NEWCASTLE'S MUSICAL HERITAGE AN INTRODUCTION By ...

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