WAR-TIME MUSIC
By F. J. YOUNG
Oddly enough, it was they, much more than the many amateur societies up and down the country, who interpreted the first stunning impacts of September, 1939, as the knock-out blow, for the duration, to all musical activity and enterprise. It was not long, however, before professional musicians stood blinking before the surprising realisation that war, instead of destroying their art, was quickening public appreciation of it, and stimulating a demand for their services which, beginning as a hesitant trickle, has since developed into a veritable flood. Backed magnificently by such organisations as C.E.M.A. and the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust (to whom also hundreds of amateur musical societies owe their war-time existence), our tottering professional orchestras began to re-form their scattered ranks and revive their activities. In London, concert-promoters found that they " couldn't go wrong," a novel experience for them. Not even enemy bombs could succeed in quenching the demand for good orchestral music. They might—and did—destroy musicians' precious instruments and the buildings in which they played them. But, in spite of that (or perhaps, more truly, because of it), music survived and prospered. No praise is too high for those whose courage and determination in those dark, disruptive days re-estab- lished music in the life of a people hungry for its message.
Not surprisingly, therefore, enterprising organisers began to ex- plore the possibilities in wider directions. They turned their atten- tion to the provinces.. There, too, it was soon evident the same hunger for music existed. • True, the local people on the spot were, in some cases, manfully struggling, with the depleted resources at their disposal, to meet that need. But the most they could do, in. the face of rehearsal difficulties due to black-out conditions and their members' war-time duties, was an occasional concert. Thus the new fashion in " visiting orchestras " grew apace. Naturally, those towns and cities within easy reach of London received earliest attention, and in most cases have proved well worth the experiment. Leicester, for example, has become such a happy hunting-ground that professional orchestras are now " falling over themselves " to secure dates in the local hall. So much so, in fact, that the local organisation, the Leicester Symphony Orchestra, at its recent annual meeting, heard a recommendation from its committee that it should promote no more concerts becauge of the difficulty experienced " in obtaining the use of the De Montfort Hall on Sundays [the only day of the week when members are available for concerts] and from competition from large visiting orchestras."
Encouraged by succesS, orchestras began visiting places farther afield. In some instances this war-time development has brought famous orchestras to local town-halls for the first time. Everywhere the experience has been the same. Demand has exceeded supply. " Sold out " notices have had to be printed, and the risk of financial failure—that pre-war "brake" on British concert promotion—has been largely removed. Now, orchestras are " touring "—along similar lines to theatrical companies. This latest development is bringing a week's good music at a time to places where, before the war, a concert or two a year by the local society was all they ever heard.
No one can deny that these increased facilities for hearing great music, supremely well played, is of inestimable recreational and educational value. Indeed, one of the most encouraging signs of war's reaction on the national life is the vastly increased public demand for music. Nor is it at all likely that this new musical appreciation will cease when war ends. Influences, such as music, which we have learned to value (for the first time, perhaps) in adversity, may be none the less real and satisfying in happier times. How many men now serving abroad, whose sole link with music has been snatches of those invaluable broadcast programmes they have been fortunate enough to pick up, are not counting among the major joys of life in the days to come, the frequent chances of hearing good orchestral concerts? That this will be possible, in ever increasing measure, I am convinced.
But, as with all forms of progress and development, this new departure in professional concert-giving will be none the worse for a little wise and sympathetic oversight and planning. Perhaps, if the plans now envisaged for the setting-up (after the war) of pro- fessional orchestras at various strategic centres throughout the country take shape, some of the less desirable features at present connected with existing orchestral undertakings, particularly the provincial " tours," may be eliminated.
For instance, the balance between the commercial and the artistic aspects will require careful adjustment. At present, there is an obvious tendency to "get in" as much as possible in a given time. In an endeavour to keep pace with box-office demands, players are hustled from town to town and inevitably show signs of being over- played and under-rehearsed. Scheduled programmes are " pre- sented " rather than played. Conductors, billed and featured like theatrical star artists, change at least once nightly, to the bewilder- ment (surely) of the orchestras they conduct, and to the detriment of the music played.
Again, sotne means will have to be found of adjusting, not the rival, but the complementary, claims of amateur musical societies in their invaluable work for the cause of music-making—work which will always have an important place in the life of the community. Obviously local enterprise cannot hope to compete on equal terns with its stronger professional brethren, but at least events may be so guided, one hopes, that the amateurs do not come to regard the processionals as potential enemies. For example : most amateur societies require weeks of rehearsal before giving a concert. Indeed, it is the rehearsing which gives most pleasure to the really keen amateur musician. But it is discouraging for them—to say the least—to discover on the eve of their concert that one of the pro- fessional orchestras is to pay their town a visit within a few days of their own performance. That kind of thing, which is already happening, could easily be avoided by a little mutual co-operation. Along that path, too, not only may problems and difficulties. be resolved, but the interests of music—either as an amateur or pro- fessional art, and transcending them both—will most worthily be served.
Previous page
