NEWCASTLE'S MUSICAL HERITAGE AN INTRODUCTION By ...

particularly sweet and satisfying to the popular pianist – to the paeans of praise
with which musical England is at present resounding in appreciation of his merits
and although “he is now German” to quote his own words. We hope and think
that he will still be sufficiently English to remain not indifferent to the undivided
voice of contemporary opinion. Possibly the cordiality and unanimity of last nights
crowded audience may do something towards removing the reproach which
former generation is supposed to have offered.’
The reviewer then went on to pay d’Albert a backhanded compliment by saying
‘The programme was interesting but not engrossingly so!’
The Chamber Music Society held their concerts in the Old Assembly Rooms
on Westgate Road but there were also chamber music concerts taking place in
the New Assembly Rooms at Barras Bridge although, it has to be said, not of the
same standard. Mr J.H.Beers, whom we left conducting the Newcastle and
Gateshead Choral Union Orchestra, was presenting his own series of chamber
concerts. He seems to have managed one concert a year and it was a family
affair with a S.H. Beers on violoncello and the daughter Mimi providing the
vocals. The New Assembly Rooms at Barras Bridge (now the University of
Newcastle Centre for Physical Recreation and Sport) appear to have lent
themselves well to small-scale performances and were a centre of musical
activity in the town between the 1880s and 1914. Ladies’ string orchestras were
a prominent feature of the period largely brought about by the fact that women
were denied entry into orchestras. Miss Hildegard Werner mounted a number of
concerts with the Mignon String Orchestra and her lady pupils at Barras Bridge
and another ladies string orchestra under the leadership of Miss Knocker seems
to have been very popular.
Yet another Society, that started up in 1907, but probably had its roots in the
19th century was the Classical Concert Society. It proved, by the content of its
programmes, genuinely committed to presenting a better standard of chamber
music and raising the standards of its audiences. The notice advertising its 1907-
08 Season outlines four concerts although it makes reference to a total of eight.
These were Subscription concerts but there was admission at the door for nonmembers
and a special rate for children, which was to the Society’s credit and
shows a commitment to educate the young at a time when poorer children were
still being freely exploited as cheap labour by Industry. Having said that, what
any child would have made of the music played I cannot imagine as it was an
esoteric mix of mostly French and English composers from as far back as the
17 th century. Avison’s Concerto in G, Op 9, No 1 for two violins, viola, violoncello
and pianoforte was played in a programme of music by English composers on
6th January 1910. Other programmes featured professional musicians and
singers from Vienna, Paris, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Copenhagen and one of the
highlights was a concert on 20 th January 1911, given by the Parisian String
Quartet with the thirty-six year old Maurice Ravel, not quite yet at the pinnacle of
his fame, playing his own music together with that of Faure, Saint-Saens and
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