Page 90 - 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. 90
konservator iji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela
whose credentials were indeed very impressive, was appointed principal of
the Academy of Music in 1822. At the age of three and a half he had ap-
parently played the organ at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace to King
George III, had been the organist at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford,
gained the degree of Bachelor of Music at a very young age, became Heath-
er Professor of Music at the University of Oxford in 1797, and two years later
gained a Doctorate in Music. He was known as a composer of church mu-
sic and some orchestral pieces, whose quality is competent and sometimes
imaginative, but often tiresomely repetitive. For example, an attractive
Symphony in F major of 1814 is no match for Beethoven’s nearly contem-
porary Seventh and Eighth Symphonies. In the Royal Academy of Music,
Crotch took on the teaching of composition to a number of talented mu-
sicians, notably Cipriani Potter (1792–1871) and William Sterndale Bennett
(1806–1875), but he was also very active in producing a number of theoret-
ical books that are surprisingly still available today in new reprints. After
only ten years, Crotch retired to the country, being succeeded as princi-
pal by another composer, his pupil Cipriani Potter, an all-round musician,
composer, virtuoso pianist and conductor. As a composer, he wrote nine
(or possibly ten) symphonies and three (or possibly four) piano concertos
of such a high quality and presence that one wonders at his obvious current
neglect.1 It is reported that on playing one of his concertos in Germany, he
was complimented by none other than Robert Schumann. With the retire-
ment of Potter in 1859, the head of the academy passed to a very minor com-
poser, Charles Lucas (1808–1869), who unfortunately resigned in 1866 with
the Academy in a financial and academic crisis: the latter concern was that
the Academy did not train more than a small proportion of professional
musicians, a fact which nearly led to its demise. If it were not for the efforts
of the composer and Professor of Music of the University of Cambridge,
William Sterndale Bennett, as the new principal from 1869 until his death
in 1875, it may even have closed. He had helped to steer the Academy away
from political and financial disaster and closure. Part of the problem here
was that the operation of the Royal Academy of Music suffered from the in-
terference, not only of amateur musicians, but also a large number of pol-
iticians. Indeed, there was a strong feeling among professional musicians
that the Academy was educating amateurs only, because there were so few
Academy trained performers in the music profession. Bennett was probably
1 At least two of his symphonies and his three piano concertos have been commerci-
ally recorded and are currently available at the time of writing.
88
whose credentials were indeed very impressive, was appointed principal of
the Academy of Music in 1822. At the age of three and a half he had ap-
parently played the organ at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace to King
George III, had been the organist at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford,
gained the degree of Bachelor of Music at a very young age, became Heath-
er Professor of Music at the University of Oxford in 1797, and two years later
gained a Doctorate in Music. He was known as a composer of church mu-
sic and some orchestral pieces, whose quality is competent and sometimes
imaginative, but often tiresomely repetitive. For example, an attractive
Symphony in F major of 1814 is no match for Beethoven’s nearly contem-
porary Seventh and Eighth Symphonies. In the Royal Academy of Music,
Crotch took on the teaching of composition to a number of talented mu-
sicians, notably Cipriani Potter (1792–1871) and William Sterndale Bennett
(1806–1875), but he was also very active in producing a number of theoret-
ical books that are surprisingly still available today in new reprints. After
only ten years, Crotch retired to the country, being succeeded as princi-
pal by another composer, his pupil Cipriani Potter, an all-round musician,
composer, virtuoso pianist and conductor. As a composer, he wrote nine
(or possibly ten) symphonies and three (or possibly four) piano concertos
of such a high quality and presence that one wonders at his obvious current
neglect.1 It is reported that on playing one of his concertos in Germany, he
was complimented by none other than Robert Schumann. With the retire-
ment of Potter in 1859, the head of the academy passed to a very minor com-
poser, Charles Lucas (1808–1869), who unfortunately resigned in 1866 with
the Academy in a financial and academic crisis: the latter concern was that
the Academy did not train more than a small proportion of professional
musicians, a fact which nearly led to its demise. If it were not for the efforts
of the composer and Professor of Music of the University of Cambridge,
William Sterndale Bennett, as the new principal from 1869 until his death
in 1875, it may even have closed. He had helped to steer the Academy away
from political and financial disaster and closure. Part of the problem here
was that the operation of the Royal Academy of Music suffered from the in-
terference, not only of amateur musicians, but also a large number of pol-
iticians. Indeed, there was a strong feeling among professional musicians
that the Academy was educating amateurs only, because there were so few
Academy trained performers in the music profession. Bennett was probably
1 At least two of his symphonies and his three piano concertos have been commerci-
ally recorded and are currently available at the time of writing.
88
