BSO Centenary History
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THE BRENT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS 1 THE ORCHESTRA’S HISTORY IN BRIEF In March 2011 there was standing-room only in St James’s Church as the Brent Symphony Orchestra celebrated its centenary. The programme covered the gamut from Stravinsky’s comic opener, through two popular favourites, a new commission and Mahler’s massively- scored First Symphony. Brent Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Levon Parikian Saturday 19 March 2011 at St James’s Church, West Hampstead Stravinsky: Greetings Prelude Haydn: Trumpet concerto Crispian Steele-Perkins (trumpet) Mendelssohn: Hebrides overture Mahler: Symphony no. 1 Chonon Lewis: Scoring a Century This is how we got there from our rather less polished beginnings. The early years: 1911-1940 There was a lively musical scene in the Harlesden area in the forty years or so before the First World War. 1911 saw well-attended performances by the Harlesden Choral Society, the Willesden Green & Cricklewood Choral Society, the Willesden District Choir, the Harvist Orchestral Society (which boasted more than 50 members) and the Milman Operatic Society, as well as several organ recitals at various churches and a number of musical events at St Matthew’s, Willesden, under the direction of the Rev. Noel Bonavia-Hunt. In October 2011 alone, St Matthew’s was the venue for a performance of Alfred Gaul’s cantata The Holy City, conducted by Noel Bonavia-Hunt, while its fine new church hall was used for the annual parish social which included songs written by the energetic young clergyman, one with words by his sister Dorothy. That month also, a record attendance was attracted to St Matthew’s hall to hear “a singularly delightful concert provided almost solely by the talent of the Bonavia-Hunt family,” which included not only Noel as composer and musical director and Dorothy as vocalist and writer of lyrics, but also the musical star of the family, their sister Ethel, a former pupil of Clara Schumann who had returned from Berlin to play Scharwenka’s piano concerto no. 4, with a second piano filling in the orchestral parts. 1910-11 was the Harlesden Choral Society’s 24th season. In February 1911 it was announced that Frank Greenfield, “a well-known local musician”, would be forming an orchestra to accompany the chorus, and the first concert given under the name of the Harlesden Choral & Orchestral Society took place on 5 April 1911. The first two parts of Haydn’s oratorio The Creation were presented, with some miscellaneous works in the second half. The chorus’s usual conductor, Dr W Phillips, took charge, with Frank Greenfield leading the orchestra. Dr Phillips ran the choral rehearsals, which were held on Wednesdays – at 3 p.m.! – in the Wesleyan Hall, Harlesden High Street, while Frank took charge of the orchestra at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Croft in Harlesden High Street. The Creation was followed in December by a concert performance of Edward German’s opera Merrie England. This, the Willesden Chronicle reported, was “in the main musically successful.” The chorus continued steadily to improve, and the newly-formed band was “a splendid asset to the Society”. However, the reviewer took issue with the use of a piano to reinforce and often double the orchestra, which ruined the colouring in the quieter moments. 2 Frank Greenfield had been billed to appear but was unavailable on the night, and although he had an “extremely well qualified substitute”, there were obviously problems in following Dr Phillips’ lead. “He is a watchful, thoroughly reliable choral conductor, and now and then his strings get a tip from him; but the rest of the orchestra seems to us to jog along merrily (and merrie-Englandy) with scarcely a cue to guide them; and it is one of the wonders of Harlesden that they manage as well as they do.” This may explain why Frank Greenfield was on the podium for the next concert, on 20 February 1912, and for 40 years after that. Frank lived a few doors away from Noel Bonavia-Hunt in Harlesden Gardens, and the Bonavia-Hunt connection featured strongly in the programme of his debut concert, held at the hall of the church where Noel was Assistant Vicar. Harlesden Choral & Orchestral Society, conducted by Frank Greenfield Tuesday 20 February 1912 at St Matthew’s Hall, St Mary’s Road, Willesden Beethoven: Prometheus overture Haydn: “London” Symphony no 104 – 3rd & 4th movements Schubert: Ballet air in G (Rosamunde) Godard: "Angels guard thee" Wagner: "O Star of Eve" (Tannhäuser) Mr Frederic Copping Mr Frederic Copping Sibelius: Valse triste Godard: Idylle and Allegretto for flute and orchestra Mr Everard Winter (flute) Järnefelt: Praeludium Noel Bonavia-Hunt: "The Land of Otherwhere" Teresa del Riego: "Sink Red Sun" Miss Lilian Goodson Miss Lilian Goodson, accompanied by Mr T Sampson Scharwenka: Piano concerto no. 4 – 2nd & 3rd movements Victor Williams: Valse Gracieuse Miss Ethel Bonavia (piano) Ethel (who performed under the name of Bonavia) reprised the Scharwenka concerto which she had played in the family concert, having in the meantime given the first British performance of the complete work at the Pavilion, Brighton. The Land of Otherwhere was one of the songs written by Noel and Dorothy which had previously been performed at St Matthew’s Hall. Everard Winter, who was to perform Edward German’s saltarello for unaccompanied piccolo at the February 1914 concert, was the orchestra’s first flute. The Willesden Chronicle’s reviewer enjoyed this rather more than the Merrie England concert. The “well-drilled band” demonstrated “quite a Queen’s Hall flavour”, and “both conductor and orchestra kept level heads through some terribly tricky syncopated passages” in the Scharwenka. “Miss Bonavia is a beautiful player. Her technique is academically perfect, of course, for she is fresh from her pupillage; but she has much individuality, and an intensity that will make its direct appeal to the sympathies of her audiences.” The reviewer was less impressed with her brother’s piece. Miss Lilian Goodson “did her best” with The Land of Otherwhere, which although well-written and melodious was overloaded with “distressingly busy orchestrations”. However, the review noted that Noel was not responsible for the orchestration. Frederic Copping’s arias were “carefully sung, but lacked the required passion,” while the solos of Everard Winter, the orchestra’s first flute, were “quite up to his well known high standard.” 3 “We congratulate Mr Greenfield most heartily upon the excellent work of his little band. He has not been alphabetically belabelled by universities or schools of music, but the great advantage of this conductor is that he can conduct. He has played for years under Sir Henry Wood, and knows exactly how things ought to be done.... Mr Greenfield’s orchestra has distinctly ‘arrived’, and we earnestly trust that nothing may occur to check its steady development on art lines, or deny to the musical public of Harlesden the joy of at last possessing an amateur band that can present high-class orchestral music with credit to the composers, themselves and their most capable conductor.” The orchestra seems to have had no more than 25 players in the concerts conducted by Dr Phillips. It may be that the piano accompaniment was used because the orchestral forces were incomplete, but the programme for the February 1912 concert, the first the orchestra undertook without the choir and the first under the baton of Frank Greenfield, listed 40 names – a complete chamber orchestra. From the second concert onwards there were more than 60, and as the numbers grew so did the ambitiousness of the orchestra’s repertoire. In December 1912 the Willesden Chronicle expressed disappointment that the Harlesden Philharmonic had “not attempted anything more serious than a miscellaneous concert”, but that was about to change. The main work in a second concert, held on 10 April 1913, was Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony, “played with a delicacy and certainty of touch” and ending with “an exquisitely true chord”. The musical circle of Harlesden feared that Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture would prove over-ambitious, but although there were signs of nerves early on the performance was “an unqualified success”. The programme also included Beethoven’s Fidelio overture , Boccherini’s minuet in A, and Boëllman’s Variations Symphoniques for cello and orchestra, played by a professional soloist, Mr Norman Attwell. Norman Attwell joined Frank Greenfield and the pianist Miss Jessie Attwell for Mendelssohn’s D minor piano trio, and there were also songs by Tchaikovsky (Je vous bénis forêts et prés) and Richard Strauss (Zueignung), performed by Miss Christian Keay. These songs may not have been to everybody’s taste: vocal items continued to feature for some years, but they were invariably songs by British composers with titles like When you are sad (by local composer Philip Baker), Lad o’mine (Herbert Oliver), In a fairy boat (Cyril Scott), The lilac cotton gown (Dorothy Hill), O that we two were Maying (Nevin) and The beat of a passionate heart (Montague Phillips). In the 10 April 1913 concert the orchestra was billed for the first time as the Harlesden Philharmonic Society, but just 19 days later it made its final appearance as the Harlesden Choral & Orchestral Society. This was another choral concert conducted by Dr Phillips. The main works were two Mendelssohn cantatas, the Hymn of Praise (Lobgesang) and Lauda Sion (Praise Jehovah), and between them the orchestra performed Smart’s Festive March in D. This concert was spoilt by the deafening noise from a rival concert taking place nearby. “Violent and unrehearsed effects” and “occasional bizarre quality of tone” emanated from a “barbaric chorus and orchestra against which no known musical society could ever hope to pit itself.” It is scarcely surprising therefore that the Harlesden Choral & Orchestral Society’s performance lacked pianos and pianissimos.