Page 97 - 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. 97
in the shadow of parry, stanford and mackenzie ...
At all events Corder’s methods would not have been countenanced
by Stanford, whose teaching made perpetual war on inessentials
and was ruthless in its advocacy of stylistic purity.20
There was another side to Corder’s character, however, for in 1918, he
published in The Musical Times an article entitled “Some Plain Words,” in
which he deplored in the most extreme terms the lack of English/British
music being published and performed.21 He carried on this campaign re-
lentlessly, despite protests from performers and publishers that his infor-
mation was inaccurate. Much earlier, one of his pupils, Joseph Holbrooke,
had already initiated a campaign, sometimes in the most forthright and of-
fensive terms, for the greater representation of English music. The conse-
quence of this was twofold: on the one hand, there was a determined effort
to perform and publish new music by British composers, but on the other
hand this music must reflect the style advocated by Mackenzie and Corder.
It appears that Holbrooke’s reputation suffered as a result of this campaign.
After Mackenzie’s death and Corder’s retirement, the elevation in
1924 to principal of the Academy of the composer John Blackwood McE-
wan (1868–1948), who had studied with Corder at the Academy from 1893
and who was currently a professor of composition, was fairly smooth. He
earned great respect and loyalty in his twelve years in the post. Two of the
former’s pupils were William Alwyn (1905–1985) and Priaulx Rainier (1903–
1986) from South Africa. William Alwyn, who developed into a very inter-
esting and adventurous and imaginative composer, especially in his sym-
phonies, became a professor of composition at the Royal Academy in 1926
with a long career in this post until 1955. During this period, however, there
were remarkably few student musicians who progressed from the Acade-
my into the music profession as composers. Certainly, there were very few
recognised composers trained at the Royal Academy of Music from 1925
to 1945. One wonders how much the lasting effect of Mackenzie and Cord-
er had on the outlook and perspective of aspiring composers, and even if
this deterred prospective composers from applying to the Royal Academy
of Music in the first place. This period must have been a difficult period for
British musicians who wanted to be composers, with a distinct lack of en-
thusiasm for attending the Royal Academy of Music. In 1946, the compos-
er Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989) who had studied in Paris with Nadia Bou-
langer joined the Academy as composition professor with a significant rise
20 Scott-Sutherland, Arnold Bax, 11.
21 Corder, “Some Plain Words,” 7–10.
95
At all events Corder’s methods would not have been countenanced
by Stanford, whose teaching made perpetual war on inessentials
and was ruthless in its advocacy of stylistic purity.20
There was another side to Corder’s character, however, for in 1918, he
published in The Musical Times an article entitled “Some Plain Words,” in
which he deplored in the most extreme terms the lack of English/British
music being published and performed.21 He carried on this campaign re-
lentlessly, despite protests from performers and publishers that his infor-
mation was inaccurate. Much earlier, one of his pupils, Joseph Holbrooke,
had already initiated a campaign, sometimes in the most forthright and of-
fensive terms, for the greater representation of English music. The conse-
quence of this was twofold: on the one hand, there was a determined effort
to perform and publish new music by British composers, but on the other
hand this music must reflect the style advocated by Mackenzie and Corder.
It appears that Holbrooke’s reputation suffered as a result of this campaign.
After Mackenzie’s death and Corder’s retirement, the elevation in
1924 to principal of the Academy of the composer John Blackwood McE-
wan (1868–1948), who had studied with Corder at the Academy from 1893
and who was currently a professor of composition, was fairly smooth. He
earned great respect and loyalty in his twelve years in the post. Two of the
former’s pupils were William Alwyn (1905–1985) and Priaulx Rainier (1903–
1986) from South Africa. William Alwyn, who developed into a very inter-
esting and adventurous and imaginative composer, especially in his sym-
phonies, became a professor of composition at the Royal Academy in 1926
with a long career in this post until 1955. During this period, however, there
were remarkably few student musicians who progressed from the Acade-
my into the music profession as composers. Certainly, there were very few
recognised composers trained at the Royal Academy of Music from 1925
to 1945. One wonders how much the lasting effect of Mackenzie and Cord-
er had on the outlook and perspective of aspiring composers, and even if
this deterred prospective composers from applying to the Royal Academy
of Music in the first place. This period must have been a difficult period for
British musicians who wanted to be composers, with a distinct lack of en-
thusiasm for attending the Royal Academy of Music. In 1946, the compos-
er Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989) who had studied in Paris with Nadia Bou-
langer joined the Academy as composition professor with a significant rise
20 Scott-Sutherland, Arnold Bax, 11.
21 Corder, “Some Plain Words,” 7–10.
95
