Page 93 - 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. 93
in the shadow of parry, stanford and mackenzie ...
The composer Hubert Parry (1848–1918)8 followed Grove as director in
1895. Parry’s legacy was considerable, particularly as under his outstanding
leadership he brought the Royal College of Music into the 20th century. His
reputation as a composer was enormous, with five bold romantic sympho-
nies, as well as many choral works such as the famous Blest Pair of Sirens,
the anthem I Was Glad and Jerusalem, his setting of William Blake’s “And
did those feet in ancient time,” regularly performed even today at the Lon-
don Proms. He was also well respected as a teacher of composition: impor-
tant early students of his were Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), Gustav
Holst (1874–1934) and Frank Bridge (1879–1941), all three destined to become
as famous as, or more famous than, their teacher. Vaughan Williams was
to compose another seven symphonies after World War I, Holst a large va-
riety of works, and Frank Bridge numerous orchestral and chamber works.
Holst’s most famous work, the orchestral suite The Planets, was first played at
a private performance in London in 1918, and publicly in 1920. Vaughan Wil-
liams in his long life gained an international reputation, particularly in re-
cent years, while Holst has maintained a modest but distinctive voice in 20th
century British music. Frank Bridge received a notably disparaging obituary
in 1942 by Wilfrid Mellers,9 who described Bridge as “an artist endowed with
talent and facility and yet without the moral backbone to bring his gifts to fru-
ition.”10 More recently, however, very perceptive and detailed studies by An-
thony Payne11 and Fabian Huss12 have restored his reputation.
Table 2: Directors of the Royal College of Music 1883–1953
George Grove 1883–1895
Hubert Parry 1895–1918
Hugh Allen 1918–1938
George Dyson 1938–1953
His major colleague in the Royal College of Music and senior composi-
tion professor was the Dublin-born and University-trained Charles Villiers
8 See Jeremy Dibble, C. Hubert H. Parry: His Life and Music (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1992); and Jeremy Dibble, “Parry,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musi-
cians, vol. 19, ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), 152–57.
9 Wilfrid Mellers, “Conservatism and Tradition,” in Studies in Contemporary Music
(London: Dennis Dobson, 1947), 187–195, especially 193–195.
10 Ibid., 193.
11 Anthony Payne, Frank Bridge: Radical and Conservative (London: Thames, 1999).
12 Fabian Huss, The Music of Frank Bridge (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2015).
91
The composer Hubert Parry (1848–1918)8 followed Grove as director in
1895. Parry’s legacy was considerable, particularly as under his outstanding
leadership he brought the Royal College of Music into the 20th century. His
reputation as a composer was enormous, with five bold romantic sympho-
nies, as well as many choral works such as the famous Blest Pair of Sirens,
the anthem I Was Glad and Jerusalem, his setting of William Blake’s “And
did those feet in ancient time,” regularly performed even today at the Lon-
don Proms. He was also well respected as a teacher of composition: impor-
tant early students of his were Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), Gustav
Holst (1874–1934) and Frank Bridge (1879–1941), all three destined to become
as famous as, or more famous than, their teacher. Vaughan Williams was
to compose another seven symphonies after World War I, Holst a large va-
riety of works, and Frank Bridge numerous orchestral and chamber works.
Holst’s most famous work, the orchestral suite The Planets, was first played at
a private performance in London in 1918, and publicly in 1920. Vaughan Wil-
liams in his long life gained an international reputation, particularly in re-
cent years, while Holst has maintained a modest but distinctive voice in 20th
century British music. Frank Bridge received a notably disparaging obituary
in 1942 by Wilfrid Mellers,9 who described Bridge as “an artist endowed with
talent and facility and yet without the moral backbone to bring his gifts to fru-
ition.”10 More recently, however, very perceptive and detailed studies by An-
thony Payne11 and Fabian Huss12 have restored his reputation.
Table 2: Directors of the Royal College of Music 1883–1953
George Grove 1883–1895
Hubert Parry 1895–1918
Hugh Allen 1918–1938
George Dyson 1938–1953
His major colleague in the Royal College of Music and senior composi-
tion professor was the Dublin-born and University-trained Charles Villiers
8 See Jeremy Dibble, C. Hubert H. Parry: His Life and Music (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1992); and Jeremy Dibble, “Parry,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musi-
cians, vol. 19, ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), 152–57.
9 Wilfrid Mellers, “Conservatism and Tradition,” in Studies in Contemporary Music
(London: Dennis Dobson, 1947), 187–195, especially 193–195.
10 Ibid., 193.
11 Anthony Payne, Frank Bridge: Radical and Conservative (London: Thames, 1999).
12 Fabian Huss, The Music of Frank Bridge (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2015).
91
