British Composer Profiles: a biographical dictionary of
past British composers 1800-2010
By Gerald Leach, revised and edited by Ian Graham-Jones
3rd Edition, 2012
The British Music Society
ISBN: 9781870536998
£15.00 Soft cover
A major task of the past thirty years has been the rediscovery of many lost
or forgotten British composers and their compositions. Readers of these pages
do not need to be reminded of the sterling work by Lyrita, Chandos, Hyperion
and Dutton Epoch in rehabilitating much music that fell by the wayside. MusicWeb
International itself has been instrumental in presenting considerable amounts
of information about this genre. A number of well-known soloists and orchestras
have taken up a deal of British music. One of the vanguards of this task has
been the British Music Society (BMS) which has published this present book.
It is a solid and successful attempt at surveying a wide cross-section of
British composers. It examines the field in some considerable breadth and
depth. It ranges from the brightest to the most obscure stars.
This dictionary will be of great interest to a whole array of people. There
will be the British music enthusiast who will treasure this volume as a ‘book
of dreams’. The entries about Elgar, RVW and Arnold will be of little interest
to this group: they will have all the biographies, catalogues, music studies
and letters that are available about their chosen favourites. What will inspire
them are the biographies of the obscure/forgotten/neglected. Performers will
find this a useful source book – both in the preparation of their programme
notes and in background reading before taking up a ‘new’ work. CD reviewers
will find it a handy reference tool when required to give a ‘thumbnail’ sketch
of an ‘unknown’ composer. I’d like to see radio producers study these pages
when devising their programmes. It is essential copy for all music colleges
and universities.
There are a number of dictionaries of music available in the bookshops or
on-line. I swear by my largely out-of-date Everyman’s Dictionary
of Music by Eric Blom (1947, rev 1975). Many will use Wikipedia.
Luckier folk will have access to Grove – either in the library or
on-line. Some people may still refer to the James Brown’s Musical Biography:
A Dictionary of Musical Artists, Authors and Composers but this was compiled
in 1897. All these are general works. They cover the entire musical field
and reach into every corner of the world. There is currently no other volume
available focused solely on composers of British music during the period 1800-2010.
So there is a market for a new, up-to-date dictionary of British composers.
The BMS originally published the first edition of this book in 1980. There
was a second edition in 1989 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the society.
Twenty-three years later it has been extensively re-edited and re-formatted
for a new generation.
The book opens with a brief preface which outlines the history of the publication
and the methodology of its presentation. Only ‘dead British composers’ are
included. Living ones can fend for themselves – on the web or using other
media. The editors explain 1800 may seem arbitrary, but reflects the fact
that ‘those composers who brought about the English (British?) Musical Renaissance
from the last decade [my italics] of the nineteenth century onwards
owed much to the previous generation that taught them, a generation who would
have been born in the early years of that century’. This opens up the whole
argument of the ‘Renaissance’ – did it begin with Parry’s Prometheus Unbound
or was it Elgar’s Enigma Variations? Are Stanford’s first three symphonies
not a part of this ‘reawakening’? What about Sir Alexander Mackenzie’s opera
Columba? Where does Sterndale Bennett fit into this scheme? The point
is taken. There follows a warm-hearted ‘Introduction’ by the doyen of British
music, Lewis Foreman.
The actual entries need little comment; however three things need to be borne
in mind. Firstly the length of the entry does not necessarily reflect the
composer’s perceived ‘worth’. The entry for Elgar is of similar length to
Panufnik. There are no ‘value judgements’ made about their music. Secondly
it is good to see a number of ‘light music’ composers included – such as Stanley
Black, Frank Chacksfield and Eric Coates. They made a considerable contribution
to the musical heritage of British music even if their input is often not
regarded as ‘serious’ or ‘worthy’ by more exacting listeners. Composers from
the world of operetta such as Herman Finck and Lionel Monckton are each given
a paragraph. However, most of the so-called ‘light’ music composers have been
omitted; there are, for example, no entries for Sidney Torch, Trevor Duncan
or Archibald Joyce. Perhaps it was felt that this would increase the size
of the book to unwieldy proportions? Maybe it is because Philip Scowcroft
has already filled this particular niche with his recently re-published book
British Light Music and the ‘Garlands’ on MusicWeb International.
Thirdly, it is good to see that the number of women composers has been considerably
increased since the previous editions. Included for the first time, amongst
others, are Ivy Klein, Bluebell Klean whose piano concerto is surely a major
desideratum and Marion Scott whose songs and chamber works have considerable
potential. It is a pity that space could not have been found for Muriel Herbert,
who is one of the most accomplished song-writers from the first half of the
twentieth century.
On that note it would be easy to complain that this or that ‘protégé’ was
not included. Where is Clifton Parker, Cyril Cork, Gavin Gordon (strange omission),
David Morgan, Frank Tapp or Ralph Greaves? Lines have to be drawn somewhere,
else the book would become unwieldy. There will always be a need for particular
enthusiasms to find their outlet on the web or in the pages of various journals.
The bottom line is that the selection made by Gerald Leach and Ian Graham-Jones
is both wide ranging and of considerable depth. The actual number count is
720 composers. I do wonder if the two editors did all the historical research
themselves - apart from one or two specific acknowledgements - or whether
much of the information was gathered from other sources ‘online’ and ‘in-print’.
Whatever the case, the entries are succinct and highly readable.
The appendices offer important and helpful information. There is a ‘Chronology
of Composers’ listed in the Profiles. Year by year this historical data stacks
up – from John Blockley who was born in 1800 to Stephen Oliver who saw light
of day in 1950. This is useful for ‘centenaries’. For example, everyone knows
that Ben Britten has a centenary this year. Is everyone aware of those for
Cedric Thorpe Davie, Stanley Black and George Lloyd? Bi-centenaries include
George Aspull, James W. Davison, Samuel S. Greatheed, Edward J. Loder, George
A. Macfarren, Philippe Prosper Sainton and Henry Smart. I wonder how many
of these gentlemen will be celebrated on Classic FM, Radio 3 or by record
releases and concert performances this year? Finally, I am reminded by these
listings that William Lloyd Webber’s 100th anniversary is next
year.
Also helpful is the listing of ‘British Societies and London Venues’ which
are mentioned in the text. Examples include the venerable Three Choirs
Festival which commenced in 1719, the Bach Choir in 1876 and Worker’s
Musical Association which began in 1936. A chronology of founding dates and
founders of British and Foreign Conservatories of Music is useful.
The appendices include a list of ‘some’ foreign teachers mentioned in the
text of the book and a brief overview of some British Universities and their
Degrees. One of the most useful things in the book is the index of articles
about many of these composers that have featured in editions of the BMS Journals
and Newsletters. The former publications are typically still available for
purchase or may be found in some libraries. Articles from the latter can be
photocopied for the price of donation.
British Composer Profiles is well presented. With no slur intended
on previous editions of this book, the present version looks and feels professional.
It is printed on quality paper and has sturdy card covers. How long the binding
will last under constant reference is anyone’s guess, but it seems robust
enough. It is good to have a number of photographs of composers included in
the text. This is a new feature in this third edition. The above mentioned
appendices are important and increase the reference utility of this publication.
This book is excellent value at £15.00 and the fact that I am a member of
the BMS has not influenced this opinion. Everyone who is interested in British
music will demand to have a copy in their personal libraries. In spite of
the ‘dumbed-down’ nature of many public libraries (Ideas Stores?) I would
expect to see copies in most ‘reference sections’. I do wonder if an eBook
version of this volume would have been a useful complement to the ‘hard copy’:
however it may be something for the future.
Finally, although this book will be of considerable use to a wide variety
of readers, I reiterate that it is as a ‘Book of Dreams’ that many people
will turn these pages. I have never heard of the composer Reginald Redman
(1892-1972) – however according to the pages of the British Composer Profiles
he wrote a piano concerto, a cello concerto, three operas, two ballets, other
orchestral works, incidental music … chamber music songs, part-songs and piano
pieces. I wonder what they sound like. Perhaps one day someone will be inspired
to find out?
John France
Succinct and highly readable entries for 720 British composers in an attractive
and professionally presented volume.
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