Roger Smalley

I met with Roger Smalley in Glebe, Sydney, 7 April, 2010. I interviewed him partly for his recollections as a participant at the WCSS and partly to find out more about his performance there in 1965. As a member of the Composers’ Ensemble he performed in one of the last concerts on the 1965 programme, which was a substantially different to the other concerts. It consisted of Cage, Feldman, Cardew, Messiaen, Stockhausen and one of Smalley’s compositions, Two Poems of D. H. Lawrence.

Filed under: Commentary from Interviews, Cage, Cardew, Composers' Ensemble, Feldman, flights, Gilbert, kangaroo hunt, Kelly Ground, Lumsdaine, Messiaen, pulses, Smalley, Stockhausen, Tippett

Gilbert and Lumsdaine

It was Anthony Gilbert who in various ways first prompted this research. Gilbert’s interview with Michael Hall that Hall quoted in his book* was the first mention of the WCSSs that I read, and remains one of the most significant passages on the topic in the published literature. Gilbert’s look of incredulity at my lack of knowledge of events from the 1960s spurred me to the particular research of this blog, and he had repeatedly offered to talk to me about the events. When I finally contacted him to make a date for this interview, he suggested including his old friend David Lumsdaine (who Gilbert first met at Wardour) and so the recorded conversation took place in York, with Gilbert travelling there from Manchester. This paragraph is a prolix way of saying that ‘I’m very grateful’.

Filed under: Commentary from Interviews, How was it funded?, Legacy of the WCSSs, Other information, What music was performed?, What was analyzed/discussed?, Who was there?, Babbitt, Birtwistle, Boulez, Brecht, Byrd, Cage, Die Reihe, Don Banks, Dunstable, Eisler, Feldman, Gabrielli, Gambier, Gilbert, Goehr, Hall, John Alldis, Kelly Ground, Lumsdaine, Maxwell Davies, McGaw, Messiaen, Scheidt, Smalley, SPNM, Stephen Pruslin, Stockhausen, Taverner, Tomkins, Wood, Zipoli

Comments by Bayan Northcott on the 1965 WCSS

Speaking with Bayan Northcott uncovered a wealth of information about the WCSSs and the period in which they occurred. This post draws together some clips from the interview. The interview progressed with Northcott going through his diary.

Filed under: General details of the Summer Schools, Interviews, What music was performed?, Babbitt, Bach, Bedford, Beethoven, Bethany Beardslee, Bill Colleran, Birtwistle, Busoni, Cage, Cardew, Debussy, Edward Downes, Eisler, Emmanuel Hurwitz, Feldman, Gibbons, Goehr, Holloway, Leonard Stein, Martirano, Maxwell Davies, Melos Ensemble, Messiaen, Mozart, Northcott, Philomel, Pierrot Lunnaire, Schoenberg, Schubert, Sherlaw Johnson, Smalley, Stephen Pruslin, Stockhausen, Subotnick, Taverner, Tragoedia, Webern

1965 Concert Programme

1965 Programme of Concerts submitted to the Arts Council following their support of some of the concerts in the series. More on that later. One of the aims of this research was to make accessible information of the kind present here. There are some fascinating concerts, with lots of early music alongside new works. I would love to hear the Busoni (arranging Bach), Bach (arranged Goehr), Mozart, Holloway, Gibbons, Eisler concert. Fascinating.

I haven’t included the programme notes, and no author is given for most of these. A playlist of those works here that are also available on spotify can be found here: WCSS. It’s a collaborative playlist so if you find a work that I haven’t listed you can add it. You can also delete tracks and add new ones (perhaps you don’t like my choice of performers?). The recording of Birtwistle’s Tragoedia is by the Melos Ensemble with Lawrence Foster conducting.

(ACGB/51/265; see 1)

[5]

WARDOUR CASTLE SUMMER CONCERTS

President: MICHAEL TIPPETT

Director: HARRISON BIRTWISTLE

Filed under: What music was performed?, Alldis, Arnold de Lantins, Aronowitz, Babbitt, Bach, Barbara Elsy, Beardslee, Beethoven, Birtwistle, Blitheman, Brian Dennis, Busoni, Cage, Cardew, Chambers, Chansons de Bilitis, de Peyer, Downes, Dunstable, Ecce Manus Tradentis, Edward Downes, Eisler, Feldman, Geoffrey Shaw, Gibbons, Goehr, Goethe, Hacker, Hillary Wilson, Holloway, Hurwitz, Ian Partridge, Jacopo da Bologna, John White, Martirano, Mayrhofer, Melos Ensemble, Messiaen, Mozart K. 454, Orlando di Lasso, Pauline Stevens, Philomel, Pierrot Lunaire, Praetorius, Pruslin, Purcell, Robin Holloway, Roger Smalley, Roseberry, Schoenberg, Schubert, Shakespeare, Sherlaw Johnson, Stockhausen, Stoliberg, Subotnick, Tavener, Taverner, Tippett, Tragoedia, Veni sancte spiritus, Webern, Weil, Westron Wynde, William York