The Hereford Musical Festival Author(s): Herbert Thompson Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 62, No. 944 (Oct. 1, 1921), pp. 692-694 Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/908507 Accessed: 07-02-2016 17:55 UTC

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This content downloaded from 130.15.241.167 on Sun, 07 Feb 2016 17:55:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 692 THE MUSICAL TIMES-OCTOBER I 1921

Et io che tantooscolto, 'The Apostles,'andthe Violoncello Concerto (of which Cieli come non moro? a reallypoetic reading was given,with Miss Beatrice Ah, la costanza Harrisonas soloist); and thechamber concert, which Di chi henama at Un non sa Hereford forms a unique supplement'to the giorno ended Ne puii mai variarsembianza. Festival, brilliantlyand impressivelywith the PianoforteQuintet. The trio, 'Chi ben ama,' then follows in the form Nor was Sir Edward the who and at the end is the only composer printed by Chrysander, signa- appeared to conduct his own music, for no fewer ture, 'Napoli li I6 di Guignio. 1708. d'Alvito.' than seven others introducedtheir and as What is meant 'd'Alvito' is a decided works, by puzzle. thesewere either new or recent,they are of a more It can hardly mean the name of the author of the and deserve to be dwelt at so far as I there is no Italian general interest, upon words, for, know, poet somewhat greaterlength than the familiarthings. of this name, nor was it Handel's custom to give the Dr. Williamscame and conductedhis names of the authors of the words that he set. Vaughan first, Fantasy forStrings on a Theme by Tallis,which has 'Alvito' is the name of a Portuguese title, but this beforebeen heard at one of theseFestivals. It is a does not help one much in solving the riddle. workin whichold winehas been into new wine- 'd'Alvito' mean that the work was written at put might skinswithout forthe characterof the theme in a district or of the but none disaster, Naples palace name, is well preserved,the stringsbeing handled with can be found in Carletti's 'Topografia' (Naples, and worked to a fine climax of A 'Strada della Vita' occurs in that power up intensity. I776). work, Prof. Walford I)avies' settingof 'Heaven's Gate,' marked in the map just below Capo di Monte, but it fromBlake's is a seriouseffort to realise would be too wild a to that this was 'Jerusalem,' guess suggest the mysticalnature of the textin whichthe poet-seer intended. Possibly some Neapolitan archxeologist draws a of to the find a solution of the picture England veryapplicable may puzzle. present distress. The composer is happier in the optimisticconclusion than in depictingthe desolation caused by the 'terrible devouringsword,' for this failed to make so distinctan and here THE HEREFORD MUSICAL FESTIVAL. impression, the ensembleof solo voice (Miss Margaret Balfour) This has been a critical time for the Three Choirs and orchestrawas less effectivethan in the more Festival, but most of all for Hereford, where, since delicately-handledportions. The work,however, is the last Festival in 19I2, there has been a remarkable of a characterthat can hardlyproduce its fulleffect change among the more prominent of its organizers when given on festival scale; it demands more -a new secretary, a new conductor, a new Bishop, intimatetreatment. Mr. B. J.DI)ale, Mr. E. L. Bainton, and a new I)ean. Happily, neither of the two and Mr. F. Keel all sharedwith Mr. PercyHull the most important officials were inexperienced in the experienceof captivityat Ruhleben,and theirsmust traditions; the hon. secretary, Mr. George Holloway, have been a pleasant reunionat the Festival,when has for many years been (and still is) superintendent each of themcontributed a piece to the programme. of the choir, and Mr. Percy Hull had a long Mr. Dale has hithertobeen known chieflyas a connection with the music of the Cathedral, first as composerof worksof smallercalibre, but his setting choirboy and afterwards as assistant to the late for chorus and orchestraof Christina Rossetti's Dr. Sinclair. None the less, Mr. Hull had an 'Christmas Hymn,' though quite modest in con- arduous and exacting task in conducting his first ception,proved perfectlyeffective in the Cathedral. festival, and although no doubts existed concerning He has striven to suggest the simple, folk-like his musicianship, his experiences at Ruhleben, and his quality of the carol,and has avoided elaboration, subsequent illness, made some fearful of his staying even preserving,at the risk of monotony,the powers. It may at once be said that he achieved an original rhythmthroughout the threestanzas. It is unqualified success; he gained the confidence of eminentlysmooth and gracious music,pastoral and orchestra and choir, he kept his head, and he gave tender in mood, and decidedly attractive. Mr. evidence of a distinctly musical temperament. His Bainton's work was his series of three pieces for temniiwere on the side of vivacity, which afforded orchestra,an Elegy, an Intermezzo,and a Humor- a contrast with those of his predecessor, but his esque, all of which were written at Ruhleben. readings were never exaggerated, and when he They show a complete musicianshipand refined acquires the assurance which comes from experience, taste,and the orchestrais handledwith unobtrusive they should become individual and interesting. but satisfyingeffect. There is no very marked When we come to analyse the programme, the originalityin the ideas, but the ' Bacchanalian curious fact emerges that three-quarters of the Humoresque,'originally intended as an entr'aclcfor time was taken up by three composers-Handel, 'Twelfth Night,' is quite rollickingand vivacious. Mendelssohn, and Elgar. 'Elijah' to begin the The onlyactual noveltieswere also heardat thesame Festival, 'The Messiah' to close it. This is in concert. One was the thirdcycle of 'Pastorals' Dr. accordance with a practically uninterruptedtradition, Brewer has composed, entitled 'Jillian of Berry.' and for it there are two very sound reasons-first, that He has just thelightness of touchnecessary for such these two works maintain their popularity with the work,and I would certainlyecho an opinion I have public on whose support the Festival chieflydepends; seen advanced, that he is the veryman to write a secondly, they materially reduce the work of full comic opera. His music is simple, melodious,and rehearsal, for which, even then, the time is barely flowing,yet it always evades commonplaceby little sufficient. As for Sir Edward Elgar, his world-wide unexpectedtouches, and theorchestra is most deftly fame finds its focus in the Three Choirs Festival, handled. Again he had in Mr. John Coates an and if he owed something to them in his youth, interpreterwho threwhimself heart and soul into the he is now paying back the debt with interest. spiritof the music-whose onlyfault, indeed, was that On this occasion he lightened Mr. Hull's respon- he inclinedto put intohis performancemore 'points' sibility by conducting 'The Dream of Gerontius,' thanit would bear, and mightin some places have

This content downloaded from 130.15.241.167 on Sun, 07 Feb 2016 17:55:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICAL TIMES-OCTOBER I 1921 693 leftthe musicto speak foritself. A strikingcontrast of the boldest and most original choral works that was affordedby Mr. W. H. Reed's brilliantlyclever have been produced for many years past. It has by piece, which he styles 'A Whimsical Fantasy for,now been heard on several occasions, but never under Orchestra,' and entitles 'The Lincoln Imp.' It such favourable conditions. In the spacious Norman professes to illustratethe apocryphalstory of the nave, with its massive grey pillars and ancient history, famouslittle effigy in Lincoln Cathedral,some of the this mystical, archaic-sounding music, which so fits detailsof whichMr. Reed seems to have evolvedfor the quaint text, had its fitting environment. Its the occasion. He supposes the Imp to have been harmonic crudities were toned down, its fragments driven by the wind into the Cathedral, where he of plainsong melody seemed in place, and, though as wreaks his playful malice by jangling the bells, is so often the case we wished the performerswere strummingon the organ, tearing the vestments, and out of sight, the impression made by the work was breaking the candlesticks, till at last his course of felt to be just what the composer intended. Its mischief is stayed by an angel, who turns him into grandiose proportions were justified,and the sense of stone. The music is most graphic, and quite as scale which is, perhaps, the composer's most salient impish as it should be. Mr. Reed is up to every characteristic, was fully realised. The performance possible orchestral device, and all his effectscome off. was an excellent one: possibly some flaws in detail Some periods of repose would be welcome, but it is may have existed, but the general character of the not easy to imagine any that would be in keeping work was admirably brought out. The choir sang

Photo by Wilson-P/hillif/s,Hereford. MR. PERCY HULL. I)R. HERBERT BREWER. SIR IvoR ATKINS, with such a tricksysubject: perhaps a short epilogue with remarkable freedom, the solo tenor voice away suggesting the calm dignity returning to the great from the orchestra had exactly the right effect in the church when its tormentor had been incorporated 'Pange Lingua,' and the insufficientorgan erected into the fabric would not be inappropriate, and would for the Festival was most effectivelyreinforced by the leave as pleasant an impressionbehind as is caused occasional use of a pedal stop in the big organ in by the ending of another rogue's history, that the Choir. It was indeed so great a success that I of Till Eulenspiegel, as told by Strauss. It trust it may be repeated next year at Gloucester- is, as may be imagined, a tricky, restless piece, where the surroundings and the acoustics should be and though much too well written to provide at least as favourable-before the impression has any great technical difficulty,requires careful and been forgotten. thorough rehearsal, so that, brilliantly as it was "To show to what an extent native art was repre- played, the performance by the London Symphony sented I may here record the other pieces by British Orchestra seemed not altogetherdevoid of effort.composers that were heard. Foremost was the This may,however, be due in a measure to its being splendid Motet for unaccompanied seven-partchorus, given in a hall much too small for noisy orchestral 'At the round earth's imagined corners,' a setting effects. I have reserved Mr. Holst's share in the of Donne's poem, which is one of the group that Festival till the last, because I think that it afforded Sir Hubert Parry, with a strange prevision, entitled the most distinctive feature of the event. His 'Songs of Farewell.' It is a noble work, worthy to 'Hymn of Jesus,' whether we like it or not, is one rank withthe best thingsof its class, and, forall its

This content downloaded from 130.15.241.167 on Sun, 07 Feb 2016 17:55:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 694 THE MUSICAL TIMES-OCTOBER I 192I brevity,was felt worthyto represent a composer who hardly knows whether to be glad or sorry. Bach's had a close association with these festivals. It also third 'Brandenburg' Concerto, Mozart's C minor enabled one to appreciate the quality of the choir, Symphony, and Brahms' Haydn Variations were the which struck me, after a long experience of the orchestral works chosen. Three Choirs, as one of the very best I have heard. The principals, other than those already mentioned, Good in every part, and unusually well-balanced, were Miss Rosina Buckman, Miss Agnes Nicholls, it stood the fatigues of the week well, and seemed as Miss Mary Foster, Mr. Roland Jackson, Mr. Frank ' fresh in And the Glory of the Lord' on the last day Mullings, Mr. Norman Allin, Mr. Herbert Heyner, Mr. as it was in 'Elijah' at the opening. It was always George Parker, and Mr. Robert Radford. Miss Foster equal to the occasion, and I observed only one was a newcomer at the Festival, but her pleasant, un- noticeable slip, and that was a conspicuous lapse in affectedstyle made her singing of the contralto solos in 'The Apostles.' I ought to add here that both 'The Messiah' enjoyable. The others need no eulogy, 'The Apostles' and 'Gerontius' met with excep- but this at least may be said of them, that I noticed tionally good all-round performances. In the former no square pegs in round holes. Sir Ivor Atkins, the semi-chorus of nine male voices, representing whose direction of the firstof the revived Festivals the apostles, was for the first time employed in has since last year's Worcester Festival received accordance with the composer's intentions. At the officialacknowledgment, and Dr. Brewer were at the orchestral concert, Bantock's ' Sappho' songs were organ, and Dr. H. G. Ley, of Christ Church, Oxford, sung by Miss Phyllis Lett, who has, by the way, was the pianist in Elgar's Quintet. advanced her reputation of late by showing more One or two records have been achieved at Hereford restraintin her readings, and Mackenzie's 'Britannia' on this occasion. The amount of the collections and Overture ended the programme. The chamber the receipts from the sale of tickets are, I am glad concert was 'all British,' and included Dr. Ethel to hear, greater than they have ever been, though it Smyth's musicianly String Quartet in E minor, must be remembered that, with enhanced expenses Elgar's Quintet (as already mentioned), and songs and 'entertainment' tax, the profits may not be by Parry, Stanford, Vaughan Williams, Dunhill, correspondingly phenomenal. Fine weather is so Ireland, and Edward German, besides a series of traditional at the Three Choirs Festivals that we four delightful Elizabethan love-songs by Campion, should hesitate to style the glorious week of sun- Bartlet, and Dowland, arranged with good effect by shine a record, but at any rate it cannot have been F. Keel for the accompaniment of a string quartet. exceeded in brilliance. The choir, too, has never They were sung by Miss Dorothy Silk, whose fresh been better, and I think that few conductors can voice and refinedstyle were welcome. For the sake have made a more successful d~6bft than Mr. Hull. of completeness it must be stated that at the opening I understand that he has had little or no previous service a slow movement--from a Symphony in experience with an orchestra, and in acknowledging E minorby Dr. H. Holloway-was played and proved some formal congratulations at the final concert, he very melodious and graceful music. The Canticles modestly confessed the great help he had received were sung to C. Lee Williams' setting in D. from Mr. W. H. Reed, the leader of the Symphony The other features of the Festival may be dealt Orchestra, which suggests that here history has with more briefly. Two of Bach's vocal works were repeated itself,for I recollect how, when Dr. Sinclair heard, the unfamiliar Church cantata, 'Come, began his conducting, he stayed with Carrodus, his Redeemer of our Race '-which was received with leader, for some time before the Festival in order to interest,though it is not among the most sustained learn something of the technique of the conductor's or characteristic of these works-and the air, art. HERBERT THOMPSON. 'Comfort sweet, my Jesu comes,' for,soprano voice, flute, and string quartet-a really charming piece. The other choral works were the firstpart of Haydn's fluoic in the forein 1Press 'Creation,' - Dvoratk's 'Stabat Mater,' which, if memory does not fail me, made one of its earliest FASHION IN MUSIC in this at a Hereford Festival appearances country To the Musicale (August) Charles Koechlin in the and Alto Rev?,ue3 'eighties, Brahms' Rhapsody (in contributes a long, thoughtful article, whose general which the male-voice choir was far too for large object is to emphasise the following point : the intimate nature of the work). The Grail scene Taste and are so uncommonthat from 'Parsifal' had for twenty-fouryears been a sincerity nowadays constant feature at where the acoustics of we can see no connectionbetween fashion, which Hereford, all worksof a certain the Cathedral and the of the patronises type indiscriminately, possibility stationing and beauty,which does not depend upon subserviency boys' choir in the triforiumof the central tower to any particulartype. have made it so effective,that we are never tired of He has a good many things to say upon many hearing it under conditions which go far to reproduce matters: in praise of Faur6, Debussy, Magnard, and the peculiar rapture of Bayreuth.- that the Save Ravel; in deprecation of the iconoclastic theories boys were a little too anxious, and their voices a just which are in fashion just now among the spokesmen shade too keen, and that the mammoth instrument of certain groups of French composers; upon the devised to suggest the sound of bells was not differences between traditionalism and academism; effective (it should surely be coupled with actual upon contemporarylife as a source of inspiration for bells of higher pitch), the performance was as artists. He deplores effective as ever. In one respect a unique . the the the lack of distinction possessed by Hereford was abandoned. callousness, pettishness, It used to be the one place where we could hear imagination evinced by the attitude of certain would-beleaders of fashion. But not all the a at younger Handel's 'Messiah' without single cut, but last composersobey the dictates of a few incompetent it has succumbed, and the limitations of human fanatics. Read Darius Milhaud's ' Poemes de endurance have been recognised by the omission of Leo Latil,' and you will see that theylack neither the customary pieces in the later sections. One expressivenessnor lyricism. Honegger's 'Mort de

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