Elgar and Me : North West Branch Donald Hunt & Tom Hunt, Saturday, 7 October 2017 Newsletter ”Elgar has been for me an inspiration, a pleasure and a comfort in difficult times.” That was the August 2018 summing up of a distinguished life in music by Donald Hunt, choir master, organist, festival organiser, conductor and Leeds United supporter, who held an audience of members with his fascinating reminiscences and his choice of music. Donald is a favourite of the North West Branch. Inspiration was a word that occurred more than once in Donald’s presentation, chiefly This is now the fourth year in which I have produced a branch newsletter which provides with reference to Herbert Sumsion, organist of Gloucester Cathedral and a personal friend of a retrospective look at our activities throughout the season which has now ended. I wish to Elgar. Once when Sumsion had been delayed Donald, one of the choristers, took the choir thank each of those members who have contributed reports about our branch meetings (they are practice. When Sumsion arrived he waited outside and listened. Next morning he went to see credited at the end of their articles) and also to thank Darren Niman who has provided many of Donald’s parents and told them that their son had to make music his career. It was clear from his the photographs taken at meetings - which evoke visual memories for those of us who attended frequent references what an influence Herbert Sumsion had throughout his long life on Donald, meetings and provides additional interest for those who were not able to attend for whatever both as a mentor and a friend. reason. The newsletter also serves to provide a permanent record of our season’s activities. A printed copy of the newsletter will be sent out to all branch members and paper copies will also be available for non-members at each of our branch meetings in the coming season. In addition, a digital (pdf file) copy of the newsletter will be made available for downloading and viewing on the North West Branch webpage of the Elgar Society’s website at elgar.org I would also like to thank our programme secretary, Geoff Scargill, for planning the season’s Donald Hunt programme of monthly meetings, contacting and engaging speakers, arranging the venues, etc. tells us about Without all his invaluable planning and input, none of the season’s meetings would have been possible. Thanks also to other members of the branch committee who have given their support. his relationship with The newsletter also provides a written record of our activities for the archives - so important in this digital age when so much of our communication is done by email and other digital means. Elgar’s music On that score, I would also like to mention that all of our branch meetings this season have been recorded (in digital sound only) by modern recording techniques - directly onto computer disc. Because of copyright issues (particulary with commercially recorded music included) it is not possible to make copies of the recordings for distribution. However, a single copy will be kept for archive purposes and for our internal use only. The progranme for our forthcoming North West Branch season (October 2018 to May 2019) Asked what first made Elgar his hero, Donald said that in 1946 he was ‘blown away by the will begin on Saturday, 6th October 2018. Full details will be circulated to all members by post orchestral colouring’ when he heard for the first time the Prelude to The Kingdom at a Three along with this newsletter. Copies will also be available for non-members at branch meetings Choirs Festival. Another special Elgar memory was another occasion when he went to sit in the and are downloadable from our North West Branch webpage (see page 16 for further details.) transept of Gloucester Cathedral to hear a performance of a work that was rarely played in those days, the Cello Concerto. There was only one other person in the transept, “a pretty girl”. He I send out regular communications by group email to all those who have supplied me (or the went to sit next to her (!). She became Mrs Hunt. parent Society) with an email address. If you are not receiving my group email at intervals, it Donald spoke passionately about his seventeen years as organist and choirmaster at Leeds means that I do not have a current email address from you. The solution is in your hands! Parish Church. It was at the Leeds Festival that he showed his flair for organisation, which stood David L Jones (editor) him in good stead in the eight Three Choirs Festivals where he acted as director and conductor. 1 2 Elgar and Me (continued) : Elgar: His Contemporaries and The Music of The Great War : Donald Hunt & Tom Hunt, Saturday, 7 October 2017 Amanda Crawley & Josephine Peach, Liverpool, 4th November 2017 Our November meeting was held at the Quaker Meeting House in Liverpool – an excellent His move to become Master of Choristers and Organist in Elgar’s Worcester Cathedral was venue! Our performing guest artistes were Amanda Crawley (soprano) and Josephine Peach for him a dream come true and the culmination of his career. When he took up his post (piano) who are professional musicians based in York and they provided an excellent and varied there, to his surprise he discovered that very little of Elgar’s music was being performed programme of music which was interspersed with comments that were both informative and, in his native city. He remedied that by giving over 40 performances in the next few years. at times, quite amusing. The music which they presented was written, as their title suggests, He also told some great stories. When Elgar went to his club in London, members would by Elgar and his contemporaries and some of it was written during the period of the Great War hide behind their newspapers to avoid him because he had a tendency to go on about the but, in fact, the dates of the original compositions ranged from 1872 to 1932. Many of the items state of his digestion. When he conducted Gerontius in Cape Town, Archbishop Tutu which they performed were written by British composers and included works by Butterworth, couldn’t stop jumping up and down during the Demon’s Chorus. After a performance Elgar, Goossens, Hough, MacDowell, Moeran, Quilter, Scott, Stanford and Vaughan Williams. of Verdi’s Requiem in Leeds, conducted by an energetic young Italian, he heard one To provide contrast, they also included works by Casella, Debussy, Fauré, Schullhof, Vierne, lady in the choir say to another: “He could put his boots under my bed any night.” and Villa-Lobos. The items in both halves of the programme were arranged in groups which One unusual theme that Donald returned to was the resistance in his early career by were introduced by the artistes – some contained songs with piano accompaniment and others the Church of England to Latin. As a chorister, he was taught Elgar’s Ave verum in consisted of solo piano pieces. The works performed were very diverse in character and a ‘ghastly English translation’, Jesu, Word of God. As late as 1975 though, he was sentiment which made an interesting programme and held our interest throughout. warned by someone in Yorkshire that he should not be concentrating so much on Elgar’s music. Elgar, he was told, was vulgar and furthermore he was a Roman Catholic. Happy Birthday - and four cakes! Amanda (sop) and Josephine (pno) Geoff Hill (page turner) The works by Elgar which were included were: Like to the Damask Rose (1907), The Shepherd’s Song (1892), Queen Mary’s Song (1892), Introduction (Vesper Voluntaries, 1890), Adieu (1932), Dream Children – No. 2 (1902), Arabian Serenade (1914), Submarines (1918), Sea Slumber- Song (Sea Pictures, 1899) and In Haven (Sea Pictures, 1899). Our new branch treasurer, Geoff Hill (also an accomplished musician) provided his services as an expert page-turner for the Donald Hunt accompanies his son, Tom Hunt (baritone), in one of Elgar’s songs pianist. Michael Derbyshire proposed an excellent vote of thanks ….. Now, if I may be allowed a small personal indulgence here: I was greatly surprised when, just before the interval break, In addition to playing extracts from his own orchestral, organ and choir performances and illustrating his points on the piano, Donald accompanied his son, Tom, in several songs, our chairman, John Knowles, began to talk most mysteriously about the events of the Great War beautifully performed. in 1917 and then continued with a comment about an ‘important event’ (as he put it!) which th . took place just 20 years later, on 4 November 1937 and exactly 80 years to the date before this Asked finally which were the most satisfying of Elgar’s works that he conducted, Donald branch meeting. It was at this point that I suddenly realised that he was referring to my ‘special’ chose a performance of King Olaf in Stoke-on-Trent and (perhaps, because of his emotion) birthday and I was even more surprised when, after a short piano roll, our pianist and soprano the First Symphony with the BBC Philharmonic at his final Three Choirs Festival in 1996. soloist and the entire audience broke into a rendering of Happy Birthday to You! Cake was then That recording ended a memorable afternoon. Geoff Scargill added to the usual interval tea/coffee and biscuits (without charge) Yummy! David L Jones 3 4 Elgar as remembered in Radio Interviews by those who knew him : Elgar as remembered in Radio Interviews by those who knew him : Chris Wiltshire, Saturday, 2nd December 2017 Chris Wiltshire, Saturday, 2nd December 2017 (continued) Chris, who is a member of the East Anglia branch of the Elgar Society, informed us from the Chris played very brief extracts of what other people thought of Elgar.