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A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick

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The Musical Culture of the British Labour Movement, 1918-1939

By DuncanHall

Submittedfor the degreeof PILD. in SocialHistory in the Departmentof History at the University of Warwick November2000 Contents

Acknowledgments Abstract Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter One: Socialism and Music 10 i) A socialist musical legacy ii) Music and socialist thought iii) Music and the co-oPerativecommonwealth

Chapter Two: Pennies,Pleasure and Propaganda:Music in the associational 40 life of the labour movement. i) Introduction ii) 'The Religion of Socialism': A coda iii) Music for Pleasure iv) Filling the coffers v) Spreadingthe word vi) Conclusions

Chapter Three: Choirs,Bands and Orchestras 87 i) The NationalLabour ChoralUnion Movement ii) The Experienceof Birminghamand District iii) The Experienceof Bradford andDistrict iv) Conclusions

Chapter Four: Song and Struggle 126 i) Introduction ii) Unemployment ii) Strikes and lockouts iv) The fight against fascism v) Conclusions

Chapter Five: The Best Music Available 158 i) The Labour Movement and Classical/'Art' Music ii) Rutland Boughton, Alan Bush and Composersof the labour movement

Chapter Six: A Music of Their Own 197 i) Introduction ii) Folk-song and the labour movement iii) Popular music and the labour movement iv) Socialist music

Conclusions 247 Acknowledizements

Thereare many people to acknowledgeand thank for their assistance,acaden& and otherwise,in the productionof this thesis. First and foremostI mustthank my supervisors,Professor Tony Mason and Professor Carolyn Steedman. Their tireless andconstructive criticism and advicehas been of immeasurablevalue; accessto their expertiseand knowledgein a wide variety of areasof socialand cultural history wasa considerableprivilege, their enthusiasmfor the project a source of strength during timesof crisis. I would also like to thankthe GraduateSchool at Warwick University for providingthe fundingwhich madethe projectpossible, and both the Centrefor

SocialHistory (sadlyno more)and the Departmentof History underwhose auspices the researchwas carriedout. Ros Lucas,the GraduateSecretary in the History

Department, has been a tower of strength throughout.

Various people at record offices, libraries and archives have been extremely helpful. Particularly, I should mention all at the Modem Records Centre (Warwick),

Ruskin College Library, the Imperial War Museum sound archive, the National

Museum of Labour History (Manchester), the Library of Working Class History

(Salford), Birn-dnghamCentral Library, Bradford Central Library, West Yorkshire

Archives(both the Bradfordand Keighley divisions),the BodleianLibrary and

Warwick University Library.

Individualswho havehelped my progressover the last threeyears (through assistance,encouragement and advice, both academicor otherwise,or through suggestingor providing sourcematerial) include Stephen Yeo, Mary-BethHamilton,

JamesHinton, Gwyn Lewis, Colin Jones,Mathew Thomson, Rana Mitter, Michelle

Dowling, Natalie Suart, Alan Burton, JonathanWhite, Ruth Livesey, Tonya Blowers, Claire McManus,Paul Long, Neil Ormerod,David Ayrton, Neil Carter,Seth Denbo,

Chris Brader, Angela Jones,Matt Adams, Toby Haggith, Cedric Binns, Helen

Sheehan,Michael Holt, Nick Hall and manyother friendsand colleagues.Special mentionmust be madeof my parents,Brian and Virginia Hall, whosesupport and encouragementcould not have been stronger. Abstract

The history of the inter-warlabour movement in Britain had an endless,eclectic musicalaccompaniment. There were sentimentaland comic balladsat socialevents, socialisthymns at meetingsand services,massed choirs and full orchestras,soloists with voice andwith instruments,dance bands, jazz bands,brass bands and serious composers. Alongsidethe performanceand enjoymentof musicthere was a greatdeal of theorisingon the subject. Why was music important? What wasthe sourceof its power? Whatwas the differencebetween 'good' and 'bad' music? Towhomdid musicbelong? Did it havespecial usefulness for the labourmovement or was it just 46apleasant change from politics'?

This thesisconcerns itself with the practicaluse labouractivists made of music in entertainingthe comrades,propagating the socialistmessage and raising fundsas well asthe formationof musicalorganisations and societieswithin the movementand the specialplace given to musicand songduring times of struggle. In so doing it attemptsto sketchboth a nationalpicture anda moredetailed look at the musicalityof selectedlocal areas. It alsoexamines the intellectualdevelopment of labourtheories of music. As this period wasone of greatupheaval and changein both the worlds of labourpolitics andpopular music alike, so importantchanges in labourmusic and labourapproaches to musicare identified. The developmentsin musicalthought, fed by changesin internationalsocialist ideasabout music on the onehand and the experienceof seeingmusic used as a fiweapon'in specificstruggles on the other,led to changesin the form and natureof labourmusic as well as its intendedfunction. It is the assertionof this thesisthat such changeshad cultural consequencesstretching far beyondthe inter-warBritish labour movement. Abbreviations

BICS BirminghamIndustrial Co-operativeSociety

BLMDU BirminghamLabour Musical and DramaticUnion

CPGB CommunistParty of GreatBritain

CvU Clarion Vocal Union

DLP Divisional LabourParty

EFDSS EnglishFolk Danceand SongSociety

ILP IndependentLabour Party a IWM Imperial War Museum

LLCU LondonLabour ChoralUnion

NLCU National Labour ChoralUnion

NMLH NationalMuseum of Labour History

NUWM NationalUnemployed Workers Movement

NUR National Union of Railwaymen

SCW-SA Spanish Civil War - Sound Archive

WMA Workers' Musical Association

wrM Workers' Theatre Movement

WYA West YorkshireArchives Introduction

Music hasalways been an integralpart of the LabourMovement, but never hassuch interest been aroused as at the presentmoment. -SydneyA. Court (conductorof the DeptfordLabour Choir), 1924

Labour movementactivism in the 1920sand 30swas enlivenedby music. At meetings, social gatherings, demonstrationsand campaigns, music of various genres was employedfor the cause.For most it was a pleasantway to the passthe time: a break,a diversionor an entertainment.For someit was so importantthat it could occasionallyeclipse the movement'sother businessaltogether. In this thesisI shall explorethis musicand what it meantto labourperformers, audiences and commentators during the inter-war period.

The musicalculture of Britain betweenthe wars was onethat was experiencingrapid commercialisation.and was being revolutionised by new technology in production, distribution and consumption. Inevitably, interest in this musical revolution - and particularly its implications for the most popular musical forms of the day - eclipses historical and scholarly investigation into the amateur and voluntary musical culture that continued to co-exist with the dance craze and the jazz explosion. Indeed histories of the 'grass-roots' of music - the many performers who were never 'stars', andthe variousaudiences - havebeen few and far between.Until somerecent social histories,such as DaveRussell's A SocialHistojy of PopularMusic in England,

1840-1914,the history of musichas tended to centreon the 'great composers'.

Furthermore,despite important catalysts for musicalchange between the wars

(gramophone,wireless, electronic recording), the Mstoryof the period's popular music hastended to be told as part of broaderstudies such as historiesof broadcasting or as an introductionto historiesof popularmusic over a much longerperiod. A recent Oxford Ph.D thesis, 'Popular Music and the Popular Music Industry in Britain,

1918-1939' by JamesJ. Nott, is one exception.

The British labour movement between the wars underwent important realignments and formalisationin the early part of the period (aswell as electoralgrowth) but then enduredtroubled times owing to socialunrest, political divisionsand - despitetwo short-lived minority Labour governments-the persistent political dominance of the

ConservativeParty. The labourmovement can be narrowly or broadlydefined; in this thesisI shalluse a broaddefinition. Herethe labourmovement is takento meanthe

Labour Party, the trade unions and the co-operative movement (the 'official' movement) as well as the Communist Party and various small fringe socialist groups andparties (the 'unofficial' movement).The 'off"icial' and 'unoff icial' descriptions are borrowed from StephenJones (amongst others) and are not always entirely satisfactory; some groups bridged the two (the London Labour Choral Union for instance) and others moved from one to the other during the period, such as the

Independent Labour Party (ILP). It is generally felt that between the wars the goals of the official movement becamemore practical: winning Keighley or Smethwick was prioritisedover building the New Jerusalem.

Onemay be forgiven for looking at thesetwo 'worlds' - the nation's musicalculture andthe British labourmovement - and feeling that thereshould be little connectionor interactionbetween the two. It is not surprisingthat historiansof the labour movementhave tended to concentrateon politics and industrialrelations - after all that is the purposeof a labourmovement - but it was clearly felt betweenthe warsthat the movementhad a pressingaesthetic duty as well. It is the purposeof this thesisto considerthat duty and how it manifesteditself with regardto ideasabout music and commitmentto musicmaking.

The labourmovement's interest in musichas not beenentirely ignoredby historians.

Chris Waters,in particular,has made a closestudy of labourmusic-making in the period 1880-1914,but despiteits importantplace within the labourmovement betweenthe wars,the labourmusic of that periodhas been neglected. That it did

attaina placeof importanceis clear,whether that be evidencedby the legionsof choirs,bands and orchestras in everytown or by the manycontemporary books, pamphletsand articlesproduced on the subject. However,despite the feeling at the time that the movement'smusicality was increasingand developing,more interesthas

beenexpressed in the musicalpursuits of socialistsat the endof the nineteenth

centurythan betweenthe wars.

Perhapsanother reason for the lack of academicinterest in labourmusic is that we

cannotexplicitly seemuch in the way of the productsof that inter-warcultural

productionin the present. The primary socialistcomposers of the period are

surprisinglyneglected in contemporaryrepertoires; popular labour songs were rarely

recorded.There are socialistchoirs who havehad unbrokenservice since this period

(suchas the Clarion Singersin Birminghamwho were formedin 1939)but they have

not retainedtheir placesof prominencein the movement. Somepolitical songs

written in this period will still be heardin folk clubs,but often to dwindling and non-

political audiences.The long debatesabout the suitability of the "Red Flag" andthe

searchfor a successorwere not replicatedin the discussionssurrounding "Things Can Only Get Better" in 1997. And yet it is the contentionof this thesisthat the musical cultureof the British labourmovement between the wars hadan importantimpact uponthe popularculture of theseislands, and beyond, in the twentiethcentury, even if that impactis rarely obvious.

Historianssuch as Chris Waters,Stephen Yeo, StephenJones and Ian Watson havepaid someattention to the British labourmovement's musical activity. Waters andYeo, concerned themselves with the late Victorian period andas part of broader questions:socialist attitudes to popularculture and the religiosity of the late Victorian labourmovement respectively. Stephen Jones studied the inter-warperiod in Workers at Play andThe Labour Movementand Film, 1918-1939but musiconly playeda smallpart in both books. However,as well as providing usefulbackground to ideas aboutworking-class and popularculture between the wars, Workersat Play includes an interesting chapter on labour movement approachesto working-class culture. Ian

Watson's work in this area includes a book, Song and Democratic Culture in Britain

(1980) and a particularly useful article, 'Alan Bush and Left Music in the Tbirties'

(1978)1. Both pieces explore the idea of what Watson calls a 'Second Culture' (an

talternative'or 'democratic'culture) with particularreference to socialistmusic (and

6protestsong') which I explore in some detail in Chapter Four. The book does not limit its focusto a particulartime period and,as its focus is 'song' not 'music', analysisis weightedtowards lyrics ratherthan tunes. The article is of more specific usefulnessfor this thesis:it includesa brief but insightful summaryof music in the serviceof socialismin the 1930sand then an interviewwith the Communist composer,Alan Bush. I look at the contributionmade by Alan Bush to the 'labour musicalmovement' in ChapterFive. Both the article andthe interviewseek to

1Ian Watson'Alan Bushand Left Music in the Thirties' Gulliver (4) 1978 promotethe aforementioned'Second Culture' argumentand identify a 'Thirties

Movement' of 'left music' to match that in the literary world. Despitethat preoccupation (which is potentially restrictive, particularly to the interview) I draw on both whenconsidering Alan Bush in ChapterFive, the LondonLabour ChoralUnion in ChapterThree and the useof musicduring strike action in ChapterFour. Richard

Hanlonand Mike Waite havealso paid someattention to Bushand his contemporaries in an article 'Notes from the Left: Communismand British classicalmusic', included in Andy Croft (ed.) A Weapon in the Struggle: the cultural histojy of the Communist

Party in Britain (1998). Althoughthis was useful,as with otherarticles about Bush the emphasisis on his prolific composingcareer after the SecondWorld War rather than his pre-1939works.

Another way in which all the secondaryliterature was useful was in formulating ways to write about music. Very few pieces of historical writing say much about the sound of music. Even Roy Palmer's The Sound of HiAM (1988), for all that it is an extraordinary annotatedanthology, is really a literary analysis and doesn't dwell much on the sound of history at all. Perhapsit is an impossible undertaking, to say very much about the sound and effects of music without betraying oneself to the metaphysicalvagaries that lie outsidethe positivistic boundariesof musicology,or to the obfuscationof the over-technical.After all, althoughI am interestedin what labour activistsheard at meetingsand concertsbetween the wars,is it perhapsone of thosehistorical black holeslike 'what did food tastelikeT Evena pieceby a serious composerwhere the tempo,dynamics, every rest andplaying instructionis included in the manuscriptis not really frozenin time to be broughtback to life as an historical artefactat everyperformance. There is room for interpretationaround the most complete notation by conductor, musician and (perhapsmost importantly) the listener.

This inevitable limitation should not prevent us from saying what we can about what washeard. We cansay quite a lot abouta pieceof music from looking over a manuscript- or indeedsimply from knowing a tune - and from descriptions,criticisms andpersonal accounts of listeningto music. For the actualmethod of describing music I must cite a number of 'literary' influences (not least the popular musicology of the inter-warlabour music writer, H.G. Sear)and musical biography such as

Michael Hurd's Rutland Boughton and the Glastonbujy Festivals (1993) and Ian

Kemp's Tippett: the co!jiposer and his music(1984). Articles from the Musical Times andthe Listeneralso helped me developa methodof comprehensible'music writing'.

Music playedan importantrole in variousaspects of labourmovement life but it was generally considered as something outside or alongside the movement's primary political and industrial activity. As such it would never attain detailed description, exploration or explanation in the minutes of branch meetings, for example. What might usually be the richest primary source for researching labour movement history is not especially fruitful, then, when researchingmusical aspectsof the movement.

The best one might expect to find in the minutes of a branch meeting are the details of the organisationof socialevents, the costof hiring bands,financial concerns regardingthe particulargroup's rooms,club or venue. Suchinformation is occasionallyuseful, but hardly inspiring. The richestsource for researchingthe musicalculture of the labourmovement between the wars (andfor assessingits importance)was the labourpress: the movement'smeans of communicatingwith itself Newspaperslike the Toun Crier in Birminghamand the Pioneerin Bradford were full of musicaladvertisements, reports, criticism, articlesand even songs. Just as with the late Victorian period (when,according to Yeo, musicwas 'the main cultural thrust of the movement') through the pagesof the labour press, music is given extraordinaryweight and significance. While this might be more an illustrationof the musicalityof amateurjournalists and editors than of the movementas a whole, sucha conclusiondoes not accountfor the vast numberof 'musical items' given at labour meetingsacross the country. Furthermore,it suggeststhat the producersof labour papersfelt that music- andwriting aboutmusic - was what their readerswanted from a newspaper(or possibly what they needed). But labour newspaperreaderships were not vast; like manyof the choirsand orchestraswhose progress they narrated,labour papers fought off perpetual crises in their struggle for existence. Similar language was employedin both struggles:it wasthe duty of good socialiststo take in the Daily

Herald andtheir local labourpaper just as it wastheir duty to supportthe local choir or band. The musicalculture of the labourmovement, suggested in the pagesof the labour press and detailed here, was a small culture, lovingly defended and championed by that culture's mouthpieces. At various points in time musical socialists found themselves larger audiences,but often they played, sang to, and criticisedeach other.

Becausemusic touched so many aspectsof what it was to be a socialist betweenthe wars,it is not surprisingthat it runsthrough memoir and autobiography.

This is not only true of socialistmusicians (such as EwanMacColl writing

JollmeymaLi)but alsoof generalactivists (such as in Wal Hannington'srecollections of unemploymentdemonstrations in the 1920sand 30s and in oral history collections). This forms anotheruseful source. The subjectivityof autobiographyand memoir(as well as that of political joumalism) is what makesit particularlyuseful here,rather than beinga minefield for the historian. Appreciationof music is subjective;it was attitude,opinion andprejudice that I was actively seekingout, not

looking to avoid. That is not to say that I turned a blind eye to the problems of using

autobiographyand memoir(and newspapers and journalism) as historicalsources,

ratherthat thoseproblems proved to be their most usefulfeature.

Certainindividual socialistswere keen to write at greatlength about music

whetherin the pagesof the labourpress or in their own booksand pamphlets.

Rutland Boughton, Arthur Bourchier, H. G. Sear and "Casey" Hampson all

contributedto a vast literatureon the meaningof musicto socialistsand what made

music 'good' or 'bad'. Biographicalinformation about these individual musical

socialistsis rare (exceptwith the popularcomposer, Boughton) but helpedpiece together the story of this musical culture.

The last usefulsource was the music itself, mostly in the form of song. The

production of labour songbookscontinued apacethrough the inter-war years. They

often included the favourite anthemsof the pre-war period such as Carpenter's

"England, Arise" and various William Morris lyrics. Songs from that earlier period

beganto attain a special place of prominence that they had not enjoyed prior to the

First World War: particularly "The Red Flag" and the "Internationale". New songs were regularly to be addedto the repertoire, but "The Red Flag" and the

"Internationale"fought off all contendersand retainedtheir specialplace at meetings andevents (alongside "Jerusalenf', "Auld Lang Syne" and, in Yorkshire,"lkla' Moor

Baht 'At").

A review of the literature,particularly Chris Waters'material, revealed the existence

of a strongmusical tradition in the labourmovement by 1918. By the beginningof the inter-warperiod there was a history of musicalassociations and musicaltheories andideas. ChapterOne explores this late Victorian legacyand considersthe broad areasof socialistand labourinterest in music. The next threechapters consider the labour movement's use of music in various aspectsof its activity. Chapter Two's focusis the every-dayuse of music in meetingsand social events. ChapterTbree concentrateson specifically musical associations:choirs, bands and orchestras.

Although thereis someconsideration of the nationalpicture in thesetwo chapters, they makeclose studies of the cities of Birminghamand Bradford,and their neighbouring districts. Chapter Four looks at the use of music in protests, strikes and at other times of struggle. Numerous questions are raised in the first four chapters aboutmusical genres, and a numberof tensionsare uncoveredwithin labour ideas about music. Theseform the focusof the last two chapters.Chapter Five focuseson

'high' art musicwhile ChapterSix concentrateson the popularmusic of the day and the Folk Revival.

Wasmusic just 'a pleasantchange from politics'? Was it simply a diversion,an entertainmentand a rewardfor hardpolitical work? Or did it havea more important role to play in the work and life of the labourmovement in this period? Theseare the central questionsthat shapethis thesis although others emerge and join them during its course.

9 Chqpter On

Socialism and Music

This chapteris intendedto performtwo key functions. Firstly the backgroundof what cameto be calledthe 'Labour musicalmovement' is exploredin an attemptto sketch an ideaof the musicalityof the British labourmovement at the startof the periodwe areconsidering. Secondly, I shall seekto identify importanttheoretical themes and problemsthat will inform the thesisas a whole and introducesome of the key questions.

ij A Socialist Musical Lgga

1918saw the labourmovement emerge from the First World War, alteredin a number of ways. The main organisationalchange was the unveiling of the new modelLabour Partywith its new constitutiondrafted by the Webbs. The RussianRevolution set in chaina reorganisationand realignmentof socialistpolitics outsidethe Labour Partyas well, leadingto the establishmentof the CommunistParty of GreatBritain in 1920. It is often arguedthat the movementturned away from its 'heroic', 'religious', pioneeringphase and began to specificallyconsider socialist programmes for municipalor nationalgovernment (in the caseof the Labour Party)and organising for the Revolutionon the part of the Communists.There is considerabledebate as to the preciseimpact of the First World War on Labourpolitics andwhether or not these processeswere alreadyunderway'. While it is sometimesargued (by RossMcKibbin for example')that the LabourParty in 1918was unchanged in its fundamental character:'propagandist and evangelical', others (like Tom Nairn) havesuggested

'There is a generalsurvey of this debatein JohnMarriott The Cultureof Labourism:the EastEnd betweenthe wars (Edinburgh,199 1) pp.4-5 'Ross McKibbin. The Evolutionof the LabourParty, 1910-1924(Oxford, 1974) p.240 'Tom Naim 'The Natureof the LabourParty' in New Left Review(ed. ) TowardsSocialism (London, 1965) that the War madethe modemLabour Party. Certainlythere were changesin the LabourParty, exemplified by the new constitutionand policy documents,but there were importantareas of continuitytoo, as we shall see. As this thesiswill attemptto demonstrate,earlier 'extra-curricular'activities of socialists changedbut did not vanish, and the comradesstill made time for singing and playing (as well as for other 'cultural' pursuits). In order to place this study of music in the labour movement between the wars in its context and to identify the source of some of the popular labour theories about music and the arts, it is essential to consider music in the late Victorian and Edwardian labour movement.

In his article 'A New Life: the religion of socialism', StephenYeo insisted that musicwas 'the main cultural thrust' of socialismin the period he was considering (1883to 1896). Chris Watershas identified two traditionsof 'music in the serviceof socialism'at work in the late nineteenthcentury: the first a tradition of middle-class socialreform, considered'philanthropic', the second'utopian'. ' Both traditions believedthat musiccould transformthe individual personalityor characterand were influencedby a work by the ReverendHugh Haweis:Music andMorals (1871). Sometimesthe endsfor which the individual might be transformedby musicwere lost sight of behindthe 'refining, elevatingand delightful art'. Indeed,a closestudy of Haweis' text (particularlybooks one and four' which dealtwith theseissues) shows that while he believedthat musicwas capableof creatinga moral transformationand refinementfor the individual,he was not at all clear asto what endsthis shouldbe put. Morally good activity, for Haweis,was 'to respectand promote the healthful activity of societyin general'as 'what is really morally healthfulfor the individual will be found as a generalrule healthfulto societyat large." T11isaspiration is vague

4Stephen Yeo 'A New Life: The Religionof Socialismin Britain, 1883-1896'History Workshor) Loumal 4 (1977) pp.5-56 'Chris Waters British Socialistsand the Politics of PopularCulture, 1884-1914 (1990) pp. 100-101 6Aswell as Chris Waters'assertion that this text influencedsocialist ideas about music, it is described as 'influential' by DaveRussell and somethingof its popularityor perceivedimportance can be assumedfrom its runningto fifteen editionsbetween 1871 and 1888 7HughHaweis Music andMorals (London,1871) was divided into four books. Book Oneis called Thilpsophical: Music,Emotions and Morals' andBook Four: 'Critical: Music in England'. 'Hugh Haweis(187 1) pp. 42-43 andarguably conservative but it was sometimesthe casethat musicalsocialists, inspiredby thesetraditions, would be interestedin the moral reform of the individual for its ownsake. Both the utopianwish that the reformedpersonalities would be revolutionaryones, and the essentiallyconservative philanthropic desire for new individualsto grow moreattached to stateand nation (to be lessalienated) - or the relatedvagaries of Haweishimself - wereoften ignoredand, for some,pure individual 6elevation'became the primarypurpose of bringing musicto the 'masses'. Strangely, althoughHaweis thought that 'the socialeffects of musicwould be a very interesting subjectof discussion'he felt that they lay 'a little outsidethe purposeof our present article" andmade little attemptto addressthern. British Socialistwriters or thinkers like RobertBlatchford and Edward Carpenter completed the picture in this area. For them 'social transformationbegan with a changein the heartof the human individual."' Whetherthis really differed very much from a Marxist notion of a changein 'consciousness'other than in the choiceof languageused is opento question.The primary differencewould appearto be with regardsto the primacyof class. Classwas neveran all-importantaspect of Carpenter'ssocialism, which was 6essentially religious"' althoughBlatchford did rehearsearguments about material classrelations. Merrie England,(first published,1894) his seriesof lettersto John Smith,a fictional working manfrom Oldham,could be seenas an exercisein developingclass consciousness (even though the quasi-religiousimagery of the working classas a reluctantMessiah places it very much in a non-Marxisttradition).

Dear Mr. Smith,I am sorry to hearthat you look upon Socialismas a baseand foolish thing, andupon Socialistsas baseand foolish men. Nevertheless,since in you lies the hopeof the world, I shalltry to changeyour opinion."

'Hugh Haweis(187 1) p. 115 "Tony Brown (ed.) EdwardCarpenter and Late Victorian Radicalism(London, 1990) p. 7 "Tony Brown (ed.) (1990)p. 7 12Robert Blatchford Merrie England (1908)p. 9 Although evidenceof the Haweistradition can arguablybe seenin socialist writings about music, the question of how music transformed the individual was not explored. Although Haweis claimed to be scientific, his study really required a leap of faith. His theory, put as simply as possible, was that music was the only art which adequatelyexpressed (and promoted) emotions becausethey shareda number of scientific properties: elation and depression,velocity, intensity, variety and form".

These properties of emotions transferred themselves(he argued) to music via the scale, tempo, dynamics, harmonies and counter-melodies and form of music respectively. This was the part of his study that he considered scientific and 'proved' that music was the art most capableof 'exciting the deepestemotions' for good or ill. " Emotions are imbued into a piece of music at various points: the composer clearly does most of this, but then 'the executive musician' has opportunities to

'interpret' the composition (within bounds) and finally the listener imbues emotion into his or her own interpretation of a piece of music. People on different intellectual or moral 'planes' may interpret the samepiece very differently: 'mean and gnawing spite in a low plane becomesan emotion of bitter andjust vengeancein a high "' The link between is one... emotions and morality made with a remarkable absence of analysis considering the 'scientific" exertions and diagrams used in making the connection between music and emotions. The best examples of music having an effect on morals, for Haweis, were patriotic songsand communal hymn-singing. The

, invariably earnestand dignified' music of patriotic tunes and national anthems had the power 'of pitching high the plane of the emotions, and driving them home with the most efficacious and incomparable energy'. " Converts to non-conformist churches

, found in hymn tunes and chants a great medium of expressingthe rush of a new religious life upon their spirits"'.

"Hugh Haweis(1871) pp. 21-24 "Hugh Haweis(187 1) p. 28 "Hugh Haweis(187 1) p. 98 I'Hugh Haweis (187 1) p. 104 "Hugh Haweis(187 1) p. 117 This final point is, perhaps, important in understandingthe central place of music during what has variously been called the 'heroic' phase of British socialism or the period of the 'New Life' or 'religion of socialism' when music was apparently

'the main cultural thrust' of British socialism. It must also be born in mind that

Haweis was quite far from being a socialist himself His concerns for music were not sharedwith concerns for social or political matters. Haweis would appearto have been a confident nationalist with pride in British institutions.

Whenwe havea nationalschool of music,and not before,we shallhave high popularstandards, and the musicof the peoplewill thenbe as real an instrumentof civilisation in its way, and as happily underthe control of public opinion as the Press,the Parliament,or any other of our greatnational institutions."'

By 'music of the people' he did not meanmusic that waspopular, nor yet which had in someway beencomposed in any broadsense by 'the people' but insteadsimply meantmusic that wasBritish (or English). Furthermore,Haweis scorned working- classmusical tastes (in a mannerperhaps not as far removedfrom somesocialist commentas onemight suppose):

Music is not to our lower ordersa deep-rootedneed, a meansof expressingthe pent-upand often oppressiveemotions of the heart,but merelya noisy appendageto low pastimes."'

If Haweis was as influential as Chris Waters and Dave Russell suggest,then some of his views on what constituted good or bad music (as well as just morally good or bad music) might have influenced labour movement thinkers. Therefore some of his other views might have to be borne in mind when we consider taste and musical discrimination later in the thesis. It is important to note that Haweis, and others like him, were not just an influence on the embryonic British labour movement but on the musical life of the country more generally. It constituted part of what, for want of a

"Hugh Haweis(1871) p-574 1913aveRussell Pgpular Music In EnglancL1840-1914: a socialhist (Manchester1987) p. 4 betterterm, we mayconsider a 'movement'behind what Dave Russellcalls 'music for the people'. This wasnot an organised,politically or socially homogenous movement,but rathera blanketterm for a wide rangeof attemptsto bring musicto the working classby a variety of (mainly middle-class)'activists' for a variety of ends. Thoseends largely centred around the ideathat musiccould act as 'an object of social utility and balm for society'smany evils"O. The 'activists' might havebeen middle- classphilanthropists, radical politicians, socially-aware amateur musicians, entrepreneursor municipalities;the 'ends' could vary from temperance(providing alternativesto concertrooms in public housesand music-halls)to alleviatingclass antagonisms(either in a generalsense or in the senseof industrialrelations in a single placeof work).

The importanceof musicto the labourmovement was not only consideredin termsof morality andthe transformationof the individual. On a lessmetaphysical level, socialistsrecognised that musicplayed an importantpart in the lives of the workersand believed that it was an interestwhich could perhapsbe harnessedon behalfof the 'cause'. Whetherit wasthe music hall, hymnsand church music or a instrument(piano harmonium) home, parlour or at manyworkers listened to - or even performed- music. Music educationhad becomea centralfeature of stateelementary schoolssince 1871 ", andby the early part of the twentiethcentury instrumental lessonsat schoolwere becomingcommon place. " Piano-ownershipbecame more wide-spreadat the turn of the centuryas competitionfrom Germanybrought down the cost and,as the First World War approached,'full employmentand rising wages enableda far largerproportion of the working classthan hithertoto purchasea long covetedstatus symbol. )23 Some socialists from the pioneeringperiod before the First

World War introducedor promoteda numberof othermusical forms or activitiesthat

20DaveRussell (1987) p. 17 2'Dave Russell(1987) p. 44 22By 1909Messrs Murdoch and Company claimed to haveprovided violins for 400,000pupils in over 500 schools.At the sametime therewere claims in SchoolMusic Reviewthat 10%of Englishchildren werereceiving violin tuition at school. More girls receivedlessons than boys. DaveRussell (1987) 47 Cyril Ehrlich The Piano:a history(1976) p. 159 weredirected at the workersin the desireto 'make socialists'and build their movement.The problemwas - as we shall see- in general,working classpeople just didn't like or appreciatewhat the socialistsconsidered to be 'good' music. Socialists would often despairof working-classtastes, particularly the 'music hall fare' which they consideredto be particularlybanal". The samedebates re-emerged between the wars regardingjazz music(see Chapter Six). Howeverthere were a numberof 'strands'of labourand socialistinterest in music from beforethe First World War, which can be followed throughto the inter-waryears. From this contextualisation,a numberof importantquestions for this thesiswill emerge. The first of these'strands' to be consideredis the interestin folksong(and the relatedinterest in other 'pre-industrial'musical forms). Folksongcollection (and the appreciationof the musiccollected) was an interestshared by peopleof various political persuasions.It was,however, embraced particularly warn-fly by socialists: herewas a musicwhich laid claim to 'authenticity' andwas consideredfree from the bondsand stainof commercialism". A 'nationaltreasure' of popularsong also sat well with the Merrie England,Britain for the British, popularnationalist strain of Clarion socialism. Of course,there was an internationalisttradition in the movement aswell, which was visible, amongstother occasions,in somesocialists' opposition to the First World War, or supportfor the Bolshevikgovernment in its defenceagainst the White Russiansand Westernintervention. Folkloric influencescan give music its nationalor regionalcharacter and the choiceof overseasfolk tunesfor certain performancescould help evokeinternationalist sentiments. In a review of the "Hands off Russia"Conference of 1918,the GlasgowWorker noted that 'when the Russian violinist playedthe RussianFuneral March andthe delegatesstood with uncovered headsin a tribute to the memoryof our murdered,German comrades, the grandest featureof our movement- its internationalistcharacter - was clearly revealed..."" Clearly,the sadmelody of the Russianfuneral march (whichever specific piece this

"'ChrisWaters (1990) p. 10 1 25 105 26WOrk,Chris Waters (1990) p. er 19April, 1919 was)would havehelped create the atmospherefor the part of the conference describedabove, and the particularmelodic and harmonicfeatures of this music which associateit with Russiaand Eastern Europe would haveassisted in the internationalistflavour of the tribute more successfullythan a traditionalEnglish funeralmarch. Indeed,the ideaof musicbeing an internationallanguage which can communicateto workerseverywhere was a repeatedone (the "Internationale"springs to mind, andthe ideare-emerges during the SpanishCivil War) but standsin interestingconflict with the pre-occupationof manywith the Englishnessof music. Clearlythis was a centralpreoccupation of the folk revival, but was also a major concernof composersand critics from the labourmovement (such as Rutland Boughton). The debatesthat haveemerged about folk music's claimsto authenticity, aswell asthe interestin IndustrialFolksong pioneered by the WorkersMusical Association(founded in 1936),will be consideredin ChapterSix. The important point hereis simply that a numberof socialistsfound somemusic more fitting for socialismthan othersand that this discriminationwas basedon factorsother than the purely aesthetic,or on the technicalquality of the music. Indeed,Montague Blatchford,the founderof the ClarionVocal Unions and brotherof Robert,believed that workersdid not want 'high art' which they would not understand,and that they shouldhave, instead, 'art of their own'. Blatchford,with peculiarreasoning, felt that Tudor madrigalsbest fitted that description.The questionsarising for this thesisfrom this strandof late Victorian/ pre-War,socialist interest in musicare firstly, how far did socialistscontinue to searchfor an 'art of their own' for the British working class? Furthermore,did they consider'industrial folksong' or typesof popularmusic in that search,or did they continueto prioritiseagricultural folksong and Tudor madrigals? Thesequestions are addressedin ChapterSix. Theseconsiderations about what music socialistsshould enjoy or perform were rehearsedand expandedupon in the musiccolumns of the Labour press. Chris Watersidentified a desireon the part of musicwriters in the socialistpress of his periodto improvepopular tastes, bringing together the 'better elements'of several musical traditions (which included folksong and Tudor madrigals). Georgia Pearce, music columnist for the Clarion before the First World War, would frequently mystify her readerswith technical musical terminology and commentary, and correspondentsto the paper would expresstheir wish to hear the music she spoke of becausethey imagined that they would like it". While music columnists would continue to concentrateupon 'art' music in the papers between the wars (as we shall see in Chapter Five) opportunities for working class readersto actually hear the music referred to increasedconsiderably. The music programme provided by the BBC on the wireless and the increasedownership of gramophones(and the improvement in sound quality and extent of recorded music available) meant that much more of this music was within easy reach of most working-class families. Whether these dramatic changesin the world of music representeda democratic revolution for 'art' music, and whether it was consequentlywelcomed by socialists, must be considered in greater detail. As we shall see,between the wars the labour press took advantageof the increasedopportunities for their readersto hear music. Furthermore, they did attempt to 'popularise' their music columns by including items on dance or variety music and began to offer record reviews like those included in the popular press.

Another 'strand' of labour interest in music to consider is the singing, composition and appreciation of socialist songsand anthems. According to Waters,

'while almost forgotten today, socialist songbookspublished prior to 1914 played a prominent role in the movement's associational life. "' Before 1914 songs such as

Edward Carpenter's "England Arise! " were among the most popular (along with musical settings of William Morris's poetry) whereas later favourites such as "The

Red Flag" were not so popular. None of the songbooks Waters analysedcontained that song although it had been sung for some time, composedas it was in 1889.

Debates surrounding the socialist anthemsat this time included the suitability of some of the well-known tunes chosenand whether the songs came from within or from

"Chris Waters (1990) pp. 106-107 "Chris Waters (1990) p. 107 outsidethe labourmovement and the working class. Well-known tuneswere adopted for manysongs so that the ability to readmusic was not a pre-requisiteskill for those wishing to communallysing them at meetings.By the 1880s,Elementary Schools were encouraged(financially) by the Governmentto teachvocal musicby noterather than by ear. While the teachingof standardnotation was taught at only a minority of schools,the tonic sol-fa methodof musicalnotation was taught at most schoolsby the 1890s.The capacityfor singersto learnunfamiliar tuneswould havebeen much higherby the inter-warperiod than at the time whenmany of the major socialist anthemswere written. Somesongs in Carpenter'sChants of Labour (first edition, 1888,sixth 1922)were setto tunessuch as "Rule Britannia!"" and"God Savethe Queen7". The famouscase of "The RedFlag" being setto "Tannenbaum"rather than Connell'spreferred "White Cockade"was alsopart of this debate.If one believesa theorythat a tune containswithin it emotionsand a moral message(and that any words only serveas a secondarycommunicator - which was certainlythe view of the ReverendHaweis) then the dangersof using 'capitalist' or 'imperialist' emotionsto conveysocialist words areparamount. Even if the appropriationof a tune could be consideredironic or subversive(such as "To Liberty" to the tune of "God Savethe Queen"where the 'Queen' is the femininepersonification of Liberty herself)the dangerremains. While the sheervolume of socialistsongbooks (often featuringmany of the samesongs) was not repeatedafter the First World War, new song-bookswere produced,old onesre-issued (such as Chantsof Labo1g)or updated(such as the SocialistSunday School hymnbooks) and these songs continued to be an important featureof meetings,particularly large demonstrations and rallies.

Somemusical organisations of the labourmovement that existedin that earlier period, consideredby Chris Waters,continued their work into the inter-warperiod, most notablythe Clarion Vocal Unions(CVUs). Beforethe First World War the CVUs constitutedthe largestsocialist choral body in Britain". This wasn't muchof a

296UpYe People'words by J. Gregoryin EdwardCarpenter Chants of Labour (London,1922) p. 52 30'ToLiberty' wordsby P.B. Shelleyin Carpenter(1922) p. 55 3'Chris Waters(1990) p. 121 claim as it was the only national body (if the northern-centred movement could be

describedas 'national') mentioned in the existing literature, but it was quite a

significant organisation, founded by Montague Blatchford in Halifax. They

performed (primarily Victorian choral music) at May Day celebrations, socials,

bazaarsand other fund-raising activities. The Unions had annual competitions from

1898 and the competitive element becamecentral, arguably leading to a diminution of

the socialist aspectof their work and a demand for more technical musical training.

While the competitions might have attracted a larger and more enthusiastic audience

for the choirs (audiencereaction has been compared with sports crowds) somewho joined organisations like the CVUs for fellowship were put off by the prospect of the

greater musical training required for successin competitions. Some of the choirs,

such as the Keighley one, competed in choral festivals outside the movement as

well". While some socialists were uncomfortable with the competitive element,

Blatchford defended it by insisting that the aim of the socialist was 'not to pull down

but to lift up' and that competition was the way to get the best performancesout of 33 The these festivals the it that people . competitivenessof choral - and uneaseabout was engendered- existed on a larger scale outside the labour movement. While the

sport-like partisanship of the choirs' supportershas been commented on, there is no

suggestionthat it came close to the audiencereaction to choral festivals in South

Wales at the sametime where massive crowds (tens of thousands)sometimes broke

out into fighting and violcncC34.'Proponents of music as a civilising and refining force' despaired 'disgraceful 'mob law' in the Welsh of scenes'of musical preSSM. Labour choral exploits never reachedthat level of popularity or enthusiasm,although

Trade Unions and political organisations,had a growing role in the Eisteddfods

between the wars (almost inevitably as, in 1930 for instance,a third of the singers at Three Valleys Festival their familieS36) The Welsh the were out-of-work miners and .

3'DaveRussell (1987) 53 33 p. ChrisWaters (1990) p. 124 34Gareth Williams Valleys of Song:music and society in Wales,1840-1914 (Cardiff, 1998) pp. 2-3 35Gareth Williams (1998) pp. 174-175 36GarethWilliams (1998) p. 194 discourseprobably influenced the debatesaround the Vocal Unions' competitions. Similar debatesraged in the BrassBands movement. The CVUs competitivetradition wasperhaps rather more on the modelof the competitivemusic festival movement begunin the 1880sby Mary Wakefield. Shewas a Ruskinian,radical suffragettewho might havefelt at homein the Clarion movementand her WestmorlandFestival (1885)sparked off at leastsixteen festivals based on her modelby 1900which was itself inspiredby the Eisteddfodbut lookedto avoid 'prize-huntingand self- glorification'." Its is no coincidencethat the roots of elementsof the amateurmusic moVementwere closelyconnected with the roots of elementsof the labourmovement, andthat theseshared beginnings (whether they be radicalism,Ruskinian anti- industrialismor non-conformistreligion) led to sharedpassions and prejudices. After MontagueBlatchford's death, Rutland Boughton took his placeat the helm of the CVUs. His role, betweenthe wars,of organisinga similar (but larger) organisationfor the LabourParty in the 1920sis consideredin ChapterThree. Waters arguesthat the CVUs did 'make socialists'by bringing peopleinto contactwith socialistsand their associationseven though the Unionsthemselves were not as explicitly political as somewould havewanted". They existedalongside (and to a certainextent, as part of) a wider choralmovement which wasparticularly strongin the North of England(especially West Yorkshire,which was alsothe cradleof the CVUs). The story of the CVUs raisesquestions about the purposeof suchmusical adventuresin the Iabourmovement: were they for 'making socialists'or for performingthe bestmusic to the bestof the players' abilities? How could the former purposebe maintainedwhen, in the interestsof competentpublic performance,the latter goal becameincreasingly important?

By placingthe musicalculture of the British labourmovement between the wars in this historical context, it is clear that the movement already had a musical tradition in

VDaveRussell (1987) pp. 4041 38ChrisWaters (1990) pp. 126-127 1918. Any inter-war musical projects and ventures were not pioneering experiments but instead would have been seenby labour activists as part of this history. Socialists in 1918 were quite used to a discourse about music, and had seenthe prominent role of music in the Clarion, Labour Church and other movements (indeed some historians would extend 'the heroic phase of the British Labour Movement' to 1924)". While the benefits of music as entertainment and as a fund-raising activity were well understood, along with an idea that music had a solidarity-building role, socialists before the First World War were not so clear about the potential or desirability of a project to 'build' or 'create' a socialist culture. It had been hinted at with the interest in folksong and notions of 'art of their own' as well as in the opposition to commercial culture, but the idea was not well articulated and British socialist thought on this matter was full of contradictions. As time went on, comparisonswith the labour movement in Germany, and approachesto the arts in Soviet Russia, led to these considerationsbecoming more widespread.

ii)Music and SocialistThomeh

Attempting to piece together a variety of ideas from different, broadly Marxist intellectuals, comparing and contrasting them with inter-war opinions and prejudices, in order to identify a broad socialist or Marxist musical theory is a task fraught with difficulties. One such problem is the changing meanings of key terms as well as the problems of applying ideas articulated in Russia, Germany or Italy (and in Russian,

German and Italian) to inter-war Britain. One illustration of the problem is the changing and ambiguous nature of the word 'culture' and the question of what

Antonio Gramsci (for example) meant by it. Raymond Williams, in Keyword (first published, 1976) described 'culture' as 'one of the two or three most complicated

39TonyBrown (ed.) (1990) p. 17 in English language-)40 This is due to the development in words the . word's complex several languagesand several academic disciplines. While recognising Gramsci as perhapsthe most influential Marxist theorist of culture, and therefore an important thinker to consult here, it is certainly worth questioning to what extent he included

'the arts' within his definition of culture. When the Turin Socialist Party decided to form a 'Cultural Association" it was welcomed by some of the Party's leading figures becauseof the opportunities for 'diversion), 'relaxation and education' which it offered. It was hoped that it might halt the 'wavering' of the convictions of those who

'have drifted away from our political organisations, lured by the appeal of mere amusements.' The proposal and the languagesounded similar to some of the projects suggestedin the British labour movement, but Gramsci welcomed it with rather different language,comparing the Association with the Fabian Society in Britain and not seemingto consider any cultural pursuit other than political education1l. Such ambiguity inevitably makes this task all the harder. What might be possible in this section is the identification of some broad tensions within socialist thought that we can explore throughout this thesis, illustrated by the inter-war labour movement.

'Thebest music available'versus 'art oftheir own'. if we beginwith the conceptof 'good music' we may considersome of the ideasof TheodorAdorno, the Marxist musicologist,sociologist and philosopher, who made detailedstudies of 'art' music,as well as hostilecriticisms of somemusic, most famouslyin his essay'On Jazz'. For Adorno,there was not just 'good' and 'bad' music,but 'good' and 'bad' waysof listeningto music. A 'good' modeof listeningis to do so 'with a concentratedand whole-hearted engagement with the work as an independenttotality". While this led to him deploringcommercial 'popular' music with its repetitivethemes and rhythms,it alsomeant that he was opposedto a

40Raymond Williams Keywords:a vocabularyof cultureand soci (1988)p. 87 4'Antonio Gramsci 'Why We Needa CulturalAssociation' in Antonio Gramsci Pre-PrisonWriting (Cambridge,1994) p. 35 42RObertWitkin AdornoOn Music (1998)p. 181 popularisationor dernocratisationof 'art' music, meaning that the project of many

socialistswho wished to bring 'the best' music to 'the masses'would have been at

odds with Adorno's position. He felt that the increasing number of 'bad' listeners at

concertsactually changedthe nature of music composed,as well as that selectedto be performed. When socialist music columnists, such as H. G.Sear who wrote for

Birmingham's Touw Crier, tried to persuadetheir readersthat music by the great composerswas as easy and pleasurableto listen to as so-called 'light' music, he would have been encouraging a 'bad' mode of listening. As such he was risking changingthe art of music altogether. Like Adorno, the socialist composer Rutland

Boughton recognisedthat 'the new public of the radio, especially, has little understandingof the fact that to listen to music is itself an art. "' For him a good mode of listening required 'a surrender, rather than an effort, of the consciouspart of the mind. '44 The BBC shared some of these concernsand made efforts to ensurethat broadcastmusic was not 'background' music through such meansas leaving long silencesbetween pieces. Adorno's observation that the new audience for music

(particularly via the gramophoneand the wireless) might changethe art itself need not necessarily mean that it would change for the worse. Walter Benjamin, for instance, observedthat:

For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipatesthe work of art from its parasitical dependenceon ritual. To an ever greater degreethe work of art reproducedbecomes the work of art designed for reproducibility... the total function of art is reversed. Instead of being based on ritual, it begins to be basedon another practice - politics. 15

This meantthat onceart was free of the ritual of 'the moment' (for our purposes, musicwas free of the ritual of the concert)it changesthe relationshipbetween the artist andthe consumer.Benjamin would appearto mean'politics' in a very broad sensebut this doesintroduce a further question(and one which concernedmany

43Rutland Boughton The Realityof Music (London,1934) p. x 44Rutland Boughton (1934) p. 173 45Walter Benjaminin Solomon(ed. ) Marxismand Art (Brighton, 1979)p. 552 betweenthe wars)- canart (or shouldart) be political? CertainlyAdorno's position would appearto precludeany useof musicbeyond the aesthetic.Adorno deplored

Jazzfor manipulatingthe senses- but if that wasthe purposeof the musicdoes its successnot, in someway, makeit 'good'? Is it possible(or 'fair') for a 'bourgeois', Europeanmusicological tradition (to which Adorno belonged)to makejudgements andgeneralisations in a different musicologicalarena in its own terms? If we wereto considerethnomusicology or 'pop' musicologies,different types(or modes)of listeningmay be consideredperfectly legitimate. Furthermore,there is nothingto stopa popularpiece of music(say a pieceof 'hot'jazz) being listenedto as an interdependentwhole, especiallyif we can considerit in termsof Boughton's 'surrender'. Also, shouldlyric-music (either songor opera)be listenedto in that manner?If so, surelythought-provoking or engaginglyrics causebad listening,as would interestingdrama in an opera. As such,would not Adorno's 'good modeof listening' leadto a degradationin the standardsof lyrics, librettosand drama, just as

'the masses'so-called bad modeof listeningmight leadto a degradationin music? Finally, is a 'good' modeof listeningessentially one (despiteAdorno's Marxist position)which hasemerged from the right background,the right education- essentiallymeaning that musicshould remain the propertyof the ruling class(or a better-educatedelite)? Thereis little or no room within Adorno's position for alternativeart or art as counter-culture(let aloneexplicitly political art or agit-prop). However,Gramsci's new thinking on hegemonyopens up an alternativeMarxian view. Therewas little conceptof the possibility of counter-culturein Britain betweenthe wars althoughit would be wrong to suggestthat therewas noneat all.

Gramsci'swriting certainlydidn't influenceBritish socialistsand, while Lenin was more widely read,it is unlikely that his lesssophisticated but not dissimilarviews on societyhaving two cultureshad had muchinfluence. But therewere - for all that - someembryonic notions of an 'art of their own' or (for our purposes)'music of their own'. Theseincluded folksong (or folk arts)to be consideredin more detail in Chapter Six, and 'simple' music - ie. minimalist music with 'purity' and 'beauty' which was not 'too high' for the workers to understand. The problem with considering this as 'art of their own' was that these pre-industrial tunes and songs had very little relevanceto the lives of the working class in twentieth century Britain.

Both Montague Blatchford, and Rutland Boughton saw such music as 'people's music' - the lost culture of the working class which could be returned to them. If this was as far as ideas of 'art of their own' ever got, then they had much more in common with vague nostalgic utopianism, than any embryonic Grainscian analysis. Ideas of alternative cultures were, in some ways, old and well-rehearsedby the inter-war years. The 'new life' for socialists (particularly the activities of the Clarion movement) was essentially an attempt at an alternative culture away from commercialism. Similarly the preoccupation of the likes of Edward Carpenter and

Rutland Boughton with small-scale farming and self-sufficiency were all elements of the desire to form anti-industrial alternative sub-cultures. But these tasks are different from considering industrial working-class culture as a potential counter-culture and developing cultural activities with some sort of counter-hegemonicproject in mind.

As for music, there are a number of reasonswhy an 'art of their own' did not extend far beyond agricultural folksong. A. L. Lloyd and Ewan MacColl had not yet brought to light their collections of industrial folksong (and even when they did, they were mostly of nineteenth century origin and were only a significant part of the cultural life of certain small communities). Popular music (both variety/music hall and jazz, dance, swing, etc.) was arguably not ofthe working class becauseof its commercial nature. Instead it was 'sold' to the workers by capitalists and, as such, if its socialist detractors had approacheda Gramscian analysis, was part of the bourgeois hegemony. The fact that folksong was thought to be the product of workers was important for its socialist champions. There was a common theory that industrialism and capitalism destroyed the creative spirit of working people and their families. For Boughton, for example, 'conditions of life in which ordinary people had initiative causedthem to make music as they worked, and music in celebration of

26 work they had accomplished. Christian civilisation [Bougkon's euphemism for

Capitalism],being developed without referenceto the generalwelfare, made an endof suchmusic. ' He went furtherto saythat 'the creativespirit which producedfolk- musicwas checkedby unfair conditionsand then swampedby the echoesof the music halls..." Boughtonwas placing the compositionof folksongin an imagined'golden age' (as mostpeople did in this period) andwas not awarethat peoplecontinued to write songsabout work (andother facetsof life) throughoutindustrialisation. Furthermore,he would not appearto havebeen looking for art in times of struggle

(eventhough he was championingthe art of 'ordinary people'). However,there is occasionalevidence of British socialistsbetween the wars gettingrather closer to a conceptof counter-hegemonyor counter-culture.The Workers' TheatreMovement (a dramaticorganisation firmly in the bosomof the CommunistParty) performed an almostexclusively agitational and propagandist role. Their monthlybulletin Red

Stageconsidered the role that the arts andentertainment played in classdomination and,as such,did approacha crudeconcept of hegemony,probably grounded in some of the writings of Lenin.

Every form of popular art and entertainment, public opinion and "moral direction7' is controlled by capitalist interests - or their agents,the Government and the Church... Even "sport" is a commercialised affair which reflects the dirty mismanagementof its capitalist promoters... And [the dare to thinking different lines ... should worker] start along the Labour Party and the ILP will look after his interests to seethat he doesn7t far get too ... That is A ... what we are up against. capitalist state; capitalist control; capitalist propagandamaking use of every form of thought to poison the thinker, or, better still, to keep him from thinking at all... We are not competing with capitalist entertainment, we are exposing it. 47 ...

This was not the analysis of GramscL despite certain similarities. While the writer acknowledged the conservative power of the arts and recreation, he did not suggest

46RutlandBoughton (1934)pp. 144-146 47[ENVPS] RedStage June-July 1932

27 that they shouldattempt to useart in the sameinsidious way (and 'compete'with Gcapitalistentertainment') but that they shoulduse their agitationaland propagandist styleto 'expose'the hegemonic'trick'. The questionof artists 'competingwith capitalistentertainment' will be returnedto in ChapterThree when we consider choirs,bands and orchestras in the movement(including the Workers' Theatre

Movements'singing troupes and bands - the formativeelements of the Workers' Music Association).

In 1936,'Left TheatreLtd. ' declaredthat their role wasto counterthe effects of 'capitalist theatre' referring to 'reactionary' songs such as "ripperary" and "Keep the Home Fires Burning"". This would suggestthat membersof the Left Theatre, by

1936, had some embryonic concept of a socialist counter-culture. It is interesting that this was the same year as the founding of the Workers Music Association, who always considered the dual functions of promoting music of the workers and 49 providing musicfor the workers with varying succeSS.

Those who held the position that the working class should be tutored to appreciate 'good' music (or 'the best') were not always in conflict with those who claimed to believe that the working class should have 'art of their own. Indeed, the arguments sometimeseven came from the samepeople. While very few would have disagreedwith Lenin that 'the best of bourgeois art' should be included in a socialist culture". few would have agreedwith Trotsky that 'proletarian art' was necessarily

6pock-marked."' If one can talk about an inter-war socialist musical culture in

Britain, then it must really constitute a combination of these various components and seemingly contradictory ideas. As such, this socialist culture (in so far as it existed) was often at odds with the popular - or working-class - culture of the day, as we shall see in the next section.

"'The Left Theatre' Socialist Julyý-August1936 49[EM/PS] Ailie Monro 'Folk Music, Politicsand the WMA' Workers'Music Association OccasionalPaper. March 1988 5OV.1. Lenin 'L. N.Tolstoy' in MaynardSolomon (1979)p. 176 "Leon Trotsky 'ProletarianCulture and Proletarian Art' in Berel Lang andForrest Arilliams (ed.) Marxismand Art (New York, 1972) p.68

28 Socialist Musical Culture versusPopular Musical Culture

Did the attempts at moulding a socialist culture aim to engagewith the popular, working-class culture of the day? If we were first to consider the 'traditional' or

6serious'aspects of an industrial working-class, musical culture, the two great movementswould be brass bands (from the north of England and the midlands) and male voice choirs (particularly from South Wales). We might add the choral movement of Yorkshire and Lancashire here as well. By 1918 there was some tradition of socialist engagementin these fields (especially the choral movement) and this continued and grew through the inter-war period, as we explore in Chapter Three.

Thesewere localised traditions though, long-establishedand arguably in decline.

Even music halls (the commercial villains of pre-First World War Labour writing on music) were transfornfing into 'variety' clubs and being eclipsed by the craze which was to take working-class life in Britain by storm through the 1920s and 30s: dancing.

Dance music was genuine big businesswith songs and tunes played on the wireless selling vast quantities of sheet music so that all the dance bands in the dance halls up and down the country would be right up-to-date with the popular 'hits'. There was not a unified or typical Labour responseto the phenomenonbut one can find some theoretical (and somejust plain prejudiced) opposition to jazz and related music on the left, while at the sametime finding dancesand jazz-bands being increasingly prominent aspectsof labour movement activity. The common objections to dance music were not the complex musicological and sociological objections of Adorno, or certainly not expressedin the sameterms. Musically, jazz was consideredbanal, repetitive, etc. Politically, the commercial nature of the popular music industry was considered to be capitalism intruding into the aestheticarena. For some,there would appearto have been finiher objections to the American - and possibly the African - origins of the music. The question of how socialists respondedto commercialism and professionalism in art (and particularly the art of music) shall be considered in the

29 next section. The importantquestion here is whetherthe labourmovement, while engagedin popularpolitics, realisedthe possibilitiesof popularculture. This problemwas not confinedto music. Socialistshad various concerns aboutwhether they shouldencourage seaside holidays, football, racing(and more particularlygambling), pub cultureand all mannerof frivolous pursuits. The reasoningbehind socialist papers including a sportspage and betting news (for instance)would appearto havebeen primarily the practicaldecision that it wasthe bestway to keepin business.The Bradford Pioneerwith its bettingnews flourished, while the moreascetic attitude of the Bradford Labour Echo contributedto its floundering." Thereis someexisting literatureon that friction (in Chris Waters' British Socialistsand the Politics of PopularCulture (1990) for instance).When it camespecifically to music,the samenewspaper could carry instructionsin the art of musical.discrimination from its musiccolumnist and elsewhere enthuse about the Variety showscoming to town, andtry to sell ticketsto a Partydance. Theseinternal contradictionscould regularlybe seenin Birmingham'sTown Crier. To a certain extent,there is nothingnecessarily problematic about a paperthat was aimedat a readershipunited by politics - not culturaltastes - appealingto a wide rangeof interestsand musicalopinion. But the languageof the musiccolumnists - suchas H.G. Sear at the TownCrier - did not suggestthe indulgenceof one interestgroup amongstmany. Searwas evangelisingto all:

I will promisenot to be technical. I will not tire you with the rules of music. I will seldommention key or time. You shall not be botheredwith augmented seventhsor enharmonicminors. If I cannotmake you realisethe personality of that manbehind the musicI shall havefailed utterly and will withdraw. But I think I can."

But evensuch an evangelistas Seareventually found himself makingnods in the directionof popularculture, whether under editorial pressure or not, we cannotsay.

"Chris Waters(1990) p. 181 53ILG. Sear 'Tbe Men Behind the Music' TowwCrier 3 April 1925

30 By the late 1920shis musiccolumns included a surveyof the week's new gramophonereleases including dance music which he reviewedseriously and without the prejudicedisplayed by some. The movement'sengagement with popularmusic shall be exploredin ChapterSix.

Amateurism versusprofessionalisnVcommercialism

It is deepest ... abominableto think that the productsof man's emotionsshould be carriedto marketlike a poundof butter."

Rutland Boughton made many statementssuch as this, highlighting his distaste that artists should have to attempt to make their living from their art. Boughton believed that in a socialist future all artists would work and all workers would have the opportunity to become artists becauseof the expanded leisure time afforded to them.

In the mean time he seriously looked at the possibility of combining music with farming so that the authenticity and aesthetic independenceof the music would not be endangeredby the perils of having to pay for itself. This was one aspectof his plans for his Glastonbury music festivals and music classesthat never received wider support and it remained an unfulfilled dream that his scholars should sow and harvest crops between learning their arpeggios. Eventually Boughton got his farm and it was

Gasanctuary for any composer who does not object to being cut off completely from all the amenities of modem times.' Apparently there was 'not a neighbour's wireless set for miles."' While Boughton was something of a maverick, this did reflect a broader tendency within the labour movement in favour of amateurism in music as in other areasof recreation and leisure. There was also some inconsistency here. The sameLabour newspapercould carry a music column despairing of the compositions of those who wrote pieces in order to sell them and a trade union column encouraging readersto boycott a particular cinema which didn't pay Musicians' Union rates for the

54Chris Waters(1990) p. 125 "Donald Brook Composer'sGall (London, 1946)p. 34

31 players. The amateurist tendency on the left led to the Musicians' Union not always being treated as seriously as they would have liked and some trade unionists felt that the semi-professionalma, i ority of the Union's members should only have been paid for onejob (and that that should be the 'proper' job). The anti-commercial strand of labour thought was part of a long tradition among utopian elementsof the movement.

iii)Music and 'thegood time coming'

To considermusic and Utopia (with particularreference to the British labour movement)one can look at threeparticular sources. The first is socialistwriting aboutmusic, the secondthe lyrics to socialistanthems and songs,and finally the actualmusic itself The first two sourcesare the most readilyusable. We can look for utopianthemes and imageryin lyrics (and find a lot of it) and look for utopian ideasabout the role of music(both in bringing aboutthe Co-operativeCommonwealth and in the placeit would play in that future state)in socialistwriting. The most difficult task, andas suchthe most interesting,is to look for evidenceof the utopian imaginationin the actualmusic that socialistswrote, performedor championed.

To begin with, let us consider the meeting of music and utopia within the writing of British socialists. One popular socialist theme after the First World War was the 'right to leisure'. Much writing surrounding this issue focused on the campaign for a 40-hour week: hardly a utopian aspiration. Indeed, the modesty of the goal adds to the interest of the utopian languageof much of the discourse. 'Leisure' was consideredas a material thing -a prize that could be won. 'Life will become a romance full of glorious adventuresfor the workers once they have leisure"' So read an article on 'The Right to Leisure' in the Glasgow Worker in 1919. It was believed by many (including the writer of that article) that leisure would be used in a constructive, rational and intellectual way to bring about a socialist future. '... leisure

""The Right to Leisure' Worker January 1919

32 [is] the gatewayto economicfreedoiW, he wrote, 'workers who haveleisure for thoughtand recreation will soonevolve a culturewhich will not tolerateexploitation or subjection.' The article was forwardthinking in so far as it consideredthe possibilityof workersevolving a culture for themselves,as well as beingpractical in arguingfor the attainablegoal of a 40-hourweek. And yet it is written in the utopian form anduses the utopianimagination. Therewas surelyan aspirationway beyond attainingthe 40-hourweek in the predictionthat 'life will becomea romancefull of gloriousadventures for the workers...' The discourseon what workerswould do with their leisure-timein the future (whetherjust after smalltrade union victorieson hours of work or in 'the Co-operativeCommonwealth' itselo containsmany musical musingsin the utopianvoice. At the extremeend of theseconsiderations come RutlandBoughton's ideas about how muchmanual work musiciansshould have to do in a future socialiststate (along with the economicposition of artistsgenerally). He concludes:'two hoursa day in materiallyproductive labour would not injure the soul of any artist; but, on the contrary,lead him to understandthe thoughtsand feelingsof his fellow workers,and makehim fitter to expressthem in termsof art."' These considerationsstemmed from debatesbefore the First World War, rangingfrom those who, like William Morris or EdwardCarpenter, felt that 'work itself must be so transformedas to becomea pleasure""and others (such as oneJames Blackwell, writing in Justice,the organof the SDF) who argued:

We considerwork, howevernecessary it may be, an evil to be avoidedif possible,and we considerpleasure - true rational pleasurethat is - the end andaim of existence."

An anonymous'member of Yorkshire'ssocialist fraternity' remarkedthat 'the socialistchoir could serveas "a first promisewhat enjoymentmay be obtainedfrom life, whenunder the socialismwhich thesechoirs areusing their voicesto promote,all

57RutlandBoughton LabourMagazine (1923) p.303 5'EdwardCarpenter Towards Industrial Freedom (London, 1917) p.50 "Chris Waters(1990) p. 6

33 menand women will haveleisure to devoteto intellectualpleasures. "'60 The occasionalrather prosaic perception that music madea 'pleasantchange from politics' or helpedto 'brighten' the movementis expresseddifferently herewith utopian lyricism - the importanceof pleasureand brightness in the labourmovement is shown to havean importancebeyond entertainment. Utopianismin the British labourmovement was not alwaysentirely characterisedby a discourse of the future. There were a number of British socialist thinkers for whom a rural idyll of the past was their Utopia. For some (particularly

Edward Carpenter, inspired by Thomas Carlyle)" a critique of capitalism was also a specifically anti-industrial position. It was, essentially, the 'green and pleasant land' as opposedto the 'dark satanic mills'. While various writers would have denied such conservative nostalgia, there was quite a 'Ruskinian' tradition, arguably including

Morris and Blatchford, certainly Carpenter, and the considerablesocialist interest in folksong and morris dancing was largely due to their 'unspoilt' nature. William

Morris' Utopia in News From Nowhere (first published in 1890) was pre-industrial in character,the clothes, buildings, modes of transport and the environment derived from an imagined past rather than an imagined future. Women's dress, for instance,was

6somewhatbetween that of the ancient classical costume and the simpler forms of the fourteenth century garments,though it was clearly not an imitation of either )62. It is no accident that cultural production from the 'golden age Utopians' was firmly in the romantic tradition for that utopianism was a socialist (or communist) romanticism, distinct from the individualism of some of the famous romantics (such as Byron) but with a long tradition in the Chartist and radical movementS63.I shall return to the importance of this tradition to inter-war labour music-making later in the thesis.

6ODaveRussell (1987) p. 52 "Tony Brown (ed.) (1990)p. 23 62 William Morris Newsfrom NowhereAnd OtherWritings (1993)p. 53 (First published1890 - this is a recent'Penguin Classics' edition). 63This tradition in lyric andpoetry is documentedin Anne JanowitzL)Iic andLabour in the Romantic Traditio (1998)

34 Both the 'good time coming' andthe 'golden age' were referredto in socialist lyrics but, for the mostpart in thosehymns and anthems,it wasthe statewhich wasto comewhich was sungabout. EdwardCarpenter's very popularsong, 'England, Arise!' talkedof the 'long, long night' beingover andof 'the dawn' appearing". The imageryof a 'new dawn' is found in manysocialist lyrics. On the ethical,Labour Churchside of the movement,Utopia might be expressedas 'a heavenon earth". Suchimages of Utopia arecompared with dystopicimages of the capitalistpresent:

Comrades,brothers, do you see Want andmis'ry all around, Flauntingwealth and luxury, Sideby sideon earthabound? '

But, of course, 'the night is darkest before the MOM967.Vague referencesto a utopian

(golden age' are more difficult to find. There was certainly a common theme in socialist lyrics that life under capitalism was 'unnatural9:

Oh help, my brothers, to bring the day When you and I shall both be free To live our lives in nature's way The call's to you and me.

The librettos of Rutland Boughton's music-dramaswere often basedon poetry which evoked pre-industrial society relying heavily on Celtic mythology and Arthurian legend, as well his setting for the Thomas Hardy poem, the Queen of Cornwall. His most famous music-drama, "The Immortal Hour" was 'steeped in Celtic myth and legend"'.

A far more difficult task is to searchfor evidence of the utopian imagination at work in the actual music which socialists wrote, performed, enjoyed or championed.

Evocation of a pre-industrial 'golden age' is noticeable in the folk tunes, rhythms and

64EdwardCarpenter 'Engand Arise' in Edward Carpenter (1922) p. 18 65TOWnCrier Labour Church hymn: 'Heaven on Earth'. 8 October 1926 "Town Crier Labour Church Hymn: 'Break the Chains! ' I October 1926 6'Edward Carpenter 'The Day of the Lord' in Edward Carpenter (1922) p.94 6860peraat the Repertory Tbeatre - The Immortal Hour' Town Crier 8 July 1921

35 cadencesused in much socialist composition and played its part in the choice of folksong and English renaissancepieces of music to fill the repertoires of socialist musical combinations. Just as Boughton often used Celtic and pre-industrial themes for the drama and librettos of his works, similarly the music was heavily imbued with

'folky' and Celtic ornamentation and the use of simple tunes and rustic rhythms.

While Boughton's music and words and their relation to his world-view will be looked at in greater detail in Chapter Five, much of his output does demonstratea

Ruskinian-style utopian imagination at work. While many socialist anthemswere sung to traditional tunes, it is most likely that a rather more practical consideration led to their choice: simply that the tunes ought to be well-known in order to assist mass singing. That is not to say that specific tunes might not have been selectedfor other reasons. The general hymn-like qualities of the songs might just have arisen from the four-part limitations limitations of choral arrangementsand the of communal singing - however, both types of music might be seento be heralding the good news of a new

Jerusalemand share some characteristicsaccordingly.

Keith Nield, in a paper entitled 'Edward Carpenter: The Uses of Utopia', attempts to explain why labour historians had neglectedthe role of the likes of

Carpenter and why, for a time, Carpenter's work had an 'intense, but brief, popularity'. Of course, this was a consideration of Carpenter as a poet, but the ideas he explored can be applied to the musical life of the movement as well. He had been neglected, it is argued, becausehis work could be viewed as 'conservative nostalgia for a non-existent pre-capitalist idyll', 'inconsequential utopianism with no purchase on the real world' or 'diversionary dreaming in the path of the political struggle'. The reason for his brief popularity (and therefore why he should not have been neglected, demerits his 'theform whatever the merits or of poetry) was that of his writing - its its its "diffusenese' from. utopianism, mysticism, even - may result ..... the power, density, and historical specificity of the cultural hegemony which he and his contemporariesconfronted. " In other words, the specific historical context of late

69KeithNield 'Edward Carpenter: The Uses of Utopia' in Tony Brown (ed.) (1990) pp.24-26

36 Victorian andEdwardian Britain's liberal/capitalisthegemonic consensus was such that certainmethods of expressingalternative values were moreappropriate and effectivethan others. Ratherthan confronting audiences and readerships with analysesof capitalistsociety and economics and the detailsof socialistorganisation to defeatit, he simply showedhow the statusquo wasnot necessaryor inevitableand hintedat the possibilitiesof an alternative. It wasutopian, clearly, as it did not take into accountpolitical agency,but it was ableto attractinterest which 'scientific' Marxism could not. This is backedup by the famousquotation from the Manchester Guardianthat 'for everyconvert made by Das Capital [sic], therewere a hundred madeby Merrie England"'. Canthis sameanalysis be appliedto the musicof socialists?Certainly, as we haveconsidered, there was much interestboth in vague utopianism,pre-capitalist nostalgia and Celtic mysticismin the musicof the movement.As such,the utopiananthems and (for instance)Boughton's mystic music-dramascan be viewed alongsidesuch writing as Carpenter'sTowards Democrac as the cultural productionof the movement.The popularityof the productis rathermore difficult to assess.We areassured that Carpenterhad a brief but ardentpopularity, Blatchford sold over two million copiesof Merrie England" and songbookssuch as Chantsof Labourran to manyeditions, sold within the movement.In all thesecases one mustassume that the readersshared the valuesof the poet,writer or musician(in the caseof Merrie England,sold for threepence,many were boughtby socialistsand then distributedfor propagandawork). The popularity of Boughton's"Immortal Hour", for instance,cannot be viewedin the sameway. It was quite possibleto en oy the musicand the dramaof the "Immortal Hour" andother works without sharingthe valuesby which it was inspired. Imbuedas it was with mysticismand pre-capitalist nostalgia, it was, essentially,a pieceof escapisttheatre,

enjoyed(much to Boughton'sembarrassment) by aristocratsand societypeople in London (althoughit did havesuccessful runs in morepopular or democraticvenues

"Martin Wright 'RobertBlatchford, The ClarionMovement, and the CrucialYears of British Socialism,1891-1900' in Tony Brown (ed.) (1990)p. 75 7'Martin Wright in Tony Brown (ed.) (1990) p.77

37 such as the repertory theatre in Birmingham). Reviewers in the Labour press sometimesrecognised the political impulses behind the work:

There never was a time when we were more in need of dreams;dreams to beckon and dreamsto command. Today, as always, we have to passby way of dreamsto the Land of Heart's Desire. The "Immortal Hour" is a beautiful work... Greater even than beauty is the desire for beauty, and from such a feast we rise hungrier than we sat down..."

Boughton's popularity waned after his political position becamemore public (after joining the Communist Party in 1926). Be that as it may, if it is true that the most cffective counter-culture to the late Victorian and Edwardian hegemony could have been via the utopian form, all the vagaries and contradictions of the pre-1914 labour musical movement may have had their uses and successesafter all. However, if

6socialistslike Edward Carpenter and Robert Blatchford, who concernedthemselves chiefly with a quest for"the new life", were to find themselvesout of harmony with the growing parliamentary movement and its more limited aims"', did music have to carve out a new niche for itself in a more 'labourist' inter-war movement? The question of an advent of 'labourism' is a vexed one. If labourism could be distinguished from socialism by being passive rather than active, reflexive rather than educative, empirical rather than ideological, pragmatic rather than principled, evolutionary rather than revolutionary, practical rather than intellectual and imbued with an 'ethic of responsibility' rather than one of 'ultimate ends' and distinguished from Fabianism becauseof its firm roots in the working class, there was no over- night conversion from one 'ism' to the other in the British labour movement. Neither can many of the early British labour traditions be easily placed in one or other 'camp'.

Where would the spirituality of ILP socialism sit? While trade unionism would normally be placed under the 'labourist' label - what about militant unionism, and the

7210peraat the Repertory Theatre: The Immortal Hour' TowvCrier 8 July 1921 "Martin Wrightin TonyBrown (ed. ) (1990)p. 74 74John Marriott (199 1) pp. 7-8

38 role of revolutionary parties? While not dismissing the 'labourist' thesis, it is a change from 'spirituality' to 'practicality' (away from pioneering, evangelical zeal) in both revolutionary and 'labourist' elements of the movement which has the most potential for upheaval for cultural production and consumption in the movement between the wars. One must also bear in mind that the use of the utopian form in labour art did not just have political significance, it was very much part of the romantic tradition, as we have suggested. The significance of the longevity of romanticism (via utopianism) extends far beyond the socialist/labourist debate in

Labour Party history.

It is clearthat musicdid not loseits importantplace in the movementin the 1920s. SydneyCourt, a Labour Choir conductorfrom Deptford, assertedin 1924that

cmusic has always been an integralpart of the LabourMovement, but neverhas such an interestbeen aroused as at the presentmoment. "' It will be the focusof the next

chapterto considerwhat role musicplayed in the day to day associationallife of the labourmovement, notably regarding the importantfunctions of entertainment,fund- raisingand propaganda.

75Sydney A. Court 'Music andthe People:A messageto the labourmovement' Labour Magazine Vol.11 February (1924) p. 445

39 Cbapter Two

Pleasure.Pennies and Propaganda:music in the associational life of the labour

movement. i) Introduction

The purposeof this chapteris to considerthe role of music in the day to day life of organisationsand associations in the labourmovement with particularregard to the entertainmentof activists,the raisingof fundsand the propagationof the socialist message.Associations are definitively local and thereforepart of this chapteris necessarilyin the form of local casestudies. The cities anddistricts of Birmingham andBradford were chosenpartly becausethey provideregional, political and socio- economiccontrast. Particularly,Bradford was chosen as a Labourheartland city with an establishedand politically popularlabour movement and Birmingham, in contrast, had a small,pioneering but quickly strengtheninglabour movement, in local opposition. Both districtshad a tradition of pre-warlabour music-making with Clarion Choirsand Labour Churches.Similarly both cities hada vibrant musicallife outsidethe labourmovement. Bradfordwas a city with a musicalreputation. In 1900Bradford had thirty choral societies,twenty brass bands, one amateur orchestra, six concertina bands, one bell-ringing team, two music halls and various 'popular concert' venuesall within five miles of the City Centre'. While Birmingham might not have had a reputation for being so 'musically distinguished-)2 as Bradford in the past, its musicality progressedapace in the inter-war period. It acquired its first permanent orchestra in

1920 followed by a string orchestra in 1927, the semi-professionalBirmingham

Choral and Orchestral Union in the same year and began holding a successful music festival in the late 19302.

DaveRussell PopularMusic in England.1840-1914: a socialhistory (Manchester,1987) p.2 StanleySadie (ed. ) The New GroveDictionary of Music andMusicians Volume 3 (1980)'Bradford' ?p. 151-152 Sadie(ed) (1980)'Birmingham' p. 126 40 The ILP was strong in both cities (particularly Bradford) and this was important as well. The ILP had an ambiguous role in the labour movement of the period and there was some debate as to its status and how long it could continue to operate as a 'party within a party' with individual membership and separate conferences. There was some attempt to carve out a specific role for the ILP that could be complementary to the work of the Labour Party without stepping on any There doubt toes. was no that those areascovered by this chapter - 'Pleasure, Pennies and Propaganda' - were valid ILP activities. Propagandaand recreation were very ILP's both much within the remit, and tasks - particularly the former - required funds.

I have also attemptedto sketch a national picture, paying some attention to music in trade union branchesand national factions. Clearly the local detail cannot be replicated there but, similarly, the local studies have their limitations: one cannot extrapolate national generalisationstoo confidently from local trends. Hopefully, by using both methods, a picture of the musical life in the associationsof the British labour movement will be presented. The explicitly musical associationswhich existed in many local Labour Parties will be considered in the next chapter rather than this, as they were generally choirs, bands or orchestras.

ii) 'The Religion ofSocialism. A coda

As both StephenYeo and Chris Waters have suggested,British socialism had a zeal and fervour of religious proportions in the late Victorian period and (to a lesser extent) the yearsjust before the First World War. This fervency was particularly evident in the various socialist approachesto recreation: making the movement a

'total' experience (what Yeo referred to as a 'New Life') for devotees,with leisure- time being spent amongst comradesin the Labour Church and Clarion movements.

The various socialist organisations also attempted to provide this 'New Life' from 41 cradle to grave through Socialist Sunday Schools, a variety of youth movements and then the wide variety of adult associations.

There is a standardthesis concerning this aspect of the early labour movement that runs something like this: as the Labour RepresentationCommittee and later the

Labour Party becamemore realistic electoral forces and socialists ceasedto be just a small sectarianminority (variously persecutedand ridiculed in the popular press) so the zeal and fervour was concentratedupon winning elections rather than providing an all-round 'socialist' way of life.

Furthermore, Eric Hobsbawrn has characterisedthe Labour Churchesas

'labour sects',placing them in a nineteenthcentury working-class sectarian religious tradition in Primitive Rebels(1959). FredReid hasconsidered whether this tradition could be seenas havingextended into the inter-waryears, demonstrated particularly by the SocialistSunday Schools'. The surprisingexistence of inter-warLabour

Churches(in Birmingham)could add someweight to that suggestion.It must be born. in mind, however,that the Labour Churcheswere transformed considerably from a predominantlyreligious movement to a movementof secularethics. JohnTrevor himself,the founderof the Labour ChurchUnion, lived until 1930,but his relationshipwith the labourmovement had become strained much earlier. Trevor felt that the strong,and growing, relationship between the Labour Churchesand the ILP The his wasa threatto the spiritualside of the movement5. othercause of estrangementwith the movementwas that, despitethe Labour Churcheshaving been very anti-clericalfrom their inception,by 1899he was beginningto considerthe benefitsof a clergy with little or no support. The more secularside of the Labour

Churchmovement, represented by FredBrocklehurst, gained the upperhand in the first decadeof the twentiethcentury and Trevor lost interestwhen it became- in his view - 'a Sundaymeeting of tradeunionists and so lost its religiouscharacter. ' Any

4 F. Reid 'SocialistSunday Schools in Britain, 1892-19391International Review of SocialHist (1966)pp. 1849 5 'John Trevor andthe declineof the LabourChurches' in Joyce.M. Bellamyand JohnSaville Dictionaryof LabourBiograph VolumeVI (1982) p.251 42 Churches 1906 than The 1906 establishedafter weremore secular the earlieroncS6 . Labour Church Hymn Book contained a Statementof Principles:

i) That the Labour Churchexists to give expressionto the religion of the Labour Movement. ii) That the religion of the Labour Movementis not theologicalbut respects eachindividual's personalconvictions upon this question. iii) That the religion of the LabourMovement seeks the realisationof universalwell-being by the establishmentof Socialism-a Commonwealth foundedupon Justice and Love. iv) The religion of the Labour Movementdeclares that improvementof social conditionsand the developmentof personalcharacter are both essentialto emancipationfrom socialand moral bondage,and to that end insist uponthe duty of studyingthe economicand moral forcesof societY. 7

The 'new' Labour Party (and attendant movement) which emerged in 1918 has generally been thought to be one without Labour Churchesand with a smaller, marginalised and anachronistic Clarion movement. It is generally believed that

'between 1891 and 1910 about 120 Labour Churchescan be identified... but only one or two survived the First World War. 's Although Socialist Sunday Schools grew after the War, the venom with which they were attacked by what the labour movement called the 'dope' press (which accusedthe schools of indoctrinating small children) could only have occasioneddisquiet amongst electorally-minded Labour members.

However, a close look at the labour movement in Birmingham after the First

World War showsthat therewere somedeviations from that thesis. Oneof the most striking examplesof the deviationis Birmingham'sLabour Churchmovement. As 'Birmingham's Labour Weekly', the TownCrier, beganproduction in October1919, a prominentaspect of the associationallife depictedin its advertisementsand reports wasthe activity of the Labour Churches.From therebeing six Churchesmeeting (and advertisingand reportingin the To" Crier) regularlyin 1920,the numbersrose to a

6 Bellamyand Saville(1982) p.251 "Ibe LabourChurch Hymnbook (1906) 8 Bellamyand Saville(1982) p. 251 43 peak of seventeenin 1925 from which point there began a decline.9 It is difficult to be absolutely confident of these numbers as not all Churches advertised every week

(there would often be reports of a Labour Church meeting which had not been advertisedand vice versa). Furthermore, although there was a Labour Church

'season' which lasted approximately from Septemberto April, different Churches openedand closed at different times. Although the highest 'count' of Labour Church announcementswas in 1925 there does not appearto have been a rapid decline afler that date, and no concern was expressedin the pagesof the Town Crier about

Churcheshaving to closelo. Recreation was always an integral aspectof the churches, but if anything it seemsto become more central betweenthe wars.

John Boughton describesa typical meeting as opening 'with a song from the

Labour Church hymn-book' followed by 'an addressfrom a visiting speaker' and concluding with 'another Labour hymn or two... ' Sometimesthis would be followed by '... the performance of a musical item, a brief addressor reading from the Chair and "' a collection. The extended metaphor with a Christian church was persisted with - this 'typical' meeting was often referred to as a 'service'.

In fact the musical item was a more regular feature than suggestedby

Boughton and Labour Church advertisementswould generally give the name of the speaker,the chair and the soloist. The Churcheshad pianists (normally drawn from among their membersalthough occasionally the position would be advertised12 ) and a singer (local or visiting) would provide the entertainment. On occasion there would be instrumental solos (violins, cellos and comets were popular) either instead of or as well as the vocal solo. Exactly how long these musical selectionswould last at one of

' JohnBoughton 'Working-class politics in Birminghamand Sheffield,1918-193 V WarwickPh. D. Thesis(1985) p. 286 '0 TownCrier Throughoutthe 1920sthe BirminghamToww Crier hadboth a 'Labour Church Announcements'section amongst its advertisementsand a sectionheaded 'Labour Churches'amongst reportsof meetingsand events which would primarily includereports on the last meetingand occasionallymessages to the congregationsuch as when the Churchwould be closingor if therehad beena changeto the programme,etc. " JohnBoughton (1985) p-286 12ToWn Crier 16 January1925. SparkbrookILP LabourChurch on the StratfordRoad (Sparkbrook hadtwo LabourChurches in 1925)announced: 'There is an openingfor a regularpianist at this Church and offerswill be greatlyappreciated. ' 44 thesemeetings would appearto vary. There are frequent referencesto the musical items: at Bristol Street Labour Church in 1921, 'Miss Doris Lawson sang two solos in fine style, and Mr. W. A. Neill rendered several violin solos, which were very much appreciated'. At Rotton Park Labour Church in 1920 the 'Rotton Park Labour Church

Choir'just 'gave a couple of musical items'. This aspect of Labour Church meetings continued throughout the 1920sand was such a standardpart of the meeting that correspondentswith the Touv Crier did not always feel the need to comment on the music, often just making a passing reference. A correspondentfrom the Aston

Labour Church gave the musical aspect of the Church its proper importance when announcing its opening for the 1921/22 'season': '... a first-class speaker,vocal and instrumental music and, in fact, everything which goes towards the making of a Labour Church.' 13

The visiting speaker (sometimesreferred to as a lecturer) would speak on a it for issues be wide variety of subjectS14, and was not unusual surrounding music to considered. Although the most common talks were on topics related to spiritual or ethical aspectsof socialism, lectures could be on music, literature, religion and a variety of issueswith little or no connection or referenceto the labour movement. On

Sunday 29 November 1925, for example, at the Balsall Heath Labour Church, '... Mr.

C. Mobberley gave an excellent lecture on the lives and works of the famous musical illustrated by from their The composers selections compositions..... enjoyment of this particular evening was 'added to' by 'Miss Jackson' and her singing 15. Avery similar lecture was sometimesprovided at the Churchesby the writer of the music column in the To" Crier, H. G. Sear (who was also the conductor of the Birmingham Labour

Party Orchestra). The talk was entitled 'The Men Behind the Music' and was based his 16 As the upon newspapercolumn . another example of sort of recreational or

13Town Crier 2 September1921 " JohnBoughton referred to the'utmostvariation' in topicscovered by Labour Churchspeakers in his descriptionof atypical meeting. JohnBoughton (1985)p. 286 Is Tour Crier 4 December1925 16Touw Crier 5 March 1926. H.G. Seardid his 'The Men Behindthe Music' talk at the Handsworth LabourChurch on 7 March 1926,for instance. 45 cultural items of interest at Labour Church meetings, aside from music, Birmingham's embryonic 'People's Theatre Movement' advertised in the Tolm Crier in July 1925 to 17 offer to 'give Dramatic Readings at Labour Churches.'

If the typical Labour Church meeting described above was a pattern, it was one from which there were regular deviations. The most typical alternative to the 8- usual lecture -'a pleasantchange from politics" was a 'Musical Evening. These were popular items in Labour Church calendarsoften being used to open or close sessionsand they followed one of two or three patterns. Firstly, the Churcheswould have evenings where membersand their friends would provide the entertainment. For example, the Balsall Heath Labour Church held what was advertised as a 'Grand

Concert' on 2 April 1922, tipped as 'a grand miscellaneousconcert-which will include many tip-top artistes.'19 Apparently the concert 'reached a high standard of excellence and the audienceshowed their great appreciation of the efforts of each 20 artiste.' It is perhapsworth mentioning at this point that the available 'criticism' of musical events in the Labour Churchescomes in the form of reports submitted to the

To" Crier by representativesof the Churchesthemselves. The absenceof a separationof powers between criticism and advertisementhelped to securea general tone of enthusiasmand politeness when describing these amateur efforts. This concert was referred to as 'miscellaneous' to explain that this was an evening of individual 'artistes' and not a choir, orchestra, band or concert party. Balsall Heath had had Musical Evenings 26 February2l, 12 March22 26 March 23 The on and . week 'Grand Concert', the AEU Male Voice Choir after the were making a return ViSit24. Although this is an unusual run of Musical Evenings, it demonstratestheir popularity

11Town Crier 24 July 1925 11Touw Crier 9 January 11Town Crier 31 March 1922 20Town Crier 7 April 1922 21Town Crier 'a grandmusical programme by the Lozell's Co-operativeChoir' 24 February1922 22Toym Crier 'the AEU Male Voice Choir providedan excellentprogramme of chorusand song' 17 March 1922 23The 'friendly orchestra'who providedthe 'excellentprogramme' were not namedin the TownCrier 31 March 1922 24Town Crier 7 April 1922 46 at the Churches.It was moreusual for suchevenings to be spreadout acrossthe season.The choirsperforming at theseevents (as well as orchestras,bands and concertparties performing at numerousLabour Churchesevery season) will be dealt with in the next chapter,but it is appropriateto considerone type of musical combinationhere, at least. A numberof Labour Churchesformed their own choirs and 'orchestras'. The RottonPark Labour Churchhad its own choir. After giving 'a coupleof musicalitems' on 8 February1920 at their own Labour Church,they offeredtheir servicesmore widely: 'it may be mentionedthat this choir is readyto makearrangements to aid any of the other Labour Churchesand the movement generally.25 Their pioneeringwork in this areawas helped along by their conductor William MacBeath(who enteredinto someof the city-wide discussionsand bands 6) The Selly Oak Labour controversiesregarding choirs, and orchestra2 . Churchfollowed RottonPark's lead,exporting their choir and orchestrato other

Churchesin the city. The combinationof choir andorchestra was sometimesreferred to as 'the Selly Oak Musical Society' andwas muchin evidenceat Labour Church meetingS27and other Labourconcerts and social events. It is not clearwhether the Selly Oak Choir later changedits nameto the 'Selly Oak ChoralUnion 28to tie in with the nationalLabour ChoralUnion movement29,or whetherthis was a separate group altogether.The latter choir primarily performedat Labour Churcheswhere they werepopular, at leastwith the authorsof Labour Churchreports in the Toww Crier. This choir openedthe 1925/26season of the StirchleyLabour Churchand the paperreported that 'the Selly Oak ChoralUnion, conductedby Mr. T. Osborne, provideda magnificentprogramme of solosand part songs.' Howeveroccasional referencewas still madeto the 'Selly Oak Labour ChurchChoir' after thiS30.In 1926

23TOWnCrier 13February 1920 2"Toww Crier 4 March192 1. CorrespondencefromWilliam MacBeath on the subject of 'Labour Choirs'. 21Forexample they conducted a 'musical service' at Sparkbrook Labour Church on 3 February1924. TowwCrier I February1924 28Town Crier 2 October1925 29The NationalLabour Choral Union is the subjectof sectionin the next chapter. 10The 'Selly Oak LabourChurch Choir' provided'an enjoyablemusical evening' at the Selly Oak LabourChurch on 14February 1926. 47 the Sparkhilland TyseleyLabour Churchhad their own 'orchestra'to provide 31 selectionsat normalmeetings rather than the usualsoloists . Anothertype of musicalevening that wasoccasionally held at Labour Churcheswas a gramophonenight. Thesewould eitherbe a lectureillustrated by 32 33 gramophoneselections , or a whole night of musicpresented on a gramophone. Theseevents occasioned some excitement amongst the correspondentsto the Town

Crier who would sometimesenthuse over what modelthe 'instrument' was andthe moderndesign. This was still new technologyand so the attendantexcitement was quite understandable. 'Community Singing', while actuallya long-standingaspect of labour movement activity at meetings and demonstrations,was popularised in Birmingham by a 'Festival of Community Singing' at the Hippodrome (actually sponsoredby the

Daily ExpreSS)34and becamea national phenomenonaround the sametime. After this, many events (including Labour Church meetings) which had presumably included 'Community Singing' before, beganto advertise it and couch it in that term.

Sometimesit would just replace the solo or musical item at the end of a normal meeting35,on other occasionsit was the main feature36.

The singing of 'Labour Hymns' at Labour Churcheswas referred to more in

To" Crier announcementsand reports with the increasedinterest in 'Community

Singing.' John Boughton wrote that Birmingham Labour Church meetings opened with a song from 'the Labour Church hymn-book' (my italics) and that "'England

Arise", "Lift Up The People's Banner", "Jerusalenf' and "Fhe Red Flag" were

31Town Crier 19November 1926 32On 27 March 1927Ladywood Labour Church had oneof these'lecture-recitals' for the Beethoven centenarycelebrations given by Mr. O.G. Willey. The advertisementin the TownCrier mentionedthat the 'gramophoneselections' would be playedon the 'new HMV Instrument'. ToivnCrier 25 March 1927 33On 3 April 1927Ladywood Labour Church had 'Another BeethovenNight' with 'Wildred Whiteley andthe Gramophone'with the 'selections:Vh Symphony-,"Egmont"; "Coriolanus";"Leonora"; NoX. TownCrier I April 1927 3' TownCrier 26 November1926 3' At the WardEnd LabourChurch on 27 Marchthe report in the Town Crier recordedthat 'after the meetingwe had communitysinging'. TowvCrier I April 1927 36Also on the 27 March 1927there was community singing. The advertin the TownCrier announced that 'Mr. ILG. Searwill conductCOMMUNITY SINGING.' TownCrier 25 March 1927 48 37 particular favourites. The Labour Church Hymn Book would presumably be John

Trevor's collection from 1891 or the updated new editions (produced without Trevor) 38. published in 1906 and 1907 As well as popular old labour anthemsand 'hymns', the Birmingham Labour Churchesintroduced a number of new songsand new

(musical settings' of old songsto the local labour movement, certainly from 1926, through the pagesof the Toitv Crier. The Birmingham Labour Weekly expandedthat year and 'Labour Church Hymns' becamea new occasional feature. A brief analysis of these songs- particularly their lyrical content - reveals quite a lot about the Church's utopianism, ethical socialism and ambiguous relationship with Christianity.

The series beganwith a special 'one-ofr on 20 August 1926: a new arrangementof

'The Land Song'. Although this was not under the headline 'Labour Church Hymns' that accompaniedlater pieces, Labour Church memberswere encouragedto purchase that issue of the paper, and the song was printed again on 27 August for those who had missed it despite assertingon 13 August that:

As we cannot repeat publication, we urge all who desire a copy of the "Land Song" to make sure of securing the Town Crier next week. Give your newsagentan order for an extra copy of next week's issue.39

of course the Tonr Crier was using the special item to try and increaseits sales.

'The famous "Land Song"' was 'not as well known in the Labour movement as it

should be' according to the Toun Crier's editor, W. J. Chamberlain. This was a 'new

musical setting by a local Labour musician' which, Chamberlain declared, 'should be

one of the musical items at all future Labour meetings' (particularly 'in view of the Labour Party's "Land For The People" Campaign')40.

The following month 'Not "God's Wilr" was included, set to a tune called

'Darwell' (the four-part choral setting was again included in the paper and again the

JohnBoughton (1985) p. 286 JohnTrevor The LabourChurch Hymn-B (1891) 39Town Crier 13 August 1926 40TOVM Crier 13August 1926 49 arrangerremained anonymous,as did the lyricist). The lyrics were not as 'religious' as the title suggests- it was rather a criticism of 'religious' defencesof capitalism ("Tis NOT GOD'S WILL! It is the grinding, crushing, curse of MAN-made Laws! ')

The final line of the song is less ambiguously secular ('The LAND was God's great gift to MAN, To ALL MANKIND'). The composer had written a band arrangement for his song: 'Band parts can be obtained. Apply Town Crier. Al In fact, the choral setting would have been appropriate for unaccompaniedsinging as well, being quite a traditional four-part hymn setting. Another 'hymn' was printed the following week:

'BREAK THE CHAINSP No referencewas made to any choir or band parts being 42; available instead the singer would have to be aware of the old tune to which it was set43 (and use existing choral arrangements). Again, the lyricist remained anonymous.

The following week, another 'hymn' was printed: 'Heaven on Earth'. This song was 44 again put to an old obtainable tune and the lyrics called for a renewal of socialist

(vows'), expressinga vague utopian yearning:

Onward and upward, be our trend; Liberty sweet, with pity blend; Freedom and Peace,and honest Mirtk So shall we make a "Heaven on Earth. 45

Another Labour Church Hymn ('Plenty For Everyone - Too Much For None') was included the following month on 5 November 1926. This was set to a new tune and the music was included in the paper. The Touv Crier presentedit as being popular and much in demand by printing it again on 12 November 'by request'. Another, on

26 November, was called 'Evening Hymn'. This one was set to the sametune as

'BREAK THE CHAINSV and strangely the lyrics referred very little to socialism or religion in an explicit way. The fmal verse, though, appearsto suggestthat socialists

41Town Crier 24 September1926 42 TownCrier I October1926 43'Old EnglishTune 573 (Bristol) - JesusRefuge' Taken from the Bristol collection of Old English Tunes 44 'Tune403 (BristoW 45 Tour Crier 8 October1926 50 will go to heaven:

So may we live that we may dread The grave as little as our bed. Fearlesswhene'er the ends in view If to our consciencewe've been true.46

The next Labour ChurchHymn includedin the TownCrier was 'a Labour Christmas Hymn' setto the tune of the carol '0 ComeAll Ye Faithful'. The openingline was '0 Come!all good comrades...' The very familiar tune might well havemade this song,at least,a popularone

at the Christmas Labour Church Meetings. The question of quite how often these

songswere actually sung is the important one with regard to their place in the

associationallife of the labour movement, whatever their merit or otherwise as pieces

of music, poetry or complete songs. How well-known the various 'Bristol Old

English Tunes' were is difficult to estimate (but they would be unlikely to be known

simply by the number). For Labour choirs - let alone for community singing - the ability to read music could certainly not be taken for granted even if most would have

encounteredtonic sol-fa notation at school. The 'hymns' with new tunes would have

been even more difficult to learn without a competent musical director to tutor the

'congregation'. The alleged popularity of the 'Land Song' and 'Plenty for Everyone - Too Much for None' would suggestthat thesewere sung, and at least one of the

printed hymns, 'Labour's "Soldier's Chor&" was certainly performed. 'Labour's

"Soldier's Chorus.. was printed on II March 1927 without the name of the lyricist it and - on this occasion - without any referenceto the tune to which was to be sung47. Sparkhill and Greet Labour Church (this had hitherto always been called Sparkhill

and Tyseley Labour Church) took out a large advertisement in the To" Crier on 18

March 1927 to announcethat 'Labour's "Soldier's Chorue' as inserted in last week's

Towv Crier specially adaptedto Gounod's world famous "Fausf'Music... [would]

11Town Crier 26 Novernber1926 47TOyM Crier II March1927 51 be Sunday 26 March the Labour Church. Other songswere to be sung ... sung' on at as well, by a soloise8. The advertisementdid not say who would sing the new Labour

Church Hymn; one assumes,because of the nature and purpose of 'Labour Hymns', that the song would be attempted by the audience.

It is impossible to tell whether any of the hymns becamethe popular choice

of the Church-goersbut they certainly did not dislodge the 'Red Flag', the

'Internationale' or 'Auld Lang Syne' from their positions of prominence at other

Labour meetings and outings.

Hymns continued to be printed at irregular intervals. John Boughton

remarked that Sparkbill and Tyseley Labour Church 'even compiled its own hymn-

book and hymns-)49 and although there was no suggestionin the To" Crier that its

'Labour Church Hymns' section was a serialisation of their efforts, it is one possible

source for them. Of course, the Towv Crier's songs were also intended to be

collected by Labour Church membersright acrossthe city in order for them to have

their own hymnbooks.

There are certain similarities in style and choice of imagery (such as

referencesto 'wealth' as a sentient being) which might suggestthat these Labour

Church Hymns sharedthe sameanonymous writer. Of course this cannot be assumed

and the similarities might be explained by the ethos of the Birmingham Labour

Churches. The style of lyricism is not markedly different from the style displayed in

the hymns and anthemsof labour, written around the turn of the century and well-

representedin Labour Church hymnbooks, and Carpenter's Chants of Labour.

However, I would conclude that the 'Labour Church Hymns' section of the Town

Crier did not representa renaissancein Victorian labour hymn-writing in

Birmingham, but were rather the work of a single writer.

This interest in the Labour Churchesamongst the wider movement, expressed

via the Towr Crier, all came after the apparentpeak in Labour Church activity in

49ToWn Crier 18 March 1927 49John Boughton (1985) p. 287 52 1925. There was no immediate evidence of decline. And yet decline they did.

Although Boughton assertedthat 'by 1929 just four remained open and none survived the next few years"O a few Churches continued to operatethroughout the 1930s,and some were re-opened. They becameconsiderably more isolated from the city-wide movement, failing to regularly use the advertising opportunities offered by the Town

Crier and the meetings appearedto lose some of their distinctive and recreational spirit. Church meetings from the 1930s involved the passing of resolutions and very political speecheswith little or no mention of musical or recreational activity or thought.

John Boughton's comparison of this aspect of the Birmingham Labour movementwith activitiesin Sheffieldis illuminating. The dominanceof the Chamberlainsand the Unionistson the politics of Birmingham(amongst many socio- economicfactors well documentedin that thesis)resulted in Labour support remainingunusually low in Birminghamthrough the 1920swhile Sheffieldsaw the dominanceof Labour as an electoralforce. SheffieldLabour newspapersand Party recordsdo not refer to any Labour Churchesin Sheffieldbetween the wars (therewas a SheffieldChristian Socialist Church operating in 191951which soundslike quite a different sort of organisation:Birmingham Labour Churcheswere essentiallysecular). Boughtonputs this differencebetween the labourmovements in the two cities down primarily to the basicdifference in electoralstrengths and suggeststhat the BirminghamLabour Churchesdeclined as Labour supporterslost their 'veneerof

, 52 spiritual idealismwhich had sustainedthe pioneerswhen their goal seemeddistant.

In otherwords, Labour Churches were an elementof the life of a sect- not His Majesty'sOpposition, and certainly not the Partyof Government.This was certainly not perceivedby Labour Churchenthusiasts in Birmingham. In 1924,under the headline,'Extension of Labour ChurchMovement' in the To" Crier an anonymous writer (probablya memberof the HandsworthLabour Church)declared:

50John Boughton (1985) p.286 51John Boughton (1985) p-286 52John Boughton (1985) p.289 53 One of the encouragingresults of the awakening of interest in Labour is the Labour Church in Birmingham. Handsworth extension of activity 53 supporters are anxious to have a Church in each ward...

This statementof aims for Labour Churchexpansion was accompaniedwith the news of severalnew Churchesbeing opened. It was felt that the local growth of supportfor Labour wasan opportunityfor the Labour Churchesto grow, andnecessitated Labour to involve itself in more- not less- cultural and leisureactivities. Activists in the Birminghamlabour movement were not just sustainingan old socialistway of life beyondits naturalcourse, they were attemptingto extendthe movementfurther into membersand supporters'free-time in a variety of ways - somebased on the past, someentirely new. The Churches'primary roles would appearto havebeen recreationaland educational,'a combinationof entertainmentand self- improvement54 which had its roots in thosenotions of 'rational recreation' consideredin ChapterOne and by a numberof historians,including Chris Waters. Looking elsewherein the country,there is certainlyan argumentto be made that there was more than a 'veneer of spiritual idealism' in the movement. Although

Birmingham would appearto have been the only part of the country to have had a

Labour Church renaissanceunder the old name, meetings of a similar nature under a variety of titles were not rare. At the sametime other (sometimes short-lived and localised) organisationsand movements displayed rather more 'spiritual idealism' than the inter-war Labour Churches. Bradford had organisations like The People's

Church on Kirkgate that held a long series of meetings aimed at labour activists 55 entitled 'The Christ of Revolution'.

Bradford and nearby West Yorkshire towns like Keighley were the early strongholds of the ILP and housed the earliest and largest Labour Churches. This strength of tradition in the spiritual and recreational (and sectarian?) sides of the

53Town Crier 5 December1924 54John Boughton (1985) p. 287 55Bradford Pioneer 27 February1925 54 movementmight leadone to expecta more stableand well-establishedLabour musicalmovement than that which we havedocumented in Birmingham. The assertionsin JohnBoughton's comparison between Birmingham and Shcffield, however,would makeyou expectBradford to moreclosely resemble the latter city. Neither Keighleynor BradfordLabour Churchessurvived the First World

War, but the ILP did continue to hold Sunday evening meetings with lectures and music (pianists would be engagedto play 56)throughout the period. Sometimesthat

Sunday evening meeting would include a 'musical service' and this continued right into the 1930swhile Labour Churcheswere on the decline in Birmingham. Indeed, there is some evidence to suggestthat meetings very similar in nature to the Labour

Churches in Birmingham were organised by the ILP across much of the ILP heartland. While the National Labour Church movement would not appearto have survived the War, local ILPs do seemto have kept up the traditions (only choosing to keep the name in Birmingham). An ILP activist from Accrington recalled that:

The ILP was more cultural than the Labour Party. On Sunday afternoons we had Poetry, Art Music 57 talks on and ...

Similar Sunday meetings took place acrossthe city of Bradford. ILP brancheshad educational meetings and lectures on Sundays,similar to the Churches. Socialist

Sunday Schools in Bradford had regular 'Open Sundays' where anyone could attend a

Sunday afternoon meeting, normally with a speakerand a soloist58 and sometimes with a full programme of 'musical items, recitals, etc. by the scholars.'59 The meeting which most closely resembled a Labour Church in Bradford in the years immediately following the First World War was a lecture series,held during what, in Birmingham, constituted the Labour Church 'season', at the Picture House and later at the St.

56 [WYA-Kly] 2D80/A/7 KeighleyILP Minute Book, 1920-21- variousreferences to pianos. 17Jim Ainswordi Accrinton andDistrict. 1927-1934:the cottoncrisis andthe meanstest (1997)p. 330 Is Bradford PioneerNwnerous examples such as: GreatHorton SSSOpen Sunday with speaker (T.Blythe) andsoloist (Mr. H. Brooke)reported on 28 February1919 19Bradford Pioneer Great Horton SSSOpen Sunday (advert) 25 October1918 55 George's Hall. These venueswere much larger than the elementary school halls used by Birmingham Labour Churches. Advertisements for these meetings were carried in the Bradford Pioneer, a weekly newspaperunder the auspicesof the Bradford Trades and Labour Council, Bradford Labour Party and Bradford ILP (but, at this time, generally considered an ILP paper, who were particularly strong in the West Riding of Yorkshire). These ILP meetings were not given a specific name but they were

Sunday afternoon lectures - often about educational or cultural subjects rather than the specifically political. Sometimes the lecturers at Sunday meetings were well-known, such as J.B. Priestley speaking at a Great Horton Socialist Sunday School 'Open

Sunday'in 191960.

From time to time, instead of a lecture, there would be a musical evening.

Occasionally, as with the Birmingham Labour Churches,the two could be combined.

In January 1919, Mr. S. Midgley gave a lecture on 'Music and the People' 'illustrated 61 by well-known local artisteS, and the following month Mr. F. S. Howes, BA, lectured on'Songs for Socialists' 'with illustrations by Miss Marie Howes, LRAM, Mr. George Howes Oxford s62 In March 1919, in March 1920, and of . and again 'Casey' came to perform at a Sunday meeting at the Picture House with his accompanist, 'Dolly'.

'Casey' was the nickname of Walter Hampson, an itinerant ILP propagandist and violin player, who was apparently very popular in the movement. Indeed, when the duo visited the Picture House in 1920 the Bradford Pioneer felt the need to expresstheir 'deep regret to the number of people who were unfortunately crowded E12 1Os 6d for the Central European famine fund63 Casey's out' and they raised . performance involved playing 'music that is worthy of the worker's ear' interweaved with 'a good deal of wit and wisdom'. Precisely what music might be 'worthy of the worker's ear' is difficult to say, but one must assumethat it was serious classical

'Bradford Pioneer4 April 1919 BradfordPioneer 3 January1919 BradfordPioneer 31 January1919 BradfordPioneer 2 April 1920 56 musicjudging from someof Hampson'spublished 'wit andwisdom' which will be consideredin a later chapter. Onehas to assumethat 'Casey' was a talentedviolinist attaining,as he did, the admirationof suchopinionated critics as GeorgeBernard Shawand RutlandBoughton (who both supportedhis efforts in the early 1920sto purchasea Stradivarius,violin which was paid for by subscriptionsby Labour activists64). In 1927,the KeighleyILP engaged'Casey and Dolly' to performat the Municipal Hall on 24 October. In 1930a testimonialfund was setup for 'Casey' and KeighleyILP 5/_65This 'long, lean, bearded in contributed . athletic manattired velvetjacket andriding breeches'attracted a full houseagain at the JowettHall in Bradfordin 1928. On that occasionhis repertoireconsisted of piecesby Beethoven, Mozart, Schubertand Dvorak 'with no written musicbefore him' as well as somefolk danceS66.'Casey' was also a regularvisitor to Birminghamevents and being an itinerantLabour musician and speakerwould appearto havebeen his full-time job throughoutthe 1920s.The Labour's Who's Who from 1924listed his occupationas a dmusical propagandist and Co-op Union lecturer(fiddleosopher)' and his recreationas 'trying to discovera Stradivariusviolin. ' In the pasthe hadplayed first violin at the Royal in Manchester Blackpool Tower67 Theatre and with another orchestra at . These Sunday afternoon or evening meetings, held by the ILP acrossall their heart-lands could be seenas close relations of the Labour Church movement, although the two phenomenadid co-exist before the War. In the late Victorian and Edwardian period, the ILP Sunday lecture, 'classes in singing, dancing, elocution and political 68 the 'New Life' Labour Churches economy' , was very much part of alongside and the Clarion Movement, either engaging in 'making socialists' or providing them with educational leisure activities. That these meetings modelled themselvesto some degree on the Labour Churchesis further evidenced by a request from the ILP, printed

' Variousreferences are made to this effort in Labourpublications in the early 1920s.He hadraised E700by the beginningof 19231Bradford Pioneer 23 February1923 65[WYA-Kly] 2D80/A/8 Minute Book 1927-19305 August 1930 V.Eff 'Caseyand Dolly' Bradford Pioneer 14 December1928 LabourPublishing Company Labour's Who's Who (1924) p.74 68Keith LaybourneThe Riseof Socialismin Britain c.1881-1951 (Stroud, 1997) p.32 57 in the Pioneer, for 'two copies of the Labour Church Hymn Book (with music), now out of print' along with a volunteer pianist for Sunday evening meetings". It becomes more difficult to follow the recreational activity of the ILP in Bradford through the 1930s. Minute books are incomplete (and do not tend to dwell on such

Pioneer be matters anyway) and the - once considered to an organ of the ILP - retained its allegiance to the official Labour Party in a far more partisan way than the

Tour Crier. Certainly in the early 1930s the Sunday lectures were retaining their recreational and cultural element" while Birmingham's faltering Labour Church movement appeared to be losing its character of rational recreation. However, the

Sunday evening meetings did suffer from low attendances at this time. When a group of musicians played the music of Greig, Schubert and Vaughan Williams at the Jowett

Hall in February 1929, the correspondent to the Pioneer asked: 'what has happened to the audiences which used to throng the Jowett Hall? Is there some other attraction in the city on a Sunday night for ILP-ers? Or is it that music is not appreciated by

Bradford folkS? '71 Having said that, only a couple of weeks later an evening of chamber music (featuring a violinist, a cellist, a pianist and female vocaliSt72) was

"one bf the fmest concerts ever given in Bradford' and the Jowett Hall was crowded

'a delighted 73 Either the had with audience . chastisement shamed some more socialists into attending, or there was some inevitable seasonal variation in audience sizes (as one might expect for a regular event).

In another area of quasi-/religious, inter-war labour activity, Bradford was moreactive than Birmingham: the SocialistSunday Schools. While Labour Churches, in their formativeyears, often hada SundaySchool, the SocialistSunday Schools themselvesrepresent quite a distinct tradition. Formedin the west of Scotland,rather thanthe north of England,their primary aim was 'the conversionof a significant

"" BradfordPioneer 26 October1923 70For example,there was a lectureon 'Music andthe Proletariat',illustrated by gramophonerecords in early 1930by the'well-known wirelesslecturer Mr. M. Baritz' BradfordPioneer 10 January1930 71BradfordPioneer 15 February1929 72Bradford Pioneer 22 February1929 73Bradford Pioneer I March 1929 58 proportion of the new generation of British youth to Socialism for the purpose of transforming British society by political and industrial action. 74

There was a considerableamount of music played and sung in Socialist

SundaySchools, as with churchSunday Schools, and the emphasiswas on the 'pupils' makingthe musicthemselves. When Birmingham's King's Norton and StirchleySocialist Sunday School held their 'first annualparty' in 1919the programmeof entertainmentswas 'entirely in the handsof the childrenthemselves'. 75

The variousBradford SundaySchools had their own choirsand orchestras and the choirscombined to makethe "Sunbeams"who performedat a varietyof city-wide events(such as the ILP InternationalFair in 1925,which shall be consideredin more detail later on). They also performedmusical plays and operettasspecially composed for the movementas consideredin ChapterFive.

The Socialist Sunday Schools had a hymnbook that contained a variety of songsfor childrenof variousages (and includedsome of the 'hymns' and anthems sungregularly by the adults). Until 1925,Keighley SocialistSunday School used the original hymn book producedin 1910. The 1925updated book containeda numberof interestingareas of continuity andchange. The 1910Hymn Book announcedthat 'the hymnsselected are non-theological,and are exclusivelyconcerned with the spiritual and socialaspirations of the humanrace, in regardto life and conduct.1,76 By 1925, when 'a numberof entirely new songs[had] beenadded" and the compilershad 'taken the liberty of usinga numberof well-knownpieces from other similar collections", other concernshad arisenbeyond the theological,which showhow seriouslythe hymn-collectionwas taken. The editorsnoted, in the front of the book:

In the caseof SongNo. II the word "England" is to be broadly interpreted. The Committeewere not unanimousin referenceto the inclusionof No.70 and it was felt that this shouldbe noted.77

74F. Reid (1966)p. 20 75Town Crier 19 December1919 76[WYA-Kly] 2D80/F/1-2 SocialistSunday School Song-book (1910) 77[WYA-Kly] 2D80/F/1-2 SocialistSunday School Song-book (1925) 59 Number 11 was 'Praise Ye, Youth of England' and there was obviously concern that schools in Scotland and Wales might take issue with the lyric. Whether the word

'England' could be interpreted broadly enough to include the entire international proletariat, I rather doubt. The controversy around Number 70 would appear to be due to feminist opinion on the Committee: 'Onward Brothers, march still onward' 78 referred to the future socialist state as 'man's true kingdom. No apology is made in the book for Edward Carpenter's 'England AriseV or various usesof the generic

'man' or 'he' so the decision to single these two out is difficult to explain. Similarly difficult to explain (other than that certain songs were 'favourites') are the decisions of which songsto repeat, omit and add from the 1910 book. TittleComrades 979is bizarre and antiquated and yet was chosento be repeated.

We're a bandof little Comrades, Marchingin the path of truth; We are marchingonward, onward, Throughthe flowery land of youth; Marchingonward up to Manhood80 Whenwe meanto join the fight Of the weakagainst oppression In the battle for the right.

The chorus is of particular antiquarian interest:

And we practise as we go On the little things we meet, Carrying Granny's parcel for her, Guiding blind men o'er the street, Lifting up the fallen baby, Helping mother all we may, Thus as little duties meet us, we perform them day by day.81

" [WYA-Kly] 2D80/F/1-2 SocialistSunday School Song-book, Hymn No.70 (1925) 79No. 12 in 1910 and No. 10 in 1925 ' Onceagain no apologyis madefor the genderspecificity. 81[WYA-Kly] 2D80/F/1-2 SocialistSunday School Song-book, Hymn No. 12 (1910)and No-10 (1925) These lyrics obviously reveal something about the nature of the Socialist Sunday

Schools,that the younger children were given instruction in 'good deeds' as in the

Boy Scout movement. This was echoed in the Schools' 'catechism', 'The Declaration of First Principles', which included the aspiration of 'cultivating the spirit of service to others'. Similarly, the 'Socialist Ten Commandments' included, 'make every day holy by deeds kindly 82 And good or useful and actions' . yet there was considerable hostility towards the scout movement owing to its alleged militaristic associations.

Later in the period the 'Woodcraft Folk' were promoted as a progressivealternative to the Boy SCOUtS83."We're a band of little comrades" was such a 'favouritc' that it was 84 often the choice of song with which to close a meeting.

SSSactivists found it increasinglynecessary to defendtheir activities from attacks in press and parliament and even from the concerns of Labour supporters and

labour movement activists. These controversies would primarily emerge from the

schools' more 'religious' ceremonies and from their determination to be legally considered a religious movement. There was a parliamentary debate about the

schools in 1923 when a Conservative, Sir John Butcher, moved a Bill on the subject.

The Bradford Pioneer's perception of the debate was that 'apparently no-one took

Butcher's 85 During the 1922 General Election the Bradford rubbish very serioUSIY, . Argus had carried articles attacking the SSSs, especially the 'precepts' and the

6naming services. A correspondent to the Pioneer from the Bradford Moor school

defended their teachings and invited critics to an 'Open Sunday' to see what they did

for themselves. But in fact, many of the critics' concerns about the schools were true.

Whether they were right to be concerned about them is another matter, but the schools did have 'naming services' that represented secular baptisms. In 1922, the Labour

Lord Mayor of Bradford conducted naming services for 'a couple of bairns' and they

82F. Reid (1966)pp. 46-47 83The WoodcraftFolk wasthe Co-operativeMovements' alternative to the scoutmovement, largely basedaround folksong, set up in 1924and, like the SSSsattracted a lot of attentionfrom the CommunistParty. A Manningham.SSS meeting in 1930,for instance.BradfordPioneer 6 June1930 Bradford Pioneer 30 March 1923 . 61 bunch flowers They each received a silver spoon and a of amidst a musical service86. did have their own 'Ten Commandments' which included:

Rememberthat all goodthings of the earthare produced by labour. Whoever enjoysthem without working for them is stealingthe breadof the workers.87

They did have a catechism where pupils would learn the 'first principles of socialism' by heart. It was perhapsnot surprising that the SSS's were 'the butt of a great deal of splenetic splutter from Anti-Socialist organisations' and, instead of that being 'a recommendationof us to the Labour forces' they found 'apathy and antagonism from the great majority'88.

In June 1933, the Great Horton SSS (in Bradford) held a bazaa to raise money to pay the rents. In the Bradford Pioneer they complained:

It seemsa curiousthing that organisationssuch as the PlymouthBrethren and the Four-SquareGospellers - indeedall the religious bodies- shouldbe exempt from the paymentof ratesfor their premises,whilst an organisationwhich bases its teachingon Love, Truth andJustice should be compelledto pay. Now if the SocialistSunday Schools opened their serviceswith a pleato a doubtful Divinity for daily bread,instead of the statement"we desireto bejust and loving to all our fellow menand women, " their rateswould be forgiventhem. 89

When trying to defme the role of the Schools compared with the Guild of Youth and the League of Youth, they presentedthemselves as idealist and utopian. The role of the Schools was to 'teach the desire for an ideal Socialist Commonwealth' while the 90 Guild of Youth struggled with 'actual politics'. It was felt, therefore, that their roles should be complementary. A speakerat the Bradford Socialist Sunday School

Union's anniversary in 1931 declared that 'Socialism is something more than politics; 91 economics and politics are only the instruments for the creation of socialism'.

:6 BradfordPioneer 31 March 1922 7 F.Reid (1966)pp. 46-47 88Bradford Pioneer 22 Much 1929 89Bradford Pioneer 23 June1933 90Bradford Pioneer 30 January193 1 91Bradford Pioneer 20 February1931 62 The Socialist Sunday Schools wcrc incrcasingly marginaliscd, partly becauscof thcir

'spiritual idealism'. As this processoccurred, they becamemore closely attached to the Communist Party.

Clearly there was a significant 'ethical', 'spiritual', utopian tradition in the inter-war labour movement that saw music as a fundamentally important activity. It could be the expression of its moral code (through the perceived connection between music and morals) and could provide wholesome, rational recreation for working people whose

'spiritual idealism' was threatened by the appeal of baser, irrational, commercial pleasures. But it was not entirely a conservative, anachronistic tendency, hostile to the realities of the world around it; it embraced some new technology (such as the gramophone and the wireless) and could become vital and controversial on occasion

(particularly the Socialist Sunday School Union). This tradition represents uses for music that don't neatly fit into the categories of 'pleasure, pennies and propaganda', but these were certainly the concerns of the less spiritual musical socialists.

iii) Musicfor Pleasure

Clearly trying to divide musical activity in the associational life of the labour movement into categoriesof 'pleasure', 'pennies' and 'propaganda' is going to be problematic. We have already witnessed part of that problem. Was the music involved in the activities of those 'religion of socialism' organisations primarily meant to entertain the members,collect money or attract new members? Clearly all three motivations played a part (alongside the specific motivations of 'spiritualism' and 'rational recreation'). Similarly when other labour organisationsemployed music in their activity, the motivations were manifold. If one could find enjoyable ways to raise money or spreadthe word, then that was all to the good. However, one would expect pleasure(and leisure) to be the primary motivations for musical activity 63 (especiallymusic of a lessearnest nature than that employedin the Labour Churches).

In Birmingham, the ILP had been primarily responsible for the organisation of the

Labour Churches(and elsewhere for organising the Sunday lectures, etc.) but they were often keen to make more frivolous use of music. The inter-war ILP tended to divide the organisation of its various activities amongst numerous committees. Local groups had 'social committees' or, in the caseof the Erdington ILP in Birmingham, an 'entertainment sub-committee'. An Erdington ILP concert, in November, 1919

despite 'the [by]... the was poorly attended varied programme provided... membersof the entertainment sub-committee.' The organiserswere not too disheartened, however, signing off their report of the event thus: 'We hope that the next concert we arrangewill be accorded more support by the Trade Unionists and Socialists of the district. 992A later Erdington ILP event (at the start of 1921) was far more successful and as well as the 'musical items' and 'songs' there was dancing which 'went down very well'. This encouragedthe correspondentwith the Touw Crier to note that 'it looked as if the Erdington Labour movement had at last overcome the backwardness hitherto in 93 As dancing important in shown this respect . we shall see, played an part entertainment, fund-raising and propaganda.

Keighley ILP had a very complex committee structure. Their Sunday meetings in the Labour Church mould were not under the auspicesof their Social

Committee but were handledjointly by the Executive Committee and the Lectures

Committee. The branch even had a Billiards Committee, but most recreational pursuits were handled by the Social Committee. The usual non-musical social events in the years immediately following the First World War were whist drives all the year round and 'rambles' in spring and summer. The most popular and frequent musical events were dances. This would probably be true of social events organised by any provincial organisations at this time, not just labour associations. Through 1918 and

11Town Crier 21 November1919 93 TownCrier 7 January1921 64 1919, the Keighley ILP hosted monthly dancesat the Cycling Club alongside regular concerts. Particular membersof the Social Committee, or the Executive Committee would be prevailed upon to arrangeprogrammes for concertS94.On one occasion the committee decided to 'accept Mr. Wardle's offer of two gentlemen singers and Mr.

Wood's offer of two lady singers and a boy violinist for Tuesday evening.'95 Various membersof the Keighley Party, including senior committee members,were askedto provide piano accompanimentat the various events. Members of the Party would often be asked to provide the entertainment on social occasions(particularly at concerts and small social events called 'at hornes') where people might sing, recite or play the piano. Monologues (sometimes in dialect) were also popular (the practitioners of such entertainment were generally called 'elocutionists' at this time and they can regularly be seen on concert programmesand making up the numbers of

Concert Parties). Much work was delegatedfrom the Social Committee to the group variously called the ILP Women's Group, the Women's Labour League and the

Women's Committee. Before and during the First World War, the Keighley

Women's Labour League had been involved in serious political campaigns, such as involvement with the peacemovement 96 but when they returned to full activism in

1920 it was rather more like a sub-committee of the Social Committee. Their primary concern was actually with fund-raising, not just for the ILP or for their own funds, but for the Russian Famine Fund the Keighley Boot Fund97 For also causessuch as and . much of the early twenties the group met every Tuesday with next to no political debate or considerations,concerning themselves instead with teas,jumble salesand the occasional dance. Occasionally there would be some debate on these issues:on 7

February 1922 'it was decided to strike out a little different in the matter of savouries instead of so many sweets and cakes for supper'98. A fortnight later they decided that

94[WYA-Kly] 2D8O/CII ILP SocialCommittee Minutes Numerousexamples sudi as21 November 1921 95 [WYA-Kly] 2D80/CII ILP SocialCommittee Minutes February(? - no date) 1922 96[WYA-Kly] 2D80/BII Women'sLabour League Minutes 1914and 1917 97[WYA-Kly] 2D80/B/I Women'sLabour League Minutes 24 January1922 " [WYA-Kly] 2D80/B/I Women'sLabour League Minutes 7 February1922 65 theywould haveto providesweets and cakes as well 'for peoplewho preferred them'99.Later that year it was suggestedthat they could hold a concertafter ajumble salethey wereholding on the last Saturdayin April, but it was later decidedthat a tea would be preferableand they decidedwhich memberswould bring what cakes'00.

Suchtasks were sometimestaken upon themselves - the committeeitself votedto take careof all refreshmentsfor the 'at homes'101- on otheroccasions the Social Committee voted to leave refreshmentsto the Women's Committee, such as for a Grand Carnival Ball in 1924102 That the busy . women should themselveswith the teas is a stereotypical picture that has been considered by many historians researching in labour 103 The Women's Group did a woman's place the movement . sometimes discussthe actual provision of music at events in the sameway as the Social

Committee: on the 25 March, 1924 they 'resolved that Mr. Robinson and Mrs Spencer be askedto sing and Miss Howell, Miss J Clarke and Miss Ogden to recite and Miss

Bayley be pianist' at a twelve hand whist drive and social to be held on 8 April that year'04. In 1925, the Women's Group decided to hold their own concert and social and the minutes for the 18 February meeting noted 'the concert to be sustainedby membersof the Women's Group'.

One question which inevitably arises and is not easily or satisfactorily answeredis whether the choice of music, musicians or repertoires was afforded any more importance or controversy in Keighley Women's Group or Social Committee considerationsthan who was going to make the pies or buy the cigarettes. To a certain extent this is a question for a different chapter, but it is important to keep that question at the back of the mind: how much importance did ordinary activists place on music, on a day-to-day level? There is a little evidence to suggestthat while 'pie and fags' concerns were just left to volunteers, there were some debatesand votes on

[WYA-Kly] 2DSO/B/I Women's Labour League Minutes 21 February 1922 [WYA-Kly] 2D80/B/I Women's Labour League Minutes 21 March and 4 April 1922 [WYA-Kly] 2D80/B/I Women's Labour League Minutes 30 January 1923 102[WYA-Kly] 2D80/C/l ILP Social Committee Minutes 22 January 1924 11 Pamela Graves Labour Women (1994) enters this debate. 101[WYA-Kly] 2D80/B/l Women's Labour League Minutes 25 March 1924 66 the subject of musicians. Thesewere not regarding the normal socials, concerts or 'at homes' where whichever talented memberscould be prevailed upon would provide the entertainments,but with regard to the larger public dances. What cannot be understood from the minutes are what issuesled to the committee's decisions about dance bands. On 22 January 1924 during the discussionsregarding a Grand Carnival

Ball at the Baths Hall in Keighley on 23 February, an amendmentwas moved that they should engagethe 'Hardacre's Band' for the dance and the amendmentfell.

What was not minuted on that occasion was whether another band had been engaged or proposed. On 25 August 1924 it was decided that the choice of orchestra for another dance (not to be held until I November) should be made at the Social

Committee'05(clearly suggestingthat past decisions had been made by individuals and had not always met with approval). They had advertised in the Keighley News for tenders from bands106 and the meeting decided to cast out of consideration any band whose rates were higher than 2/- per hour per man. This essentially meant that they would not have been employing Musicians' Union members, although in this period dance band performers were among the least organised, least secureand most exploited of musicians despite popular depictions of there being a lot of money in dance This left 'Schofields' the 'Majestics'; former MUSiCI07. two orchestras: and the received 12 votes, the latter 8. This was quite a close result. Any debates surrounding the vote were not minuted but the result would suggestthat there were other issuesconsidered than simply cost. One possible issue was a generational one; at the same meeting Miss Howells made the radical proposal that the dance should continue until 11.30prn but an amendmentfrom the more mature Mrs. Smith and Mrs.

Lightowler quickly reigned the proposal back to II o'clock! 108

Certainlyin the early 1920s,the provisionof musicat laboursocial events was often

:05 [WYA-Kly] 2D80/CIl ILP SocialCommittee Minutes 25 August 1924 06[WYA-Kly] 2D80/CIl ILP SocialCommittee Minutes II August 1924 107Keith Withall 'The VoluntaryOrganising Committee of the Musicians'Union, 1935-1939:A Studyin Rankand File TradeUnionism' (RuskinCollege Thesis, 1976) ` [WYA-Kly] 2D80/CIl ILP SocialCommittee Minutes 25 August 1924 67 left to the membersthemselves (or their children). As we haveseen, as the dancehall crazetook hold in the countryit becamethe norm for outsidebands (usually of semi- professionalstatus) to be engaged.Keighley ILP would, on occasion,engage outside choirs,bands and performers to providethe entertainmentat other events. In 1919 and 1920the Keighley Clarion Choir were engagedfor socialsand, in turn, they bookedthe ILP 'rooms' for their own events. The continuedexistence of Clarion

Choirsin the north of Englandshall be consideredin moredetail in the next chapter.

A choir from Nelsonin Lancashireplayed at the Keighley ILP roomsin 1929109and was regularlyinvited back. The KeighleyVocal Union (a non-politicalsinging troupe)used the ILP roomsfor practisespace, and another local choir, the Kingsway Choir, got reducedrates on hiring the room for rehearsalin exchangefor them 'giving 11. a concert" 10.A similar arrangementwas made for a local 'Boys Band" The fact that the room could be hired with the piano madeit an attractiveroom to musical combinations,but playing of the pianoby ILP membershad to be restrictedduring 112 working hoursto avoid irritating nearbyworkers and shop-keepers!

Although dancing was used for fund-raising and even propagandist purposes(as we shall see) it was usually the casethat the primary motivation for organising a dance was to provide an enjoyable evening. Some labour organisations held regular dances while others planned one-off events. One-off dancescould be presentedas rewards for activists after election campaigns or other activity.

During the 1924-5 season,the Birmingham Industrial Co-operative Society

(BICS) would host dancing at the Co-operative Hall on Coventry Road on Mondays, Tuesdays,Wednesdays Saturdays than day' 13 Before and - sometimesmore once a . the 1925/26 season,the BICS dancing instructor and organiser, George Ray, set up his own 'academy' which kept similar hours, organising 'Labour Dances' on

109[WYA-Kly] 2D80/A/8 Keighley ILP Minute Book II November 1929 110[WYA-Kly] 2D80/A/8 Keighley ILP Minute Book 9 November 1931 111[WYA-Kly] 2D80/A/8 Keighley ILP Minute Book 27 March 1934 112[WYA-Kly] 2D80/A/8 Keighley ILP Minute Book 21 July 1921 113Toim Crier 17 October 1924 68 Thursdays.There would appearto havebeen some bitterness, his advertisementin the TownCrier assertingthat 'he wasthrown out of work, havingreceived (while on holiday) noticeto terminatehis agreementat the Co-operativeHall, no reasongiven or asked." 14The sheeramount of dancingis quite staggering,especially when you considerthat Birminghamwas not shortof commercialpalais de danseand those were alwayslikely to provemore popular (although perhaps more costly) thana Co- op dance(and certainly an ILP dance). Having saidthat, a numberof Birn-ýngham

ILP branchesheld regular(weekly) dances'". Questionsabout the actualmusic enjoyed(or not) at the danceswill be consideredin ChapterSix, but they were certainlyvery popularevents.

Out of the 'season' music could still be heard at ILP and Labour Party outdoor events such as garden parties or fetes.' 16For obvious reasons,the music employed at outdoor events was often different from that preferred indoors: brassand silver bands replacing soloists. Similarly all brancheswith choirs were urged to bring them along and participate in large open-air meetings"'. As well as the traditional musical aspectsof open-air meetings, 'dancing on the green' becameincreasingly popular as the Dance Hall craze took off. There were also branch 'outings' in the summer. The

Selly Oak ILP had a joint outing with their Labour Church Musical Society in 1922, to Evesham. Once there the choir 'rendered a number of songswhich were greatly 18. appreciatedby the audience' in Evesham's Labour Hall' Even when not blessed with a choir on a trip, labour movement outings were musical affairs with lots of

114Town Crier 9 October 1925 "' The most successfulof these was Witton ILP whose danceswere regularly advertised and reported in the Towr Crier through the 1920s. 'Witton ILP:... the weekly dancesare meeting with great success' Town Crier 24 September 1926. '... the usual weekly dance was very successful on Saturday last.' Town Crier I October 1926 "' For example there was 'vocal and instrumental music' advertised at the ILP Garden Party in Birmingham to be held on 17 July 1920. ToWnCrier 9 July 1920 117 Bradford Pioneer August 11-25 1922 An open air meeting at Shipley Glen required 'choirs to be help hymn I branches boast present to the meeting with a good old or two'. ... all which a choir are urged to bring it along to assist in discoursing sweet music before the speechesand leading the crowd in some good old Labour hymns.' The Huddersfield ILP Choir were especially engagedfor the meeting 'and they know all about choirs in Huddersfield'. 'is Town Crier 25 August 1922 69 singing (especially on returnjourneys). When the Bradford ILP outing to York returned on a June evening in 1923 they loudly sang the "Red Flag" out of the train 119 carriage windows from which they flew red streamers ; one assumes that they had enjoyed sampling some of the old city's charms! Such impromptu musical interludes were not always a source of pleasure. When an ILP group from Heaton (in Bradford) had an outing to the rural surrounds of Nidderdale, 'Miss Oldscrew performed solos which were happily inaudible' on the "shaffabang" (SiC)120.

As well as the miscellaneousoutings, there were various hostels, surnmer camps, and clubhousesaimed at providing 'holiday' destinations for labour activists.

The Clarion fellowship was still active in Yorkshire betweenthe wars. There was a

Clarion clubhouse situated between Otley and Menston in a rural area easily accessiblefrom both Bradford and Leeds. They would hold various events including sports during the day and lectures, dancing and concerts during the evenings. The idea was that people would stay at the clubhouse having a weekend in the countryside amongst comrades. The rather eccentric resident managerof the club had obviously been infected with some 'golden age' utopian imagery when he described it as a place where:

Maidensfair with goldenhair, Do dancetra-la, and sing; When glistening eyes and blushes rare Sweet content do bring. 121

A similar facility was locatedat Sheldonfor visits from labour activistsin the West

Midlands.There were 'Concertsand balls' (amongstother recreationalactivities and debates) Midland Clarion Clubhousein Sheldon122 The Club at the . was advertisedas 'the keendancer's paradise' 123 and was holding dancesevery Saturdaynight in the

119Bradford Pioneer 29 June 1923 120Bradford Pioneer 22 June 1923 12'Bradford Pioneer 6 July 1923 122Town Crier 10 October 1919 123TOUV Crier 16 April 1920 70 Spring of 1920.124 Similar hostels were advertised in national publications (such as the Socialist Leaguer) located in various parts of the country (there was a Clarion

Youth Hostel seventeen miles outside London that held events with concerts and 125). entertainment

The labour movement sang and played for pleasurewith the most vigour when celebrating; anniversariesor election victories were especially musical occasions. The big 'Victory Rallies' that followed Labour's two inter-war General Election

$successes'were particularly joyous and melodic occasions. The 'great Victory rally' which followed the 1924 General Election, in London, witnessed '12,000 people' singing 'to the words of the great poet of freedom, William Morris, "The March of the

Workere" to the tune of "John Brown's Body". Sydney A. Court (conductor of the

Deptford Labour Choir) reported on the event:

Greatas would havebeen that meetingin any case,who canestimate the power of the musicpreceding it, or forgetthe thrill that ran throughthat mighty audienceas the first martial strainsof the "Marseillaise"pealed out from the organand the voicesof the choir took up the openingphrase. Again, with our leadersin placeand singingwith us, the fervour with which the words"England is risen andthe day is here" were sungwill not easilybe forgotten... host ... the of workers,still overflowingwith music,sang their way through the snowhomewards. Through streets or trains, 'busesand tramsthe songs were repeateduntil all Londonmust have wondered. 126

Clearly SidneyCourt wastaken with his themeand romanticised the occasion somewhat.Nevertheless, the eventmust have been a moving one to thoseLabour pioneersand the musicalaspect of the celebrationscan only haveadded to their effect.

Local electionsuccesses were similarly markedwith socialevents, dances and

124 T014,n Crier April 1920 125Socialist Leaguer June-July1934 126Sidney A. Court 'Music andthe People:A messageto the labourmovement' Labour Magazine Vol 11,No. 10February 1924 71 concerts.Local Labour Partieswould often hold a 'Victory Social' for Partyworkers whena local electionhad beensuccessful, such as at the All SaintsWard, Birmingham,in November1921 where 'vocal and instrumentalitems' wereprovided by 'a numberof artistesand friends.' 127There were a largenumber of similar 'victory socials' after the sameset of local electionsacross Birmingham and the district129 How manymembers attended 'socials' and eventson a branchlevel is difficult to estimate,but a city-wide Birmingham UP Federation Social' saw only

'200 ILP membersand friends' enjoying 'the programme of songs, speeches,dances and orchestral music"29 - and this was not reported as a disappointing tum-out.

Indeed, such a number would necessitatequite a large hall, but it would not seemto representa very impressive combined effort from the many branchesincluded in that

'federation'. On the other hand, the Ladywood Labour Party held 'A Concert' on 16 April 1921130 'a huge from which was considered success... every point of view, musical, social, and financial' featuring 'songs, dancesand pianoforte selections' with

'no hitch anywhere'. At this early stage in the period it was considered a 'delightfully unique experience' to have to get 'the caretakerto bring in four or five more long 131 rows of desksto accommodatethe crowd that turned up.' By the middle of the

1920s all reports of such events remarked on the large or crowded audiences.

Although the event took place at a school, the image of the 'crowd' sitting at desks is a rather austereone.

Anniversaries, whether they marked the founding of a small labour organisationor the transportationof the To1puddleMartyrs, were occasionswhere the movementgot into goodvoice. During the 40th Anniversarycelebrations of the

'2' TownCrier II November1921 129These took placeat SaltleyWard (a 'victory tea andsocial' which was 'spentin games,music and dancing'Town Crier 2 December192 1; Washwood.Heath Ward (with 'whist, dances,and splendid gleesand solosby the Lozell's Co-operativeChoir' Toim Crier 9 December192 1; SparkbrookLabour Party(who 'musical high featuringfemale enjoyeda programme... of an exceptionally standard' impersonations,songs, pianoforte solos, duets and 'humourousitems') To" Crier 16 December;and Victoria Wardin Smethwick(with a 'most successfulsocial and the "Red Lion"' featuring'real high classmusic') 16 December1921 129ToWn Crier 15 December 1922 130Towv Crier 15 April 1921 131 Touv Crier 22 April 1921 72 132 Co-operative Society in Summer 1921 there Birmingham the of , was a demonstrationwith 'bands and banners' on the 27 August and a 'Grand Concert' at the Town Hall on 19 September133 featuring the 'special engagementof the C.W. S. Concert Party.' 134 The the Tolpuddle Martyrs, in 1934, . anniversary of was greeted with large demonstrations(with the usual musical accompaniment- mass singing and bands)135 as well as the Pageantof Labour, a huge musical event that composersAlan

Bush and Michael Tippett worked on together.

Celebrations did not always have to commemorate anything in particular. Any excuse was often good enough for a big party. Fairs and bazaars were popular events all year round and, occasionally, efforts would be made to make them something rather more special. An example of this would be the Bradford ILP 'International Fancy Fair' of

1925. A four day event at the beginning of April and tipped to be 'the greatest social

in history Bradford ILP' 136 fair event the of the , the centred around stalls with international themes. The event featured well-known speakers(such as Margaret

McMillan and Fred Jowett), a broad entertainmentprogramme (at the Queen's Hall) and musical entertainment from a popular Concert Party at the 'Cafe Chantant'. The event was considered an important enough aspectof the ILP calendar for them to produce a very attractively presented56-page souvenir programme. The entertaimnent programme featured (in a different order each evening) International dancesand playlets presentedby a Miss Chignell and a number of infants, the local

Socialist Sunday School Union's "Sunbeams", the Clarion Concert Party and a number of dramatic sketchesgiven by two local comrades(including a production of

'scenes from Shirley', the Charlotte Bronte novel) 137.Miss Chignell was a nursery

132Toww Crier 26 August 1921 133TOIM Crier 9 September1921 134TOVM Crier 16 September1921 133There were many events all aroundthe countryincluding brass band competitions, labour hymn singing,etc. 136[WYA-Bfd] BradfordIndependent Labour Party InternationalFancy Fair. SouvenirProgramme (1925)p. I "' [WYA-Bfdj SouvenirProgramme (1925) p. 6 73 school teacher, presenting her pupils. Much of what was performed in her section of the entertainmentprogramme will be of interest in later chapters (including a variety of folk dances). Interesting aspectsof the performance included drarnatisednursery rhymes which (along with folk dancing and short musical plays) was a central part of the local infant school music syllabus (certainly by 1933) to help encourage

to keep interested in 138 The "Sunbeams" appreciation of rhythm and children music . from the Socialist Sunday Schools promised 'forty minutes of melody and mirth' in the form of 'concerted items, songs and dances'. The musical entertainment at the

Cafe Chantant, provided by Mr. Joe Dixon's Concert Party, promised to be 'first class' and comprised a continuous programme from seven until ten on each night of the fair, and three until five on the Saturday afternoon. They featured a soprano, a contralto, a tenor and a baritone (Mr. Dixon himselo as well as an 'entertainer' and two pianists. The soprano (Madame Alice Brewerton) was given special mention as she had lately been in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Certainly music was a central feature of this event and involved lots of local activists. The Cafe Chantant was run by around thirty 'ILPers' over the weekend (all of them women, all but four 139. unmarried and two of the marr ied ones were those 'in charge') As with Keighley's social committee, it would appear that much business regarding social events

(especially where anything like catering was involved) was handed over to the

Women's groups. It was certainly not unusual for committee meetings to decide to leave the 'in the hands the ladies' 140 The Bradford ILP refreshments of . continued to attempt to organise the occasional very big event like this, even after the split with the

Labour Party such as the ILP Socialist Bazaa in 1933 which was again spread across 141 a whole weekend.

As we consideredin the last chapter'leisure' was deemedto be somethingmore

138[WYA-Bfd] E. Priestly(Superintendent of Music andAssitant Inspector of Schools)City of BradfordEducation Committee Syllabus ofMusicfor Infants (October1933) 139[WYA-Bfdj SouvenirProgramme (1925) p, 12 140[WYA-Bfd] 5D87/l/I HeatonILP Group(Minutes) 4 December1928 141[WYA-Bfdl 5D77/5/3 Miscellany 1933ILP SocialistBazaa material 74 important than mere free time or frivolity, by inter-war socialists. It was an important prize, there to be won and to be used in the correct fashion. Some would no doubt have disapproved of some of the ways labourites used their leisure, but at the same time would rather they squanderthat rich prize of leisure under the auspicesof labour organisationsthan in commercial dance halls and music halls. One reason for that was that any money spent on such frivolities was better collected by the movement than by the capitalist managersof the commercial leisure industry.

iv) Filling the coffers

Labour organisationsrequired funds for various reasons. One of the most pressing was the 'parliamentary fund' neededto stand candidatesin general elections. Above and beyond this there might be rent to pay for 'rooms', club or hall, the increasing need to pay a staff member and funds for particular campaignsor causesof the day.

The raising of funds during strikes or to assist unemployment relief schemeswill be dealt with in Chapter Four. Other causespresented themselves. The National Union of Railwaymen dedicated most of their fund-raising activity to their Widows and Orphans' Fund 142 the for 'poor , regular concerts all around country were staged children' and the Keighley labour movement had a 'Boot Fund' to provide shoesfor the poorest youngsters in the town.

Many labourorganisations found themselves in perrmnentneed of fundsin this period and,as a result,the organisationalmotivation behind social events became increasinglygeared towards fund-raising. The regulardances put on by the Keighley

ILP were no exception.They were opento the generalpublic at a costof one shilling. Membersof the ILP who wishedto attendbut not to dancewere admittedfor 6d. as dancers late143 Staging dances were who arrived . the wasnot a particularlycostly 142There are many references to concerts, dances and socials raising money for the NUR Orphans' Fundacross the country in theRadwayman (weekly, national NURjournal) throughout the period. 143[WYA-Kly] 2D80/CII ILP Social Committee Minutes 14 October 1918 75 business; 13/ was spent on the printing of 500 programmes for the 1918 danceswhich have for themselves144 After the dances,held 23 would quickly paid . one of on November, it was decided that one pound from the takings would be handedto the Parliamentary Fund145 The the funds by these . rest of raised regular - and not unprofitable - events were kept specifically for ILP expenditure. As the period went on, fund-raising increasingly becamethe primary motivation behind the social events of the Keighley ILP. This was primarily due to the rent that had to be paid on the ILP

'Rooms'. They hired out the 'rooms' to Labour and other organisations(on moderate terms) to raise funds. They put on concerts, 'at homes' (which were smaller evening socials with teas and entertainments)and more and more dances,with a tendency towards 'Grand Carnival Dances' where three or four hundred would be dancing to dance 146 professional, or semi-professional orchestras .

Although staging a labour social was not an especially costly business,the 'artistes' at concerts and events did not always provide their services free of charge and entertainerswould advertise in the ToiM Crier. One ILP member announcedthat if they required a female impersonator then his terms were 'moderate' for 'Concerts, Socials, 147 Such Labour etc' . a performer was not so rare an element of a concert as one might think. While the music hall/variety institution of cross-dressingwould appearto epiton-ýisemuch of what socialist commentatorsfound to disapprove in the industry, such qualms (along with those held against dancing, and 'comic' songs) would not appearto have been sharedby many in the local organisations.

Many dancebands advertised their 'moderate'terms in the TownCrier throughout the 1920s,some becausethey were Labour supporters,others becausethey recognisedthe potentialmarket for socialevents organised by the variouslabour organisations. It was more usual for concert perfonners, however, to 'give' their

144[WYA-Kly] 2D80/CIl ILP SocialCommittee Minutes II November1918 145[WYA-Kly] 2D80/C/l ILP SocialCommittee Minutes 25 November1918 146[WYA-Kly] 2D80/Ctl ILP SocialCommittee Minutes Variousreferences to payingor tendering for bands 147Towr Crier 6 February1920 76 services,especially when fundswere beingraised either for the organisational expensesor for specific charitable collections.

Labour newspapersalso foundthat salesalone (and what little advertisingthey could secure)was not enoughto sustaintheir efforts. The "Daily HeraldLeague" looked to raisefunds to sustainthe newspaper.The 'Daily Herald League'had an active group within the Birminghamlabour movement. At a LabourRally at the Town Hall, under their auspices,with GeorgeLansbury speaking, there were 'SocialistHymns from 2-

30 till 3 accompaniedby organ.' The advertisementinstructed: 'Socialists, bring your hymn-books!v148 without specifyinga particularpublication. The Leagueplanned 150 'Grand Concerts'for 25 April 149and 21 May in 1920. The April concertdid not go aheadin the end,owing to their inability to securean entertainmentslicence. The Leaguealso claimedto stage'the eventof the season'in January1922 when they held a FancyDress Ball with a 'full band' providing the music. This was a more impressiveacquisition than it soundsat this early stagein the dance-hallcraze as small,traditional dance-hall combinations were just beginningto adaptto the jazz sound. A photographof this 'most successfulfunction' was reproducedin the Tovm Crier showingmen and womenof all ages'51.The eventwas deemed so successful that it was repeatedthe following yearand given the additionaltag of 'annual'152 althoughthe attendanceon this secondoccasion was disappointing. 153 A socialand 'at home' was organisedat Britton Hall in Bradfordin 1923entitled 'The Daily Herald must live' and featuredmusic from a local combination,the Lyric Quartette.

A more unusualadvertisement for the Daily Herald was includedin the Bradford

Pioneerasking 'have you seenthe PioneerChoir's advertin the Daily Herald'? If not, havea good look at it. ' The PioneerChoir will be consideredin the next chapter.

148Town Crier 6 February 1920 149TOWV Crier 12 March 1920 150To" Crier 9 April 1920 151Toim Crier 24 February 1922 152Town Crier 24 November 1922 153To" Crier 8 December 1922 77 Along with a number of other organisations, local Labour Parties would sometimes

provide entertainment for 'poor children'. 154One such entertainment in January 1922

under the auspicesof the Duddeston and Nechells Labour Party featured 'the "Merry

Nibbs" Concert Party' who provided 'a very pleasant programme' apparently for 155 '500-600 children'. Sometimesthe children's entertainment would feature modem,

popular music such as 'Mr. Rawlings, with his Jazz Band' who 'nearly took the roof

off' when entertaining '500-600' children (a popular number!) at SaItley ward in 156 January 1922

Although, as we mentioned in the last chapter, the idea that art should pay was

anathemato some musical socialists, it was essentialto the day-to-day existence and

businessof the labour movement (as well as beneficial to some 'good causes' which the movement choseto sponsor). As with so many other aspectsof socialist thought jazz about music - opposition to dance and music, musical comedy and variety - concern about 'selling' one's art was not felt particularly deeply by general activists, nor considered important in the face of day-to-day practicalities. At the sametime, trade union principles were not always kept to the fore when organising fund-raising events; artists who 'gave' their services were preferred to those who charged

Musicians' Union rates.

v) Spreading the word

Dare to be a Tory, Dare to wearthe blue, Dare to say 'I love my Boss', And swearto heavenit's true.

114For exampleTadywood LabourParty entertains 500 kiddies' including'a charmingpiano and mandolineduet' andsinging, reported in the TownCrier 21 January1920 153Town Crier 6 January1922 156Towr Crier 27 January1922 78 Dareto be a Tory, And say my life's my own, When but the dirt around my face Is all the land I own. 157

Parodyand humour were the literary and musicaltools in the handsof the musical propagandists,as we shall see. How suchpropaganda could reachthe desired audiencein the day-to-daylife of the labourmovement was moreproblematic. The era of touring streetspeakers, Clarion buses and ILP propagandistswas drawingto a close. It had sometimesbeen the theatreof suchactivity that attractedthe crowdsand therewere new diversionsnow. Exploiting thosenew diversions- dancing,the wireless,etc. - wasthe challengefor inter-warpropagandists and so musicremained as importantas whenthe socialisthymn-singing drew crowdsto a Clarion cart.

The BirminghamIndustrial Co-operativeSociety (BICS) held regularconcerts alongsidetheir very busyprogramme of dancingand dancing instruction. BICS Musical Eveningg,such as those held in March 1921,would featurevarious artistes' and one of the BirminghamCo-operative Choirs (there were 'Senior' and 'Junior' Choirs)158 The invariably . smallprint. on advertisementswould revealthat a member of the BICS EducationCommittee would deliver a 'short' address.These evenings were held on a regularbasis from 1919through 1922. Similarly, whenthe SohoCo- operativeSociety had a largepublic meetingin May 1920(also in Birmingham),their Co-operativeChoir sangselections at intervalsthroughout'59. More importantly,they were advertisedas doing so; a musicalaspect to a programmewas consideredlikely to attractmore people to political meetings.Music and socialevents generally were also consideredto contributeto recruitmentfor co-operativeguilds. Whenthe Co- operativeCentral Women's Guild held a socialto celebratetheir 29th birthday (featuring'songs' 'ably rendered')it wasconsidered 'a nice eveningthat oughtto

157 Bradfordpioneer II May 1928 158 TowvCrier 4 Much 1921 159 TownCrier 28 May 1920 79 160 bring new recruits' .

There is some evidence that local Labour Parties incorporated music into ordinary meetings. There were musical selections and songs at the meetings of St.

Bartholomew's Ward Labour Party (Birmingham) in May 192016 1, and an advertisement for DuddestonLabour Party meetings in the Town Crier in July 1922 appearedto be appealing to Labour Church enthusiastsby promising 'local speakers, music, songs...' 162To describe this as a propagandarole for music is possibly slightly misleading. The aim was clearly to encourageLabour members or supportersto attend meetings (attendancesat which, even during the 'heroic' early 1920s, could be rather thin on the ground from time to time). There was some concern expressed about the use of music during meetings dedicatedto political business,that it might get in the way or attract people who weren't serious enough about their politics. On the other hand, some recognised the benefits of some musical entertainment (or mass singing) to end a lengthy oration or re-unite the room after a hostile 'wrangle'.

Even dancescould act as subtle propagandist activity. ILP danceswere often well- attended and were aimed at a wider audiencethan just their own younger members.

The Smethwick ILP was organising weekly dances in 1925, and one of these was reported on in the 'Smethwick Notes' section of the Town Crier. According to the correspondent'quite 200 dancerswere present'. While this writer lamented the passing of 'the old fashioned dances' ('why some of these youngsters can't even waltzV) he assertedthat 'the great thing is that young people enjoy themselveson the 163 finest dance floor in the borough under the auspicesof the ILP. ' The primary function of 'one-ofr dancesor similar events would appearto have been a reward for members- the entertainment aspectbeing placed a long way above any political

160 TowwCrier II February1921 161 TowwCrier 14 May 1920 162 TownCrier 7 July 1922 163TOVM Crier 13 February1925 80 benefits. These weekly dances,operated by a small number of ILP branches,were combining that role with one of subtle recruitment and propaganda. The dances looked to demonstratethe ILP's vitality in embracing the latest 'fads' and thereby hoped to attract more young people to identify with the Party and to be aware of it.

Most notable were the activities of groups like the Witton branch of the ILP, in

Birmingham. In 1926 they were holding weekly dances'64alongwith regular 165 concerts .

The ILP certainly were at the forefront of music making in Bradford and nearby towns. As well as the Sunday lectures, the dances(and other fund-raising social events) and the fairs and bazaars,the Bradford ILP instituted a Guild of Arts in line with national ILP plans at this time, interestingly coinciding with the National Labour

Choral Union plans in the Labour Party. At the institution of the Bradford branch of the Guild, the Pioneer consideredtwo justifications for its existence. Thefirstwasto keep hold of those memberswho were less serious about the political activity

(keeping them 'amused' while the 'earnest' got on with the 'proper job'). Thisreason was clearly presentedas an unattractive or unacceptableview. Rather, it was had 'duties' 166 This suggested,socialists cultural to perform . was not explained or expandedupon, but similar languageechoes through much inter-war socialist writing on culture and the arts. There is a discourse of 'doing one's bit' and the need to demonstratethe power ofLabour in all fields of life. If it was deemedthat art could be used in the service of the movement then the artistic socialist had the same 'duty' to direct his or her talents for the servicesof the movement as had the politically astute or well-educated. What is not clear is how art - other than that of a propagandist nature - could be of service to the movement other than in those most prosaic of ways: fund-raising and entertaining. If that was the only service of the

"' 'Witton ILP:... the weeklydances are meeting with greatsuccess' Town Crier 24 September1926 '... the usualweekly dance was very successfulon Saturdaylast. ' TownCrier I October1926 165Town Crier 10 December1926 `6 BradfordPioneer 27 November1925 81 Guild of Arts, did they have any more pressing a duty than those who made the pies for a bazaaror outing? Some of the sections might have considered propagandist art but the only musical aspect in Bradford, the Operatic Section, did not stray from the well-trodden path of popular comic opera. There was certainly some disagreement with the choice of musical activity that was proposed within the movement. An article in the Pioneer (bearing no name, suggesting it had editorial support) recorded the formation of the Operatic Section thus: 'without wishing to discouragethis, one feels rather that light opera is not quite in the special direction of the Guild, unless new ground can be broken. One hopes that other musical developments will be 167 considered.' Five years later (the Operatic Section had had some successes)a reviewer in the Pioneer still followed up a good review of "The Mikado" with the suggestion: 'having got thus far with some good singers and actors in the company, branch away from Gilbert and Sullivan and try something new and different. ' 168The contradiction with the Guild's 'special direction' was not, one feels, becauseof the (at best) political neutrality of light opera, but merely becauseof its lightness. The ILP

Guild of Arts was a national movement, getting underway in 1925, and its 'special direction' was quite specifically not 'a desire to make propagandamore attractive' but an 6expressionin the modem Socialist movement of the spirit of William Morris'. It was, in other words, 'a revolt against the ugliness and monotony of modem industrialism', 'seeking beauty fuller life' 169 It a after and a . represented,therefore, the continuity of the 'golden age' utopianism.or socialist romanticism of Edward

Carpenter. It is perhaps understandable,therefore, that the Operatic Section's series of Gilbert and Sullivan productions over the following years were not really considered to be in the right spirit. One of the national figures in the Guild of Arts, actor, Arthur Bourchier, expandedon much of this in an ILP pamphlet in 1926. He firmly placed 'seeking after beauty and a fuller life' at the centre of the Socialist project.

167BradfordPioneer 23 October1925 169Bradford pioneer 14November 1930 169Anonymous'The ILP Arts Guild' BradfordPioneer 4 September1925 82 It is from ... only cowardice, stupidity and apathy that prevents us organising our economic and social affairs in a manner that would give ample leisure for artistic and cultural enjoyment for everyone."0

Bourchier'sdesire was to 'enliven andenlighten' workers' 'sordid, toilsomeand monotonouslives' 171with the 'pure' and 'beautiful'. It is interestingthat in this intenselypolitical view, art itself is strippedof any political character.Bourchier would havebeen hard-pressed to approveof the BradfordILP OperaticSection's

Gilbert and Sullivanproductions whatever he felt aboutthe politics of their satire, becausethey did not seek'purity' and 'beauty'. While the ILP Arts' Guild Operatic

Sectioncould clearly be placedin the bracketof 'pleasure'in our chapter'stitle (their purposeseeming to havebeen to entertainthemselves and others)the Guild itself is rathermore difficult to place. It would appearto representa peculiarkind of propaganda,returning to that ClarionVocal Union aspirationof providing a glimpse of what wasto come. The ideasof Bourchierand the Guild of Arts will be considered in moredetail in ChapterFive.

Music was incorporated into the work of specific campaigning organisations such as the 'Hands off Russia' Committee. This was a campaigning group (attracting quite broad labour movement support although obviously with a strong Communist contingent). There were organ recitals at their Birmingham meeting in March 1920

(organ recitals were common-place for half an hour or so before any big, civic 172 meeting). Sometimesthere would be a larger-scalemusical contribution to meetings organised by the 'Hands Off Russia' Committee: at a 'lantern. lecture' on

'Russian labour' on 13 February 1921 at Birmingham Town Hall, 'musical items' were provided by 'the "Internationale" and Rotton Park Labour Choirs" 73. ne

"' Arthur Bourchier. 4rI and Culturein relation to Socialism (ILP Publication,1926) p. 7 171Arthur Bourchier (1926) p. 15 172Towv Crier 5 March 1920 173Towv Crier II February1921 83 "Internationale"Labour Choir was not referredto elsewherein the TownCrier in the

1920s and so was either a short-lived outfit (at least under that name) or a visiting choir from outside the city. The 'Hands Off Russia' Committee had occasional social 174 events as well as their usual propaganda meetings and supported the showing of a

Russian film about the famine at the 'Futurist cinema' in 1922, where one of the features 'Russian 175 was music' .

Explicit propagandist use of music becamemore commonplace later in the period, employed by groups such as the Workers' Theatre Movement and eventually the

Workers' Music Association. Their activities will be considered in later chaptersas will the reasonsfor the changing form of musical propagandathrough the period.

vi) Conclusions.

It is clear from this limited survey that labour activism in this period had a varied and ever-presentmusical soundtrack. This presenteditself in a variety of ways. There were the traditional hymns in Labour Churchesor Sunday Schools, the massedvoice anthemsof large meetings and rallies and the variety of 'serious' vocal and instrumental music performed at social events and musical services. There were the comedy songs of the less formal social events or the jazz music of the many, many labour movement dances.While most examplesof music in the service of the labour movement in inter-war Birmingham and Bradford could be slotted into the headings of entertainment, propagandaor fund-raising, it also played a more sombre role

(particularly in the ILP) such as at memorial services for activists. In May 1922 the

Birmingham City branch of the ILP held a benefit concert 'in aid of the widow and family of our late comrade F.E. Sedgewick' at which the ARU Choir provided the

174A 'first class programme' was promised for sudi a social event in the TowV Crier I April 1921 175Town Crier 9 June 84 176 music.

Looking at the Tour Crier, for instance, over the twenty-year period would appear to reveal a convincing narrative of the changing place of music in the official labour movement betweenthe wars. Through the 1920s,there was feverish musical activity at meetings and concerts at every given opportunity with the emphasisbeing on activists making music themselves. By the end of the 1920sthe official labour movement would appearto have steppedback somewhat from this activity, taking a broader interest in popular culture more generally and accepting that its supporters were more interested in popular leisure opportunities than anything the labour movement could produce for itself As such, pages of reports on musical evenings and concerts were replaced with reviews of variety performances and gramophone records; amateur poetry in every issue was replaced with book reviews. One could speculateas to why this might be the caseand the mass appeal of popular leisure activities might be as big an influence as Labour's electoralism. Although this narrative is convincing it requires a stronger foundation than that provided by the identification of changesin the Town Crier. After all, the Towv Crier was a small newspaperrun by very few people at any one time, and the personalities behind it changedover the period as well. Through the 1920s it was edited by Will

Chamberlain, an enthusiastic writer and devotee of Robert Blatchford; he pushed for the paper to be lively and vital. Through the 1930sthe Towv Crier was in crisis and was permanently in fear of stopping publication; this could have been a major influence on the increaseof popular culture pieces, grarnophone,football, variety hall reviews as well as the reduction in reports of meetings. Right at the end of the period, the Towv Crier (despite still officially being the Labour Party's paper) was edited by

Communist, Philip Toynbee. In fact, it was probably Toynbee's intellectualism that was a bigger influence on the To" Crier, during his short tenure as editor, than his

Communism. He brought in W. H. Auden to write literature reviews and Richard

Crossmanto write on Foreign Affairs. But in fact Toynbee's style did not prove

176 TownCrier 19 May 1922 85 popular with the long-term readership of the Touv Crier and did not attract new having taken the job in 1938, he left it in 1939 177 As readers; again . we can see, one cannot simply read across from the pagesof that paper - what was included and what was not -the spirit and passionsof the inter-war official labour movement, evenjust in Birmingham. Yet the narrative remains convincing, and is backed up to a certain extent by other evidence. Through the 193Os, the Bradford Pioneer moved from reporting on specifically Labour concertsto concerts in working men's and other social clubs as well reporting far more regularly on variety concerts, etc. There would appearto have been a change from labour activists being producers of music towards them being consumers. This change seemsto be contemporaneouswith a very different trend in Communist politics from having but a passing interest in the arts to seeing them as a 'weapon in the struggle' (as we shall see in later chapters).

For most of this period, labour activism went hand in hand with musical activity whetherthat activity wasperformance, dance or appreciation.Related to this activity therewas the growingdesire to form musicalassociations, particularly choirs, bandsand orchestras. This was built on the older tradition of labourmovement choral activity but, as we shall seein the next chapter,branched out into other (occasionally very ambitious)areas.

"' The storyof the TownCrier and its changingeditors and editorial policies is told in PeterDrake 'The Town Crier: Birmingham'sLabour Weekly, 1919-1951' in AnthonyWright andRichard Shackleton(eds. ) Worldsof Labour:Essays in BirmingbamLabour History (Birmingham,1983) pp. 103-122 86 Chapter Three

Choirs, Bands and Orchestras i) TheNational Labour Choral Union Movement

Before the First World War, in that period when music was apparently the 'main cultural thrust' of the labour movement, there was no genuinely national Labour musical movement. The Clarion Vocal Unions, established in 1895 with their slogan of 'let us Work and Sing our way to Socialism", arguably came quite close.

However, although there were twenty-three choirs by 1910, they were still concentratedlargely in Yorkshire and Lancashire. They tended to sing the standard choral pieces that would be heard in non-Labour choral festivals of the north of

England, with the occasional rendering of the 'Red Flag' or 'England, Arise! '. By

1914, they were beginning to sing some pieces written especially for them such as

'The City' by Rutland Boughton (who, by that time, was running the movement) and 2- '1910' by the radical suffragette composer Ethel Smythe The Clarion choral movement appearsto have declined with the paper that spawned it despite some rallying of efforts in the 1920s,which shall be considered in relation to musical combinations in Bradford. Boughton's efforts were eventually to be redirected to a new musical movement: a choral organisation based in London which was, for a time, to expand to a national scale and was more specifically connected with the official Labour Party: the National Labour Choral Union.

By 1926, there was, 'all over the country, a movement amongst Labour folk for forming choirs and orchestras" which inspired national figures to try and co- ordinate such ventures. On 14 August 1925, the Towr Crier in Birmingham reported on theseNational Choral Union plans under the headline 'An "Eisteddfod" for

' MichaelHurd RutlandBoughton and the GlastonburyFestival (1993)p. 171 2 Chris Waterspresents quite a detailedhistory of the CVUs before 1914in British Socialistsand the Politics of PopularCulture. 1 884-1914 (1990) 1 H. G. Sear'Labour Choirsand Orchestras' Toim Crier 22 October1926 87 Labour'. The report mentioned that a plan including a National Choral Festival for

Labour would be outlined to local organisations by the National Executive Committee who had been discussing it that year. The report continued to say that the plan was prompted 'by the remarkable successof existing choirs and musical societies within the movement' which those planning the Festival felt had 'proved of immense value in nurturing Party enthusiasm'. The schemewould include local choirs (in associationwith local Labour parties), Labour Choral Unions (which would co- ordinate the activities of local Labour, Socialist and Co-operative Societies) and a

National Labour Choral Union that would link together all the other unions. The plan envisaged annual local, municipal competitive festivals as well as a national festival for the winning choirs. Rutland Boughton and Herbert Morrison had drafted a constitution for the National Union which declared the scheme's ob ect to be 'to develop the musical instincts of the people and to render service to the Labour movement'. The report concluded that the NEC had appealedto all Divisional 4 Labour Parties (DLPs) and local parties to try and start choirs. Although, as we shall see, some efforts were made in the provinces to help build the national choral movement, the London Labour Choral Union was the most successfuland long- lasting constituent of the movement.

The London Labour Choral Union was made up of a number of local choirs.

Some of these were conducted by well-known people in the musical world, such as

Boughton, Alan Bush and Michael Tippett. Some of the choirs were newly set up as part of the Union, others were ones that had existed for some time. There was quite a revival of choirs in the London area and the South East in the years immediately preceding the formation of the Union. New choirs were set up at Slough and

Bellingham and many old, defunct choirs had been revived (such as the Woolwich

Pioneer Choir). The Deptford Labour Choir, conducted by Sydney Court had had an 5. unbroken existence since it was founded in 1913 He, Re Boughton and others,

4 'An "Eisteddfod"for Labour'Towv Crier 14August 1925 5 SydneyA. Court'Music and the People: A messageto thelabour movement' Labour Magazine Vol.11 No. 10 February1924 p-445 88 helped to spreadthe choral movement by writing magazine and newspaperarticles that aimed to assist and inspire the organisersof new choirs.

One of the first occasionswhen the massedchoirs sang together was at the

'Great Rally for the Daily Herald' in 1924. To give some flavour of the repertoire of these choirs, this performance included the 'Marseillaise', 'England, Arisel',

'Jerusalem' and 'The Red Flag' on the political front while Elgar's 'My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land' and Boughton's own 'Pan' would appear to have been included entirely for their musical worO. Alan Bush later recalled that 'the use of music by the Labour Party was political' and that 'politically progressive musicians didn't concern themselves in general with awakening the interest of the working class in the heritage 7 This Certainly traditional classical Of MUSiC,. was not always the case. in some of the provincial choirs and bands considered in this chapter political music made up only a small part of repertoires. Even in the London movement Bush was describing, 'music as a political and agitational weapon' would appear to have been only part of the story.

Sydney Court's description of the musical aspectsof the Deptford Choir show the persistenceof a different approach:

In the first placethe musicwe attemptis of the best. While always preparedto leadthe audiencesat meetingswith the well-known Labour songswe arekeeping abreast of the timesby studyingthe unrivalled musicof the Elizabethanperiod, which is just cominginto its own, and which apartfrom its intrinsic valueas music is unsurpassedfor choir training!

This was meantas adviceto other choir organisers:to strive for the best. As we shall see,this was very muchthe driving force behindthe efforts of someof the

choirselsewhere in the country. 'Keepingabreast of the times' herehad nothingto do with makingany capitulationto popularor massculture but merelymeant that

6 Hurd (1993)p. 171 7 Ian Watson'Alan Bushand Left Music in the Thirties' Gulliver 4 (1978)pp. 85-86 8 SydneyCourt (1924)pp. 445446 89 they were attempting to keep up with trends in classical music appreciation. Indeed,

the Deptford Choir competed at 'the first Elizabethan Festival': a music contest

(entirely unconnectedwith the labour movement) in 1923, adjudicated by Vaughan

Williams amongst others9.

On the other hand, the Deptford Choir did-sing some 'popular' songs. At

least, when they went to 'Poor Law institutions' in London they would sing 'old

farniflar songs' (not twentieth century popular music) to 'the very old people'. This

philanthropic aspectof the choir's efforts appearsto have been a strong motivation

for Court, rather than the campaigning, agitational motivation preferred by Bush.

Court ended his messageto other choir organisers with the evangelical statement:

We pass on our greetings to the new choirs being formed and a message: work hard, work together, work for those who need you, take music into the lives that need it most, and you will realise the joy of service and that 10 it is "more blessedto give than to receive".

This would certainly suggestthat there was not an absolute unity of purpose in the burgeoning Labour choral movement; the aims of Court and Bush were very different

(and both were distinct from the old Clarion agenda). The London choirs continued to flourish through the 1930s (after the national movement had fizzled out) taking part in international festivals (and sharing the first prize in the choral section with the Choir Populaire de Paris in Strasbourg, 193511).

Howevermuch Morrison and othersmight havewanted the Natioml/London Labour

Choralmovement to be firmly in the bosomof the Labour Party,Boughton's decision to join the CommunistParty in 1926complicated things somewhat.Similarly, his successor,Alan Bush,also joined the CommunistParty while at the helm of the LondonLabour ChoralUnion. Although Boughtongave many reasons for deciding

9 Court (1924) p.446 10Court (1924) p. 446 II Watson(1978) p-87 90 to join the Communist Party, his biographer Michael Hurd suggests that the Labour

Party's lack of enthusiasm for the National Labour Choral Union plans was a

factor 12 Yet the to be by the Labour Party contributory . choirs continued sponsored

while Boughton, Bush and others were promoting 'working-class songs... of the

Soviet Union' 13 . The Workers' Music Association was eventually to emerge from the LLCU,

initially with similar aimsas the short-livedNational Labour ChoralUnion, only less

especiallyconnected to the LabourParty (andlater more explicitly connectedwith the CommunistParty). In forming the WMA, the LLCU joined forceswith another

socialistmusical tendency that hadgrown out of the Workers' TheatreMovement. The WTM alwayshad a musicalaspect (Rutland Boughton was one of its foundersin 192514) This become the . wasto a movementvery muchunder control of the CommunistParty (eventually transforming into the Unity Theatre). The sketchesthat

wereperformed by Workers' Theatregroups always involved music,but therewas also a movementwithin the WTM to specificallyset up musicgroups. Therewas somedebate and conflict as to whethersuch groups should attempt to attainthe aestheticstandards of someof the other labourmovement musical associations, or insteadretain the first principlesof agitationand propaganda which drovethe theatre

groups. What sort of musicshould be performedwas also an areafor concern,as we shall seein a later chapter. The musicalassociations that were formedwere an integralpart of the WMA that was itself to comeinto its own in the post-warperiod. Although Alan Bush argued that labour music was 'only important in

London' 15and the London Labour Choral Union certainly had its successes,as Eigar

once said, 'the living centre of music in Great Britain is not London, but somewhere

further north. ' 16

12Hurd (1993)pp. 171-176 I' Watson(1978) p. 87 14Hurd (1993)p. 176 " Watson(1978) p. 85 16E. D. MackernessSomewhere Further North (London,1974) 91 ii) The Exl2erienceofBirmiugham

The nationally directed plans of Morrison and Boughton affected the city-wide musical adventuresof the Birmingham labour movement in 1925, but they did not initiate them. Attempts at communal music-making under the auspicesof the

Birmingham Labour Party began during the winter 'season' of 1920/21 with the Birmingham Labour Party Brass Band.

The Birmingham Labour Party Band

In January 1921 the organisersof the new Labour Party Brass Band advertised for players to make up the full compliment.

Wanted, urgently, the following players:- I Monster Bass, I Baritone, I Trombone, I Tenor Horn. Instruments waiting for the forgoing. Applications will be welcome from any other brass instrumentalists with own instruments. Bandmaster: G. Sullivan. 17

Purchasingthose instruments was the first of Mr. G. Sullivan's mistakes: the story of the ill-fated band contains quite a catalogueof them. The aforementioned advertisementwas repeatedin the Toim Crier on numerous occasions. By May

Sullivan was appealing to the Executive Committee of the Birmingham Labour Party to help raise more funds for the band which was 'in financial difficulties'. Money was neededto help pay for 'hire of room, purchaseof music, etc' to help to make the band 'second to none in the city. ' The Town Crier reported that the Executive

Committee made a number of suggestionsincluding occasional fund-raising functions, collections at open-air performancesand a fund to which activists could subscribe. A number of Executive Committee members guaranteedone shilling a " month to the fund.

The Band made some public appearancesin 1921. They played for half an

17To" Crier 21 January1921 TowwCrier 20 May 1921 92 hour at the startof the 'Great Midland ConferenceDemonstration on "British Labour 19 andIrish Peace"'. Shortlyafterwards they playeda similar role at a meetingon 'The Spirit of Revolution' organisedby the 'National Guilds League(Birmingham Group)920 The Band the 'Free SpeechCommittee' social the Bull . also played at at Ring in April that year21 as well as being one of the bands in the Birmingham May 22 Day procession . It was not until August 1922when the LabourParty Band first tentatively advertisedthe possibility of further public performancesincluding making their servicesavailable to the Labour Churches. The advertisement in the Town Crier read that 'the bandmaster[was] preparedto senda representativeband to any Labour 23 Church or other Labour function. Sending 'a representativeband' was not due to a full band being too big for such events but becausea full band did not exist, and what did was not quite what Sullivan and others had had in mind. Sullivan's strategy was rather different from the Clarion strategy of 'making socialists' through welcoming interestedparties from outside the labour movement to join choirs, cycling clubs and the like with the hope that they would be brought into the political side of things later on. Sullivan had intended the Labour Party Brass Band to be made up exclusively of

Labour Party members. This desire to make musicians out of socialists rather than the other way around was a stumbling block for most of the city-wide musical adventures.

One of Sullivan's colleaguesgot to tell the particularly tragic story of his efforts in an interestingexchange in the correspondencecolumn of the TownCrier. Firstly a letter headed'wanted: a LabourBrass Band' appearedin August 1923by a Mr. W.A. Hay, chairmanof the RottonPark Unemployed Committee. He believed

'that theremust be dozensof musiciansin the movementwho could form sucha band' suggestinga 'joint committee,drawn from the Labour Party,Trades Council,

19Advertised in the Toim Crier 21 January 1921 11To" Crier 28 January 1921 21Town Crier 22 April 1921 22Town Crier 29 April 1921 23Town Crier 25 August 1922 93 24 ILP, etc. be set up to get the band together. It was up to aI Thompsonto write the angry reply under the beading 'A Labour BrassBand'.

Sir, - Mr. Hay's letter on the above subject, in last week's issue, is a little behind the times. It is a great pity Mr. Hay did not take in the Town Crier two years ago or we may have had in Birmingham the Labour Band of which he now talks. For a period of six months an advertisement appeared in the Town Crier asking for players (with or without instruments) and only one application was received. In addition appeals were constantly made at Labour Party meetings, and it seems strange that none of the 'dozens of musicians' came forward to help. Members of the Party came forward with money to buy instruments and at the present time I believe they are still lying idle. For a period of six months the Labour Party Band flourished with non-Labourites, and then passed away as quickly as it came. Should any Labour organisation require a band, they will do well to communicate with.. the NUR Orphan Fund Band. Their terms are as reasonable as any other band, Labour or otherwise. In the meantime, I think the suggestion of Mr. Hay can 'fie on the table'. 25

But Mr. Hay was not to be so discouraged. He respondedthe following week in a letter full of optimism and old adagcs:

Sir, -I am sorry to learn from Mr. Thompsonthat an attempthas beenmade to organisca band. But that should not deter us from making a new attempt. PresumablyMr. Thompsondoes not believe in the old proverb, 'if at first', ctc, but I should advise him to give up his pessimism. He should remember that a defeatshould only make us more determinedthan ever. But, anyway, Mr. Thompsonstates that the instrumentswere obtained,and are lying idle. If that be so, let them be handedover to a new committee,and let him co-operate in a new attempt. I may be a trifle late, but 'better late than never'. Nothing was ever gainedwithout a struggleagainst adversity, and this venture would be no exception. The schemecan go through despiteMr. Thompson's assertion to the contrary.26

Nothing cameof Mr. Ilay's optimism and the schemewas not heardof again. But

two of the statementsmade in that cxchangeneed looking at a little more carefully, as they would appearto be quite true. The banddid flourish for at leastsix monthswith

'non-Labouritcs', and there were dozensof musiciansin the local labour movementto

24Town Crier 17 August 1923 23Town Crier 24 August 1923 26Town Crier 31 August 1923 94 which the various Labour Church and concert programmesbore testimony. There were plenty of reasonswhy those 'dozens' didn't join the Band, the most obvious being that while the labour movementwas blessedwith musicians,most of them were pianists or singers. Very few of the instrumentalistsmentioned at Labour concerts and musical eveningswere brassplayers and there would certainly not be a full complementof the brassinstruments that make up a brassband. Many of the instrumentsin the band are not really solo instrumentsand would only be leamt with joining a band in mind. There were plenty of Works Bandsand one Trade Union band in the city, but a brassinstrument would not necessarilybe the first instrument of choice for an aspiring musicianof limited means. Furthermore,many of the

'dozens' of musiciansin the movementwere women. Although none of the advertisementsfor players in the Labour BrassBand specified that applicantswould haveto be male, brassbands were a masculinephenomenon. Indeed,the great pillars of traditional British working-classmusic-making - the brassband and the male voice choir - were entirely male domains. The Birmingham labour movementsensibly moved in the direction of full choirs and orchestraslater in the decade,which meant that women singersand instrumentalistscould be brought in. The reasonfor the Band folding despitehaving 'flourished' was not given by Thompson in his letter, but one factor would certainly have beenthe persistentdesire to havea Labour Party Brass Band madeup of Labour Party members. By restricting themselvesto a small numberof people- male Labour Party memberswho played brassinstruments - they renderedtheir task impossible.

TheSmelhwick Labour Male VoiceChoir

Smethwickhad an independentcivic identity from Birmingham and thereforethe

Town Crier had a 'Smethwick Notes' sectionwritten by their Smethwick correspondent,not dissimilar to the 'London Letter' that they also carried. The writer of the Smethwicknotes was onc 'W. A. E.', an elderly stalwart of the Smethwick labour movement. In January192 1, 'W. A. E.' madethe first requestfor a Smethwick 95 choral associationwhich, over a number of years, eventually emergedas a male voice choir. Under the heading 'Why Not A Labour Choral Association?' he insisted:

'surely there's enoughmusical talent in the movementto form the nucleusof a really fine choir.. it only wants a few enthusiaststo put their headsand voices together and 27 the thing would be done. Of course,the formation of a choir was always an easier proposition than the formation of a band or an orchestra- everyonecame with an instrumentand a reasonableresult could be achievedwithout very much technical training. As long as there were a core of singerswho could read music or follow'sol- fa' instructions,others could follow the leaderof their 'part'. Many choral piecesalso followed quite a predictablefour-part arrangement.Included in the appealfrom

'W. A. E.' was the question: 'what hasMr. F. Adams to say on the ideaT Fred Adams, the music enthusiast,was not slow to answer. On II Februaryhe wrote to the Town

Crier expressinghis view thai 'there is any amount of scopefor a really good combination,either purely male voice or mixed, and I am preparedto do anything in my power to get sucha choir startedand help it to success.' But Adams could not resist a swipe at 'the competition.' While most correspondentsto the Town Crier were invariably polite about the musical combinationsthat were emergingat this time, Adams took a different approach:

I must say, however,that none of the Labour Choirs I haveheard locally have ever rouscdany feeling within me other than a desireto go out and get a drink as soon as it was decently possible- and even the chairmen(callous old ruffians as most Labour chairmenare) have looked ashamedof themselves when proposingvotes of thanksto 'our young friends who havedone their best to entertainus this evening' Believe me, sir. I don't wonder at the chairmenlooking ashamed.If they had done their duty they would have sent for the police to put the whole lot in a place orsarcty.'s

11cdid eventually return to the point and offered to arrange a preliminary meeting.

But by this stage, Mr. Fred Adams had caused considerable offence. 'W. A. E. ' made

27Town Crier 21 January1921 28Town Crier II February1921 96 a few wry referencesto Adams in his notes on 18 February,but on 4 Marck the conductorof the Rotton Park Labour Choir wrote to the To" Crier in protest:

Sir- I was rather amusedat our friend Fred Adams' letter re: Labour Choirs and the reply in last week's issueby your Smethwick correspondent.I agree that a choir in that areawould not only be an assetto the causebut would be a sourceof rivalry for the only other Labour Choir I know of locally, to wit, the Rotton Park Labour Choir. And as one who has striven might and main to make that a successagainst all odds, I should have beenglad of his help to further the interestsof same. At the sametime I hope he will meet with huge enrolment and that when they get going, 'ruffianly' chairmen may only call in the police to quell the tumult of applausewhich will greet their efforts when they are ripe enough to appearin public. Anyway, I shall deem it a boon to a musically starved Labour community, who appeartoo sleepyand lethargic to be awakenedby the Archangel's Trump, let alone by 'those who do their best to entertain' without any sneeringremarks from one who hasonly just awakenedto a sense of 'doing his bit'. May that bit be a good'un, and achievethe results it will merit in making Smethwick and locality resoundin praise for Fred Adams' choir, is the sincerewish of yours, etc. WILLIAM MACBEATH. 29

There were a numberof interestingpoints amongstthe indignation. The first of these was that Rotton Park Labour Choir was the only local labour choir at the time demonstratingthe large growth in the numberof thesechoirs through the 1920s(and Adams' insensitivity). Ilic other interestingpoint is this imageof a 'sleepy and lethargic' 'musically starvedLabour community' which doesn't seemto squareat all with the picture orthc associationallife of the Birmingham labour movementpainted elsewhere. Peoplelike MacBcath, and later in the period, II. G. Scar,seemed to almost forget that the labour movementhad a role outsideproducing and understanding'good' music. The problem was not so much that the music became more important than the labour movementin the minds of thesepeople but that they becamealmost interchangeable.MacBcath commented that Adams had 'just awakenedto a senseof "doing his bit"' - Labour musical adventureswere considered a 4causc'in themselves.

29Town Crier 4 March 1921 97 But the Smcthwick Choir took a long time to get off the ground. 'W. A. E. ' was quickly trying to stir things up again, but this time he failed to get things going.

Under the heading'Labour and Music' he wrote in responseto MacBeath's letter mentioning a pre-war Socialist Choir which sangat Smethwick Town Hall (which

6was music, too, Fred Adams!93 ). He then went on to suggestthat there should be a meeting to discussthe idea 'so that in the very near future Labour will be able to hold its own in the musical world, and we in the Labour and Socialist movementsmust have it as quickly as possible. Now then, start shouting, somebody.01 But, this time, nobody did - at leastnot through the pagesof the Toun Crier. That Labour should be able to 'hold its own in the musical world' was a peculiar goal in someways; afler all neither the Conservativenor Liberal Partiesattempted to form great choirs, bandsand orchestrasP. They wished to 'hold their own' with musical organisations,not political organisations,perhaps demonstrating once again this apparentconfusion of causes.

Other parts of the Birmingham areaquickly beganto over-take Smethwick. East Birmingham began Labour Choir in May 192433 planning their , and many branches, wards and Labour Churches were setting such groups up throughout the decade. Indeed the Birmingham Labour Musical SoCiCtY34(later the Musical Union) had been established before those early plans in Smethwick came into fruition.

The Smcthwick Choir's first mention in the Touv Crier was not too auspicious. In the Smcthwick Notes section,under the headline'Our Choir', 'W. A. E' asserted:'notwithstanding all that has beensaid to the contrary, the Unity HouseMale

Voice Choir hascome to stay.' Not the most emphaticintroduction to Labour supportersoutside Smcthwick, as there was no clarification of 'all that has beensaid to the contrary' either following this statementor at any time before or after in the

" TownCrier II Mardi 1921 31Town Crier II March 1921 32It was fclt, rightly or wrongly. that they could rely on establishedcombinations for any of their musical needs. 33Town Crier 16 May 1924 34Tbe BLMS (later the BLMU) reportedon their first rehearsalsin the TownCrier 25 April 1925 98 pagesof the Towr Crier. Unless criticisms of the choir had beenspread widely by word of mouth, this would have beenthe first warning that the choir was not as good as it could be. The quick advertisement'W. A. E. ' gave for their opening concert would not really have instilled any more confidence:

As evidenceof their desire and ability to contribute their quota to the movementthey are giving a concert at the club. Unfortunately, I shall not be able to listen to it, but I sincerely hope that all who are interestedin music and singing will come along if only to show their appreciationof the efforts the choir is making.35

The choir clearly madesome slow progress. Their first concert was given to a

'crowded audience' accordingto 'W. A. E. ' although he admitted (as he had predicted) that he was 'unable to be in the room' despitebeing 'on the premises' and was only able to hear 'snatchesof various items'. He primarily usedthis sectionof his column to lobby for a new concert hall stating that the Smethwick Labour Club room was

'totally unsuitablefor a concert. In addition to being small, the ceiling is much too low to allow the beautyof the singing to be revealedas it ought to be...' On this occasionthe choir did not 'go off the beatentrack' performing Male Voice Choir standards:'Sweet and Low', 'Loch Lcvcn Love Lament', 'Old FarmerBuck' and 36 'Comradesin Arms. The following February(1927) 'W. A. E. ' was writing about the choir 'getting into its stridc, and breakingnew ground' and, indeed,at that time they were visiting Labour Clubs in the Midlands providing an evening's entcrtairuncnt. That month they had visited clubs at West Bromwich and Rowley.

The repertoirehad a1tcrcda little since their first performance:'Sweet and Low' and

'ComradesIn Arms' were still performed,but 'Little Heather', 'The Wanderer' and

'The Policeman' hadjoined them. They took more musiciansaround with them, acting more like a ConcertParty then a basicMale Voice Choir - theseperformances included 'a violin solo by Mr. Dudley, a monologueby Mr. Guest,and two solosby

33Town Crier 3 Septcmber1926 36Town Crier 10 Septmber 1926 99 Miss Bastock. ' 'W. A. E' also mentioned that at both events 'the choir and artistes received - and merited - rounds of applause'. He even attended at least the West

Bromwich performance at which he was called upon to give 'a few words' where he declared his wish for 'every local Labour Party to organise their own choir, so that 37 eventually, we might have our own massed choirs contest, and So OrL, This aspiration was clearly inspired by the Boughton and Morrison plans, but also the visit to the Birmingham area of the Welsh Miner's Choir known as The Apollo Concert

Party appears to have influenced the nature of the Smethwick Choir's performance, with the inclusion of monologues, etc. The Welsh visit, in 1926, will be considered in the next chapter.

The choir madea return visit to their 'home' club in April which 'W. A. E. ' declaredto be 'undoubtedly, the best concertyet given at the club.' The Smethwick

Notes had included someenthusiastic receptions to visiting choirs and bandsin the past, so this was praise indeed(although he did add that 'none of the items given were difficult from the musical point of view, but all of it was done as it ought to be done.')

He tried a more subtleapproach to having the room alteredthis time: 'If all the concertsat the club maintain the standardset by the choir, I can visualisea bigger room being required very soon.' The repertoirewas similar again, 'The Mulligan

Musketeers'and 'Rolling down to Rio' were addedas was 'a humorousturn' by Mr. 11.Lcighton3s. The Smcthwick Notes got even more excited by a later concert by the choir under the headline 'The Concert'. However as the concertwas organisedin order to raise a testimonial fund for 'W. A. E' himself, it would have beena little ungraciousto criticise it". The SmethwickNotes continuedto report on the occasionalperformance by the choir (sometimeson secondhand information where ). "according to information received" 'everything went off very well indeed94 They increasedthe numberof solos, and inviting local singersto contribute sometimesled

37Tomi Crier 18 February1927 38Town Crier 15 April 1927 39Town Crier 27 May 1927 40Town Crier 20 May 1927 100 to 'exchanges'with other clubs4. They had their first annualouting in July 192742 and were clearly all set to becomea long-standingorganisation.

With the successof the choir, the Smethwick labour movementalso looked to form an orchestra,rehearsing for the first time in March 1927. The wish for

Smethwick's labour movementto havea choir and an orchestrawas clearly inspired by the Birmingbarn Labour Musical Union.

7he Birmingham Labour Musical Union

Labour has always gone in for brassbands and male voice choirs and has done most admirablework. Now, the tendencyis to get the women to join up with the men, and mixed choirs and orchestrasgive both sexesmore scope.4

Of course,mixed choirs and orchestraswere easierto fill than all-male venturesas well and aflcr the disasterof the Labour Party Band, the Birmingham movement would want to seesome rcturn. for any further investmentinto musical ventures. The foundationsof the Birmingham Labour Musical Union probably stem from the Brass

Band and the many local choirs which were set up during the early 1920s,but an article in the TosmCrier at the beginning of 1925(reproduced from the January Socialist Review)would appearto haveactually got things underway. The article was entitled 'Socialism and Song' and subtitled, 'A Plea for Music: Make Meetings

Mcrricr'. This article looked at the power of music when usedby religions or the military, suggestingthat the labour movementcould reap similar benefits. The author, C. Salway-Wallis,concluded by saying, 'Socialists shouldthink twice before consideringthis questionas of secondaryimportance, and I believe after due considerationwe shall rcalise that music and melody cannot be relegatedto the

41In August 1927the Choir visited Rowley Labour Club and 'a local singer in the personof Mr. Woodhousegave "My Wild Irish Rose" in fine style'. lie also promisedto visit Smethwickthe following Saturday. TownCrier 24 June 1927 42Town Crier 8 July 1927 431 I. G. Scar 'Labour Choirs and Orchestras' Town Crier 22 October 1926 101 background,but put in its rightful place at the front of our programme.44 The article did clearly expoundone of the traditional argumentsfor the labour movementto take an interest in music. That was that music had a power to draw peopleas shown by music halls, churchesand armies. What the article didn't explain (and nobody ever explainedit satisfactorily betweenthe wars, despitemany attempts)was why 'music and melody' had a 'rightful place at the front' of the socialist programme. It seemed that this was too obvious a point to merit further exposition.

The article inspired a memberof the HandsworthILP, Edward Wright, to write to the Towr Crier with a plan for forming a Labour orchestra. '... it would not be difficult to organisean Orchestrato perform at someof the Labour Churchesand at the different functions that take place,' be wrote, suggestinga plan of action: 'Get a small committeetogether and appoint a secretary'and 'securea room in which to hold a weekly practise,with piano, as centrally placed as possible.' Wright also consideredthe details of how to borrow, or pay for music stands,etc.

There must be a number of amateurand evenprofessional musicians in the movementwho would join such an orchestra. If the Town Crier would insert noticesasking for the material and playerswanted, and generallytake an interest in the concern,I feel sure such a venture would be a success,and that without a lot of expense. Of courseall serviceswould be voluntary. If my servicesas conductor are acceptable,I would be pleasedto hel - Yours faithfully, etc. Edward Wright (Member HandsworthILp)4F-

The plan was quite clear - rather similar to the plans behindthe BrassBand, only without the suggestionthat instrumentsshould be bought. The following month saw the first meetingof the Birmingham Labour Musical Society. The meetingwas 'well attended'and it was decidedthat membershipwould be open to all Labour Party membersor membersof affiliated bodies. Onceagain it was organisedalong the lines of activists getting involved in music rather than presentinga possiblepath for musiciansto get involved in politics: the aim was to 'bring out the latent talent that

44C. Salway-Wallis 'Socialism and Song. A Pleafor Music: Make MeetingsMerrier' Towr Crier 16 January 1925 4' Town Crier 30 January1925 102 exists in the Labour movement'. From the beginning the plan was to havea central choir and orchestrawith the aim of developing ward-level choirs and orchestraslater.

The membershipfee was one shilling a quarter when the movementfirst cameinto being46.It took someweeks of hard recruitment before the Society held some rehearsals.They had forty membersby this time, and their correspondentto the To"

Crier was very enthusiastic,declaring 'if progresscontinues at this rate, Birmingham should soon have a Labour Orchestraand Choir secondto none in the country. 47

Unknown to the organisersof the Birmingham Labour Musical Society, plans were afoot on a national scalethat would fit in with their venturerather well. This was first brought to their attention by a Mr. Lionel Field (Mus. Bac. L. R.A. M. ) who offered his servicesto form a Birmingham Labour Musical Union when he moved to the areain July 1925. He wrote to the Town Crier at the beginning of May that year to explain his associationwith national leadersand to explain his plans under the headline'Music in the Labour Movement.' He was not, unfortunately,entirely up to date with recentdevelopments in the Birmingham labour movement'smusical activities.

Sir -I have lately had the pleasureof conversingwith Mr. Herbert Morrison, of London, on the subjectof the Labour Musical Movement. This gentleman, in connectionwith Mr. Rutland Boughton, the eminentcomposer, has outlined to me a very powerful and comprehensivescheme for developingthe aesthetic side of Socialismthrough music. I bclieve I am right in assumingthat the musical activity of the Labour Party in Birmingham is confimedto the efforts of various choirs and orchestral bodieswhich function individually. This in itself is a very excellent and praiseworthything, but to my mind the whole secretof power in the musical movementmust lie in the direction of co-ordination. The schemeof the London Labour Choral Union, to which Mr. Boughton is musical adviser and Mr. Morrison secretary,is briefly this: A central committee is set up to decide the policy and arrangethe activities of a central musical body, to which a derinite programmeis allotted. Musical demonstrationsare given in the outlying districts of the suburbsand the formation of new choirs, etc. is therebyencouraged. The ultimate aim is to cultivate the spirit of local musical festivals (not necessarilycompetitive), bringing in representativesof all the Labour organisationswithin a certain area,and from that point, a National

" Town Crier 27 February1925 47Town Crier 24 April 1925 103 (andperhaps International) Labour Musical Festivalis contemplated. I shouldbe glad to hearfrom any of your readerswho are interested andprepared to do someof the spadework in forming a BirminghamLabour MusicalUnion. I shall be taking up residencein or nearBirmingham in July next, by which time I shall havea definite progressivemusical scheme for consideration. The Londonoffice hasgiven the proposedventure its blessing,as have thoseofficials of the Labour Party in Birminghamwhom I havebeen fortunate enoughto meet.48

The organisationeventually changed its nameto the BirminghamLabour Musical Union, but Lionel Field was neverincorporated into the project. On 27 June1925, the Society(it was still calledthe Societynot the Union at this stage)held a 'grand socialand dance'with 'musical itemsby the Choir, the 49 Orchestra and our own SoloiStS., Twelve new memberswere recruited at this event bringing the total membership up to seventy. The event included 'orchestral and choral items, violin solos (Mr. T. Walton) and contralto solos (Mrs. G. Morris)',

, addressesby Mr. Ager (President of the Borough Labour Party) and Mr. H. G. Sear

(President of the Birmingham Labour Musical Society)', and 'dancing to the music of the Society's Dance Band. 50 The main difference between this event and most of what was heard from the society over the next twelve months or so is that there was a Dance Band (this was not heard of again), and that the orchestra actually performed.

A change in the guiding philosophy behind the Society (or the Union) led to a major change in the Society's activities. The move of H. G. Sear from the presidential role to conducting the orchestra later in its history also contributed to this change.

When the Town Crier published Boughton and Morrison's plans for a

National Choral Union in August 192551,the Birmingham Labour Musical Society

in was already considered to be part of Birmingham's efforts this area. The new look

society was unveiled in February 1926. The name changed on a regular basis but the from permanent change at this stage was the change the word 'Society' to 'Union' to

48TOKW Crier I May 1925 49TOVM Crier 19 June 1925 50Towr Crier 3 July 1925 51Toww Crier 14 August 1925 104 tie in with the National ChoralUnion plans. The other changewas for the orchestra to be re-arranged'on symphoniclines, underthe directionsof Mr. H.G. Sear.' This was immediatelyproblematic. Although the orchestrahad 'an interesting,and, if appearancescount, enjoyablerehearsal' where they attemptedpart of Handel'sWater Music, two movementsfrom Haydn's 'Surprise' Symphonyand Beethoven's Overtureto 'Coriolanus',the conductordid not 'yet feeljustified in accepting'the Gmanyoffers of engagementsreceived'. They neededto makeup a 'full complement of strings(violas and cellos in particular)flutes, oboes, clarionet, bassoons, trumpets 52 (or comets),homs (or euphoniums)trombones and drums. ' Therefore,the movement'sambitious musically-minded activists had onceagain developed from the possible- the formationof an orchestraof sortswhich could perform special arrangements- to the unfeasible:a full symphonyorchestra. Once again the musical talent in the movementwas having the impossibleasked of it - they were to find playersof someof thoseinstruments, but searchingfor a full complementof them wasjust a hopelessundertaking. The basisof the problemthat necessitatedthis searchwas H.G. Sear'savowed objection to musical arrangements, which he made clear in his music column in the

Towr Crier. His imagery is peculiar from a socialist perspective ('... an arrangement is like duke taking his in hut... '53) but it certainly it ... a up abode a miner's made difficult for him to be the President of an organisation which arranged music for a hotchpotch orchestra. Exactly when Sear took over the baton is difficult to say, but he was definitely conducting before the end of February 1926. He continued to make pleas for all the extra instrumentalists so as 'to play the works of Handel, Haydn and

Beethoven as they wrote them. 954 At this time the name of the organisation appeared to settle as the Birmingham Labour Musical and Dramatic Union. It did not incorporate the embryonic Birmingham People's Theatre Movement and the inclusion of the 'dramatic' would appear to have been in case they decided to tackle opera at a

52TOUM Crier 19 February1926 11MG. Sear 'A Plea For Pure Music' TowwCrier 2 October 1925 54Tomw Crier 26 February 1926 105 later stageof their development.

Requestsfor instruments seemedto get increasingly desperate:

RichardIII onceoffered his kingdom for a horse. The orchestrais in suchdire needof 'cellos, violas and bassoonsthat it might evenoffer a Republic? That is not to saythat it no longerneeds players in other branches.There are still vacanciesfor violinists, flutes, oboes,horns and trombones; and, if this paragraphshould meet the eyeof a Timpanist(with his own drums)he would do well to meetthe conductor(Mr. H. G. Sear)next Wednesday..."

A postscriptmentioned that Mr. Bird, the conductorof the choir neededmore singers at the choralrehearsals as well, but it was clearthat a choir was easierto assemble than a symphonyorchestra. The chancesof a Timpanistwith his own drumsbeing amongstthe smallnumber of readerS56of the To" Crier that week seemsa particularlyincredible hope. Later the Union's correspondent(it could be Sear,its difficult to be sure)remarked: 'One thing puzzlesme. The conductorof the City

Orchestrawho, in all probability, doesnot sympathisewith our politics, in a pure and disinterestedlove of music lendsus musicwhich we could neverafford to buy. Yet amateurstring-players, belonging and subscribingto the movement,will not sacrifice two or threehours a week for orchestralpractise in their very own band.957 The next requestfor new playerstook a slightly different tack: 'Generalenjoyment seemed to be the orderof the day at the orchestralrehearsal last week. Everythingwent with a swing.' Of coursethe writer's moodmay havebeen improved by the additionof two new players(a viola player and an oboist). The assertionthat 'there really was an excellentsense of orchestralcolour' andthere had been'a notableimprovement in the string tone' certainlygave a morepositive feel to the brief article, but it still concludedthat 'flutes, trombones,horns, violas, and 'cellos are sorelyneeded. '58

55Town Crier 5 March 1926 56'An educatedguess would be for a circulationof about1500 in the early 1920s,rising steadilyto possibly3000 just after the 1929General Election and then declining to 2000throughout the 1930s.' P. Drake'The Town Crier, Birmingham'sLabour Weekly, 1919-195P in A. Wright andR. Shackleton (eds.) Worldsof Labour:Essays in BirminghamLabour History (Birmingham1983) p. 109 57Town Crier 23 March 1926 5gTown Crier 19 March 1926 106 Theseweekly crisis reportsand appeals for membershardly showedthe orchestrain the bestpossible light. From time to time the appealswould stopand concernabout how their desperationlooked to observerswould appearto havebeen the primary reasonfor that. A headlineappeared in the TownCrier on April 16 1926that read:

'Birmingham's Labour Orchestra is Making Good. ' This title appearedto refer to the arrival of a new trombone player, an eleven year old 'cellist ('a real inspiration for he labouredjoyously like a young god') and that they had fmally succumbedto the temptations of arrangements. Two membersof the orchestra had provided them with arrangementsof Beethoven's 'Moonlight' Sonata and Schubert's 'Serenade'. The article also included a requestto parentsto encouragetheir children to take up instrumentS59demonstrating that they were in for the long haul in developing this symphony orchestra. The regular pleas started up again. The following week there was a complaint at 'a falling off in members' despite a promise of two extra, cellists.

The repertoire they were working on was listed again (with no mention of the arrangementsthe two orchestra-membershad worked on - hardly the way to keep the membersthey had) which was 'a programme that the finest orchestra in the world could tackle without any fear of losing caste. On the other hand it is not so high-brow that the loyal members of the band get tired of it. 16oThe orchestra and choir were finally, at this stage, starting to discussa joint work that could be performed.

There were to be more problems before they were to make that public appearance,however. The Tour Crier carried 'An Appeal to Labour Musicians' on 4

June 1926 declaring: 'Eleven! That was the total attendanceat the last rehearsalof the Labour Orchestra.')61 There was a problem that societies (especially social or

6cultural' functions) in the Birmingham labour movement generally came to a standstill in the summer. Most of the associations,like the Labour Churches,worked in seasons,and the summer months were left for outings, demonstrations,and open-

59TOWnCrier 16April 1926 60 TownCrier 23 April 1926 61 TownCrier 4 June1926 107 air meetingsas well as non-politicalactivities suchas gardeningand holidays. Organisersof the orchestrarealised that this would havebeen a contributoryfactor to the falling-off in active supportin late June,declaring in an article: 'There seemsto be an impressionthat the weeklypractices are not held in the summer. It is a mistaken one. The sameenthusiasts turn up weekby week,no matterwhat the weather.62 Searclearly got moreand morediscouraged by poor attendance.'Are thereno fiddlers,violinists, 'cellists to be found in the movement?Or arethey shy, superioror ashamed?Then they cannotbe true music loversor they would turn up weekiY..., 63

ThroughJuly andAugust the orchestraactually received quite a few new instrumentalistsin the areasthey wererequiring them: 'a new flute, clarinetand bassoon'were welcomedin the pagesof the TownCrier on 6 August,but they were losing violinists. They gavein to the seasonalnature of the BirminghamLabour movementby noting that 'after the holiday the Labour Orchestrarecommences 64 seriouspractice... , The organisersof the orchestrawere fully awarethat it was a long time since they had made a public appearanceand that they never had since they had announced their intentions to make the orchestra 'symphonic'. 'The winter seasonis now setting in, and the choir will have to do some public work if only to justify its existence.' But they continued to dressdown unreliable players through the columns of the Toim

Crier and it can hardly have presentedthe most welcoming picture to musical

Labourites considering joining in. A horn.player from Derby had announcedthat he was going to travel down to Birmingham and join the orchestra once he had returned to full-time employment. 'That is a piece of news that should shamethose who lag behind' the Labour Orchestra column chastised. 'It is a costly business,it is a tiring business,it is laden with difficulties. The most certain way to overcome these things is to turn up in numbers, regularly, with the will to work patiently and hard.965 This

62Town Crier 25 June1926 6' TownCrier 2 July 1926 64Town Crier 6 August 1926 65To" Crier 10 September1926 108 was ratherdifferent from providing a coupleof solosat a LabourChurch meeting or providing someentertainment at a socialevening. The amateurplayers in the movement,whom Searand others were appealingto, in manycases, might not have sharedtheir zeal for the 'Labour musicalmovement'. The motivationbehind the

Labour Orchestrawas not to provideentertaimnent for the movement,or recreation for the players,but to competewith professionalorchestras. It is perhapsnot surprisingthat this goal appealedto a limited numberof enthusiasts,but not to the majority of Labour instrumentalistsin the City. In October1926 the Union fmally announcedtheir intentionsas far as a public appearancewas concerned. The two reasonsgiven for their 'pledge to a public performance in January' were to provide 'an incentive to players and singers' and also

'to justify their existence.' The choir was working on Mendelssohn's 'Hymn of

Praise' and the orchestra would back it. To do so to the standardto which the Union aspired, however, a 'well-balanced' orchestra was required and so there was a repeatedrequest for 'strings, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons,trumpets (or comets),

French homs, trombones and drums.' At this stage it was also pointed out that the orchestra made no test of proficiency before accepting new members: 'players first, reasonableproficiency afterwards'. They even announcedthat they would perform

'two or three light orchestral numbers' at the proposed concert in caseprospective players were worried that the standardwould be too high. However, the correspondentto the Town Crier was quick to point out that 'on principle, however, the aim of the band is nothing less than the best.-)66 Clearly, once the orchestra was opening its doors to the paying public a certain standardhad to be striven for

(although certain allowances would be given to an amateur orchestra, especially if the bulk of the audience came from within the movement, as seemedlikely). At this stage, H. G. Sear was not interested in people making allowances for a Labour orchestra. This was basedon a more general opinion of his that 'Labour must mean the very highest, whether in every-day efficiency, or science,or art or craftsmanship.'

66Town Crier 15 October1926 109 It wasthis view which led him to believethat 'nothing lessthan the very bestwas goodenough for Labourites.67 It was a peculiarvariation of a moreusual socialist view of the arts - that the working classshould be providedwith the bestart available, ratherthan the best' beinghoarded as a 'plaything' of the wealthyand powerful. Clearly Searwas more interestedin that theorythan in the possibility of an alternative working classart that could be encouragedand usedby the labourmovement. But Sear'sposition wasa variation. The essentialpoint of his labourtheory of musicwas that the labourmovement must be seento be 'the best' at whateverit turns its handto in orderto demonstratethe power and importanceof Labour. Really,there was nothing in thesestatements to makethe prospectofjoining the orchestraany more attractiveto the casualperformer whose goal was more modestthan 'the best.' In the following week's TownCrier H.G. Seardecided to devotehis music column to 'Labour Choirs and Orchestras' and although he began in general terms, it quickly becameclear that he was dealing with the specific problems thrown up by the

Union. 'There seemsto be no difficulty with choirs', he asserts,but forming an orchestra is much harder. He wrote of a meeting he had attended where somebody insisted that forming an orchestra had been no difficulty in their district. '-when I enquired as to the constitution of his orchestra, it turned out that he meant a piano, a handful of fiddles, a 'cello and some comets.' Sear recognised 'the difficulty of the orchestra' to be that it was 'impossible to make up a complete body of violins, violas,

I cellos, basses,flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons,homs, trumpets, trombones and had, instead drums' - but his solution was not to make do with what he but to propose an elaborate system of suburban orchestrasand 'what musicians we lack we must breed, borrowing meanwhile.' That is, youngstersborn into the labour movement would have to be taught to play a wide range of musical instruments, and in the meantime non-Labourites could fill the places in the orchestra - not with a view to

recruiting them, simply to fill the gaps in the traditional symphonic orchestral

structure. The plan also included suburbanorchestras that could 'play light music as

67Toym Crier 22 October1926 110 light andrubbishy as they like, thoughI shoulddeplore it anddecry it strenuously. 68 But then,they could contributetheir bestplayers to a centralsymphonic orchestra. , The desperatesearch for musiciansto makeup the missingplaces for performing'Hymn of Praise'continued with a plea to Labour Churchmembers:

Labour Churchadvertisements show clearly that thereare severalgroups of orchestralmusicians regularly performing in Labour circles. Labourorchestra statisticsprove equally clearly that thesebodies do not reinforcetheir efforts. Orchestralplayers who can sparea Wednesdayevening every week are askedto H.G. Sear to be in January.69 reportto ...... to work towardsa concert given

It was clearly thought that the prospect of a performance would be an incentive and they would appearto have calculated their tactics correctly. The membership of the orchestra expandedconsiderably over the following fortnight. The rehearsalon 3

November was described as 'an excellent muster' and the list of instruments still required was depleted considerably (the Tonr Crier still carried a request for more brass and string instruments, a secondoboe and some bassoons). Despite these encouraging developments,the notes in the Town Crier still urged people to 'put aside personal convenience and turn up regularly at the Wednesdaypractices. 70 Even the Labour Choir organiserswere worried that they were not quite at their optimum strength. The William Morris Choir of Glasgow challenged them to a competition in 71 December 1926 which they did not feel able to accept72- and the Chairman of the Union's Executive Committee, JabezHall, wrote 'An Appeal to Labour Vocalists and

Musicians' to the Towv Crier that samemonth. Hall also gave a version of the history of the Union in his letter:

Sir - The BirminghamLabour andDramatic Union hasbeen in existencefor the last twelve months,and is destinedto be of valuableassistance to the great Labour and Socialistmovement of this city and district. Under its auspicesthe

63Town Crier 22 October1926 69Town Crier 22 October1926 70Touw Crier 5 November1926 71TOUW Crier 10 December1926 72Town Crier 17 December1926 III committeehave decided to give a concerton the last Friday in January,1927, during which Mendelssohn's'Hymn of Praise'will be rendered... The Committee be ... are anxiousthat the work should renderedwith the efficiencyall music loverscould desire,and to obtainthat it is necessary that all in the Labour movementthat know the work shouldgive their assistance.We could augmentfrom other sources,but our object is to demonstrateto the musicallife of Birminghamthat the Labourmovement has the talent andability in its own ranksto rendersuch a work. We are convincedthat in Birmingham,Labour hasthe powerto build up a Musical andDramatic Union equalto any suchorganisation in the country. Sincethe formationof the Union, progresshas been made in spiteof difficulties, financialand otherwise,and the membershave made sacrifices to accomplishwhat hasbeen done. It is to the music-lovingof the Labour movementof the City to determinewhether Birmingham's Musical Union shall attainthe successand proud positionas attainedby the Glasgow Orpheus.We believethis can be done- the Labour movementpossesses the talent,and we appealto all vocalistsand instrumentalistsin the movementto comeand help us to accomplishour ideaof a Labour Musical Union in Birminghamsecond to nonein the country. Yours faithfully, JABEZ HALL (Chairmanof Executive) E.P. MARLEY (Secretary) D.H. MARTIN (Treasurer)73

The very popular, well-known and respectedGlasgow Orpheus Choir were conducted by Hugh S. Robertýon, a member of the ILP and the '1917 Club' and an adjudicator at 74 many musical festivals (including some Clarion Vocal Union festivals). The editor of the Town Crier inserted a short responseto the letter expressingthe desire that the

Union could soon accept the challenge from Glasgow. The Chairman, JabezHall, was a well-known character in the Birmingham movement. A 57 year old ex-

Councillor who considered himself to have been 'brought up in the hard school of experience' and a 'life-long worker in the religious and social movements"75, he was occasionally known to demonstratehis singing talents at Labour Church meetings, and Party 'socials'. His letter underlined the goal of the Union once again - to show what existing Labour members could do. The recruitment possibilities of this organisationjust did not appearto occur to these activists. The possibility of

73Towr Crier 17December 1926 74Labour Publishing Company Labour's Who's Who (London, 1924) p. 143 75There was a briefbiographical note about Jabez MI whenhe was standing for Councilin the Touw Crier 30 October1925 112 competingwith the Labourmusical ventures in other cities and areashad very clearly beenestablished by this time andthings had movedon a long way from whenLionel Field remarkedthat Labourmusical festivals would be 'not necessarily 76 competitive. As first in TownCrier - the concertcame closer, notes the aboutthe orchestra became increasingly positive: 'it is meeting its task with courage and even

conviction'. There was also the need, especially after the franknessof some of

H. G. Sear's musical criticism in his column, to prepare the way for the performance to

fall somewhereshort of perfection. 'In attacking a work bristling with difficulties

such as Mendelssohn's "Hymn of Praise", the Labour Orchestra is assuming a great

responsibility. It should be rememberedthat it is an amateur band.977 That was

clearly an excusewhich Sear would not have liked to have made earlier in the history

of the Union, and had it been possible he might well have shielded his orchestra from

the public eye for even longer.

When advertisementsfor the 'Grand Concert' appeared,they highlighted the

numbers of those involved: the 'combined choirs and orchestra of 100 performers'

and promised 'glees, duets, solos and orchestral items' as well as 'Hymn of Praise'.

The concert cost 6d to enter.78 The editor of the Touw Crier, Will Chamberlain, appealedto readersto support the concert, insisting that 'there should be no vacant

seatS979.

He, for one,was thoroughly impressed with this first performancefrom the Union. After confessing that he 'went to the concert trembling' he expressedhis

enjoyment in unreservedterms. He wrote of the 'fine orchestra' and 'the glorious

final chorus by the combined choir'. He declared that the 'wonderful performance' made him 'proud of the good comradesof both sexeswho have reached such a state

of efficiency' (they always made more of 'efficiency' than 'proficiency'). He looked

76TOWV Crier I May 1925 77Town Crier 24 December1926 79Town Crier 21 January1927 79Town Crier 28 January1927 113 forward 'to the time whenthe Labour Choir and Orchestrawill be popularattractions at all our centralmeetings - andeven be soughtafter by the BBCV80The Tour Crier carrieda morebalanced criticism later in the sameissue. The article was anonymous

(althoughit was madeclear that it wasn't written by the usualTown Crier critic - the conductor,H. G. Sear!) andalthough the headlinewas 'A SuccessfulConcert' it was rathermore critical than most 'reviews' of home-grownentertainment in thosepages. Reportsof Labourmusical evenings in the Tour Crier were generallycharacterised by politeness,but this review wasrather different. While initially sayingthat the concertwas 'a greatsuccess' and 'a real artistic achievement'the critics" went on to suggestthat Searhad 'not yet imposedupon his bandan exactobservation of note values. A finishedperformance is impossibleif eachmember of the ensembledoes not agreeas to the lengthof a crotchetor a quaver.' This suggestedthat the orchestra failed at the most basicof levels. The 'string tone' of the orchestrawas also criticised. As for the choir, thesecritics suggestedthat 'attack was often a bit wobbly; particularlyamongst the menwe noticeda sliding up anddown in searchingfor the right note,and it was not alwayspossible to follow the words.' 'Enthusiasm'and 'improvement'were the virtuespraised by thesefriendly critics, despitethe initial suggestionthat it hadbeen 'a real artistic achievement. The soloistsdid not escape the basiccriticism either. MadameEmilie Waldrongot one of the best'write-ups' (she'sang the first sopranopart beautifully' and 'her voice is a lovely one,well produced'). However,the line 'her feeling for the work is true, if not deep' would appearto be ratherunnecessary. Other singerswere criticised('Mr. Philip Taylor' fell foul of 'a little lack of understandingas to tempos'). Whenconsidering individual orchestralpieces they asked'where werethe trumpetsin the MarchT However,the 82 review ended:'we look forward eagerlyto the next concert'. Sear'searlier appeal for peopleto rememberthat the orchestrawas 'an amateurband' would suggestthat he wasprepared for the possibility of lessthan positive reviews- but maybenot from 80Town Crier 4 February1927 gl The articlewas written in the first personpluraL 82Toww Crier 4 February1927 114 the columnsof the paperfor which he was the reviewer. His defence- and it canonly really be seenin that way - appearedon the front pageof the To-vmCrier the following week,on II February1927. He began,bitterly, 'no-onewho hasnot actuallyparticipated in the organisationof a seriouschoral andorchestral concert such asthat recentlygiven by the BirminghamLabour Choir and Orchestraat the Priory Rooms,can form any ideaof the immenselabour and arduousattention to detailthat haveto be undergone.' Most of the article soughtto defendthe conductorat sucha concert(who 'sighs for perfectphrasing, moving expression,correct enunciation... '), particularlythat 'he hasa scorebefore him demandingfour hornsand he hasbut two, or evenone; three trumpets and he hasbut one;two oboes,two bassoons,and he has but one of each;drums and he hasnone. Thereare holes in his canvasand he knows it; knows it acutely.' He did also give a spiriteddefence of the choristersand his players. He pointedout the difficulties of gettingsinging or instrumentallessons while also working full-time as well as the possibility of stage-fright. '... evenan orchestraof professionalmusicians, the City of BirminghamOrchestra, for instance, takesyears to acquire[the] necessaryperfection, and eventhen they areregularly admonishedby the critics.' As well as beinga defenceof the performance,this was anotherappeal to swell the ranksof the choir andorchestra. 'The choir needsto be trebled,' he declared,and there were still manygaps to fill in the orchestra.Indeed he hopedto havemore instrumentaliststhan required to 'put playersto the test of merit.' The Union did receiveassistance from outsidethe movementin spiteof their aims. Music teachers'sent their pupils along', 'professionalplayers have given their servicesto fill up weak spots'- 'it remainsfor the playersand singersin the movementwho areholding backto comeforward andoffer their services.' Why were professionalmusicians 'giving' their servicesto the Labour Orchestra? Followersof the Clarion,Blatchford philosophy of 'making Socialists'through such ventureswould surelyhave been encouraged by the outsideassistance they received, ratherthan embarrassed by it.

115 If you can't sing, learn to play. If you are too old, or tired, encouragethe youngsters. If you can't do that, learn to listen.83

Sear'sevangelical zeal was still at its height,but with the concertunder their belt the incessantcrisis reportsand appeals for new membersceased, despite Sear's assertion that the Union would not 'rest on its oars'. Their next appearancewas in April 1927at the Young SocialistLeague's 'Labour Community Singing Night' where the orchestra 'Played selections from

Beethoven, Berlioz, and others of the great composers' and 'community singing was led by W J. Bird and the Birmingham Labour Choir'. The songs sung included 'The

Old Folks at Home', 'The Londonderry Air', 'Poor Old Joe' and 'The Ash Grove': all sentimental, standardcommunity singing material. The Tol'M Crier did not report Socialist Labour being included in the 84 The any or songs and anthems programme . 85 Choir performed a similar duty at the May Day celebrations in 1927

After all the appealsfor new membersthat had emanatedfrom the orchestra,

JabezHall wrote to the Towv Crier in the summer of 1927 to make a similar request on behalf of the choir. The purpose of the letter was nothing more than asking for some more tenor singers to join the ranks. The letter was written as if the choir would survive or fall on this issue alone. This was one major aspectof the history of the discussedby its in Birmingham Labour Musical Union - that it was always organisers the languageof perpetual crisis. 'The Choir is in urgent need of tenor voices, and it is to these we appeal to come and help to make the Choir the successworthy of the movement. It may mean the sinking of one's individuality, but in the successof the whole this ought not to be a sacrifice.' Why both Sear and Hall felt the need to wrap their simple requestsup in such dramatic language is impossible to say. One explanation is that they felt that asking 'is the Choir to succeedor is it to failT might have troubled the conscienceof tenors who had limited their performancesto solos at

83ToWn Crier II February1927 94ToWn Crier 15 April 1927 85Tomw Crier 22 April 1927 116 the Labour Churches.The pathosof the letter's conclusiondemonstrates this over- dramatisationof the mundanerather well:

To this side of the movement the National Labour Party has given serious consideration, with the result that similar organisations are springing up throughout the country. The Birmingham Labour movement is in possession of the talent. Shall we let the opportunity pass,or rise to the occasion by demonstrating to the musical life of this city that this side of the movement is not to be neglected? It will be a successif a few tenor voices rally to the 86 cause...

The Union's annual meeting in 1927 was reported in the Tour Crier and the feeling of the meeting was that they had made 'excellent progress'. They welcomed the formation of a new constituent choir at St. Martin's and Deritend ward and had a plan for persuadingexisting choirs outside the Union to get involved: a competitive 87 festival was to be held in the autumn of that year.

Indeed, it was the choral section of the musical union that was to remain active throughthe 1930s.It is perhapsinevitable that the orchestrawas unableto sustainits efforts, dependingso muchas it did on the (largely vain) laboursof a singleman. The orchestra,especially its struggleto be 'symphonic', was certainlythe most singular and interestingaspect of the Birminghamlabour movement's attempts at musical combination. But choralassociations had not beenthe most successfullabour musical organisationsfor no reason:even works-sponsored brass bands required regular and considerablefunds to keepthem going, evenon an amateurbasis. Music was very importantto socialistsbetween the wars,but what someenthusiasts didn't really understandwas that the musichad to pay for itself It couldn't be robbing fundsthat would otherwisebe spenton fighting electionsor runningcampaigns: it was betterby far if thosegroups could do morethan pay for themselvesand raisemoney for the movement.The BirminghamLabour PartySymphony Orchestra was never going to managethat.

96 97 TouwCrier 8 July1927 TownCrier 29April 117 Therewere manyother labourmusical combinations in Birminghambetween the wars:choirs, quartets, concert parties and bandsorganised by local Labour Parties, Labour Churchesand trade union branches.By the middle of the 1920sa sizeablelist could be compiledalthough they did not all prosperfor long. Theseincluded the LadywoodLabour Choir, the StirchleyCo-operative Choir, the PlebianTrio, Tom Osborne'sChoir, Mill's Male Voice Choir, RottonPark Labour ChurchChoir,

BordesleyLabour Male Voice Choir, the AEU Choir, the NUR (numberfive branch) OrphanFund Band, Mrs. Lilian Green'sLadies' Choir, the WestBirmingham Labour

Band(who playeddance music), the SparkbrookLabour Jazz Troupe, the Orpheus Band (also a danceorchestra) and many others. The Birminghamlabour movement was far from 'sleepyand lethargic' or 'musically-starved',especially in the second half of the 1920s.

iii) Bradiflordand District

The Clarion Vocal Unions were always at their strongest in Yorkshire and Lancashire, and the West Riding of Yorkshire, in particular, was the real heartland. While the work of the Clarion Vocal Unions after the First World War has not been considered by historians, a number of choirs were still operating in the years immediately following the war and the National Clarion Vocal Union regained its strength through the 1920swith an annual national contest as well as regional contests. The focus of

Labour musical combinations in this area was centred around these enduring older organisations.

The Pioneer Choir

At the endof the First World War, the ClarionVocal Union in Bradfordwas meeting on Tuesdayevenings at its own rehearsalrooms. Occasionallythey would openthe 118 doors on a Tuesday night bringing in the public and embellishing the programme with instrumental music (in November 1918 the programme for the 'open night' included By February 1919 had its Pioneer violin SOIOS)88. the choir changed name to the Choir, although it still advertised itself as the Bradford branch of the Clarion Vocal

Union. The Clarion movement in general was still alive and well in Bradford, with

Clarion Cycling clubs in operation there and in neighbouring Keighley, and a Clarion

Clubhouse between Otley and Menston in the rural area to the north of the city.

However, the Clarion as a newspaper,and Robert Blatchford - the man behind the movement, credited with making many socialists - were both intensely unpopular in the Bradford labour movement, and the ILP in particular. Therefore, it is reasonable to assumethat there was a political aspectto the decision by the choir to exchangethe

Clarion for the Pioneer in the name of the choir. The Bradford Pioneer at this time made strong attacks on the Clarion and its editor on an almost weekly basis in 1918,

1919 and 1920. This was primarily due to Blatchford's criticisms of the ILP's support for conscientious objectors and later Blatchford's support for intervention in the Russian civil war against the Bolshevik government. These criticisms coincided with a low-point in the history of the Clarion with its editor complaining that the circulation had fallen to little above zero and, in the summer of 1919, was in danger of collapsing. The Pioneer made it very clear that they would not MOUMit. 89 It does seem strangethat somebodywho had played such an important role in Victorian

British Socialism as Robert Blatchford should meet with such venom from a provincial Labour newspaper(and from two editors), but his popularity had been waning in some areassince his support for the Boer War9o. The 'condition' of his mind was even questioned by the Pioneer which, considering his age, might have been considered more sympathetically9l. The Pioneer would even recommend the choir to its readers 'whatever be Blatchford's present failings' recognising the 'fme

"Bradford PioneerI November1918 89Bradford Pioneer II July 1919 90Martin Wright 'RobertBlatchford. and the Clarion Movement' in TonyBrown (ed. ) Edward Carpenterand Late Victorian Radicalism (London, 1990) p. 96 91Bradford Pioneer 15 May 1919 119 legacyof choirs foundedunder the inspirationof him and the good fellows who used to write for the Clarion'. Whetheror not the PioneerChoir's changeof namecan be put downto this, entirely,it got down to considerableactivity and lookedto expandits numbers.It was not just a relic of a pastage. As well astheir opennights at the rehearsalrooms they hostedmusical evenings in largerhalls 92 and in September1919 they began'an 3 Tuesday help Members elementarysinging class' on eveningsto swell the ranks9. of the choir sometimesappeared as the PioneerQuartette (or sometimesthe Clarion ConcertParty) at largeLabour meetingsor rallies consistingof a soprano,contralto, bass94 The large bazaarsin tenor anda . choir sangat a numberof socialsand most ILP andLabour Partybranches in the city throughoutthe period. To demonstratefurther that it were not merelya monumentto an historical movement, the choir began putting on an annual 'great event': a large concert at the

Mechanics' Institute. The first of these was in the spring of 1922 and the main attraction was a 'concert version' of Edward German's popular opera "Merrie

England',95. 'The Bradford ILP turned up in large number' and 'every song was received with delight and acclamation' according to the review in the Bradford

Pioneer. The concert also included a 'rustic dance and jig' which 'caused quite a sensation'. The reviewer, 'E. M. S.' put most emphasison the enjoyment of the event displayed by choir and audience alike, remarking that 'if our own Lord Mayor had not been there to remind us to behave ourselves,the odds are we should have gone entirely mad.' The choice of music was popular with the ILP/Clarionette audience becauseof the 'breezy Robin Hood touch' to the lyrics (and, no doubt, that it shared 96. its title with Blatchford's popular propagandabook) "Merrie England" was a popular choice for their regular concerts in February or March. It was, however, a

92Bradford Pioneer PioneerChoir, MusicalEvening at the Britton Hall on Saturday3 May. 2 May 1919 93Bradford Pioneer 5 September1919 94[WYA-Bfd] SouvenirProgramme (1925) p. 10 95Bradford Pioneer Advertisedregularly from 10 February1922 'Bradford Pioneer 10March 1922 120 light comicopera popular amongst Gilbert and Sullivanenthusiasts (less satirical but with 'crisper orchestration'97) and so the concertwas not madeup of a political programmeat all. In the mid-1920s,comic and light operawas almostas ubiquitous as dancingin the recreationallife of Bradford. It wasremarked in the Pioneerthat 'today, the Bradfordcitizen, if he wishesto escapefrom comic opera,and the non- musicalinanities provided for his consumptionby an all ruling providence,must flee his nativecity and seekthe dramain (horrid thought)Leeds, and other lessertowns in the neighbourhood.'98 In 1925an estimatedeight-hundred strong audience saw the choir (with the soloistsor 'principals' as threeyears earlier) perform "Meff ie 99 England"and a song-cyclecalled 'Flora's Holiday' which was 'quite a success'. The PioneerChoir numberedthirty membersin 1925which was considered

'on the small side for a Bradford Socialistchoir'. This would appearto be in termsof how large 'Mus.Bac. ' (a reviewerin the Pioneer)would wish Bradford Socialist choirsto be ratherthan a suggestionthat therewere other, largerSocialist choirs in the City. The only other combinationsthat might havefallen into that categorywere the adult andjunior Co-operativeSociety choirs and the variousSocialist Sunday Schoolchoirs (who restrictedtheir performancesto their services). Like its Birminghamcounterparts, the PioneerChoir enteredinto a protracted recruitment drive to expand on that baseof thirty. As with the Birmingham Musical

Union, these recruitment efforts tended to centre on the affwmed belief that 'Bradford musical enthusiastswith real good voices must be in plenty"00. Although they did not have the Labour Church reports to add weight to this assertion,the large number of concerts in labour clubs acrossthe city provided similar evidence.

While Birmingham musical combinations had been unwilling to enter into competitions until they had reacheda higher standard,the Pioneer Choir came from the competitive Clarion tradition and continued to enter the CVU national contest

97I-LG. Sear 'HMV C2106' BradfordPioneer I May 1931 98Bradford Pioneer 26 Mardi 1926 99'Mus. Bac.' 'The PioneerChoir Concert'Bradford Pioneer 27 March 1925 100'Mus.Bac. ' 'The PioneerChoir Concert'Bradford Pioneer 27 March 1925 121 which had continued as an annual event and was beginning to return to its former

importance in the Clarionette calendarby the middle of the 1920s. In November

1925, when the contesttook place at Leeds Town Hall the choir were victorious (with

a choir only twentyý-sevenstrong), taking home the 'Clarion ChallengeBaton'. Mr.

Boddy, the conductor,reacted with gleeful triumphalism: 'The Bradford Pioneer

Choir has beenafter this stick for twenty years,' he said, 'and you can imagine with

what joyful heartswe shall return tonight, becauseit is at last in our possession."Ol

The Clarion choir contest wasjudged on a 'test piece' selectedon the day from a large

number of possibilities. That year it was a 'delicate, almost mystic' song by Rutland

Boughton called 'Early Mom'. The concert of the massedchoirs was generally

presentedboth in the Pioneer and the Clarion as being the most popular aspectof the 02 the in contest' , which was perhapssurprising when one considers suggestions some secondaryliterature that pre-war contestswere extraordinarily competitive

(particularly amongstthe 'supporters'). Certainly the Pioneer suggestedthat more

sentimental emotions held sway at these inter-war contests. The Bradford victory was 103 reported as being 'popular' amongstthe 'rival choirs'. That is not to say that

people did not take the competitive element seriously; they clearly did, as Fred

Boddy's victory speechdemonstrates. However, winning the contest was not the be- all and end-all of the festivals: they were popular becauseof the fellowship, the chanceto seeold friends and the quality of the music performed as well as for the competitive spirit. As well as the annual national contest there were local contests(a

Lancashire one, for example) although the national contestswere often unableto draw choirs from further afield than Lancashireand Yorkshire.

Through the 1930sthe Clarion Vocal Union tradition was on the wane, and the choirs did not get involved with the Workers' Music Associationjust as they had failed to be a part of the National Labour Choral Union. That is not to say that one or

"' Anonymous'A Triumphfor the OtherPioneer' BradfordPioneer 20 November1925 102Jack Ramsden 'National CVU ContestAt Sheffield' Clarion May 1928 'As is usualthe singing of the MassedChoirs was the finestfeature'. 103Anonymous 'A Triumphfor the OtherPioneer' BradfordPioneer 20 November1925 122 two choirsthat were involved in the early stagesof eitherof thoseventures hadn't begunlife as Clarion choirs,or developedout of a Clarion choir. However,the CVUs were keento maintaintheir organisationaldistinction even when in decline, andthe metropolitan-centrednature of both the NLCU and WMA was not conducive to bringingprovincial combinationsinto the fold.

The Pioneer Choir maintained their Clarionette connections in more ways than just the regular contests. They would sing at the national Clarionette 'grand meets' such as at Hardcastle Crags in 1923 (which, 'by happy chance', coincided with the Sowerby ILP Federation Rally) 104 Furthermore they trips to the Clarion . made regular Clubhouse near Otley. When they were performing in July 1923, the Clubhouse's advertisement in the Bradford Pioneer included a 'WANTED' poster for 'an audience

300 strong to hear singing by BRADFORD PIONEER CHOIR' the following

Sunday.105 Whether they reachedthe requestednumber in the audience or not, the concert was warmly appreciatedby the fellow Clarionettes who ran the Clubhouse:

Now and again the golden sun peepedthrough the clouds last Sunday; but what care we when our good friends the Pioneer Choir are out to charm? Trouble goes by the board, hearts are &ee and it is real good to be alive. 106

The Pioneer Choir did give plenty of service to the labour movement more broadly.

As well as performing at regular social events, bazaars, rallies and meetings they provided the musical entertainment on occasions such as awaiting local election

for the Labour Party 107 results .

Bradford andthe surroundingdistrict had other choirsand bands,but the Pioneer Choir in Bradford andthe Keighley Clarion Choir (both part of the 'national' CVU movement)would appearto havebeen the main local inter-warorganisations. There

104Bradford Pioneer 6 July 1923 105Bradford Pioneer 20 July 1923 106Bradford Pioneer 27 July 1923 107Bradford Pioneer 30 October 1925 People awaiting local election results at the Mechanics Institute were to be treated to 'music by the Pioneer Choir'. 123 werethe manySocialist Sunday School choirs and orchestras(and their combined choirs,the "Sunbeams"),the Lyric Male Quartette,the adult andjunior Co-operative Choirs,the GuiseleyLabour PartyBand, the West Ward Labour Club orchestra'08 anda variety of other short-livedor small combinations,all of whom gavegood serviceat socialevents and propaganda meetings.

Conclusions:

Thereis somethingparticularly fitting for the Socialistmovement about choir concerts,where the musicseems to say"we do enjoy singingtogether". 109

What that 'something' was, however, appearssomewhat intangible. Sponsoring choirs, bands and orchestraswas deemedto be a useful or worthwhile practise for labour movement organisations, but there does not always seemto have been agreementas to why that should be. Primarily it was those functions considered in the last chapter that drove the desire to form specifically Labour (or Communist or

'Workers') choirs, bands and orchestras: socialising, fund-raising or propagating the socialist message. There was probably a good deal more of the first two than the last in all casesexcept the Workers' Theatre Movement combinations and possibly the

London Labour Choral Union, under Bush, in its last period before transforming into the Workers' Music Association.

But there would appearto have been another motivation: to produce 'the best' music,to the bestof the players' (or singers')abilities. The reasongiven for this was alwaysH. G. Sear'sdesire to showthat Labour could 'hold its own' in the musical world. This clearly was deemedimportant by someindividuals but it would also appearthat the labourmovement gave some individuals the opportunityto try and realisetheir dreamsof producing(or conducting)'the best' music. Throughthe

101Bradford Pioneer 6 October1922 'On Sunday last in theKing's Hall, White Abbey Road, the orchestraof the West Ward Labour Club gave two magnificent concerts, which were magnificently agreciated by the people of theneighbourhood... ' I BradordPioneer 16 March 1923 124 labourmovement somebody like H. G. Searhad the resourcesand the accessto printed mediato be ableto attemptto establisha full amateursymphony orchestra. Throughthis work being'for the cause',(even though its connectionto any benefits to Labour,or returnon their investment,was at bestunsubstantial) members could be chastisedand madeto feel guilty whenthey fell short of 'the best'. And yet Sear(like manyof his colleaguesaround the country) failed to makethe most of this opportunityto realisehis dreamby makingthe goal too difficult and by limiting his

'catchmentarea' for playerstoo greatly. Someof thesecombinations might have donebetter service for the movement- and beenmore successful- if they had employedthe Clariontactic of 'making socialists'. It is surprisingthat the Clarion choirs(from those'pioneering' days)should have had a morepractical outlook than Labour Partycombinations in the mid-I 920s. While the former lookedto 'make socialists'(along with other aimsin the more familiar territory of utopianwhimsy), the latter's functionswere groundedon a vaguenotion of 'the arts' being 'a vivifying force in a movementdevoted to the humanisingand sweeteningof life in all its aspects"10.

While it wasthese choirs andorchestras, with their musicallyutopian vision, who grabbedthe headlinesin the labourpress, many other musicalcombinations performedto the bestof their ability and raisedmoney for the movement,provided good (if sometimesrather 'light') entertainmentat 'socials' and, from time to time, assistedwith propagandaactivity.

l'o Court (1924)p. 444 125 Chapter Four

Sona and Struizal

i) Introduction

Where you find humanity under strain, under stress in any part of the globe, you will find them putting it forward in song, becausesong is feeling. '

The inter-war years included periods of social unrest, confrontational industrial relations, struggle and the rise of fascism. A constant theme throughout the period was unemployment; the image of hunger marchers is strongly associatedwith the inter-war labour movement, as is the General Strike and the subsequentminers' lockout as well as British socialists going to Spain to fight fascists in the Spanish 4ýel Civil War. Francis, writing specifically about Wales, referred to the 'grim and desperateinter-war period when orthodox political activities were often seenas inadequateand ineffective. 2 Of course the British working class did not experiencea period of struggle as a homogenousgroup; we have already touched on the fact that many workers experiencedconsiderable gains in leisure time and disposable income during these decades. However, the 'grim and desperate' characterisationof the inter- war years was an accurateone for people in certain geographical areasand working in 3. particular industries Furthermore, some of the most enduring images of workers in

I [IV; K SCW,SAI 12942/1Sgt. Bernard McKenna (International Brigade) from: 'In our heartswere songsof hope' (BBC Radiobroadcast, presented by Jim Lloyd andresearched by Roy Palmer). I Hywel Francis Miners AgainstFascism: Wales and the SpanishCivil War (London,1984) p. 23 3 'For the nationas a whole,poverty and ill healthwere less pronounced during the inter-waryears than before 1914. Nevertheless,it is clearthat in areaswhere there was high structuralunemployment, and in all thosedistricts which sufferedhigh cyclical unemploymentin the early 1930s,poverty and ill healthwere probably more rife thanthey werebefore 1914.' Keith Layboum Britain on the Breadline: a socialand political history of Britain, 1918-1939(Stroud, 1990) p. 65 'Britain wasstill oneof the richestcountries in the world in the 1930s,yet far too manywere excluded from its benefits.' Tony is thing' in Nick Tiratsoo(ed. ) From Blitz to Blair (London 1997) Mason'Hunger ... a very good

126 strugglecome from this time; therewas an aestheticof struggleand hardshipthat has been impressedupon subsequentgenerations. Within the socialist analysis of many labour activists, all of the problems and crises they were to fight against were intrinsically connected. As a writer in the Socialist Leaguer put it, in 1934, 'War,

Unemployment, Poverty,' - and they would no doubt later have added Fascism-'are the children of Capitalism; let us plan to end the parents' rule. 0

This was seriousbusiness, often hard,unpleasant and dangerous; why should such activity have an accompanimentof music and song? While by no means questioning the seriousnessof struggle or the sincerity of those struggling, such activity was often rather enjoyable in its own way. It was clearly no fun being hungry, or being locked out of work, but it could be engaging and enjoyable to protest against such things amongst large gatherings of comrades. The struggle made the long hours in committee meetings (or listening to bad choirs! ) worth it. Struggle was what it was all about. For some of the more optimistic revolutionaries, each struggle soundedthe opening bars of the revolution. The image of ascetic, earnest,cloth- capped marchersmaking their voices heard by sheer force of numbers and grim resolution is only part of the picture. Comedy jazz bands,humorous marching songs, fund-raising concert parties and danceswere just as important aspectsof the business of struggle for many in the inter-war labour movement.

The comradesdidn't just singand play at the proverbialbarricades because they were enjoyingthemselves. Long-established theories about the effectsof music on crowds(and particularly on marching)had cometo the movementthrough a variety of traditions. Therewas an ideathat music 'awakeneduniversal sympathies', and there was a long tradition of martial (and marching) music". There was a pervasive

4 SocialistLeaguer June-July1934

127 view in pre-FirstWorld War British societythat musiccould 'assistin building 5 emotionalbonds between individuals, bonds which would inducesocial harmony'

A view was growing (the 'modem' view) that art shouldbe for art's sakeand this took a stronghold in the labourmovement. However, the tradition of viewing music 6 as 'an objectof socialutility and balm for society'smany evilS, had led to its usein manyaspects of British life. Middle-classpromoters of 'music for the people' from the 1840sonwards felt that 'the sacredart' couldreduce drunkenness and act as fisocial In it felt that cement'7. other words, was musiccould alleviateclass antagonisms. Similarly, some employers used music-making to help build 'corporate identity' and worker-loyalty to the firm through works bands and cboirsg as well as through sports and other pastimesthat worked on the emotions. It is not difficult to seehow the basic point behind these views and usesof music in the nineteenth century could be re-appropriated for protest. Music could have a different 'social utility', to act as 'social cement' within working-class communities and to help build ýf an identity as a union, a party or a class (and, indeed, inspire a degree worker- loyalty to such an identity). The following quotation, apparently from the Soviet composer, Dimitri Shostakovich, shows that this was not a development corifted to

BritairL -

We, asrevolutionaries, have a different conceptof music. Lenin himself said: 'Music is a meansof unifying broadmasses of people.' For musichas the power of stirring specificemotions. It is not a leaderof masses,perhaps, but force 9 certainlyan organising ...

' Chris Waters British Socialistsand the Politics of PopularCulture (1990)p. 99 6 Dave Russell Popular Music in England, 1840-1914: a social hist (1987) p. 17 7 Russell (1987)pp. 18-19 8 Russell (1987) pp.21-22 I Dimitri Shostakovich in 1931, cited in Ian Watson 'Alan Bush and Left Music in the Thirties' Gulliver 4 (1978) Watson does not give details as to where Shostakovich wrote or said this. It is an interesting quotation in the light of debatesabout the extent to which Shostakovich might be considered a revolutionary.

128 There have been various studies of the use of song in political struggle, from Ian

Watson's study of Song and Democratic Culture in Britain (1980) to Laura Mason's

Singing the French Revolution (1996). These studies have tended to concentrateon lyrics as representationsof political opinion: the public sphere for working peoplelo.

However, many songsthat were sung or written at times of struggle were particularly

(and deliberately) vague when it came to Political specifics. Much of the lyrical content of the musical ephemeraof struggle is close to doggerel. Music had to play a different role at such moments from a purely communicative one: music was both a planned and sometimesa spontaneousexpression of solidarity. Furthermore it was a method by which communities could be defined and delineated. The role of music in shaping identity, including and excluding people from a defined community - developing class-consciousnessthrough 'stirring specific emotions' - is central to its role in these events. In each of the 'struggles' that we shall examine in this chapter, that central function for music is apparent. These small, localised, delineated communities - that we might call 'communities of struggle' - were musically creative.

While it might be argued that the most creative aspectof the community songswe shall look at was a literary creativity - new words put to old tunes was the normal lyric, fundamental practise - neverthelessit was music, not that performed this community-building role.

Having said that, it is very difficult to look at individual pieces of music that emerged in these 'communities of struggle' in terms of musical form rather than lyric.

The first reason for this is the most obvious - we cannot hear what people at the time heard. Occasionally we know the familiar tunes (becauseof famous recorded

11This ideaof music(or moreespecially song) as a point of accessto civil societyfor the illiterate is pursuedin both thosetexts andalso in Roy PalmerThe Soundof HistM: Songsand SocialComment (1988)

129 versions,or becausethey are 'traditional') and so can makesome comment. Even thenwe know little or nothingabout the style or performance.Lyrics are (sometimes) accessible.And that very accessibilityat leastsuggests that somebodyat somepoint in time felt they had somevalue as a pieceof writing to be readas well as to be sung." I would still emphasisethe point that 'songsof struggle'were significantas musicalrather than literary phenomena.The most importantthing wasthat the activistssang - what they sangwas often secondary.

One importantquestion I shall strive to find answersto in this chapteris: did thesepolitical and industrialstruggles and the communitiesthat fought in them developwhat we might call 'culturesof struggle'? If so, what doesthat meanand how doesit fit into existingconcepts of 'culture from below', 'alternativecultures', sub-cultures,'Second Culture' or counter-culture?

Besidesstruggle, one thing that unitedmany of thosepeople considered here was poverty. Whether it be the families of the long-term unemployed or those of workers on strike or locked-out for long periods of time, what was required were

'defence mechanismswithout which the poor could hardly carry on. ' 12When Oscar

Lewis wrote about a 'culture of poverty' - looking specifically at a poor family in

Mexico - he wrote:

To thosewho think that the poor haveno culture,the conceptof a cultureof povertymay seemlike a contradictionin terms. It would also seemto give to povertya certaindignity and status. This is not my intention.13

Ideasof 'culturesof poverty' havebecome less contentious. Some of theseideas have beenconsidered in relationto the poorestpeople in Britain (particularlywith regardto

" This isn't necessarilyalways the case. Sometimesthe wordswill havebeen printed for peopleto sing elsewhere.Sometimes, however, lyrics wereprinted without the musicor the intendedtune. 12Oscar Lewis Childrenof Sanchez(196 1) p.xxiv " OscarLewis (1961) p.xxiv

130 'defencemechanisms' and copingstrategies) by writers suchas David Vincent in

PoorCitizen (1991)and in muchof the work of the BirminghamCentre for

Cultural Studies14 Aspects 'culture be Contemporary . of a of struggle' might more appropriatelyconsidered aspects of a 'culture of poverty'. The 'collective' natureof day-to-dayliving in the SouthWales coal-fields during 1926could be viewedas a

'defencemechanism' rather than as the fierce definition of a communityin struggleas

I might havebeen tempted to considerit. Thereis, I think, an importantdistinction to be drawnbetween a 'culture of poverty' and 'culturesof struggle',though. For

Lewis, a 'culture of poverty' was 'a way of life, remarkablystable and persistent, passeddown from generationto generationalong family lines'. The 'culturesof struggle' identifiedhere are ephemeraland localised. Furthermore,while it might not havebeen Oscar Lewis' intentionto 'give to povertya certaindignity and status',it is perhapsmy intentionto give that to 'struggle'. The most def"Mingdifference however,is this: a 'culture of poverty' is onethat looks to copewith, to live with, a crippling status quo. A 'culture of struggle', on the other hand, looks to support and bolster a sustainedfight against the same. While these two 'cultures' might co-exist in a community engaged in struggle, what we are considering in this chapter is something distinct from the cultures that survive with stubborn longevity amongst the very poorest in society.

Ian Watson looked at what we might call 'protest' song as the product of a

'Second Culture', that being an agitational, perhapsrevolutionary, 'democratic' culture that might develop in opposition to the dominant, bourgeois culture. That concept is problematic for a variety of reasons. Firstly it begins from a starting position that there is a homogenous,national culture - that instils and encourages

"' Thereis a detailedexamination of changingapproaches to these questions in JohnClarke, Chas Critcherand Richard Johnson Working-Class Culture: studies in histLwyand the (London,1979)

131 bourgeoisvalues - that most peopleshare. Secondlyit arguesthat a secondculture, definedby its oppositionto the nationalculture, exists for thosewho havedeveloped a dissidentconsciousness. In fact a studyof British popularculture between the wars

- evenjust concentratingon one aspectof popularculture, music - revealsa fragmentedreality with different cultural experiencesresulting from geographical, social,economic and educational factors as well as simplequestions of personaltaste.

Variousscholars" havepointed to the inter-waryears as a period of cultural homogenisationwhere a nationalculture is in the processof formation,yet while thereis muchto be saidfor that thesis,British culture was still too fragmentedfor talk of 'two cultures'to be applicable. As we shall seein the following chapters,aspects of popularculture suchas folk andjazz musiccould be appropriatedby a variety of political positionsas well as existingas merediversion or entertainment.Agitational or propagandistart did not exist in a vacuum,isolated from other art forms,neither werepolitical and industrialstruggles free from commercialor 'bourgeois'art and music. We can (problematically)talk of a multi-facetedpopular culture anda multi- facetedworking-class culture and clearly any 'culturesof struggle' we find could best be seenas aspectsof thosecultures. But it would appearthat somethingrather different occurredin 'communitiesof struggle' at 'momentsof struggle'that werenot permanentaspects of working-classor popularculture.

ii) Unemployment

We shall hearmore and morethe musicof marchingfeet. And whenthat music is heardin the land menknow that greatevents are afoot. For it is to the tuneof that musicthat all the greatchanges of the world haveoccurred. It is not sweet music. It doesnot sootheus to sleep.On the contraryit troublesthe mind and stirsthe pulse,and makesthe heartof the weak faint.

15Such as D. L. LeMahieu A CultureFor Democra (Oxford, 1998)

132 To thosewho suffer,to the poor andthe lonely, to thosewithout influence, who havenot the earof the greatones of the earth,the musicof the marching feet of their own peoplebrings hope and courageand a surgeof boundless strength. In the HungerMarch of 1936we hearthe openingchords of the music. It will not die awayuntil the workerswin the victory.16

While Nye Bevan employed the imagery of music to describethe hunger marchersof the later 1930s,his intention was to emphasisethe earnestresolution of the marchers, the lack of pomp and noisy bands. While that was the aestheticof the 1936 Hunger

March, it came on the back of a much more musical inter-war tradition.

Unemployment was a serious problem throughout the inter-war years. In 1929 there were 1.1 million unemployed in the UK Oust under ten percent). By 1932 this had risen to just under 3 million (twenty percent). As an illustration of this problem's bearing on the labour movement, in 1930 a third of the membersof the Communist

Party 17 It thorny dilemma for labour were out of work . posed a particularly the movement, especially the trade unions. Unemployment brought down wages, swung the industrial balance of power in the direction of the employers and many potential schemesfor relieving unemployment veered in the dangerousdirection of non- unionised, underpaid work. Trade union practicalities, humanitarian concerns and socialist theories found themselvesin potential (and occasionally actual) conflict over this issue. Compromiseshad to be found: the unemployed had to do something, life as an unemployed person had to become more bearable,economic policies capable of reducing unemployment had to be introduced (if possible), but this all had to be attained at little or no expenseto employed workers. The best options, therefore, were deemedto be leisure activities and protests.

16AneurinBevan 'Challengeof the HungerMarch, Socialist November1936 17Noreen Branson The History of the CommunistParty of GreatBritain 1927-1941(1985) p. 74

133 Most of the attempts to organise the unemployed into clubs - whether of a recreational or an occupational nature - were not carried out by trade unionists or other sectionsof the labour movement. Instead the task had 'fallen almost entirely into the hands of middle class people quite ignorant of, if not hostile to, the labour movement and trade union tradition'". The TUC estimatedthat fifty thousand men were passing through such clubs in the early 1930s. The TUC were determined to rectify this situation and take a more central role in the crisis. Having said that, the organising successof the Communists in the NUWM may have been as much of a spuff ing influence as the concern over middle-class clubs. There was a considerable degree of conflict between the 'official' labour movement's efforts to alleviate the unemployment problem (characterisedby Labour Party and TUC co-ordinated schemes)and the 'unofficial' movements' activities, characterisedby the Communist- led NUWM. The official labour movement did, rather belatedly, become more involved in the unemployment 'problem', especially through the 1930s,but still had to rectify the primary contradiction that existed between finding work for the unemployed and protecting the jobs and wages of employed workers.

As such, many of the activities and camps that were provided for the unemployed (particularly the huge numbers of unemployed in the 1930s) were centred on leisure. The Oxford University and Trade Union holiday camp that was held in July and August of 1935 promised the unemployed a 'complete holiday' with plays, social events and sports19. Where occupations were found for the unemployed, they were always of a kind that would interfere as little as possible with the local unionised labour-force. The Bradford Unemployment Advisory Committee (under

18[MRC] MSS.135.7/1 TUC Memorandumon UnemployedClubs (n. d. 1933?) 19 135/7/1 [MRC] MSS. Advertisementfor the Oxford Universityand Trade Union Holiday Camp- July-August1935

134 the auspicesof the TUC) notedin their annualreport for 1933-34that work schemes had largelybeen 'land cultivation' (working allotments)and jam making20.They preferredto concentrateon the successfulrun of concertsthat had beenprovided for the unemployed,including a performanceby the internationallyfamous Layton and

Johnstone2l.These 'successful American stars', who performedwith one seatedat the piano andthe other standingwith a handon it, were in Bradfordperforming at the

AlhambraTheatre at the time.22

The TUC Voluntary Schemesfor the Unemployedbecame quite an important part of their activity in the 1930s. The schemesincluded 'singly or in combination' recreational camps, educational courses,musical, dramatic and other artistic activities, sports and physical exercise. Various societies and organisations donated money and resourcesto the schemesincluding the English Folk Dance and Song Society (and oddly, the Eugenics Society)23. Once the local Unemployment Associations had been establishedthe TUC were not always able to give much central assistance. The

Lowestoft Unemployment Association wanted to set up a brassband in 1933, which they felt 'prove Q4 They to the TUC Organisation would a great asset . wrote

Department asking for assistancein acquiring free brass instruments. They were instructed to purchase(with their own funds) a very small number of second hand

25 instruments hope for Setting and expansion . up choirs and orchestraswas regularly considered to be a useful activity for unemployment schemesand associations.

Sometimeslocal Trades Council schemes,in order to gain as much local support as possible, would make much of being 'non-political-)26.

20[MRC] MSS.135/7/1 BradfordUnemployment Advisory CommitteeAnnual Repor41933-34 21Layton and Johnstone were a popularvocal andpiano duo of internationalacclaim. 22Bradford pioneer 18 May 1934 23[MRC] MSS.135.7/1 24[MRC] MSS.135.7/1 Correspondence 29 December1933 25[MRC]MSS. 135.7/1Correspondence 2 January 1934 26[MRC] MSS.135.7/1 Nottinghamshire Trades Council schemes 6 November1932

135 The TUC and the Labour Party also organised massprotests against unemployment and these were never regarded as 'non-political'. These events were often in London and organised along the same lines as the metropolitan May Day demonstrations. Thesejointly organised occasions were repeatedin major provincial capitals such as Glasgow and Leeds, but the 'national' protests were held at Hyde

Park. One such event was on 5 February 1933. A large demonstration was expected and the Commissioner of Police made various stipulations about the nature of banners and distribution of literature at the event (insisting that bannersshould be 'of such a

be )27) There degree nature that they cannot used as weapons . was a considerable of preparation for the event including advertisementsin cinemas 'from Ramsgateto

Glasgow', promotional stamps,and daily articles and advertisementsin the Daily

Herald for a month beforehand. Each marching contingent of the protest (coming from variousparts of Londonand converging on Hyde Park) wasto be led by a band28 The in the following . variousreports morning'snewspapers agreed that there were approximately 250,000 protestors present (although there was disagreementas to how many were taking part and how many were 'onlookers -)29).While many concentratedon the large number of policemen present (15,000 according to the Daily

Express30) who were in such large numbers owing to fears of 'undesirable visitors from Ireland 931the Tory Liberal left having to , and press were with make rather petty criticisms of the event. These included criticisms of the musical aspect of the proceedings. The Express ridiculed George Lansbury as 'cheer-leader, community

27[MRC] MSS.292.135.2/8-9 Report from police commissioner for National Demonstration (1933) 28[MRC] MSS.292 135.2/8-9 TUC records on National Demonstration of Unemployment. The Committee allowed El 17 in their budget for the hire of bands for this event 291200,000 voices join in Labour's Protest' Daily Herald 6 February 1933. '250,000 massedin Hyde Park' New Chronicle 6 February 1933. '250,000 in Hyde Park Demo' (250,000 onlookers and 30,000 demonstrators)Daily Mail 6 February 1933.250,000 'took part' Star 6 February 1933 "' 15,000 Police in Hyde Park Comedy' Daily Bpress 6 February 1933 31Daily Mail 6 February 1933

136 singingconductor, soloist and chief speakerall in one' - the 'soloist'jibe referringto how:

He sang verýe afler verse of the "Red Flag" with no support outside the small circle of supporters grouped around him on a horse-drawn cart. His attempt to start community singing of the "Internationale" was an equally dismal failure. 32

There are certain problems with this picture. Firstly the 'small circle of supporters' doesn't ring true whether there were 250,000 or 30,000 demonstrators;secondly the suggestionwas that the crowd didn't know the words, yet the official programme of the event included the words for 'England Arise', 'The Red Flag' and 'The March of

Workers 33 Finally, the Daily Herald demonstrators' the . although referred to the

&resolutequiet' it is more likely that any problems stemmed from the limitations of the available amplification equipment to cut through such a large crowd than any lack of enthusiasmon their part.

There was, though, a good deal of self-criticism about the musical aspect of the demonstration as well. After the bands arrived at the head of the marching contingents into Hyde Park, they dispersedand the anthemshad to be sung unaccompanied. Furthermore, there was a lengthy period between the first marchers arriving in the park and the start of the meeting. It was felt that it would be more sensible for the bands to stay and play in future (although the sameconcerns had been expressedabout May Day celebrations throughout the country for some years without the problem being rectified). There were also unspecific criticisms of the quality of 34 marching tunes and songs. The point to stressis that the musical aspect of the event was taken very seriously. The bands and the anthemscould make an event a roaring

32Daily &press 6 February1933 33[MRC] MSS. 292.135.2/9 Official Programme of 'GreatMardi' February1933 34[MRC] MSS. 292.135.2/8-9 Minutes of AreaSecretaries and Marshall's Conference 20 February 1933

137 successthat raisedthe spirits of the demonstratorsand united them in their cause,or else it could be a dernoralising influence that sappedmuch of their enthusiasm

The activities of the National Unemployed Workers Movement dwarfed the efforts of the official labour movement in this area (although there was a degreeof local interdependencebetween the official andunofficial partsof the movement).The

NUWM was foundedin 1920and the first major marchof the unemployedwas in that

35 All throughoutthe 1920s, by year . suchmarches, werecharacterised cheeringand singing,rather than the grimnessof somelater HungerMarches. As with the demonstrationsof the 'official' movement,bands and bannersheaded contingents of marchers,but thesewere often moreof an improvisednature than their equivalentsin the well-fundedLabour Party and TUC events. The TUC severedlinks with the

NUWM in 192736 and the LabourParty and the TUC alsodeclared them a proscribed

37 Earlier in 1920sthe NUWM (or the NUWC it thenknown) organisation . the as was workedtogether with the TUC and local TradesCouncils to organisedemonstrations, suchas a rally at the Bull Ring in Birminghamon 'UnemploymentSunday', 21 June, 38 1925with the local Irish Pipers'Band providing the musicalentertainment.

However,fears (that extendedto largenumbers of organisationswith Communist leaders)that the NUWM could act as a 'front' for CommunistParty recruitment and activity within the Labour Partyled to their estrangement.It had no discernibleeffect on the successof the movement,however, which went from strengthto strength(with plenty of Labour andTrade Union supporton an unofficial basis).

35Wal Hannington Unempl2yed Struggle. 1919-1936:my life and strugWesamongst the unernl2l (London, 1977) 36Noreen Branson (1985) pp. 14-15 37Branson (1985) p. 74 38Town Crier 19 June 1925

138 One regular NUWM activity was the 'raiding' of workhouses. As a result of

an organisedraid the targeted workhouse would become grossly over-subscribed,they

would be clearedout of food andthe insufficiencyof their provisionswould be

highlighted. The primary tool for politicising the workhouse experience for the

inmates was the singing of socialist anthems(the 'Red Flag' and the 'Internationale'

were frequent favouriteS)39.The sameanthems were put to similar use when the

NUWM factories that low 40 Wal raided paid wages yet offered overtime .

Hannington's memoirs of the period seemto be constantly illustrated with the mass

singing of the 'International' and the 'Red Flag' despite the many songsthat were

specifically written for unemployment protests. When he, Harry Pollitt and others

were in prison in 1926, he recalled regular demonstrations in Wandsworth where they

could hearthe singingof the 'Red Flag' andthe 'International' from their cells". One

of the 1934Marchers, Thomas Gregory, recalled, 'I'd neversung "The International"

before,before I went on the HungerMarch', despitehaving beenactive in the Labour PartyLeague Youth before 42 The labour of that time . useof general anthemsat unemploymentdemonstrations helped serve a very specificaspect of the NUWM's

approachto the problem.

The essentialprinciple of the NUWM, which looked to unite large numbers behind the causeof the unemployed, was that workers were workers whether they were in

work or not. Unemployment was a social evil that affected the working class as a classand not just thosesections of it who were currentlyout of work. The cultural

aspectsof the movementlooked to reflect andcement this proletarianisationof the

" Hannington(1977) pp. 31-32 '0 Hannington(1977) pp. 4547 41Hannington (1977) po. 137-138 42[IWM, SCW,SA] A: 8851/9/1Oral FEstoryinterview with ThomasWalter Gregory (Spanish Civil War veteran).

139 unemployment problem. The NUWM was very active during strikes and lockouts, eager to assisttheir employed comradesas part of their overall aim to 'proletarianise'

43 The led them to the unemployed movement . same aim also exclude the elementsof middle-class participation in unemployment protests. When the NUWM marched down Oxford Street, 'well-to-do looked in for boxes in shoppers... vain collecting which to drop small contributions for charity. They heard instead the singing of workers' battle-songs,particularly the "International" and the "Red Flag", and they saw.. militant slogans.'44 This image is in sharp contrast with Robert Tressell's depiction of an unemployed protest march from earlier in the century in The Ragge

Trousered.Philanthropists (first publishedin 1914)where the humiliatedand degraded unemployed marchersbeg for charitable contributions.

Haggard and pale, shabbily or raggedly dressed,their boots broken and down at heel, they slouched past. Some of them stared about with a dazed or half-wild expression,but most of them walked with downcast eyes or staring blankly straight in front of them. They appearedutterly broken-spirited, hopelessand 45 ashamed...

The new self-confidence was clearly part of the processof creating an independent,alternative culture, but the singing performed an inclusive role as well as the aforementionedexclusive one. The useof the anthemsof the labourmovement helpedthe NUWM forge links (evenif only for a shorttime) with non-Communist partsof the movement- indeed,the 'establishment',if one can describeany section of the labourmovement in the early 1920sas such. Whenone hundredand fifty unemployedprotestors came to lobby their MPs and vocally protestedin the

11Hannington (1977) pp. 64-65 44jiMington (1977)p. 50 45Robert Tressell The RaggedTrousered Philanthr2pist (London,1993) p. 288

140 Commons' lobby, they 'commenced lustily singing the "Red Flag"' and 'several 46 Labour Members who were in the lobby at the time joined in the singing.

A large number of songswere composedduring the Hunger Marches and unemployment demonstrations. Many of them were designedto aid marching (and they were not always written to a high lyrical standard).At the less musical (or indeed lyrical) end there were the ephemeralmarching chants:

One,two, threefour. Who are we for? We are for the working class. DOWN with the ruling class. Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow, Shouting the battle-cry of TREASON. 47

At the other endof the scalewere somequite complexsongs with severalverses (and sometimeswith newly composedtunes). Thesebrand new songswere 'not only sung on the road,but in the big halls, at the demonstrationsand at impromptuconcerts.

They alwaysreceived an enthusiasticresponse from the workersand many times the 48 local workerslearned the words and sangthe songswith the marchers. The idea that thesesongs should appeal to employedworkers was very importantto the

NUWM project (andwas clearly importantto Hanningtonin his recollectionsof the marches).Sometimes the songswere quite specificallyintended for suchan audience.

At other timesthe lyrics were merelyplayful nonsense.A studentat an NUWM camp

in 1935wrote a songabout Harry Pollitt entitled'Harry Wasa Bolshie'. In the song,

Pollitt is murderedby 'reactionarycads'. After this unfortunateincident, he playsthe

'Internationale'on his harpand 'brings the angelsout on strike sincehe doesnot like the hymns'. In the endhe becomesthe 'people'scommissar' in hell!

46Hannington (1977) p. 90 47Keith Layboum(1990) p. 32 48Hannington (1977)pp. 191-192

141 The moral of this story is very plain to tell: If you want to be a Communist you'll have to go to hell!

Therewere other songsthat becamepopular during theseevents. 'Hallelujah,I'm a

Bum' was an International Workers' of the World song from 1908, but became 49 popular in the UK unemployment movement in the 1930S. While some songswere

ephemera- composed for a specific march and then discarded- others were collected

in song-books and becamepart of the movement's treasury of verse. Similarly, while the marcherswrote some of the songsthemselves, others were provided by professional composerssuch as Alan Bush (some included in his Left Song Book and discussedin the next chapter). Thomas Gregory recalled singing 'Red Army songs, translated into English to Soviet music' on the 1934 and 1936 Hunger Marches.

Whenasked to give an exampleof what they sangon the marcheshe broke into an

Irish republicansong, Connolly's 'Rebel Song"O,which wasa favouritemarching

songin the SpanishCivil War amongstthe InternationalBrigade 5 1. He describedthe

HungerMarches as 'a wonderfultaste of what I'd got to comelater on, in Spain 52.It is interestingthat two suchdifferent activities- participatingin a protestmarch and

fighting in a war - shouldbe so firmly entwinedin the memory. What renderedthose experiencessimilar was the hardshipand the marching,yes; but moreparticularly it wasthe music.

49Roy Palmer The Sound of Histo (1988)pp. 117-118 50[IWM, SCW, SAI A: 8851/9/1 51[IWM, SCW, SA] 12942/1 52[IWM, SCW,SA] A: 8851/9/1

142 iii) Strikesand Lockouts

This period, particularly the 1920s,was also characterisedby confrontational industrial 53 Strikes relations . provided the movement's song-writers with much inspiration, and music also played an important part in fund-raising and morale- building. There was already a British tradition of music during strike action: songs

6oftenquite spontaneouslycomposed and ephemeral' emerged from the railway strikes of 1879/80 and 1886/87 and the Great Dock Strike of 1889.5' However, music played a much more central role during some industrial action between the wars. Ian

Watson used the example of the Rego Strike of 1928 where 600 women clothing workers had a twelve-week unofficial stoppagein London and they won their battle before Christmas. Song was not only a 'powerful agitational weapon' for them but played 'a central role in the whole affair'. They becameknown as the 'singing strikers' and eventuallycollaborated on a book of 'Strike Songs'with 700 striking

55 workers at the Polikoff clothing factory in 1929. The author remarked that 'it might be said that, combined with their militant leadership,the strikers sang themselvesto 56 victory' .

Songscomposed by workers on strike would regularly use heroic languageto relate the story, often in ballad form. The striking clerical workers in Lurgan, Ulster, 1920, sang - to the tune of 'The Mountains of Mourne':

Oh Mary this Lurgan's a wonderfulsight, With the picketsby day andthe meetingsby night; For the Clerksare on strike andI've heardpeople say

33'A galvanisedtrade union movementfacing the problemsof high unemploymentand constant wage reductionswas bound to find itself in conflict with both employersand government in the inter-war years'. Keith Layboum(1990) p. I 10 "Ian Watson (1978)p.81 'Ilan Watson (1978)p. 81 11Rego and Polikoff Strike Songs(London 1929)p. 3

143 That they're fighting for 57 principles rather than pay...

Similarly the story of the 1920 Railway workers' strike began:

Whenthe call cameup from London "Ev'ry manmust leavehis post", We respondedto the signal, Irrespective 58 of the cost...

One role of these songswas to strongly delineate the community of strikers and underlinetheir identity. As one would expect,this involved fierce condemnationsof strike-breakers.The Clerk (the monthly organof the Clerical and Administrative

Workers' Union) decidedto omit the nameof the strike-breaker'sfamily from the published version of 'The Mountains of Mourne' but one can be sure that the singing

strikerswould havebeen less squeamish:

You rememberthe who madeginger beer, Well there'sone of the family disgracingthem here. Surehe usedto be foremostin everydebate, And his motto was: 'foward, or elseyou'll be late'. But he alteredhis sermonwhen offered a bribe And with five or six moreof as shadya tribe, He hassold himself cheap,and he'll neverbe free While the Mountainsof Mournesweep down to the sea.

The Railway strikers' song was even stronger in its condemnation:

One ... or two notoriousatoms Playedthe scurvy,grovelling game, They are welcometo the glory Likewise welcometo the shame, All their lives they will encounter Cold disdainon everyturn; To the dustthey'll passunhonoured,

57[MRC] MSS.192/CA/4/l/8 The Clerk November1920 Is [MRC] MSS.127/NU/4/1/8 Railway Review 8 October1920

144 Their demise,not one shall mourn.

The song from Lurgan sparked off some debate within the pages of the Clerk about song-writing in the union. The editor asked, 'who writes songs for the National

Union Clerks Administrative Workers? from the Strike of and ...apart war-cries, such as the Lurgan efforts and the variant of "Fight the Good Fight" which the Scunthorpe lads produced, I have heard of not even an attempt to do this great thing. ' His plea fell on deaf ears. The cultural production that these songs represent grew out of the existenceof a nascentalternative culture. That, in its turn, would appearto have required struggle in order for it to begin to be formed (and to be sustained). The songsoriginated during a time when life was extraordinary, and it was the abnormality of periods of struggle that would appearto have made them so rich in counter-culture. In 1926, some areasof Britain were to experiencethis abnormality for longer than at any other time during the period.

During the strikes and lockouts of that distressed year, the mining communities (and particularly their local labour movements) dispatched choirs and concert parties to various cities to raise funds. Nye Bevan and the Tredegar Miners' Relief Committee, for instance, sent two choirs all around the country to raise money for strike pay during the lockout of 1926 as well as running free concerts in the Workmen's Institute and arranging a jazz band and sports conteStS59.In the South Wales pit communities, for instance, an 'alternative' culture grew up during this period of distress and struggle which presenteditself in numerous ways, but none so new and bizarre as the comic jazz bands and their carnivals that were ever-presentthat summer6o.This

NfichaelFoot Bevan p,71 While arguingthat thesebands represented an 'alternative'culture (they were something new and alien to the SouthWales valleys) they sharedcharacteristics with 'pierrot' bandsand minstrel shows that performedin British holidayresorts.

145 embryonic 'second culture' was fiercely co-operative involving communal kitchens,

co-operativesto repair boots and shoesand these 'gazooka' bandS61.Some of this

alternative culture had its roots both in earlier struggles (such as the 1921 lockout) and

in the important influence of the Miners' Federation, the various socialist political

parties and the Chapel. At the sametime there was conflict between aspectsof this

new culture and aspectsof the long-establishedSouth Wales culture: specifically

between the Chapel and the bands. Hywel Francis and David Smith refer to this

conflict in The Fed (1980) quoting an Aberdare Methodist who describedthe bands as

(vulgar', 'immoral' 'blasphemouS,62 These bands locked-out and . of miners were

essentially escapistand comic in their repertoires, relying heavily on the 'kazoo, 63fo r

instrumentation; their role in the struggle was primarily one of building morale and

raising funds. They provide perhapsthe starkest contrast with the grimness of protest

in the later 1930s:ten years on, struggle was beginning to lose some of its excitement

and novelty and was simply becoming a way of life for many. The hopefulnessthat

fuelled the humour of the bands of 192664 subsided as the enemiesgrew:

unemployment, the meanstest, fascists at home and abroad all combined to exorcise the spirit of frivolity from the businessof struggle.

The city of Birmingham's labour movement played host to a successionof touring

choirs in 1926 and gave a longer home to one Welsh choir, The Apollo Concert Party.

Although it was unusual for a fund-raising choir to stay in one place, the Apollo Choir

declared that they would stay 'in Birmingham for as long as this struggle lasts if the

"I Hwyel Francisand David Smith The Fed:a histM of the SouthWales miners in the twentieth cen (London,1980) pp.56-58 'Francis andSmith (1980) p.58 " The desiredaffect of this popularand inexpensiveinstrument, also known asa 'Tommy-Talker'and usedas a child's toy, wasto imitatethe jazz trumpet. 6' Francisand Smith (1980) p.274

146 peoplestill desireto listento us, andare ableto contributeto the causewhich we represent'.They were sentto Birminghamby their local DistressFund Committeein

Monmouth,South Wales in orderto raisefunds 'for the minersand their children'.

Evenbefore the crisis the choir hadbeen performing without feeto raisemoney for disabledminers and othercauses. They includedmembers who hadwon 'many

Eisteddfodprizes' andtheir musicaldirector was an Associateof the LondonCollege of Music. Althoughthe Apollo ConcertParty was much smallerthan the traditional

WelshMale Voice Choir (a photographin the TownCrier showedten menof a variety of ageS65)parts of their repertoirewere quite traditional('Comrades In Arms',

'Soldiers' ChoruS,66 'Land My Fathers67 ) Much in local , of , etc. was made the

Labour paper (the Town Crier) of the high musical quality of the singers as well as their authenticity as 'singing miners'. It was described how, before the strike, they would change from their pit clothes to go to the rehearsal rooms 'after toiling in the

for hours' 68 When their (at mines seven . reporting on one of concerts the

Birmingham Central Hall) the reviewer remarked that a 'sceptical individual surveying the row of immaculately dressedartistes' had queried, "are they really minersT '69 The editor of the Town Crier remarked that 'while they are singing one feels that they are putting their very souls into their songs becauseof the ever-present

the kiddies depends their 70 picture of women and whose sustenance on effortS, . The To" Crier regularly published the amount of money that the Apollo

Choir had during their By October 1926 they had E1000 71 raised stay. raised , an

65TOUW Crier 18 June1926 66'South WalesMiners' Choir at the CentralHall' To" Crier 4 June1926 11W. A. E 'SmethwickNotes: The Choir' TouwCrier 18June 1926 68'The SouthWales Miners' Choir: Why They HaveCome to Birmingham:Help neededfor sorely strickenarea. ' TownCrier 28 May 1926 69'South WalesMiners' Choir at the CentralHall' TouwCrier 4 June1926 70"Watchman" 'A well-deservedtribute' TouwCrier II June1926 71'South WalesChoir RaisesflOOO' TowvCrier 8 October1926 impressive by ten May72 On f. 1000, effort mensince the endof . raising the choir returnedhome only to be sentback to Birminghamby the SouthWales Miners'

Federation 'the for funds 73 Even Choir as need was as urgentas ever . whenthe was planningto leave,their leader'Chandos' (the 'managerand elocutionist of the Apollo

ConcertParty') wasadvertising in the TownCrier as a tutor of 'voice production, elocutionand public speaking'as well as offering himself for concertand 'At Home'

'moderate' 74 Despite be engagementson terms . the circumstancesunder which arrived in Birmingham,'Chandos' was to becomea regularfeature of LabourParty andLabour Churchconcerts and socialevents long after the restof the choir had eventuallyreturned to homeand work (or sadlyfor many,no doubt,home and unemployment).This wasjust one way in which theseimported musical influences changedthe musicalculture of the local labourmovement: the SmethwickChoir discussedin ChapterThree were undoubtedlyinfluenced in their repertoireby the long associationwith the Apollo ConcertParty. As in Birmingham,Bradford receiveda popularvisit from a Welshminers' choir who raisedlots of moneyfor the distresscommittees at home. They movedon from Bradfordto Scarboroughafter a muchshorter stay than that of the Apollo in Birmingham,clearly recognisingthe fund-raising holiday-makers75 potentialof the resort's . Someof the touring musicalcombinations from mining districts went overseas in 1926. The Blaina Cymru ConcertParty toured Russia, often with a morepolitical repertoirethan was employed by groupstouring Britain. They concludedtheir eveningwith the LeningradTrade Unions with a renditionof "TheInternational v76

72Especially when you considerthat the E3 Us I 1/2draised singing at the endof a ward LabourParty yputh sectionDance and Concert was considered 'a big success. TownCrier 20 August 1926 'South WalesChoir RaisesL 1000' TownCrier 8 October1926 Toim Crier 10 September1926 73Bradford pioneer 9 June1926 76'A WeM Miners' Choir in Russia' Touv Crier 19November 1926

148 During the GeneralStrike, the 'Off icial Strike News Bulletin' in Bradford urged people - especially various women's and youth groups - to organise concerts, gamesand lectures (amongst other activities) so that 'time need not hang heavily'77.

During the lock-out, outside the mining communities, the labour movement held fund-raisingsocial events (such as dancesand concerts)to raisemoney for the

78 miners' distressfund .

Obviously the hope that 'time need not hang heavily' during stoppageswas an important factor in the singing and musicianship of strikers. Furthermore the keen needfor fundswas the foremostgoal in the work of choirsand bandsat thesetimes.

But neither the pursuit of entertairanentnor the need for funds tells the whole story.

As we saw with the struggles of the unemployed, the fight required the solidarity- building, community-delineatingpowers of musicand it alsoproduced the extraordinaryconditions where people looked to build their own cultures.

iv) The Fight Against Fascism

British fascism was a small and relatively unimportant part of British political life before the bizarre career of Sir Oswald Mosley found itself in that direction. Mosley formed the BUF in 193279 and received considerable support in some sections of the press. Despite this popular championing and the support they received, particularly amongstthe middle class(but also in someworking-class areas), they remainedvery mucha minority force in British politics, albeit a decidedlyvocal and violent

77Bradford Worker:QfIcial StrikeBulletin II May 1926 78There are numerous examples. One was a 'Grand Dancein aid of the miners' fimd' hostedby the WestBirmingham Labour Party'. TownCrier 28 May 1926 7' Branson(1985) p. 118 minority. On 9 September1934 the BUF held a demonstrationin Hyde Park,the story of which illustratesthe lack of supportthat existedfor them. Anti-fascists(led by the CommunistParty and the ILP) held a counter-demonstrationin the Park that outnumberedthe BUF by 20 to I (accordingto the ManchesterGuardian). Whenone addsto this that the counter-demonstrationwasn't supportedby the Labour Partyor the TUC, the BUF's lack of masssupport - evenin London,where they were probablyat their strongest- is quite apparent.The fascistshad their own songs,oflen with a certainmocking similarity to the style of labouranthems, but - in Britain at least- they didn't haveenough voices to drown out the songsof labour. Much of the anti-fascistactivity of the British labourmovement was in the directionof internationalpolitics asthe seriousthreat of fascismgrew in Europe.

One opportunity to fight fascism was to go to fight in the Spanish Civil War. This crisis began in July 1936 when there was a right-wing military revolt against Spain's

Popular Front Large from government80. numbers of socialists various countries including Britain signed up as volunteers to defend the Spanish workers, and the

SpanishRepublic from fascism. Over the following years socialists, anarchistsand others from a variety of cultural backgroundswere thrown together (and at times against each other) and the 'international language' of music becamean important communicative tool. Veterans recalled how people from different countries taught each other their own songs. Sgt. Bernard McKenna of the International Brigade spoke of the universality of song:

80Hwyel Francis(1984) p. 107 Evenif we didn't, perhaps,understand the words,we'd makeour own version... [we'd] sharethe samefeelings, the sameemotion and get the same impact,the samecomfort from it, maybe.81

This experiencewas not that of all British Spanish Civil War veterans. The writer,

LaurieLee, wrote in his autobiographicalA Moment of War (1991):

In this special army I'd imagined a shoulder-to-shoulderbrotherhood, a brave camaraderiejoined in one purpose, not this fragmentation of national groups scatteredacross the courtyard talking wanly only to each other. Indeed, they seemedto sharea mutual air of uneaseand watchfulness, of distrust and even dislike. 82

His recollections of people from different countries sharing literary and musical items betraysa certainkind of camaraderie,but one lessidealistic than that which is more usuallyportrayed:

As we drank the hot sour wine Sasharecited some poems of Mayakovsky, and Ben said they soundedbetter in Yiddish. While they quarrelled, Danny sang some old music-hall songs in a cheerlessadenoidal whine, till Doug covered his head with a blanket.83

That people occasionally retreated into national groups (and national songs) was not always presentedin a negative light. While this war and these soldiers were extraordinary in their very political nature and motivation, they were still groups of young men(mostly), far from homeand loved ones,in circumstancesof extreme difficulty and deprivation. 'There was always a place for the songswe'd learned at homewhen we were young'. Groupsof Irish soldierswere heardto sing 'I'll take you homeagain, Kathleen' and 'Tipperary'. 'Nelly Dean' could be renderedwith

[IWK SCW, SAI 12942/1 Laurie Lee RedSky at Sunrise(1993) p. 434 83Laurie Lee (1993)p. 476

151 feelingby homesickBrigaders. Oneveteran recalled seeing Italian Brigaders(known as 'the Garibaldis')'singing excerptsfrom opera' as they were firing, during one battle. Many of the familiar uplifting marchingsongs popularised during the First

World War were employedon the march(such as 'The QuartermasterStores'). " At othertimes political songswere usedfor marching. A recordingmade at the front of onemarching song (an old tradeunion anthem,'Hold the fort for we arecoming' accompaniedby a recorderand somespoons) shows that therewere somestrong singersin the ranks,improvising harmonies with apparentease. 85 The role of political marchingmusic has passed into InternationalBrigade legend. Onecommanding officer recalledhow a particulargroup of soldierswere beginningto flag and an Irish

Republican, Private Ryan, got them back into step by singing 'the International' and in turn stopped Madrid from falling at that point in the war. He asserted,'that song, in my opinion, played a really crucial part. ' Even Laurie Lee, who was hardly sentimental about the war, recalled the marching songswith some sentiment, and even idealism in interview:

We, being rather isolated in our various fronts, in Spain, were the last to sing. But we didn't sing the glories of war, we sangto keep our spirits up."

As with strikes and protests, these events engenderednumerous songs. Together with other areasthat we have been examining, the dominant mode of song-writing was putting new words to familiar tunes. There were a number of reasonswhy this should be the case in this context. Firstly, as we've already considered, lyrics in various languagescould be written to the sametunes so that large numbers of people of different nationalities could sing together (one of the benefits of a song like 'the

[IWM, SCW, SA] 12942/1 [IWM, SCW, SAI 12942/1 6 [IVM, SCW,SA] 12942/1

152 International'). Furthermore,although there were occasionswhere people could sing solos to their comrades,perhaps of their own composition, music was much more likely to be used as a communal activity making the familiarity of tunes a necessity with or without the languagebaff ier. Some of the original songs that originated from the war were quite 'folkloric' in genre87 and later enteredthe repertoires of some political, post-war folk singers.

While in Spain,members of the InternationalBrigade (and other bodiesincluding international volunteers) would hold concerts from time to time. The international aspectof such concerts was obvious. On May Day 1938, an International Brigade seriesof concerts in a prison camp included a choir made up of 36 nationalities and, in a competition, a small Welsh male voice choir won the secondprize (singing songs like 'Men of Harlech') against twelve other national choirs. The prize was a pack of twenty cigarefteS.88 The choirs continued to perform at the prison camps in Spain, right into 1939. Morien Morgan was one of the last English speaking prisoners left in the San Pedro POW camp and, on the 8 January,he wrote to his brother, Glyn:

On Christmas Day we had a big concert. Also on New Year's Day and last night. The curtains and decorations were both striking and bizarre. Today's concert was by far the best we have had in this series. The International Choir reigns supreme... The room resoundedto the cheering after each song.89

The experienceof British volunteers in the Spanish Civil War had a profound effect on variousaspects of the labourmovement, including its musicalside. The 'Clarion

Singers',formed in Birminghamin 1939,were directly influencedby the experiences

87[IWK SCW,SA] 12942/1 88Francis (1984) p.242 "' Francis(1984) p.293 of some of the choir's founders in Spain9o. They had been impressedby 'the way in which the Spanishpeople had used music as a weapon in every aspect of the struggle.

The soldiers,the workers,the peasantsand the childrenhad fought with a songon their lips'91. Althougha labourmovement choir in Birminghamwas nothingnew, this representeda considerablechange from earlier forms. A choir that looked to use music as a 'weapon' in the 'struggle' in the place of the 'musical philanthropy' of the old Birmingham Musical and Dramatic Union was characteristic of changesin socialist attitudes to music more generally, as we shall see in later chapters. It would appearthat the experienceof struggle was an important factor in those changes.

v) Conclusions

Two extraordinaryfeatures of life in certaincommunities for shortperiods of time in the inter-war period - struggle and poverty - combined to form localised - sometimes extraordinary - working-class cultures. That these cultures could sometimesbe jolly, comic and camivalesque raises questions of culture, class, and even psychology that can only begin to be considered in these conclusions. The socially, economically and geographically determined nature of these short-lived cultures of struggle in the 1920s is what makes them so very interesting and similar cultural change can be identified in

90Watson (1978) p. 83 91Ray Pegg 'A Song for the People: the story of Clarion' WMA Bulletin July-August 1975 p. I The observation was a common one. Bob Doyle, who signed up to the International Brigade as an idealistic teenager,recalled his abiding memory of his experiencesin Spain: 'they sang at every opportunity'. [IWM, SCW, SA] 12942/1. The idea was parodied by Tom Lehrer in 'Folk Song Army' from his 1965 album 'That Was the Year That Was'. 'Remember that war against Franco? That's the kind where each of us belongs. 'Ibough he may have won all the battles We had all the good songs' http: //mernbers.aol. com/quentncreeAehrff/ otherlengthy strikes both in this period and at othertimes. They sharecertain characteristicswith Ian Watson'sconcept of a SecondCulture.

We havealready looked at how inter-warpopular culture was too fragmented andheterogeneous for the languageof 'two cultures'to really be appropriate.

However,one importantaspect of this complex,fragmented cultural scenewas the ephemeral,cominunity-based culture of strugglethat we haveconsidered in this chapter. If neither 'secondculture' nor 'alternativeculture' seemlike quite the right descriptionsof this phenomenon,neither does 'sub-culture'. In lieu of more appropriateterminology, 'cultures of struggle' may haveto sufficc.

Oneaspect of theseindependent, isolated, 'alternative' culturesof struggle that we haveidentified, which representstheir cohesionand delineation,was the way in which ceremonies- particularlythe burial and memorialof the dead- were carried out. A hugecrowd of mourningHunger Marchers from disparateparts of the country

- unitedby their struggleagainst unemployment - sanglabour anthems as a dead comrade was transported away from them by train, and others performed a similar ceremony at this same marcher's burial, in 1922.92In 1939, Birmingham mourned their five dead International Brigade volunteers at a meeting in the Town Hall with

Senorita Isabelita Alonzi Spanish 93 Although singing songs. . there was always a

'Labour' aspectto the funerals and memorials of long-standing activists in this period, there was not the extraordinarily fierce communal definition of othernessthat was displayed at these times of struggle. A long-standing activist dying of natural causes under conditions of normality would be mourried as a labour activist, yes, but also perhapsas a local worthy, a member of a family, a church parishioner and a member of a local community. During these short, extraordinary times people were first and

92Hannington (1977) pp. 89-90 9' TouwCrier 28 April 1939

155 foremosta HungerMarcher, a striker,a locked-outminer or an InternationalBrigader 94 - not only in death(which was,afler all, the supremesacrifice ) but in all aspectsof

life. This is particularlyinteresting when one considersthe strongbut largelyvain

efforts put in by Labour Churchesand SocialistSunday Schools to replaceChurch

and Statein the lives of socialists.The SocialistSunday School Hymn-Books

includedsongs for funeralsand weddingsand 'naming services'. At timesof

struggle,agitational, counter-hegemonic cultures were quite easilybuilt - they could

often build themselveswithout the needfor shapingby morally anxiousintellectuals.

But they requiredabnormality to prosper:what was strongand fundamentally

importantto a worker who first and foremostdefined his or herselfby strugglecould onceagain appear odd and sectarianwhen political activismhad returnedto equal(or

lesser)status amongst a myriadof identitiesand pursuits.

But what of songas a communicativetool: lyric as a literary representationof political opinion? Hannington referred to marcherssinging the Red Flag 'meaning every word' and, while songs seldom attempted analysis or explanation, lyrics often expresseda stark, clear message. While this consideration of the place of music in protest and struggle betweenthe wars shows that it is too limited a task to consider

songsof struggle as simply text, it would be wrong to underplay the importance of the lyrical content of the songsto the singers. While music played an extraordinarily important role in building a community of struggle and strengthening the bonds within that community, songswere also meant for those outside as items of propaganda.

94Over a quarterof the 2000British volunteersto Spaindied in the conflict. Anotherinfluence on music-makingduring theseevents was the businessof myth- making,legend-telling and hero-worship: these were greatdeeds that deservedto be setdown in song. Sucha functionof songwriting hada long tradition in the Irish

Nationalist/Republicanmovement and it wasclear that therewas a direct influence from Irelandwhen one considersBritish labour'sadoption of manyIrish rebel-songs amongstits repertoire. It is interestingthat labouranthems were oflen referredto as

'Rebel Songs',such as by GeorgeLansbury in his forwardto the Lansbury'sLabour

Weeklysongbook.

It was sometimessaid that 'English socialistssing in chorusas raggedlyas they marchin procession'95and there's often a suggestionof raggednessand disorganisationin the reportsand recollections of inter-warstruggle. Whetherit be that imageof GeorgeLansbury singing a faltering solo of mostof the Red Flag, or the dampsquib endings of manylarge protest meetings as crowdsdispersed, the labour movementin protestwould not alwaysappear to havebeen a well-oiled, professional campaigningmachine. Having saidthat, therewere manyoccasions where the labour movementreally did display its strengthin massassembly, and the bandsand the raucoussinging was no doubt an importantaspect of that.

What remainsto be consideredis the ideologicaljustification for the selected genresand natureof the musicused both in the everydaylife of the labourmovement andat thesemoments of crisis. In the remainingchapters we mustbring our focus backto thoseessential questions about the music itself- what was 'the best', who did it belongto andhow could socialistscope with or adaptto populartastes?

95'Jim Connelland the RedFlag' LabourMagazine 7: 11 March 1929 ChapterFive

The Best Music Available

i) TheLabour Movementand Classicall'Art'Music

Although we have noted a wide range of music used in the every-day life of Labour associations,performed by Labourmusical combinations, at ralliesand open-air demonstrationsand during strikesand campaigns,when socialists wrote aboutmusic in this period they frequently restricted their considerationsto 'serious' 'art' music. We must attempt to consider this pre-occupation in the fight of some of the main tensions or debatesthat we haveidentified in the musicallife of the movement.One such tensionwas 'the bestmusic available' versus 'a musicof their own'. In other words, should the working class (and particularly those who were socialist) listen to and appreciate'great' 'art' music,or shouldthey create(or enjoy) specificallyworking classor socialistmusic or that which was deemedto be so. Within both of these

6camps'a further debateexisted between those who were interested in establishing some kind of Labour or Socialist aesthetictheory and those for whom music was primarily a pleasurable activity.

As can be seen,there is no ideal description for what we now tend to give the rather limited title of 'classical music'. Throughout this chapter I shall use words which prefaced contemporary referencesto this music, all of them problematic:

6serious','great', 'art' or 'high-brow'. Between the wars people essentiallytalked aboutmusic and it wasthe 'jazz', 'popular' or 'comic' 'musics'that were labelled.

Probablythe most usefulacademic description of the musicwe are dealingwith in this chapter is 'Western art music' although even this has problematic implications for popular forms of music.

158 Many of thosewho particularlypromoted Western art musicin the labour movementcertainly enjoyed it andwished to encouragethe enjoymentof it. However, they alsowished to encouragediscrimination amongst socialists, so that they would ceaseto enjoyso much'bad' music(whether that be music-hallsongs, 'jazz' dance hits, etc.) In other wordsthere was an elementwithin thosewho pushedfor 'the best musicavailable' who wereessentially philanthropists looking to alleviatewhat they consideredto be culturalpoverty.

Musical Philanthropy

There is no doubt that material poverty limited the opportunities for many membersof society to enjoy the sameaccessibility to high culture and great art as the wealthy and leisured. Not only the fmancial cost of attending operas,professional concerts and plays accounted for this, but also the amount of time which one could devote to the pursuanceof art. Not only did one need the free time to attend events (or read books, or play music at home) but one also neededthe time to devote necessarystudy to develop one's critical faculties or talents. Clearly the limited accessto education beyond the elementarylevel for working-class people in this period was a huge factor in this inequality as well. Although the preoccupation of socialists with high culture and disdain for some popular cultural forms can easily be portrayed as elitist or conservative,there was, at least, an egalitarian logic behind some of the positions taken. In so far as one could say that this constituted a 'project' its flavour was philanthropic rather than socialist or labourist becauseit was essentiallythe work of membersof an educatedelite - the culturally wealthy - volunteering something of their wealth to the deservingpoor.

159 The first aspectof musicalphilanthropy that we shallconsider was the teaching

of appreciationand discrimination, carried out primarilythrough newspaper columns

andlectures. The presenceof musiccolumns in Labournewspapers was highlighted as

a particularselling point. The Daily Heralds advertisementsin 1925made particular

mentionof 'Music Notesby RutlandBoughton' and 'GramophoneNotes'. However,

it alsopointed out the presenceof a sportspage and the purposemight havebeen as

muchto do with reassuringpotential readers that the paperwas not exclusively political (containinggeneral interest features, one by a famouscomposer) than necessarilydemonstrating enthusiasm for a musicalphilanthropic agenda. As Chris

Watersconsidered in British Socialistsand the Politicsof PopularCulture. 1884-1914 pre-warsocialist publications had music columns, and lectures on musicwere common

at variouslabour movement events. Watersgives the exampleof GeorgiaPearce in the Clarion who often mystifiedreaders with technicalitiesand sometimes received

lettersfrom readerswho imaginedthat they shouldlike the musicshe wrote about,if only they'd heardit. The tone of suchdiscourse appeared to changein the inter-war periodtowards one that wasmore open and populist and lookedto encourage participation. This was assistedby technologicaladvances and the increased opportunitiesfor readersand audiences to hear'classical' music.

The musiccolumns of local andnational Labour publications were dominated by the livesand works of the 'great composers'.One popular music columnist was

Harold GeorgeSear. As 'H. G.Sear' he wrote the musiccolumn for the To" Crier in

Birmingham(and had the samecolumn included in other local Labourpublications suchas the Bradford Pioneer). As 'H. G.S' he alsowrote a columnfor the Daily

Herald. As consideredin ChapterThree, one of Sear'smain contributions to the life of his local labourmovement (in Birmingham)was as the conductorof the

160 BirminghamLabour SymphonyOrchestra. Although he wasnot a professional musicianor journalist(the 1927Labour's Who's Who lists his occupationas

'chemist')he wasno musicalnovice. He wasthe Secretaryof the BirminghamNew

PhilharmonicSociety from 1916to 1920,Secretary of the BirminghamCentre section of the British Music Societyand was a lectureron all mattersmusical on radio and in variousforums (both Labour andnon-Labour, including schools)'. He wasclearly part of the local musicalelite. This connectionwas, no doubt, of somebenefit to the labour movement(such as whenhe wasable to securescores and other facilitiesfor the

Labour Orchestra). While his musical curriculum vitae gave him authority to speak andwrite at lengthon his subject,it alsoadds to the suspicionthat his tone was occasionallysomewhat condescending. When the Birn-drigharnTo" Crier was first issued,its musicwriter (oneJ. S. ) wrote only for the alreadyconverted, appraising concertsthat the majorityof readerswould not haveheard (and comparing them with other performancesof which readerswere even less likely to be aware). He made statementsabout composersand their works that could only be of interest to the most musical of readers. As a brief exampleof his style, there follows an extract from a review of a piano concert in Birmingham

In playing the item of Chopin's Bursoni shows nearly the samelack as Mark Hambourg when the latter attempts to play Chopin, but without his elfish caprice. One felt the treatment was too noble and regular to be in keeping with 2 the uneasyspirit of the composer.

WhenH. G.Sear began his seriesof articles,'The Men Behindthe Music"M the Towv

Crier in 1925,a very differentapproach was taken. Ratherthan assumingconsiderable

'Labour's Who's Who (1927) p. 193 ' J.S. 'Music Notes' To" Crier 17 October1919 161 musicalknowledge, Sear assumed none (while makingit clearthat he possessedthe knowledge himselo. He beganhis lessonwith the quotation I cited earlier:

Let me try to tell you about [the menbehind the music]and their work, without cantand without display. I will promisenot to be technical. I will not tire you with the rulesof music. I will seldommention key or time. You shallnot be botheredwith augmentedsevenths or enharmonicminors. If I cannotmake you realisethe personalityof that manbehind the musicI will havefaed utterly and will withdraw. But I think I can?

Searrarely attempted to considerthe life or musicof any of the composershe studied throughany kind of socialistanalysis (other thanthe occasionalreference to social origins). His task, ashe sawit, wasto breakdown barriersand to persuadepeople that they could enjoy 'art' musicas muchor morethan they enjoyedthe musicthey cuffently listened to.

BecauseI mentionBach and Beethoven do not think that I don't Eketunes. I do! I canundertake to find moretunes in threepages of eitherthan in three pagesof anyragtime piece you like to put beforeme. '

Sear set out to try and teach this skill to his readersalmost immediately. The second article in the 'The Men Behind the Music' serieswas 'On Discrimination'. He firstly explained why he consideredmusical discrimination to be important for socialists (or even a fundamentalaspect of socialism).

Music is not merely a drug to soothe the senses. We must listen with our brains. Socialist philosopýy is giving us the intellectual use of our senses- it is teaching us discrimination.6

3 ILG. Sear 'The Men Behindthe Music' TownCrier 3 April 1925 4 In Sear'sarticles it is much to Mendelssohn'sdiscredit that he 'never had the fierce strugglefor existencewhich is the commonlot of artists' whereasSchubert is praisedfor being 'a peasant'sson'. ' RG. Sear TowwCrier 3 April 1925 6 H.G. Sear 'On Discrimination' TownCrier 10 April 1925 162 It is interestingthat he includeshimself amongst those who arebeing taught. Later on in the samearticle he remarksthat 'we are entitledto the best'. Althoughthe logic of his task pointsto him alreadyhaving the discriminatorytalent he speaksof (andthat he intendsto do the teaching)he usescollective language to escapefrom soundingtoo condescending,and to makehis project seemmore socialistic. He was a talented writer and,to be fair, waswilling to exercisehis brain whenlistening to popularmusic too and,when he later wrote gramophonerecord reviews for the TownCrier andthe

Bradford Pioneer,he did not just dismisspopular records out of hand. While,aswe shallsee in ChapterSeven, some condemned the popularmusic of the day for a variety of reasons(its commercialism,its American- andpossibly its African - origins,etc. )

Searmade quite a simpletest of suchmusic based on melodies,rhythms and lyrics.

Whetherit is fair that discriminationbased on the musicologyof European'art' music shouldbe broughtto bearon musicfrom a differenttradition is a separatequestion but it would be wrong to considerSear entirely as a musical'elitist'. Indeedthe very natureof his project would havebeen abhorrent to someof the more elitist musicologists.To bring 'art' musicto the attentionof as muchof the public as possiblewas anathemaeven to someMarxist studentsof music(such as Adomo) becauseof the risk it ran of changingthe natureof the musicitself Popularaudiences needed'hummable' themes and memorable motifs, the very aspectsof seriousmusic that Searwould emphasiseand champion (and Adorno would despairof as commodification).

'The Men Behindthe Music' seriesran througha largenumber of the 'great composers'and talked abouttheir lives,music, inspiration and how peoplemight

'study' their musicnow (normallyinvolving an assumptionthat the readerhad either a

163 piano,a gramophoneor botW.) Whenwriting aboutMozart he remarked,'you can makea studyin ecstasyby listeningclose up to your gramophoneto "The Magic

Flute" overture. I recommendit... " DiscussingSchubert, he insisted(perhaps a little optimistically)that 'almostanyone can play the tiny waltzesof Schubert.The accompanimentsseldom get beyonda "vamp"... '9 Sear'sinterest in the 'home consumption'of classicalmusic is ratherimportant. He consideredsongs to be ideal for suchstudy and insistedthat 'we canexamine them at our leisure'. Not only does this assumea gramophoneor a piano,it alsoassumes that the readerhad time for such an examination.Although, as we haveconsidered elsewhere, leisure time was growing for many workers in this period (for some, far too much 'leisure' time as they joined the ranks of the unemployed)and accessto a piano and/or gramophonewas available for many working people, Sear appearsto have been recommendingquite a time- consumingpastime here. Could an averageworker squeezeboth the home consumption and examination of music and activism in one or more of the various political and industrial associationsavailable, into his or her precious leisure time?

SometimesSear would champion the superiority of actually playing music over just listening to the gramophoneor wireless:

is Wireless has familiarised ... chamber music room music -your room music. thousands with chamber music but, of course, that is not the real way to enjoy it. Wireless Performances lack the necessary intimacy... it is better to than to fisten. 'O ... play room music merely

In encouraginghis readers,he would quickly try and point out the accessibility of the music of any of the composershe was studying. With Haydn, for instance,he

RG. Sear 'ChamberMusic' TownCrier 8 October1926 'Almost everyhousehold has a piano' RG. Sear 'The Men Behindthe Music 9: Mozart' TownCrier 29 May 1925 9 H.G. Sear 'The Men Behindthe Music: Schubert' Toim Crier 17 July 1925 10H. G. Sear 'ChamberMusic' TownCrier 8 October1926 164 beganby reassuringthe readerthat 'in his art thereis nothingobscure, nothing aloof "' You andI canhandle it and smile. After referringto 'modulationsfrom one key to another'in a pieceby Mozart he added,'and let me whisperthis, the words

"modulation7and "key" aretechnical I know, but they do not makeany real difference to the music. Try it. 912 It is momentslike this whenone is suspiciousof some condescension.He hadjust written aboutmusicians waiting 'With batedbreath' for thesemodulations. Clearly they did makea differenceto the music,however technical the words might be. Condescendingor not, he wishedto breakdown the contemporary fear of the 'high-brow'. 'It is a word used to frighten us from great things,' he wrote, 'knock it down and passalong this leafy way where lies an intimate perfection.' 13 He eventually (in the 1930s) reworked his gramophonereviews into 'An

Open Letter to Plain People': a fictional couple, William and Mary. He signed off his first letter:

know I for I feel ... you what am, always sighing symphonies. often a snob about my preferences,but I'm not really, am I? Yours faithfully, H. G Sear14 .

This form of article was by no meansoriginal. Robert Blatchford's famous "Merrie

England" was structured in a very similar way. Sendingthe letter to a 'plain' woman as well as Blatchford's 'practical working man' perhapsshows a changein attitudes over the thirty-year period, but essentiallythe sametechnique is being used. As such it is perhapsbetter to view these articles as primarily an in-ýitationof Blatchford rather than as a condescendingcharacterisation of his working-class readers. The use of

11H. G. Sear 'The Men Behind the Music 5: 'Tapa" Haydn' TownCrier I May 1925 12H. G. Sear 'The Men Behindthe Music 9: Mozart' TouwCrier 29 May 1925 " H.G. Sear 'More About Songs'Town Crier 24 December1925 14H. G. Sear 'An OpenLetter to Plain People' Bradford Pioneer II November1932 165 Blatchford'sstyle gives the articlesan air of evangelismthat their contentrarely matches.

Whiletrying to appealto the loversof popularmusic, Sear was not reticentin his criticismsof somepopular opportunities for hearingmusic (especially where classicalmusic was performed):

These'orchestras' that heightenthe agoniesof our film heroinesby churningout Tchaikowski'sPathetic Symphony are not orchestrasto seriousmusicians; while the fiddler-conductorswho gyratemadly to amusetheir audiencenot only tend to ruin their bandbut eveninsult the intelligenceof the listeners."

He only supported a popularisation of the music he loved on his own terms. Musical arrangementsfor small combinationsplaying in cinemas,cafes or ice-cream parlours were far greater sins, for Sear, than a bit ofjazzy syncopation (in its place). He was fundamentallyopposed to any arrangements. After a description of some of

Rachmaninov'spieces for the orchestra he added as an aside: 'now, since I have shown that Rachmaninoff [sic] can and really does write for orchestra, don't you think if he had wanted his famous prelude orchestrating, he would have done it himseM So, when you next have a chanceof asking a band to play a certain piece, don't let it be

16 that one.' He also could not disguisehis dislike of 'musical comedy' 'from which',

17 he 'both Similarly, wrote, music and comedy are conspicuouslyabsent' . when trying to say somethingpositive about a gramophonerecord of 'Sidney Custard playing the

Trocadero Cinema Organ in Liverpool' he couldn't quite disguisehis scorn: 'In the

"Cuckoo Waltz7 you can actually hear the cuckoo. Isn't that niceT

One unusual aspectof Sear's musical opinions (and 'The Men Behind the

Music' was an illustration of this) was his surprising lack of interest in performers. For

15H. G.Sear 'The Orchestra' Town Crier 19 June 1925 "' H. G. Sear 'The Men Behind the Music: Rachmaninofr Town Crier 15 October 1926 17RG. Sear 'Towards Real Musical Comedy' Town Crier II September 1925 166 Sear,composition was everythingand performance very little. In a considerationof

Italianopera, be referredto 'the tyrannyof the singers"' who believedit wastheir right to meddlewith the scoreas written, with improvisedornaments. In a special articlein the To" Crier specificallydedicated to the subjectof songsand singers,

Searremarked that 'the works of composersundoubtedly inspired are ignoredfor the sakesof pleasantnoises made by individualswhom providence has endowed with a voice."9 This lack of appreciationfor the talentsof singersand musiciansis rather singular. The primacyof musicand composer is cementedfurther by his utter dismissalof the notion that lyrics might bold any relevance.For Sear,the successor failureof a pieceof musichas nothing to do with its lyrics.

And, if you are tempted to say that these songsthat are the latest rage die quickly becauseof their silly words, let me say at once that those of "Land of 20 Hope and Glory" are pompous nonsense.

Sear, then, had little interest in the workers involved in the art of music (other than that great worker, 'the man behind the music', the composer). This allowed him to think and write about music in a manner quite detachedfrom the industrial and political realities of the day, championing amateurismand voluntarism.and expressingunease at the idea of art for financial reward. He complained, for instance,that Tchaikowsky wrote the '1812 Overture' 'for money, and not at the immovable dictates of his genius."'

Sear went into greater detail on his subject at many, many lectures around the

Birmingham labour movement (such as at the Labour Churches)and on the wireless, where he could illustrate his points with grarnophonerecords. As mentioned in

11ILG. Sear 'The MenBehind the Music: Rossini' Tow-n Crier 10July 1925 19I-I. G. Sear 'Songs and Singers' Town Crier 23 October1925 10ILG. Sear 'The Men Behind the Music: Elgar' TownCrier 30 July 1926 21H. G. Sear 'The Men Behind the Music: Tchaikovski' Town Crier II June1926 167 ChapterTwo, he wasone of manysuch lecturers throughout the countrywho illustratedmusical lectures either with gramophoneselections or with live singersand musicians.At Sear'slectures, the samenon-technical approach was taken. Music was

'treatedas a kind of delicateliterature' and the objectof the lectureswas 'to stimulate

22 Although ignored enquiryand research . the valueof muchpopular music was or not recognised,the new technologyand new opportunitiesfor working peopleand their familiesto hearmusic were fully utilised. While thereappeared to be a luddite attitudeto new popularmusic (to be exploredin greaterdetail in ChapterSeven) philanthropistslike Sear,as we haveseen, made extensive use of the gramophoneand wireless.While in someways Sear might be equallywell-described as a popular musicologistand pedagogue than as a musicalphilanthropist, one cannever quite lose the suspicionthat Searstrays beyond the positivisticboundaries of musicologyinto the troubledarea of the effectsof musicon the individual. While inter-warmusical socialists were not as concernedwith the civilising powers of music as those before the War are said to have been,they had not entirely dispensedwith the influence of

Hugh Haweis and the nineteenthcentury musical moralists. The theory that just hearing great music could raise the individual was consignedto history (except perhaps when it came to the education of children). To learn to appreciate great music, however, could free the individual from the stultifying or demoralising effects of 'bad' music. The next step in this process- the bridge from here to Socialism- was rather out of the scope of music columnists but was, essentially,that once the workers raised themselvesfrom an intellectual torpor fed by dope culture they would develop the necessaryconsciousness to bring down Capitalist society. As such, the short term

22Anon. 'Mr. H.G. Sear's Lectures on Music and Musicians' To" Crier 10 September1926 168 philanthropicaim wasoften coupledwith a long-termutopianism, both of which requireda transformationof the individual.

Anotheraspect of what we've beencalling 'musicalphilanthropy' in the inter-war labourmovement (and beyond) was the provisionof affordableopportunities to hear fserious'music. Althoughmany of the concertsmentioned in ChapterTwo andwhich seemedto be sucha centralfeature of labourmovement life were of a 'variety' nature, perhapsincluding some 'serious' selectionsbut rarelycomplete pieces played 'as they werewritten', sometimesmore formalclassical concerts were staged. As well as the performancesof the choirs,bands and orchestras of the movement(which, apartfrom the BirminghamMusical and Dramatic Union, rarelyreserved their repertoires exclusively for 'art' music) Labour associationssometimes staged concerts by non-

Labour performers. The Jowett Hall in Bradford (the home of the ILP) organised many 'classical' concerts, particularly in the late 1920s. In the first three months of

1929 there were performancesby the 'Bradford Lyric Quartette' (with the cello of

'Master Coghlan')23 baritone, ,a trio comprising of a a pianist and a violinist who played arrangementsby Grieg, Schubert and Vaughan Williams (amongst otherS)2'and a crowded ChamberMusic Concert, declaredby the Bradford Pioneer to have been 45 (one of the fmest concerts ever given in Bradford. The poor attendanceat the secondof these concerts (on the back of dwindling audiencesfor some time) was greeted with similar indignation in the pagesof the Bradford Pioneer as was shown at poor turn-outs for choir and orchestra rehearsals,referred to in Chapter Three. The

Pioneer writer asked, crossly, 'is it that music is not appreciatedby Bradford folk? 46

Bradford Pioneer 4 January1929 Bradford Pioneer 15 February1929 21Bradford Pioneer I March 1929 26Bradford pioneer IS February1929 169 Whileit is unlikelyto havebeen the resultof this indignantchastening, the next Jowett

Hall concert was, apparently, 'crowded"'

There were also concerts such as those given by "Casey" where 'art' music madeup the bulk of the programme(along with somepieces of a folkloric nature). As we sawin chapterstwo andthree, musical events would be put on for the 'poor children' by local labour movement musical combinations. Again these would sometimesbe performancesof varietymusic or dance/jazzmusic but other groups would be more 'serious'(like the EdgbastonLabour Party Harmonic Society)".

Furthermore,the Labournewspapers would championother opportunitiesto hear

'good musicat popularprices' suchas a SonataRecital at the Midland Institutein

Birminghamin 1925which receiveda lengthypreview. The violinist andpianist were muchlauded in the previewand emphasis was made of admissionprices (I s 6d and2s

4d). The anonymouswriter in the TownCrier insistedthat the recital 'shouldnot be inissedby any lover of good music"9. Unfortunately,even the local ranksof musical philanthropistswere not sufficientlyorganised for the beneficiariesto alwaysreceive coherentmessages from their benefactors.H. G. Searwas quite exceptionallyscathing aboutthe recital insistingthat 'if I had beenasked to write a critique, for the life of me

I could not haveuttered a word of praise"O.Opera seasons at local theatresand the performancesby municipalorchestras would receivesimilarly enthusiastic previews in the Labourpress (and subsequent mixed reviews).

The last aspectof this philanthropicproject wasthe provisionof opportunitiesto learn, play and progress in the study and performance of Westem art music.

27Bradford Pioneer I March 1929 28Town Crier 14 January1927 29Town Crier 2 October1925 30IIG. Sear 'Making Music Live: The Secretof GreatPlaying' TownCrier 6 November1925 170 Lucky branchesthat includeda musicteacher could witnessgroups of youngstudents reachinghigh standards(and receiving laudatory remarks in their local Labour newspaper).At the endof 1925,the Toiiw Crier reportedon the resultsof National

Academyof Music pianoforteexaminations revealing 'the existenceof musicaltalent amongstthe membersof SparkbrookLabour Party'. GeorgeBath, a fellow of the

NationalAcademy, trained the studentsfor the exams.The youngest(aged seven) receiveda 'first classhonours' in Class"C" (equivalentto a 'distinction' in one of the early,beginning grades today), older studentsreached very high levelsin the academy.

Miss Dora Hunt had beenmade an Associateof the Academyfor singingin 1923and

wasnow madean Associatefor pianoforte;Mr. ReubenEastwood became a Licentiate of the Academy. Both Miss Hunt and Mr. Eastwood had their own studentswho had

f successesin other examinations'. The correspondentto the To" Crier put particular

emphasison the successfulstudents' 'deep interest in the work of the Sparkbrook

LabourParty', 'frequentlyrender[ing] service with their talent in the socialwork of the

Party'. " The following year,in June1926, Dora Hunt becamea Licentiateof singing

2 NationalAcademy' with the .

It would be easy to condemn much of this activity as patronising, patriarchal and elitist philanthropy, decidedly non-socialist and ignorant of the complexities and appeal of popular forms of music. Such an analysiswould, I believe, ignore the value of such

activity derived by some socialists who developed a deep love for classicalmusic (or talent for performance) who may otherwise never have done so. We might estimate

that such 'converts' were few, and the arguably more 'labourist' activity of forming

musicalassociations (including choirs and orchestras) did moreto nurturesuch

31To" Crier II December1925 32To" Crier 25 June 1926 171 potentialthan this 'philanthropy'. If nothingmore, these activities backed up the choirs,orchestras and solo instrumentalistswho operatedin the labourmovement with a deeperunderstanding of the musicthey played. In somecases it would appearto haveachieved more than that. Somemusically enthusiastic working classsocialists did morethan pick up the crumbsfrom a self-satisfied,elitist feast- somereceived a high levelof musicaleducation.

A LabourlSocialistAesthetic

For some, the importance of the appreciation of 'serious' or 'art' music was not that it was better so much as that it was more beautiful. In such an analysisthe simplicity of a traditional air may be deemed'better' than the technical, intellectual yet 'ugly' music of some 'great composers' (particularly some modem ones). One function of socialism, it was felt, was to make the world - and life - less ugly and introduce as much beauty as possible. Clearly this was the view of ILPer, Arthur Bourchier (actor- managerof the Strand Tbeatre, Londoný') and the founding principle of the ILP Guild of Arts. Music had to be 'fit for the workers' ear'. 'Classical' music, here, was just one aspectof a general view of the arts that could be characterisedas essentially escapist:a diversion from the uglinessof life in a Capitalist society. This was firmly basedon the nineteenthcentury aestheticismof John Ruskin. Bourchier expressed many of these opinions in an ILP pamphlet in 1926, most of which was re-worked from his many lectures at ILP, Labour Party and Labour Church meetingsacross the country. For Bourchier, modem society was ugly. Cheap seatsat theatre or concert hall were irrelevant so long as society was organised in such a way that life was a

04 &chaotic' 'frantic scramble

33The Strand Theatre became the National Centre of theGuild of Arts 34Arthur Bourchier Art andCulture in Relationto Socialism(London, 1926) p. 6 172 It is painful to seethat, as things are today, people live and die surroundedby ugliness;that the purer and more lasting joys never come to enliven and enlighten their sordid, toilsome and monotonous lives.'s

In this view, one of the primaryreasons for the establishmentof Socialismis to make art and culture 'connnon property': to make life more beautiful. It was a reasonably commonview andone that hada long heritage. Similarsentiments can be identifiedin the Clariontradition, the goldenage Utopianism of EdwardCarpenter and others and the maverickcommunism of composer,Rutland Boughton. CertainlyBourchier and the ILP Guild of Arts themselvesconsidered their ideasto be very muchin the tradition of William Morris. EvenH. G.Sear, whom we haveplaced in a different

$project' or tradition (demonstratingonce again that we should not always assumeany actualtension between these musical 'positions') would occasionallyremark on this aestheticview of socialism (normally to bolster up the necessityfor musical discrfinination). When criticising a Concert Party he had seenwhilst on hoUdayhe insisted:

As Socialists,whether we know it or not, our aim is towards perfectly ordered beauty. Only by putting our brains into our likes and dislikes are we going to compassthat ordered beauty. We must not, even in holiday mood, tolerate such unloveliness. True Socialists cannot. Do not think that becauseI am pious there are to be no more cakes and ale. I seebeauty in comedy as well as in tragedy.36

It would be easyto attribute a rather different form of 'golden age' yearning to

Bourchier,and one that had a ratherless egalitarian outlook. With his MA from

Oxford, membershipof the MCC andother establishmentclubs and a successfuljob as an actor-managerof a London theatre one could easily parody his sentimentsas a

35Arthur Bourchier (1926) p. 15 36H. G. Sear 'A HolidayConcert Party' TownCrier 13 August 1926 173 longingto be the squire,rather than the jolly peasant.While this is probablyunfair 37, it is interestingto note that the Englandof villagegreens, cricket and 'old maids'on bicyclesis not so far removedfrom that of harvesthomes and may-poles.

In the early stagesof the Guild of Arts, the DramaticSection grew muchfaster thanthe musical,but they did haveRutland Boughton on the Committeeand he held a weekendschool for choralconductors under the Guild's auspicesin 192638. Locally, sectionswere set up which werenot deemedto be in the true spirit of the guild, such asthe OperaticSection in Bradford. Light Opera(generally Gilbert and Sullivan productions)was not consideredto be 'pure' or 'beautiful' enoughto performthe importantrole Bourchierattached to the Arts.

In this tradition,the aestheticof Labour(or Socialism)was pure beauty:the absoluteopposite of all that could be seenin the industrialsociety in which they lived.

Wherepossible, great art shouldpre-date industrialisation. Where it did not, it hadto ignoreit andprovide an escape.It was an aestheticof Labourthat excludedany representationof or allusionto labour:work, struggleor exploitationwere all ugly and thereforehad no placein Art. Art wasnot to representor reflect real life, (althoughit was, somehow,to seekthe 'truth"9): the role of Art wasto be beautiful.

Onequestion that arisesfrom that discussionis, could art be employedin the

service of socialism? It brings us back to that question from Chapter One: can

propagandabe art? There certainly appearsto be some contradiction in the suggestion

that great art is 'pure' andjust beautiful on the one hand and the suggestionthat there

can be some element of social control in art on the other. Whether that social control

37Bourchier was actually an admirerof Trotskyand if he waspolitically out of stepwith his ILP colleaguesit wasprobably that he wasto the left of them. 3' TowvCrier 23 April 1926 3' RutlandBoughton The GlastonburyFestival Movement (Somerset,1922) Boughton refers to the importanceof an artists' 'ideasof truth andbeauty' p.8 174 is to conservethe statusquo, or to be wieldedas a political weaponon the part of the workers,art must surelyhave some features beyond purity andbeauty. Therewill be a discussionof the conceptsof 'bourgeois'or 'proletarian'art in the next chapter(when consideringthe importanceof folksong). However,there were occasionswhere

(serious''art' 'classical'music (whichever description we wish to employ)was usedas a tool of propagandain the labourmovement and we mustlook at what the attitudes to suchactivities were. Thesequestions were consideredin the pagesof the Labour press. It wasoften concludedthat music(or art moregenerally) should not be propagandist(or at leastnot didacticallyso) but could be usedto aid propaganda.

Articles on this topic were deemedimportant enough to be re-printedaround the

Labourpress. C.Salway-Wallis' article on the 'power of music"to attract peoplewas first printed in the SocialistReview but found its way into the TownCrier. Its essential point was importantyet simple. Music in the churches,the Music Hall andthe military actedas a magnetto manypeople, and socialistmeetings could attainthe same magnetismif they were to incorporate music in the sameway. For Salway-Wallis there was nothing about military music, Church music or Music Hall song which leant it this 'power' (other than the popular love of merriment). He believed music could help socialist propagandabecause it would 'make meetings merrier' not because people could write propagandistmusic. The aestheticianRutland Boughton rarely wrote propagandistpieces but was happy for his work to be used to add to the appeal of a propagandistmeeting; Alan Bush (and, for a while Michael Tippett) were not nearly so shy of the idea. The professional musicians(particularly Bush) introduced some quite different ideas about music and its possible function in the labour movement. It is to their contribution which we shall now turn our attention.

175 fi) RutlandBoughton, Alan Bushand Composersof the Labour Movement

RutlandBoughton and Alan Bushwere the two best-knownand popular composers associatedwith the labourmovement between the wars. Othercomposers, like

MichaelTippett andDame Ethel Smyth,had passing associations and BenjaminBritten was a Vice-Presidentof the Workers' Music Association.There were other, amateur composerswhose work madeit into song-books,newspapers and SocialistSunday

Schoolrevues, but Boughtonwas one of the most popularand highly-regarded British composersof the periodwhile Bushwas a well-respectedacademic musician and composerwho wasbeginning to makea namefor himself Largelymusically self- taught4oBoughton, born. in 1878", wasalready a well-knownname by 1918,because of somesuccessful compositions (particularly "The ImmortalHour" which wasto receiveeven more popular acclaim in the 1920s)and his music-dramafestivals in

Glastonbury.The two ideologicalforces that drovehis compositionfrom his earliest efforts were 'Socialism, of the William Morris variety' and 'the principles of

Wagnerian music drama"'. After early 'Wagnerian grandeur', 'folksong' was a

&purifyinginfluence' leading to his music becoming much 'simpler, practical and individual"'. The Wagnerismconflicted with 'golden age' utopianism (to a degree), the grandeur with folksong simplicity. Boughton's music was describedas a marriage o fi.

influenced by folksong, ...a strong vein of simple melody, much to a quasi- symphonic orchestral style and a bold use of the chorus, derived partly from from the Gluck oratorio and partly operas of ...... those works that are simpler in style (Bethlehem, for example) are most successful. Nevertheless,his capacity to develop his ideas grew and in The Queen of Cornwall came near to

40Boughton served an invaluableapprenticeship under Sir Granville Bantockat the Midland Institute Schoolof Music in Birmingham. 4'Michael Hurd RutlandBoughton and the GlastonburyFestival (Oxford, 1993)p. 3 42Stanley Sadie (ed. ) The New GroveDictionaly of Music and Musicians,Vol. 3 (London, 1980)p. 97 43Sadie (ed. ) (1980)p. 98 176 mastery. Bouyhton's harmonic vocabulary, like his melodic style remained conservative.4

Boughton was very strongly of the opinion that music required melodies and comprehensiblerhythms and that thosemodernist composers fond of atonalityand dissonancewere merely'pretentious' and representedbourgeois 'decadence'. This was becausethere was a 'mtural musicallaw"' which 'bad' musicor 'antimusic' divertedfrom (or eveninverted).

The Glastonbury Festivals, which he organised from before the First World

War, were modelled on the Bayreuth events of Wagner and were 'for the performance

946 of musicaland dramatic works basedon legend - Therewas no specificpolitical motivationbehind the festivalsand many of thoseinvolved did not shareBoughton's convictions. While it did becomesomething of a centrefor the artistic left (involving

Boughton,Bernard Shaw and others during its inter-warexistence) Boughton's desire

'found life, felt to a colony of artists who preferred a country and ... that the meansof livelihood should be gained by other meansthan those of art, probably by farming 47 never received wider support. That view clearly was basedupon his political conviction that art should neither be driven by market necessitiesnor be aloof from humanrealities.

His Wagnerism.was not restricted to his interest in music-drama;like Wagner, he wrote many, many words about his musical opinions in books (four), booklets (six) andmany articles. Not includinghis regularcolumns, these were in Music (three),

Music Opinion and TradeReview (fourteen), Musical Times(twelve), Music Student

(nine),Sackbut (thirty-one), the Clarion (twelve),Daily Citizen(ten), Daily Herald

44Sadie (ed. ) (1980)p. 99 4' RutlandBoughton The Realijy of Music (London, 1934)p. ix 4' RutlandBoughton The GlastonburyFestival Movement (Somerset,1922) p. 3 4'Boughton (1922)p.3 177 (fourteen),Musical Newsand Herald (eight), Musical Standard(thirty-four), Railway

Review(thirty-seven), Sunday Worker (twenty-three) and then one or two articlesin the CentralSomerset Gazette and CountyAdviser,Workers' Weekly, Scallop Shell,

World's Work,TPs Weekly,Musical Quarterly,Musician, TheatreCraft, Music

Bulletin, Labour Magazine, Labour Monthly, Communist Review,Aria, Millgate,

Author, New Britain, Fanfare, Philharmonic Post, Modern Quality, Our Time and

Radio Times". Articles ranged from topics such as 'How not to praise God', through

'Music as Fertilizer and Dope' to 'D. H. Lawrence: Fascist or Communist?' He produced more than 250 piecesof published writing and some of these were seriesof articles rather than single ones. Therefore, more than with the majority of composers, it is not difficult to recover Boughton's guiding philosophy and musical likes and dislikes. He expandedon this further in numerous lectures. The Birmingham Bach

Festival in 1926 received considerablymore interest in labour movement circles than it might otherwise have done becauseof the 'special visit' of Boughton. He was to lecture on Bach (with illustrations). The Toim Crier pointed out Boughton's well known 'triple enthusiasm' for 'Labour, Music and Bach' and claimed that he was 'a fine lecturer' owing to his 'ruddy outlook' and 'vivid personality"".

Rutland Boughton's artistic ambitions were oflen held back by controversy, both sexuaeoand political. His maverick politics led to difficulties in finding a political home. He had succeededMontague Blatchford at the helm of the Clarion Vocal

Unions and then, in the 1920s,performed a similar role (alongside Herbert Morrison) for the London Labour Choral Union and the plans for a National body (which he

48Hurd(1993) pp. 356-364 49Toim Crier 26 March 1926 " Hurd's biographygives details of Boughton'svery complicatedlove-life. 178 believedto be 'sabotaged'by Labour Party officials"). He joined the Communist

Partyin 1926but left threeyears later. He did not rejoin the Party until 1945,leaving with so manyothers in 1956. He continuedat the helmof the London Labour Choral

Union as a Communistmember leaving both in 1929. His decisionto passthe Choral

Union on to Alan Bushwas based on both his political dissatisfactionwith the Labour

Party(that they were 'pledgedto the conditionsof a Capitalistconstitution') and the impracticalityof his changedgeographical location after he'd movedto a farm in

Gloucestershire.

Whenfirst decidingto join the CommunistParty in 1926he expoundedon his reasonsin a lengthyarticle in the WeeklyWorker (prefaced by somewords from the editor 'disclaimingcomplete agreement' with his 'characteristicallyunorthodox opinions"'). This disclaimerwas understandable:Boughton's confession of faith includeda list of 'the real leadersof Communism'which includedPlato, Jesus,Ruskin,

Morris andBernard Shaw alongside Marx andLenin. He becamea Communist,he insisted, becauseState Socialism was 'carelessof individuals' (thus really placing himself in a very different, anarchist-leaningcommunist tradition, again perhapsof the

William Morris school).53 Boughton's disillusiom-nentwith the Communist Party began early: during the General Strike he was put in charge of 'amusements'making brassband arrangementsof "The Red Flag" and the "Internationale" (whether these versions were ever performed we do not know) and taking part in fund-raising concerts. Boughton was terribly depressedthat the Revolution didn't happenat this time." He did continue to champion the Party over the next few years and never ceasedto consider himself a communist (rejoining the Party in 1945 as we have seen).

" Hurd (1993)p. 188 52Hurd (1993)p. 174 11Worker's Weekly 12 February1926 54Hurd (1993)p. 175-77 179 His musicallikes anddislikes were deeplyinfused with his political faith. His analysis

of Wagnerincluded the ratherpeculiar view that Wagner(particularly in the Ring

Cycle)was essentially a Marxist", telling the story of the classstruggle via mythology

andlegend.

Though not a realistic drama of Mr. Norman the banker and Mr. Trotsky the organiser of the Red Army, [the Ring Cycle] is a drama of the samehuman interests which have moved these men in their work. "

Boughton was not alone in presenting Wagner as a great revolutionary

(although his attempts to portray him as a socialist are still quite unusual). His

revolutionary past was highlighted in Sear's 'Men Behind the Music' and, in a preview

of the National Opera Company's visit to Bradford in 1925, TH (possibly

F.W. Boddy, conductorof the PioneerChoir) wrote:

Wagner, the tempestuousWagner, had a giant messageof democracy and revolution and deliverance;it was wordy nonsensewhen he put it into a book, but a splendid storm and triumph in his music."

Boughton did suspect,however, that George Bernard Shaw had a greater understandingof Wagner's socialismthan Wagner himselP

TheImmortal Hour, referredto earlier,was the music-dramawhich made

Rutland Boughton a famous composer and a name which both the Labour Party and the Communist Party were proud to boast as one of their members. In the 1920sthis opera, much to Boughton's embarrassment,was to becomea society favourite. The

"Boughton (1934) '... it is clearthat Wagner'sideas were very nearto thoseof Marx' p. 154 56Boughton (1934)p.152 57F. B 'OperaFortnight' Bradford Pioneer 6 February1925 58Boughton(1934) 'Wagnerhimself may havebeen less aware than Shawof the political implicationsof his masterpiece'p. 151 ISO columnsof nationalpapers which devotedtheir spaceto the life-stylesof the well known andwealthy kept the scoreof the numberof timessuch people had seenit.

Therewas no explicit politics in TheImmortal Hour. It wasan evocativeproduction

'steepedin Celtic myth andlegend"9 and as suchit could be enjoyedby peopleof any political persuasionas a pieceof escapistmusic-drama. Boughton was not somebody who convenientlyforgot his politics whencomposing - TheImmortal Hour was,to thosewho lookedcarefully, Utopian as well as escapist,evocative of a 'goldenage' and strivingto be beautiful. Indeed,the compositionwas so Utopianthat in many waysit could not actuallybe realisedon stageor by orchestra.

With a productionsuch as "The ImmortalHour", one doesnot expectthe difficultiesto be completelyovercome, for the musicis continuallystriving towardsa wider freedom,and defies rigid criticism.60

This wascommon for Boughton'spieces. While he sometimestried to keepthings simpleand write for smallermusical combinations, he would often write for huge orchestrasto which he had little or no access.He only everheard his 'SymphonyNo. 2

(in B minor)' onceat a specialperformance. Some of his pieceshe neverheard performed as they were written. At the Glastonbury Festivals he would often attempt to sketch or give suggestionsof the depth of his full orchestra score played on a single piano. Furthermore he was often held back by the limitations of the amateur musicians and singerswho were most often to perform his creations, 'to the despair of an artists' ideas of truth and beauty"'.

When The Immortal Hour was brought to the provinces - especiallyrepeated runs at the Repertory Theatre in Birmingham - some socialist reviewers were able to

59Anonymous 'Opera at the Repertory Theatre' Town Crier 8 July 1921 60Town Crier 16 July 1921 61Boughton (1922) p. 8 181 recognisesomething of the composer's intent. An anonymousreviewer in

Birmingham's Towv Crier identified the utopian motivation, remarking that 'today, as always, we have to passby way of dreamsto the Land of Heart's Desire'. The reviewer also recogniseda propagandafunction for beauty which Arthur Bourchier andothers did not. While remarkingthat TheImmortal Hour was 'a beautifulwork' he continued:

It is not the beautythat pleasesor satisfies:it is the beautythat is alliedwith pain. Greatereven than beauty is the desirefor beauty,and from sucha feast we rise hungrierthan we sat down.62

In other words,beauty is not simplydesirable or a promiseof what is to comeunder

Socialism. Small amounts of beauty and the promise of more could, according to this theory,provoke desire and, therefore, the will to destroythe societythat robsthe massesof beautyand creates such ugliness.

Regardedretrospectively as one of his fmestpieces, The Queenof Cornwall

(composed 1923-24) was greeted warmly, but with some trepidation, by Labour's musical elite. H. G. Sear describedthe setting of an opera to the samestory as

Wagner's 'Tristan and Isolde' as 'peculiarly dangerous' becauseit 'provokes comparison': Sear was 'sure Boughton would never claim to be as good a composer as

Wagner'. In that assumption, Sear was undoubtedly correct. Boughton's aim had not been to re-write Wagner, but to set Thomas Hardy's poem as an opera. Sear, in his review, concentratedprimarily on the music and made hardly any comment about

Boughton'spolitics. He mentionedthat the 'musichas much of his own violence, temperedby his own poetic feeling' andrather surprisingly said that 'it is his violence that betrays him into ugliness.' Boughton's conservative, symphonic music

62Anonymous TownCrier 8 July 1921 182 (occasionallystriving for a beautybeyond his 'canvass'and occasionally stripped down to simpleand aesthetically pleasing chamber-music) is very difficult to think of as

'ugly'. Boughtonhimself did sometimescriticise himself for succumbingto 'vulgarity' becauseof the temptationto over-dothe big orchestralarrangements. Sear wrote his reviewon havingonly readthe pianoscore (extremely impressive, in manyways, but alsorendering his commentsabout the orchestrationrather speculative).

A readingof Boughton'swork finds me very interested.I think it is a Boughton moremature than the Boughtonof "The ImmortalHour". andI hopethat my ir pr ssi by hearingin its ne ons3 may soonbe confirmed a properhome, the theatreý

The piece gained impressivereviews outside the movement as well, the Manchester

Guardian remarking that 'Mr. Boughton's music almost glitters with psychological insight' and that 'the beautiful moments of dreamy passion are woven with wonderful

into the traged )64 The in the Guardian had heard art the texture of Y, . reviewer not an orchestra play the piece either, seeingit at a Glastonbury Festival with Boughton on the piano as the only accompanist. The opera was not performed with an orchestra until April 1925 in Bournemouth. This is another example of the difficulties he had in having his creations realised in full on the stage. Boughton recognisedthe greater difficulty for others in staging performancesat all and put on works at Glastonbury by composerswho were unableto stagetheir creations elsewhere(including works by socialist, Edgar BaigntoiP).

Although it seemsmost appropriate to place Boughton in that tradition which we have mentioned (including William Morris, Edward Carpenter and Arthur

63KG. Sear 'Rutland Boughton'sNew Opera:"The Queenof Cornwall"' Toim Crier 7 January 1927 64Hurd (1993)p. 164 65Rutland Boughton The GlastonburyFestival Movement (1922)p. 9 183 Bourchier)there were times when he placedthe importanceof practicalpolitical changeand the materialconditions of the working classabove his art. In 1926the

Daily Expressasked him to join the organisingcommittee of a 'National Community

SingingMovement'. Eventhough Community Singing had been an importantaspect of the musicallife of the labourmovement (and began to be couchedin thoseterms after this date)Boughton responded to the suggestioncontemptuously:

How canthe Workersof Britain singon emptystomachs? And how canthe slackersof Britain singwith the knowledgethat thereis so muchsuffering amongthose who do the work for them?"

Despite Boughton's keen interest (expressedon various occasions) in the national music of Britain, it was the concept of a national movement in a class society which seemedto so particularly enragehim on this occasion (probably combined with the political position of the Daily Express).

In a speechin Moscow (during the tenth anniversarycelebrations of the

RussianRevolution) he paid much attention to the social and material well-being of musicians. He looked into the discrepancyin strength of organisation between singers and musiciansand how female singerswere only just kept out of prostitution by an agreed minimum wage. He argued in favour of a British Union for all artists (basedon

'the Russianmodel 967). When he had made this proposal in his column in the Daily

Herald the editor had 'reftised publication'. Boughton put this down to Hamilton Fyfe being 'MacDonald's 08 Fyfe himself insisted that his because man . objection was there was 'quite enough Trade Unionism in other parts of the paper', page four was 'a

"' Hurd (1993)p. 177 67Hurd (1993)p. 184 6' This is interestingas Fyfe wasnot broadlyconsidered to be 'MacDonald'sman'. When MacDonaldcomplained about the contentsof the paperin 1924,Fyfe replied: 'Tbe "Herald" is the organ,not of your government,nor of a Party,but of the LabourMovement. ' (cited in RossMcKibbin The Evolution of the LabourParty 1910-1924p. 230) 184 generalreading page'. His letter to Boughton had begun, 'will you please write about music?"9 On this occasionhis commentson the type of music which people sang or should sing was limited to a comment that 'Welsh miners are given to singing bad hymn tunes' and that 'all [workers'] choirs suffer from a lack of suitable MUSiC970.

Furthermore,when we suggestedearlier that for this aesthetictradition, art could not representor reflectcontemporary reality at all, Boughtondid deviatefrom this. As we shallsee in the next chapter,Boughton was not a believerin the view that folk musicwas a spontaneous,primitive expressionof the massesbut ratherthat there was as an 'interchangeof materialproduct andmusical expression" between 'the massesof the peopleand professional musicians' which 'was necessaryfor both.'

Music needed'the cross-fertilisationof real life to keepit vigoroUS,71. It Wasan awarenessof the 'musicof the people'which preventedthe greatcomposers falling foul of 'decadence'and inverting'natural musical law'.

Alan Bush, bom in 1900, had a considerablymore academicmusical education than Boughton. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music between 1918 and 1922, and studied philosophy and musicology at the University of Berlin from 1929 to 1931

(somehowjuggling his studies with conducting the London Labour Choral Union).

Unlike most of the musical activists of the labour movement, he was quite aware of the twelve-tone serialist compositional methods of Schoenbergand the philosophies behind the modem music that Boughton consideredlargely pretentiousý2. He might well have been aware of the ideas (and compositions) of the young Adomo. He spent

69Hurd (1993) p. 171 70Hurd (1993) p. 185 71Boughton (1934) pp. 146-149 72Boughton (1934) '[Schoenberg's] is the art of the exquisite but sincereposewl p. 161 '[Stravinsky] may peddle rotten music but at least it is typical of the final decadenceof a people... ' p. 164 185 time in Berlin discussingart with Bertolt Brecht andHans Eisler". Bushwas an intellectual.From 1925onwards be was a professorof compositionat the Royal

Academyof Music andbecame a 'fellow' in 1938.

In someways you could not imaginetwo more differentcomposers than

Boughtonand Bush, but they held a mutualrespect. Bushwas Boughton'sdeputy at the LondonLabour ChoralUnion beforefilling his shoesin 1929. Furthermore,Bush describedBoughton's opera, 'The Lily Maid' as 'one of the most beautifuland one of

74 He joined CommunistParty in the mosttruly originaloperas of recenttimes' . the 1935but, like Boughton,continued at the helmof the LondonLabour ChoralUnion as a Communistfor five years. However,Boughton and Bush were not both CP membersat the sametime until 1945

Bush'scompositions varied to extremes(even before he simplifiedthe styleof his compositionon the adviceof the Cominternlater in his career). Bushshared similarmusical theories to Schoenberg,essentially a beliefthat everynote shouldbe

'thematically significant': there should be no incidentals,no notes included for the sake of prettiness. However, Bush wrote music and arrangementsfor socialist song-books, co-editing TwelveLabour Choruseswith Leonard Pearcefor the ILP in 1930, and The

Left Song Book in 1938 with Randall Swingler for the Workers' Music Association

(WMA) and the Lefl Book Club Musicians Group. The former collection included two original songsand two arrangementsby Boughton and the music was, for the 75 most part, the 'turgid four-part setting in the manner of Hymns Ancient and Modem traditionally used for Labour anthems. The secondbook was more unusual, although it did include many of the old favourites such as "The International(e)", "The Red

'3 Richard Hanlon and Mike Waite 'Notes from the Lcft: Communism and British Classical Music' in Andy Croft (ed.) A Weapon in the Struggle: the cultural history of the Communist Party in Britain (1998) p. 75 11Donald Brook Composer's Gall (London, 1946) p. 32 7' Hurd (I 993)p. 176 186 Flag", "EnglandArise"', "Bandiera Rossa7, "March of the Workers"'which areto be found in manyof thesecollections. This collectionalso includednew songswith words by Swinglerand music by Bushsuch as the "Song of the HungerMarchers", mentionedin ChapterFour, which wasa more sparsearrangement: a singlevoice over 76 It is interesting a steady,march-time, minimalist piano accompaniment . to consider why thereappears to be this inconsistencyin Bush'stheories. RalphVaughan

Williamsremarked, in a WMA tribute to Bush(on the occasionof his 50" birthday) that 'Alan Bush has rather fantastic notions of the nature and purpose of the Fine Arts.

, 77 Luckily for us when the inspiration comes over him he forgets all about this...

Although this was meant as praise, Bush may well have found the suggestionsthat he had 'fantastic notions', and that he forgot them, rather an insulting tribute.

Some have identified Bush's period in Berlin as the time when his 'fantastic notions' aboutcomposition really cameof age. While most of his English contemporarieswere devotees of 'conservativetonal romanticism'who reveredthe

'the sensuousmoment' as somethingtruly English,whatever its relevanceto the overallforrW8. Bush broke new ground. Many of the famousEnglish composers of the time maybe consideredguilty of suchconservatism. Certainly Boughton was one such composer,although the explicitlypolitical purposeof Boughton'sromantic escapism ratherblurs the boundarybetween 'content' and 'form'. For Bush,the 'impact of the moment'was secondaryto the 'architecture'. All the elementsof a Bushpiece should only be consideredagainst the backgroundof an 'expressiveand cumulative architecture'because they 'havecomparatively little interestas isolated phenomenon"'. Althoughhis studiesin Berlin appearto havecemented his

"' RandallSwingler and Alan BushLeft SongBook (1938) 77NMLH 372.1 WMA Tribute to Alan Bushon his Fiftieth Birthda (1950) 7' Anthony Payne 'Alan Bush' Musical Times April 1964 p.263 79Payne Musical Times 1964 p.263 187 compositionalstyle as a moreconscious, systernatised method, the pieceshe wrote betweenleaving the RoyalAcademy and attending the Universityof Berlin (1922-29) were alreadycharacteristic. 'The first inkling of a new voice in British music"Owas, for many,his 1929string quartet sonata intriguingly entitled Dialectic. 'Nearly every elementin the compositionis derivedfrom the openingunaccompanied theme'. This wasBush's method, where 'every elementof a work, down to the most insignificant detail,is thematicallyderived". This 'exhilarating'piece was a 'beautifully constructed exercisein pure thought' where the initial motif (or thematic premise) is

'led discussionto the Although Bush's had through cogent conclusion'82. music a

'vivid senseof melody"' - indeed rather 'a basic simplicity in harmony and melodY-)84 for - Bush was clearly not primarily driven by a quest purity or beauty. Bush attempted to academicallytransfer Marxist analysisinto a compositional method

(drawing on contemporary German ideas). Where he diverted from that orderly constructive process,was not at the whim of artistic genius or the quest for beauty, but in the service of propaganda. Aside from what might be consideredhis less serious work in song-books, one of Bush's key pieces, his 1937 piano concerto, saw him collaborating with Randall Swingler to propagandist effect. The piece was performed on BBC radio in 1938 with Bush playing the solo piano part. The first three movementswere instrumental but the fourth part introduced a chorus to sing

Swingler"s words. To demandthat the attention of the audienceshould, for a while, be diverted from the piano, the chorus actually spoke the line:

goScott Goddard 'Alan Bush:Propagandist and Artist' Listener23 April 1964 p.697 81Payne Musical Times 1964 p.264 8' Goddard Listener 1964 p.697 93Goddard Listener 1964 p.697 84Payne Musical Times 1964 p.263 188 Friends,we would speaka little of this performance."

There was a left-wing audienceat the BBC performance that reacted ecstatically. The conductor,Adrian Boult, was so surprisedthat he cut short the applauseand moved 86 into an unscheduled'God Save the King'. Bush was by no meansa follower of the

Bourchier, aestheticschool. In the forward of the 1938 song-book he insisted that as socialists 'we must sing what we mean and sing it like we mean it or else our singing is but a pleasantway to passthe tiMe"87

Despite his rather 'high-brow' (to use the contemporary parlance), academic theoriesof music,Bush, in foundingthe WMA would be a key playerin the developmentand sophisticationof theoriesof 'musicof their own'. The WMA was foundedin 1936(out of the musicsection of the Workers' TheatreMovement and the

LondonLabour ChoralUnion) 'in order to extendthe influenceof a progressive musical culture which would consciously draw its sustenance from the struggle of the masses to free themselves from economic exploitation, a culture which it would be their purpose to unfold for themselves'88. That is how Will Sanhow, General Secretary of the WMA in 1950, saw the Association at its founding. In the early years of the

Association this musical culture unfolded by the masses and sustained by struggle was still often 'classical' in nature. However, the WMA did recognise the possibilities of being an 'Association for the music of the workers' from the beginning. Its motto was never 'only the best is good enough for the workers'89 and it therefore represented a shift away from the Labour aesthetic of Arthur Bourchier and friends. Instead it

" Goddard Listener 1964 p.697 86Richard Hanlon and Mike Waite (1998)p. 76 Swinglerand Bush (1938) NMLH 372.1 WMA (1950) EM/PS Ailie Munro 'Folk Music, Politics and the Workers' Music Association' (WMA OccasionalPaper, March 1988) 189 providesa link betweenthe labourmovement's inter-war musical life andthe efforts of

EwanMacColl, A. L. Lloyd andothers afler the SecondWorld War. Bushhimself adopteda more folk-like idiom ashe strovefor a broaderand more popularappeaf' andas he becameincreasingly involved with the conceptof 'People'sMusic"'. The folk idiom was 'consciouslyfostered as a resultof his political convictions'but only reallybegan to makea noticeableimpact on his compositionafter 1945".

Retrospectively,Bush claimed that eventhe LondonLabour ChoralUnion was exclusivelypolitical, neverperforming music for entertainmentand with no interestin

'awakeningthe interestof the working classin the traditionalclassical heritage of music' or to 'raisemusical standards'. In an interviewwith Ian Watsonin 1978,Bush had no recollectionof what we havereferred to as musicalphilanthropy, or a pedagogical aspectto the labour musical movement, or even music for pleasure. Bush recalled that 'politically progressivemusicians' 'concentrated on getting the workers to use music as a political and agitational weapon.'9' One reason for this selective recollection might have been Bush's metropolitan focus ('it was only important in

London') and also that the seventy-eightyear old was concentrating on his own specific interests, rather than the whole range of socialist music-making and music ideas. Even so, this extremely delimited and specific task which Bush said was before

6politically progressivemusicians' in the 1930s (mainly himself) is extremely interesting both to this chapter as a contrast from the dominant musical views of the 'official' movement, and more especiallyto the next chapter when we come to consider 'music of their own'.

'0 Sadie(ed) p.502 PayneMusical Times 1964 p.264 Payne Musical Times 1964 p.265 Ian Watson 'Alan Bushand Left Music in the Thirties' Gulliver 4 1978 pp.86-87 190 Althoughlater in his careerMichael Tippett movedaway from the political left and wrote somespecifically anti-Marxist pieces", in the 1930she found himselfattracted to the ideasof Trotskyism. His rather short associationwith the labourmovement beganwith his musicalroles in two schemesfor the unemployed,one in Cleveland,

North Yorkshire,the other in London. At the Clevelandwork-camp, attended by unemployedminers and steel-workersfrom the North-East,he stagedtwo operas.

The first was a productionof TheBeggar's Opera in 1933with localstaking manyof the major roles(and with somemusic students being brought in as well). The following yearhe wrote an operaespecially for the camp. It was called'Robin Hood' andwas written in the folk-songidiom. He did not shirk from includingquite a political libretto:

And everyman and every maid Shallfreely live in peace. None shaUbe rich nor any poor, The curseof hungercease! 9'

As part of the London County Council's unemploymentschemes, Tippett also set up the South London Orchestra which grew to be one of the most successfulschemes.

The Orchestra did not pursue Tippett's quite modem and original musical interests, instead perfom-drigpopular orchestral pieces such as 'Pomp and Circumstance'. At this time, two of Tippett's friends in London were FrancescaAllinson and Alan Bush, both involved in the London Labour Choral Union. Allinson conducted the Clarion

Glee Club (which had been Boughton's choir) and Bush had succeededBoughton as the conductor of the Union. Tippett followed their lead by becoming the conductor of

" Anti-Stalinist might be a moreappropriate description for piecessuch as his SymphonyNo. 3, and he had beena consistentanti-Stalinist from this time only changinghis point of criticism from Trotskyismto humanism. 95Ian Kemp Tippett: the composerand his music (London, 1984) pp.26-27 191 the choirsof the RoyalArsenal Co-operative Society (which was affiliatedto the

Labourparty) 96.

However, unlike Boughton and Bush, Tippett did not spend long

organisationally associatedwith the labour movement (either 'offlicial' or 'unofficial').

He had some connection (he certainly bought the paper the Red Flag) with the

Trotskyist Communist League (until it was disbandedin 1935 owing to disagreements

with the International Left Opposition and Fourth International Policies). He then joined the Communist Party as a Trotskyist entryist hoping to stir up anti-Stalin feeling

in his cell and follow the exampleof the Balham Group (pioneers of British

Trotskyism). He only stayed in the Party for a few monthe'. He was then associated

with an entryist group in the Labour Party: the 'Militant' Groupý'. But it wasn't long

before he beganto drift from the political left altogether adopting a humanist

viewpoint in later life that some have characterisedas extremely anti-Marxist. His

reaction to the USSR's views and action in the arena of music theory (the famous

issuessurrounding the compositions of Shostakovich) were very different from those

of Alan Bush. While Bush respondedto the ideas entirely in terms of music theory

(and was able to adopt the realist approach into his modernist serialism) Tippett

consideredthe issue in terms of freedom of artistic expression.

Amateur composition in the movement was widespreadand, coupled with the efforts

of amateurpoets, the resultswere printed in the Labour Pressin largenumbers, as well

as sometimesmaking it to song-books, etc. Becausethese lyrics (in newspapers)are

not alwaysaccompanied by a suggestedtune to which they might be sungit is

96Kemp (1984) pp.29-31 97Kempf 1984) pp.31-32 98J. J. Plant 'Obituary of Michael Tippett' RevolutionaryHistory Vol. 7 No. 1,1998 Reprintedon http://www. michael-tippett. com 192 sometimesunclear whether they are socialist songs or examplesof socialist poetry.

The latter were not always graciously welcomed by the newspapereditors. In 1922, under the headline: 'Politics and "Poets" - Alarming Outbreak', the Town Crier remarked:

In spite of a much enlargedwaste-paper basket we find it difficult to cope with the devastatingflood of 'poems' that pours into the o ffice."

On other occasionsthe musicwas includedor the words were to be setto a well- known tune (only rarelyof a particularly'serious' or 'artistic' nature,such as the

Gounodsetting referred to in ChapterTwo). Someof the songswere specifically referredto as 'folk songs'and will be consideredin the next chapter. Therewere someserious attempts at writing hymn-likechoral arrangements for new socialist songsthat demonstratedamateur efforts at seriouscomposition.

Sometimesamateur efforts would stretchto Operettas.The SocialistSunday

Schools were particularly fond of staging socialist light opera, such as 'The Youth

Called Ideal' composedby Arthur Scott (with words by May Westoby) in 1930. The idea was that this production would be stagedat many of the schools and was certainly taken up in Manchester'00and Bradford"'. The piece was published by the National

Council of Socialist Sunday Schools and sold at 2d. a copy. Although occasionally obscure, the story is never subtle and the Pioneer sold it as 'useful to those who desire

102 The King Ease, Queen matter containing a message' . various adventuresof

Custom, Lord and Lady Makewar, Lord Progress,Princess Reala and the Youth

Called Ideal himself certainly did not limit themselvesto the quest for beauty.

99Towv Crier 27 January 1922 [NN11LII]Socialist Sunday Schools Box 4(D) 'The Youth Called Ideal' script Bradford Pioneer 2 January 1931 ... Bradford Pioneer 2 January 1931 193 Unfortunatelythe scriptdid not containthe musicalscore (and even recommended reciting the songsas poetry for schools lacking 'competent musicians'103).

The bulk of socialist composition was made up of those ephemeralcreations consideredin Chapter Four: short songs written, normally to very familiar tunes, which either poked fun at some contemporary political issueor were used on marchesand protests as the comradeskept step. Although most of these were very localised and wereperhaps never written down, somewere publishedand used more widely. Alan

Bush and Randall Swingler's Left Song Book even included some marching songsto f be sung as 'rounds' to tunes such as 'Three Blind Mice', 'Frere Jacque; and 'London's

104 Burning' Many by then, . songs sung socialists, were perhapscollectively written and orally transmitted and might be consideredas folk song. I shall look at these in more detail in the next chapter.

iii) Conclusions

Very little concern was shown by the championsof classicalmusic in the labour movement that theirs had been the music of the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie. While the idea that music could expressvalues or morals was an essentialpart of their theories (from the dislike of the "Tannenbaunf' setting of the "Red Flag" to everything that was wrong with commercial music), it seemedthat, for many, great art could only ever be beautiful. In the next chapter we shall consider both socialist perceptions of the music of the working classas well as the actual music performed and appreciated.

Although,as we shallsee, some socialists were keento searchfor a working classor socialistmusical culture -a 'musicof their own' - the questwas not really setup in

103[NMLH] SocialistSunday Schools Box 4(D) 'The Youth Called Ideal' script ` Swinglerand Bush(1938) 194 opposition to the view that there was a wealth of great art which was simply beautiful.

Even H. G.Sear who went into such detail about the lives of the great composersand who they composedfor never really thought about the motivations or purposesof classicalmusic beyond 'genius' and 'beauty'.

If one were to emphasisemusical ideasabove political ones, the different debatesand traditions consideredin this chapter could be reconsideredas the various academictraditions of music study. We could seeSear as primarily a popular musicologist(and his primary distinction from earlier columnistsbeing the distinction that existedoutside the labour movementbetween musicologists and critics).

Musicology had an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary for the first time in 1919'0'.

Similarly Bourchier (and perhapsBoughton) could be seenas primarily aestheticians, and Bush was a Music Theorist of the modernist school. 71rough the Workers' Music

AssociationBush could be seenas having introduced ethnomusicology(called comparativemusicology until the post-war period) into this academicforum as well.

Although a fairly new term, popular musicologywas a well-practisedstudy by this period (on concert programmesand gramophonesleeves as well as in papersand journals). It is the introduction of modernistmusic theory and comparative musicologyvia Bush (and someof his lesssuccessful contemporaries'06) Which are particularly interesting. Here we can seesophisticated academic theories (new and exciting ideasin the academiesof Germanyand the USA) being introduced into

Britain, not into the Academybut into workers movements(and particularly the cultural side of the CommunistParty in the late 1930s). The introduction of comparativemusicology will be part of the next chapter.

105Joseph Kerman Musicol (London, 1985) p. 11 '06A number of 'avant garde' composerswere attractedto the political left and are referred to in Richard Hanlon and Mike Waite's article (1998). 195 For Boughton to condemnmodernist, avant garde music as 'bourgeois decadence'while seeingall that went before asjust beautiful would appearto be a rather selectiveuse of classanalysis (although he did attempt to take his theories beyondthis as we shall seein the next chapter). For Bourchier to have condemnedthe

'crude, savage,cacophonous jazz that we hear on every hand today' as 'the musical expression'of modem capitalist society without questioningwhether the beautiful music he praisedmight have been 'the musical expression'of equally non-socialist societiesseems similarly flawed. Of course,part of this can be put down to the naivety of 'golden age' Utopianism's analysisof pre-Capitalistsociety. Thechampioningof the simple 'beauty' of Early Music should not be surprising,but much 'beautiful' music was not pre-Capitalist. Boughton could justify his admiration for Wagnerby characterisinghim as a revolutionary (and even as a socialist) and for other composers becauseof the folk influencesand referencesin their work but, essentially,half-formed theorieswhich were easyto apply to popular music (and folk music, and modernist music) fell down in the face of genius. The only excusethat could be given for this was that 'the great composers'stood outside their society and classin a way which peasants,jazz musiciansand decadentbourgeois German academics could not.

196 Chapter Six:

'A Music of Their Own'

i) Introduction

As we consideredin Chapter One, socialist thought about 'music of their own' - working-class or socialist music - has quite a long tradition. Although the American academicfield of comparative musicology and ideasabout new, agitational, counter- cultural musical form only really found their way into the inter-war labour movement via the Communist Party in the 1930s,the problem of who music belongedto was much older. Montague Blatchford talked about workers not wanting 'high art they didn't understand'but needing 'art of their own that is built upon their lives" on founding the Clarion Vocal Unions in Halifax in the 1890s. Although we might be puzzled by his logic in thinking Tudor Madrigals fitted that bill, his essentialquestion was the sameas that askedby those musical socialists conscious(on any level) of argumentsabout bourgeoisand proletarian culture. Should workers inherit the musical (and artistic) heritageof the bourgeoissociety they were to overthrow or insteaddevelop their own art? Did that art, that culture, already exist, or was it to be constructedand designedby an artistically conscious,organised labour movement?

Should the musical tastesof working people be taken more seriously, despitetheir perceivedvulgarity and banality? Thesewere the questionsthat musical socialists had to addresswhen confronted with the reality of inter-war popular music. Rutland

Boughton, for one, was acutely concernedby thesequestions for all that we have tendedto paint him as a middle to high-brow aesthete. His answerswere primarily arrived at through his thoughts about folk music and it is to this that we must first turn

1Chris Waters British Socialistsand the Politics of Popular Culture 1884-1914 (1990) p.98

197 our attention. Following that we shall look at popular music, and finally consider ideasabout a specifically socialist music; those considerationswill conclude this chapter.

ii) The labour movementandfolksong

'... The first phaseof the Folksong Revival had peteredout into amiable irrelevance in the 1920s 193OS, 2 to Dave Harker. Although there is and , according certainly some truth in this assertion,it seemsas though the inter-war folk revival suffers the condescensionof posterity for its lack of dramatic upheaval. Steadyprogress is hardly the stuff of exciting history but, in many of the revival's original aims, it is the best way to describethe work of the EFDSS3between the wars. It is not so much that the society itself prospered,but its generalsocial influence in the fields of Popular and professionalmusic and especially in educationwas far from 'irrelevant'. A glance at the music syllabus for infants producedby the City of Bradford Education Committee in 1933, for instance,would reveal a sectionon 'Folk Dancing' and recommendations for to have books 'English Folk Songsfor Schools" At schools such as . all times the task of teachingchildren 'the love of good folk music' was central to the syllabus.

The 'authenticity' of British folksong has becomea highly contentious issuein recent decades.Many of the current debatessurrounding folksong critically underminethe basisof the labour movement'sembrace of the revival5. Most socialist folk enthusiastsbought into the musical and antiquariantheories of collectors like

Cecil Sharp. There were exceptions:Boughton's singular views on folksong did

2 Dave Ilarker Fakesong:the manufactureof British 'folksong'. 1700to the presentda (1985) p.231 3 The Folk Song Society and the Folk DanceSociety merged in 1932 4 Not sure which exact text this would have been- it was quite likely to be one of many Cecil Sharp collections aimed at schoolchildren(such as A Book of British Song for Ilome and School (1902) or a more recent collection basedon similar research. 5 There is a wide literature on these issues(going way beyond the focus of this chapter)ranging from the books by Ilarker and Boyes,to disputesin journals such as History Workshopin articles and correspondenceon Cecil Sharpand other folksong charactersand controversies.

198 differ from Sharp's in a number of ways. Generally speaking,however, the labour movementdid not just adopt the treasury of traditional song and dance, it opted into the ideology of the revival as well (and helped to shapethat ideology).

The labour movement's recurring interest in 'folksong' provides a constructive focus for examining the varying socialist and labourist ideasabout culture and the arts, and particularly music. The folk music revival of the late

Victorian period (typified by Cecil Sharp) was by no meansa socialist project

(although Sharphimself adheredto a peculiar form of conservativesocialism 6). It did, however, engendera considerableamount of socialist interest, particularly in the idea of a national treasury of song that had somehowsprung from the workers.

Furthermoreit was music that predatedthe twin evils of industrialism and commercialismand so demonstratedhow capitalism blunted the creativity of the workers. The music representeda glimpse of that imagined golden age and therefore perhapshinted at what could be producedin an imagined future. It was a perfect addition to the popular nationalist tradition of labour thought (the Clarion school of

Britain for the British) assertingthat Britain's 'national' culture was not that of a privileged few, but was insteadthe work of 'ordinary' working people.

Unfortunately, the myth had very little to do with the reality. On the one hand the word 'folk', far from celebrating workers' cultural production denied the primacy 7. of class when considering this music, putting the nation in its place On the other hand this 'pure', 'unsullied' workers' music all passed through the hands of educated

in musicians - enthusiastic (and well-oft) amateurs, or professionals the field of

'national back' 'serious' music - before the selected or published treasury' was 'given

6 A. L.Lloyd described Sharp as 'a Socialistwith a readysympathy for workingpeople and a keen recognitionof their qualities;yet his wasan ideologyof primitiveromanticism with a vengeance'. Folk Song in Enaland (1967) p. 13 "Whether this was to 'help to mystify the workers' culture in the interestsof bourgeoisideology' as I larker would have it is a separatequestion. to the nation. In theserespects, the criticisms of the 'folksong myth' expressedby

Dave Harker in Fakeson have some validity. However, the essentialargument of that book - that working people are absentfrom the history of folksong - can be challengedhere, at least to a certain extent. As we have already hinted elsewhere,

'Merrie England' was disputed territory claimed by conservatives,socialists and fascistsalike. Having said that, labour 'folklorists' often gained the upper hand in the political strugglesof the Revival, the story of which is told by Georgina Boyes in The

TmaizinedVillage: Culture. Ideology and the English Folk Revival (1993). The whole conceptof a 'Revival' is at once revolutionary and conservative,which is one reason why the folk movementlent itself to such a wide variety of political positions.

It would be wrong to attempt to place the labour movementclose to the heart of the Folk Revival in its early years, but it certainly produced someof the most vociferous championsof folk culture in the inter-war period. Furthermore,labour publications would sometimescall attention to folk events(such as displays of Old

English Dancesat the Birmingham Repertory Theatre given by the EFDS in 1920)8. Is Labour Magazine, a popular monthly amongstLabour Party membersand trade unionists in the 1920sincluded two evangelisingarticles for folk arts in 1923. Alec

Hunter, who wrote the first of thesearticles, acted as a pure mouthpiecefor the

Revival, hardly bothering to give it a labourist slant. 'Back to Merrie England' was essentiallya considerationof folk musical arts - particularly morris dancing (and other traditional English dances). Hunter camefrom that ethical, religious socialist tradition and announcedit almost immediately (non-socialistswere describedas peoplewho thought that only a minority of men were "Sons of God"). It was for that reason,he asserted,that suchpeople could not understandwhy anyonewould take

8 Town Crier 2 July 1920

200 any interest in the arts or creationsof the majority. 'They consider such things as folk dances and songsas mere crude and rustic expressionsoffbie de vivre - pretty perhaps,but becauseof their origin unworthy of serious consideration.'9 Hunter

attemptedto give such pursuits seriousconsideration in this article, illustrated with action photographsof morris dancers. As testamentto the quality of folk tunes he pointed to the fact that 'the greatestcomposers' openly used their melodies. Of course,where such open borrowing was used there was often an agendaother than the

'pure' aestheticat work. This might have been to give the music a 'national' flavour

(many patriotic pieces from Europe leant on folk tunes) or lend them a certain simplicity (later Alan Bush, for example)or a pastoral feel (Vaughan Williams).

Similarly, this 'open use' has recently (by Dave Harker and others) beencharacterised as expropriation. This position is not entirely unreasonable;the Cecil Sharp Trust and

Novello Publishersma4p considerable profits from these 'songs of the people'. In

1936Novello joined the Performing Rights Society to cash in on the burgeoning

Community Singing movementand their use of folksonglo. That Cecil Sharpwas able to sustaina movemententirely devoted to the popularisationof music from which he received healthy royalties might be more a testamentto his businesssense than any other qualities. Aside from this explicit expropriation, the worker/artists were afforded no rights of ownership over their cultural products- either as individuals or as a class. Their product was 'clearly a heritageof the nation as a whole." 1

When Alec Hunter wrote of these'melodies of the people' his passionclearly went beyond personaltaste. Ile saw 'their extraordinarybeauty and perfection' not merely from the position of the aesthete:he planted himself firmly in the shaky

9 Alec I funtcr 'Back to Merrie England' Labour Magazine Vol. 11 August 1923 No.4 p. 155 10 Georgina Boycs The Imagined Village: Culture, Ideology and the English Folk Revival (1993) p.51 11Boyes (1993) p. 14 territory for which the Revivalists have been much criticised. His view, widely held by folk danceand song enthusiastsof the time, was that:

folk is by "conscioue' It is the ... art not produced any one artist. unconscious product of a group of people - eachperson and eachgeneration adding and altering so that a very great perfection is attained.

Here Hunter (along with many of his fellow Labour-supporting folk enthusiasts)fell foul of the 'ungodly' prejudices he had begun by noting. The key word (and he was far from being alone in using this) was 'unconscious'. To suggestthat folk art was an unconsciousproduct insists upon total passivity on the part of the worker/artist. This view stemmedfrom an elitist perspective(entirely cementedby collectors like Sharp) that the poor and uneducatedcould not consciouslywrite music of quality. There is little doubt that different people and different generationsgreatly changedolder

(and pieces of music via 'the oral tradition' - various regional even national) variations of traditional songs demonstrate this to have been the case. There is no reason to read from that that such alterations were unconsciously made. There was a peculiar and contradictory element of the Revivalists' ideology: they wanted their folk art to be 'artless': songs and dances that showed signs of recent creativity were passed over. It was not until afler the Second World War that leading proponents of folk music began to question the 'unconscious' argument, portraying the folk-singers as 12 local autodidacts with active, interpretative and creative intellects. This position had

some of its intellectual roots in Gramsci's ideas about organic intellectuals - that 'all 13 men are philosophers' .

12A. L. Lloyd (1967) p.21 13Antonio Gramsci 'Problems of History and Culture: The Intellectuals' Selectionsfrom Prison Notebooks (1971) p.4

202 Hunter'srepeated references to nationalismand 'Englishness'are almost inevitableresults of the championingof folk culture. He did try and give it all an internationalistslant, but it wasrather obscure. 'This is the true nationalism,' he wrote, 'the recognitionand love of the good thingsof your own countryand the developmentof them as a contributiontowards the true internationalism.' This was fine as far as it went, but that 'recognitionand love' did not restrict itself to the rationalor demonstrable.When talking aboutfolk culturesinternationally, he quickly stakeda claim for the Englishas world leaders:'The Englishare particularly fortunate. Thereare no finer songsor dancesin the world.' This is clearly more than a questionof personaltaste. It is not just that he really liked this musicbut ratherthat therewas ideologyat work that necessitatedthis conclusion. The late nineteenth centuryrediscovery of 'English music' cameat a time of prolific inventionof tradition as hasbeen considered by Eric Hobsbawrnand others. Thoselabourites who bought into the nationalism of the Revival would presumably not have seentheir actions as part of the sameprocess as the increasein national and monarchical pageantry but it is certainly an arguable case. The Revival fed off a perceived crisis in identity that than Britain's life" 'The folk' national pervadedmuch more musical . predated the classes;folk culture had the potential to be the culture of a One Nation

Britain.

Finally Alec Hunter further undermined his caseby insisting that 'all that is bestin the Englishculture' is containedin the 'rhythms and cadences'of morris dances.Morris dancesare generallyrather simple (the northernsword danceswhich he briefly commentedupon required some intricacy in execution)yet he talked up morris dancingwith all the zealof a fanatic. 'The morris, which requiresgreat skill in

" Boyes(1993) p. 24 the performance,is a splendidexample of pure masculinebeauty, very strongand yet alwaysrestrained. '15 The homo-eroticaspect of this statementechoes the depictionof the healthy,heroic 'worker' in somepieces of labour art-work, althoughthe appended imagesof handkerchief-waftingCotswold Morris-men provide a rathercomic juxtaposition.

It is interestingthat in that articlethe authornever really madethe point which inspiredmuch labourwriting on the folk arts:that this art was of 'genuineproletarian' origin. This certainlywas a fundamentalaspect of RutlandBoughton's thoughts on the subject. For Boughton,vocal musicwas the art 'most easilycome by when peopleare poor, for they havebeen endowed by naturewith a most beautiful instrument- the singingvoice. ' He exploredthe role of folksongas proletarianmusic in a Labour Magazinearticle, also in 1923. It is becauseof the readyavailability of a singingvoice that he concludedthat 'it is in the directionof vocal music,therefore, that proletarianart is likely to find itself first.' 16

He thereforecelebrated unaccompanied folksong as genuineproletarian music. He did makeparticular reference to work songs(although primarily to agriculturalwork as we shall seelater).

The workers have produced beautiful songswithout any sort of conscious musical training, and so proved that aestheticemotion is a common gift of humanity, and not a special attribute of a small professional or cultured class. And in unaccompaniedsinging we possessthe meansof artistic expression without the need for any great capital expenditure.' 7

" HunterLabour Magazine (1923) p. 156 16Boughton Labour Magazine (1923) p.302 17Boughton Labour Magazine (1923) p.302

204 Although he wrote aboutthe artists' 'consciousness'again here, the emphasiswas on musicaltraining ratherthan on the composition,allowing him to makerather a neat socialist point about folksong. Furthermore, Boughton was able to avoid the nationalist tendenciesof folklorists by considering the regional and supra-national traditions in folk music. Although his final rendering of mainland Britain into three large folk regions was rather contrived, the thinking behind it was sophisticated and aheadof its time.'

In other respectsBoughton's views on folksong were less progressive. His musicological 'grand narrative' was a peculiar form of Darwinism where a musical evolution could be followed from the cry of a gibbon through folk music to art music 19. (with some contemporary popular 'degeneracy') It was from the view that folk music was a formative evolutionary stage in the story of art music (which was by no meansa premise peculiar to Boughton) that its role in musical education was bolstered. H. G. Sear (no great folk enthusiast) insisted that 'ajudicious supply of folk music is excellent' for children: 'it smells of the soil; it is, for the most part, unsophisticated; its rhythm is graspedalmost instantaneously...' Most importantly,

'from folk-song to great music is not so great a step as it seems' (although 'only the very best is good enough for the children of Socialists'). 'Children play with

he insisted, 'and to tune is the tiniest 20 This in rhythms', rhythm step . was very much keeping with the contemporary ideas of musical education (both the benefits of eurhythmics, and the idea that the education of a child should follow the development

18He tendedto divide 'British folk song' betweenCeltic, Northumbrian (by which he meantliterally north of the Humberrather than the modemcounty) and English folk regions. Folk Englandwas just the Southand the Midlands. Actuafly this couldhave been part of a wider andbizarre (very) Little Englandismas he regularlyreferred to the north as 'the countrythat lies betweenEngland and the Celtic lands'. BoughtonThe Realityof Music (1934) p.35 19Boughton (1934) 'There is little differencebetween the howl of a dog,the cry of the gibbon... and Australian in that have beginnings the songof the aborigines...... soundwe the of musicalart' ppl-3 '0 H.G. Sear'Music for Children' Toun Crier II March 1927

205 of the race)but alsoshows how folk musicwas seenas a formativestage of 'great music'.

The nascentfield of ethnomusicology in the USA in the 1930s was generally ableto considervarious world musics(including westernfolk music) as havingtheir own stories and contextsP rather than simply being phasesin the one great evolution of art music. Indeed western art music had to begin to be considered as simply anothermusical idiom in its own socialand cultural context. Theseideas came to

Britain in the 1930svia American and German left-wing musical academicswho found the most receptive ears in the Workers' Music Association. The ideas had consequencesway beyond folk music, as shall be considered elsewhere. Following

American and German interest in comparative musicology (the direct ancestorof ethnomusicology) exiled German musicians injected ideas into the London Labour

Choral Union and Workers' Music Association and those organisations began to propagatethe contemporary wealth of American progressive song22.It is not surprising, therefore, that the WMA quickly began to work in the direction of folksong and to take some interesting new positions (forming the soil from which the work of MacColl and Lloyd was eventually to spring).

Later folksong collectors, closely connectedwith the labour movement (particularly

'national' with the Communist Party) uncovered another treasury of song that had - so it is generally considered- been previously ignored. A. L. Lloyd gave this music the name 'Industrial Folksong' and in the secondhalf of the twentieth century where folk music and the labour movement were consideredtogether it was in connection with this wealthof song. Many of the industrialsongs collected in works suchas

"Joseph Kerman Musicolo (1985) p.168 22lanWatson 'Alan Bushand Left Music in the Thirties' Gulliver4 1978 p.88

206 ComeAll Ye Bold Miners (1951) werewritten in the nineteenthcentury, others originatedfrom the inter-waryears themselves. Were these songs entirely ignoredby the labourmovement (even on a local basis)and, if so, why?

Someof themwould appearto havebeenproducts of a local labour movement, such as those about particular strikes, lockouts (referred to in Chapter

Four) and disasters. The Gresford Pit Disaster in 1934 becamea major political issue in its day and acquired great significance in posterity as a symbol of the heroic status

23 At least two inspired by the One ofthe miner . pieces of music were event. was a rserious', hymn-like piece that becamethe themesong of the DurhamMiners' Gala, the other a 'folk-song' with an uncertainlineage: The Ballad of the GresfordDisaster.

It was broughtto light by EwanMacColl andthere have been suggestions that

MacColl wrote it himself MacColl had includeda sceneabout the GresfordDisaster in his 1940Manchester Theatre Union production,'Last Edition' (but it did not include TheBallad) andRoger Laidlaw suspectedthat TheBallad originatedfrom a similar milieu. This is quite possible,but the suspicionpersists that ratherthan

MacColl learningthe song'from the singingof a young miner 24as he claimed,he wrote it himself There are certainly reasonsto question such a conclusion. MacColl wrote numerous songsand was always happy to accept the credit and several of them were written in the industrial folksong idiom (particularly in the post-war period).

There were some effors of fact in the song (surprisingly understating the number of deaths) suggestingthat it was probably written near the time. If MacColl were writing a song on a pit disaster some time afler the event he might have chosen to researchthe number of fatalities and would have had no motivation to come up with a lower figure. Of course, if the song were hastily written and motivated primarily by a

23Roger Laidlaw The GrcsfordDisaster in PopularMemory' Llafur Vol. 6 No.4 1995 p. 123 24A. L. Lloyd ComeAll Ye Bold Miners(1978)

207 desireto havea polemiceffect ratherthan provide an historicalaccount then that would not necessarilybe the case. MacColl though,might havebeen further tempted to makea songthat fitted moreneatly into the tradition of nineteenthcentury pit disastersongs - TheBallad was fiercely secularby comparisonand involved some humour. Furthermore,the meterof the lyrics stronglyechoes the style of the music- hall monologue(of the StanleyHolloway variety) and it is at leasta reasonably educatedguess to suggestthat the lyrics begantheir life that way and were given a tune later.

Now a fortnight beforethe explosion, To the shotfirerTomlinson cried, 'If you fire that shotwe'll be all blown to hell' And no-onecan saythat he lied.25

The monologuestyle is quite apparentin the build-up to the 'punch-line' in the final line of eachstanza. The humouris all of a dry, cynical kind; the writer comesdown firmly on the sideof the minersin the matterof the subsequentinquiry and uses varioussocialistic words (suchas 'comrades'). The strange,incongruous waltz-time melodyto the bitter words is a very interestingaspect of the song,however. This songis interesting,then, whoever wrote it, as it would appearto haveoriginated from the labourmovement in one way or another,and unarguably entered the nationalfolk heritage. Having saidall that, we haveno evidenceto suggestthat the songpervaded the consciousnessof the labourmovement - evenin a local area- beforeMacColl andLloyd popularisedit.

Numerousso-called industrial folksongs were the productsof the Northern

Musical Hall which was often a lower-key,less commercialised 26 aff an ir tha its

25Laidlaw (1995) p. 140 26Even so therewas often quitea lot of moneyin thesemusic halls and in someof the 'stars' who were elevatedfrom working-classcommunities, such as Tommy Armstrong. However,while the southern

208 southernequivalent. The edgesbetween the musichall and the workers' club were alwaysblurred. In inter-warBradford the regularvariety concertsstaged at a wide rangeof clubsacross the city were listed in the Pioneer,and Labour and TradeUnion

clubs becamepart of that particular 'circuit'. Doubtless songs of the sort collected by

Lloyd and MacColl were sung and enjoyed in Labour Clubs, particularly in the North of England, but they were never adopted as the music of the movement: they were harmless frivolities. Some no doubt raised a few knowing smiles amongst the politically aware; the semi-professional singers of the northern club scenewere oflen workerswho, for variousreasons (mainly health-related,but they might havebeen black-listedfor strike activity) had had to find new waysto earna living. For that reasondialect songs about strikes or black-legswere not unusualinclusions amongst the usualbawdy and frivolous fare. Other 'industrial folksongs'of inter-warorigins may well havenever been performed outside family groupsbefore their post-war collection. The famousEliot family of Birtley (with songssuch as 'Pit Lie Idle') had somepolitical motivationsbut would not appearto haveconsidered using their compositionsfor the goodof the movementin the inter-waryears.

The ideology of the Revival, before it was adaptedby the post-war industrial folklorists, meant that the rural was always prioritised over the industrial. The invented history insisted that agricultural workers did not keep up their traditions when they became industrial workers. For this reason,the Yorkshire sword dances collectedby Cecil Sharpin 1913were neverproperly creditedto the Sheffieldminers demonstrated hiM27 The interestingfact and steelworkerswho themto . that these musichall evolvedinto large-scalevariety clubs through the twentiethcentury, northern halls evolved big into the working men'sand social club circuit. Someof the northernmusic hall stars- like George Formbyand GracieFields, made their moneyin southernhalls (and,of course,on the big screen). 27Boyes (1993) p. 15

209 danceswere more ingeniousand intricatethan those morris dancesof rural England was given little or no attention. EvenMacColl and Lloyd were generallyapologetic abouttheir industrialfolksong thesis (and for the 'roughness'of the songs). It is perhapsnot surprising,therefore, that the labourmovement did not fly in the faceof the perceivedwisdom of folklorists anddeclare the existenceof folk culture amongst the industrialproletariat. Indeed,the renderingof industrialworkers into beingjust partsof a capitalistmachine, no longercapable of artistic expression,was deemeda centralaspect of their critique of capitalism. Capitalismhad stolenart andaesthetics from the workers. Wherelocal working-classsongwriters became part of the labour movement,then their songsbecame Labour or Socialistsongs, and the various newspaperspublished a huge wealth of these, of varying quality. Ideas about the potential value of a culture of struggle were talked about in the 1930s,particularly amongst Communists, but it was some years before the existence of a 'treasury of song' belonging to the industrial proletariat was made nationally available.

Folk songswere regularly included in the programmes of the concerts that we have discussedthrough the thesis. Choral programmes and community singing programmeswould generally include some traditional songs such as 'The Ash

Grove'. Variety bills would invariably include the singing of traditional ballads

(often Irish or Scottish ones) amongst the other well-known pieces. The national or regional character of some songswas used from time to time. While hardly a folk- song by Sharp's definition, 'Ilkley Moor Baht 'At' would often compete with 'Will

Ye Go Lassie Go' when Yorkshire and Scottish ILPers' throats were sufficiently lubricated to do battle at various conferencesand summer schools. At the Bradford

ILP's 'International Fancy Fair' in 1925, a large entertainment section under the title

210 of 'International Dances, Playlets, etc. ' was put on (by a selection of nursery school children conducted by Miss Chignell). The programme included a variety of folk danceS28 folk taleS29, traditional 30 dance. , short plays of some songs and a maypole

The combined Socialist Sunday School groups of Bradford (who regularly appeared

'Sunbeams') 31 as provided some similar entertainment .

There was some concern, expressedintermittently throughout the period, that

May Day celebrationsshould particularly include folk arts. This is an interesting aspectof the different thoughtsabout May Day. May Day was, in the labour movement,particularly intended to be an intemationalcelebration, an international workers' tradition of late nineteenthcentury origin to rival manyof the new national

'traditions' of the sameperiod. it was instigated(initially as a one-oft) in 1890by the

SecondInternational as an 'internationalfestival of the working-classmovement. 32

In Englandthere were older 'folk' traditionsassociated with a May festival and many felt that the international'form' of May pageantry- marches,speeches, the passingof an international'motion' andthe singingof internationally-knownanthems - rather neglectedthe peculiarlyEnglish aspects of an earlier May Day. The traditional activity that madethe strongest'come-back' over the period was the inclusionof

,tableaux' or 'floats' in the procession.However, morris dancing,maypole dancing and folksongall managedto be includedin May Day programmesthrough the period. in Smethwickin 1921included 'morris dances English The May celebrations ... old

28[WYA-Bfd] 59 D89 Souvenirprogramme. The dancesincluded two untitled morris dances,11 loved a maidenfair' and'All in a gardengreen'. 29[WYA-Bfd] 59 D89 Suchas the PiedPiper of Hamelin(sic. ) and 'Love is out of season,when the F(orse is out of bloom' 0 [VNA-Bfdl 59 D89 Thesewere songs with actions- an importantaspect of the infant music syllabusfor Bradfordchildren published some years later - suchas 'StrawberryFair' and 'A lawyerhe went out oneday'. 31 [WYA-Bfd] 59 D89 3' Eric Hobsbawm'Birth of a Holiday:the first of May' in UncommonPeople: Resistance, Rebellion andJa (1999)p.151

211 33 music and songs... maypole dancing... ' ; similar activities were seenat the

Plymouth May Day celebrations in 1936 (as well as Highland dancing! ). Variations from the customary international forms were oflen in the hands of local organisers, usually the local Labour Party and Trades Council.

The championing of a folk May Day was particularly evident in socialist writing for children. The Birmingham Town Crier's 'Children's Comer' insisted that

'May Day was one of the gayest times in Old England' lamenting that 'almost all of the old customs have died out'.

Right away back down the ages,the country-folk danced round the maypole on May Day, but nowadays, with picture houses,concerts and wireless, no one 34 seemsto care any longer about the jolly old games.

Socialist Sunday School May Day 'tableux' regularly featured maypoles in

35 Birmingham, Bradford and elsewhere

The 'folking' of May Day was quite possibly part of a general (and international) attempt to diminish the socialist character of May Day. In 1920 the

French parliament consideredmaking May Day a national holiday where 'all classes-of the nation should fratemise, inspired by the same idea and the same ideal.936 Of course, despite the international aspectsof May Day, the various protests did have some differences of national character. The holiday never had quite the sameatmosphere in the Southern Hemisphere; most North European countries had traditional flower festivals at that time of year that had some influence on the

33Town Crier 3 June1921 34Town Crier 6 May 1927 35[WYA-Bfd. ] 5D87/7/10A photographof onesuch pageant design shows a horse-drawncart with childrenof all agesstanding around a tall may-pole. Sharingthe cart is a particularlysevere looking middle-agedwoman -the jollity of the springfestival seems conspicuously absent from the Great Horton SocialistSunday School here. 36Hobsbawm (1999) p. 152

212 activities.37 Therewould appearto havebeen attempts, however, to replacethe

Labour tradition with a nationalone andthose attempts did not all comefrom outside the movement. 'W. A. E', the writer of the 'SmethwickNotes' in the TownCrier praiseda 'parsonwith vision' who led 'the only place in Smethwickwhere they try to keep May Day it be': 'children dancing Maypole... ' the way ought to ... round the

While he did attempt to give it a touch of the William Morris, golden age romanticism

C it is taken this drab, for ... everyone who sees out of every-day world of ours a short

time... ') he was more or less openly suggestingthat May Day should have been a

general civic event rather than a specific labour tradition. Also in the Touw Crier, the

editor William Chamberlain (as 'Watchman') wrote under the headline, 'In "Merrie

England... :

Time was whenthe ploughmanand the lord, the milk-maid andthe lady went out togetheron May Day with horn andtabor andmerry garlandsof May- blosson-LLads and lassiesfrom cottageand castle danced around the Maypole and sangsongs of welcometo Mother Nature. Thesewere the daysof morris- dancingand folk-songsand all kinds of healthyfun on the village greens... "Merrie England"knew nothingabout sanitation or electricity or wirelessor airshipsor medicalscience. But her peopleknew how to enjoythemselveS. 38

This was a classic exposition of the contradictions rife in golden age utopianism: the idea of an agrarian past where all were happy in their places and enjoyed mutual respect regularly recurred in the late summer as well, when similar pieces would be written about the 'Harvest Home'. A correspondent to the Town Crier expressed similar concerns about the modem May Day, worried that previous demonstrations

'had been a little too solemn for the joyous Spring festival'. 'Could not some of the old folk-songs be revived and sung by the childrenT he asked, 'and a shade less 09 materialism introduced?

37Hobsbawm (1999) p. 160 38Toim Crier 30 April 1926 39Town Crier 19March 1926

213 Generally speaking, however, in this period, May Day maintained a peculiar aesthetic form all of its own. The 1931 London May-Day official programme included a drawing that had many of the traditional folk symbols of May: rural workers dancing around a tree. However the central figure was an international symbol of May Day, a scantily-clad female, half-May Queen, half-Liberty, and all the writing caff ied a strong, clear socialist message. The definitive aspect of the May

Day celebrationswas the inclusionof 'bandsand banners'in the procession.

Other occasionswhere folk music was used or consideredin the labour movement were lectures, 'gramophone recitals' and newspaper/magazinearticles. In

1927 at the Erdington Labour Church, Birmingham, a gramophone recital was given on 'Ballads and Folk Songs'. It is difficult to glean how academic a discussion of folksong Mr. J.L. Tedstonc gave to the Erdington comrades (his comments were described as 'most interesting'). He began by hoping that a selection of folk songs would manage to please a mixed audience, some who 'wanted all jazz and others all

The idea folk had classical MUSiC-)40. that music a universal appeal was one that was widely articulated.

As we have seen,although there were numerous folk evangelists amongst the ranks of

Labour, no coherent labour theory of folksong was developed separately from the ideology of the Revival. As such, folk music never became the music of the labour movement and though, of all genres, folksong was probably the one most readily thought of as 'a music of their own' it was seldom viewed as more than an important stage in a more general musical education.

40Town Crier 25 March 1927

214 iii) The labour movementandpopular music

From the Welsh male voice choirs, the Yorkshire and Lancashirebrass bands and the workers' jazz bands of the North-East,to the new dance music and gramophonerecords of the Capitalist leisure industry,41 the popularity of music undoubtedlyinfluenced the Labour movement...

The idea of 'popular' music is problematic for all sorts of reasons. In this context I am essentially referring to that music which had demonstrablepopularity rather than the broader question of music 'of the people'. The popularity of different musical genres should not only be considered in terms of market share (although the various figures for sheet-musicsales and grarnophone-recordsales are readily available).

Amateur music-making remained popular, and perhapsthe most notable feature of popular music in the period - the dancehall craze - is difficult to quantify: anecdotal evidence still remains important even in this most commercial of areas. As we shall see, amateur and voluntary organisations were able to compete favourably, on a local scale, with the commercial palais de danse. Between the wars, the most popular music in Britain was heavily anglicised American dance music. Whatever popular nationalists, folksong enthusiastsor serious musical philanthropists might have thought about it (and we shall consider this shortly) commercial music, written to be dancedto, becameextraordinarily dominant.

It is important to consider the wider popular music scenein Britain between the wars so that we can attempt to understandthe dominant attitudes in the labour movement.

While there were some cultural ideas and arguments peculiar to the labour movement, others were echoesof argumentsthat existed in the wider community. Outside these narrow considerations,how wasthe world of popularmusic transformed in this period

41 StephenJonesýYvi kei a it' Ph, 140 III I? -P1 Tva %fýýSL 215 from the voluntaristic and parochial Victorian picture painted by Dave Russell to the

occan-hopping popular jazz sceneof the 20s and 30s

As this was a period of considerablechange in the field of music in Britain, it

was also a period of struggle, reaction and radicalism. The world of music was a once unified and divided by the new influences exacted upon it. The biggest influence upon the art of music after the First World War - both on its production and its consumption - was the birth of broadcasting. When the new BBC entered into this area of the entertainmentbusiness it quickly found itself the most powerful operator in field 42 It field dominated by interests indeed it is the . was not a powerful - stretching a point to call it a field at all. Before 1922 there were a number of 'musics' each with its own social, economic and regional setting.

brassbands bands ... the choralsocieties, and military with their competitions and festivals;the concertpublics, elite andpopular, in London and the major provincial cities andresorts; the backgroundmusic performed in cafes, restaurantsand cinemas; music hall and the emergingmusical shows and for beginnings dance revues-4ýthe vogue operaand operetta, the of the music craze.

Radio took these cultural forms from their context and renderedthem 'popular' and

'national'. It was only really when broadcastingco-ordinated this musical collision that terms like 'highbrow', 'middle-brow' and 'low-brow' became meaningfully

broadly 44 This fragmented did applicable to music and used . musical culture not universally welcome radio's interference. There was the broad concern that the growth of broadcasting would lead to a decline in various live music experiences

(concert attendancesfor instance),and the music publishers were concernedthat sheet music saleswould suffer. The conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham, felt that the

42Paddy Scannell and David Cardiff A SocialHisto! y of BritishBroadcasting. Volume One: 1922- 1939'Serving the Nation' (1991) p. 181 43Scannell and Cardiff (1991)p.182 44Scannell and Cardiff (1991)p.207

216 broadcasting of (serious) music was a 'stupid' sin (the worst of many, including the

industry) 'the There gramophone against unfortunate art Of MUSiC945. were also suggestions that people who listened to 'the wireless' would stop practising or playing

46 the piano. In fact, there was some evidence that the opposite occurred and that serious music concerts gained larger audiences with people wishing to see what they bad heard on the wireless, and sheet music sales increased sharply owing to the huge demand for live dance MUSiC47.

An influence upon music to rival that of broadcasting was the rapidly increasing demand for leisure brought about by rising purchasing power, the reduction of working hoursand the extensionof paid holidayS48.Theliffect this had upon 'the unfortunateart' wasmanifold. While morepeople could afford to makegood any promisethey showedfor performancewith the improvedaffordability of musical instrumentsand the increasedleisure time for practise,the more striking influence wasthe increasein leisuretime and disposablemoney which could be spentin the commercialleisure industry.

Of all the various'musics' we are referringto, it was dancemusic (which includedvarious forms ofjazz and 'crooning') which really did explodein this period.

This constitutedthe rootsof 'pop music' whereparticular numbers could be considered'hits' (althoughan actual'hit parade'or chart wasa post-war phenomenon).There were different stratawithin the appreciationof dancemusic.

The most populardance orjazz music in Britain was of a basic,anglicised kind, concentratingupon melodyrather than rhythm, suchas that providedby the long- standingBBC dance-bandleader, Henry Hall. He was not interestedin 'the extremes

"Scannell andCardiff (1991) p.205 '6 Scannelland Cardiff (1991) p.206 4' For exactfigures see a varietyof sourcesincluding Jaines J. Nott 'PopularMusic andthe Popular Music industryin Britain' D.Phil Tbesis,Oxford 2000 48StephenJones (1986)pp. 10-22

217 hot jazz' but be 49 Enthusiasts 'connoisseurs' of preferredtunes that could whistled. or of dancemusic (such as the writers andreaders of Melody Maker) idolisedAmerican musicianslike Duke Ellington andLouis Armstrong. However,when those two did a studioperformance for the BBC, the general(dance-music appreciating) public did not appreciateit at all. They muchpreferred Henry Hall. Melody Maker (initially a musicianstrade magazine) considered Henry Hall 'not interestingenough to be called bad'50.Working-class dancers in the commercialPalais would danceto musicnot dissimilarto that dancedto at middleand upper-classsociety functionS5 1: there was a degreeof 'one-nationism'in dancemusic's listeningpublic, althoughnot muchsocial integrationin dancingitself It was a musiccharacterised by the youth of iýaudience ratherthan the classof its audience(those who were appalledby the musicwere similarly united by ageacross the classes).With that in mind, Dave Harker's assertionthat 'popular' is a euphemismfor 'working class' (especiallywhen applied to culture) from the positionof 'ruling-classculture' - an 'unhistorical falsificationof 52 classculture - is particularlyinteresting. While dancemusic was not a classless cultural phenomenon(while youngpeople of all classesdanced, they did not all dance together)its cross-classappeal rendered it popularrather than plebeian. The

'musically interestingforms ofjazz' 53(to usethe phraseof BBC policy makers)were broadcastbut remaineda specialistinterest. Someof the 'catchier' dancetunes and songswere broadcast purely as songsrather than as musicto danceto: it wasthought that suchsongs were replacingVictorian and Edwardianballads in the public imagination54.

49Scannell and Cardiff (1991)p.209 'o Scannelland Cardiff (1991) p.21 0 ParaphrasingMeloaý Maker April 1932 51Hobsbawm (1999) p. 351 52Dave Harker Onefor the Money:politics andpopular song (1980)p. 29 53Scannell and Cardiff (1991)p.193 54Scannell and Cardiff (1991) p. 193

218 Popular music was regularly controversial. One example was the reaction to

'crooning'. Prior to the development of broadcasting and gramophone recording, vocal styles were basedupon acoustic performances. A new generation of singers manipulated the microphone, such as Bing Crosby and Al Bowley. This is an interesting example of some social attitudes to this revolutionary phase in the history 55 of popular music. Crooning was banned by the BBC in 1936 becausethe style was considered to be in bad taste and morally dubious. The ban did not remain in place long as it was difficult to enforce. It was impossible to regulate all outside broadcasts

(and many dance programmes were broadcast from a live performance in a dance hall or club) and there was no strict definition of crooning. When we come to discuss labour attitudes to popular music we shall seethat they often echoed the concerns of establishment figures such as BBC bosses,and the roots of some misgivings may well have been generational rather than ideological or musicological.

Similarly, concern about the commercialisation and Americanisation of culturethrough the dancecraze was not reservedto socialistsand labourmovement thinkers. Therewere internaldivisions amongst BBC policy-makersthat rangedfrom believingthat 'syncopatedmusic is hereto stay'56and that suchmusic was a sign of

Gmoraldegeneracy' and 'cultural barbarism'and linking this to the cultural form's racial originS57.Some jazz music innovationsspread to the metropolisand to national broadcastsfrom the provinces:swing musicwas initially broadcastin Aberdeen.The

Controllerof Programmes,Cecil Graves,'felt that Aberdeenwould be betteradvised to encouragea local choral societyrather than to put its moneyinto a jazz

"Scannell andCardiff (1991) p. 189 56Scannell and Cardiff (1991)p.182 " Scannelland Cardiff (1991) p. 184

219 combination. 51 One can easily imagine a local Labour chairman making a similar recommendation. When a swing-music programme was broadcast under the heading of a 'jam session', Graves declared that central supervision should be introduced 'to prevent this sort of thing'. 59 Furthermore, a strong strand in BBC policy-making stemmed from the middle-class, philanthropic tradition of promoting social harmony amongst the working classesvia MUSiC60.Many of the socialist ideas and concerns of the early part of the twentieth century were echoed here. This sametradition 61) promoted chamber music (considered 'a negation of market valueS', and was concernedthat music should not be commercialised. Concerns about the commercial nature of the popular music businessled to the BBC trying to prevent bands

6plugging' songson the radio and thus making money for the publishers in sheet music sales. They experimented with banning vocal numbers so that the song title could not be heardand then (after complaintsfrom listeners)attempted to prevent bandmembers from announcingsongs. 62 By the late '20s commercialradio was beginningto leadthe field in the broadcastingof popularMUSiC63 which ratherforced the BBC's handinto taking a lessdim view of commercialmusic.

The growing concernthat cultureand the arts werebeing commercialised, was grounded on a number of basic facts. The gramophone industry expandedgreatly during the 1920s (especially after the introduction of electric recording in 1925) and held its own during the depression,and although forty gramophone companieswere formed between 1927 and 1929, EMI completely dominated the market by 193264.

The 'talkies' made big businessof musical film stars like Shirley Temple, Fred

51Scannell and Cardiff (1991)p.193 "Scannell andCardiff (1991)p.193 Scannelland Cardiff (1991)p. 195 Scannelland Cardiff (1991) p.221 '2 Scannell and Cardiff (199 1) pp. 184-5 63Nott (2000) 64Jones (1986) pp. 38752

220 Astaireand GingerRodgers in Hollywood, or GracieFields and GeorgeFormby in the W5. As this commercialisation.was seenas the intrusionof capitalisminto the lives of the workers,it wasa matterof greatconcern to socialists,as we shall see.

However,this elementof capitalismdid, arguably,bring benefitsto the workers: dancehalls, 66 The benefits Gmorecinemas, more and more radioS, . of suchadvances werenot universallyfelt, though,and the working classby no meansexperienced greater leisure as a homogenousgroup. For many there was little enough money for the basics of subsistence:commercial and popular leisure was still a luxury indeed for

the line 67 The boom helped many on poverty . popular music also other areasof the music industry: the musical instrument trade was nearly twice as big in 1937 as 1907 and various instruments were given a boost by popular trends: piano by ragtime; the ukulele by George Formby and wind instruments by jazzý,.

Another revolutionary aspect of the dance music 'craze' was that it opened the way for working-class musicians to become professionals, and make a living from their talent.69 Most of this work was in dance halls or cinemas (although that work became less with the advent of 'the talkies 70from the late twenties.) Some dance musicians, especially in Scotland, had originally played music for more traditional sequencedancing and country dancing and had to develop their style towards jazz by emulating popular bandS71.This was not just done musically, they would also strike

'jazzy poses' to maintain popularit Y72,showing that despite the popularity of dance

65Jones (1986) p. 53 Jones(1986) p. 56 Jones(1986) p. 57 68Nott (2000)p. 107 69Comparatively not a badliving either. Scottishpianist Arthur Aflen waspaid five poundsa weekin the summerand sevenpounds a weekin the winter whenemployed by 'Maximes' in Edinburgh-a popular20s dance hall. This wagewas 'severaltimes the averageworking wage'. FrankBruce ' I'Tberewere bands, bands everywhere": Working in the leisureindustry, 1916-1950'Scottish Labour History SocietyJournal No. 32 (1997)p. 44 '0 StephenJones The British LabourMovement and Film, 1918-1939(1987) p. 77 71Frank Bruce (1997) pA 1 72Bruce (1997) p. 47

221 musicon the radio, the enjoymentof suchbands was not just an auralexperience.

Musical combinationsat the beginningof the period (playing country-danceand tea- dancemusic) were often just pianoand violin duets;as the Americaninfluence workedon the popularmusic scene through the twenties,so combinationshad to

73 expandand havedrummers and brass players. It wasthe experienceof one dance band(Scottish pianist Arthur Allen's bandin the late 1920s)that they would be told that someperformances were being broadcast by the BBC but neversee any fee.74

Therewere blurred edges between professional, semi-professional and amateur musiciansand often the samemusicians would play at dancehalls, ice-cream parlours,restaurants and cinemas and would sometimeseven play 'light classical 'opera' 75 Despite large things' and . the transformationof a numberof amateur working-classmusicians into a new classof worker, and(though sometimes well- paid) a brandof worker particularlyvulnerable to exploitation,the labourmovement wasalways rather ambivalent about the statusof musiciansand their union. While

Boughton, for instance,used his platform to campaign for the creation of a union for all artists, sometrade unionists felt that musicians should choose which job they were doing and which union they were to join. Most musicians were of uncertain, semi- professional status, working in one job during the day and as a musician in the evening - this activity was not always viewed with favour by leading unionists. In

1921, however, the Birmingham Town Crier devoted some of its spaceto the AMU's demandsfor recognition by the CinematographExhibitors' Association, with 76 minimum rates for different 'classes' of cinema musician.

"' Bruce(1997) p. 50 74Bruce (1997) p. 45 7' Bruce(1997) pp. 40-60. This article studiesan oral historyproject with onemusician (Arthur Allen) who playedpiano in a varietyof bandsand venues or as accompanistfor soloists. He also learnedto play the Wurlitzerby copyinga churchorganist so he could play at a cinema(organists were still employedafter the adventof the talkies). 76Towr Crier 21 January1921

222 While commercial music was the real growth area in this period, musical activity in

the voluntary sector should by no means be ignored. Socialist music groups, of one

kind or another, were always a minority interest in Britain, but other voluntary music

groups achieved considerable local popularity. The trend of working-class, non-

commercial musical activity had, for many years, been away from middle-class

patromgeand towards more identifiably class-basedorganisations such as 'the village

SouthWales' 'the brassbands IndustrialNorth 977 As have choirsof and of the . we alreadydiscussed, these organisations had greatpopularity, their competitions(such

as the Welshchoirs' Eisteddfod78) engendered much enthusiasm. It hasbeen

suggestedthat participation in the Brass Band Movement was in decline between the

wars, perhapspartly due to the increasedaccessibility of other forms of musical

entertainment and partly due to the bands being located in areasbadly affected by the t%kO%k&QAAaS depression. Despite this, there were eve. t my shour-a-damateurbrass bands in

action at that time.

This diverse and radically changing popular musical culture was what musical

socialists had to come to terms with or satisfactorily challenge. A critique of popular

culture is a dangerousundertaking for a popular Party, and the Labour Party never

made any official attempt to form one. It was left to a number of individuals to use their intellects and prejudices to undertake such a task.

Reactionto jazz from within the labourmovement was no lessviolent andpolarised than it had beenin societymore generally. Whenattempting to answerthe question

77Jones (1986) p. 150 79As welVGarethWilliams Valleysof Song(1998) (referred to elsewhere),Welsh working-class culture(particularly that promotedby the SouthWales NUM who begantheir own Miners' Eisteddfod after the SecondWorld War) is consideredin Hywel Francisand David SmithThe Fed:a history of the SouthWales' miners in the twentiethcen (1980)

223 is 'What Socialism?' in a symposiumof the sametitle, that roguish wandering

minstrel, Walter "Casey" Hampsondeclared that:

In art it meansthat Bach, Beethoven,Mozart, Bantock and Boughton shall take the place of coon cacophony,cake walks, rag and bone time andjaZZ. 79

However the historian might seekto half-excuseCasey's racism by historicising

commentsand use of language,the statementis at best terribly reactionary and

extraordinarily bizarre. It is not as if he were simply saying which music was better,

in his view, but which music was socialism. One can accepthis nod to comradeand

patron, Boughton, but the way he set up the binary in this sentence(and the preceding 8) ones suggeststhat popular music, the preferred music of thousandsof working-

class people in Britain and elsewhere,was the antithesis ofsocialism. Furthermore,

he made no attempt to justify this with socialist analysis: it is not that suchtunes were

commodified in the capitalist entertainmentindustry, nor even that their lyrics were

fatalistic opiates of the masses. It wasjust becausethe music was noisy and played

by black Americans. So much for the 'delightful' person who had spenthis life

'teaching the workers love of music and love of their fellow man'. 81

Sir Arthur Bourchier used similar languagein his dismissal of 'jazz' music.

He describedit as 'the crude, savage,cacophonous jazz that we hear on every hand today'. This not only echoesHampson's thoughts on 'cacophony' but also the word

'savage' hints at the playing of the race card again. Although there were strong internationalist and anti-colonialist aspectsto the labour movement at this time, it was not a party free of racism or immune to popular social Darwinist theories about Aryan

79Dan Griffiths (ed.) What is Socialism?: a symposium (1924) p.38 '0 'It is sunlight opposedto darkness;concord resolving discord; peaceand plenty in place of plunder and penury; fresh air and freedom insteadof filibustering and fifth. ' Hampson was fond of alliteration! 81Bradjord Pioneer 9 December 1921

224 superiority. In 1920 the National Administrative Council of the ILP voted unanimously in favour of a policy demanding the withdrawal of all 'black troops' in

Europe becausesuch 'uncivilised' people would be a danger to both themselvesand to European women. They claimed to put forward the policy in a spirit 'without race 82. prejudice' Indeed the ideas of E.B. Tylor (1832-1917) about Darwinist social progress from savageryand barbarism to civilisation (and the associatedidea of residual primitive cultures) were used to 'empirically defend' imperialism and Aryan 3 superiority as well as the 'scientific' explanation of folk arO and the backbone of

Boughton's longue duree If, has been 84 musicology. as repeatedly suggested , musical socialists were influenced by the writings of the Reverend Hugh Haweis, then the connection betweenrace and music would have been noted in his famous text.

Indeed, by comparison, Hampson and Bourchier could be seen, in that context, as havingtoned down the racismof Haweiswho wrote about'the conqueringnigger' proclaiming'the gloriesof Niggerdornthroughout the lengthand breadthof this benightedland'". CertainlyHaweis's references to racedemonstrate the prevalence of suchviews in society,and how well establishedthose concerns about the demoralising effects of music of black origin were. Both detractors and evangelists for jazz made reference to its status as 'negro music, although more thoughtful criticisms ofjazz (such as those made by Adorno) questioned its authenticity as 'black music' in much the sameway that the authenticity of folk music has been questioned.

Despite this pre-occupation with jazz music's African origins, it was its American

"Bradford Pioneer 23 April 1920 Boyes(1993) pp. 7-9 Both Chris Watersand Dave Russell refer to the influentialnature of Haweis' Music and Morals (1871). The influencemay have been less direct than is suggestedhere - merelythat Haweisopened the way to a generaldiscussion of the moral effectsof musicwhich eventuallyinfluenced socialists. Waterspointed to a direct influenceon EdwardCarpenter and also mentioned that some correspondentsto the Clarion (pre-FirstWorld War) referredto Haweis' work. Like Boughton, Haweisrefers to 'Mr. Darwin's gibbon' whendiscussing the developmentof music. "' Haweis(187 1) p.570

225 origins that madeit the spirit of the age,the essenceof modemity. 'Jazzbands came from the samecountry as Henry Ford 86and Hollywood movie stars.

Bourchier, as we have already considered, attempted a more thoughtful critique thanHampson; the problemwith jazz was that it was 'the musicalexpression

87 of capitalist society'. That opinion was widely expressedin the movement, sometimes in sloganistic form. Printed alone with no headline or explanation, the

Bradford Pioneer asked, 'what has Capitalism done for art except exploit it for f. s.d? '88 Such concernswent way beyond music to other aspectsof popular culture: a speakerat East Birmingham Labour Church, in 1921, 'wished the workers would take as much interest in things that matter as they did in football'89. It was often that disappointment with the attitudes of the working class - Blatcbford's reluctant

Messiah or Tressell's 'ragged-trouseredphilanthropists' - that fuelled this anti- popular perspective.

The strangething about all the most serious debatesabout jazz that we could consider here is that they were really discussing something rather different from what

British working-class youngsters were listening and dancing to. Eric Hobsbawm, a genuinejazz evangelist, remarked that people in the 1930s had to distinguish 'real stufF from the 'surrounding sweet or syncopateddross'. Real jazz enthusiastswould have agreed with many of the criticisms levelled by musical socialists and other cultural critics against the most popular forms of dance music. Therefore, when consideringpopular music, the debateabout ('hot) jazz's claim to beingsome manner of avant-gardeart musicis ratherbeside the point. One 'hot'jazz trend that did becomebroadly popular was the 'swing' crazewhich, as we mentionedearlier,

86Hobsbawm'Jazz Comes to Europe'(1999) p. 355 : "Arthur Bourchier Art andCulture in Relationto Socialism (1926) p. 11 8 BradfordPioneer 8 December1922 89Town Crier 7 January1921

226 entered England via Aberdeen. Interestingly, swing music in the USA was promoted by an anti-racist broad left encompassingCommunists and New Dealers9o. Some of the swing artists joined the CP (such as Dizzy Gillespie who later claimed that he had 91) done so in order to get more gigs! Why was there no similar socialist embrace of such music in Britain? By the late 1930sthere was some feeling that jazz, blues, folk

MUSiC992 in WMA, and various'roots' musicsconstituted a 'People's , especially the but thereprevailed an abiding interestin Englishmusic and in consideringwhat sort of musicwas 'the best'.

Largenumbers of musical(and not so musical)socialists felt that it was self evidentthat modempopular music was not 'the best' andwas quite possiblythe worst musicavailable. The editor of the TownCrier, while lamentingthe passingof

"Merrie England",complained that 'now the village greenhas disappeared... we danceto jazz "music"... ' andthat the new 'folksongsof the people' were 'Yes, sir, that's ma baby' and 'Chick, chick, chick, chick, chicken,lay a li'le egg for me'! 9' For suchpeople there was neverany questionthat modempopular music might havehad any merit as music:it wasone of the manyabsurd (and damaging) features of industrialcapitalist society.

All of this shedsnew light on what we found in Chapter Two: that local labour movements were acutely aware of the propaganda,fund-raising, recruitment and entertainment possibilities of dance music and dancing. Whatever were the emotions and forces which filled the Palais de Danse each night filled the Co-op dances,ILP dances,Labour Partydances and Young Communistdances as well. Similarly,

'0 Hobsbawm'The People'sSwing' (1999)pp. 369-370 " Hobsbawm(1999) p. 371 92Hobsbawm (1999) p. 363 " TownCrier 30 April 1926

227 whenever groups of socialists and trade unionists got together to have a really good evening, their musical programme was not restricted to chamber music, folk songs or labour anthems:a good variety bill was the preferred choice.

Locally, labour activists recognised that 'everyone dancesnowadays, and even if despise looking Special they this simple amusementthey can enjoy on'94. mention was made of dancing at any social event in their advertisementsin labour newspapers from the beginning of the period. They becamemore and more frequent through the

1920s as the 'craze' swept the nation. As early as 1920 the Midland Clarion Club at

Sheldonpresented itself as 'The KeenDancers' Paradise', and they held dancesevery

Saturday". Otherlabour institutions came to dwarf this paradisewith their regular provisionof readily affordabledancing with increasinglybetter 'floors', bandsand dancetutors. The BirminghamCo-operative Society was sucha casebosting dancing most nightsof the week. From 1921,members and friendsof the Witton ILP branch becamefanatical dancers with regularpacked dance-floors on SaturdaynightS96.

Theseevents became easier to stagethrough the period as more and more local parties attained'rooms' or a club.

Along with the 'perfect band' and 'tip-top programme',labour danceswere sometimesadvertised with the instruction to 'SUPPORT ONE OF YOUR OWN', recognising the interest in dancing and trying to harnessthat interest for the movement. As we saw in Chapter Two, the same sort of picture can be painted in

Bradford, Keighley and, by studying the notes in the Labour Organiser, right across the country. Furthermore, it would appearthat - if the intention bad been to fill their own halls rather than empty the commercial ones- the labour movements' sally forth into the world of popular dance was rather successfid. In the Socialist League in the

TownCrier II September1925 TownCrier 16April 1920and 30 April 1920 TownCrier 28 January1921

228 1930s,for instance,dancing was the primary social activity of the organisationand was often combinedwith discussionand deliberately aimed at 'ecumenical'Popular

Frontist sociability97.

The movementeven gave rise to someof its own jazz bandsthat would advertise for engagements. As well as there being some that were voluntary musical combinations organised along the same lines as the choirs and bands (such as the short-lived Birmingham Labour Party Dance Band) other new semi-professional bands advertised that they were made up of Labour Party members in the labour

98 press .

Ewan MacColl's account of a Young Communist League 'social and dance' in his autobiography, journeyma (1990) gives an idea of what such events were like at the less well-funded end of the movement. The room had 'a plank floor varnished to makeit look like a real dancefloor; a smallplatform for the "band", inadequate lighting andusually a few paperdecorations from threeChristmases ago'. The 'band' was a trio of local amateurswith the peculiarcombination of piano, saxophoneand drums. In the middle of the dancevarious local Communistsdid 'turns' - usuallythe renderingof popularballads". Clearly suchevents were never going to challengethe dominanceof the commercialdance hall. They did performone functionthat we did not considerwhen looking at the entertainment,fund-raising and propagandist functionsof labour socials:they providedthe opportunityfor young socialiststo meet like-mindedcomrades of the oppositesex in a moreconvivial atmospherethan the branchmeeting. Clearly sexwas a driving force behindthe dancingcraze and the

97For example:Socialist October-November 1934 'The danceheld at the Suffolk Gardensin the eveningwas very successful.Labour Party officials, SPGB-ers,Youth members,ILP-ers and Fabians didn't 'got dancefloor in - all got togetherfamously. ' It saywhether they together'on the or the discussion! " Onesuch band was the 'COLNA' DanceBand who advertisedin the TownCrier 17 September 1926. 'The "COLNX' DanceBand (Labour) is now openfor engagements.Moderate Charges. ' 99EwanMacColIJourng=an: AnAutobi2Uaph (1990) p. 156

229 Young Communist League dance was no exception. 'It was an occasion where unattachedmales were intent on capturing unattachedyoung females,' MacColl wrote. The last hour andmore especially the last half-hourof the dancewould be an increasingly panic-ridden struggle to find somebody prepared to be walked homeloo.

MacColl describeshis and his comrades' sexual awakening, courtesy of the Young

CommunistLeague dances; better by far if the next generationof socialistswere bom into the movement rather than having to be converted.

The rights and wrongs of the type of music involved was rarely the subject of local debate. In the columnsof Labourpapers there would occasionallybe an ironic swipe at one form of popular music or another. The existence of 'comic songs which don't deal with mothers-in-law or the love of beer' was thought 'marvellous but true' 01. by one writer in the Bradford Pioneer' One writer in the Town Crier hoped that a

'MUSICAL COMEDY WITH A PLOT' fashion'02 The Town might start a new .

Crier's Smethwick correspondentlamented the passing of the old dances(like the waltz). Similarly, in a consideration of the English character and national pride in the

ILP New Leader, in 1926, a joke was made about the volume ofjazz music:

in have lost to in ... music we all claim progress since a recent contest the American band was heard three and half miles further away than ours.103

Otheraspects of the dance-hallculture were sentup in the labourpress. The

'flapper' was a particular figure of fun (and, occasionally, horror). In a cartoon representingfalling wagesand rising prices,a well-built working women

(representing the proletariat) stood by a thin, short-skirted 'flapper' (representing the

" MacColl (1990) p. 157 '01BradfordPioneer 3 February 1922 102Town Crier 27 May 1927 103 NewLeader 2 July 1926

230 bourgeoisie). The skirts representedthe wages and prices and the working woman was saying 'They've made me lower my skirt, I hope they're going to make her do the same.' The extreme end of the dance-hall craze that was characterisedby the flapper dancing every night was consideredthe worst kind of bourgeois decadence, although such keen dancerswere often young, working women. Presumably there were usually enough men at these events as well (sometimes women would dance

became with each other) - it was the girls who the symbols of excess.

In the Railway Review aournal of the NUR) their comic writer 'Battersea

Bowser' wrote a pieceon 'a modemproduck', 'a sampleo' the risin' generation'who

'hinsistedon tryin' to teachthe whole family to dance. To dance,mindjerl' This piecewas ratherlight-hearted and self-deprecatoryabout the older generation's difficulties with comingto termswith the dancephenomenon. 'A grammyphone struck up a tinny sort o' tune, all jerks and spasmslike a Communistorator, and I see

Peggytryin' to showMrs. Smithieah to chuck 'er legs abahtin all sortso'

104 hangles' .

Male fashionswere sometimescommented upon, again with tongue-in-cheek admirationof the 'audacious'new styles. The latesttrouser design - 'Oxford Bags' receivedconsiderable column spacein the TownCrier.

At a dance held last Saturday, at Ruskin Hall, Aston, considerable excitement was caused by the appearance of a young man in Oxford Bags! At first everybody seemed amused. But towards the end of the evening it was noticed that the young ladies were keen to dance with the wearer of the bags. So keen was the competition, in fact, that at times certain of the ladies in question were seen to be 'having words', no doubt owing to one or other having 'rushed' the 105 young sport!

104Railway Review 16 January1919 105Anon. 'Oxford Bagsat Aston!' TowwCrier 4 September1925

231 Jazz and dance becameparticularly strong symbols of all that anyone wanted to damn or praise in the 1920sand 1930s- they were either symbolic of modernity and progress, or else the symbols of decadenceand degeneracy. The reasonsfor the varied reactions to this popular music went way beyond technical or aesthetic considerationsof music: they were the essenceof the era.

iv) Socialist music

For some,the counter-cultureor 'music of their own' wasnot alreadyin existencein working-classcommunities, waiting to be promoted,it hadto be assembledand shapedby socialistsfor socialism. Folk music had its attractions,particularly the perceivedcommunal composition, but the musicwas simplistic, rustic: a phasein musicaldevelopment but not powerful in itself The popularmusic of the day,jazz or variety songs,were fascinatingbecause of their very popularityand power to attract an audience;but they were simply commoditiesproduced by the capitalistleisure industry: opiates rather than clarion calls. Art music had the power to impress and elevate, and evoke sophisticated ideas; yet it was aloof, inaccessible,and of the ruling classes. What was required, some began to feel (on a variety of levels of sophistication), was some manner of synthesis:a socialist music. A class-conscious

4musicof their own'.

In the 1930s,one areawhere specifically socialist art wastalked about, thoughtabout and practised was the Workers' TheatreMovement, the cultural wing of the CPGB. Someof their ideasabout socialist drama began to be consideredin their musicsections too. In 1931an editorialfrom the Workers'Theatre Movement

Monthly Bulletin (later RedStage) declared that it would be 'the height of folly' for their singinggroups to 'entertainthoughts of competingwith establishedchoirs and

232 choral societiesin the Labour and Socialistmovement'. Becauseof the 'untrained' natureof the 'comrades'and the Movements'usual materials and methods,it was believed 'agit-prop' 06 At that their musicgroups should perform music' . this stage therewas no clear ideaof what that might meanand, of course,Alan Bushargued retrospectivelythat (at leastin London)the establishedchoirs of the labourmovement 107 were strictly agitationalin their repertoires! Oneexample of what sort of music they might havebeen looking at wasa songincluded in the sameissue of the Bulletin from the RedMegaphones'" group in Manchester.This 'local group song, apparentlywritten communallyby the whole troupebut certainly bearinghallmarks of their leadingmember Ewan MacColl'09, was to be sungto a Genmn tune: 'Red

Rockers'. The songwas filled with local references('workers from Salford, from

Cheetharnand Hulme') anduncompromising Communism:

Forward, young workers, come surging ahead, Hacking the pathway that our class must tread. Smashthe oppression and boss-classgreed, Led by the fighting Young Communist League.' 10

Cl6arly there was no concern about the 'dangers' of art being used as propagandain this composition, although it was not so very different (other than in its local character) from some earlier labour movement anthems. Later that sameyear the Red

Stage declared that 'Art is a weapon in the Revolution' and included a song entitled

'Comintem' with English text by T. Thomas put to a tune by Hans Eisler. Once again the lyrics served to press home a point with no aesthetic frills, 'our aim is united, our

" [EM/PS] Secretaryof the Workers'Music Section 'Music SectionWakes Up: A singinggroup in everytroupe' Workers'Yheatre Movement Monthly Bulleth4 No. 3 February1931 Ian Watson (1978) pp.80-90 The RedMegaphones had beenformed that yearout of the split in the Clarion Players.Their programmeincluded 'several parodies of popularsongs'. MacColl(1990)p. 169 '09Lines like 'Comradesfrom sports'field and Salford'sdark mills, I-likerswho trampover Derbyshire'shills' echofamous MacColl songslike 'Dirty Old Town' and 'I'm a Rambler'. 110[EMIPS] WorkersTheatre Movement Monthly Bulleth% No. 3 February1931

233 "" flag is unfurled, a Soviet Republic allover the world. T-Thomas continued to provide pro-Soviet English text to new Con-ununistmusic in the pages of Red Stage on subjects such as the Five Year Plans. In later issuesof Red Stage increasingly interesting synthesesof the various musics available were discussedand used. The traditional folk tune 'Billy Boy' was given new words:

Shunthe forcesof reaction; Put your faith in mass class action; And get in the workers' party- Get class conscious, Billy Boy.t112

A Workers' Theatre Movement collective communally wrote 'The Soviet Airmen's

Song', a simple tune praising the Soviet fighter planes 'defending the US-SR! 1113 At the sametime there were discussionsabout amending the words ofjazz songsbecause

'jazz does definitely bring us closer to the workers as, for one thing, it is easier to sing and memorise... let us use those tunes, there is rhythm and life in their music.' It was the words not the music that was wrong with jazz, according to this correspondent from Castleford. 'The lyrics of most of them are rank piffle, and lead the worker into a senseof fatalism that everything will come right bye-and-bye... cut out the words and put in words expressingour class consciousness. Words that will inspire all right- thinking workers to help build the future stateof society, the workers' state.0 14 This coincided with some Communist interest in jazz in other countries.

centralEuropean cultural bolsheviks associatedDazz] with the proletariat ...... "' andrevolution. Britain escapedthis phase.

1 [EM/PS]Red Stage No. I November1931 1 [EMIPS]Red Stage No. 4 March 1932 113[EM/PS] Red StageNo. 4 March 1932 114[EMIPS] Red Stage No. 4 March 1932 115Hobsbawm (1999) p.363

234 It may have escapeda phasequite of that nature, but the idea of putting new

Communist words to popular jazz tunes was attempted. The popular song

'Breakaway' was amendedto 'twelve-hour day' as part of a longer sketch on 'Love In Industry'.

Boss: Let's do that twelve-hour day, Of course you'll get less pay And that you'll only get by and by... Workers: Oh boss how good we feel Our love for you is real 116 Boss: You're proving it every day in every wayl

Anotherpiece, written by the pro-jazzcorrespondent from Castleford,S. % Gough

was 'Oh Workers!' to the tune of 'Oh MomV

The boss cut your wages, you'll not deny (Oh, workers) Then he'll put you on the Means Test, by and by (Oh, workers) He'll put another penny on your pint and then (Oh, workers) 17 Send you out to China' to kill working men (Oh, workers) Oh workers! When will you be free? Oh workers! You can be free! Organise for Liberty! 118

There was nothing new about the use of well-known tunes for the setting of socialist

lyrics. Whether we consider the old favourite anthemsof Chants of Labour which

included ironic settings to the National Anthem and 'Rule Britannia' as well as

numerousfamiliar airs, or the Tannenbaumsetting of the Red Flag, or numerous

116[EMIPS] RedStageNo. 5 April-May 1932 "' This wasprobably a referenceto the Manchuriancrisis at the sametime. Ibis wascertainly amongstthe subjects- sometimesconsidered rather distant, obscure and sectarian- discussedat YCL meetingsaccording to MacColl. MacColl(1990)p.184 118[EM/PS] Red Stage No. 6 June-July1932

235 19 important 'parodies' in labour newspapers' - familiar music was an tool of the trade.

What was different was the specific use of popular music, not because of its

familiarity but because of it popularity. It was not just that these tunes were known,

rather it was that there was something powerful in them that made them a more

effective weapon in the struggle than the old, hymn-like anthems. There were also

interesting ideas about the infectious and propagandist properties of rhythm. The use

of rhythm to propagate was a recurrent theme in the WTM: the agit-prop drama-style

itself was often intensely rhythmical in the manner of beat-poetry or 'rapping'.

However, they continued to persist with some of the older labour musical

forms. The WTM published 'The Workers' Song Book' which included 'words and

music of eight revolutionary songs' and then 'words-only' versions of nine more

songs and 'parodies'. They also looked, despite their earlier castigation of the

suggestion, in the direction of choral music and forming small choirs. Choral music

was considered 'another step forward' and they planned to start issuing four-part arrangementsof songsto theatre groups. This was with a view to 'enable those

workers who appreciatethe great value of good, disciplined singing to form small choirs of their own, which in time should add another weapon to the cultural armoury of the working class'. The first ammunition came in the form of 'excellent choral versions' of the 'Internationale' and 'The Red Flag' by Rutland Boughton. However, the given reason for this experiment with choral music was not to carry on the labour tradition, but to once again fuse popular culture with socialist agitation. '... before long we will have enough choral music to keep the good comradesin South Wales and Yorkshire who want to sing good music and at the sametime assist the workers'

I" Suchas 'The Docile Workers'to the tuneof 'Therewas a lady loveda swine' which ran 'Therewas a Premierloved the Poor'. Towr Crier 17June 1921. This wastaken from The Bolo Book (1921?) which wasa LabourPublishing Company publication. Othersongs from it included'Here we go round the Vicious Circle' to 'Here we go roundthe MulberryBush'. TowwCrier 9 September192 1.

236 fully 120 Where to be struggle occupied' . choral singing was perceived a very popular musical pastime, the coupling of that activity with propaganda could be viewed in the same bracket as putting political lyrics to popular jazz tunes.

Some of the Communist songs and 'parodies' of the 1930s entered the movement's own 'oral tradition'. 'When the red revolution comes' was sung to the tune of 'John Brown's Body'. This song was largely playful including such versesas

'We'll make Anthony Eden wear a fifty-shilling suit' and 'We'll stick a mast in

Churchill float him down the Thames' 121 Other like 'Jimmie Maxton and . ones and all of his men' were includedin largenumbers of song-booksas well as RedStage and other publications.Many of the NationalUnemployed Workers' Movement songsmentioned in ChapterFour gainedsimilar notoriety. Someof the songsof the labour movementthat foundtheir way into papersor becamefavourites at marches andprotests might alsobe called industrialfolksong. A. L. Lloyd strayedonto difficult territory when insisting,in Folk Songin England,that the 'Internationale' could not be considered'folkloric' (nor any of the 'non-folkloric labouranthems and

"literary" political mass-songswith their agitational content, elated feeling and hymn- like style' 122).His reasoning might not have extended to some of the songs of struggle referred to in an earlier chapter, communally written and sustainedby the crowds, amendedover years to engagewith new struggles. The likes of Alan Bush began to take such music more seriously including marching 'rounds' in song-books, as we mentioned in the last chapter. Similar songs were written to be sung at election times such as 'Liberals Three' to the tune of 'Three Blind Mice':

LiberalsThree, LiberalsThree,

120[EM/PS] RedStage No. 6 June-July1932 121Roy Palmer The Sound of Histo (1988) p.264 122Lloyd (1967) p.317

237 Seehow they vote, Seehow they vote, The first says"Aye" andthe next says"No", The third isn't certainwhere to go; Wasthere ever so fine a variety show n 123 As the LiberalsThree i

Come All Ye Bold Miners included songs, such as John Eliot's 'Aa Wes Gannin'

Inbye'- basedon 'Moonlight Bay', a 1930spop song, that were parodies of inter-war

Lloyd's definition industrial folksong in popular MUiSC124. of was more rigid theory than in practise.

Underlying all of this was a burgeoning conception of counter-culture and ideas of hegemony. 'C. B. M. ' -a regular contributor to Red Stage - wrote that 'every form of popular art and entertainment, public opinion and "moral direction" is controlled by capitalist interests- or their agents,the Government and the Church...

Even "sport" is a commercialised affair that reflects the dirty mismanagementsof its capitalist promoters... That is what we are up against. A capitalist state; capitalist control; capitalist propagandamaking use of every form of thought to poison the thinker, or, better still, to keep him from thinking at all... We are not competing with 125 capitalist entertainment, we are exposing it.,) While it might lack the subtlety of

Gramsci, it reveals that thought about the political role of culture, and something approaching a thesis of hegemonic control existed in the cultural wing of the

Communist Party.

That these questions were considered (albeit on no great level of sophistication) is further evidenced by the concernsof the Left Theatre Ltd. in 1936.

A letter was sent to the Socialist (the organ of the Socialist Leaguer) requesting shareholders. In the correspondent'sargument about the importance of the left theatre

To" Crier Reviewof a new Labour 'CommunitySong Book' 22 July 1927 Lloyd ComeAll Ye Bold Miners (1978) p.64 125[EM/PS] RedStage No. 6 June-July1932

238 he mentionedthe political power androle of 'capitalist' theatreby referring to songs like: 'Tipperary' and 'Keep the homefires burning'. The purposeof Left Theatre,it was argued,was to culturally challengethe conservativesentiments in the musicand 126 Even other aspectsof the populartheatre . at this stage,the writer was very unlikely to haveheard of Gramsci,but Lenin's musingsabout the existenceof 'two cultures' would appearto havehad someinfluence. Theseideas are centralto Ian Watson's studiesof 'democratic'music. For Watson,the inter-warlabour movement 'largely "second 127 While representeda unrecorded culture" phenomenon' . not dismissingthis, his assessmentthat this movement'ran parallelto, but separatefrom the mainstreamof bourgeoismusical activity of the time' placesinsufficient importanceon the (increasinglyself-aware) cross-pollination between the activities in the labourmovement and those in the wider musicalworld.

The Workers' Music Associationrepresented the crystallisationof these burgeoning musical ideas into an organisation or movement. While, later in its history, the Association became an educational organisation, in its early period, according to Alan Bush, the WMA concentrated on 'what was singable to them [the working class], what was performable to them and appropriate for their particular

128 Springing from the London Labour Choral Union political requirements' . and the

WTM's music section, the WMA never managedto attract the provincial musical combinations such as the Clarion choirs (now stragglers,rather than pioneers).

Essentially, however, the WMA was a foundation upon which left-wing cultural politics of the 1940s and 1950swould be built. While they did provide a fascinating coda to the inter-war period, the inter-war labour musical movement belonged to the likes of Boughton, Searor Hampson, not to Bush and certainly not to

126'The Left Theatre' Socialist July-August 1936 127 Watson(1978) p. 81 129 Watson(1978) p. 88

239 MacColl or Lloyd. As such,it is strangethat the views of thosefirst three men should become so anachronistic and of novel antiquarian interest so very quickly. However, their work in makingsections of the labour movementable to (andwilling to) embracethe radicalcultural and aestheticideas that becameimportant after the

SecondWorld War shouldnot be underestimated.

240 Conclusions

On commencing the early notes of this research,I was in a position to greatly

sympathise with H. G. Sear and his vain labours at the helm of the Birmingham Labour

Symphony Orchestra. Like him, I found gaps in my orchestra. On deciding my area

of study and composing some early researchquestions I was far from certain that

musichad played an importantrole in the lives of inter-war labour activistsat all.

Equipped with the contingency plan of asking 'Why did the labour movement stop

singing?' I began to searchfor what sourcesmight be useful and which historical

figures(from both the labourand musical worlds) warrantedfurther investigation.

My researchwas radically (and mercifully) to shatter my concernedpreconceptions

about inter-war labour music. Instead of finding the sad, dying chords of a late

Victorian goldenage of pioneering,religious labourculture I found the crescendoof

culturesold andnew (sometimesin harmony,sometimes in discord) and an

inexhaustible contemporary literature of musical comment in newspapers,magazines,

pamphlets and books.

Clearly the work of certain individuals - H. G. Sear, Rutland Boughton and Alan Bush importance in particular - was absolutely central to the role and of music in the inter-

war labour movement. There would have been music without them - and plenty of it

- but in termsof the organisationof musicalactivities and the productionof ideas

aboutmusic, the importanceof a small numberof committedindividuals cannot be

over-stated.But the interestsand labours,of committedindividuals are not enoughto

accountfor the nearconstant musical accompaniment to labourmovement activism

betweenthe wars. Therewas somethingspecific about the natureof labour

movementpolitics that drew it to musicand to aesthetictheories. Similarly there .,

241 were properties of music that made it an invaluable weapon for any movement that looked to win over hearts and minds.

The politics of the inter-war labour movement, from the dry reformist to the fiery revolutionary, from the most secular materialist to the most zealous, spiritual evangelist, looked to alleviate (or eradicate) the drudgery of work (and of the life of workers) in a modem capitalist society. As such they felt that they were in common causewith art and aesthetics. Genuine art and aesthetics,that is. Art that failed in that key aesthetictask might have had other merits, but it was not the ally of socialism in that particular fight. Much of the apparent prejudice and intolerance shown by musical socialists stems from that assertion. 'Bad' music was often 'bad' becauseit duped (or doped) the workers, or becauseit simply reflected or replicated industrial or commercial drudgery instead of transcending it. That aestheticsand social progress had common causehad long been ruminated upon. The great nineteenth century theorist of aesthetics,John Ruskin, in a lecture in 1858 'would invite Bradfordians to leave their selfish little kingdoms behind in favour of a broader "commonwealtlf' in " which life and lives "will join and increaseinto one magnificent harmony". William

Morris had no doubt that his design, his poetry and his political activism were but different meansto the sameend.

Through the 1930sthe possibilities of agitational art were explored and with that the notion that there could be merit in the idea that works of art and pieces of music could representthe realitiesof industrialcapitalism or working-classlife. But for muchof the period,the role of art wasto be beautifuland to be beautifulwas to entirely negatethe industrialcapitalist reality (andyet somehowto arrive at a 'truth').

Proletkult or socialrealism this wasnot. Although someSoviet cultural ideasand

1Malcolm HarchnanRuskin and Bradford (Manchester,1986) p. 221

242 debatesmade their way into CommunistParty of GreatBritain discussions

(particularly in the 1930s), labour musical thought was largely conservative and did

not attempt to challengethe nineteenth century, bourgeois, romantic heritage. Instead,

they recognised a radical potential therein.

It is clear that thought about music changedconsiderably through the inter-war period.

Those changeswere partly inspired by intellectual developments, particularly

importedideas from SovietUnion, Germany the andthe USA. While socialist- and

particularly Communist - interest in intellectual and artistic developments in the

SovietUnion is unsurprising,it wasthe very successfulembrace of the arts by the

German Social Democrats that inspired British musical socialists to strive for greater things in the 1920s. As well as masschoral organisations and musical and dramatic pageants,the German labour movement had its own impressive collection of top artists. Like Boughton, Bush, Auden and Shaw in Britain, Hans Eisler, Kurt Weill

and Bertolt Brecht were to employ their considerabletalents in the service of the movement. Their influence extended beyond their own country when people like

Kurt Weill, for instance,fled Germany and spent time in exile in the UK. Weill's music was characterisedby contemporaryjazz influences and this, in turn, appearsto haveinfluenced groups like the Workers' TheatreMovement. The International

Workersof the World in the USA had alreadybeen interested in songbefore this period, proud to have songwriter Joe Hill has a prominent member. In the 120sand

'30s they becameinterested in Americanfolksong including industrialsong, an interestthat wasto startto influenceBritish socialistsby the end of the period. That interest was taken up by the American left-wing musicologist, Charles Seeger,whose ideaswere to havetheir greatestinfluence in Britain after the SecondWorld War both

243 via the academy,through the inventionof the discipline of ethnomusicology,and throughthe musicof his children. PeteSeeger was a very successfulfolk singerafler the SecondWorld War andPeggy - EwanMacColl's wife and musicalpartner - was to play an importantpart in the Communistfolk recordlabel, Topic 2, the Charles

ParkerRadio Ballads and the British folk revival.

Perhapsequally important, it would appearthat experience- andparticularly the experienceof struggle- inspiredpeople to look more closelyat music as 'a weaponin the struggle'rather than simply as 'beauty'. This led to the labour movementdeveloping quite distinct aestheticand cultural theoriesafter the Second

World War, looking to expressa working-classconsciousness and to presentworking- classlife. This found its musicalexpression primarily throughthe industrialfolksong movementand laterthrough protest song.

For this reason,the history of the musicalculture of the British labour movement between the wars is in fact an important stepping stone in a fuller understandingof cultural change in twentieth century Britain. While many national cultures experienceda period of avant garde experimentalism in the early part of the twentieth century, the arts in Britain remained conservative. Avant garde art, cubism and futurism and general cultural 'leftism' did not entirely pass Britain by. They were representedin Alfred Orage's Leeds Arts Club between 1903 and 1923, for instance, which looked to nurture and promote the aestheticand artistic left. But one only need look at the most successfuland influential artists to have been involved in that club to see why the 'provincial avant garde' it representeddid not come to greatly challenge the romantic tradition. Its contributors included GK Chesterton, George Bernard

2 'Topic' beganlife in 1939as the label of the WMA bringingout recordingsof the 'Red Flag' andthe 'Intcrnatinale'as well as folk music.

244 Shawand EdwardCarpenter. Carpenter was considereda founding influence3. While it is interestingthat thosecharacters should have approved of an avantgarde Arts

Club, they wereexceptionally traditional themselves. While Chesterton'sassociations with thepolitical 'left' aredoubtful (andhe later had rathermore concrete associationswith the political right) Shawand Carpenter were part of the cultural vanguardof the socialistmovement at the turn of the century. With regardto music,

Shawwas 'the perfectWagnerite'; both werethe perfectradical romantics, following in the footstepsof Ruskinand Morris. The British cultural left had its own story of the romantictradition and,as such,prolonged a certaintype of artistic conservatism beyondits courseelsewhere. In music,Alan Bush wasvirtually aloneas an inter-war

British avantgarde composer,and his attendanceat the University of Berlin would appearto havebeen an importantfactor. The longevityof the romantictradition was not just becauseof the artistic predilectionsof someindividuals; there was a long labourtradition of romanticart, exemplifiedbest by Chartistpoetry and lyric.

Carpenterquite particularlydrew from that tradition, as is evidencedby the contentof his songcollection, Chants of Labour(1888). SocialistRomanticism (even

CommunistRomanticism) survived between the wars in the compositionsof Rutland

Boughtonamongst others, and poetry by the likes of Carpenterand evenW. H. Auden.

What causedthe transformationfrom radicalromanticism in the 1920sto agit-prop and socialrealism in the 1930s?When did art ceaseto simply be aboutbeauty and begin to lend an importanceand significance to uglinessas well?

Agit-prop and 'proletcult' werenot just British phenomenaand the overseas influencesthrough the internationallabour movement (perhaps most especially throughthe internationalCommunist movement) helped disseminate new ideasas did

3 Tom SteeleAlfred Orageand the LeedsArts Club, 1893-1923(Aldershot, 199o) 4 Anne JanowitzLnic andLabour in the RomanticTradition (Cambridge,1998)

245 the migrationof Europeanradicals under the threatof fascism. But that is not the whole story- after all Sovietfuturism did not havemuch impacton the Communist movement in the early 1920s. Experience was an important factor, as were 'cultures of struggle'. Those cultures of struggle, explored in Chapter Four, were artistically creative, as we discussed. The art that emerged from cultures of struggle (and particularly the musical art) was often satirical and keen to put across a political messageclearly and simply. The aim was for the audience to be in no doubt as to the convictions(and the hardships)of the performers;this undoubtedlyhelped shape the form of agit-propdraina and satiricalsong in the 1930sWorkers' TheatreMovement at leastas muchas overseasintellectual influences. Thesecultural forms, in their turn, helped shapethe whole 'working-class aesthetic' in post-war Britain from the

Radio Ballads and the 'angry young men' to Billy Bragg and 'Brassed Ofr.

Clearly, for many, music was just 'a pleasant change from politics', but it was also deemedto have an important value as a 'weapon in the struggle' whether that was to bring beauty where there was ugliness, or to hammer home the socialist messagewith sharp satire.

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I. Books

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2.Articles

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255 Goddard,Scott 'Alan Bush:Propagandist and Artist' T.istcner 23 April 1964

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3. Thesesand Dissertations

Boughton,John 'Working-classpolitics in Birminghamand Sheffield, 1918-19311 Phl). Thesis,University of Warwick, 1985

Cloonan,Martin 'Politics and Pop Music: The "ToP Twenty" Roadto Socialism?' Diploma Thesis,Ruskin College, Oxford, 1986

Nott, JamesJ. 'PopularMusic and the PopularMusic Industry in Britain' D.Phil Thesis,University of Oxford, 2000

Shelley,Christopher 'BirminghamCo-operative Party in the 1930s:co-operation and the labourmovement' PhD. Thesis,University of Warwick,1987

Whithall, Keith 'The Voluntary OrganisingCommittee in the Musicians' Union, 1935-1939:A Studyin Rankand File TradeUnionism. ' DiplomaThesis, Ruskin College,Oxford, 1976

4. Internet resources

Alan Bush Trust http: //www. alanbushtrust.org. uk/

Chelmsford TUC - Songsand Poetry. bttp: //wkweb. cableinet.co. uk/niaijari/Newsongs. htmi

Information on Kurt Weill http: //www. hnh.corrL/composer/weill. htm

'Songsof Irish Labour' by Helen Sheehan http://www. dcu. ie/wcomms/hsheehan/Isong. htm

Tom Lehrer Lyrics http://members. aol. com/quentncreeAehrer

The Official Michael Tippett Website: http://www. michael-tippett. com/

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