University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 04 University of Plymouth Research Theses 01 Research Theses Main Collection 2014 A History of the Cornish Male Voice Choir:The Relationship between Music, Place and Culture Skinner, Susan Margaret http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2894 University of Plymouth All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. Copyright Statement This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author’s prior consent. A HISTORY OF THE CORNISH MALE VOICE CHOIR: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC, PLACE AND CULTURE by SUSAN MARGARET SKINNER A thesis submitted to the University of Plymouth in partial fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Humanities and Performing Arts Faculty of Arts July 2013 Susan Margaret Skinner A History of the Cornish Male Voice Choir: the relationship between music, place and culture Abstract This thesis documents and examines the history of Cornish male voice choirs from their origins in the late nineteenth century through to the present day. The evolution of the choirs has hitherto been charted largely through scattered oral testimonies, whereas this work traces the rise, decline and resurgence of the male choral tradition by drawing from a range of primary sources, including newspapers and repertoire in addition to oral history. The thesis is organised chronologically and the main chapters chart the development of Cornish male voice choirs from the Methodist point of origin, to the subsequent expansion of the male choral movement between the wars and thereafter its seeming atrophy. The opening two chapters focus on the background and emergence of the choirs from c.1820 to 1918. The interwar period is covered in three diverse but linked chapters, assessing the socio-economic context, musicological influences and the importance of geographic locality or ‘place’. The impact of the Second World War on the choirs is examined in Chapter Six. The following chapter traces how the choirs remained vibrant in the face of encroaching secularisation during the 1950s and 1960s, and the final chapter assesses the detrimental effects for the choirs of changed musical behaviours and generational issues in the late twentieth century choir. Four key themes which run throughout the chapters are the influence of Methodism, its teachings and choral hymnody; the significance of repertoire and musical directorship; the importance of the male demographic within the local economy; and secularisation and mass popular culture. The connecting thread of the argument for the thesis as a whole is that male voice choirs both reflect and help shape Cornish identity. As will be seen, identity is a fluid, multi-layered concept, but analysis of the changing role and influence of male voice choirs contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between music, place and culture. Table of Contents List of Illustrations and Figures viii List of Tables ix Acknowledgements xi Author’s Declaration xii Introduction 1 Chapter One The socio-economic and 32 cultural-religious context, c.1820-1918 Chapter Two Early Cornish male voice choirs: 70 a musicological framework Chapter Three The interwar years: a shifting social, economic 114 and cultural framework Chapter Four Musicological factors in the expansion of the 148 male choral movement Chapter Five Impact of place: shaping local choir identities 181 between the wars Chapter Six The world at war: 219 Cornish male voice choirs, 1940-1945 Chapter Seven Encroaching secularisation: re-affirmation of a 252 Cornish male choral identity, 1946-1968 Chapter Eight Music, place and culture: 294 generations apart, c.1970-2000 Conclusion 326 Bibliography 337 vii List of Illustrations and Figures A Administrative Districts pre-April 2009 35 B Bal maidens 37 C Crying the Neck 47 D Tindall’s Wesleyan Methodist Atlas of 1873 53 E Gwennap Pit c.1900 57 F St Peter, Mithian, 1861 59 G Male Voice Choirs 1896-1914 66 H Sumer is Icumen 79 I The St Day Carol 81 J Awake, Awake the Lofty Song 84 K Hark the Glad Sound! The Saviour 86 L Awake, Æolian Lyre 89 M Marazion Apollo Choir 104 N/Na Male Voice Choirs 1919-1939 and 1896-1914 116 Oa/b Strike The Lyre 167 Oc/d/e Strike The Lyre 169 Pa/b/c An Evening’s Pastorale 171 Q/Qa Male Voice Choirs 1919-1939 and Administrative Districts 182 Pre-April 2009 R Looe Choir Members 1940 228 S/Sa Male Voice Choirs 1946-1968 and Male Voice Choirs 270 1919-1939 T 1983 Southampton Programme 316 viii List of tables 1 Male Voice Choirs 1896-1914 65 2 Regular Choral Repertoire 75 3 Regular repertoire of Marazion Apollo Choir 106 4 County Music Festival Venues 1919-1939 150 5 Indian Queens Music Festival 155 6 Wadebridge Music Festival 155 7 Camborne Music Festival 155 8 Mabe Music Festival 157 9 Stenalees Music Festival 157 10 Music Festivals – Various 158 11 Repertoire common to Welsh [pre-WWI] and Cornish 162 [1919-1939] Male Voice Choirs 12 Regularly performed repertoire [1919-1939] by Cornish 164 Male Voice Choirs 13 Music Festival Test Pieces 1920s – Various 174 14 Music Festival Test Pieces 1930s – Various 175 15 Length of Tenure of Choir Conductors 1939 178 16 The Fishermen’s Choir – Various Concerts/Services 195 17 Delabole Male Voice Choir 201 18 Indian Queens Festival Participation 204 19 St Austell Festival Participation 205 20 Festival Participation by leading choirs in west Cornwall 212-4 21 Climax Orpheus Choir Concerts 244 22 Male Voice Choirs – Miscellaneous 1940-1945 248 23 Community Hymn Singing 1947-68 260 24 Sankey Evenings 1954-68 262 25 Merritt’s Carols and Anthems 1946-66 263 26 Male Voice Choir Sacred Concerts 1950-4 266 27 Male Voice Choir Sacred Concerts 1955-9 267 28 Male Voice Choir Sacred Concerts 1960-8 268 29 Music Festivals 1946-49 275 30 Choir BBC Radio Broadcasts 1946-67 281 31 ‘Traditional’ Repertoire common to decades 1970s, 311 1980s and 1990s 32 ‘Traditional’ Repertoire in two of the three decades 312 33 Programmes related to choirs 312 34 Popular repertoire across all 3 decades 314 35 1980s-1990s decades. Musicals 314 36 Popular Choral Arrangements by the 1990s 314 ix x Acknowledgements I am indebted to all those involved within the tradition of male voice choirs in Cornwall who generously gave of their time in granting me an interview. Their hospitality and evident love of choral singing impressed me deeply. I would like to thank in particular Stephen Lawry, musical director of Mousehole Male Voice Choir and Angela Renshaw, music teacher, County leader of the SingUp programme and musical director of Cornwall Boys’ Choir, Cambiata and Holman Climax Male Voice Choir, who gave additional assistance. I thank my supervisor Professor Kevin Jefferys who has helped in shaping my thinking and provided invaluable advice and guidance. Finally, I thank my mother for her support and encouragement when I set out on this road of discovery, and my brother Michael for his time and patience in reading the final drafts. This work is dedicated to the loving memory of my mother, Kathleen xi AUTHOR’S DECLARATION At no time during the registration for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy has the author been registered for any other University award without prior agreement of the Graduate Committee. Word count of main body of thesis: 71,835 Signed…………………………............................ Date……………………………………………… xii Introduction In 2003 the inaugural British International Male Voice Choral Festival took place in Cornwall and in subsequent years has established itself as a biennial festival of international repute. The original idea was conceived and brought to fruition by the then director of the British Choral Institute, Dr Roy Wales, an inspirational catalyst in the launch of this major cultural enterprise. English and Welsh choirs numbered among the international gathering participating in both the competition arena and Festival concerts and events. At the conclusion of a performance by one of the overseas choirs, a Yorkshire choir member commented: ‘Technically they are superior to our choirs ... And it’s good to see a lot of young people in the European choirs. The average age of the British and Cornish choirs must be well into the fifties.’1 A Finnish choir integrated innovative choreography into their choral performance, prompting the following remark from a ‘bewildered’ choir member from Manchester: ‘How do you compete with that?’2 Couched within these remarks is a concern for the future of male voice choirs, though neither comment overtly states this. Presentations from eight international speakers at the International Male Voice Choral Festival two years later focused on the subject of the long-term survival of male voice choirs relative to choral traditions.3 The one-day symposium debated the issues of 1 Western Morning News, 5 May 2003. 2 Western Morning News, 5 May 2003. 3 Western Morning News, 12 April 2005. See also Cornwall International Male Voice Choral Festival Souvenir Programme 2005, p.11. 1 decline in numbers, a rise in the average age and the negative effects from an ever-expanding and intruding multi-media industry along with fast changing life-styles. From the mid-twentieth century to the present day, the socio-musical transformations evident in popular music have reflected generational and gender issues impacting on society to a degree not previously observed.