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'A Pleasant Change From Politics': 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