NEWCASTLE'S MUSICAL HERITAGE AN INTRODUCTION By ...
NEWCASTLE'S MUSICAL HERITAGE AN INTRODUCTION By ...
NEWCASTLE'S MUSICAL HERITAGE AN INTRODUCTION By ...
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Conservatoire, composing and music in general – he was a pedagogue and<br />
probably did not want to get involved in musical politics. Rea and Bainton. were<br />
both, technically speaking, outsiders, who were not committed to the town other<br />
than through their respective appointments but more surprising is the case of<br />
William Gillies Whittaker. He was a Tynesider and one of its key musical figures<br />
with a lot to offer but he deserted the town for a musical appointment in Glasgow.<br />
All of these musicians were essential to the musical life of the town and their<br />
departure (William Rea in fact retired and died soon after) created a vacuum<br />
which was never filled.<br />
Charles Avison did not have to worry about competition from visiting<br />
orchestras and their effect on local musicians, but one hundred years later the<br />
town was playing host to a number of visiting symphony orchestras. Newcastle<br />
welcomed these touring musicians but in doing so was it making a mistake. In<br />
Birmingham for instance during its orchestra’s formative years the professional<br />
musicians in the town objected strongly to outsiders being invited in on the basis<br />
that it weakened their argument that what the town needed was a permanent<br />
orchestra. There was also the threat to their livelihood to be considered. There<br />
were literally hundreds of musicians in Newcastle at the turn of the 20 th century<br />
but of what standard we do not really know. There would have been a core of<br />
professionals, but the majority would have been amateurs. Newcastle had never<br />
had an influx of Continental musicians, as was the case in Manchester, Liverpool<br />
and Leeds for instance and even Dan Godfrey started with an Italian band in<br />
Bournemouth. These Continentals brought their culture and high playing<br />
standards with them and stood up for their profession but in Newcastle the<br />
amateur tradition in music thrived and whilst amateurism had always been part of<br />
English tradition it did not help build first rate professional orchestras. Judging<br />
only by the names of orchestral players printed in historic programmes for<br />
concerts in Newcastle by local musicians I would say that the vast majority of<br />
them were of English origin and more than likely, locals. From this I can only<br />
draw the conclusion that the general standard of playing was probably not very<br />
high. Quality orchestral musicians could have been invited into the town to boost<br />
the standard of a local orchestra, as they had been on festival occasions, but the<br />
town would have had to show some commitment which never appears to have<br />
been the case. Nor does there seem to have been any compulsion on the part of<br />
Newcastle musicians to establish some sort of artistic integrity and authority<br />
within the town.<br />
It is one of life’s ironies to discover that Newcastle had at the turn of the<br />
century within its midst a ‘Dan Godfrey’ of its own. His name was H.G.Amers<br />
(see also chapter eleven). Amers and Godfrey were so alike as to be able to<br />
draw direct comparisons. They both came from well known musical families, they<br />
were both disciplined musicians in the Military Band style and they were both<br />
capable of taking a band of half decent musicians and moulding them into a fine<br />
orchestral band. They both made their names at English Spa Resorts building up<br />
a local musical culture that became a magnet for all the leading musicians in the<br />
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