Manchester Sounds. The Journal of the Manchester Musical
Heritage Trust. Edited by David Fallows and David Ellis. Vol. 7 (2007-8).
Quite simply, this is one of the best music journals on the market. I was
about to say classical music journal, but that would be a misrepresentation
– both of this present volume and of previous issues. Perhaps it would be
better to define this as a ‘serious’ music’ magazine. Manchester Sounds
is produced by the Manchester Musical Heritage Trust, which is an organization
dedicated to promoting and protecting the city and surrounding area’s musical
heritage.
It is aimed at a wide range of musical interest – for example, I doubt if
the bandleader Richard Valery and John Foulds would immediately appeal to
the same person on the same day. Yet this would be a mistake. It is the direction
of musicology these days to deny a priority to one kind of music. It is no
longer correct to suggest that a Schenkerian analysis of William Walton’s
String Quartet in A minor is inherently more worthy than a debate about Lancashire
folk music in Oswaldwistle. That said, the kind of article written in Manchester
Sounds tends to be towards the ‘classical’ and is often, but not necessarily
written with the academic apparatus of footnotes and bibliography.
Glancing through the contents page of this present issue the reader will find
a long lost essay on John Ireland by Peter Crossley-Holland, an introductory
article on the little-known composer Phillip Lord, a ‘conversation piece’
with Arthur Butterworth and an exploration of the ‘Manchester Years’ of John
Foulds. There are also regular features including Michael Kennedy, Philip
Grange and John Turner reviewing a selection of new CDs featuring music from
Manchester composers (amongst others), and Geoffrey Kimpton’s comprehensive
list of first performances in the locality in 2005.
The balance of material in this edition is superb. For example, in the massive
essay on John Ireland, Peter Crossley-Holland approaches his subject from
a number of perspectives - most especially the ‘mystical’ element in Ireland’s
life. He apologises for the ‘technical’ analysis between pages 43 and 57 but
hopes that the ‘layman’ will give it their best shot. But even if this style
of writing is not to the reader’s taste they will find much of interest in
this unpublished manuscript from over sixty years ago. It is a period piece,
yet none the less enjoyable for that. The author knew that the first critic
of the work would be the composer himself. It is a major plank in the edifice
of Ireland scholarship and sits well beside the volumes by John Longmire,
Fiona Richards and Muriel Searle.
John Foulds is a composer who has had a considerable lift in recent years.
A fair number of his works have been issued on CD. However it is ironic that
it takes the City of Birmingham Orchestra and their then conductor Sakari
Oramo to make this impact. Why has the Hallé been so reticent in exploring
the music of one of Manchester’s great sons? The article by Stuart Scott looks
at Foulds’ early works written whilst he was living in his home city. Few
of the compositions from this period have made it onto CD, however it is from
this period that the ubiquitous Keltic Lament was written as the middle
movement of the Keltic Suite. Let us hope that time will resurrect
some, if not all these Manchester works.
The step aside from classical music is the thirty-page essay on Manchester-born
Richard Valery (real name, Richard Duckworth) by Martin Thacker. This is based
on an old press cuttings scrapbook and explores the life, the times and the
performances of a once popular dance-band leader. The article chronicles his
time in New York, on board the cruise liner Calgaric, the BBC and, more parochially
in the Marine Ballroom on Morecambe Pier. It is an interesting exploration
of the early days of ‘swing’ music in the North of England.
Phillip Lord is a composer who died young. Very little of his music has been
released on CD. He was born at Waterfoot in the Rossendale Valley and subsequently
studied at Manchester University and The Royal Manchester College of Music.
In 1952 he gained a scholarship at Cambridge. This was followed by National
Service and then a position in a London publishing house. After a spell at
Aberdeen University he returned to the other side of the Pennines to the Music
Department of Sheffield University. He died in 1969. Three of Lord’s works
are available on CD: the Celtic Dances, the Three Court Dances
and the Nautical Overture. The present essay is an excellent introduction
and it is to be hoped that it will generate interest in this composer’s life
and works.
Christopher Thomas presents a fascinating ‘conversation’ with the senior composer
Arthur Butterworth. As the introduction to the journal points out, of all
the composers featured in this edition he is the only one still alive! It
is not so much an interview as the composer’s response to some succinct and
exploratory questions. Another great introduction to a composer: in this case
one who is well represented in the CD market.
Two other articles explore ‘The Birth of the Hallé’ by Robert Beale and Michael
Talbot’s ‘Discovering Vivaldi’s Manchester Sonatas’. I must confess I once
imagined that the Italian had made his way North in the 1730s and spent a
few fruitful days writing sonatas in a hotel off Albert Square. However my
dream was shattered when I discovered that they were works that were found
in the Central Music Library: Michael Talbot discovered the sonatas languishing
in a pile of unsorted manuscripts in the library basement. Robert Beale’s
article about the Hallé explores the earliest days of Manchester’s famous
orchestra. He makes use of contemporary articles and reviews, mainly from
the Manchester Guardian newspaper. Of great interest are the lists of works
performed at these early concerts.
This magazine fulfils a vital role for music-making in Manchester in particular
and musicology in general. It is all too easy to suppose that ‘stuff’ only
happens in London, and that the provinces are actually quite provincial. This
is untrue. Even the briefest of explorations into the history of music reveals
that Manchester is a major centre for both the composition and performance
of music. It is also a centre of musicological and historical excellence.
It is to all these facets that Manchester Sounds appeals.
The magazine feels impressive; it is printed on good paper with a nice clear
type. There are some 236 pages of text and a wide variety of illustration:
photographs and musical examples. The price is £10, but this a very fair price
to pay for a quality production. Additionally, in this issue there is the
bonus of an excellent CD of music of interest to readers. This includes John
Ireland’s Piano Concerto with Eileen Joyce and the Hallé Orchestra conducted
by Leslie Heward, Colin Henry’s rare hornpipe Ship Ahoy and Irving
Berlin’s Blue Skies played by Richard Valery.
Manchester Sounds is a ‘must’ for everyone interested in music – no matter
what part of the country – or even the world – they come from. So often in
‘academic’ journals there is only one article that appeals or interests the
reader: many are virtually unintelligible to all but Doctors of Musicology.
I can safely say that virtually every page of this Journal is important, fascinating
and even essential to all students of music, however advanced they may be.
And lastly, it is worth seeking out previous volumes of this journal. Each
issue is just as good as this one!
John France
Manchester Sounds is published by the Manchester Musical
Heritage Trust and copies are available from Forsyth Brothers Ltd. 126, Deansgate,
Manchester M3 2RG. Price £10-00