NEWCASTLE'S MUSICAL HERITAGE AN INTRODUCTION By ...

and the North East was viewed from outside as ‘Andy Capp’ country. The truth of
the matter was that Newcastle was not an uncultured city but a city deprived of
Culture through apathy and ignorance. However, that was about to change. A
regional ferment to improve the quality of life was beginning to take place and an
essential part of this was the need to give the town a cultural facelift.
The instigator of change was not a leading personality in the music world with
plenty of clout but a young music student in Newcastle University who, for no
other reason than he fancied some conducting experience, decided that the only
way he was likely to get it was by forming his own band. His timing was perfect
although he, himself, could not have been aware of it then. But his action was
about to give birth to the Region’s biggest artistic success and his creation, the
Northern Sinfonia, would ultimately prove to be the biggest single influence in
Regional Music. However, we should not overlook the fact that the Sinfonia did
not change everything overnight, it was a gradual process. Nor was the Sinfonia
prepared to concede its total commitment to Tyneside even fourteen year after it
was founded in Newcastle if its General Manager’s remarks to me were anything
to go by. During a conversation with Keith Statham, just before a concert in
Germany in the early 1970s I told him how proud I was of the orchestra and all
that talent from Tyneside. He looked at me aghast and replied, “Good God! none
of them actually come from Newcastle” Whether that is true today hardly matters
as the Sinfonia, itself, is now as much a part of the North Eastern as Bessie
Surtees, Blaydon Races and the Millennium Bridge..
The world has moved on and Newcastle Gateshead is making a bid for
European Capital of Culture 2008. A recent glossy leaflet I received was proud to
acknowledge its 2,000 year history making specific reference to its past and
present engineering achievements but not its past cultural history. The bid for
Capital of Culture is based on the region’s vision for the future but the operative
word is Culture. I believe it is now time that Newcastle acknowledged its long
buried musical background. Its Cultural achievements in the past may not have
changed the world but its Cultural plans for the future aim to. As the leaflet said
‘A European Culture staged here will be regarded as the best ever.’ I am looking
forward to the future.
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