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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dozen names appearing in both orchestras. Furthermore, only two names from<br />
the Newcastle Philharmonic appear in the list of around two hundred musicians<br />
who went to make up the Society’s and the Union’s orchestras. No women were<br />
included, which ruled out most of the Newcastle Symphony Orchestra personnel.<br />
This generally serves to highlight further the general attitude towards women in<br />
orchestras at this time but also points to the fact that there must have been a<br />
goodly number of professional and amateur musicians in the town in the early<br />
part of the last century. This once again prompts the question why was<br />
Newcastle not able to form a permanent orchestra when it appears to have had<br />
the resources. .The Northern Musician’s Benevolent Society, as early as 1896,<br />
was proposing more frequent meetings of the orchestra members for practice,<br />
which it considered would be a step towards the realisation of the original<br />
intention of the promoters of the Society, viz., the establishment of a permanent<br />
orchestra.<br />
The Newcastle Conservatoire, The Newcastle Philharmonic and the Newcastle<br />
Symphony Orchestra did not survive WWII, which is not very surprising. However<br />
that in no way diminishes the valuable contribution of those involved in these<br />
ventures and their pioneering efforts, in the face of general philistinism, to raise<br />
musical standards within the town and establish a musical culture. But it was not<br />
to be and it would take more than another half century for their hopes and<br />
dreams to be realised.<br />
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