William Alwyn: A Research and Information Guide
John C. Dressler
Routledge Musical Bibliographies
Routledge
hardback
336 pages
IBSN 978-0-415-88605-5
£95.00
I first came across William Alwyn’s music in 1972: it was hearing the
Symphonic Prelude: Magic Island on Radio 3’s Record Review. As
soon as the programme ended I rushed into Cuthbertson’s music shop in
Glasgow and bought the record with some hard-saved pocket money. I fell in
love with that work and the coupled Symphony No.3. Apart from the sleeve notes,
I could find no details about the composer. Even a visit to Glasgow’s
Mitchell Library elicited little information beyond what was in the then-current
Grove. It was the start of my appreciation of Alywn’s music, and I have
assiduously purchased releases of his music as they have appeared on Lyrita,
Chandos and Naxos over the intervening forty years.
John Dressler’s William Alwyn: A Research and Information Guide
is the book I would have dreamt about had I known such things existed. Primarily,
this book will appeal to enthusiasts of Alwyn’s music: people who love
his music and want to get to grips with its ‘sitz in leben’ and
to discover possible avenues for further exploration. A student embarking
on a music courses or a putative D.Mus will find this book essential. Programme-note
writers and CD and concert reviewers who specialise in British music will
require this book close at hand. Performers will be interested to get background
information when they come to prepare for recitals - assuming they want to
play Alwyn’s music. It is a book that will find its way onto the shelves
of most music college libraries and large references libraries around the
world.
For many years the only information about William Alwyn (apart from Grove)
was to be gleaned from Craggs & Poulton’s William Alwyn: A Catalogue
of his music (1985). As Dressler suggests in the present volume, it was
a first attempt at sorting out the composer’s works. It was prepared
with his blessing. I was lucky enough to find a copy of this book in a second-hand
bookshop; I believe that it is relatively rare. Even the Royal College of
Music or the Royal Academy of Music does not list this book in their library
catalogues.
Prior to this Francis Routh - a former pupil of Alwyn - published an important
book Contemporary British Music in 1972. Included was an entire chapter
devoted to Alwyn. This is available for on-line perusal at MusicWeb
International along with much
else about Alwyn.
For many years the major diary article written by Alwyn for the ADAM International
Review (1967) eluded me. This study elaborated the day-to-day composition
of the Third Symphony. For biographical details the enquirer was limited to
a slim volume entitled Winged Chariot. This book was selective in its
coverage and discussion of many important works was omitted. It was published
in 1983 and was effectively an ‘essay in autobiography’.
In 2005 Boydell Press published the significant study, William
Alwyn: The Art of Film Music by Ian Johnson. This explored in depth
the composer’s major contribution to the world of the moving picture.
Relatively little information was given about Alywn’s ‘art music’.
Three years later, the ‘official biography’,The Innumerable
Dance: The Life and Work of William Alwyn by Adrian Wright was published
by Boydell Press. This remains the only volume to deal objectively with the
composer’s life and music. The last major contribution to the Alwyn
bibliography was Composing
in Words: William Alwyn on his Art (Musicians on Music, Volume 9)
published by Toccata Press in 2010 and edited by Andrew Palmer. This is comprehensive
collection of texts written the composer, including the elusive ADAM diary
and the complete text of Winged Chariot with extracts from an essay
on Alywn’s boyhood, Early Closing. Additionally, there are a
number of pieces of journalism and essays. This is essential reading for all
who wish to understand the composer’s milieu as it includes the majority
of Alwyn’s writings about music.
The present Research and Information guide is set out in four major
sections preceded by a short preface which outlines the purpose and scope
of the volume alongside an extensive list of acknowledgements.
The first part is largely biographical. This begins with a brief sketch of
the composer’s life and achievement by Andrew Knowles who is currently
archivist and administrator of the William Alwyn Foundation. This is followed
by a short ‘Discovering Alwyn’ by the current book’s author
which presents similar biographical material. The ‘Chronology’
is useful for situating the composer’s life and works. The references
to his compositions are selective: I would have liked to have seen a full
chronological listing of all his works - whether by genre or simply in order.
For example, exactly half a century ago, Alwyn was inaugurated as a member
of the Isle of Wight Sailing Club at Cowes; he attended a memorial service
for the poet Louis MacNeice and produced his last film score, The Running
Man. There is no mention of his Twelve Diversions for Five Fingers.
Nearly half of the book is devoted to a ‘Catalogue of Works’.
This is conveniently divided up into genre. Major elements of this catalogue
include the Documentary and Feature Film Scores and the usual ‘art’
music divisions such as Orchestral Works, Instrumental Chamber Music and Works
for Brass and Military Bands. Within these divisions, each work is presented
in alphabetical order.
For example, on Page 141, the Symphony No. 1 is catalogued. The format includes
the work’s instrumentation, the titles of each movement, its duration
and dedicatee. A list of first and early performances is quoted. The work’s
publisher is given. In the case of the First Symphony there is a detailed
description of the manuscript, including its location at the Alwyn Archive.
The last part of the entry includes cross-references to various biographical
or critical notes as well as recordings.
The third major division of this Research Guide is the main ‘Bibliography’.
This is divided into eight specific sections. The first considers the primary
sources of material written by Alwyn. This includes details of articles, essays,
letters to publications and even an unpublished novel. Additionally, there
is a selective listing of letters from William Alwyn to and from a number
of correspondents including Arthur Bliss, Ruth Gipps, Benjamin Britten and
Muir Mathieson. Many of these are available for study in the Alwyn Archive
at Cambridge University.
A list of ‘obituaries’ is presented ranging from the Chicago Tribune
to the Northampton Chronicle and Echo.
I was delighted to find an account of material located at the BBC Written
Archives, Caversham. This includes a variety of scripts, films and radio broadcast
featuring the composer. It is a pity that some of these could not be made
available on ‘podcasts’.
I was surprised that comparatively few ‘thesis and dissertations’
have been written about the composer and his music. At 2011 these numbered
only five. The most useful being Ian Carmalt’s William Alwyn (1905-1985)
a Romantic Composer of his Time. Fortunately this is available on-line
and also at MusicWeb
International.
One of the desiderata of Alywn scholars must be to have ‘soft’
copies of the William Alywn Newsletter. This ran for only eight issues
between January 1996 and December 2000. John Dressler has provided a convenient
listing of the major articles featured in these publications. Fortunately
some of them are available for perusal at MusicWeb International. There is
a listing detailing entries in various dictionaries, encyclopaedias and overviews
of musical history and achievement. This is followed by general studies dealing
with Alwyn’s life and works. These include articles and books specifically
about the composer, and also references which contain useful information.
Omitted from these are CD and record liner notes, unfinished dissertation
projects, brief press notices and non-western European language materials.
The last major section of the bibliography explores references to individual
works. Dressler has included virtually all William Alwyn’s major compositions,
both film and art music, as well as a good selection of less important pieces.
For example there are 32 references to the opera Miss Julie. The short
Midsummer Night (c.1930s) has been given a single citation. As an example,
I looked at the Symphonic Prelude: The Magic Island. Unfortunately
no-one has written a major study of this work however there are three reviews
from the work’s premiere at the 1953 Cheltenham Festival cited. Other
references are to reviews of CDs and records: in this case the 1972 Lyrita
discs and the later Chandos and Naxos issues. There is a review cited of the
miniature score - although this fact is not noted in the text. I would have
appreciated these listings in chronological order.
The last major division of this book is the extensive ‘discography’.
For most listeners - and enthusiasts - the catalogues currently available
at Arkiv, Crotchet or Amazon are sufficient for their explorations. Yet much
more is available. For The Magic Island, I was amazed to discover eight
entries. I know of only four releases - the Lyrita (vinyl & CD), the Naxos
and the Chandos. In addition to these, there is a BBC Sound Archive recording
from February 1966 and a Musical Heritage LP - issued under licence from Lyrita.
Interestingly Lyrita have presented The Magic Island in Box 1 of the
company’s popular 50th anniversary set. Finally, the work has been included
in a sampler of ‘mystic classics’ from Naxos.
The Discography is given by record label, which I am not sure is helpful -
I guess that I would have preferred a chronological order or work order.
The last part of this Research Guide is ‘Related Materials’. This
includes an interesting ‘selected’ list of ‘Former First-Study
Pupils of William Alwyn’ at the Royal Academy of Music. Names include
Iain Hamilton (sadly neglected), Minna Keal, John Lanchbery, Steve Race and
Francis Routh. Alwyn also attracted a number of musical dedications with works
by Arnold Cooke, John Manduell, Thomas Pitfield and Trevor Hold. Finally there
are two detailed indices - one an ‘alphabetical index of works’
and the second an index of names.
Unfortunately, there is no information given in the book about the author,
John C. Dressler. He is well-known to British music enthusiasts for his two
important exercises in bibliography. In 1997 Greenwood Press issued Gerald
Finzi - A Bio-Bibliography. Some seven years later, there followed
a similar book for Alan
Rawsthorne. The present volume, although different in format and presentation,
is of similarly high standard. John Dressler is Professor of Horn and Musicology
at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. As well as practical music
lessons he has lectured in a number of 19th and 20th
century musicological studies. He gained his Masters and Doctoral degree from
Indiana University. In addition to his academic work he plays horn with a
number of ‘local’ orchestras and is also the organist at Fountain
Avenue Methodist Church in Paducah, Kentucky.
This bookis well-presented. It is printed on environmentally friendly
paper: the text is clear and the layout is definitely easy to use. I have
not been able to review the Kindle version: I note that it is priced at £62:23
on Amazon. I am not convinced that a reference book like this is quite as
effective when presented digitally. I like to be able to browse across sections,
flick between indices and text and gain inspiration from serendipity. I understand
that Kindle will allow a full search, but the results are not always clear
to peruse.
At £95.00 the hardback version of William Alwyn: A Research and Information
Guide is high-priced. Amazon is offering it for £88.90 and other
sellers for around the £80 mark. It is a fact of academic life that
books of this calibre are expensive, even by today’s standard. Information
does not come cheap in any walk of life.
This book is required reading for all enthusiasts of William Alwyn - whether
they are lay or academic. There is so much information packed into these 336
pages that will be of strong interest and resilient value to researchers for
many years to come.
John France
Required reading for all enthusiasts of William Alwyn.
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