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Webern, the BBC and the Berg Violin Concerto
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 February 2010
Extract
The simplistic commentator would sometimes have it that, compared to elsewhere in Europe, British music–making between the wars was insular and inward–looking. This is not strictly true; and it very much depended on where you were. While in some quarters there was a strong conviction of the superiority of the British music that had emerged since Elgar, there was also widespread and increasing interest in what was happening on the Continent, as exemplified in the activities of Arthur Bliss, Eugene Goossens and later Constant Lambert and Frank Bridge, and the journalism of Havergal Brian. It was, of course, true that the new composers presented by the Diaghilev ballet attracted a wide following, not only for the brilliance of the ballets themselves but also for their high quality of orchestral performance, at a time when British orchestras were not renowned for their performance standards. Many British composers of the time were also performed abroad, far more than might now be realized, and the new music from Europe was heard in London. Particularly after the inception of the ISCM Festivals in 1922, with British musicians playing a leading role in their organization, an awareness of the latest trends in Europe was widely felt in UK musical circles — though certain idioms, particularly those of the Second Viennese School and some works of Bartók, would not become accepted by the wider public until the 1950s and 1960s. Throughout, Sir Henry Wood and Sir Adrian Boult, in particular, performed new music in all styles.
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- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991
References
1 Sir George Dyson, writing to the BBC in 1935 in response to a commission to give a series on broadcast talks on modern idioms in music, identified modern British composers as ‘to my mind, incomparably the ablest group in the world of our time’.
2 Hughes, Spike in his first volume of autobiography, Opening Bars (Pilot Press, 1946, p. 135)Google Scholar refers to ‘The unspeakable mediocrity of the average British performance – not of new works, for the British orchestral player reads unfamiliar music betterthan anyone in the world’. The establishment of the BBC Symphony Orchestra quickly produced an orchestra performing to the highest standards, and it was this orchestra that was heard performing the works discussed in this article during the 1930s.
3 AnbruchNov/Dec 1933. English translation published in Musical Times, February 1934, p. 131.
4 In fact this performance was preserved on acetate discs in the BBC Sound Archives, and the second act was re–broadcast on 26 May 1989.
5 BBC Written Archives' single Berg file (1933–1962).
6 BBC Written Archives, Caversham: Igor Markevitch file.
7 The BBC Symphony Orchestra – the first fifty years 1930–1980. (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1981), p.126Google Scholar.
8 That young conductor was 48 at the time!
9 Moldenhauer, Hans, Anton von Webem: a chronicle of his life and work(London: Gollancz, 1978), p.460Google Scholar.
10 Although Elizabeth Lutyens remarks that Edward Clark first invited Webern to visit the BBC as a guest conductor in 1927 the first contract is, in fact dated 2 October 1929 for a concert on 2 December including three rehearsals.
11 The 2 December 1929 programme was also planned toinclude four Mahler songs with Rozina Hurlinger as soloist, but before the concert there was an exchange of telegrams concerning an English substitute for Hurlinger who was sick. Clearly no agreement could be reached and the songs were dropped.
12 Moldenhauer, , op cit p.338Google Scholar.
13 Krasner, Louis: ‘Some Memories of Anton webern, The Berg Concerto and Vienna in the 1930s’, Fanfare 11/12 1987, pp.335Google Scholar.
14 Moldenhauer, , op cit p.339Google Scholar.
15 A list of artists receiving fees in excess of 50gns is appended to one of the BBC Webern files dated 20 April 1936 and shows the following: Carl Flesch 60gns; Eva Turner 1OOgns; Dino Borgioli 50gn; Albert Coates 50gn; so webern was clearly regarded as an important artist.
16 The Scots soprano was at this date known for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in the revival of Edward German's Merry England. How she coped with this stronger meat is not known.
17 Elsie Suddaby (1898–1980) is perhaps best remembered for her association with die music of Vaughan Williams, and was one of the singers for whom his Serenade to Music was written. She was the soprano soloist in the first London performance of Dona Nobis Pacem in February 1938.
18 The music critic and left-wing social philosopher Theodor wiesengrund Adorno (1903–1969) had studied composition under Berg, and from 1934 to 1938 lived in Oxford.
19 Incidentally Moldenhauer appears to be in error about the fee Webern actually received; whether it was actually different to the one the BBC put in dieir accounts is difficult to tell.
20 Krasner op.cit.
21 Ibid.
22 ibid.
23 Letters from a Life, Vol.1, ed. Mitchell, Donald and Reed, Philip (London: Faber, 1991), p.426Google Scholar.
24 Personal communication to the author.
25 Discussion with the author, 24 July 1991.
26 Letter to the author dated 5 March 1991.
27 Reissued widi Webern's complete works conducted by Pierre Boulez on Sony Classical CD 45845.
28 Restored from the worn 78rpm acetates by Richard C. Burns using his Packburn system, and issued on Continuum Testament STB 1004. Richard Burns's account of the restoration is printed in the C D booklet.
29 ‘Alban Berg Wrote His Own Elegy’, Sunday Referee, 13 December 1936.
30 Krasner, Louis: ‘The Origins of the Alban Berg Violin Concerto’ in Alban Berg Symposion Wien 1980 (Universal Edition, 1981), p.114Google Scholar. This concerto is, of course, dedicated ‘To the memory of an angel’ – Gropius's daughter Manon.
31 First issued on a limited circulation commemorative LP by die orchestra itself, this subsequently appeared on the GunMar Music label (GM 2006) and has now been transferred to C D (GM 2006CD). An American reviewer felt that here too Krasner had ‘caught the mystic nostalgic feeling beneath the notes…and found in Fritz Busch an equal in intensity and musicality.’ (Webster, Daniel in The Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 04 1991)Google Scholar.
32 American Columbia 11589–9D, set M 465; English Columbia LOX594/6; LP reissue American Columbia ML4857.