your payment – preferably your Elgar Society membership number,
or the first line of your address.
Payments can also be made online by PayPal account, credit
or debit card. Go to https://elgarsociety.org/pp–page–columned/
and scroll to the bottom of the page, then click on the ‘PayPal and
Credit Card’ button. If you want to pay via your own PayPal account,
when you have filled in the relevant subscription fee, simply click
on ‘Donate’. If you want to pay via your credit or debit card, you
must click on ‘Donate with a Card’.
We can also take payment by cheque in pounds sterling. Cheques
should be payable to The Elgar Society, and posted to me – address
on the back cover. I’m afraid that prohibitive bank charges make
payment by cheques in other currencies impossible.
I’d like to repeat a plea from the last edition. There are a handful
of payments credited to the Society’s bank account in 2020 which I
have been unable to identify. These appear to be cheques posted to
our bank, payments made over the counter in a bank, or payments
via an ATM. Unfortunately they have no name or reference to
identify them. If you think one of these payments might have been
from you, please get in touch. As we have no way of identifying who
these payments have come from, it’s quite likely that if you paid
your subscription by this method, you will be listed as a defaulter.
Please do get in touch with any Membership matters – full contact
details are on the back cover.
Chris Bennett
Hon. Membership Secretary
No. 72 – December 2020 17Membership Matters
We are delighted to welcome the following new members to the
Society:
Andy Smith Ashtead
Allan Stewart Glasgow
Toby Hawkes Edinburgh
Bevis Hillier Winchester
James Callander Bolton
Martin Johnson Bolton
Nicholas Cleobury Oxfordshire
Clive Lane Skipton
Richard Hughes London
St Wulstan’s
As most of you will know, Edward, Alice and Carice Elgar are buried
at St Wulstan’s church in Little Malvern. For nine years we have
been fortunate in the Society that the parish priest, Father Edward
Crouzet, has been most helpful in promoting Elgar among his
parishioners and visitors. Every year, as near as possible to Elgar’s
birthday, Father Edward conducts a mass at the church with his
homily always paying a tribute to our beloved composer. Following
this, we have a short ceremony at the graveside at which either
Hilary Elgar or Paul Grafton from the family lays a wreath. Prior to
this, Father Edward leads us in a short prayer.
We were sad to hear, a few weeks ago, that Father Edward is
retiring following a long and distinguished career. We understand
that he will eventually be leaving us in Malvern for pastures new,
and we wish him well with that and hope that he will enjoy many
peaceful years to come.
When he knew he was leaving he penned this for us, describing
his years at St Wulstan’s and his growing love of Elgar.
18 Elgar Society NewsSt Wulstan’s
Father Edward with Hilary Elgar
at the wreath–laying on 2 June 2018 [Photo: Joan Roche]
In late summer of 1964, as a new priest, being sent for ten days
to Little Malvern while the resident priest was on leave, I found
Elgar’s grave overgrown with brambles, and duly cut them back.
Returning there in 2011, it was good to find the grave beautifully
cared for. My experience of Elgar’s music, I am ashamed to
say, was limited to the Last Night of the Proms, ‘Nimrod’ and a
notable performance of The Dream of Gerontius at St Andrew’s
Hall in Norwich. The last few years have changed that, thanks
to the Malvern Concert Club, the Three Choirs Festival, a visit to
Symphony Hall in Birmingham and the recent performance of
the Cello Concerto by Sheku Kanneh–Mason.
I have walked a great deal on the Malvern Hills, visited Lower
Broadheath and even read up enough material to give a short
talk on ‘Why Elgar is buried at St Wulstan’s’. I feel I have begun
to know and deeply respect the man and his music: a conversion
which I hope will continue and grow after I have left.
Richard Smith
********
No. 72 – December 2020 19St Wulstan’s
West Midlands Branch committee member Gill Bradshaw has been
tending the Elgar graves at St Wulstan’s for almost 25 years. Her
article below is reprinted with thanks from the WM Branch’s autumn
Newsletter.
I visit the Elgar grave weekly to ensure that it looks its best for
the many visitors who come from all over the world. I then choose
special flower arrangements to commemorate Edward’s death on
23 February, at Easter, the Birthday Weekend and the Three Choirs
Festival. At Christmas wreaths are laid for Edward, Alice and Carice,
who is buried beside her parents.
The Elgar grave in September 2020
[Photo: Gill Bradshaw]
I have been privileged to care for the Elgar family graves and I have
met many interesting people along the way. The celebrated and much
loved actress Patricia Routledge would come with a gift of flowers
when she was performing in Malvern. There have been bouquets
left by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bristol Choral
Society. The choir – under Adrian Partington’s direction – had just
performed The Dream of Gerontius and the card left with the flowers
read: ‘in humility, gratitude and awe’.
20 Elgar Society NewsSt Wulstan’s
I also met members of the
Takács Quartet, which was
a great thrill. The ensemble,
founded in Hungary but now
based in the USA, is universally
acclaimed and recently
featured in the BBC television
series Being Beethoven.
One of the most poignant
encounters I had some
years ago was with a white
Zimbabwean farmer who had
settled in Worcester with his
family after having to flee his
The mezzo–soprano Kathryn
country with nothing, because
Rudge was one of the many
of the volatile political climate.
famous people who have visited
They had all been starved of
the grave. She is seen here
culture because listening to
(right) with Gill Bradshaw.
European classical music was
[Photo: Joan Roche]
forbidden. He relished the
freedom in this country to be able to hear the music of his beloved
Elgar. What a sobering thought for us all, especially during the
recent lockdown brought about by the Covid–19 pandemic.
On a lighter note, one Saturday afternoon in high summer, I
approached St Wulstan’s and saw lots of cars parked. I was wearing
old gardening gear and carrying a broom, bucket and watering can
to tend the graves. To my surprise, several men in morning dress
were waiting for the arrival of the bride! One of them joked that he
thought I was the equivalent of the lucky chimney sweep!
It is very moving to see how people react at the graveside, and
I have occasionally seen some visitors shedding tears. They have
commented that they love the peace of the churchyard, and since the
lower branches of the huge trees have been cut away, they can see
more of the view that Elgar so loved. We have Father Edward Crouzet
to thank for organizing that work. He has been very supportive of
the Elgar Society and we wish him well in his retirement. He will be
missed.
No. 72 – December 2020 21St Wulstan’s
The improved view from Elgar’s grave
[Photo: Joan Roche]
As a great admirer of Thomas Hardy’s novels and poetry, I often
think of him and Elgar as sharing similar haracteristics. Both were
largely self–taught and would sometimes doubt their abilities. They
also shared the same birthday. Hardy was born on 2 June 1840 and
Edward, of course, in 1857. There was talk of a possible collaboration
on an opera, with Hardy’s initial ideas being to adapt his novels The
Trumpet Major, A Pair of Blue Eyes or The Return of the Native. The
curator and critic Sir Sidney Colvin, who visited Hardy on Elgar’s
behalf, reported back to Elgar that ‘I find the old man not only willing
but keen to cooperate in an opera with you’. Sadly, this project never
came to fruition – but what might have been?
Thomas Hardy and his good friend T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of
Arabia), who lived nearby, had been introduced to Elgar’s music by
George Bernard Shaw, and the Second Symphony was especially dear
to them.
I often reflect on the famous remark which Elgar made to his
friend Barry Jackson about a tune from his Cello Concerto: ‘If ever
after I’m dead you hear someone whistling this tune on the Malvern
Hills, don’t be alarmed. It’s only me.’
I keep listening for him …
Gill Bradshaw
22 Elgar Society NewsMore Elgarian Researches in Lockdown
Philip Petchey’s article on Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s The Music Makers
(August 2020 News, pp.24–26) has prompted me to fill out some
further details on the publishing history of this work. A couple of
years ago I gave a talk about it to the South Western Branch. This
was to have been repeated this year at the Southern Branch but fell
victim to the fallout from Covid–19. In August 2019 Kate Kennedy
made use of my research for her BBC Proms Plus interval talk on
The Music Makers. Jordan Kistler was also on the platform being
interviewed by the BBC’s Hannah French: it was Dr Kistler’s detailed
research into O’Shaughnessy’s Ode that I had drawn upon for my
presentation.
The following information is taken from Dr Kistler’s study, which
may be found on the Cambridge University website.1 Dr Kistler has
very kindly allowed me to quote passages from her study and for
this I am very grateful. Considerations of length mean that much
of her detail has been omitted, but I hope that what follows gives
an idea of the history of the Ode. Readers will quickly see that the
poem was shorn down to just three stanzas quite soon after its first
publication.
********
The Music Makers was first published on 30 August 1873 in the
Athenaeum (a literary magazine that ran for almost a century
from 1828). A year later the Ode formed the introduction to
O’Shaughnessy’s third collection of poetry, Music and Moonlight,
published in March 1874, the year after his marriage. This volume
was generally well reviewed, with the Athenaeum saying it ‘contain[s]
a number of fine passages, written in a bold, vigorous style, and
leave[s] a distinct impression on the mind’.
The periodical known as the Academy (published between 1869
and 1902) had an 1874 review of this collection that was even more
glowing, referring to ‘this most modern of modern singers’. Of the
Ode itself, the Academy writes: ‘The opening verses of the book,
dealing with the lofty function of poets in a spirit of the fullest fervour
and enthusiastic faith, are particularly brilliant and original’.
1 Jordan Kistler, ‘A Poem without an Author’, Victorian Literature and
Culture, 44(4), 875–886. doi:10.1017/S1060150316000255 (2016)
No. 72 – December 2020 23Elgarian Research in Lockdown
In 1897 Francis T. Palgrave printed
seventeen of O’Shaughnessy’s
poems, including the Ode, in the
second series of his popular anthology
The Golden Treasury. In fact, he so
liked O’Shaughnessy’s verse that he
chose the Ode as the opening poem
of the volume. Palgrave made the
decision, however, to reduce the
nine–stanza poem down to just the
first three stanzas, a practice that
was generally continued when the
Ode was subsequently printed in
future anthologies throughout the
twentieth century.
By excising the final six
stanzas of the Ode, Palgrave Title page of the 1897
and future anthologists Golden Treasury:
shifted the message of the Second Series
poem towards a celebration
of the artist as dreamer, ‘wandering by lone sea–breakers’. At the
end of stanza three (which anthology readers would have seen as
the last verse), the artist is seen as a potential means of revolution
and destruction, with none of the optimism and integration of
art into mainstream society which O’Shaughnessy was actually
advocating and which come in the later stanzas. The excision of the
last six stanzas was a contributing factor in subsequent appraisals
of O’Shaughnessy’s poetry.
Although O’Shaughnessy was well reviewed and moderately
successful during his lifetime (he died in 1881), by as early as 1897
and the release of the Golden Treasury: Second Series, he had fallen
out of favour. The Academy roundly attacked the Second Series
and took issue with many of the choices Palgrave made, but was
particularly incensed by the number of O’Shaughnessy’s inclusions,
noting that at seventeen poems, O’Shaughnessy’s appearances
outnumber Christina Rossetti (15), Robert Browning (14), Matthew
Arnold (13), and D.G. Rossetti (12).
24 Elgar Society NewsElgarian Research in Lockdown
In 1957 T.S. Eliot singled out O’Shaughnessy in his literary
criticism ‘What is Minor Poetry?’. Eliot selected O’Shaughnessy as the
definitive example of a category of minor poets ‘who have written
just one, or only a very few, good poems: so that there seems no
reason for anybody going beyond the anthology’. Although Eliot
began his essay by claiming: ‘What I am concerned to dispel is any
derogatory association connected with the term “minor poetry”’,
his casual dismissal of O’Shaughnessy’s poetic corpus has haunted
O’Shaughnessy studies ever since.
Reinforcing the casual anthologised dismissal of O’Shaughnessy,
the well–known 2001 anthology called Poem for the Day (Vol.1),
edited by Nicholas Albery and Peter Ratcliffe, prints only the first
three stanzas and comments: ‘Palgrave improved this poem by
cutting it down from nine stanzas to three.’ They go on to say that it
is only for this poem that O’Shaughnessy is now remembered. Had
the editors really read the whole poem or were they just following a
well–trodden critical path?
Arguments over the literary merits of O’Shaughnessy’s Ode will
doubtless continue, but surely editors should acknowledge that by
truncating the poem its meaning is not fully communicated. The
poem that has given us the phrase ‘movers and shakers’ surely
deserves some literary acknowledgement. It has to be said that Elgar,
though he set the entire poem, also subverted O’Shaughnessy’s
ideology for his own ends, dwelling upon the idea of the artist as
dreamer by repeating the opening lines after stanzas three, six and
nine.
********
I realise that none of the above satisfactorily answers Philip Petchey’s
query as to when or how Elgar might have discovered the Ode. What
we do know is that Elgar and his wife took an interest in the Pre–
Raphaelites: Alice had composed a poem after seeing Burne–Jones’s
The Golden Stairs in 1880 at the Grosvenor Gallery; and, shortly
after marrying Elgar in 1889, she took him to see Burne–Jones’s
Briar Rose murals. Since Burne–Jones was part of the artistic circle
that included William Morris and O’Shaughnessy, it is possible that
this is how Elgar became aware of the poet.
No. 72 – December 2020 25Elgarian Research in Lockdown
The hugely popular Oxford Book of English Verse edited by Arthur
Quiller–Couch only printed the first three stanzas of the Ode, so if
this was Elgar’s introduction to the poem (he owned a copy), he
must have sought out the complete text elsewhere. This, however,
raises the question (as Philip Petchey indicates) of how Elgar would
have known that there were more stanzas, since Quiller–Couch’s
anthology gives no clue that further stanzas exist. The first edition
of Quiller–Couch’s anthology may be viewed online at: https://
archive.org/details/oxfordbookofengl00quil/page/821/mode/1up
Perhaps Elgar came across a copy of Music and Moonlight in
one of the many bookshops that he frequented. His interest in the
Pre–Raphaelites may have prompted him to read Louise Moulton’s
book Arthur O’Shaughnessy: His life and work with a selection
of his poems, published in 1894. This contains the complete
Ode and may be viewed online at: https://archive.org/details/
arthuroshaughnes00oshaiala/page/100/mode/2up
Elgar Society member Trevor Fenemore–Jones has a 1907 copy
of the Golden Treasury: Second Series which has all nine stanzas,
but Elgar must have possessed a full copy of the Ode before this,
for in late March 1904 he was in Leeds where he showed the poem
to his friend Henry Embleton, Secretary of the Leeds Choral Union,
who said he would like to commission a setting from Elgar on the
biggest choral scale.
For further study, readers may also be interested in:
Jordan Kistler, Arthur O’Shaughnessy, a Pre–Raphaelite Poet in the
British Museum (London, New York: Routledge, 2018)
Duncan Eves
Vice–Chair, Southern Branch
26 Elgar Society NewsElgar Works
New uncertainties ... and a new direction?
We trudge on in these difficult times, making progress on all fronts,
but each time we achieve a significant milestone, a new obstacle
appears on the horizon. Our General Editor has returned to work
following his leave of absence taken to compose and oversee the
recording of Beethoveniana, commissioned to launch this year’s
depleted Proms season; and the British Library has unlocked
sufficiently for us to start the final round of editorial checks on
our next Complete Edition volume, comprising Elgar’s marches.
So, although our account manager at Halstan, the printer of our
Complete Edition volumes, remains furloughed at the time of writing
in late October, the way seemed open to proceed to publication
of the volume before the end of the year. And while Covid may
have put paid to our hope of a positive outcome from talks earlier
in the year with a major European publishing house interested in
licensing scores from the Complete Edition for their own use, we
have strengthened the board by recruiting conductor John Wilson
to take strategic oversight of our parts business which will play an
increasingly important role in our long–term aims as the number of
volumes still to be published dwindles.
John Wilson, latest recruit to the Complete Edition board,
seen holding a volume of the series
[Photo: Sim Canetty–Clarke]
No. 72 – December 2020 27Elgar Works
As the summer progressed, however, we began to receive
requests from distributors to cancel or suspend standing orders for
future volumes in both series. Faced with the financial uncertainties
of the post–Covid world, this is perhaps to be expected even for
uniform series such as we publish; and the current loss of around
20% of our customers is not life–threatening providing we reduce
our print run in line with the anticipated reduction in sales. Our
difficulty is in extrapolating from the requests we have received to
a revised expectation of volumes we will sell. I receive encouraging
messages from well–wishers that, once Covid is behind us, those we
have heard from will come back to reinstate their standing orders
and request copies of the volumes they have missed. Maybe, but
this is the nub of the problem we face. If we reduce our print run
to just enough for the standing orders that remain, we will not be
able to meet retrospective orders from those who have suspended
their subscriptions; but if we allow for reinstated orders that don’t
materialise, we end up paying for volumes we do not sell. One option
would be to reduce our initial print run to the minimum needed to
meet the firm orders we have retained and to plan on a second print
run once we have a better feel for those suspended orders that
come back to us. But splitting the total print run typically increases
our printing costs by around £5,000 per Complete Edition volume.
The board decided when it met last month that the safer course
of action was to continue with the editorial work for all forthcoming
volumes in both series, for which our resources are sufficient to
see the Complete Edition through to completion, but to suspend
production of new volumes until the market has stabilised. We
remain confident of having two further Complete Edition volumes
and one Collected Correspondence volume ready for dispatch to
the printers by the end of the year, with the likelihood of signing off
three, possibly four, further Complete Edition volumes and at least
one more Collected Correspondence volume in 2021; but we have
far less of a feel for when the market might return to normal.
There is, however, another cloud on the horizon, if I dare mention
the word: Brexit. The Complete Edition is essentially a European
operation, our major production cost being paper imported from
Poland and 80% of the copies we sell being exported, Harrassowitz,
the major German distributor, alone taking around one third of all
28 Elgar Society NewsElgar Works
copies sold immediately after publication. A no–deal Brexit could
therefore result in the imposition of double WTO tariffs on most
of our output. We are not alone in facing such concerns and, to
circumvent the problem, Halstan has already set up a subsidiary in
Germany at which to print publications for customers in mainland
Europe. We have considered setting up a European distribution unit
to take advantage of this and in March put in a bid for a property
with outbuildings in central France. Unfortunately, the French Covid
lockdown kicked in three days later. Shortly after French estate
agents began to unlock again in June, a rival, ultimately successful
bidder emerged. Continuing international travel restrictions have
made it difficult to look for another property and we are now
considering the possibility of using Halstan’s European subsidiary
as our international distributor, albeit at an additional cost we
would rather avoid.
There is another possibility. A long–standing aim of Elgar
Works has been to develop an electronic version of the Complete
Edition. This not only reduces many of our greatest concerns –
production and storage costs, sales and marketing effort – but also
allows us to add functionality to improve the usability of volumes
and to introduce educational aspects. We remain surprised that
academic libraries, pushed for shelf space, have not pressed us
to develop an electronic edition, and we have always envisaged
that, once complete, we will make most of the Edition available
online, perhaps through the British Library. So has the time come to
change direction and put our effort during the next lockdown into
developing the enhancements we can add to an electronic edition?
This would allow us to reduce our print run to the minimum of
subscribers who still prefer to receive a large red copy of each of
the remaining volumes.
John Norris
No. 72 – December 2020 29Obituaries
Barry Collett (1942 – 2020)
2020 is proving to be a
cruel year in many ways, not
least because it has robbed
the Society of some of its
greatest supporters. For
those of us who have been
members for a long time this
makes some of these deaths
all the more poignant, but
it also means that we have
memories that go some
way to fill in details of lives
richly lived, such as that of
Barry Collett. With the death
of Barry, the Society has lost
a devoted Elgarian and one
of its greatest supporters
and contributors. He wrote
for the Society’s second
Newsletter in January 1974
and a perceptive review of
a recent CD release by him
appears in the current edition of the Journal. Not only did Barry
support the Society in this way for nearly 47 years but he also
served on the Committee/Council on a number of occasions and he
was instrumental in making Elgar in Performance the vital source
of support for performers and recordings that it has since become.
Barry’s first piece for the Newsletter was entitled ‘Elgar: Foreign
Interpreters’, a subject in which he was especially interested and
one which reached full circle in his last review. Two subsequent
pieces in the following Newsletters were especially valuable at the
time and now, if of historic interest, show how much performances
of Elgar’s music have changed since 1974. As Barry said, ‘being
born towards the end of the Second World War meant that my teens
were spent in the 1950s, a dark age of Elgarian understanding’. It
seems that he spent the remainder of his life attempting to shine
light into and onto Elgar’s music and to banish that dark age from
30 Elgar Society NewsObituaries
his memory! Perhaps Barry’s quiet, unassuming character meant
that he has not been given the credit due to him for the pioneering
work he undertook over the years in opening doors and minds to
Elgar’s music.
He became Director of Music at Rutland College and remained
there until his retirement, having studied music at Nottingham and
Trinity College of Music in London. He was awarded a Fellowship
by Trinity College (for which he wrote a thesis on ‘The History of
Orchestration’), and a Piano Diploma by the Royal College of Music.
He founded the Rutland Sinfonia, and conducted all its concerts
for the first 26 seasons, in a wide range of works from Purcell to
premières of new music. Under his baton the orchestra worked with
top professional soloists and played at many prestigious events and
festivals. In his years as Music Director, as well as opera, oratorios,
cantatas and a wide symphonic repertoire, he conducted all of
Elgar’s orchestral music. This achievement was first recognised by
the Society with the award of Honorary Membership and later with
the award of the Society’s medal.
With his wife Pauline, Barry’s contribution to our understanding
of Elgar extended to the publication of books relating to Elgar; his
Elgar Country was published in 1981 and subsequently reprinted.
He edited volumes of Elgar’s songs and violin pieces and, over
a number of years, made thirteen recordings as conductor and
pianist. For Elgar his pioneering recordings include works for violin
with Isabel Flory; and in 1987 his recording of Elgar: War Music for
the Pearl label with the distinguished actor Richard Pasco and the
eminent soprano Teresa Cahill was especially important. This disc
brought the recitations to life, demonstrating that in Une Voix dans
le Désert Elgar had composed a miniature masterpiece. A later disc
for Pearl, The Unknown Elgar, once more including Teresa Cahill,
gave Barry the opportunity to reveal some of Elgar’s little–known
music that meant so much to him. It also showed that he was able
to attract musicians of the highest calibre to work with him in rarely
heard repertoire. With the late Andrew Lyle, Barry was instrumental
in drawing together the music for the SOMM release Music for
Powick Asylum, some of the music for which he had also recorded
in 1989. For years Barry had promoted this music and making this
recording gave him enormous pleasure. Siva Oke of SOMM retains
No. 72 – December 2020 31Obituaries
the happiest of memories of those sessions in Birmingham and
of an al fresco dinner held between the two days of recordings
which she and I enjoyed with Barry (at the centre of a wide–ranging
conversation) and Andrew Lyle. Barry was also very proud of his
contribution to the double CD The Hills of Dreamland (SOMM)
where he accompanied Nathalie de Montmollin in eleven of Elgar’s
songs for voice and piano.
Recording the Powick music:
Barry (left) with Siva Oke and Andrew Lyle
The Rutland Sinfonia gave its first concert (of music by Weber,
Elgar and Schumann) in January 1976. (I am indebted to Sarah
Ayre of the Rutland Sinfonia for this information.) The 70 players
were made up of the leading instrumentalists from Leicestershire,
Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire, and of course
Rutland itself, which became the centre of operations. The orchestra
quickly established an excellent reputation for the quality of its
performances, and the wide and unusual range of its repertoire.
Many distinguished soloists made frequent appearances, and the
orchestra was invited to play at various prestigious events; twice
at the Malvern Festival, and in Hereford, in Nottinghamshire and
Buckinghamshire, where thousands of pounds were raised for
charities, and at an Elgar Birthday Concert in Worcester Cathedral.
Under Barry’s baton a wide range of music was performed, from
32 Elgar Society NewsObituaries
Purcell to world premières of new works: little known symphonies by
Franz Schmidt, Chausson, Kurt Weill, Bantock, Weber and Rimsky–
Korsakov; major choral works by Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Dvořák,
Elgar, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Schubert; major orchestral works by
Saint–Saëns, Dvořák, Haydn, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Rimsky–Korsakov,
Frank Bridge, Poulenc, Delius and Bliss; complete operas by Purcell,
Humperdinck, Kurt Weill and Betty Roe; the first English performance
of Rachmaninov’s early Scherzo; and much, much more.
The Rutland Sinfonia was also one of the first non–
professional orchestras to make commercial CDs. In addition to
the aforementioned recordings of Elgar’s music, a delightful CD
consisted of première recordings of James Turner’s How David
Made an Orchestra and Trevor Hold’s Folksongs from Sark suite.
After conducting all the orchestra’s concerts for 25 years Barry
retired. After the withdrawal of his successor, Barry returned finally
for the 27th season after which he became the Sinfonia’s Conductor
Emeritus. He continued to guest–conduct the orchestra and Barry’s
last concert was its 40th anniversary concert in March 2017 at
Oakham School Chapel. For the first half it was typical of Barry
to programme a favourite Weber overture (Euryanthe) followed
by three contrasting Elgar works: a rare performance of Sursum
Corda, Op.11, the first performance since 1882 of Air de Ballet and
a rousing rendition of Cockaigne (in London Town) to finish. Not
long before, he revelled in conducting excerpts from The Starlight
Express.
Rehearsing with the Rutland Sinfonia in March 2017
[Photo: Elli Dean]
No. 72 – December 2020 33You can also read
