Page 96 - 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. 96
konservator iji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela
now been achieved, completed partly by these three men, one Englishman
(Parry), one Irishman (Stanford) and one Scotsman (Mackenzie).
However, despite this fortunate situation, but because of the enor-
mous reputation of all three musicians, the outlook was solidly conserva-
tive. It was almost inevitable that student composition followed the style of
their music, taking little notice of the latest developments in Paris and Vi-
enna, a feature which dominated the College and Academy in the follow-
ing years. It appears that the new director of the Royal College of Music
following Parry’s death, the University-trained and experienced Hugh Al-
len (1869–1946) reinforced this traditional attitude. Some composition stu-
dents would be happy to work within a broadly romantic idiom, of course,
achieving success in a conservative musical environment, but some would
find this difficult. The next twenty-five years saw numerous instances in the
College of this unwillingness to move beyond the style and techniques of
the middle of the 19th century.
The situation at the Royal Academy of Music was somewhat differ-
ent. A number of prospective composers had studied there with Freder-
ick Corder in the first two decades of the 20th century, the most promi-
nent being Granville Bantock (1868–1946), Joseph Holbrooke (1878–1958),
Arnold Bax (1883–1953), York Bowen (1884–1961) and Rebecca Clarke (1886–
1979). The first four showed little sign of breaking the traditional mould, de-
spite their considerable later achievements. However, some of the music of
Clarke, who was influenced by Frank Bridge, displayed features of the mu-
sic of Debussy and Bartók, influences disparaged by the principal. Writing
about Bax’s time at the academy, Colin Scott-Sutherland paints a forbid-
ding picture:
The Academy at that time trembled under the principalship of Sir
Alexander Campbell Mackenzie, a fiery Scot whose outspoken crit-
icism of modern tendencies in the work of his students was belied
by his liberal-minded policies for their musical education.18
Corder, however, was held in considerable respect, shown, for example, in
a published tribute in The Times newspaper from 1932. In it Arnold Bax
wrote: “No professor of composition can ever have taken a more proud
and affectionate interest in the achievements of those who came under his
sway.”19About Corder, Scott-Sutherland is similarly forthright:
18 Colin Scott-Sutherland, Arnold Bax (London: Dent, 1973), 10.
19 “Obituary: Frederick Corder,” The Musical Times 73, no. 1076 (1 October 1932): 943.
94
now been achieved, completed partly by these three men, one Englishman
(Parry), one Irishman (Stanford) and one Scotsman (Mackenzie).
However, despite this fortunate situation, but because of the enor-
mous reputation of all three musicians, the outlook was solidly conserva-
tive. It was almost inevitable that student composition followed the style of
their music, taking little notice of the latest developments in Paris and Vi-
enna, a feature which dominated the College and Academy in the follow-
ing years. It appears that the new director of the Royal College of Music
following Parry’s death, the University-trained and experienced Hugh Al-
len (1869–1946) reinforced this traditional attitude. Some composition stu-
dents would be happy to work within a broadly romantic idiom, of course,
achieving success in a conservative musical environment, but some would
find this difficult. The next twenty-five years saw numerous instances in the
College of this unwillingness to move beyond the style and techniques of
the middle of the 19th century.
The situation at the Royal Academy of Music was somewhat differ-
ent. A number of prospective composers had studied there with Freder-
ick Corder in the first two decades of the 20th century, the most promi-
nent being Granville Bantock (1868–1946), Joseph Holbrooke (1878–1958),
Arnold Bax (1883–1953), York Bowen (1884–1961) and Rebecca Clarke (1886–
1979). The first four showed little sign of breaking the traditional mould, de-
spite their considerable later achievements. However, some of the music of
Clarke, who was influenced by Frank Bridge, displayed features of the mu-
sic of Debussy and Bartók, influences disparaged by the principal. Writing
about Bax’s time at the academy, Colin Scott-Sutherland paints a forbid-
ding picture:
The Academy at that time trembled under the principalship of Sir
Alexander Campbell Mackenzie, a fiery Scot whose outspoken crit-
icism of modern tendencies in the work of his students was belied
by his liberal-minded policies for their musical education.18
Corder, however, was held in considerable respect, shown, for example, in
a published tribute in The Times newspaper from 1932. In it Arnold Bax
wrote: “No professor of composition can ever have taken a more proud
and affectionate interest in the achievements of those who came under his
sway.”19About Corder, Scott-Sutherland is similarly forthright:
18 Colin Scott-Sutherland, Arnold Bax (London: Dent, 1973), 10.
19 “Obituary: Frederick Corder,” The Musical Times 73, no. 1076 (1 October 1932): 943.
94
