chairman’s message march 2016

NEWSLETTER

CHELTEN

HAM

MUSIC FESTIVAL SOCIETY

March 2016 CHELTENHAM MUSIC FESTIVAL SOCIETY VOL 35, NO. 1 www.cmfsoc.org.uk

Chairman’s Message March 2016The stormy weather at the start to 2016 has heightened theanticipation of the joys of summer and especially the MusicFestival, a highlight of that season for many of us.

The Cheltenham Festivals brochure setting out the fullprogramme will be published shortly and there will be anopportunity to hear about this in advance when MeurigBowen gives a presentation following our Annual GeneralMeeting on 21 March. Indeed that evening offers even morethan just a business meeting and I urge Benefactors andFriends to come along if you can.

This year, as well as the regular support we give to theEducation programme and the Programme book, the Societywill be supporting the Keyboard Inventions sequence whichruns through the Festival exploring the repertoire of thepiano and its electronic successors. The Society is alsosupporting a commission for Jonathan Dove to compose apiano work for one of the recitals in this series which MeurigBowen describes in more detail in this issue.

To my mind this is an apt thread to follow in theCheltenham Music Festival. The piano played an importantpart in the evolution of the town now recognised as a placewhere music abounds in many forms. It so happened that theperiod in the 19th century, when pianos became morereadily available and affordable, coincided with the timewhen a significant proportion of the town’s many seasonalvisitors and growing residential population wished to learnand to play the instrument for both social esteem and forpleasure. Cheltenham became a place attractive forprofessional musicians who spotted the opportunities formaking a living by teaching and playing.

You can read about the first Festival Society and a seriesof important Music Festivals in the late 19th century in thisedition. This all came to my attention thanks to an approachfrom Patricia Young in Devon. She is the great-great-granddaughter of J A Matthews and holds a large collectionof his correspondence some of which she kindly allowed meto read, as well the extensive obituary that appeared when hedied.

During the Festival there will be a lunch for Benefactorsand Friends on Friday 8 July. Details will be mailed with thisNewsletter. Another Festival event is in the Diary listingbelow and we are developing plans for other events over thenext twelve months including one during the Festival andanother very special recital early next year. As plans developthere will be more information on the CMFS website andcirculated to Friends.

I take this opportunity to welcome the following newmembers: Andrew and Liz Auster, Prof Clair Chilvers andPeter Cottingham, Sir David and Lady Pepper, Sally andDerek Richards.

Finally I wish to pay tribute to Freda, Lady Berkeley,one of our Members, whose death has been announced veryrecently. As widow of the composer Sir Lennox Berkeleyand mother of our Vice President and former FestivalArtistic Director, Michael, she was a regular visitor to theMusic Festival in earlier times and always a pleasure tomeet. We send our sympathy to Michael, now Lord Berkeleyof Knighton.

Graham Lockwood

17718 CMFS newsletter March 16 8pp.qxp_August 2004 Newsletter 29/02/2016 15:01

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Music Festival 2016 Keyboard Inventionsand Other Novelties

by Meurig Bowen, Festival Director

Taking Satie’s 150th birthday in 2016 as its starting point,our festival-wide focus ‘Keyboard Inventions’ explores thelegacy of the maverick Frenchman’s work; a mini-festival ofthe 21st century piano, if you like.

Erik Satie was one of music history’s great pioneers andprovocateurs. In his own uniquely eccentric andunpredictable way, he was a radical cultural force whosethinking paved the way for great change as the 20th centuryunfolded – not just down the ‘art music’ route, but throughpop music’s progressively triumphant ascendancy too.

‘Keyboard Inventions’ – with its nod towards J.S.Bach’sworks of the same name – celebrates Satie’s legacy as thetrailblazer, the architect of change in the way the piano hasbeen played and written for since his own lifetime. Whetherit’s the minimalist piano, the ‘prepared’ piano, the piano’srole in multimedia explorations or the wider bounds of‘conceptual art’, Satie was there at the beginning.

Featured in a range of performances over each festivalweekend will be the exploratory verve of young pianistsClare Hammond, Sarah Nicholls, Zubin Kanga andChristina McMaster, Will Gregory’s Moog Ensemble,composer-pianist Dave Maric and an overnight performanceof Satie’s Vexations. Avatars, wearable technology,animation, an inside-out piano/pendulum, radiophonic toypianos, narration and new scores for old films. All these willbe encountered in the ‘Keyboard Inventions events’,featuring music by over 20 composers including Michel vander Aa, John Cage, Will Gregory, Jonathan Harvey, KennethHesketh, Ed Hughes, Dave Maric, Tristan Murail, SteveReich, Arlene Sierra and Freya Waley-Cohen.

All of this will align with other related events, such asthe recital by Pascal and Ami Rogé (Satie, Debussy, Raveland Les Six), a repeat performance of my Satie two-handerfor actor and pianist, the premiere of Jonathan Dove’s newsolo piano work by Melvyn Tan (which CMFS issupporting) and an all-Chopin recital by Janina Fialkowska.We are also commissioning pianist Anne Lovett to create aworkshop for 9-14 year olds that will tour to a number oflocal schools. Anne will mesh a wide range of piano musicinto a hands-on demonstration of how pianos work. If mydaughter’s Cheltenham primary school is anything to go by,acoustic pianos are a rare sight in state schools now, so wefeel this will be important and inspiring work.

Other new, or quite new, music coming to Cheltenhamthis July includes: Sally Beamish’s The Sins – a piece foractor and ensemble based on the Seven Deadly Sins fromLangland’s 14th century Piers the Plowman; JamesMacMillan’s major new work for Ex Cathedra choir andensemble, Seven Angels; Piers Hellawell’s collaborationwith TS Eliot prize-winning poet Sinead Morrissey and theFidelio Trio; and superstar Swedish trombonist ChristianLindberg’s new double concerto for himself andpercussionist Evelyn Glennie.

Last but not least, our Composer Academy returns for its4th year, and with a new Guest Director Michael ZevGordon, Professor of Composition at the University ofBirmingham.

CMFS Annual General Meeting and Presentation21st March at 5.30 p.m.The Sanders Room, Cheltenham Ladies College. (Pleaseenter the Cheltenham Ladies College by the Porter’s Gatein St. George’s Road)

The formal notice and agenda for the AGM are on theback page of this Newsletter.

Arrangements have now been made for the AnnualGeneral Meeting to be held on the above date – NOT duringthe Festival as has happened in the past.

The meeting will be followed by a short break for drinksduring which guests invited by the Music Festival team willbe welcome to join with Society Friends for the remainderof the evening.

6.30 p.m. Presentation by Meurig Bowen. Director of theMusic Festival, in which he highlights performances andthemes to be enjoyed in the 2016 Festival.7.00 pm (approximately). In an informal sessionChristopher Cook invites Meurig Bowen to reveal, withmusical examples, his choice of Desert Island Discs.The evening’s events are expected to conclude by8.00 p.m.

NOTE. For reasons of catering and security Friends whointend to attend the AGM are asked to give advance noticeby notifying the Secretary, Mary Mackenzie – contactdetails on the back page of this Newsletter


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Tuesday 29 MarchPRIORITY BOOKING for CMFS members (in person andon-line) from 1 pm.onwards.

Booking Office, 15 Suffolk Parade, Cheltenham GL502AE, www.cheltenhamfestivals/booking, Tel 0844 8808094;

27 April – 2 MayCheltenham Jazz Festival

7-12 JuneCheltenham Science Festival

1st-17th JulyCheltenham Music FestivalFriday 1st and Saturday 2nd July: Schubertiade at Syde. Wednesday 6th July: Main Festival starts

Friday 8th July1.30 p.m for 2.00 p.m. Lunch for Benefactors and Friendsat the New Club.

A two course menu, a welcome drink and coffee for £26per head. Details and menu choices are enclosed with thisNewsletter. It is hoped that the musicians performing in themorning concert will be joining us for lunch.

Saturday 9th July11 a.m. Pittville Pump Room PREMIERE of CMFS Commissioned work by JonathanDove. Played by Melvyn Tan.

2 p.m. Parabola Arts Centre A programme including thepremiere of a piano concerto by Dave Maric followed at3.30 p.m. approx. by a Special Event for CMFS Friendswhen Dave Maric will be interviewed by Christopher Cook.This will also be at the PAC where refreshments will beavailable for purchase both before and after the interview.

Friends may wish to stay for the 5 p.m. performanceRitual in Transfigured Time.

There is no charge for the interview session but Friendswill need to purchase their own tickets for the performancesat 2.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m.

Sunday 17th JulyFinal Day of Festival

23rd JulyDeadline for submissions to CMFS Newsletter

Opera Trips with Cheltenham Opera SocietyIt is too early to say much about 2016-2017. There will be atrip to Cardiff in September to see Macbeth (Verdi) byWNO (date not yet fixed). The Royal Opera House andENO have not yet published their programmes.

To get on the mailing list for opera trips, send youraddress, phone number and e-mail address to RobertPadgett, 14 Century Court, Montpellier Grove, CheltenhamGL50 2XR, 01242 571802, [email protected].

More dates for your Diary

In my pre-Festival missive last year, I mentioned Going fora Song, a music and song-writing project that had just begunin Hesters Way. I thought you might be interested to knowhow it all panned out.

Led by the very talented young composer and vocalleader Michael Betteridge, the overall aim was to engagelocal people of all ages in song-writing and performance inorder to:

• develop musicality and improve their self-confidence • support non-specialist primary teachers to teach musicmore effectively

• achieve an enhanced sense of community through ashared experience

• extend our network of partnerships with communityorganisations in Hesters Way

Michael worked with Year 4 and 5 pupils and theirteachers in St Thomas More Primary School and withvisitors to The Living Room, a drop-in centre that providesvital support to vulnerable people in the community.Participants ranged in age from 8 to 95 years old.

Michael has that enviable ability to connect with peoplefrom all walks of life. His inclusive and thoughtful approachmeant that, whatever their level of confidence and self-esteem, all participants were able to share their experiences,their thoughts and feelings, and their hopes for the future –

Education Outreach – Looking backby Philippa Claridge, Education Officer

Continued on Page 4

The pupils finding out how their lyrics become songs


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resulting in a collection of eleven original songs. Upbeat,wistful, funny, thought-provoking, the collection is aremarkable legacy for the groups, and includes aparticularly beautiful and affecting song writtencollaboratively; it deals with the children’s requests of theadults in their lives, and the wisdom and advice for thechildren from the adults. It is testament to the success of the

project that the school has adopted one of the songs as theirofficial school song, and that the Living Room groupcontinue to sing together every fortnight and to write songs.

The groups performed together in Hesters Way Library,Monkscroft Care Home, and also on stage at the MusicFestival Family Day in Imperial Gardens. Looking at theparticipants’ feedback there is no doubting the impact of theproject. If I had to choose one bit of feedback that says it all,it would be from an individual at the Living Room who,really quite sceptical about the whole thing at the beginning,metamorphosed into – well, read what he said: ‘In all mylife I have never enjoyed anything as much as this event andall of the people.’

If you would like to read more about Going for a Song,there is a full evaluation report on our website, and a link tothe songbook: http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/education/take-part/community-outreach/

Next time I’ll tell you more about the excitingopportunities for schools in this year’s programme –including a day with talented young string players andNicola Benedetti at All Saints’ Academy.

Continued from previous page

It is rare to hear music by Beethoven, Liszt and Haydnplayed in the South Chapel of Cheltenham Cemetery but itseemed highly appropriate on Tuesday 26th of January aswell-wishers gathered to pay their final respects to ValerieHodges, who from 1977-1986 was secretary ofthe.Cheltenham Festival Society – as it was then known.

“Valerie will be sadly missed, but remembered withgratitude and much affection by many,” writes Jo Miller.“Ido not know how many times over the years I have said toher: 'You are an inspiration to us all.’ She worked tirelesslyfor the Festival Society when she was on the committee andespecially so when in the role of secretary. Her musicalevenings were very popular and her Bring & Buy morningsbrought in a lot of revenue for the Society. However, thiswas just a fraction of the good work she did for the town.”

Peter Young recalls that she did good works in a lot morethan music. “I was at her last U3A Music Study class on14th December when we held it in her absence, as she hadbeen admitted to hospital the day before. She was a verysplendid person!” She was also a dynamic manager of thePrestbury Day Centre in the years before retirement.

Valerie had a passion for music and was always keen tocommunicate her enthusiasms to others. Another passionwas Italian and she embraced the Italian language andculture with zest making several trips to the country andleading conversation classes in the language under theauspices of U3A. She brought a similar sense ofcommitment and energy to civic matters during the 10 years

she was boroughcouncillor forAll Saints' Ward.

The Friendsof CheltenhamMinster weregrateful for hersupport whenthe future ofChe l t enham ' sonly medievalbuilding was indoubt, and she“adopted” StMary de Lode'sin Gloucesterm a k i n ge m b r o i d e r e dhassocks for thechurch. She wasalso the impetus

behind the formation of the Gloucestershire AviationCollection and her efforts to commemorate the county'saviation heritage finally reached fruition with the opening ofthe Jet Age Museum at Staverton.

“Throughout her life and despite personal tragediesValerie remained outgoing, altruistic and driven,” her sisterMaureen remembers. Her passing will leave a gap in thelives of many of us.

Valerie Hodges – An Appreciation

Some of the Living Room group enjoying their performance atthe Music Festival


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From 1887 until 1896 music lovers from Cheltenham andfrom further afield were able to enjoy a series of MusicFestivals thanks to the initiative of one of the town’s mostprominent musicians. John Alexander Matthews had settledin Cheltenham following his marriage to a Miss Woods in1866. He was then 25 years old and had just been appointedorganist at the new church built as a temporary measurefrom 1859 when the Parish Church of St. Mary’s had beendeemed unsafe and closed pending restoration work. Overthe next 60 years Matthews became a leading figure in themusical life of Cheltenham and when he died in May 1925his obituary in the Gloucestershire Echo covered manycolumn inches and was headed ‘Our Musical G.O.M”.

The obituary describes his musical life which had begunwell before he settled in Cheltenham. From being aChorister at Gloucester Cathedral he became an organist, amodest composer and later developed a fine baritone voicegood enough for him to perform at the 1857 and 1859Handel Festivals in the Crystal Palace which had, by then,been moved from Hyde Park. The 1857 festival there waseffectively a rehearsal for the remarkable 1859 Festivalwhich celebrated the centenary of Handel’s death. It wasexceptional by any standards. The choir alone comprised2700 singers many of whom were amateurs following theboom in choral singing from the 1830s. There were 450musicians in the orchestra and the vastness of the CrystalPalace was needed to house these numbers as well as thehuge audiences. Over 80,000 people attended the threeperformances.

When Cheltenham’s Winter Gardens were constructed inthe late 1870s Matthews must have seen that here was avenue in which he could hold a music festival that couldreplicate, on a smaller scale, those at the Crystal Palacewhich had continued to flourish after 1859. Cheltenham’sWinter Gardens in Imperial Square did not match thevastness of the Crystal Palace but it had large spaces andhad been constructed with similar materials and design.Moreover, by 1887, Matthews had accumulated both theexperience and sufficient musical resources to ensure asuccessful event, especially with his Cheltenham Choraland Orchestral Society which he founded in 1870. Thissociety put on many concerts over subsequent years with astrong emphasis on oratorios which had become verypopular with the Victorians. For his choral concertsMatthews would secure good professional soloists andaugment his choir and orchestra with singers and musiciansfrom elsewhere. The Society was to be under his baton forover 50 years from that 1870 foundation year. Its name waschanged to the Cheltenham Festival Society at the time ofthat first festival in 1887. Unlike our own Society datingfrom 1952, Matthews ensured that its primary purpose wasto give performances of choral music but there isphotographic evidence that they enjoyed outings too.

The sheer scale of the three day programme in 1887made an impression on the reviewers of the CheltenhamLooker-On as well as providing them with an opportunity totake a side swipe at the design of the Winter Gardens.

‘… never, perhaps. have the general public felt so kindlydisposed towards the originators and builders of ourunsightly Winter Gardens as they did on Tuesday eveningwhen the whole length of the vast interior was utilised forthe accommodation of the brilliant assembly who occupiedit from end to end. The Orchestra also with its countlesstiers of choralists, and a strong band of instrumentalists,presented in itself an almost unique and striking spectacle,the organ, especially erected for Mr. Matthews for theoccasion, occupying a conspicuous position in the centre.’

That first festival began with a public rehearsal on theMonday followed by the first full concert on the Tuesdayand two more concerts on the Wednesday afternoon andevening. In a remarkable foreshadowing of Cheltenham’sfirst post war festival in 1945, the opening concert featureda new work conducted by its composer. The recentlyknighted Sir Herbert Oakeley who occupied the Reid Chairof the theory of music at Edinburgh and was also both acomposer and accomplished organist, conducted his newJubilee Cantata to mark the Golden Jubilee of QueenVictoria’s reign and specially written for the Festival.Matthews then took over the baton for a performance of thelarge scale choral work by Arthur Sullivan entitled TheGolden Legend. Based on a Longfellow poem thiscomposition had been written for the Leeds Festival in theprevious year and had already been performed inCheltenham by Matthews and his choir earlier in 1887. Thisrepeat performance in the festival was well received.

Another major highlight was a performance ofMendelssohn’s Elijah on the Wednesday afternoon in thepresence of a robed Mayor and Corporation and a fullhouse. According to Cheltenham Looker-On those givingthe performance came from ‘ …a vocal and instrumentalarray of professional talent heretofore unattempted either inthe Winter Gardens or the Assembly Rooms’ The orchestrawas said to number 300. The Festival concluded thatevening with a concert of instrumental works, operatic ariasand other songs.

Following that initial success Matthews directed twomore festivals in the Winter Gardens in 1890 and 1893.Each time the musical resources were advertised as havingincreased from the initial 300 to 400 and 500 respectivelyand for the choral works the Festival Society choir wasaugmented with choristers from other choral societies in theCounty. These impressive forces massed to perform suchworks as two versions of Stabat Mater – by Rossini andDvorák respectively. The Messiah featured in both festivalsand the performance in 1893 was enlivened when the tenorsoloist cried off at the last moment. It was belatedly realised

Cheltenham’s Triennial Music Festivals andthe first Festival Society

Graham Lockwood has been delving into Cheltenham's Victorian past.


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Continued from previous page

that his stand-in would be unable to arrive until after theconcert finished but the day was saved by a volunteer fromthe choir.

One recurring theme in the critical reviews of the firstthree festivals is that the large space of the Winter Gardenswas invariably full despite its reputation as a poor venue forserious music. It had major comfort deficiencies and anacoustic that was poor at the best of times. It is hard to judgejust how big the audiences would have been and what theseating capacity was after allowing for the space taken up bythe choir, orchestra and organ each time. However thenumbers were clearly large by Cheltenham standards. Forthe Music Festivals efforts were made to improve the austereinterior. In 1890 the walls were reported as being‘...beautifully fluted in pale green and pink, the pillars inwhite, the windows filled with panels painted in classicstudies.’ A finishing touch was a line of small fir trees alongthe length of the walls.

In keeping with the pattern established at Birminghamand other early music festivals there was a charitablepurpose with a collection taken at the end of each festival tobenefit local charities and the civic importance continued tobe recognised by the presence of the Mayor and otherdignitaries from the Cheltenham Corporation.

Matthews received fulsome tributes at the end of each ofthe Winter Gardens festivals and he went on to direct afourth tri-ennial festival in early November 1896 but thistime it took place in the Assembly Rooms because the futureof the Winter Gardens appears to have been under reviewand was reported as being no longer suitable, for the timebeing, for large gatherings. Despite the change of venue thefestival followed its previous format including newcompositions commissioned by the festival and eachconducted by its composer. These included Morning byIliffe, Spanish Scene from Edward Elgar, part songs from HJ Taylor and a choral work from Herbert Brewer who wasthen about to become organist at Gloucester Cathedral.Major traditional works again were featured, notablyMendlessohn’s Elijah, the first part of Haydn’s Creationand, once more, Sullivan’s Golden Legend. There was aband and choir of 300 performers, and special trainsarranged to augment the audiences. However the fourth

festival was inevitably a scaled down version of the WinterGardens years and it was to be the last under the direction ofMatthews.

Photograph of J A Matthews reproduced by kindpermission of his great-great-granddaughter, Mrs PatriciaYoung

Matthews had set a standard for music festivals inCheltenham that others endeavoured to match at later eventspromoted as being of festival status. The current annualCheltenham Music Festival held every year since 1945 has,of course, not only maintained that standard but built upon ita reputation for excellence and innovation that Matthewswould be delighted to see and which we, at CMFS, are hereto support.

This article is an extract from a longer version of thestory of Cheltenham’s first Music Festivals appearing inthe Cheltenham Local History Society Journal 32 (2016)to be published April 2016.

News from Here and ThereThe memorial concert for the late George Mathers on

Sunday 10th January attracted a large audience and raisedover £2,000 for charity. Listeners were treated to an eclecticrange of music performed by Christopher Elton, theKapsetaki twins (piano) from Crete, Rustem Hayroudinoff,the Oriel Singers and professional musicians from George'sown family.

News has reached us that tickets for two music festivalsin the Cotswolds are selling like hot cakes. AngelikeKirchschlager, Alfred Brendel and the Borodin Quartet areamong the musical stars heading for the ChippingCampden Festival which runs from Sunday 8th May untilSaturday 27th May (www.campdenmusicfestival.co.uk).

Longborough Festival Opera opens on June 9th withTannhaüser followed by Le nozze di Figaro, Jenufa andHandel's Alcina. (www.lfo.org.uk)

In Cheltenham itself there are plenty of musical delightsin the run-up to the Music Festival including the RoyalPhilharmonic (April 23rd), the Hallé (May 25th) and theCBSO (June 15th). Other events worth looking out for arethe National Youth Wind Ortchestra of GB on April 2nd(Town Hall), Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Huw Watkins onApril 14th (Pittville Pump Room) and the Christian ArtsFestival at various venues from April 8th to 24th. TheCarducci Quartet will be organising their festival atHighnam betweeen May 13th and 15th.


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Cheltenham Music Festival Society CommitteeCharity No 281044

Chairman: Mr Graham Lockwood. Tel: 01242 524814; [email protected] Honorary Secretary: Miss Mary E Mackenzie. Tel: 01386 710517; [email protected], Hill Lane, Elmley Castle, Pershore WR10 3HUHonorary Treasurer & Membership Secretary: Mrs Jennifer Stapleton. Tel: 01242 692764; [email protected] Montpellier Terrace, Cheltenham GL50 1UX. Newsletter: Mr Roger Jones. Tel: 01242 515533; [email protected] 43 Arle Road, Cheltenham GL51 8JYSocial Events: Mrs Nicola Lawson. Tel: 01242 242064; [email protected] Website Manager: Mr Philip Stapleton. Tel: 01242 692764; [email protected] Members:Mr Christopher Cook: 0207 289 8794; Mrs Jo Miller: 01242 527364; Mr Peter Young: 01242 520459Mrs Gina Wilson: 01242 580333

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Cheltenham Music Festival SocietyAnnual General Meeting: 21st March 2016

Notice is hereby given that the AGM of the Cheltenham Music Festival Society will take place on Monday 21 March 2016 at5.30pm in the Sanders Room, Cheltenham Ladies College, Cheltenham. (Enter via the Porter's Gate, St George's Road).

AGENDA1. Welcome 2. Apologies for absence.3. Minutes of the AGM held on 1 July 2015.4. Matters arising.5. Chairman's Report6. Treasurer's Report and Accounts. The accounts are printed on the previous page of this Newsletter.7. Appointment of an independent examiner of the accounts.8. Election of Officers

ChairmanHonorary SecretaryHonorary Treasurer/Membership Secretary

9. Election of THREE committee members.10. Newsletter.11. Any other business.

NOTESNominations for the posts of honorary officers and two committee members should be lodged with the Honorary Secretary,Miss Mary Mackenzie, Rivendell, Hill Lane, Elmley Castle, Pershore, WR10 3HU on the nomination form enclosed with thismailing. Alternatively the completed form can be e-mailed to [email protected]. Nominations should reach the Hon.Secretary at least 48 hours before the start of the Annual General Meeting.Completed nomination forms should include the name of the person proposed for nomination with his/her signature indicatinghis/her willingness to stand for election to the Committee and should also include the names of the proposer and seconder.The current Chairman, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer & Membership Secretary have indicated their willingnessto serve for another year. Committee Members are elected for 3 years, and since Mrs Jo Miller and Mr Philip Stapleton willhave completed their 3-year periods at the AGM, and Mrs Nicola Lawson is having to tender her resignation so three vacanciesarise. A full list of current committee members is provided below.


chairman’s message march 2016

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