A little Boult reminiscence (in case of interest)
Alan Watkins
Orchestra upon reaching the "official" retiring age (something which
infuriated Lord Reith who wrote several letters of protest) he, as
most of you will know, went off to Decca for a while and other labels
(I like the Beethoven symphonies he did with Vanguard and he was kind
enough to autograph mine :):)
He also made a (to me) fabulous recording of the complete organ
concerti of Handel played by E.Power Biggs in a church in England
(where Handel had played) so remote there was no electricity and a
generator van had to be brought in with cables stretching about a
mile.
Eventually Decca and others lost interest and for quite some time he
did no recordings at all. In his own words: "It's quite
simple....they had all decided I was dead."
His "renaissance" came as many of you will also know in the form of
philanthropist music lover Richard Itter who founded Lyrita Records
and asked Sir Adrian to record Elgar Symphonies 1 and 2. These were
highly successful and achieved high sales figures after universally
excellent reviews (quality pressings for their time as well as I
recall).
These sales figures did not go unnoticed at EMI who immediately
approached him and asked him to sign an "exclusive contract". They
were extremely anxious to exclude Mr Itter (who had resources but not
endless resources on the scale of EMI). In their first approach they
made it absolutely clear that the "exclusive contract" meant what it
said and they even referred to the contract that had previously
existed from the 1930's onwards with Boult and the BBC Symphony for
what was then called HMV.
Boult flatly refused and once told me that he had said at a meeting:
"For goodness sake, you have treated me for more than 10 years as if I
was dead. Is it because you have suddenly discovered I am alive,
through the generosity of someone else, that you wish to make it
exclusive?"
After several months of "negotiation" (with Sir Adrian refusing to
budge) EMI gave in and his "exclusive" contract included a clause
allowing him to record ANYTHING that Richard Itter wanted him to
record. And so it remained to the end of his career.
Sir John (later Lord) Reith founded the BBC Symphony in 1930 and
appointed a young Mr Boult as the first principal conductor. When
Reith died in June 1971 the BBC immediately came on to Boult to ask
him to conduct a memorial concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
He had to decline. I have no idea whether he told the BBC why he had
to decline but I can tell you why he turned it down.
As most people will know, Sir Adrian was a sort of English "icon" (and
this grew in his later years). Long before that, amateur orchestral
and choral societies all over England approached him to be their
(unpaid) President to which he always agreed. His secretary estimated
that he was probably "President" of several hundred musical societies
:):)
One of them, in Buckinghamshire, had been pressing him to conduct a
performance of Handel's Messiah for many years. For many years he had
been forced to turn them down because of other engagements but had
finally accepted this one (at half fee, by the way) and it clashed
with the Reith memorial concert.
"I can't let them down" he said. "I've let them down so often by
saying no that I cannot do it again. They've been asking me for 20
years" And so, on the day of Reith's memorial concert he was
conducting an amateur orchestra/chorus somewhere in Buckinghamshire
and my memory is that Barbirolli took his place.
Interestingly, in these days of "megastars", at no time did his
conducting fee (even in the 60's onwards) exceed £250 per concert
although he was on a modest royalty share for EMI (flat fee for
Lyrita). Of course, at that time in England it was still a
considerable amount of money per concert but to put the matter into
some sort of perspective when the USSR Symphony Orchestra came to
England in 1963 the fee for the orchestra was £4000 and the fee for
the conductor (Evgeny Svetlanov) was EXACTLY the same.
The two things he wanted to do (but didn't live to do) was to
re-record Schumann's symphonies and to do all seven Sibelius
symphonies. (He held the view, for what it's worth, that Schumann's
songs were better balanced between vocalist and piano than those of
Schubert).
When aged and frail, it must be said that EMI did have the decency to
install a stereo system in his room at the nursing home. The last
music he heard (on this earth) was his own recording of Vaughan
Williams Symphony No 1.
Somewhere in that wonderful slow movement (On the Beach at Night
Alone) he fell asleep and never awoke from it. None of us
(unfortunately) can choose the manner of our passing but that's as
good as any I can think of.
Kind regards,
Alan M. Watkins
pep38
"Alan Watkins" <alanwa...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:62c8649c.03061...@posting.google.com...
A very enjoyable contribution; thank you.
How did the recordings that Sir Adrian conducted for the U.S. company
Everest in the late 50's and very early 60's fit into the story of his
recording career? I enjoyed his Mahler First, Hindemith Symphony in E Flat,
and Shostakovich Sixth Symphony; his performances were the first I heard of
each of these works. I still like them.
Ed in Seattle
Bob Lombard
bl
Matthew B. Tepper (posts from uswest.net are forged)
--
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My personal home page -- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/index.html
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RMCR's most pointless, dumb and laughable chowderhead: Mark Coy.
Edward A. Cowan
> How did the recordings that Sir Adrian conducted for the U.S. company
> Everest in the late 50's and very early 60's fit into the story of his
> recording career? I enjoyed his Mahler First, Hindemith Symphony in E Flat,
> and Shostakovich Sixth Symphony; his performances were the first I heard of
> each of these works. I still like them.
The DSCH 6th symphony has been issued on CD. (I have it.) I'm not sure
about the other two titles you mention...
--E.A.C.
Tony Movshon
The Mahler 1 was issued by Vanguard/Omega. It's very good, and therefore
probably oop. I don't recall ever seeing the Hindemith, but I could
easily have overlooked it.
Tony Movshon
mov...@nyu.edu
david gideon
wrote:
> I don't recall ever seeing the Hindemith, but I could
> easily have overlooked it.
Yes the Hindemith was issued as part of the Everest reissue series by
Vanguard. As I recall, they did something screwy and got the movements
in the wrong order.
I'd be curious to know if there's any more information on how Maestro
Boult got mixed up with D. L. Miller and Somerset records. He recorded
a Brahms 1, a Beethoven 3, two Tchaikovsky symphonies and a combo of
Romeo + Hamlet for this very low-budget label, and I've always wondered
why. (I liked that Tchaik 6 very much; my only memory of the Tchaik 5
was a review calling it the worst on record.)
dg
--
CD issues of long-unavailable classic performances from Scherchen, Stokowski,
Paray, Steinberg, and more, exclusively at: http://www.rediscovery.us
Richard Adams
Alan.....thank you so much for contributing this wonderful "portrait"
of the great Sir Adrian Boult. We hear so little about him these days
(Barbirolli and Beecham seem to be getting all the attention) but
he was unquestionably one of the conducting giants of the 20th
Century. I will soon be posting a very extensive interview with the
equally great Vernon Handley on my Bax web site (to coincide with
Tod's forthcoming Bax symphony releases on Chandos) and in that
interview he talks at length and with great affection and perception
about his mentor. I only wish it was possible for all of you to
"hear" that interview because Handley's vocal impressions of Sir
Adrian (not to mention Bliss, Simpson, Howells, RVW, etc) had me in
fits of laughter. Nevertheless, I think you'll find reading his
comments on Boult and all those men to be very revealing. I hope to
post that interview (in two parts) sometime this fall.
yours,
Richard R. Adams
http://www.musicweb.uk.net/bax/Welcome.htm
Sir Arnold Bax Web Site
On 17 Jun 2003 13:24:42 -0700, alanwa...@aol.com (Alan Watkins)
wrote:
Don Petter
wrote:
The Hindemith is/was on Everest CD EVC9009. (c/w Violin Concerto
Fuchs/Goossens)
Don.
Tony Movshon
later about Boult's health, he replied "He seemed fine. Reeking of Ovaltine as
usual".
Tony Movshon
mov...@nyu.edu
Akiralx
from the BBC SO at 65.
Bizarrely they chose Boult's wife's first husband to assess the decision, a
man who could hardly have been impartial.
I have very much enjoyed listening recently to Boult's first two recordings
of Elgar's Second Symphony on EMI GROC and PRT respectively, better IMHO
than Barbirolli's 1954 version.
--
Alex
-----
"Alan Watkins" <alanwa...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:62c8649c.03061...@posting.google.com...
Edward A. Cowan
> I only wish it was possible for all of you to
> "hear" that interview because Handley's vocal impressions of Sir
> Adrian (not to mention Bliss, Simpson, Howells, RVW, etc) had me in
> fits of laughter.
FWIW, never having heard Sir Adrian's speaking voice, I have often
imagined it as a bit upper-crust Oxbridge in a low-pitched voice with a
slight quaver to it. I love recalling what he reportedly said to
contralto Kathleen Ferrier when the latter, then not any sort of British
urban sophisticate, kept addressing him as "Sir Boult":
"I'm not 'Sir Boult'. I'm Sir Adrian." (This from an excellent biography
of Ferrier in a Penguin/Pelican paperback.)
--E.A.C.
Tony Duggan
don.petter*remove*@suk.sas.com wrote on 6/18/03 12:44 PM:
> On Wed, 18 Jun 2003 01:15:34 -0400, Tony Movshon <mov...@nyu.edu>
> wrote:
>> The Mahler 1 was issued by Vanguard/Omega. It's very good, and therefore
>> probably oop.
I love Boult's comment that Mahler was "Great fun" to conduct.
Boult attended the Mengelberg Mahler cycle in Amsterdam in 1920 and reported
it for the Daily Telegraph.
Tony Duggan
Samir Golescu
On Wed, 18 Jun 2003, Tony Duggan wrote:
> Boult attended the Mengelberg Mahler cycle in Amsterdam in 1920 and reported
> it for the Daily Telegraph.
Do you have the article? Could you quote from it please?
regards,
SG
Alan Watkins
> Alan.....thank you so much for contributing this wonderful "portrait"
> of the great Sir Adrian Boult. We hear so little about him these days
> (Barbirolli and Beecham seem to be getting all the attention) but
> he was unquestionably one of the conducting giants of the 20th
> Century. I will soon be posting a very extensive interview with the
> equally great Vernon Handley on my Bax web site (to coincide with
> Tod's forthcoming Bax symphony releases on Chandos) and in that
> interview he talks at length and with great affection and perception
> about his mentor. I only wish it was possible for all of you to
> "hear" that interview because Handley's vocal impressions of Sir
> Adrian (not to mention Bliss, Simpson, Howells, RVW, etc) had me in
> fits of laughter. Nevertheless, I think you'll find reading his
> comments on Boult and all those men to be very revealing. I hope to
> post that interview (in two parts) sometime this fall.
>
> yours,
> Richard R. Adams
> http://www.musicweb.uk.net/bax/Welcome.htm
> Sir Arnold Bax Web Site
> >Alan M. Watkins
I can imagine! :):) He was a frequent visitor to Sir Adrian's little
office at 38 Wigmore Street and I know how much they mutually
respected each other. It's nice that Tod carries on the "Boult baton"
technique which was, of course, adapted from Nikisch....and so, for
the moment, the tradition continues. I hope Tod is teaching it to
other people! Bob Simpson, I imagine, got an honourable mention for
his down to earth "straight talking" in the world of the BBC where
this happens infrequently, his left wing politics and his acerbic
sense of humour. He was a very good friend. I only met Bliss once to
ask him about a part but I liked him a lot.
He was VERY forthright....not out and out rude but what in England
used to be described as calling a spade a spade! He once rang the
Director General to protest about the "inadequate" amount of English
music on air and, so I was told, began the conversation by saying: "I
hadn't previously realised that the Corporation had moved their
headquarters to Taliban's island. How is he.....alive and well I
imagine judging by what I hear coming out of the radio."
Both Boult and Bliss lived in Hampstead, a somewhat upmarket part of
the capital. Boult moved with his family to London when he was very
young (about four or five I think) and we walked one day down
Hampstead High Street (or rather he walked with his enormous stride
and I struggled to keep up) and he suddenly stopped and pointed at a
row of shops and said: "That used to be a lovely farm. Mother and I
used to walk up here and buy our milk at the farm".....and again you
have a distinct recollection of Victorian London.
We got a bit further on and he pointed out where the crossing sweeper
had stood.....a man employed to sweep away the horse manure so that
the "gentry" didn't get it all over their feet as they crossed the
road. "He was always pleased to see us," Boult said, "for my Mother
always gave him a silver threepenny piece." (quite a lot of money in
those days).
Sir Adrian inherited his mother's generosity, financially assisting
any number of musicians who fell upon hard times through illhealth or
other problems (as, indeed, did Barbirolli. Boult often waived or
substantially reduced his fees for students.
I once asked Sir Adrian who, among the "famous" conductors, he most
respected. He said: "Well, I think Bruno Walter is very special
indeed (they were great personal friends) but I always enjoy hearing
Stokowski. I don't always agree with his way of thinking but by
goodness he can bring music alive. And Mr Ansermet seems to me to be
very sound indeed."
Ansermet was one of the first guest conductors of the BBC Symphony
Orchestra when he did the UK premiere of Concert Champetre (Poulenc).
As you will have learned from Tod Handley, Sir Adrian was not all
"stiff and starch" and orchestral musicians loved him because he
respected them. There was a performance of a modern work (and I'm
afraid I can't remember what it was) when Boult was conducting and he
got the beating wrong. Because his beat was SO reliable normally, the
orchestra got it wrong as well and went haywire.
He stopped the performance and turned round to the audience and said:
"That was entirely my fault, ladies and gentlemen. It was not the
fault of the orchestra and we shall begin the piece again."
Gwen Beckett, his secretary for over 50 years and who left the BBC in
protest and stayed with him when he was "retired", once told me that
they were travelling on a crowded tube train when Sir Adrian was
around about 80 years old (and suffering with back problems which
plagued him all his life), He was the only man in the carriage to
stand up so that a woman a quarter of his age could have a seat.
Lovely man born into a different era. Completely straight, completely
honest. I suppose they would be called "old fashioned" values but to
those people who had the good fortune to know him well they were a
very important part of the man. I see a lot of Sir Adrian not only in
Mr Handley's conducting and interpretation but in his own personal
values and approach to music making. I very much look forward to
reading the interview.
Sir Adrian's favourite Bax symphony by the way was Number 6.
Alan Watkins
> Thank you very much for 'humanizing' the man for me.
>
> bl
Thank you for your comment. As years roll by, there will by the
nature of things be less and less people who knew someone as a
"person" rather than just as a name from the past and I think it
terribly important, in whatever humble way, that we write these things
down.
Alan Watkins
> Thank you for this.
It's a pleasure. I know we old chaps ramble on a bit but I'm glad
people found it interesting.
However to quote ANOTHER Beecham phrase (and again one you shouldn't
take too literally) I love his famous adjunct: "Well, I always say the
same thing to conducting students. I always tell them: "Never look
directly at the brass or percussion.....it only encourages them."
Of course this story was inevitably told directly to brass and
percussion who had heard it many, many times but duly fell about!! (Or
so my teacher said).
That's another rule by the way: "ALWAYS laugh at the conductor's
jokes."
Alan Hayward
concerts when I had the opportunity to go to them.
You mention the memorial concert for John Reith that Boult was unable to
conduct. I rather think it unlikely that Barbirolli conducted, however. John
Reith died in the summer of 1971; sadly, JB died the previous summer (July
1970).
Alan Hayward
news:62c8649c.03061...@posting.google.com...
> There was a performance of a modern work (and I'm
> afraid I can't remember what it was) when Boult was conducting and he
> got the beating wrong. Because his beat was SO reliable normally, the
> orchestra got it wrong as well and went haywire.
>
> He stopped the performance and turned round to the audience and said:
> "That was entirely my fault, ladies and gentlemen. It was not the
> fault of the orchestra and we shall begin the piece again."
First performance of Tippett's Second Symphony (with the BBCSO, Royal
Festival Hall, 5 February 1958).
Tony Duggan
Telegraph after attending the Mengelberg Mahler cycle in Amsterdam. Happy
to oblige with acknolwgement to Richard Landau who actually went into the
archive to find it.
The Daily Telegraph
Saturday 22nd May 1920
MAHLER FESTIVAL AT AMSTERDAM
by Adrian C Boult
It was a choice of unusual interest that was made by the Amsterdam
Committee for the celebration of the twenty-fifth jubilee of their
conductor, Willem Mengelberg, whom London concert-goers know well,
when it was decided to devote the festival to the complete orchestral
works of Gustav Mahler. Mahler and Mengelberg were great friends, and
Mengelberg is, in fact, Mahler`s literary and musical executor. He has
had much to do with the publication of Mahler's posthumous works and has
achieved a reputation throughout Europe of being the greatest living
conductor of Mahler's work: greater perhaps than was the composer
himself for it is said that when conducting his own work, he sometimes
was so carried away that he failed to keep that perfect balance between
the head and heart that is so essential to every executive artist.
The Festival Committee had sent invitations to many musicians of all
countries, and expressed to me their grief that so few visitors from
England had been able to accept their invitation. I saw, indeed, only
two that I know. Germany, Austria and Norway were represented by most of
their foremost musicians.
The performances and rehearsals that I heard of the Sixth, Seventh and
Ninth Symphonies, Das Lied von der Erde, and some songs again showed the
perfection as an instrument of the fine Concertgeboeuw orchestra, and
the genius of its famous conductor. Mengelberg himself has said that
British orchestral players are second to none in the world, but it is
true that, owing perhaps to this very fact, an ensemble is never heard
in England to approach that of the greatest foreign orchestras. The
wonderful finish and uniform bowing of the strings, the perfection of
ensemble, and the balance of wood wind, and the fine chording of the
brass can only be achieved when orchestras are able to rehearse works
until they know, almost by heart, not only their own parts, but
everyone else's as well, and it is not only rehearsals that achieve
this, but also a repetition of performances with rehearsals in between,
for no one can ever enter into a work so thoroughly as at a concert.
The splendid power and strength of the performance of the Seventh
Symphony last Saturday was probably accounted for by the fact that the
Amsterdam orchestra had given it on (no) less than fifteen times in the
last ten years, under the direction of either Mengelberg or Mahler.
It is perhaps interesting to consider for a moment why Mahler's work is
so much neglected in England, and to attempt to place it in the scheme
of music of its time. Certain qualities cannot be denied to it. One
feels that Mahler is master, whether he used the traditional forms or
not, and it is impossible to question the orchestration of a man who was
one of the greatest conductors of his age, although must confess to an
impression of overscoring in much of the purely orchestral work. His
emotion drives him to heap climax upon climax and one longs for a little
restraint somewhere, for he does not hesitate to use extra brass, and by
a well-nigh continuous unison doubling of his wood wind he gets an
almost overwhelming thickness of sound, and the pure colour of the
instruments is rarely given play. In contrast the serene beauty of
almost all Das Lied von der Erde and the five Kindertoten lieder and
certain quiet moments like the adagio which finishes the Ninth and last
Symphony are most moving, and it can only be the vast proportions of the
complete works which have prevented their performance in England.
A ninety-minute symphony is a tough nut for a Londoner.
English music lovers do not need to be reminded of the genius of
Mengelberg, but in his home he is perhaps heard to greatest advantage,
for here is seen the result of the long and patient work which is
devoted to every detail, while at the same time the architecture of a
work is never lost sight of. When I say that every wood instrument is
made by the same firm, that five minutes before every concert and
rehearsal the pricipal oboe walks round the orchestra making himself
responsible for the tuning of each instrument, that on one occasion I
left Mengelberg rehearsing his chorus at 11pm., and found him at work
on the orchestra very soon after nine the next morning, one can realise
how he works even when celebrating a jubilee. In honouring him one must
not forget to thank the committee who spared no pains to keep an
unwieldy collection of guests of all nationalities very happily employed
by means of every kind of entertainment, from private receptions to
tours round the harbour, when they were not listening to rehearsals or
performances; and also to mention that in the small hall of the
Concertgeboeuw a very interesting series of five modern chamber concerts
was organised by Alexander Schmuller, the eminent Dutch violinist, who
played Sir Edward Elgar`s violin concerto when he visited Amsterdam a
short while ago, and the performers included Alfredo Casella, Adolf
Busch, Frederic Lamond, and our own recent visitors, the Bohemian
Quartet.
Samir Golescu
Heartfelt thanks to both Richard Landau and Tony Duggan -- I knew
(quoted) excerpts from this old and evocative review, but I never got
a chance to read it in its entirety before.
regards,
SG
Richard Adams
wrote:
>Sir Adrian's favourite Bax symphony by the way was Number 6.
I was rather under the impression that Boult didn't care for any
of the Bax symphonies -- or much else by Bax other than Tintagel.
If he had a favorite Bax symphony, it should have been No. 6 as it's
dedicated to him. I am glad to know that he did like it. I only wish
a recording of one of his performances of it existed.
And while he may not have loved Bax as well as many of the other
British composers he championed, his interpretations of Bax including
the Decca Tintagel, BBC Radio Violin Concerto and Lyrita November
Woods are absolutely mesmerizing. He certainly knew how to make Bax's
music 'work'...something Vernon Handley know a little bit about as
well.
Richard R. Adams
Chuck Nessa
cn
Dirk A. Ronk
And oh, the dreams this letter conjures up! If only recording devices
had been around to capture that very special 7th...no, all of the
Mahler from that festival. Or ANY of the vast repertory beyond that
which Mengelberg would eventually leave for us.
Dirk
Ed
> imagined it as a bit upper-crust Oxbridge in a low-pitched voice with a
> slight quaver to it.
More like a kindly old grandfather at least in the exerpts I've heard.
There is a moving little excerpt of his voice before the Vaughan
Williams 9th symphony in the latest Decca Box set of the complete
symphonies. (Maybe this was in earlier incarnations too?)
There was also a side of a rehearsal sequence in the original EMI LP
set of RVW's Pilgrim's Progress. And if I remember correcly there was
an interesting talk spoken by him (but maybe co-written with Michael
Kennedy?) in the original EMI LP set of Elgar's The Apostles.
Ed
Simon Roberts
says...
That seems an odd mistake for an English woman to make. I heard the same story,
but with Evelyn Lear instead. Maybe it's a commoner mistake than I expected....
Simon
Richard Schultz
: More like a kindly old grandfather at least in the exerpts I've heard.
: There is a moving little excerpt of his voice before the Vaughan
: Williams 9th symphony in the latest Decca Box set of the complete
: symphonies. (Maybe this was in earlier incarnations too?)
The original LP release was prefaced with a short statement by Boult.
IIRC, Vaughan Williams had been scheduled to attend the recording sessions,
but died right before they started.
-----
Richard Schultz sch...@mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Opinions expressed are mine alone, and not those of Bar-Ilan University
-----
"We cannot see how any of his music can long survive him."
-- From the New York Daily Tribune obituary of Gustav Mahler
Tony Duggan
wrote on 6/19/03 2:46 PM:
It was Evelyn Lear. I remember she told the stort herself in one of those
old Alan Blyth interviews in Gramophone. Ferrier would never have made that
mistake having worked with Sir John and Sir Malcolm as well as Sir Adrian.
Tony Duggan
Alan Watkins
Yes! Thank you for that. I just couldn't think of it last night!
Alan Watkins
>
> I was rather under the impression that Boult didn't care for any
> of the Bax symphonies -- or much else by Bax other than Tintagel.
> If he had a favorite Bax symphony, it should have been No. 6 as it's
> dedicated to him. I am glad to know that he did like it. I only wish
> a recording of one of his performances of it existed.
>
> And while he may not have loved Bax as well as many of the other
> British composers he championed, his interpretations of Bax including
> the Decca Tintagel, BBC Radio Violin Concerto and Lyrita November
> Woods are absolutely mesmerizing. He certainly knew how to make Bax's
> music 'work'...something Vernon Handley know a little bit about as
> well.
>
> Richard R. Adams
No, he loved Bax and he was another composer he felt "guilty" about.
But he couldn't do everything and at BBC and Decca he often didn't
have ANY choice. But when Mr Itter came along....you had a wonderful
November Woods (a terrific work and a great performance). In the same
way when Mr Itter asked again there was a great Moeran Sinfonietta.
They only had to ask but mostly they didn't. That's why EMI did not
get their completely "exclusive" contract.
Alan Watkins
And WHAT a good "post" by Adrian Cedric Boult. He did a reasonably
good Mahler 1 and would have liked to have done others....but
regrettably no one asked.
Alan Watkins
I apologise for the error. I think, then, the substitute was Andrew
Davis. That's the problem with relying on aged memory! But it
certainly was not Sir Adrian.
Tony Duggan
alanwa...@aol.com wrote on 6/19/03 9:29 PM:
>
> And WHAT a good "post" by Adrian Cedric Boult. He did a reasonably
> good Mahler 1 and would have liked to have done others....but
> regrettably no one asked.
Don't forget the complete Mahler 3 under Boult (with Kathleen Ferrier) that
is in the archive at the Barbican. The first British performance, in fact,
though not a public one. I know someone who has been into the archive to
hear it and, according to him, it is well worth releasing. BBC Legends ????
Tony Duggan
Andrew Clarke
> in article bcseq...@drn.newsguy.com, Simon Roberts at sd...@comcast.net
> wrote on 6/19/03 2:46 PM:
> I love recalling what he reportedly said to
> >> contralto Kathleen Ferrier when the latter, then not any sort of British
> >> urban sophisticate, kept addressing him as "Sir Boult":
> >>
> >> "I'm not 'Sir Boult'. I'm Sir Adrian." (This from an excellent biography
> >> of Ferrier in a Penguin/Pelican paperback.)
> >
> > That seems an odd mistake for an English woman to make. I heard the same
> > story,
> > but with Evelyn Lear instead
>
> It was Evelyn Lear. I remember she told the stort herself in one of those
> old Alan Blyth interviews in Gramophone. Ferrier would never have made that
> mistake having worked with Sir John and Sir Malcolm as well as Sir Adrian.
>
> Tony Duggan
I don't think anybody in the British Commonwealth would have made that
mistake -- Miss Lear came from Brooklyn, so the mistake is perfectly
understandable. I can understand confusion over the fiendish
distinctions between Lady Evelyn, Lady Lear and Evelyn, Lady Lear
(daughter of a peer, wife of a knight and dowager respectively) but
not Sir Boult.
The attribution to Kathleen Ferrier is maybe based on the supposition
that because she came from a mill town in Lancashire, she turned up
for her first rehearsal wearing clogs and a shawl, and signed her
first contract with an X. It would be interesting to know whether
similar assumptions have been made about those other musical
Lancastrians Sir Thomas Beecham and Dame Janet Baker. I suspect not
...
andrew clarke
canberra
Matthew B. Tepper (posts from uswest.net are forged)
following letters to be typed in
news:62c8649c.03061...@posting.google.com:
> And WHAT a good "post" by Adrian Cedric Boult. He did a reasonably
> good Mahler 1 and would have liked to have done others....but
> regrettably no one asked.
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/index.html
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Matthew B. Tepper (posts from uswest.net are forged)
letters to be typed in
news:62c8649c.03061...@posting.google.com:
> Tony Duggan <dug...@scribble.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:<BB169935.46E3%dug...@scribble.freeserve.co.uk>...
>
> And WHAT a good "post" by Adrian Cedric Boult. He did a reasonably
> good Mahler 1 and would have liked to have done others....but
> regrettably no one asked.
We have an idea of what he could do with large forces from that broadcast
of Brian's "Gothic" Symphony, once available on hard-to-find LPs.
[sorry about the earlier post; I sent it too soon]
Ed
> Lancastrians Sir Thomas Beecham and Dame Janet Baker. I suspect not
err humm
I think Dame Janet is actually from dreaded Yorkshire!!
Ed (also a Lancastrian)
Bob Reith
Thanks so much for initiating a fascinating thread, and to the rest of the
newsgroup for their valuable contributions.
Bob Reith
(I don't know if I have any relationship to Lord John Reith of the BBC
Symphony. I have heard that there was a band of UK Reiths of who were horse
thieves, but I don't profess to be part of that lineage! )
Matthew B. Tepper (posts from uswest.net are forged)
letters to be typed in news:20030620082530...@mb-m26.aol.com:
Too bad; there are probably management positions at the "major" record
companies that would be yours for the asking. ;--)
Bob Reith
>> Alan, et al
>>
>> Thanks so much for initiating a fascinating thread, and to the rest of
>> the newsgroup for their valuable contributions.
>>
>> Bob Reith
>> (I don't know if I have any relationship to Lord John Reith of the BBC
>> Symphony. I have heard that there was a band of UK Reiths of who were
>> horse thieves, but I don't profess to be part of that lineage! )
>
Matthew Tepper quipped
>Too bad; there are probably management positions at the "major" record
>companies that would be yours for the asking. ;--)
>
...which is why I'm glad I'm not descended from that particular clan... :-)
Bob
David R L Porter
from Tony Duggan <dug...@scribble.freeserve.co.uk> contains these words:
> [Richard Adams] I love recalling what he reportedly said to
> >> contralto Kathleen Ferrier when the latter, then not any sort of British
> >> urban sophisticate, kept addressing him as "Sir Boult":
> >>
> >> "I'm not 'Sir Boult'. I'm Sir Adrian." (This from an excellent biography
> >> of Ferrier in a Penguin/Pelican paperback.)
> >
> > That seems an odd mistake for an English woman to make.
Interviewer reportedly quizzing Cliff Richard when Cliff was knighted:
'So is it Sir Cliff Richard or Cliff Sir Richard?'
'Doesn't matter -- provided that you bow.'
--
Best wishes,
David
david....@zetnet.co.uk
Visit us at www.porterfolio.com
Andrew Clarke
> those other musical
> > Lancastrians Sir Thomas Beecham and Dame Janet Baker. I suspect not
>
> err humm
>
> I think Dame Janet is actually from dreaded Yorkshire!!
So she is. I was confusing her with George Formby.
>
> Ed (also a Lancastrian)
andrew clarke
canberra
Alan Watkins
In his younger days he had a "sharp" temper but I doubt he was EVER
unfair. It was not in his nature. He had also such deep respect for
musicians that he never harboured grudges. He acted like a man who
was "in charge"....which he WAS.
He was a great rehearser. He often used to say: "Right, lets go all
the way through this piece and I'll only stop if we (note WE) are
terrible." That sums it up, for me. It was "we"...not conductor and
orchestra as some sort of separate entity. (Curiously enough Mr
Handley uses the same approach......perhaps it works?).
His recorded rehearsal of Pilgrim's Progress has a very funny section.
It catches in full his "no nonsense" approach to rehearsing.
There's a piece where he is trying to explain something and everyone
is talking away in the background (I am writing this from memory
without the recording) and he suddenly explodes and says: "You
talk.....(small gap)......you talk like MARKET women" (now politically
incorrect, of course). Immense hush descends.....chastised
chorus/orchestra slinks away and listens....until a couple of seconds
later: "I only talk to you like that because I CAN." Laughter
(relief) from everyone.
Point made, ice broken. No more chatting, just listening.
Ernest Gillegan, the first (and great) timpanist of the BBC Symphony
told a very similar story. There was a rehearsal of Messiah during
World War II in which similar "chatting" took place. Suddenly Boult
slammed down his baton on the score in front of him and said: "There
are two ways we can proceed.....either all of you can join my
discussion or I can join yours. If we are to proceed I recommend the
first."
Of course he had a "cut glass" Oxbridge accent but it was a very deep
voice and he was, incidentally (and from personal experience, rare
among conductors) a very fine singer. His original intention was to
be a singer.
Alan Hayward
news:68e192a8.03061...@posting.google.com...
> And if I remember correcly there was
> an interesting talk spoken by him (but maybe co-written with Michael
> Kennedy?) in the original EMI LP set of Elgar's The Apostles.
You do remember correctly on both counts. The booklet in the Apostles set
includes the credit "script by Michael Kennedy and Sir Adrian Boult".
Audiophilia
> "Alan Watkins" <alanwa...@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:62c8649c.03061...@posting.google.com...
>
> > There was a performance of a modern work (and I'm
> > afraid I can't remember what it was) when Boult was conducting and he
> > got the beating wrong. Because his beat was SO reliable normally, the
> > orchestra got it wrong as well and went haywire.
> >
> > He stopped the performance and turned round to the audience and said:
> > "That was entirely my fault, ladies and gentlemen. It was not the
> > fault of the orchestra and we shall begin the piece again."
>
> First performance of Tippett's Second Symphony (with the BBCSO, Royal
> Festival Hall, 5 February 1958).
A very simple 4 in the opening and no problem for Boult. Paul Beard, the
leader, brought the violins in two beats early. The line is so thorny, it
was unrecoverable! Boult took the blame. A singular occurrence, I would
guess in the annals of conductors and orchestras! Boult was total class.
That's why orchestras loved him.
Kind regards,
Anthony Kershaw, Editor/Publisher
AUDIOPHILIA -- The Online Journal for the Serious Audiophile
http://www.audiophilia.com
An electronic publication of Audiophilia, Inc.
Terry Simmons
cab...@strath.ac.uk (Ed) wrote:
His voice reminds me of that of Neville Mariner. But if you haven't heard
Marriner, I guess this is no help!
--
Cheers!
Terry
pep38
"Terry Simmons" <tlst...@tpgi.com.au> wrote in message
news:tlsterry-070...@war-56k-077.tpgi.com.au...
> In article <68e192a8.03061...@posting.google.com>,
> cab...@strath.ac.uk (Ed) wrote:
>
> > > FWIW, never having heard Sir Adrian's speaking voice, I have often
> > > imagined it as a bit upper-crust Oxbridge in a low-pitched voice with
a
> > > slight quaver to it.
> >
> > More like a kindly old grandfather at least in the exerpts I've heard.
> > There is a moving little excerpt of his voice before the Vaughan
> > Williams 9th symphony in the latest Decca Box set of the complete
> > symphonies. (Maybe this was in earlier incarnations too?)
> >
> > There was also a side of a rehearsal sequence in the original EMI LP
> > set of RVW's Pilgrim's Progress. And if I remember correcly there was
> > an interesting talk spoken by him (but maybe co-written with Michael
> > Kennedy?) in the original EMI LP set of Elgar's The Apostles.
> >
> > Ed
>
recording made a few days after the composer's death; at least it appears on
the open reel tape from the 60's and the Vanguard/Everest remastering on CD.
I didn't know that Decca had licensed this recording for their box.
Ed (a different Ed) in Seattle
Matthew B. Tepper (posts from uswest.net are forged)
letters to be typed in news:IyhOa.14$W71...@bcandid.telisphere.com:
> I believe Sir Adrian's voice before the Ninth Symphony appear on the
> Everest recording made a few days after the composer's death; at least
> it appears on the open reel tape from the 60's and the Vanguard/Everest
> remastering on CD. I didn't know that Decca had licensed this recording
> for their box.
Not "a few days"; the very same day as that session! RVW had planned to be
on hand when they recorded the work, but he died overnight in his sleep.