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13 - The Royal College of Music, 1945-7

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2014

Paul Spicer
Paul Spicer
Affiliation:
Composition student of Herbert Howells, whose biography he wrote in 1998. He is well-known as a choral conductor especially of British Music of the twentieth century onwards, a writer, composer, teacher, and producer
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Summary

The RCM Library

One of the most damaging accusations levelled at Dyson in his time as Director of the Royal College of Music concerned his attitude towards its library and valuable collection of musical instruments and portraits. The College had amassed a nationally important research library beginning in 1883 with the purchase (by subscription) of the entire library of the Sacred Harmonic Society, including its cases and stacks. In addition, Queen Victoria gave the College the complete library of the Concerts of Ancient Musick, the first ‘early music’ series in the world of which Prince Albert was the last director (they ended in 1848). As Nicholas Temperley points out in his article ‘The Prince Consort, Champion of Music’: ‘The moribund Ancient Concerts were also given a shot in the arm by the Prince. From 1843, he began to choose the programmes for two concerts in each season, and he invariably introduced ten or twelve novelties in each concert, choosing music from all periods up to the time of Beethoven, and drawing sometimes on his own collection.’ He introduced a remarkable variety of music for the time. Temperley lists

medieval hymns and chansons, motets and mass movements by Palestrina, a concerto by Cavalieri [played on viols], arias by Cesti and Stradella, fugues and choruses by Bach; there were pieces by Handel, Haydn and Mozart taken from outside the ordinary Ancient Concert repertory; revivals like Beethoven's Mount of Olives and Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride; and curiosities like Rousseau's Le Devin du Village and Mozart's juvenile works.

Type
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Information
Sir George Dyson
His Life and Music
 , pp. 274 - 290
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2014

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  • The Royal College of Music, 1945-7
  • Paul Spicer, Composition student of Herbert Howells, whose biography he wrote in 1998. He is well-known as a choral conductor especially of British Music of the twentieth century onwards, a writer, composer, teacher, and producer
  • Book: Sir George Dyson
  • Online publication: 05 November 2014
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  • The Royal College of Music, 1945-7
  • Paul Spicer, Composition student of Herbert Howells, whose biography he wrote in 1998. He is well-known as a choral conductor especially of British Music of the twentieth century onwards, a writer, composer, teacher, and producer
  • Book: Sir George Dyson
  • Online publication: 05 November 2014
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Royal College of Music, 1945-7
  • Paul Spicer, Composition student of Herbert Howells, whose biography he wrote in 1998. He is well-known as a choral conductor especially of British Music of the twentieth century onwards, a writer, composer, teacher, and producer
  • Book: Sir George Dyson
  • Online publication: 05 November 2014
Available formats
×