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The Music and Politics of Alan Bush with Reference to the Application of His Socialist Principles to His Workers’ Choral Music and Songs Between 1926 and 1939

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The Music and Politics of Alan Bush with Reference to the Application of His Socialist Principles to His Workers’ Choral Music and Songs Between 1926 and 1939 The Music and Politics of Alan Bush with Reference to the Application of his Socialist Principles to his Workers’ Choral Music and Songs between 1926 and 1939 Emer Bailey, B.A. Music (Hons) Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts by Research Supervisor: Dr David Rhodes Waterford Institute of Technology Submitted to Waterford Institute of Technology, September 2013 Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted previously for any other degree or qualification. Where reference is made to the work of others due acknowledgment is given. Signed: Candidate Signed: Supervisor Date: ii Contents Declaration ii Abstract v Acknowledgements vii Glossary of Abbreviations ix Introduction x Literature Review xvi Chapter 1 – Life and Music I: Early Life (1900-1928) 1 Chapter 2 – Life and Music II: Socialism (1929-1935) 25 Chapter 3 – Life and Music III: Communism (1936-1939) 61 Conclusion 96 Bibliography (a) Books, dissertations and articles 104 (b) Articles and other material from the Bush Archive 109 (c) Personal communications with Emer Bailey 112 (d) Radio Interviews 113 (e) Internet Sites 113 (f) CD Liner Notes 117 (g) Musical Scores 117 iii Appendices Appendix A: Table of Workers’ Choral Music and Songs 119 Appendix B: Song to Labour (1928) 120 Appendix C: To the Men of England (1927-1928) 121 Appendix D: Songs of the Doomed: Epilogue (Op. 14, 1929) 130 Appendix E: The Road (Op. 13, 1929) 136 Appendix F: Question and Answer (1931) 140 Appendix G: Song of the Hunger Marchers (1934) 142 Appendix H: Pageant of Labour (1934): Reader’s Report 145 Appendix I: Pageant Song (1934) 146 Appendix J: WMA Winter Programme 1940 150 Appendix K: Labour’s Song of Challenge (1936) 151 Appendix L: Make Your Meaning Clear! (1939) 160 Appendix M: Against the People’s Enemies (1939) 162 Appendix N: Track Listing of CD of Workers’ Songs Conducted by Alan Bush 166 iv Abstract The Music and Politics of Alan Bush with Reference to the Application of his Socialist Principles to his Workers’ Choral Music and Songs between 1926 and 1939 Despite his overt Socialist beliefs, Alan Bush’s music was held in high esteem by the musical establishment until he began writing what he termed his ‘workers’ songs’ for the Labour movement, at which point he was accused of lowering his standards. His harmonic language, however, shows a masterly and intellectual approach to the composition of what, initially, appear to be unremarkable and somewhat simplistic songs. There is nevertheless a clear distinction between his functional songs for untrained workers’ choirs and ‘art-songs’ for more experienced ones: the tonal and harmonic complexities of the latter continue to prove challenging to modern performers. The aim of this dissertation is to evaluate selective workers’ choral music and songs written by Alan Bush (1900-1995) between 1926 and 1939, specifically for use by Labour Choirs, in the context of the circumstances of their composition, namely, Bush’s early life and politics, and his developing political credo during the inter-war years. This will lead to a greater understanding of an important, if underrated, element of his compositions and musical activity for the working class. Having joined the Labour Movement in 1925, Bush’s socialist principles eventually led him to active membership of the British Communist party in 1935. His involvement, with the London Labour Choral Union from 1925, and the Workers’ Music Association from 1936, included music education and training, and the composition and performance of workers’ choral music and songs. He also wrote music for large-scale pageants and festivals. The extent to which Bush’s works adhered to his personal Marxist v beliefs will be explored in relation to the blueprint he devised for the composition of such workers’ music in 1936. The outbreak of the second World War in 1939 did not mark the end of his workers’ music, although the style of this remained substantially the same thereafter. Furthermore, in the years that followed, Bush’s musical style would gradually change, and the texts that he set took on a more international dimension. vi Acknowledgements I am indebted to many people for their help in the preparation of this dissertation. It would never have been realised without the encouragement, support, help and extreme patience of my supervisor, Dr David Rhodes, and in the early stages of the research, Dr Eric Sweeney. Dr Rachel O’Higgins, Alan Bush’s daughter, provided me with many articles and scores, and she has been not only an invaluable source of information and practical help and encouragement, but also a dear friend. Together with her late husband, Professor Paul O’Higgins, Rachel also afforded me wonderful hospitality on my many visits to the Bush Archive, which is held at their home in Histon, Cambridge. Sincere thanks are also due to the following: Dr Nicolas Bell (Curator, Music Collections, British Library), who directed me to items of particular interest and who generously spent time discussing Bush with me; Dr John Jordan (Vice President, Workers’ Music Association) and Ms Mavis Cook (Secretary, WMA), who provided me with valuable rare materials, their invaluable memories and experiences of Alan Bush and the WMA through many years, and with whom I experienced much laughter on an unforgettable day spent in their company. I am also indebted to Dr Timothy Bowers (Alan Bush Lecturer and Undergraduate Tutor at the Royal Academy of Music, London) for discussing Bush’s music with me in person and in correspondence, and for sharing his memories as one of Bush’s students; Ms Bridget Palmer (Assistant Librarian, Special Collections and Archives, RAM), Ms Janet Snowman (Curator of Art and Iconography, RAM), Dr Peter Horton (Deputy Librarian, Royal College of Music, London), post-graduate researcher Ms Maria Kiladi, (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Ms Angela Durkin. I am particularly grateful to my son, Eoin Bailey, for transferring to CD a rare 1936 recording of two of Bush’s workers’ songs. Finally, vii special thanks are due to my long-suffering husband Russ, who has had to live with Alan Bush as “the other man” in my life for many years, and also to my adult children Isobel, Eoin, Laoise and Aaron for their unwavering support and encouragement. viii Glossary of Abbreviations ABMT Alan Bush Music Trust website BA Bush Archive BL British Library ILP Independent Labour Party LBC Left Book Club LLCU London Labour Choral Union RAM Royal Academy of Music RAMC Royal Army Medical Corps RCM Royal College of Music WCML Working Class Movement Library Web ref. Internet references WMA Workers’ Music Association ix Introduction The importance of Alan Bush as a prominent composer, musicologist and philosopher, teacher, and innovator, in English cultural life has never been fully acknowledged, or appreciated, by the British musical or political establishments. This is despite the fact that he was an accepted musical authority in the period between the two World Wars. He wrote regular articles for newspapers and magazines on many aspects of music, from ‘The Crisis of Modern Music’ and ‘Problems of Opera’ to ‘Marxism and Music’ and ‘The greatness of Beethoven’, for example. He was Professor of Composition and Harmony at the Royal Academy of Music in London for 53 years (1925-1978) and was a much sought after speaker for conferences and interval talks. Musicology was a relatively unknown university discipline in Britain between the wars, but in 1936-1937 Bush gave the first ever series of lectures in music history at the RAM. As a renowned composer he produced music in a wide variety of genres: works for the stage, orchestra, chamber ensembles, keyboard, choral and vocal, in addition to many arrangements. He was also an accomplished pianist and gave recitals in major performing venues, both at home and abroad. During his lifetime he received seven commissions for the London Promenade Concerts, yet his music is rarely included in current concert programming. Despite his undoubted importance as a leading British composer and musicologist, Bush’s music has never experienced the acclaim enjoyed by Britten or Tippett, for example, and it is now generally accepted that his entire oeuvre has suffered extreme neglect. Much of this neglect can be traced to Bush’s radical left-wing activities. Having espoused socialism in the late 1920s, he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1935 and worked tirelessly to promote this ideology through his music. During the 1930s in x particular he devoted a great portion of his life to the organising of working-class musical activities, including the composition of workers’ choral music and songs, mainly for performance by the London Labour Choral Union, of which he was musical director. The activities of the LLCU encompassed concert performances, labour rallies and marches, pageants, festivals, and competitions. Bush was also instrumental in founding the Workers’ Music Association in 1936; it both published his worker’s choral music and organised concerts in which such songs were performed. The musical establishment was unimpressed with this development, and regarded these songs as a lowering of Bush’s otherwise high standards, and thus unworthy of evaluation. The neglect of this body of work is such that it is rarely even mentioned in existing profiles of the composer, unless in a dismissive or condescending manner. This dissertation seeks to address this neglect and to evaluate a selection of the workers’ choral music and songs in the context of the circumstances of their composition, thus adding to an understanding of an important, if underrated, element of Bush’s compositions and musical activity for the working class. Bush did, of course, have his supporters.
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