Page 117 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2020. Konservatoriji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela ▪︎ The conservatories: professionalisation and specialisation of musical activity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 4
P. 117
ir ish conservator ies dur ing the inter-war per iod
tee. Despite his German name Hardebeck was in fact British – the son of a
German father who had settled in England and of a Welsh mother, he had
at this stage lived in Belfast for 25 years and adopted Irish nationalist views;
when the Committee considered his application at its next meeting on
10 July it found that it was written in Irish (the members were provided with
an English translation). It turned out that Hardebeck’s was the only appli-
cation received, although there also was “a letter” by Annie Patterson (as
the first woman in Ireland to earn a doctorate in music and a specialist on
Irish music she was eminently qualified for the position, too) that was ruled
not to be an application – one suspects more intrigue going on behind the
scenes here than the minutes reveal a century later.26 Hardebeck was even-
tually appointed, but at that very moment a significant number of Profes-
sors requested an immediate salary increase of 50 %, threatening to other-
wise go on strike. After four weeks of negotiations four prominent Senior
Professors and one Sub-Professor resigned (more would follow later); the
Committee accepted the resignations by a small margin (3:2)27 and over the
coming months hired nine new staff members to replace them.
Yet the Hardebeck saga did not end there. After two years in Cork the
funds to pay his salary ran out; he agreed to a temporary extension of three
months while shortly afterwards being appointed as Professor of Irish Mu-
sic at University College Cork (for a salary of £100; this clearly was a part-
time position). From April 1922 until July 1923 he acted as Professor of Irish
Music (yet not headmaster; this position remained unfilled) at the School
once again, but then tendered his final resignation, stating that “his wife
is heartily sick of this place and will not spend another Winter in lodgings
in Cork.”28 Even after he had left the Committee engaged for several years
in attempts to raise funds and publish a range of arrangements of Irish
music that Hardebeck had written – when this did not materialise Harde-
beck wrote many increasingly annoyed letters requesting his work to be re-
turned to him.
In 1936 the full-time position of Director (rather than Headmaster) of
the School of Music was created; Bernard B. Curtis held it from 1936 to 1973.
Curtis is also the author of a small book commemorating the centenary of
the School in 1978 which is an important source of its history.29
26 Minute Books of Committee, Meeting on 10 July 1919, Ref. VEC/SM/A/04, 96–98.
27 Minute Books of Committee, Meeting on 6 October 1919, Ref. VEC/SM/A/04, 111.
28 Minute Books of Committee, Meeting on 23 July 1923, Ref. VEC/SM/A/04, 266.
29 Bernard B. Curtis, Centenary of the Cork School of Music. Progress of the School 1878–
1978 (Cork: 1978).
115
tee. Despite his German name Hardebeck was in fact British – the son of a
German father who had settled in England and of a Welsh mother, he had
at this stage lived in Belfast for 25 years and adopted Irish nationalist views;
when the Committee considered his application at its next meeting on
10 July it found that it was written in Irish (the members were provided with
an English translation). It turned out that Hardebeck’s was the only appli-
cation received, although there also was “a letter” by Annie Patterson (as
the first woman in Ireland to earn a doctorate in music and a specialist on
Irish music she was eminently qualified for the position, too) that was ruled
not to be an application – one suspects more intrigue going on behind the
scenes here than the minutes reveal a century later.26 Hardebeck was even-
tually appointed, but at that very moment a significant number of Profes-
sors requested an immediate salary increase of 50 %, threatening to other-
wise go on strike. After four weeks of negotiations four prominent Senior
Professors and one Sub-Professor resigned (more would follow later); the
Committee accepted the resignations by a small margin (3:2)27 and over the
coming months hired nine new staff members to replace them.
Yet the Hardebeck saga did not end there. After two years in Cork the
funds to pay his salary ran out; he agreed to a temporary extension of three
months while shortly afterwards being appointed as Professor of Irish Mu-
sic at University College Cork (for a salary of £100; this clearly was a part-
time position). From April 1922 until July 1923 he acted as Professor of Irish
Music (yet not headmaster; this position remained unfilled) at the School
once again, but then tendered his final resignation, stating that “his wife
is heartily sick of this place and will not spend another Winter in lodgings
in Cork.”28 Even after he had left the Committee engaged for several years
in attempts to raise funds and publish a range of arrangements of Irish
music that Hardebeck had written – when this did not materialise Harde-
beck wrote many increasingly annoyed letters requesting his work to be re-
turned to him.
In 1936 the full-time position of Director (rather than Headmaster) of
the School of Music was created; Bernard B. Curtis held it from 1936 to 1973.
Curtis is also the author of a small book commemorating the centenary of
the School in 1978 which is an important source of its history.29
26 Minute Books of Committee, Meeting on 10 July 1919, Ref. VEC/SM/A/04, 96–98.
27 Minute Books of Committee, Meeting on 6 October 1919, Ref. VEC/SM/A/04, 111.
28 Minute Books of Committee, Meeting on 23 July 1923, Ref. VEC/SM/A/04, 266.
29 Bernard B. Curtis, Centenary of the Cork School of Music. Progress of the School 1878–
1978 (Cork: 1978).
115
