Category: Music

New CD published – Piano Music of Walter Niemann volume 1

On By johnkerseyIn Music, Romantic Discoveries Recordings

A new CD recording has been issued by Romantic Discoveries Recordings

Piano Music of Walter Niemann volume 1
Gartenmusik, op. 117 • Kleine Suite, op. 102 • Kleine Marburger Sonate, op. 162 • Transcription of Handel’s Pastoral Symphony • Two Sonatinas, op. 152 (includes first recordings)
John Kersey, piano
RDR CD111

Total time: 66 minutes 15 seconds

1. Gartenmusik, after a text by Oscar Wilde, op 117 (14:27)
i. Allegretto moderato ed amabile ii. Andante tenuto e molto tranquillo iii. Moderato e liquido

2. Kleine Suite (Suite miniature), op 102 (15:44)
i. Praeludium ii. Tempo di Minuetto iii. Tempo di Tango iv. Elegia v. Alla Marcia fantastica vi. Basso ostinato vii. Postludium

3. Kleine Marburger Sonate (Piano Sonata no. 12), op 162 (15:45)
i. Allegro amabile ii. Poco adagio notturnale iii. Moderato con moto – Im behaglichen Wanderton

4. George Frederick Handel (1685-1759): Pastoral Symphony from “Messiah” transcribed for piano by Walter Niemann (2:45)

5. Sonatine op 152 no. 1 “Forest Music” (10:04)
i. Moderato espressivo – Easy going and graciously ii. Short Ballad – Andantino mosso iii. Rondino – Allegro non troppo, ma con anima – With good humour

6. Sonatine op 152 no 2 “Country Music” (7:18)
i. Poco allegretto giocoso e rusticale ii. Alla Musette – Allegretto moderato iii. Alla Giga – Vivo e giocoso

Walter Niemann was regarded in 1927 as “the most important living piano composer who knows how to make music from the piano in a subtle and colorful way, although he often enters the field of salon music” (H. Abert, Illustrated Music Lexicon). This most sensitive and introverted master of the piano devoted his life to composition and musical scholarship, also performing his music in concerts and radio broadcasts. Niemann’s vast output for the piano is only now starting to become more widely known. Although his style is generally unashamedly conservative, he was one of the very few German composers to explore Impressionism in music, and this also reflected a fascination with the Far East. Elsewhere, Niemann’s imagination takes us from much Baroque recreation to large-scale epic sonatas, Schumannesque miniatures and even the exploration of early jazz styles. His understanding of the capabilities of the piano was complete, and his works include both collections for young pianists and mature works that exploit the full range of pianistic effect and make significant demands on the performer.

Notes from a pianist: The pianist as recording editor and producer

On By johnkerseyIn Notes from a pianist

The majority of commercial recordings of classical pianists today are the product of the modern studio and its processes. This involves not only the pianist, but recording editors and producers who will often be deeply involved in the artistic decisions that are integral to recording. The pianist may or may not have the final say as to which takes are used, and will have limited input into issues such as microphone placement and the technical acceptability of particular takes. These are much more likely to be decisions taken on the basis of standard studio practice and the expectations of the recording industry than on the basis of artistic judgement alone.

Let us take a step back, however. Should the point of recording a solo pianist not be to capture the experience of their playing in as natural and unforced a manner as possible, as if he or she were in the room with us? How often does the commercial recording process succeed in capturing intimacy, or a sense of spontaneity? Why do old recordings seem to achieve these things far more successfully than modern ones?

The unfortunate fact is that far too many commercial piano recordings sound exactly the same; they share a standard approach to recording the piano and an interpretative approach that rarely creates any sense of surprise or of an unfolding musical experience born of head and heart rather than of industry expectations.

The first pianist that I am aware of who made extensive private recordings was the late Gunnar Johansen (1906-91), a Danish pianist who settled in the USA. Johansen taught himself how to edit tape, and as a result produced a remarkable and extensive series of LP and cassette recordings (including the collected works of Liszt, Busoni and Ignaz Friedman) for his own recording label, Artist Direct Recordings. Initially, he made recordings in his living room at home, and later built a home studio. Andres Segovia said of this, “Oh, I so wish I had a place like this! I sit there in the professional recording studios, play a work perfectly … and then they tell me, ‘We heard your chair creak at one point,” or” your shoe hit the floor” …  and we have to do it over again!’”

Segovia’s point is well-made. Johansen’s recordings do not sound like the clinical products of the studio, but create a very powerful sense of direct presence, as if he is playing directly for you. There are occasional noises off, and not every edit is imperceptible, but the result is honest, real, and a genuine musical experience of the playing of a master pianist. When artists such as Celibidache disdained the recording process as being unable to capture the essence of music-making, they might have paused at Johansen’s achievement.

Glenn Gould, too, foresaw a point where the pianist would also take charge of the studio side of recording. The key to doing so is that there is a unified vision behind the recording in question. No more is there the risk of clash between recording producer, sound engineer and pianist; no more the risk that the finished product might in fact be so far from the pianist’s own interpretation that it was unrecognizable to them. And there would, in all likelihood, be much less of the assembly of a collage-like performance from multiple unrelated takes. On a visit to a major studio, an acquaintance was told that they were also working on a recording of Beethoven’s last piano sonata by an extremely prominent pianist who is rightly esteemed to be among the greatest living today. The studio was littered with what appeared to be hundreds of labelled tape fragments taken from days of sessions. From this would eventually be constructed twenty-five minutes of recorded music that was subsequently released to enduring critical acclaim. Great recording it may have been, but it was the product of the studio and not of anything resembling live performance.

Having now edited many of my own recordings, I would maintain that the editing process involves important artistic choices that are integral to the interpretative process. They are choices that I would now be reluctant to concede to others, however expert they might be (and I certainly make no claims for my own technical expertise as a sound engineer). There are many electronic tricks that could be used to make a recorded performance appear to be something it is not, from the addition of acoustic effects that could make it sound as if it were in a large concert hall, to more subtle but insidious sonic alterations that would probably be imperceptible to most, but would produce a final product that would sound more like the output of a modern studio. My preference is to disdain them all.

There are times when my recordings are affected by factors such as the physical noise of the instrument (keys or pedals); the occasional sound of my children and cats playing (or arguing) in the background; the odd bumpy edit; or my piano not being perfectly in tune (though its colour and character more than compensate for any such deficiency in my view). But these are real performances, by a real pianist passionate about the music, and they aim at an artistic integrity that brings them into line with the experience of hearing the work played in a natural, intimate setting similar to that envisioned by the composers in question.

Likewise, each work is wherever possible recorded in a single session and a single microphone is used (because we as listeners only hear music from a single location in live performance). The recordings use the widest dynamic range possible, meaning that they will often benefit from playback at a slightly louder volume than is usual. And I hope that they succeed in capturing that indefinable quality that drew me to the music in the first place and that makes me want to share it with others; an emotional richness and warmth that creates intimacy and the human touch.

Notes from a pianist: Pedalling with the ear

On By johnkerseyIn Music, Notes from a pianist

The use of the piano’s sustaining pedal is a vast subject, and in this brief article I wish to mention only a few salient aspects.

It has become fashionable for pianists today to play with very little use of the sustaining pedal and for the prevailing critical taste to praise performances that are predominantly dry and clear in texture as well as fast in tempo. This is in keeping with a modernist sensibility. However, there is an alternative approach to the use of the pedal that is Romantic in origin and spirit.

The editions of Bach and Mozart prepared by leading pianists and musicologists of the Romantic era, typically in the nineteenth-century, are generally shunned by modern pianists who assume that the understanding of such editors as Czerny and Liszt is defective in comparison to their own modernist conceptions of authenticity in the performance of music of the pre-1825 period. Such editions usually include recommendations for pedalling, despite the fact that the modern sustaining pedal (and indeed the modern piano) was not available to the composers in question. Because this is at first sight “inauthentic” a stylistic orthodoxy has therefore developed in which historically-informed performance practice essentially treats the prevailing performing traditions of the nineteenth-century, notably pedalling, as taboo and replaces them with their own concept of what early music should sound like. This aesthetic has since come to encompass much Romantic music as well.

Yet there is another way to see these matters.

In Beethoven, we have the benefit of a number of fortepianos surviving today that represent the traditions of piano-making that Beethoven himself was on record as praising, and also excellent modern copies of the same. Playing and listening to these is often a surprising experience, not least because their sound-world is the opposite of the dryness that now characterizes much Beethoven on the modern piano. Although outside the scope of this article, similar observations might be made of clavichords of Bach’s era, which often resonate very expressively in the right acoustic.

There is a tremendous and extremely attractive resonance built into the Beethoven-era fortepiano. We hear all manner of sympathetic vibrations and related sounds when a chord is played, creating a wider harmonic context. Moreover, Beethoven invites us directly to use and experience that resonance as part of the sound-world of his piano music. The first movement of the famous “Moonlight” Sonata (op. 27 no. 2) contains the direction “Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimamente e senza sordino” (“This whole piece ought to be played with the utmost delicacy and without damper[s]”). This means that the sustaining pedal is to be depressed at the inception of the movement and lifted at its end. This is not a new effect; we find C.P.E. Bach in 1762 advocating a similar use of the undamped effect when playing in an improvisatory and fantasia-like style. Beethoven’s sonata is of course headed “quasi una fantasia”.

It is perhaps testament to the modernism to which I referred earlier that in a search of the many performances of this movement on YouTube it was frequently the case that even those who used fortepianos disregarded Beethoven’s instructions and changed the pedal with the changing harmonies. In the performance of Dmitry Ablogin, however, we can hear rather more of Beethoven’s actual conception:

Schindler, Beethoven’s biographer, tells us that by the 1850s this effect was no longer possible due to the greater volume of the pianos being produced at this time. Most pianists since have agreed with him. And yet, this is surely a challenge to the imagination and technical control of the performer. More modern pianos can be played just as quietly as a fortepiano, and indeed more tonal control is possible in instruments of particularly fine quality. Sustaining pedals on fine instruments are also capable of subtle half-pedalling rather than binary on-off operation. In achieving these effects, it will be obvious that excessive speed is to be avoided if the result is not to be an ugly clash of harmonies.

The control of tonal gradation, speed and expression by the performer can therefore bring about an expressive interpretation of this work on a modern piano, albeit one that may be shocking in its effect. The result may well be a challenge to modern ears, but it will be one that seeks to capture the essence of Beethoven’s imaginative world rather than bowdlerise it for contemporary taste. And it can be applied to much else in Beethoven’s piano works, from the recitatives in the first movement of op. 31 no. 2 to the arioso of op. 110.

In Schubert, too, we can see this resonance at work in the marvellous reading of his last piano sonata by Tobias Koch, who plays an exceptionally sonorous fortepiano by Conrad Graf. Koch takes the first movement at a true molto moderato, unlike many modern pianists, and this expansive tempo allows every expressive nuance to make itself felt, including a much deeper and richer sonority than we usually hear. Is something similar possible on the modern piano? Certainly so.

Such was Romantic taste for resonance that the piano maker Blüthner developed an aliquot system whereby an extra set of strings was provided in the treble that were not struck but instead vibrated sympathetically with the others, producing an expressive silvery haze. I have loved these instruments since I first discovered them many years ago and they provide in many respects an ideal sonority for Romantic repertoire.

For the modern audience, Romantic pedalling is unexpected and often perplexing. Time and again, reviews criticise certain artists for “overpedalling” when in fact the use of the pedal is entirely deliberate as part of their interpretative concept and is authentic within the context of their pianistic tradition. The late John Ogdon, for example, made copious use of the sustaining pedal in Romantic repertoire, drawing on the legacy of such pianistic giants as Busoni and Anton Rubinstein to produce a full-blooded, passionate pianism that could often be colossal in its effect.

Another such artist is Stephen Kovacevich, who often seems to have an orchestral imagination in such composers as Beethoven and Brahms, and uses the sustaining pedal to great expressive effect. His playing is never dry. Indeed, in an interview, he has offered a view that sums up the parsimonious taste of contemporary modernism,

“What do you mean by P[olitically]C[orrect] in a musical context?
Fast, mean, spare…

According to authentic perspective?
Yes. Maybe also PC in a deeper, cultural sense as well, who knows? Political correctness is something that enrages me.”
(https://theartsdesk.com/classical-music/theartsdesk-qa-pianist-stephen-kovacevich)

There is nothing politically correct about Romanticism. It calls forth an individual response that, if it is to be spiritually authentic, must be an entirely sincere and committed reflection of the interpreter’s identification with the work in question. It may be too much for a shallow, sound-bite world. The Romantic pianist sees the pedal as an extension of the fingers; a vital expressive dimension to building an edifice in sound.

Notes from a pianist: Playing for the audience

On By johnkerseyIn Notes from a pianist

“In my early days I made the mistake of listening to what everyone said and therefore not following my own feelings about what I was playing. Now I know it’s my business to convince audiences that my view is the right one.” – Peter Katin, quoted in 1969

The pianist has a clear task; to interpret the work at hand in the way that best illuminates and communicates its meaning. Since a work of substance grows with you the more you know and play it, this means that interpretation deepens as our familiarity with the music increases and we perceive new aspects and insights, as well as new ways of communicating these.

The approach that I was raised in as a pianist emphasised considerably that interpretation is a process requiring the utmost integrity, honesty and to some extent humility, as the interpreter places him or herself at the service of the composer. Even in works that require a high degree of virtuosity, the musical message remains paramount – consider the virtuoso works of Liszt as interpreted with ideal balance by Claudio Arrau, for example. To display virtuosity for its own sake, to show off with speed or volume purely in order to excite an audience, or to play in a brash or shallow manner has been regarded rightly as being in poor taste. Towards the end of my student days I sat through a recital by a recent graduate consisting mainly of extrovert works of Liszt and Chopin played with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. The technical accomplishment was on one level impressive. There was no want of speed, tonal command or power. On the other hand, it did the composers concerned a considerable disservice to be reduced to such a one-dimensional view.

Of course, most pianists are aware of the boundaries of accepted good taste. But in this lies a problem. Firstly, the audience for the classical pianist has grown less attuned to the subtle art of interpretation and, in the shallow spirit of the age, expects the easier option of simply being entertained. Most pianists today seem to play in order to please the audience, rather than developing interpretations that may prove more controversial but are equally more personal and possessing greater integrity. Moreover, because of the prevalence of piano competitions and auditions as gateways to a pianistic career, an orthodoxy is imposed. The pianist is told: this is what the competition jury and the agents want to hear. His or her choice is then between giving the jury and the agents what they want or not having a career. The integrity that should be at the heart of the process is gone, replaced by a consensus judgement born of commercial, not artistic, imperatives.

This is a symptom of the increasing blurred lines between the business worlds of classical and popular music. Both are now concerned with demotic commercialism. If the audience is not pleased, or has been made to work hard for their pleasure, the commercial reward is lessened. This is one reason why so many pianists now sound alike, and play similar repertoire. To play in a different or more personal style, or to choose repertoire that does not have instant audience appeal, is to separate oneself from the mainstream.

The popular musician is often just as intent on personal integrity and artistic expression as the classical musician. For the popular musician, the battle against the restrictions of record labels can take on an epic quality, as the artist struggles to place their creativity ahead of its commercial exploitation. Historically, the classical musician has not had to fight this battle to the same extent, because society has rightly held that high art is an end worthy in itself, and has supported the idealism that is required to achieve it. Now, with high art no longer valued, the non-mainstream classical musician finds him or herself in a similar position to the popular musician who does not find chart success or who fades from fashion; the choice is either between trying to find some form of lasting niche, capitulating to stylistic pressure in the hope of being re-absorbed into the mainstream, or giving up altogether.

Another aspect of this is that the focus is now far more on selling the performer than the music. This again borrows from popular music. It is far easier to sell a personality than it is to focus on the complexities of profound, often elusive music. Again, there is a great deal of conformity in the way pianists are presented today. The agents know what will sell to their audience and what in turn will keep them in business. It is rare that a pianist’s biography these days offers any kind of surprise, for they all follow a very similar formula. Above all, anything controversial or extra-musical is studiously avoided. The result is a blandness and a deliberate concealment of the pianist as a whole person, lest any aspect prove unpalatable to the audience. Gone are the days when Shura Cherkassky, that most individual of pianists, could say  “Some people like my playing and some don’t, but nobody can say that I’m boring.” And that recalls the late John Barstow, doyen of piano professors at the Royal College of Music, who opined “the only sin is to be boring.”

There may be no commercial reward for the pianist who prizes integrity above mainstream values that he or she disagrees with, but there is the knowledge that integrity is the more important artistic goal. My view is that the mature artist should concentrate not on what the audience wants but on repertoire that he or she believes in passionately and is capable of advocating to the full in a way that is not merely dutiful but promotes that mystical identification of composer and interpreter such that interpretation truly becomes a recreative activity. The result may challenge the listener, and provoke strong reactions for and against, but if it has integrity, it will ultimately also command respect.

 

Notes from a pianist: The unkindest cut of all

On By johnkerseyIn Notes from a pianist

The technical work of becoming a pianist of professional level is unremittingly hard. Most begin with some level of natural facility, but refining this into a flexible and reliable technique is work that demands great concentration and dedication. As a student, having been gifted with a considerable natural facility, I nevertheless usually put in four hours practice a day, which generally achieved what I needed to do without becoming stale or unduly fatigued.

It never occurred to me that there were any short cuts to the goal of a comprehensive technical command. There was no substitute for putting in the physical work, and above all you had to learn how to work not just hard but smart. Progress resulted, and eventually you reached the goal of being able to perform a work not only to a professional standard but in the way that you believed it should be played.

And yet there were always limitations. The most obvious is a natural limitation on the size of the hand and to some extent its flexibility. There are techniques that can be learned to overcome many problems in piano playing. Nevertheless, there are some works that will never lie entirely comfortably under the hands. It is a rare pianist who can, for example, play all of the Chopin Etudes to the same high standard, since they expose different facets of technique mercilessly. Differences in technical emphasis among composers is also a major factor that leads to pianists specializing in the repertoire that best suits them. I remember as a student some pianists whose physique and temperament best suited them for Mozart rather than for Rachmaninoff, and others for whom that position was reversed. What I was taught was that you accepted what nature had given you and did your best with the result, and that in the vast majority of the standard repertoire there were solutions at hand that were interpretatively satisfactory.

But some pianists cheat. It seems, at least according to the internet, that Beethoven and Chopin, as well as some famous pianists of the modern age, all underwent a physical operation in which the webbing between some or all of their fingers was cut. If successful, this meant that the stretch of the hand would increase dramatically as well as aiding its flexibility in certain figurations. If unsuccessful, I suspect it would damage the hands beyond repair.

According to Alan Walker’s biography of Liszt, this practice had become fashionable in the late 1860s. Writing to his student Johanna Wenzel in 1872, Liszt counselled strongly against it,

“My dear young lady,
In reply to your friendly lines I earnestly beg of you to think no more of having this barbarous finger operation. Better to play every octave and chord wrong throughout your life than to commit such a mad attack on your hands.”

Liszt was correct to think of such practices as entirely alien to the pianist’s art. Those who knew Liszt uniformly refer to the nobility and artistic integrity of his interpretations and his teaching. Subordinating such values to a diabolical (and medically risky) compromise would be an unforgivable interference with nature.

Walker also tells us that by 1885 the tendons themselves were being cut, and that a description of the procedure involved had appeared in the British Medical Journal. In the United States, surgeon William E. Forbes specialized in the procedure, which was completed in fifteen minutes, and by 1898 estimated that he had performed it 2,500 times.

What of today? I am not aware of any pianist who will admit publicly to having undergone this or a similar procedure. Yet the internet suggests it is rife, both in Europe and in Asia, and the contemporary classical piano world’s emphasis on shallow virtuosity would tend to provide an impetus for such things. Who are the surgeons who (presumably privately) are doing this? Is it ethical for them to do so? In the already mired and corrupt world of piano competitions, should we not be separating those who have given themselves an unfair technical advantage from their uncut peers in the same way as the sports world bans doping? Is it not time to reassert the position that piano playing depends for its very essence on the integrity of the interpreter, both musically and personally?

Notes from a pianist: The mafia

On By johnkerseyIn Music, Notes from a pianist

“There was, he said, “always a mafia running the music world, but when I started my career the mafia was musical. The mafia now calling the shots derives its power not from musical expertise but from money.” – Peter Katin, quoted in his obituary in the Daily Telegraph (1)

There have been few more detrimental aspects to the world of the classical pianist than the domination of that world, during the past two decades in particular, by demotic commercialism. This commercialism has had a profound influence on the life of both prominent and lower-profile pianists, since for many it has resulted in loss of opportunity. It has also seen changes to the audience for pianists, as this audience has been transformed from connoisseurs into one of consumers.

In a perceptive article for The Guardian in 2002, entitled “Why are today’s concert pianists so boring?(2)”, Martin Kettle identified the changes in the place of the piano in society that have led, despite a number of outstanding artists, to a position where many pianists seem not to have anything very interesting to say. The change is not merely cultural, but commercial.

The past few decades have seen classical music become an increasingly homogenized product, in which live performance is secondary to recording and in which the audience is no longer, as once was the case, composed of those who have at least some personal experience of amateur music-making via a piano in the home. Moreover, our education system has no longer placed Western classical music at the heart of a liberal education, instead embracing a false relativism in which popular and non-Western musics are allowed to supplant it. Together with this, we have the indifference of the mainstream establishment to classical music (Desert Island Discs today is full of pop music), and the disappearance of classical music from many everyday situations such as background music and theme music for radio and television programmes.

Lastly, we have the dominance of musical institutions – concert halls, orchestras, conservatoires – by financial rather than musical imperatives, due to the funding regime in which they now operate. But there is more to this than Katin’s analysis of money leading the way. There is also a dominant authoritarian leftist set of values that has taken as its watchwords the modern shibboleths of diversity, equality and anti-elitism. Those pianists whose living depends upon this establishment for work are unlikely to speak out against it, and yet in acquiescing, they are willingly abetting the destruction of classical music as we know it. What has been desperately needed amid the current crisis of ridiculous wokeism is a robust public defence of Western classical music and its values, and a demonstration and proof both of its cultural importance to the British nation and its superiority over politically correct alternatives. Of course, this has not been forthcoming, and we now see the brash promotion of classical artists and music on the basis of their conformity to fashionable woke tropes rather than anything as non-inclusive as their musical superiority.

Where we see the combination of wealth and leftist authoritarianism on the world stage, major political forces are unlikely to be far away. Their strategy is to weaken the West’s values and resilience, and it will not take much reflection to see these factors at work in the piano world.

Because the modern audience is less informed, it is less capable of making genuine distinctions between interpretative values, and less likely to give the benefit of the doubt to performers who do not play in an increasingly narrowly-defined accepted style. It can be led more easily by influencers, and this fact is unlikely to be mere coincidence. It is obvious both in reading published reviews of concerts and recordings and in more informal commentary concerning pianists on the internet to see that standards have coarsened and that reductive assessment is now the order of the day in a world that is sadly dominated by soundbites, inattentiveness and immaturity.

It is quite possible, indeed, to identify many features of this modern accepted style of pianism: rapid tempi, dry textures with little use of the pedal, an emphasis on note-perfection, and an objectivist avoidance of pronounced rubato or anything deemed too personal. Often, it speaks of commendable technical accomplishment. But it is also shallow, dull, and ultimately unrewarding. Too often, it is rather like listening to Glenn Gould with all the personality and individual quirks of Gould’s genius surgically removed.

Above all, it seems to avoid anything that might be taken as expressing the profound or the numinous. In the past, the piano recital (in the right hands) could take on an almost sacred aspect, emphasising the spiritual quality that is inherent in so much great piano music. Nowadays, it too often partakes of the aridness of Western society’s loss of faith and the emptiness of postmodernism. It is not necessary for a pianist to have religious faith. But it is essential for a pianist to have spiritual awareness, to be familiar with the experiences that others gain through the religious life, and to recognise when a composer is drawing upon that legacy.

We might also reflect on a piece of archive tape recently rediscovered. In 1980, the BBC broadcast the presentation ceremony of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gold Medal to the great pianist Sir Clifford Curzon, pupil of Schnabel and Landowska and an outstanding exponent of the music of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert inter alia. In his presentation speech, Sir Michael Tippett firstly cites Curzon’s outstanding musical qualities (“excellence amounting at times to near perfection”). But then, he says something quite remarkable, “and for the moral quality of his musical taste”(3). The idea that musical taste might have a moral quality is alien to many of today’s pianists because they themselves shy away from morality and above all from the idea of an informed taste, which is a quality that anyone may aspire to through study and cultivation. That remark about moral quality could also be applied, of course, to Curzon’s teacher Schnabel himself and to many Schnabel pupils, particularly in my view to Leon Fleisher. It is this ultimately that marks out pianists as great musicians and not merely as great technicians. Curzon had an outstanding technical capability (hear as evidence his 1950 Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto with Szell(4)), but did not lay great emphasis in performance on mere accuracy. He served the spirit of the music above all else, not simply its letter.

The piano seems today to have departed the world of high culture to arrive in a backwater of mainstream showbusiness. Perhaps what has happened is that classical pianism has become a commodity that is now sold in the same way as pop music. There are many points in common. It would be difficult to listen to BBC Radio 3 for more than a few minutes without becoming aware of the fixation with youth that dominates classical music today. There remains a great deal of money in piano competitions for young performers, most of which are fixed in some way and none of which seem to succeed in producing the great musicians that they are supposedly looking for. I am tempted to suggest that Simon Cowell’s various enterprises are, if not necessarily more fair, at least much more transparent about their business.

Nevertheless, there seems to be a steady stream of highly competent young pianists all too ready to sell out and embrace the system in order to “make it”. None of them seem to question the loss of integrity that is the price of such a reward; it is hardly in their interests to do so. Doubtless they are assisted in this process by those institutions and pedagogues who long abandoned the idea that their responsibility was to set the standard for pianism rather that simply feed the system what it wants. And, as ever, foreign money is never far away, but also never without ideological strings attached. Indeed it is no longer necessary to win a piano competition to launch a career; it is more important to come to the attention of those in a position to promote concert artists – those with the necessary money and connections.

With the showbusiness ethic has come the expected concentration on external appearance and overt selling and promotion that is, to my mind, highly distasteful in this context. The Telegraph obituary of Peter Katin tells us that he “was from a generation of pianists that eschewed publicity and marketing, preferring to allow the integrity of the music to speak for itself.” Without integrity, an artist is nothing.

No longer does Radio 3 content itself with informative comment on the music and artist we are to hear. Now we are told what to think by the continuity announcers, with superlatives and value judgements that are both a form of shallow promotion and an indication of the fragility of the product, which clearly cannot be left to sell itself on its own merits. Here, as so often is the case elsewhere, the BBC lets both itself and the nation down.

In times past, there was a range of concert careers open to the performing pianist. A few would become international touring and recording artists, even global superstars. Far more would have a respected national profile, concertizing principally at home but also regularly abroad, recording and teaching. Some, like the late Bernard Roberts and Edith Vogel, concentrated on broadcast recitals for the BBC while making few commercial recordings. Then there were those who were based more regionally or locally, with the majority of their performing done for music clubs and societies or in an educational setting.

Even without the impact of COVID-19, these performing opportunities had shrunk dramatically in recent years, and the strata of the profession are today much narrowed. I remember talking in the mid-90s to several established professional pianists (who had had significant performing careers but were now primarily teaching) about this trend. Their response was that there was no concert work available for them and none of them could understand why this should be the case. Indeed, I remember reading a desperately sad article by Peter Katin in which he reflected on an empty diary at a time when he still had a great deal to offer in recital and was still making glorious recordings.

Of course some pianists can promote their own concerts and recordings, not infrequently with the assistance of wealthy patrons, and thus gain a foothold in the musical establishment. But Peter Katin was not wrong to speak of a mafia controlling the classical music world. It is a closed world, one that has no tolerance for those who question its norms or its politics, and one whose masters are about as far away from the values of high culture as it would be possible to be. Indeed, it may be argued that the only path towards integrity for the pianist lies in separating altogether from such degeneracy and instead regaining artistic control, however high the cost of doing so may be.

(1) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11488381/Peter-Katin-pianist-obituary.html
(2) https://www.theguardian.com/music/2002/sep/05/classicalmusicandopera.artsfeatures
(3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRvCvOTK0F8&t=2409s
(4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaYHdu4nFEs

Notes from a pianist: The unity of opposites

On By johnkerseyIn Music, Notes from a pianist

The Ancient Greek Heraclitus was the first Western philosopher to develop a cogent theory of the unity of opposites. In his theory, Heraclitus makes clear that it is possible to see opposites as both divided and connected:

“Collections: wholes and not wholes; brought together, pulled apart; sung in unison, sung in conflict; from all things one and from one all things (B10)

As the same thing in us are living and dead, waking and sleeping, young and old. For these things having changed around are those, and those in turn having changed around are these.(B88)”

In music, we are often confronted with large-scale works, such as sonatas or multi-movement suites, or indeed united works comprised of varied sections. These works will typically involve contrasts of tempo, mood and texture, and the task for the pianist is to bring out those contrasts in full while also holding together the unity of the work as a whole. In this respect, the unity of opposites is a useful philosophical tool for understanding how this may be achieved.

One aspect to this is the idea that both a given thing and its opposite are in fact two elements of the same unity. This is not unlike Jung’s concept of the shadow and the ego; the two are seen as negative versus positive, or unconscious versus conscious, but in fact both form an integral part of the whole person and must be reconciled in order to promote harmony. The movements of a sonata typically explore varied regions, but something that is at times hard to define ties them together and means that the experience of hearing them together is more than merely the sum of the constituent parts.

Schubert’s last piano sonata in B flat major (D.960) offers us two particular challenges that illuminate this. The first of these is in the overall structure of the work. There are four movements; the first two are predominantly moderate or slow in their pace and extended in their material, and the last two faster and shorter. In addition, the first two movements are emotionally intense and at times bleak, whereas the latter two are more positive, purposeful and resolute in mood, providing answers to the questions that had been asked earlier. The pianist must convince the listener not only that these movements belong together, but that they constitute a progression leading to a logical conclusion. This is most challenging in respect of the emotional continuity of the work, because if this is not maintained, it can easily leave the listener feeling that the second half of the sonata is inferior to the first, or that the drama has in fact concluded with the end of the second movement.

The second challenge is in the first movement exposition repeat, where Schubert introduces a transition passage containing intentionally disruptive and disturbing material that appears nowhere else in the movement. This is too much for some pianists, and they simply omit it. And yet disruption is already part of the work; we have barely proceeded past the first phrase, a calm chorale-like melody, when we are confronted by a menacing, uncomfortable trill in the bass. The same interval (the semitone) that describes the trill begins the transition passage. It is not only integral to the movement, but forms an essential part of the whole work.

How can we reconcile what is disparate? By perceiving each aspect as part of a unified whole into which opposites are deliberately introduced in order to expand the horizons of that entity. It is also possible to conceive the progress of a work in the sense of an enantiodromia as defined by Jung, in which when a thing is pushed to an extreme, it causes its unconscious opposite to emerge and eventually is overcome by that opposite. Jungian individuation holds that this process is one of integration and that from it is generated a whole that is complete. We might also recall the discourses of Osho, in which weighty spiritual matters were interspersed with politically incorrect jokes; this deliberate paradox was employed as a tool for transformation by reaching beyond the conscious mind.

The disparate elements in music do not all appear at the same time, but often in sequence, and yet they are all compresent in that they exist together concurrently. One element implies, perhaps causes, perhaps reflects another. And those elements interrelate; that is to say that they change and are changed by each other. Just as one cannot step into the same river twice, it is not possible to simply “repeat” a passage of music. The music on repetition is changed by its context even if it is ostensibly the same textually. An adept interpreter will make this contextual change explicit in performance, by reflecting the passage of the emotional journey in terms of dynamics, phrasing or other changes to the sound-world.

Another means of emphasising unity is to follow the practice of great pianists such as Grigory Sokolov and Radu Lupu of making minimal breaks between the sections or movements of a work. When this is done, it preserves the flow of the work through establishing a continuity of ideas. Sometimes this continuity also makes a harmonic point, as is the case in the transition between the second and third movements of Chopin’s third piano sonata (op. 58). It also forces the listener to pay attention to the transition; rather than the usual coughing and shuffling for a few seconds, they are compelled to concentrate and focus their attention in the same way as is the performer intent on conveying the overall structure and unifying features of the work.

Notes from a pianist: The spiritual dimension

On By johnkerseyIn Music, Notes from a pianist

“Her greatest interest in the interpretation and performance of her husband’s music was that feeling should be transmitted through it. She was unimpressed by fingers running up and down the keyboard, and she would sometimes say things that would irritate me. She would say that none of the pianists on the world stage really played with feeling. This was very hard for me to accept, and it took many years for it to really become clear to me, just what she was talking about.” – Elan Sicroff on his lessons with Olga de Hartmann (as quoted in Oksanen, Reijo, Elan Sicroff interview, Gurdjieff Internet Guide, 2010)

If there is one aspect that I consider vital in the interpretation of great piano music, it is the transmission of the sense of the sacred. By this I do not necessarily mean a reverence for the great composers as people (for they were as human and as flawed as any of us) but a reverence for the divine essence as reflected through the medium of their music. It is difficult to overemphasise how powerful this essence is. Through the experience of music – as performer or as listener – it is possible to achieve a state of higher consciousness and to gain an emotional and intellectual insight that is otherwise difficult to attain except through directly religious experience. This is not tied to any specific faith or set of beliefs, but rather reflects a universal spiritual truth that defies categorization.

In my opinion, the primary purpose of music is the communication and creation of an experience that in touching the emotions and the intellect, brings about transformative change in the recipient. Some music, such as that which is subordinate to a technical system or that inhabits a purely abstract world (as is particularly characteristic of some post-1945 Western art music) has little connection with human experience of this kind, and little interest for me as a result. If I do not feel both that music has a genuine and worthwhile message for the listener, and that I have something to say about it, I will leave it alone.

In these conclusions, I am influenced particularly by the late conductor Sergiu Celibidache (1912-96). Celibidache had studied Zen Buddhism, and laid strong emphasis on the performance of music as a transcendant experience. Celibidache had concluded that such transcendance was unlikely to occur through listening to a recording, and concentrated instead upon live performance. However, my own personal experiences (not least in listening to Celibidache’s recorded live performances) have taught me that recordings can quite readily reach these heights if performer and listener are suitably prepared and receptive.

In Zen, Celibidache identified the concept of ichi-go ichi-e as key; this is in brief, the idea that an experience is singular and unrepeatable, and encourages us to focus on the moment. This idea has a natural affinity with the teachings of Gurdjieff, which encourage us to focus our attention through the concepts of conscious labour and “present here now”. Modern life promotes inattention when listening to music; it relegates music often to mere background, and it leads to concerts and recordings being consumed as mere commercial products or entertainment rather than recognized as experiences of spiritual significance. Worse still, much modern piano playing reflects similar values. Mme. de Hartmann was not mistaken. What is missing is firstly that quality of concentrated attention – shared in an intimate bond between performer and listener – and secondly the transmission of essential spiritual and humane truths. Music is forever teaching us, if we are open to learning.

Federico Mompou’s Musica callada is an ideal example of music that seeks to create a transcendent experience in the listener. Not unlike the works of Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann, it eschews traditional ideas of development in order to communicate in purely emotional, spiritual and sensual terms. In that way, it is more accessible than music which relies upon a more formal structure, and more direct in expressing its essence, saying what it has to say with economy and concentration – focusing on the moment.

It should not be thought that these reflections lead to music necessarily being seen as “religious” in any conventional sense. Rather, they lead to an understanding of music as speaking of the higher emotional and intellectual centres of the human faculties; those aspects that connect us most directly both with our Creator and with creation as a unity – with our fellow human beings, through shared experience and empathy, and through an understanding of the natural world which is reflected in sound. Our experience of music will always be essentially subjective. What is of particular importance is that we should recognize that this subjective response is an integral part of our growth as a person; that through music, we can become more, feel more and understand more.

Notes from a pianist: Please don’t do this

On By johnkerseyIn Music, Notes from a pianist

Mark Thomas of the Joachim Raff Society has previously had some positive things to say about my recordings on CD, although it seems from his more recent comments that my interpretations are not always to his taste. Of course, we all have our own preferences in the interpretation of piano music and I welcome the fact that several works of which I made the first recording have since been recorded by other pianists (for example, the Piano Sonata by Victor Bendix, of which I made the first recording in 2010, has since had a further two commercial recordings, both of which are interesting interpretations that add to our understanding and appreciation of the work).

Although I am happy to explain the basis and rationale of my interpretations should this benefit from further clarification (as has been done in this series of posts), I would hope that anyone who hears them would recognize firstly that they reflect conscious and considered interpretative choices, and secondly that as such they are part of an approach to the performance of the music that prizes coherence, integrity and fidelity to the spirit of the composer.

The rest is subjective taste. In some respects, I am an anti-virtuoso pianist, deliberately avoiding exhibitionism and overt display in favour of what I believe are more profound and vital musical qualities. This places me against the prevailing currents in pianism, and is not something everyone will identify with or like. It is, however, the way I believe the music in question should be played if it is to reveal the interpretative aspects that I regard as integral to my personal identification with the work in question.

As I hope will be obvious to any informed surveyor of my work as a pianist, I have the command to do whatever I want at the piano. If I often choose a slower tempo than might possibly be taken by others, I do so not because I cannot play faster, but because I believe the work in question gains from a broader approach and that I can express its emotional content more fully by playing it in this way. If a model is sought for this approach among the great pianists, then I would point to the strong influence on my musical outlook of such artists as Grigory Sokolov and Valery Afanassiev.

Mark Thomas writes, “I’ve found that, if one has the audio software to do it, the flatter performances can be injected with a lot more life by speeding things up by 5-10% (being careful to maintain the original pitch).” In some respects, it would be fair to say that once you purchase a recording you may do whatever you like with it. But I appeal to any who may read this not to do as he suggests.

My interpretative decisions as to speed may be controversially slow on occasion, and some may prefer faster or flashier approaches. If that is what is desired, then it is proper to look to other pianists who are more to one’s taste. The deliberate distortion by speeding up of my recordings, however, disrespects their integrity as interpretations. Please don’t do it.

The Quarterly Review, August 2021

On By johnkerseyIn Music

http://www.quarterly-review.org/endnotes-august-2021

by Stuart Millson

“Our musical world has been reshaped by the Covid crisis – but we also face challenges from those who wish to destroy high-art, those “cultural commentators” who seek to dismantle the intrinsic European cultural reference points of the classical genre. A musician and academician who holds firm against today’s post-modernist onslaught is Professor John Kersey, a pianist who has studied and recorded Beethoven’s unfinished Sonata of 1794, and has also reinstated obscure but worthy late-romantic composers, such as Adolf Jensen. Professor Kersey’s search for the essence of the music means that we have unfussy, clearly-framed interpretations – and (like Gilbert Rowland) a performer who is more than happy to write about, discuss and present music – and the cause of culture.”

Lockdown recordings

On By johnkerseyIn Music, Notes from a pianist

A number of pianists have responded to the national lockdowns of 2020-21 by producing recordings from their homes. I decided to use the opportunity to do the same, and in doing so to choose music that particularly reflected my response to these events.

This has been the first time in living memory, if not for many centuries, that it has actually been illegal to give or attend a concert in England. As a former council member of the Libertarian Alliance until its dissolution in 2017, I spent a lot of time arguing for the preservation and indeed the extension of our civil liberties, and against governments that – on whatever pretext – would curtail them. The present events have served to emphasise the necessity of that work. I will leave a detailed discussion of lockdowns and their purported effectiveness for another occasion, but will mention that I am one of over 750,000 concerned citizens who are signatories to the Great Barrington Declaration. I also agree with many of the interventions made by Lord Sumption, who has said,

“I feel sad that we have the kind of laws which public-spirited people may need to break. I have always taken a line on this, which is probably different from that of most of my former colleagues. I do not believe that there is a moral obligation to obey the law… You have to have a high degree of respect, both for the object that the law is trying to achieve, and for the way that it’s been achieved. Some laws invite breach. I think this is one of them.”

Wherever one may stand on all this, there is without question a general sense of uncertainty, of transition, of alienation and of loss of control. These are all themes explored in the late sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert, which are written with an unparalleled awareness of human mortality and which reach forward into the world beyond our own. I decided that central to this series of recordings would be the last three sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert, together with other key late works of Beethoven.

In many ways, these works are the ultimate challenge for the pianist. They are, in Schnabel’s phrase, “better than they can be played”. No matter how well one may play them, they will always be bigger than any interpreter, and like Shakespeare, their emotional and humane range is of the widest imaginable. This compels at once a degree of humility on the part of the pianist and also a profound emotional and intellectual identification between interpreter and work as the full gamut of expressive effect is called upon.

Why should the spirits of Beethoven and Schubert still speak to us today? In some respects, they are different sides of the same coin. Schubert is sometimes held up as primarily lyrical and introspective in contrast to Beethoven’s heroic and indomitable style. But as his last piano works clearly show, Schubert also looks into the abyss and responds with optimism and the triumph of the human spirit. His last three sonatas all at various points confront nightmarish visions, with the first movement of the last sonata (D.960) perhaps providing us with the most compelling portrait of human isolation and tragedy. But there is no sense in which the music succumbs to despair. The ending of the last sonata is exuberant, even joyous. It breaks bonds and transcends limitations. It looks grim authority in the face and laughs at it.

Beethoven, too, is concerned with the juxtaposition of extreme contrasts, and the triptych of his last sonatas presents us with music that is concerned above all with transcendence. This is music that can at times return startlingly to convention, but at the same time remains unsettled and questing in spirit. Thomas Mann (borrowing from Adorno) discusses the sonata in chapter 8 of his novel Doctor Faustus, and speaking of the Arietta second movement of the last sonata (op. 111) says,

“But what now becomes of this gentle statement, this pensively tranquil figure, in terms of rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, what blessings its master bestows upon it, what curses he heaps upon it, into what darknesses and superilluminations, where cold and heat, serenity and ecstasy are one and the same, he hurls and elevates it one may well call it elaborate, miraculous, strange, and excessively grand without thereby giving it a name, because in actuality it is nameless…“

It is possible to read an overly religious subtext into Beethoven’s last sonatas, as did Wilfrid Mellers in suggesting that the last movement of the penultimate sonata (op. 110) is a wordless Passion (with its thematic links to the Bach St John Passion). There is surely something of Calvary in it; of suffering and deliverance. There is a sense of suppression in the quiet, slow passages (Arioso dolente), with their evocation of the human voice, that suggest both the impact of pain and the struggle of impaired communication. The sonata bears the date of Christmas Day, 1821.

By the time we reach the final sonata we have moved into more elemental territory. As the variations of the last movement reach an unprecedented level of rhythmic complexity, some hear a prototype of jazz in Beethoven’s anxious exuberance. In fact, this variation is more like a development of the baroque gigue and any resemblance to African-American music of a century later is purely coincidental.

Particularly in Schubert, I feel that this music benefits from a broad conception. In recent decades, pianism has been dominated by what might be referred to as a “modernist school” of interpretation, characterized by fast tempi, clear (and often dry) textures and a degree of emotional detachment. I do not find this approach appealing and my preference is for an altogether more Romantic and subjective aesthetic in which emotional response is the key objective. I do not always aim for an “orchestral” piano sonority, but I do often think in terms of different instrumental and vocal colours and textures.

In particular, the finale of Schubert’s C minor sonata (D.958) tends to be played not at its marked Allegro but more like Prestissimo. This excessive speed robs the movement of its anxious, at times hesitant, character, and the slightly surreal effect of its abrupt contrasts and episodes in distant keys. Another decision that short-circuits Schubert’s intentions is the omission of the exposition repeat in the B flat major sonata, D.960. Many fine pianists do this and it makes no sense to me whatsoever, given not only that Schubert provides a unique transition to the repeat but also that this transition contains material of vital importance to the movement that appears nowhere else.

In the first movement of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier sonata, there is a more immediate controversy in that Beethoven’s metronome marking imposes a breakneck tempo on the music that seems to me – even in the finest “fast” performances – to rob the music of its majesty, its contrasts and its symphonic character. There is certainly a need to give the music a powerful sense of forward momentum in its more dynamic moments, but in a convincing interpretation, Beethoven is not always pushing forward in a relentless manner. There is room to breathe, and indeed much music here that is ruminative and that benefits from a considered rather than hectic treatment.

A personal note is in order with respect to Beethoven’s “Tempest” sonata (op. 31 no. 2). This is the work that inspired me to become a pianist. I first heard it on BBC Radio 3, and thanks to BBC’s Genome project, I can now identify that the date of the broadcast was 10 May 1982, and the pianist was Pascal Rogé. I was nine years old. I was transfixed by the work and became, frankly, obsessed by it. In those days, my local public library had a large collection of music scores available to borrow. I duly took out the second volume of Augener’s complete edition of the Beethoven sonatas, and prevailed on our neighbour (who owned a piano) to allow me to try it out. At that point, my musical education consisted of singing in the school choir and playing the recorder indifferently. I could read the treble clef, and through a combination of luck and judgement managed to pick out the first few bars of Beethoven on the piano, and then improvise a little on the main ideas of the movement, to the astonishment of my neighbour. This was where it all began for me. Within weeks, my parents had bought me a piano and provided me with lessons; four years later I had won a Junior Exhibition Award to the Royal College of Music.

I did not play this, or anything else by Beethoven, in public until I was in my forties. I could play, after a fashion, all of the sonatas by my late teens and was thoroughly au fait with their structure and musical features. I also studied a lot of Beethoven during my time at the Royal College of Music; probably more than any other composer, and with a professor who was notably expert in Beethoven interpretation. Unfortunately, my awareness of the sheer magnitude of the music and of the shortcomings of my youthful approach to it had a deeply inhibiting effect. It was not until many years later that I had sufficient faith in the validity of my interpretation of Beethoven that I could put it before the public without feeling that I had let the composer down. Other pianists have spoken of similar experiences. Beethoven, perhaps more than any other composer, pushes the interpreter to go beyond their limits, in what I see as an essentially creative agon between performer and work. The Beethoven that we play now will not be the same as that which we play in five or ten years’ time. It is changing with us, constantly growing and developing, and is not just part of Beethoven’s creative universe but an organic part of ourselves.

These works carry with them not only their significance as music but also an immense cultural legacy. This is music which generations have held to represent the apex of Western civilization. If we are, as I believe, in a time when that civilization is under grave threat both internally and externally, then one of the most potent responses is for us to re-engage with the richness of this legacy and re-assert its greatness. At the time that I am writing this, it has been reported that some at the University of Oxford consider musical notation “colonialist” and want to “focus less on White European culture”. I have been actively opposed to the delegitimization of Western art music for many years, and find that the arguments and Cultural Marxist academic atmosphere that are encountered now have changed little from those which I first opposed at Cambridge twenty years ago. In such a situation, to play the music of the Austro-German Classical and Romantic schools might be held to constitute an openly reactionary act and stands as an eloquent response to its opponents. We might indeed venture the opinion that here is White European culture at its best.

My music room

Of course there are disadvantages in recording performances in such conditions as we face at the moment. Perhaps the most obvious is that it has been impossible to have pianos tuned during lockdown. Equally, audiences of Beethoven’s and Schubert’s time were probably far more used to compensating for this deficiency than we have become today. My lockdown recordings were made at home, in my music room. The basis for each recording was a live performance immediately followed by a patching session, edited with basic audio editing software. The result is unashamedly a personal view of the works concerned, and moreover a view that is influenced by the present time and circumstances.

I hope that you will find the results interesting and enjoyable. The recordings will be issued on my recording label, Romantic Discoveries Recordings.

Notes from a pianist: Using the score in performance

On By johnkerseyIn Music, Notes from a pianist

When I was training as a pianist at the Royal College of Music, it was unthinkable that a solo pianist would perform anything from the standard repertoire using the score in performance. Indeed, I think it was written into most rubrics in those days that memorization was compulsory, and when a postgraduate contemporary of mine played some Brahms from the score in an internal RCM concert it brought about reactions of strong disapproval bordering on anger in some.

It could validly be argued that in this practice the RCM was merely following the standard of the profession. Most if not all piano competitions require memorization. And while there is more flexibility at the highest levels of the music profession, there is still an assumption on the part of most concert venues and audiences in favour of memorization.

Throughout my student years, I performed from memory. I did so not because I believed in it as a beneficial practice, but because it was both an effective requirement and a professional standard. Fortunately, I have never had problems with my memory in a performance, although I have witnessed at close hand the crippling effect such problems can have on other performers. Nevertheless, since leaving the RCM, I have given the vast majority of my solo performances from the score, and from my thirties onwards have made this a firm point of principle.

The seeds of that principle were sown early. In March 1989, in what would be one of the most formative concert experiences of my life, I had the unique opportunity to see Sviatoslav Richter play two concerts at the Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican Centre. The first recital consisted  of Schubert’s Sonata in G major, D894 as well as Prokofiev’s Fourth Sonata, Bartok (the Burlesques) and Schumann (the Nachtstücke). The second consisted of Mozart sonatas and Chopin etudes. Richter played in a hall that was completely dark with the exception of the exit signs and a single spot lamp trained upon the score. He himself was barely visible and his page-turner even more so. The second recital was filmed and its first half can be seen below.

The effect of this experience on me was not merely that of having heard great music interpreted by a genius. It struck me that what Richter was doing was making several important points. The only thing that he wanted the audience to concentrate on was the music, the profound alchemy that he wrought in sound, rather than on the appearance of the performer. Richter, like several other great pianists of his generation, eschewed keyboard histrionics and was personally self-effacing. The second aspect was that Richter’s interpretations, particularly in Schubert and Mozart, created that most paradoxical quality in a packed concert-hall, intimacy. The music was the more moving because we as the audience were compelled to listen actively; sound had become the centre of our experience without any extraneous distractions.

Was Richter’s performance the more remarkable because it was undertaken from the score? I believe so. There are various stories about why Richter, in middle age, began using the score in performance rather than continuing to play from memory. For me, the most important reason was part of the overall aesthetic of performance that he developed in that era of his playing. It was in keeping with the desire to present the music to the audience in as direct, honest and emotionally truthful way possible, often in small venues and with a highly personal choice of repertoire. It was also – despite Richter’s titanic technique – a powerful statement against virtuosity. Even when playing music that is ostensibly about solving technical problems, such as the Chopin Etudes, Richter concentrated on each etude as a musical tone-picture and never as a vehicle for display. Even in his choice of instrument – a Yamaha rather than a Steinway – Richter was avoiding a piano that would impose extravagant tone-colour where he clearly did not want it, offering him something far more neutral as a starting-point.

Some pianists who use scores in performance actually rarely look at them while playing. A study of the film of Richter above will show that this was not his approach. He read the score while playing. However good one’s memory, the score is where our interpretation starts and ends. If we are of the school of interpretation where every decision is predestined before we walk on stage, the score has little to offer us but a crutch. If, alternatively, we are open to the insight of a moment, to the inspiration that can come upon us when amid the energy of an audience, to the capacity for fresh ideas and the ability to convey them, then the score becomes a springboard. We can read it in the same way as we would read a sacred text, and could even construe it as the composer’s physical presence among us, the counterpart to his spiritual presence in the world of sound as interpreted through the performer as his medium.

I do not say that performing from the score is right for every pianist. I could well imagine those whose repertoire features works of great Romantic extroversion regarding memorization as integral to their concept of interpretation and performance. I am also aware that others simply feel that they play better from memory; that perhaps it adds an element that for them is one of liberation. They may not, in fact, want to be tied too closely to the score at all, but to express ideas that go beyond and even contradict the printed note.

These are legitimate approaches, but they do not negate those who do not do likewise. At the back of my mind remains one of the significant changes that has affected music of all kinds in the last few decades; as music has become increasingly commodified, so its marketing has concentrated upon image at the expense of substance, because image is easier to sell. The prevailing image of the youthful, physically attractive piano virtuoso sells, whereas the older, more thoughtful, even spiritual pianist is less of a marketable proposition. Such concentration on image also further entrenches the stereotypes of the profession, producing pressure for pianists to look and sound a particular way in order to appeal to the audience. Against such a background, it takes a level of determination, indeed of integrity, to choose instead to plough one’s own furrow.

The topic of memorization also reminds me of the journey I have been on as a pianist and that continues today. As a young pianist, technique and virtuosity were matters of great interest to me, leading me to the study of countless etudes, transcriptions and concert showpieces. As I grew older, my initial interests in music of communicative substance reasserted themselves. I was less interested in display at the keyboard and more interested in the expression and reception of emotional truths. I looked for music that moved me, and that I believed that I could play in such a way that others would share what I felt. That journey would eventually take me to a concentration – by no means exclusively – on certain works, of which Artur Schnabel said, “I am attracted only to music which I consider to be better than it can be performed. Therefore I feel (rightly or wrongly) that unless a piece of music presents a problem to me, a never-ending problem, it doesn’t interest me too much.” This means the Viennese classics above all, and particularly Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, but it is not at all difficult to find later works of which the same can be said.

The two giants who did most to standardize memorization in the nineteenth-century – Liszt and Clara Schumann – have a certain amount in common, in that for them (and in respect of Clara Schumann, I am thinking of her husband’s music here) the score was merely a starting-point. If one were to play many piano works of Robert Schumann only adhering to the markings in the score, the result would be dull. Schumann’s many repeats are invitations to the performer to introduce variety, to change tone-colour, to use rubato to expressive effect. These inspirations of the moment could hardly be tied down without becoming unduly prescriptive. Liszt, meanwhile, would re-compose certain passages for greater effect or pianistic ease while performing. His performing editions of Schubert’s “Wanderer” Fantasy and Sonata D894 are illustrative of these practices. Nevertheless, Liszt reserved a far greater respect for the integrity of Beethoven’s scores, as shown both by his edition of Beethoven’s piano sonatas and of course by the piano transcriptions of the symphonies.

The practice of memorization in performing Beethoven is inauthentic. Beethoven himself disapproved of it, believing that the performer could not then address himself to the many expressive markings in the score. Beethoven’s scores are full of detail, and it is surprising how much of that detail does not always come across in performance (the precisely-notated but often ignored accents in Variation IV of the last movement of the Sonata op. 109 are a case in point). Similarly, it is not an authentic practice in Chopin or Mendelssohn.

In an interview, Richter was once asked why he used scores in performance, and answered “out of respect for the composer”. Nor was Richter the only pianist to have come to this conclusion. Myra Hess, Raoul Pugno, Bela Bartok, Clifford Curzon and John McCabe among others have similarly regarded memorisation as a barrier between the composer and the interpreter. The views of the cellist Janos Starker, as told to Janos Gereben are instructive;

“Contrary to the mores of concert life today, I use music to play Bach. It’s not because I don’t know the notes or I am worried about a memory lapse. I will never forget what Fritz Reiner told me when I was first cellist of the Chicago Symphony, and he was conducting the “Eroica.” He had a phenomenal memory, conducted rehearsals of just about everything from his head, but came the evening, and the performance, he put the score up and he was turning pages. It didn’t make sense to me at the time, in the era when the memory wizards came around, careers being made from conducting the “Rite of Spring” from memory – and I asked Reiner why he is using the score. He said: “When I look at the music, it gives me new ideas.” This is precisely what I am doing today. When I look at the music, I keep changing the performance. Instead of making an echo-effect in one bar, I play it in two bars. I differentiate when I repeat something from the second time. Let’s now do the more Germanesque version of the Gigue instead of the light one like at the beginning of the suite. This depends on acoustics, for example, if there is a reverberation in the hall – it’s the split personality of the performer: one who says what to do and the other who listens. One reason I am against playing without music in a group [switching from the topic of the Bach suite] is that sometimes you begin to play in a linear fashion [Starker might have meant “mechanically”], your part, not the totality of the work. My attitude has always been that I am one member of the community, I am the protagonist when I am playing a concerto, but I have only one part of the whole. Composers seldom write for the cello – they write a concerto (unless it’s Boccherini who was a cellist), they hear either vocal sounds or [generic] instrumental sounds. Now, as to the Gigue last night, I sometimes joke about the last movement getting faster because you’re hoping to get to the Scotch bottle. You say it sounded more “free” than the rest, and that’s where the music [the score] helps in that you can “improvise” more, you can take greater chances, you have greater freedom of varying your performance. You’re right, it was totally different from any of my recordings… and that’s what one hopes, that after playing it hundreds and hundreds of times, you can still find new ideas – that’s why Bach is a treasure hunt in a whole lifetime. You look for hidden treasures, and sometimes in the middle of the concert, you say: “How come I never thought of that?!” Mind you: you have to reach a certain age, a certain experience, a stage that you can afford the luxury of looking for new things. But then that’s what keeps one alive musically, artistically.”

Consider also the late John McCabe’s comments in his interview with Christopher Morley:

“JM… in the arts – it’s not only in music, it’s in the arts generally, I think that people are very suspicious of all-rounders. They think that if you play the piano you can’t possibly be a full-time composer, and if you’re a full-time composer, you can’t possibly be a proper pianist. Now one thing I do which people seem to think proves that is that I play from the music, always, never play from memory, but I do that because a) I couldn’t carry the repertoire that I do, which is vast, and b) I know that I’ve got a very quick, superficial memory which I do not trust, and really, if I’m going to play something from memory and forget, I’m not playing the music – I’m playing something else – not playing what the composer wrote. I’ve suffered from this myself as a composer, and I know that if somebody leaves out half a piece, which happened with one of mine, the audience is not actually going to hear what I wrote, and I don’t think it’s fair, and since I’m liable to do that if I play from memory, then that’s why I play from music – it’s not laziness, it’s …

CM: Like Richter, your hero.

JM: Well Richter, Clifford Curzon, Myra Hess … Klemperer actually admired Myra Hess for playing the Beethoven Fourth Concerto from the music – he said so.”

So for these musicians and others, the use of the score was a liberating process that contributed to a greater spontaneity and inspiration in performance, and a means by which a greater repertoire could be maintained. Since these are matters of cardinal importance for me as well, I began to use scores in performance to the point where I, too, experienced an artistic rebirth. I believe that the composer and the audience are certainly the beneficiaries.

Piano recital in Chingford

On By johnkerseyIn Concerts, Romantic Discoveries Recordings

Comments from members of the audience:

“The D minor sonata was so beautifully played and in particular the crucial bars 143 – 148 and 153 – 158 in the first movement, which present much difficulty for we mere mortals in trying to convey the ghostly and spiritually contemplative atmosphere intended by the composer, were hauntingly beautiful. I have always felt the difficulty with these passages is more to do with the artist’s ability to empathise perfectly with Beethoven’s emotions than with technique; I felt your communion with Beethoven was at its height in those bars. You told me it was this sonata which set you on the road – at the age of nine, I think; certainly your special connection and affinity with it shone through. Your performance of the Hammerklavier was a tour-de force and your control, especially in the last movement, was astonishing. What a work that is! And what a challenge! Again, I’ve not heard this sonata played better than I did yesterday. We could not stop talking about it on the way home.”

“I was mesmerised by your magnificent playing on Saturday afternoon at Chingford.. I leaned closer to the keyboard because I could hardly believe what was happening! What a stupendous mind Beethoven must have had to write that fugue in the last Movement of the Hammerklavier and what a formidable technique and musical understanding you John must have to play it! Bravo and congratulations. I so enjoyed all three sonatas and  was especially captivated by the last lyrical and beautiful movement of the Tempest.”

Review of my piano recital at Chingford

On By johnkerseyIn Concerts

by Neil Lock

Originally published by the Libertarian Alliance

I was at John Kersey’s piano recital on Saturday May 16th 2015 in Chingford parish church, London E4. The size of the audience was disappointing; perhaps 50 or maybe 60. But I wasn’t disappointed by the experience.

Let me tell you where I come from (musically, not politically). I’m no pianistic expert, but I am a musician. I’ve played in a brass band for more than 40 years. For most of that time my main instrument has been the euphonium; but about 7 years ago, my band suffered a sudden shortage of bass players. So, these days I play the E flat bass tuba.

Oh yes, and I’m also, in my own small way, a composer and arranger for brass band. That tends to give me a wider perspective on the music I hear than most listeners.

Now to John Kersey’s recital. The echoing acoustic of the church, I thought, didn’t help the percussive effects in the opening Bach prelude and fugue. But maybe there was a bit of my own bias in play as well. For church music isn’t really my thing. And Bach, while I recognize his genius, is a little early for my taste.

I was on more comfortable ground with the late Beethoven which followed. There were moments, in the last movement of the Sonata in E major, when I felt briefly transported into another world. Few composers, and few performers, can do that to me.

With the Bagatelles, John Kersey showed us how good a technician he is. I particularly enjoyed the second and fifth of the six pieces.

After the very brief interval, two Fauré barcarolles were not my personal cup of tea. But they paved the way for what I expected to be the highlight: Alkan’s “Symphonie pour piano.” I’d heard this piece on recordings before, but never live.

In the first movement, John Kersey set himself a challenging tempo, and didn’t overdo the rubato. The result was spectacular. Even on its own, to hear that movement was worth going all the way to Chingford for. The third movement was even better. As to the last movement, just before the end I found myself writing in the little A6 book I carry with me what became the following words:

“John Kersey conveyed superbly to the audience the manic energy and sheer horror of the ride through hell on which Alkan takes us.”

I cannot praise John Kersey’s performance highly enough. And I recommend that all of you who enjoy 19th century music should look out for his next recital, and go to it.

Honours and awards: Member of the Royal Society of Musicians

On By johnkerseyIn Honours and awards, Music

I was a Member of the Royal Society of Musicians between February 2014 and November 2018. Membership was by election and payment of an annual subscription.

In 2018, the Society announced its intention to impose a Code of Conduct upon its members. I felt that this was contrary to the spirit of the Society and would hardly have been something of which a free spirit like Handel would have approved. Specifically, the proposed Code intended not to tolerate discrimination on the grounds of “level of intellectual or professional achievement”, which I found absurd given that in my view achievement should be the foundation of any society devoted to the practice of a profession and that elected its members from that profession.

Elsewhere, the Code proposed to give the Board of Governors the sole power to discipline or expel a member who had “acted in a way which is in conflict with the interests of the Society”. I had previously seen similar measures to this used elsewhere as an unsubtle means of quelling dissent in the ranks. Like other changes in the Society such as the unexpected sale of its historic headquarters, much seemed to be being implemented in a “top-down” manner that was not in my view the way that such an institution should be run. In my view, members of a professional society should be responsible for its major executive decisions by democratic vote, rather than most of the power resting with a less accountable elite.

I resigned from membership of the Society in November 2018.

Quarterly Review – Apocalypse Discs

On By johnkerseyIn Music

Reblogged from http://www.quarterly-review.org/?p=1507

Apocalypse Discs – John Kersey

JOHN KERSEY

Historian, musician and educationalist

www.johnkersey.org

As a musician, I face the prospect of having to save a limited number of works from certain apocalypse with a certain degree of trepidation. The difficulty is always that any selection is by nature impermanent, since music is perhaps the most responsive of the arts to one’s emotional state, and thus any change in personal equilibrium is likely to prompt a need for fresh aural inspiration. Nevertheless, the choice I make at present is of key works that have lived with me to the extent that I feel they have become a part of my way of seeing the world, and thus they can at least form something of a personal credo as far as those values – both musical and in a wider context – I would wish to see promulgated are concerned.

The chief object of art is, to my mind, a search for the expression of truth and beauty, and this theme runs through the selection I have made. There is some emphasis upon those composers who espoused a Traditionalist vision and set themselves against prevailing fashions in music, often at great personal cost. Their work is united by this artistic honesty and integrity, and perhaps their example also presents us with a microcosm of the resistance their art made to the apocalypse that came to dominate the avant-garde of their time, which sought to divorce itself from the dialectic of tonality. Although some works will doubtless be unfamiliar, there is no search for deliberate obscurity here, but rather a conscious immersion in a particular compositional thread that is effectively that of Romanticism and its extensions, and the quest for its most distinctive exponents, some of whose music deserves wider currency than it has hitherto enjoyed. JK, 25th March 2013

Lyra Angelica, William Alwyn (1905-85)

Alwyn was a polyglot, poet, artist, composer and sometime flautist with the London Symphony Orchestra. His compositions include many film scores, five symphonies (of which the last is entitled Hydriotaphia or Urn Burial) and this extraordinary harp concerto, which in my view is undoubtedly the greatest music written for the instrument. The first half of his working life was spent in London, teaching and serving on committees and boards. The second was spent in Suffolk, overlooking the Blyth estuary and writing music, poems and painting. One of his poems, Daphne, expresses his artistic credo,

Beauty is my reason for existence,

My day, my night, my all-in-all.

Faithless, I should cease to write.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TooYPQtVUik&list=PLYAT_hEhVbG8b3cPPChfB8-nSU7wtKd-E

Concerto for solo piano, Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-88)

Alkan was one of the greatest pianists of his stellar generation and a highly original and accomplished composer. In his early career, he was a friend of Liszt and Chopin, but in 1848 he was passed over for the position of head of piano at the Paris Conservatoire in favour of one of his pupils, and he seems never to have recovered from this blow, retreating into isolation. His concerto for solo piano, though a highly substantial work, is in fact part of one that is still larger, his twelve studies in all the minor keys, op. 39. Here it is given an outstanding performance by supervirtuoso Marc-Andre Hamelin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQz5tWzVQiA

Spring Fire, Sir Arnold Bax (1883-1953)

Bax was the most Celtic of composers, encapsulating in his style the Ireland of myth and legend and evoking a distant past that also drew extensively upon Norse influences. As part of the Rathgar Circle that developed around the poet, artist and mystic AE (G.W. Russell) he adopted the pseudonym Dermot O’Byrne and published a number of poems and short stories that reflected an increasing involvement with Irish nationalism. Spring Fire is a relatively early work, inspired by Swinburne. Its extreme technical difficulty prevented any performance in Bax’s lifetime. For several years the only surviving score was believed to have been lost in a fire in 1964, but later another was discovered. The world it evokes is pagan and fantastic, and he wrote of it, “It is as though the whole of nature participated in the careless and restless riot of youth and sunlight.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV5oHECmSg4

Sun God Symphony, Geirr Tveitt (1908-81)

An Odinist and Traditionalist, Tveitt was part of the circle of Hans S. Jacobsen in Oslo in the 1930s, but he remained aloof from political action and did not join the Nasjional Samling. The ballet Baldur’s Dreams is the apex of his Neo-Heathen worldview, being first performed in 1938 to great acclaim. After the war, his beliefs led to his complete ostracism from the Norwegian arts establishment, and the problems were compounded when, in 1970, his house burned to the ground, taking with it about 80% of his compositions, and leaving his last years bereft and embittered. The Sun God Symphony is therefore a posthumous reconstruction of three pictures from Baldur’s Dreams, and shows the extraordinary power and energy of Tveitt’s compositional imagination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kws0g4Dfvco

Piano Concerto, op. 39, Ferruccio Benvenuto Busoni (1866-1924)

In its intellectual and humane distinction, subtle innovation and adherence to the Apollonian ideal, Busoni’s music is unparalleled. A master pianist, his Piano Concerto – in five movements, and with a male chorus singing a setting of Oehlenschlaeger’s Aladdin in the last – is an extraordinary achievement. This live performance by Peter Donohoe at the Proms remains one of the finest accounts of the work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH60TO4egW0

Cello Concerto, Gerald Finzi (1901-56)

This work, the composer’s last, sums up his compositional achievement. It has become commonplace to say that Finzi’s music “sounds English” in that it evokes a particular combination of landscape and character. Certainly it is that, but its distinction is much greater, in that this is music of nobility, imagination, integrity and drama, suffused with a melancholic yet lyrical temperament.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj_U1BntjPo

Symphony no. 1 “Gothic”, Havergal Brian (1876-1972)

A monumental work from an extraordinary man from whom music poured in torrents even when there was no-one interested in performing or listening to it. Brian did not “fit in” with the musical establishment; working-class, self-taught, and entirely dedicated to his own artistic standards. The more I come to know him and his output, the more I admire him. This work is huge, uncompromising and intellectually of the highest order. Richard Strauss described it as “magnificent”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgUmpSWB-fc&list=PL9DF86B95A0102369

Trio in Three Movements, York Bowen (1884-1961)

Although widely respected as a pianist during his lifetime, and once described by Saint-Saens as “the finest of English composers”, Bowen’s works lay largely unpublished and unperformed until after his death. His individual style is felt at its best in this ambitious and effective piano trio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc3eniV0kQc

Hymnus paradisi, Herbert Howells (1892-1983)

This work was written in response to the death of the composer’s son from polio, aged nine, and requires no commentary. It is quite simply among the finest works of the English choral tradition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at-yv-BQAeA

Som Lynet er Kristi Genkomst (As Lightning Cometh Christ Again)

Rued Langgaard (1893-1952)

It is perhaps appropriate that one should close a selection of Apocalypse Discs with one of the very few depictions of the Second Coming in music. Rued Langgaard, a reactionary genius, composed in a style that ensured his treatment with utter disdain by the prevailing Danish musical establishment; his resulting isolation gave rise to a series of extraordinary compositions that is only now coming to be heard and appreciated. His music ranges from the visionary and prophetic to the bizarre and aphoristic. This short organ work develops in the manner of a ritual, fixating eventually upon its opening phrase, before rising in ecstasy amid the repeated gestures. A short pause leads to an increasing sense of expectation and the cataclysmic final chord that marks the moment of apparition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ECKf__IJf4

Academical Dress of Music Colleges and Societies of Musicians in the United Kingdom – second edition

On By johnkerseyIn Music

ACADEMICAL DRESS OF MUSIC COLLEGES AND SOCIETIES OF MUSICIANS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

with notes on certain other Institutions

Second Edition

John Kersey

First edition (co-authored with Nicholas Groves) published in 2002 by The Burgon Society.

Second edition published 2007 by European-American University Press.

Copyright © 2002, 2005, 2007, John Kersey.

John Kersey asserts the moral right to be identified as Author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. This electronic file may not be sold or resold in any manner whatsoever; it is designated for free distribution and no charge may be made for access to it.

Introduction

This work is a celebration of the many British institutions dedicated to the art of musical performance and composition (hereafter referred to by the American term of “applied music”) and the robes that they have used to signify their corporate identities and record the distinctions of their members.

Musical education in Britain has a much older history within the conservatoire system than within universities, for, despite the fact that university degrees had been offered in Music since Cambridge’s earliest known example of 1463, no tuition was offered by the universities for such degrees, their role being confined to examining the work presented by external candidates (who were not admitted as members of the university; thus creating the absurd situation, in the case of  Oxford DMus and some Cambridge MusD graduates of their having to sit for a pass BA degree in some other subject before they could take up a teaching post at their respective universities. Thus both Sir William Harris (who was DMus Oxon by examination) and Dr H.K. Andrews (who was DMus Oxon by incorporation from the DMus of Trinity College, Dublin) had to take the Oxford degree of BA upon becoming organists of New College, Oxford. Indeed, the work of the conservatoires formerly included (as well as preparation of candidates for their own diploma awards) preparation for these external university degrees. This situation persisted until the middle years of the twentieth-century (and external degrees in music continued to be offered beyond then) at which point the universities, perhaps spurred on by the increasing success of the conservatoires, were eventually minded to form teaching faculties in music. Even then, the nature of the university undergraduate music courses, especially at the ancient universities, was usually such as to exclude performance and free composition almost entirely in favour of studies in music history, analysis and pastiche composition, and at the graduate level to wholly reject the admission of work in applied music to research degrees.

Fortunately, the more progressive university courses now firmly establish applied music within a comprehensive study of the subject at undergraduate level, and several institutions have now introduced the American-originated DMA degree as an alternative to the PhD (although few so far grant it equal status). Meanwhile, the most senior of the conservatoires, now drawing on over a hundred years of experience of teaching music and with some of the most illustrious names in the profession numbered among their alumni, have introduced searching and broadly-based undergraduate courses that are designed to meet the needs of the dynamic musical profession of today, at the same time as developing international research profiles in their fields of expertise; the DMusRCM programme being a leading example of a progressive higher doctorate that admits cognate work in applied music in addition to the customary research thesis to its requirements.

There are several distinct categories of institution that may be found within these pages. These may be defined as the conservatoire, which to all intents and purposes is an institution offering full-time courses devoted primarily to applied music (including those of graduate status and beyond) that is national or international in its reputation, outlook and level of activity, and which may be seen as a specialist university-level institute. There are also smaller bodies, often having originally performed some of the teaching functions of a conservatoire, but whose activities may now be confined to functioning as examining boards. Then there are those institutions that have been founded solely as examining boards and whose main work is to be found in the provision of examinations from local graded schemes to diploma level. Lastly, there are numerous learned societies of musicians, often founded with a particular specialism within the field in mind, which encourage musical performance through their activities and also promote debate and fellowship among their members. It will generally be apparent to the reader into which category a particular institution falls.

The prescription of Academical Dress is a practice inherited by musical institutions from the universities, and there is evidence that a number of institutions (notably the Tonic Sol-Fa College of Music and the Victoria College of Music) had introduced their own robes by the late nineteenth-century. Others were slower to take up the practice, and it used to be said (up to the 1960s) that graduates of the London Royal Schools would take the diplomas of the Tonic Sol-Fa College simply so that they might have a hood to wear! There is enormous diversity in the robes used, from the elaborate and quasi-doctoral to the simple and self-effacing, and the systems involved include fully logical (eg. NSCM) as well as semi-logical (eg. NMSM) examples. The GSMD is unusual in that it uses the American system of chevrons on the hood and sleeve-bars for the GGSM. It may also be seen that some institutions preserve an old tradition of Academical Dress, whereby the highest grades of award are granted fur on their hoods. This recalls the original system whereby doctoral hoods were granted fur, which persisted (at Cambridge) well into the nineteenth-century but can now only be found (amongst UK institutions) on the DrRCA hood of the Royal College of Art. The specifications of the robes is given using the Groves system of classification, which is explained before the institutional entries and offers an easy method of identifying a particular style of robe. Headgear is generally excluded from this study, but is only rarely prescribed by the institutions.

The inclusion of institutions within this work is subject to several criteria. In the first place, the institutions included in the main section have awarded their own autonomous qualifications or grades of membership as independent colleges, without being part of the mainstream university system. Secondly, the institutions included in this section have their own distinct scheme of Academical Dress. A few colleges whose status as far as conferring diplomas and prescribing Academical Dress is uncertain have been included, generally in footnotes to the main text. We have also included certain other institutions of interest; mainly the principal overseas music colleges. Where an institution in the first section awards, as well as its own diplomas, qualifications validated by an external body such as an university, but there is no difference in the robes prescribed by that institution from the usual robes of that university, the robes in question are omitted from our survey. Similarly, where an award is bestowed both ordinarily and honoris causa, but there is no difference in the robes, only the ordinary award is listed. Webpages and contact details were correct as at July 2004, but readers should be warned that these tend to change frequently in the case of some institutions.

During the course of preparing this work, a number of difficulties have been encountered on account of the extremely obscure nature of some of the bodies involved and the paucity of information available on them. I would be most grateful for any further information from readers on these institutions for inclusion in a subsequent edition.

It should be noted that the opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author, except where otherwise indicated.

The first edition of this book was jointly authored by Nicholas Groves and myself, in that the text was principally my work but was based on joint research carried out by Nick and myself. Shortly after it had been published, new information came to light that suggested that, at least, a further booklet of addenda and corrigenda should be prepared, and this was duly proposed by Nick to the original publishers, the Burgon Society, of which he was at that time a Council member. On 2 February 2004, Nick wrote to me, “I raised the question of the music book addenda/corrigenda at Council on Saturday – it was felt that a duplicated pamphlet was not desirable, but that a second edition can be produced in a year’s time!” I duly prepared this second edition with the invaluable assistance of Nick’s research notes and comments. This resulted in a much improved book, which included a number of newly included specifications and institutions. The concluding section, which had included a number of institutions that were beyond the proper scope of the work, was also rationalized.

As late as 10 March 2005, Nick was writing to me, “The Society feels very strongly that it must remain as a BS [Burgon Society] publication.” (this in response to my suggestion that as an alternative the second edition might be issued online by the London Society for Musicological Research in which Nick and I were both at that time involved as council members). The second edition had by then been completed by me and was sent to Nick for submission to the publishers.

In the ensuing days, Nick decided, without informing me of his reasons, to withdraw his support from the book completely. The Burgon Society colluded with him and furthermore bizarrely denied ever having agreed to support the second edition, which nevertheless they attempted to suppress through ill-founded legal threats. I took the view that this was entirely disreputable conduct that reflected very poorly on those concerned, and duly terminated my connexions with them. However, it has been my determination that their actions should not prevent this potentially useful work from seeing the light of day.

John Kersey
London

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the following for their advice, information and encouragement, which has proved invaluable in the preparation of this book: Dr Michael Barkl, Dr John Birch, Maureen Forster, Revd. Philip Goff, Revd. Canon Dr Mark Gretason, Nicholas Groves, Dr Donald Heath, Dr Peter Horton, Dr Stephen James, Dr Frances Knight, Andrew Linley, Philip Lowe, Dr John Lundy, William McArton, Edward Moroney, Andrew Nardone, Br. Dr Michael Powell cj, Dr Robin Rees, Dr Stuart Sime, Amanda Townsend, Dr Terry Worroll, Ede and Ravenscroft Ltd., Wm. Northam and Son and the websites of the organisations included; also various directories of music, notably the various editions of Who’s Who in Music and the British Music Education Yearbook. The assistance of numerous works on Academical Dress by such authors as Wood, Haycraft, Stringer, Smith and Sheard, and Shaw, amongst others, has been invaluable.

I have endeavoured to acknowledge the sources of information contained in this book. If I have unintentionally omitted to do so, I apologise for this and will gladly correct this information in subsequent editions.

Hood and Gown Classification

This is the Groves system, designed to make each hood or gown pattern instantly recognisable. Certain distinctions have been simplified for ease of classification; Cambridge MusD and St Andrews doctors are recorded as identical here and all full hoods with a square cape are recorded as [f1] except Glasgow’s hood, which is distinctive.

Simple hoods have a cowl only and are designated [s]. Full hoods are those with both cape and cowl, and are designated [f]. A third category is [a] which is the Aberdeen type of hood consisting of a cape only.

Gowns are defined as [u] undergraduate, [b] bachelor, [m] master and [d] doctor.

An explanation of the different shapes of hood and gown may be found in Nicholas Groves’ Key to the Identification of Academic Hoods of the British Isles (published by the Burgon Society).

Simple hoods

s1:           Oxford simple

s2:           Burgon

s3:          Belfast

s4:          Edinburgh

s5:          Wales bachelors

s6:          Leicester bachelors

s7:          Leeds

s8:          Sussex

s9:          Manchester

s10:        Aston

s11:         Glasgow Caledonian

Full hoods

f1:           Cambridge

f2:           Dublin

f3:           London

f4:          Durham doctors

f5:           Oxford doctors

f6:          Durham BA

f7:          Durham BCL etc.

f8:          Edinburgh DD

f9:          Glasgow

f10:         NCDAD

f11:          Warham Guild

f12:          St Andrews

f13:         UMIST doctors

f14:         American Intercollegiate Code doctors

Aberdeen hoods

a1:          Aberdeen

a2:          Leicester masters

a3:          Kent

a4:         East Anglia

a5:         Leicester doctors

a6:         Dundee

Undergraduate gowns

u1:          Cambridge

u2:          Oxford scholars

u3:         London

u4:         Durham

u5:         Oxford commoners

u6:         Sussex

u7:         East Anglia

Bachelors’ gowns

b1:          Oxford BA

b2:          Cambridge BA

b3:          Cambridge MB etc.

b4:         London BA

b5:          Durham BA

b6:         Wales BA

b7:         Bath BA

b8:         Imperial College diplomas

b9:         Belfast BA

b10:       Dublin BA

b11:        Reading BA

b12:        Sussex BA

Masters’ gowns

m1:        Oxford MA

m2:        Cambridge MA

m3:        Dublin MA

m4:       Wales MA

m5:        London MA

m6:       Manchester MA

m7:        Leeds MA

m8:        Leicester MA

m9:       Bristol MA

m10:      CNAA MA

m11:       Lancaster MA

m12:       St Andrews/Glasgow MA

m13:      Liverpool MA

m14:      Open University (all degrees)

m15:      Warwick MA

m16:      Bath MA

m17:      Sussex MA

Doctors’ gowns/robes

d1:          Cambridge/London

d2:          Oxford

d3:          Cambridge MusD/St Andrews

d4:         Oxford lay/gimp gown

d5:          Oxford convocation habit

d6:         Sussex

MUSIC COLLEGES AND SOCIETIES OF MUSICIANS

The Academy of St Cecilia

Founded 1999

Master: Mark Johnson

71c, Mandrake Road, London SW17 7PX

 020 8265 6703

www:academyofsaintcecilia.com

The Academy of St Cecilia was founded as a learned and social society with a particular interest in Early Music, loosely interpreted as music before 1825. Since its foundation it has included a number of distinguished figures in the field of Early Music amongst its Honorary Fellows, and has enjoyed the association of patrons who include James Bowman, Monica Huggett, Naji Hakim, Professor Reinhard Strohm (Heather Professor of Music, Oxford University) and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. The Master of the Academy, Mark Johnson, has pursued a career in music education and is a singer with professional choirs.

The activities of the Academy centre upon the UK, but in recent years, in response to a continuing growth in membership, Regional Representatives have been appointed for Australia and Canada. In the UK, the Academy’s twice yearly General Meetings are usually held in London’s historic Church of St Margaret, Lothbury, where the formal business of the Academy is followed by musical entertainment of a high standard. This has recently included vocal and organ recitals, choral concerts and illustrated lectures.

The Academy produces a regular newsletter, Vox, which includes articles written by members and relevant items of interest.

The honorary award of FASC is reserved for heads, officers and staff of musical organisations, universities, examining bodies etc. who have made a significant contribution to early music.

Since 2002 the Academy has established an Early Music Advisory Panel consisting of Honorary Fellows, who are available to answer specialist questions in that area.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

These are common to all; which is worn depends on the type of function being attended.

Performing: Cambridge BA in black [b2], with gold cord around the arm-slit and along the facings. There is a cord and button on the yoke.

Festal: Oxford MA in black [m2], with gold cord along the facings and around the armholes. There is a cord and button on the yoke.

Hoods:

FASC (until 2000): dark blue, lined and the cape bound 2” old gold [f9].

FASC (honorary & foundation Fellows only until 2000; all Fellows since 2000): as FASC above, but the cowl faced 3” cerise also.

AASC (since 2003): dark blue, lined and bound old gold [s2].

Members of Council: as for FASC (post-2000) but with the body of the hood in blue brocade.

The Academy also awarded one Honorary Membership in 2001, but that award does not carry the right to academical dress.

A scheme of corporate robes for choirs was introduced in 2003; this is as follows:

Gown:

A black gown with gold cord on the sleeve and the yoke [u5].

The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music

Founded 1889

Chief Executive: Richard Morris

14 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JG

 020 7636 5400

www:abrsm.ac.uk

The Associated Board arose out of a desire by the Royal College and Royal Academy and their respective Director and Principal, Sir George Grove and Sir Alexander Mackenzie, to join together to provide an examining body of integrity and high standards. The efforts of this body were directed towards a rigorous system of local graded examinations, of whose first syllabus it was said that the standard was so high “…that the certificate granted may be regarded as a distinction worthy of attainment.” Originally the minimum age at which candidates might be presented for the examinations of the Board was twelve, with the examinations divided into Junior and Senior grades, but soon a demand for examinations suitable for younger children caused the introduction of a new system of division into Lower, Higher, Intermediate and Advanced sections. This system persisted until 1949, when the present system of division into Grades I to VIII was introduced. In recent years the Advanced Certificate has been introduced beyond Grade VIII.

In 1947 the other Royal Schools, the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Manchester College, also became members of the Associated Board.

The diplomas of the Royal Schools have an interesting history. The distinction Graduate of the Royal Schools of Music was introduced at the RAM and RCM for those who had completed the searching full-time course of three years’ duration and of graduate level that was originally designed for intending teachers. From 1975 until its final award in 1995 it was awarded with classed honours rather than by the previous system of unclassed pass, pass with merit and pass with distinction. The diploma of LRSM (originally LAB) was introduced as an overseas equivalent to the diplomas of ARCM and LRAM and was awarded in all the normal divisions of performing and teaching.

In the recent past the diplomas of the Royal Schools have been re-designated, with the previous diplomas of ARCM, DipRCM (Teacher), LRAM (which, however, remains available to internal RAM students) and the former LRSM (for overseas candidates) all being replaced by a new LRSM diploma that is available to UK as well as overseas candidates. The recently-introduced diplomas of DipABRSM and FRSM are now also available by examination. It will be seen that in the Academical Dress of the ABRSM the RAM colour of scarlet is allied to the RCM colour of royal blue.

Since its outset the Board has maintained a panel of examiners largely drawn from the staff of the Royal Schools and their former students. It has in recent years expanded its range of examinations to include early grades in jazz piano.

Academical Dress

Gown:

a black stuff gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1].

Hoods:

ARSM: scarlet, lined black, with a gold tipping [a1]

LRSM: scarlet, lined white watered, with a gold tipping [a1]. This diploma was originally known as LAB (Licentiate of the Associated Board).

DipABRSM (awarded post-2000 only): scarlet, faced 3” royal blue, with a reversed (to shew royal blue) neckband [f1].

GRSM: scarlet russell cord, faced 3” royal blue silk [f1]; diploma last awarded 1995.

FRSM (awarded post-2000 only): scarlet, lined royal blue, with a reversed neckband [s2].

Academical Dress for GRSM was introduced at some point between 1948 and 1970, and for LRSM after 1970.

Association of Church Musicians

Now incorporated into the North and Midlands School of Music (q.v.)

Revd. Stephen Callander writes:

“The ACM evolved from a small group of singers in Worcester in the early 1980s and was incorporated into the NMSM in 1999. The last Fellows were created just before the incorporation. The ACM never had more than 20 members.

The original Foundation Fellows’ hood was Aberdeen shape [a1], Mary blue, fully lined red brocade. The inside of the “cowl” was faced 1″ fur. Fellows were the same sans fur. Latterly the hoods were changed to London shape [f3], dark blue, fully lined/bound pale pink.”

The ACM was founded in 1984 by Revd. Roger Francis.

Birmingham Conservatoire

Founded 1859 as the Birmingham and Midland Institute School of Music, often known simply as the Birmingham School of Music. Re-constituted in 1886.
From 1969-93 the BSM was part of the City of Birmingham Polytechnic.
In 1993, the BSM became the Birmingham Conservatoire, a faculty of the University of Central England in Birmingham.

Vice-Principal: Professor Alastair Pearce,

Birmingham Conservatoire, Faculty of the University of Central England in Birmingham, Paradise Place, Birmingham B3 3HG

 0121 331 5901/2

www:conservatoire.uce.ac.uk

The Birmingham School of Music has, since its inception, been Birmingham’s foremost institution devoted to applied music. For much of its history it has offered full-time courses for music teachers and performers as well as part-time courses in instrumental studies. The School also formerly offered instruction in speech training.

Former Principals of the School include the composer Dr Christopher Edmunds (1945-56), who was himself a native of Birmingham, and the baritone Gordon Clinton (1960-73), who held the post concurrently with a Professorship at the Royal College of Music. The violinist Louis Carus, who had been Head of Strings at the RSAMD, became Principal in 1973, and his successor in the new post of Director, Damian Cranmer (1983) was to go on to the position of Director of Music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

In the 1960s the School achieved official recognition by the Ministry of Education as the West Midlands Regional College of Music for its diplomas in teacher training. In 1969 the BSM became part of the City of Birmingham Polytechnic. Upon the creation of the University of Central England in 1993, incorporating the former Polytechnic, the BSM enhanced its role and reputation by adopting the title of the Birmingham Conservatoire as a faculty of the UCE. There are now over 400 students, and courses are offered in jazz and music technology as well as the other musical disciplines. There is also a Junior School which provides instruction for students of school age.

The Conservatoire is fortunate in its premises, which include four organs and the Adrian Boult Hall, which seats 525. In 1994 a new extension was opened containing 40 teaching and practice rooms.

The Birmingham Conservatoire is now firmly established among the country’s music colleges and has strong links with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

The diplomas of the Birmingham Conservatoire use the normal robes of the University of Central England at Birmingham.

Academical Dress

Robes of the Birmingham School of Music

Gowns:
Oxford BA in black [b1]. For ABSM, there is a 2” V-shaped slit in the forearm seam.

Hoods:
ABSM: dark green, faced 3” yellow [f1].

LBSM: not known

FBSM and GBSM: dark green, lined yellow [f1].

Blessed Guild of St Cecilia

Early twentieth-century.

Academical Dress

Hood:

Purple lined claret, faced 2” gold on the turn-out [s7].

British Academy of Music

Date of foundation c.1989. Currently in abeyance.

The BAM was founded by David Wilde, who had been involved with the Curwen College of Music (q.v.) but had left after differences with Revd. Canon Dr Paul Faunch. Wilde became Secretary of the Academy, in which the late Barry St John Neville was also a prime agent.

The Patron was Sir Anthony Harris, Bart. Other Fellows of the Academy included Professors Gordon Phillips, Ian Tracey and Leonard Henderson, Della Jones, Dr David Bell, Dennis Puxty and Dr Maurice Merrell (q.v. under Guild of Musicians and Singers). There is currently only one FBAM hood in existence, owned by Dr Maurice Merrell. Due to conflict among its founders, the BAM was dissolved after a brief existence that consisted largely of planning meetings for its future activities. Despite some talk of its restarting under new management, it remains a dormant institution.

The BAM name is currently used by an unrelated body conferring awards on popular music artists.

Academical Dress

Hood:
FBAM: scarlet watered taffeta, lined old-gold satin [f1]. No gown was prescribed.

It is not known whether there were any other diploma awards; if there were, no Academical Dress was prescribed for them.

British College of Music

Date of foundation unknown, but was extant in the 1920s. Now presumably defunct.

Academical Dress

Gowns:
FBCM: black, with 3 red chevrons on each sleeve. – presumably [b1]

LBCM: black with 2 pink chevrons on each sleeve. – presumably [b1]

ABCM: black with 1 white chevron on each sleeve. – presumably [b1]

All wear a black square cap, with tassels:

FBCM: blue, orange, red,

LBCM: blue, orange, pink.

ABCM: blue, orange, white.

Hoods:
ABCM: dark blue, lined orange and bound 1” white [s1].

LBCM: dark blue, lined orange and bound 2” pink [s1].

FBCM: dark blue, lined orange and bound 3” red [s1].

Cambridge School of Music

Founded 1990; ceased operating in 1991.

The Cambridge School of Music was founded at Peterhouse, Cambridge, by the two Organ Scholars there, John Shooter and Lee Longden.

Honorary Fellows of the School included Professor Ian Tracey. Honorary Life Members included Revd. Norman Young, who served as Chaplain to the School.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

ACSM: Cambridge BA in black [b2].

LCSM: London MA in black, with 1” white facings [m5].

FCSM: Cambridge MA in black, with 4” white facings [m2].

HonCSM: Cambridge BA in black, with 1” white facings [b2].

DipMusCSM: Cambridge MA in black, with white facings and white ribbon over armhole* [m2].

DipMusTh: as for DipMusCSM, but with red ribbon over armhole*

*The ribbon was 2” wide, and ran the length of the armhole, similar to the Cambridge ScD undress gown.

Hoods:

ACSM: navy blue, bound 2” white on all edges [s1].

LCSM: navy blue, bound 1” white on all edges [f1].

FCSM: navy blue, lined and bound ¼” white [f1].

HonCSM: navy blue, lined white [a1].

DipMusCSM: navy blue, lined scarlet cloth, bound fur on the cowl only [f1].

DipMusTh: navy blue, lined scarlet cloth, bound fur on the cape only [f1].

The robes for other awards bestowed by the School (reported by Nicholas Groves to have included awards at the doctoral level) have not been ascertained. Awards of the Cambridge School of Music were transferred to those of the Cambridge Society of Musicians upon the demise of the School.

Cambridge Society of Musicians

Founded 1991

From 1995-2000 the CSM also maintained a teaching college known as Phillips College, presently suspended.

Chief Executive and Director: Lee Longden,

Music Management International Ltd, MMI House, 8 Quarry Street, Shawforth, Rossendale OL12 8HD

01706 853664

www:music-services.demon.co.uk (website was defunct as of July 2004)

The Cambridge Society of Musicians is a learned society of musicians and music educators, and restricts its membership to those who can prove an active involvement in the practice of music. Election to the various grades of membership is on the basis of the applicant’s prior qualifications and experience; for example, Fellowship is restricted to graduates in music or music education or those who can prove equivalent experience.

The Chief Executive of the CSM, Lee Longden (q.v. under Cambridge School of Music), is a former Organ Scholar of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and it is the Peterhouse colours of blue and white that may be found in the Society’s Academical Dress. Like the Deputy Chief Executive, Dr Ian Roche, he is a member of the teaching staff of the Faculty of Church Music of the Central School of Religion (q.v.). Dr David Bell (q.v. under Guild of Musicians and Singers) was Warden of the Society during the early 1990s.

CSM now has a large membership worldwide, and in countries where the size of the membership warrants it, National Directors may be appointed. A newsletter has been sent to members in the past and local social meetings are encouraged. The Society also announced some time ago that it plans to enhance its online facilities, which will include a discussion group and online archive of musical resources, and aims to make these its primary means of communication with the membership.

In 1995 CSM established Phillips College as its teaching branch, named after the late Gordon Phillips, HonFCSM, Professor of Organ and Harpsichord at the London College of Music (q.v.). During its period of operation Phillips College provided pilot schemes for accreditation of special needs music courses in schools and colleges and a scheme of school-based diploma and certificate awards for serving teachers. Since 2000, the College has been in the process of preparing its awards for accreditation by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, and its activities have consequently been suspended.

In 2004 its website was removed, and the current status of the Society is not known.

From about 2000, CSM has additionally offered the rank of Companion, and the awards of Merit, Silver and Gold Medals for individuals who have made a substantive contribution to music.

Honorary Fellows of CSM include Wendy Eathorne, Lady Walton, George Melly, Sir David Lumsden, Professor Ian Parrott and David Flood.

Academical Dress

Robes of the Cambridge Society of Musicians

1. 2000-: certain specifications revised from rescension 2: other awards still use the robes in that rescension.

Gowns:
ACSM, AMCSM, MCSM: a black gown of Cambridge BA pattern [b2], with a blue cord and button on the yoke.

FCSM: a black gown of Cambridge MA pattern [m2], with a blue cord and button on the yoke.

HonAffFCSM: a black gown of Oxford MA pattern [m1], with a blue cord and button on the yoke.

HonCSM: a black gown of London MA pattern [m5], with a blue cord and button on the yoke.

HonFCSM: a black silk gown of Oxford MA pattern [m1], with a blue cord and button on the yoke; the upper edge of the sleeves and outer edges of the facings and yoke are trimmed with Cambridge doctors’ lace.

Companion: not known.

Hoods:

MCSM: black, lined blue, bound 2” inside and out with white [s2].

AMCSM: black, lined white, bound 2” inside and out with blue [s2].

AffFCSM: blue, lined and the cape bound white, the cowl bound 2” scarlet [f1].

HonFCSM: blue, lined scarlet, the cowl bound 1” white fur [f1].

2. 1991-2000
Gowns:
MCSM (discontinued before 2000): a gown similar to ACSM, but of undergraduate size.

ACSM: a BA pattern gown in black [b2], with the whole front sleeve seam split, and joined at the wrist by a blue button and loop. There is a blue cord and button on the yoke.

FCSM: a black stuff gown of the Cambridge doctors’ dress pattern [d1], with the facings covered and the sleeves lined with black; there are blue cords and buttons on the sleeves. There is doctors’ lace along the turned-back portion of the sleeve.

HonCSM: a black gown of London MA pattern [m5], with a 1” white ribbon along the outer edge of the facings.

HonFCSM: a black gown of Cambridge MA pattern [m2], with detachable white silk facings.

Hoods:
MCSM: (discontinued before 2000): black, faced 1” blue inside and out, and the cowl bound ½” white [s1].

ACSM: blue, lined self-colour, bound 2” white on the cowl, and with a light blue ribbon, ½” wide set ½” away [s2].

FCSM: blue, lined and the cape bound ½” white [f1].

HonCSM: blue, lined white [a1].

HonFCSM: as FCSM, but the cape bound ½” scarlet.

Note 1: Councillors have special robes: the gown is as for FCSM, but the facings and sleeve-linings are blue; the hood is blue, lined scarlet (cloth originally, subsequently silk), the cowl faced 1” white watered silk (fur originally, until 1995) [f1].

Note 2: Originally, teachers who held a diploma of the CSM were permitted to bind their hoods with ½” gold.

3. American hood scheme for certain awards, applicable to members residing in the USA only

MCSM: American Intercollegiate Code Bachelors’ shape, black, lined blue with a white chevron and music faculty (pink) binding.

AMCSM: AIC Bachelors’ shape, black, lined blue with a gold chevron and music faculty binding.

ACSM: AIC Bachelors’ shape, blue, lined white with a black chevron and music faculty binding.

FCSM: AIC Doctors’ shape [f14], blue, lined white with a scarlet chevron and music faculty binding.

HonCSM: AIC Bachelors’ shape, blue, lined white with a scarlet chevron and music faculty binding.

AffFCSM: AIC Doctors’ shape [f14], blue, lined white with one gold and one scarlet chevron and music faculty binding.

HonFCSM: AIC Doctors’ shape [f14], black, lined gold, with two scarlet chevrons and music faculty binding. The gown is of AIC Doctors’ pattern, in black, with three black chevrons on the sleeves piped in scarlet.

Robes of Phillips College

Graduates of the College, whatever their diploma, wear a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1] with a purple cord and button on the yoke, and a black hood, lined purple with a 3” gold chevron [s1].

Honorary Fellows (FPC) wear an Oxford MA gown in black [m1], with three purple buttons set horizontally over the armhole, and joined by a purple cord; there is a gold cord and button on the yoke. The hood is of Durham doctors’ pattern [f4], in purple silk, lined cream brocade, bound on all edges with gold cord.

Staff Members wear a special hood: scarlet stuff, lined purple, bound on all edges with 1/8” gold cord. [f4]

There are no special robes as yet for Honorary Members and Associates.

Central Academy of Music[i]

Founded 1985

Principal and Director of Examinations: Dr Donald Heath

Empire House, 175, Piccadilly, London W1J 9TB

www:centralacademy.org

The Central Academy of Music was founded as an examining board by Dr Donald Heath and the late Ray Turnecliffe in order to encourage the playing of the electronic keyboard. Its Director of Administration is Stephen Rhodes. It offered Grades 1 to 9 initially, and later on diplomas were introduced. At that time no other college offered examinations in electronic keyboard[ii]. Today the Academy also offers examinations in piano and electronic organ, and has centres throughout the UK and Ireland leading to a busy programme of examining throughout the year.

CAM syllabuses are wide-ranging and flexible, and the Academy’s friendly but rigorous approach has won a loyal following in the popular organ world and beyond.

CAM is a company limited by guarantee in the United Kingdom.

Academical Dress

Gown:
Oxford MA in black [m1]. For FCAM, the facings are purple.

Hoods:
ACAM, AMusCAM: dark green, lined light green faced 2½” rose [f1].

LCAM, LMusCAM: dark green, lined rose faced 2½” gold [f1].

FCAM: gold slipper satin, lined purple bound 1” white fur [f1].

HonCAM: white, lined purple faced 2½” gold [f1].

Church Choral Society and College of Church Music; see Trinity College of Music

Church Organists’ Society

(sometimes called the Guild of St Cecilia, later appears to have been known as the Society of Church Organists)

Date of foundation unknown, but active in the early twentieth-century. Now defunct.

Academical Dress

Hood:
FCOS: black silk, lined white silk bound 1½” red silk [s1]. This diploma had been renamed FSCO by 1927.

College of Church Musicians

Early twentieth-century. Described as affiliated to the Guild of Church Musicians in Northam’s MS copybook. Likely the British branch of the Kansas, USA, institution described below.

Academical Dress

Northam[iii] gives the following hood:

FCCM: dark slate blue lined and bound light blue. [?]

The Ede and Ravenscroft Chancery Lane “bible” gives the following hoods:

ACCM: black lined and edged blue, the cowl bound fur.

Master: blue ‘tabby[iv]’ lined and bound London Laws blue.

Doctor: blue ‘tabby’, lined and bound London Science gold.

College of Liturgical Arts

Founded 2003.

www:sfrc.org

The College of Liturgical Arts was founded by Revd Stephen Callander and others as an examining body in theology and liturgical arts and related areas. It appoints to named fellowships, among which appointees are Aaron Kiely, Philip Allison, Peter Halliday and Revd. Andrew Linley. Its Faculty of Musicians in Worship was a dependent body functioning as a learned society that elected members without examination, now (2004) ceased.

Academical Dress[v]

Gowns:

FCLA jure dignitatis: black with facings and 4” sleeve trim of red purple St Aidan brocade [d2].

FCLA: black with facings of red purple St Aidan brocade [d2].

FFMW: none specified.

LCLA, ACLA, DipLitArts, CertLitArts, DipTheol, CertTheol: Oxford MA in black [m1].

Hoods:

FCLA jure dignitatis: black lined red purple St Aidan brocade [f5].

FCLA: black lined red purple St Aidan brocade [f5] with the inside of the cowl only edged 3″ of taffeta in the relevant discipline colour.

FFMW: black art silk, lined pale blue taffeta, and faced inside with 2″ red-purple St Aidan brocade [f5].

LCLA: black lined red purple St Aidan brocade [s2] with the inside of the cowl only edged 3″ of taffeta in the relevant discipline colour.

ACLA: black with the inside of the cowl only edged 1″ of taffeta in the relevant discipline colour and  4” red purple St Aidan brocade set next to the taffeta [s2]

DipLitArts, DipTheol: black cotton viscose, fully lined red purple St. Aidan brocade. The inside of the cowl is edged 2” white fur [a1].

CertLitArts, CertTheol: black cotton viscose, fully lined red purple St. Aidan brocade [a1].

Discipline colours:

Music: gold

Theology: purple

Practical liturgy: red

Vesture: green

Liturgical design: black

Faculty members wear an amaranth red cincture with fringed fall.

College of Music and Drama, Cardiff; see Welsh College of Music and Drama

College of St Nicolas; see Royal School of Church Music

College of Violinists; see Victoria College of Music

Correspondence College of Church Music

Founded as the Williams School of Church Music in 1971.
The WSCM closed c.1985 but the Williams charity is still extant (see below). The CCCM was established c.1985, and closed c.1990.

The Williams School of Church Music was founded with a bequest from G.H.T. Williams, a wealthy Methodist amateur organist. He built a substantial extension to his house at 20, Salisbury Avenue, Harpenden, in order to house an organ that he had acquired from his former church in East London. This concert hall could accommodate about 150 people, but was seldom used in Mr Williams’ lifetime. Teaching took place there from around 1961 onwards. After his death his home became the Williams School of Church Music, with Dr Francis Westbrook (1903-75), also a Methodist and professor of counterpoint at the London College of Music (1968-75), as its first Principal. The School was a registered charity governed by a Trust Deed of 20 March 1970.

The School remained relatively inactive until Clive Bright was appointed Principal in 1976, following the death of Dr Westbrook. Clive Bright was a London-based consort conductor who was resident in Harpenden. Under his leadership musical activities of all kinds expanded hugely, and the WSCM went from having no pupils to some 600, ranging in age from 5 to 72. In addition to individual instrumental tuition leading to a variety of examinations, there were brass groups, choirs, string and wind bands. There was also a chapel choir which sang Choral Evensong every Wednesday during term-time and on some Sunday evenings as well.

Clive Bright was the driving force behind all this activity, and the School closed down some eighteen months after his departure in 1984, by which time the School was suffering from financial problems. Unfortunately little was done by the Williams trustees to support the School or perpetuate the wishes of its founder. The concert hall was demolished in 2001, and its site is now being re-developed for housing. Parts of the organ were used in the re-building of the organ at High Street Methodist Church, Harpenden.

The Correspondence College of Church Music was established after the WSCM had closed in order to allow WSCM distance learning students to finish their courses, also offering some new distance learning courses. It was an extremely small-scale enterprise of far less significance than the WSCM had been, administered by Clive Bright and the former Registrar of the WSCM, Barbara Fairs, with support from Dr John Winter and Dr Frances Knight. All staff worked on a voluntary basis. Its activities ceased around 1990.

In recent years the Williams School of Church Music has resumed some activity in the guise of the Williams Church Music Trust, which continues the original registered charity. This is a grant-making body concentrated upon music within the Church of England. In 2005 its trustees were listed as sponsor for, among others, the St Albans Choral Society and Bach Choir, a recital at Lichfield Cathedral and the top prize at the St Albans International Organ Festival (£5,500).

Note: The author is indebted to Dr Frances Knight for the main body of this article.

Academical Dress

Hoods of the Correspondence College of Church Music

DipCCCM: black, faced 3” purple, the cowl bound 1½” gold, the gold edging folded to shew ¾” either side [f1][vi].

ACCCM: black, lined purple, bound 1½” gold on all edges, the gold edging laid flat inside the cowl and outside the cape so as to shew 1½” when worn [f1].

Hoods of the Williams School of Church Music

LWSCM: black, faced 3” violet, edged gold [f3].

FWSCM: black, lined violet, edged gold [f3].

Note 1: HonWSCM had no robes.

Note 2: There were no prescribed gowns.

The Curwen College of Music

Founded 1863 as the Tonic Sol-Fa College of Music.

Re-named the Curwen Memorial College in 1944, but also continued to use the original name.

Re-organised as the Curwen College of Music in 1972.

Warden: Dr Terry Worroll

259, Monega Rd, Manor Park, London E12 6TU

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/Curwen

The Tonic Sol-Fa College of Music was founded by the Revd. John Curwen (1816-80) at Forest Gate, east London, in 1863. The instrument of government was drawn up in 1869 and incorporation followed in 1875. Curwen had taught himself to read music from a book by the originator of tonic sol-fa, Sarah Glover. He was responsible for developing and integrating the tonic sol-fa method into a comprehensive educational vision for all classes and ages of people that, in his plans for the College, would embrace the training of teachers, the education of students and the provision of a rigorous series of examinations using tonic sol-fa extending from the first grades up to Fellowship. From the outset, the College has always taken a strong interest in choral music. The activities of Curwen’s college were complimented by those of his publishing house, J. Curwen and Sons, which continued as a publisher of educational music until the 1970s.

It was found that the original premises were too far from the centre of London to carry out the College’s mission effectively and therefore new premises were sought. In the early years of the twentieth-century the College was to be found at 27, Finsbury Square, London EC1. From 1939-44 it was housed in Great Ormond Street and in 1944 moved to more spacious accommodation at Queensborough Terrace. During this period, the College was afforded continuity by its long-serving Secretary, Frederick Green, who had been involved with the College from its early years. At one point those wishing to submit for diplomas had first to become shareholders of the College.

In 1967 a decisive development in the College’s history was marked by the appointment of the Revd. Canon Dr. Paul Faunch as Principal of the TSC and Chairman of the separate Curwen International Music Association (a fellowship with especial interest in choral music for past and present students of the College, under the patronage of Dr Zoltan Kodaly). In 1972, he presided over a major re-organisation of the College which saw it re-named and renewed in its pursuit of Curwen’s method.

This period saw the College once again housed in the London suburbs, it having moved to Bromley. Previously, in the 1960s, largely due to the energetic influence of the late Dr Rupert Judge (d.1986), the Curwen College had became affiliated to the Geneva Theological College (q.v.), which affiliation continued until the Geneva Theological College became a part of Greenwich University, Hawaii (now Norfolk Island), in 1990. At this time the College’s activities were diverse, so that it offered not only tuition for its own examinations (which were also available to external candidates), but also preparation for GCE Music and other public examinations. Further training for qualified teachers was offered by means of the School Teachers’ Music Certificate, which offered an introduction for those who wished to teach class singing. There were then twelve different pathways to the College’s diplomas.

Concurrently with the 1972 re-organisation a number of members of the College broke away to form a new Curwen Institute (under the leadership of the educationalist Bernarr Rainbow) which has since concentrated its work on the applicability of the Curwen method to primary education. It has awarded a diploma in tonic sol-fa teaching (presently suspended) as listed below.

Dr Faunch continued at the helm of the College until his death in 1997. In the succeeding period, under the guidance of Dr Terry Worroll, the present Warden, the College has been the subject of an ongoing revision, reflecting its contemporary nature as an examining body rather than a teaching institute.

Academical Dress

Current robes (1997-)

Gowns:
AMusCCM: London BA in black [b4] ([b1] until 2003).

LCCM: London BA in black [b4].

FCCM, HonCCM and HonFCCM: CNAA MA in black [m10].

Hoods:
AMusCCM: light blue, faced 2” crushed strawberry, the cowl bound ½” old gold [s1 until 2002; s2 since 2002].

LCCM: light blue, faced 4” crushed strawberry, the cowl bound ½” old gold [f1].

FCCM: light blue, lined crushed strawberry, bound 1” old gold on all edges [f1].

HonCCM: light blue, lined old gold, faced 4” crushed strawberry [f1].

HonFCCM: light blue, lined old gold, bound 1” crushed strawberry on all edges [f1] (now obsolete).

Note: in 2002, the award of HonFCCM was withdrawn; now all new Fellows, whether admitted ordinarily or honoris causa, wear the FCCM robes.

Previous robes (1972-97)

Gowns:
ACCM and HonCCM: a black gown with bell-sleeves [d2].

LCCM: London BA in black [b4], with brown cords and buttons on the sleeves and yoke.

FCCM: Oxford lay gown in black [d4], with brown watered facings.

Hoods:
ACCM: brown watered taffeta, lined dark brown [s1].

LCCM: brown watered taffeta, faced 3” old gold*

FCCM: brown watered taffeta, lined old gold*.

HonCCM: brown watered taffeta, lined dark brown, bound ½” old gold on all edges.*

*These were made in the Warham Guild shape until 1997, when they were changed to [f1].

Robes of the Tonic Sol-Fa College (18—1972)

Gowns:

FTSC: a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1], with three black cords and buttons on each sleeve.

Others: a black gown with bell sleeves [d1].

Hoods:
ATSC/AMusTSC: no hood.

LTSC/LMusTSC: light blue, bound 2½” dark pink on all edges [f1].

FTSC: light blue, lined dark pink [f1].

HonTSC: light blue, bound ½” dark pink, and faced 1” dark blue velvet [f1].

DipMusEdTSC: light blue, lined slate blue[vii], faced outside 1” dark pink and 1” slate blue [f1].

Original robes (1863-18–) (as given in Haycraft)

Hood:

FTSC: ruby poplin, bordered white fur [s1].

Northam gives:

FTSC: puce silk edged fur. [?]

The Ede and Ravenscroft Chancery Lane “bible” gives:

Gowns:

ATSC: black, with blue cord and button on yoke.[b1 or d4?]

LTSC: black, with blue cord and button on sleeves [b4]

FTSC: was as given above, but then as London MA, but with an upright cut to the armhole, extending to the sleeve head, and a black cord and button on the yoke.

Hoods:

ATSC: none.

LTSC: blue, bound 3” Sheffield Arts pink.

DipMusEd: lined Wales Divinity silk.

Revd. Philip Goff’s small MS book gives:

Hoods:

LTSC: London music blue bound 3” Cambridge Laws pink inside [s1]. Altered in 1937 to London music blue, bound 3” in and out on all edges Sheffield arts pink (crushed strawberry). [f1].

FTSC: London music blue lined Cambridge Laws pink [f1]. Altered in 1937 to London music blue lined Sheffield arts pink (crushed strawberry). [f1]; the neckband is pink.

Robes of the Curwen Institute (1973-?)

Hood:

Diploma in Tonic Sol-Fa: black, lined pink and edged with blue silk [s1].

Derby Institute of Music

A diploma of this institution is in the possession of Dr Terry Worroll. He writes:

“Its President was The Most Hon. The Marquess of Hartington. The diploma I have was awarded to Francis Cotter Lapthorne (he was known as Frank) in November 1950. The diploma (Associate) was awarded honoris causa! The designatory letters were AIMD.

The names of the ‘Founder Patrons’ are given at the top of the certificate which is printed on very good watermarked paper. The watermark has a crown in it (possibly the Marquess’s very own paper?) but it is upside-down or, rather, it has been printed upside-down.”

If academic dress was used, it is not known.

Examining Board for Music

Founded 1996. Now defunct.

The Examining Board for Music was founded by Paul Carter and Lee Longden (q.v. under Cambridge School of Music) as an attempted breakaway movement from another institution with which Paul Carter had been involved. As far as can be ascertained, few if any diplomas were awarded and the Board never commenced serious activity. It became defunct within a short time of its inception.

Academical Dress

Gown:

a black gown of Dublin MA pattern [m3]. Honorary fellows wear a gown of American Intercollegiate Code doctors’ pattern in cherry, with black velvet sleeve-bars and facings.

Hoods:

AEBM: black, faced 2” gold [s1].

LEBM: black, lined gold [s1].

FEBM: black, lined gold faced 2” cherry [s1].

HonFEBM: black, lined cherry faced 2” gold [s1].

Faculty of Church Music

Founded 1956; since post-1968 part of the Central School of Religion (q.v.)

In 1980 it incorporated the Society of Church Musicians, founded c.1970.

Registrar and Treasurer of the CSR: Revd. Geoffrey Gleed,

27, Sutton Park, Blunsdon, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 4BB

What is now the Faculty of Church Music of the Central School of Religion was originally formed as a diploma-awarding body called the Faculty of Church Music in order to provide the Free Churches with an alternative to the Guild of Church Musicians (q.v.). The first President (from 1957) was the Rt. Revd. G.F.B. Morris, who was a Bishop of the Church of England in South Africa and a leading evangelical. The Acting Chairman in 1958 was Alfred H.C. Stevens and the Council included Dr C. Bendall, C.M. Hansen and Dr F.R. Thornton. The founding Honorary Secretary and Executive Officer was Dr Douglas Geary, who in 1967 became President of the Central School of Religion (q.v.)  A few years after this the FCM was absorbed into the CSR, where its diploma programmes continue alongside the degrees in Church Music that were introduced in 1980. The current Director of the FCM, Dr Andrew Padmore, was formerly Organist of Belfast Cathedral.

Former Presidents of the FCM include Revd. Dr John Styles, formerly Precentor of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh and also sometime Principal of Victoria College of Music (q.v.) and Revd. Canon Dr Paul Faunch, who was also Warden of the Curwen College of Music (q.v.)

The awards of the original grades of Associate and Fellow were made after examination; this was changed in 1958 to a system of accreditation of prior learning and experience and this method of award has continued ever since, supplemented by teaching and coursework. The award systems were revised in about 1997. A scheme of examinations for lay readers and their counterparts in the Free Churches has also been operated, leading to the former Bronze and current Silver and Gold Medals of the FCM in the Spoken Word and to the AFCM and LFCM in the same discipline.

The Society of Church Musicians was formed along similar lines to the FCM circa 1970 and merged with the FCM in 1980. This merger saw the FCM introduce a greater level of support and teaching in theoretical aspects of church music.

Honorary Fellows of the FCM have included Rodney Baldwyn, Richard Fenwick, Colin Mawby, Lt-Col. Dr Ray Steadman-Allen (q.v. under National College of Music and London Society for Musicological Research), John Ewington (q.v. under Guild of Church Musicians) and Professor Ian Tracey. The award of Life Member was previously made in recognition of meritorious service; it has not been awarded in recent years.

Academical Dress

Robes of the Faculty of Church Music

Gowns:

1958-

a black gown with bell-sleeves [d2], faced navy blue.

1956-58

AFCM: black stuff, with the sleeves looped by a twisted purple cord and button, and a twisted purple cord and button on the yoke [b4?].

FFCM: black stuff, with the sleeves looped by a twisted purple cord and button, and a pink cord and button on the yoke [b4?]

Hoods:

1999-

AFCM: navy blue silk, faced 3” black velvet [f3].

LFCM: navy blue silk, lined black velvet [f3].

FFCM: black velvet, lined navy blue silk [f3].

1980-99

AFCM: navy blue, lined self-colour [s1].

LFCM (introduced post-1980): navy blue, faced 3” black velvet [s1].

FFCM: black velvet, lined navy blue [s2].

1958-80

AFCM: pink rayon, lined purple [f1].

FFCM: pink rayon, lined purple, the cowl bound 1” fur [f1].

1956-58

AFCM: black stuff, lined purple, the cowl bound 1½” pink rayon [shape unknown]

FFCM: pink rayon, lined purple [shape unknown].

Note 1: in 1980 the original hoods for AFCM and FFCM were transferred to become the hoods for MMus and BMus of the Central School of Religion (q.v.) and the FCM adopted the hoods of the SCM (see below).

Note 2: post-1980, holders of the ChM diploma were entitled to bind the cowl of the hood with 1” fur; life members with 2” old gold. This no longer applies.

Note 3: Canon Dr Paul Faunch had an FFCM hood in black velvet lined cherry [s2]. This may have been a prototype, or the cherry may have faded from navy.

Robes of the Society of Church Musicians

MSCM: as for AFCM (1980-99).

FSCM: as for FFCM (1980-99).

Faculty of Church Organists

Founded 1989. Currently dormant.

The Faculty of Church Organists was founded by Dennis Puxty (q.v. under Guild of Musicians and Singers). Originally it was limited to four Fellows: Puxty, Nicholas Groves (q.v. under Norwich School of Church Music), Lee Longden (q.v. under Cambridge Society of Musicians) and Dr Maurice Merrell, with a fifth Fellow later added in the person of Professor Ian Tracey. Dennis Puxty acted as Presiding Fellow until his death, when this position was taken over by Professor Ian Tracey. The Faculty is not active at present.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

MFCO: a black gown of Cambridge BA pattern [b2] (not awarded).

FFCO: a black gown of Cambridge MA pattern [m2].

Hoods:

MFCO: black, lined black watered, the cowl bound 2” lilac [s1].

FFCO: lilac, lined black watered, the cowl faced ½” old gold [s2]. Originally this hood had no gold facing and was made in the Glasgow shape [f9].

Faculty of Liturgical Musicians

Founded 2001.

Assistant Director: Revd. Andrew Linley,

37, Acacia Road, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 0LY

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/facultylm

Originally founded as a subsidiary society of the Central Institute London[viii], the FLM has been independently administered since 2003. Fellowship of the FLM was originally open only to existing members of the CIL who held a musical qualification; now the CIL restriction has been lifted and all who are musically qualified may apply. Associateship is open to all who support the aims of the Faculty. There are no fees payable for membership. The FLM exists to promote liturgical music and support those involved in its practise.

The Director of the FLM, Stephen Crosbie, is organist and choirmaster of Kirkcudbright Parish Church, Dumfries.

Academical Dress

Hoods:

FFLM: dark red cotton viscose, the cowl faced 3” red shot green silk, the neckband lined and bound 3/8” red shot green silk top and bottom [f3].

AFLM: dark red cotton viscose, faced red shot green silk [s1].

Forest Gate College of Music; see Incorporated London Academy of Music

Glasgow Athenæum School of Music; see Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama

Guild of Church Musicians

Founded 1888 as the Church Choir Guild

Known as the Incorporated Guild of Church Musicians from 1905.

Now known by its present title.

General Secretary: John Ewington, OBE,

St Katharine Cree, 86 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 3DH

 01883 741 854

www:churchmusicians.org

The Guild of Church Musicians was founded as the Church Choir Guild under the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr Frederick Temple) and Sir George Elvey (Organist of St George’s Chapel, Windsor). It exists to promote Church Music in all its forms and to raise the technical and general proficiency of those who practise it.

Formerly, the Guild offered examinations leading to the award of its diplomas as an incorporated institution. Now it administers the awards of the Preliminary Certificate (designed for younger musicians), the Archbishops’ Award (introduced 1994), which examines by tests of practical musicianship, portfolio submission and viva voce, and the more searching Archbishops’ Certificate, (administered by the Guild since 1961), which consists of the requirements for the Award plus two prepared essays and a written examination in worship and church music. The award of FGCM is a higher award available through distance learning. Holders of the Preliminary Certificate and Archbishops’ Award may wear a badge suspended from a ribbon of the Guild’s colours. The Guild’s examinations are open only to its members.

To aid those preparing for its awards the Guild runs courses and publishes works of guidance. One such is the recent “Landmarks in the development of Christian Worship and Church Music” by John Ewington, OBE, and Revd. Canon Arthur Dobb, which is of particular help to ACertCM candidates.

Membership of the GCM was originally open to members of any church in communion with Canterbury; since 1988 it has been open to all Christians. There is currently a substantial membership overseas. In the centenary year of 1988 the then Archbishop of Canterbury invited the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster to become joint patron of the Guild. The Archbishop of Canterbury is now no longer patron.

The Guild’s magazine, “Laudate”, is sent to members three times a year, together with the annual Year Book.

The President of the Guild is Dr Mary Archer and the Warden is the Dean of Monmouth.

Academical Dress

Fellowship (FGCM):

Hood:

royal blue, lined self-colour, faced 3” terra-cotta [f1][ix]. There is no gown specified.

Associateship (AGCM)[x]

not known.

The Guild administers the Archbishops’ Certificate in Church Music (ACertCM), for which the hood is black lined black stuff, the cowl faced 1” spectrum blue, bound terra-cotta cord on all edges [was [s2] modified; now [f1]]. There is no special gown. The recently-introduced Archbishops’ Certificate in Public Worship (ACertPW) is also administered by the Guild; its hood is black lined black stuff, the cowl faced 1” terra-cotta, bound spectrum blue cord on all edges [was [s2] modified; now [f1]].

See under Royal School of Church Music for the Archbishop’s Diploma in Church Music (ADCM, formerly ACDCM).

The diplomas of the Incorporated Guild were as follows:

Gown:

Oxford BA pattern in black [b1], with terra-cotta velvet stripes placed horizontally on the sleeves, 6” x 1”; 2 for AIGCM, 3 for LIGCM and 4 for FIGCM.

Hoods:

AIGCM: black, bound ½” terra-cotta on all edges [f1].

LIGCM: as AIGCM, with a extra band of terra-cotta, 1” wide, set inside the cowl 1” away form the binding [f1].

FIGCM: royal blue, lined self-colour, bound ½” terra-cotta on all edges [f1].

Previous hoods (these had changed by 1947):

AIGCM: black corded, faced old gold, the neckband edged crimson silk [s1].

LIGCM: black, lined old gold [s1].

FIGCM: crimson, lined gold shot silk, the neckband edged ¼” gold shot silk [s1].

HonFIGCM, also Fellows by examination who were Life Members: as for FIGCM, but also bound fur [s1].

Original robes (1888-18–)

Hood:

FCCG: crimson silk, bound fur [s1].

There were no robes for other awards.

Robes as given in Northam

Guild of Church Musicians

Gowns:

FGCM (Hon & council): black, with three strips of black velvet, 6” x 1”, with pointed ends. [b1]

FGCM(ChM): black, with three strips of black velvet, 6” x 1”, with pointed ends. [b1]

FGCM(Org): black, with three strips of black velvet, 6” x 1”, with pointed ends. [b1]

Hoods:

FGCM (Hon & council): crimson corded silk, lined shot gold silk, edged fur.

FGCM(ChM): crimson corded silk, edged fur

FGCM(Org): crimson corded silk, the neckband bound ½” shot gold silk, edged fur

Church Choir Guild

Robes as for GCM above, but designated FCCG. There was a black square cap with crimson tassel. ACCG: a gown as for FCCG/FGCM, but with two strips of velvet. A cap with black tassel; no hood.

Later in the book is another entry for the FCCG, where the hood is described as being lined with London Science shot gold. The hood shape is a special simple, like Wales [s5], but with the liripipe removed.

Also on the same page is an entry for the GCM:

FGCM: London music blue[xi], lined London science gold [f5].

AGCM: black, lined Dublin MA blue, bound all edges 1” in and out with fur. [s1 or 2].

Guild of Concert Performers

Founded by James Holt (q.v. under North and Midlands School of Music) in about 1999.

Academical Dress

FGCP: not known.

The Guild of Musicians and Singers

Founded 1993

Master: Dr David Bell

8, Clave Street, London E1W 3XQ

 020 7488 3650

www:musiciansandsingers.org.uk

It was with an awareness of the traditional role of guilds and fraternities in the lives of professional musicians that the late Dennis Puxty founded the Guild of Musicians and Singers. Dennis Puxty was both an accountant and an organist, and he established as a guiding principle of the Guild that it should draw its membership equally from professional and amateur musicians, allowing through its meetings the productive discourse that characterizes a learned society. Other leading members have included Dr David Bell, late organist to Herbert von Karajan, and Dr Maurice Merrell, chairman of the organ builders Bishop and Son.

The twice-yearly meetings of the Guild take place in central London and are committed to celebrating a high standard of musical performance throughout. To that end, recent programmes have included recitals on both the church and theatre organs, a piano recital of Chopin and concerts by chamber and brass ensembles. Illustrated lectures and talks are also an important feature of the Guild’s activities.

The Guild’s newsletter is lively in style, including both articles on performance-related subjects and reviews of live and recorded music.

The membership now stands at around 300 and includes a number of distinguished musicians. Candidates are elected to one of three levels of membership. As well as its distinctive Academical Dress, the Guild has its own tie.

Academical Dress

Gown:

a black gown of London BA pattern [b4], with crimson facings and purple cords and buttons on the sleeves.

Hoods:

AGMS: crimson, lined purple [s1].

LGMS: crimson, lined purple [f1].

FGMS: crimson, lined and the cape bound 1” purple [f1].

Note: founding fellows wear the FGMS hood with 1” fur on all edges; councillors with 1” fur on the cowl.

Guild of Organists

Date of foundation unknown, but active in the late nineteenth-century. Now defunct.

The Guild was confined exclusively to the Episcopal Church of England and those churches in communion with it.

Academical Dress

Hood:

FGldO: black poplin, lined crimson satin, faced 6” fur [s1].

Northam gives the following:

FGldO: black lined rose pink edged fur.

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Founded 1880 as the Guildhall School of Music

Known by present title since about 1935.

Principal: Professor Barry Ife

Silk Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DT

020 7628 2571

www:gsmd.ac.uk

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama evolved from the Guildhall Orchestral Society and was founded by the Corporation of the City of London. The Corporation’s Music Committee has controlled the affairs of the School since its foundation.

Having initially been accommodated in a disused warehouse in the City of London, in 1886 the School moved to premises on the Thames Embankment, with a further extension to these premises reflecting an expansion in student numbers following in 1889. Throughout the early life of the School part-time students only were accommodated in the School’s programmes of study. In 1920 full-time courses were introduced by public demand, with drama now occupying a substantial part of the School’s activities. The School has since 1977 been accommodated in large purpose-built premises in the Barbican Centre, a striking concrete listed building in the heart of the City.

In addition to the performers’ course, the School formerly offered a three-year course of graduate status leading to the diploma of GGSM intended for school teachers. Since 1991 it has offered degree courses validated by the University of Surrey and City University, including a DMA course which is jointly taught by the two institutions. The Concert Recital Diploma is reserved for elite postgraduate students and is the equivalent of the European premier prix. The School has also established a reputation as a centre for training in Music Therapy at postgraduate level. The student body is substantial and international in nature; the School has earned a reputation for being both informal and innovative.

The School also operates its own long-standing system of local graded music examinations and external diplomas.

The professorial staff has included a number of distinguished musicians of international standing, amongst which may be counted the violinists Yfrah Neaman and David Takeno and the clarinettist Jack Brymer. Past students of the GSMD can be found in all the major orchestras and many have also pursued successful careers as soloists and in music education. Jazz is now a significant part of the School’s activities.

The office of Principal has been filled by a number of distinguished musicians and musical administrators, including Joseph Barnby, Allen Percival and Sir John Hosier.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

LGSM: a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1].

AGSM: as GGSM, but without the braid.

GGSM: a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1] with 3 bars of black braid in each sleeve, 4½” wide, set 2” apart. There is a red and white flash on each facing.

FGSM: a black gown of the Oxford MA pattern [m1], with 3 vertical cords and buttons from the armhole to the shoulder, 1 red between 2 white.

HonGSM: no robes.

Hoods:

LGSM: black, lined white, with a red chevron [s1].

AGSM: black, lined red, with a white chevron [s1].

GGSM: black, lined red, with a white chevron [f1].

FGSM: black, lined and bound red, with three chevrons, white, blue, white, each 1” wide on the lining [f1].

Note: previously only those holding Teachers’ diplomas were permitted to wear Academical Dress; those with Performers’ diplomas wore no robes. In 1970, the GGSM diploma was the only one to use robes.

Hampstead Academy; see Incorporated London Academy of Music

Huntingdonshire Regional College, School of Music

Awards ceased at some point after 1988.

The Director of Music, Dr Roger Tivey, made a very small number of awards to colleagues and close friends.

Gowns:

HonDMus: light violet watered silk, the facings and sleeves covered with magenta[xii]. [d2]

Honorary Fellowship: none specified.

Hoods:

HonDMus: light violet watered silk, lined and bound ¼” magenta. [f1]

Honorary Fellowship: mid-green panama, lined white silk. [a1]

Imperial Conservatoire of Music

Early twentieth-century.

Academical Dress

Gown:

FICM: black, with gold cord and green button on each sleeve. [b4]

Hood:

FICM: green, lined old gold watered. [s1]

Incorporated Association of Organists

Founded 1913 as the National Union of Organists.

Known by present title since 1929.

Hon. General Secretary: Richard Popple,

11, Stonehill Drive, Bromyard, Herefordshire HR7 4XB

 01885 483 155

www:allegro.co.uk/iao

This hood is unofficial, and is believed to have been designed by a member of the IAO. Both it and the use of the letters MIAO to signify membership have never been sanctioned in any way by the Incorporated Association of Organists. For this reason the history of the IAO is not included here.

Academical Dress

Hood:

MIAO: light green, part lined and bound fur [s1].

Incorporated Guild of Church Musicians; see Guild of Church Musicians

Incorporated London Academy of Music

Founded 1861.

In 1904 it incorporated the London Music School, founded 1865, the Forest Gate College of Music, founded 1885, and the Metropolitan College of Music, founded 1889. In 1905 it incorporated the Hampstead Academy.

Since 1935 known as the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

www:lamda.org.uk

The Incorporated London Academy was founded by Henry Wylde and soon established a high reputation as a centre for general musical training. Having incorporated a number of smaller institutions in 1904-05, the Academy gained a new principal in Dr Thomas Henry Yorke Trotter, who was instrumental in developing new approaches to music education for children. The Academy was at this time based at St George’s Hall, Langham Place, London W1.

In 1935, by which time the Academy was under the direction of Wilfrid Foulis, its name was changed to reflect the importance of dramatic training in its mission; speech and drama had in fact been taught since the Academy’s early years. The outbreak of war in 1939 saw the Academy close and move from London for the duration of the hostilities. When it re-opened in 1945 it abandoned musical training altogether and began to operate purely as a drama school, and thus it continues up to this day. Since its re-opening, the College has awarded additional diplomas to the one listed below; these are omitted from the listings because they are awarded purely in speech and drama and do not use Academical Dress.

Academical Dress

Hood:

ALAM: black, lined blue [s1]. This hood is no longer used.

ICMA (Independent Contemporary Music Awards)

Founded 1984-5

Registrar: Margaret Woolway, PO Box 134, Witney, Oxon. OX29 7FS

 07000 780728/08704 599698

www:icma-exams.co.uk

It may justly be said that ICMA was one of the first examining bodies to take seriously the concept of examinations combining both serious and popular music, through the grades to diploma level, a concept that has since been widely adopted by the “traditional” institutions. They were the first to offer an options list of supporting tests for practical examinations, and candidates are able to offer alternative pieces for approval to play at the examination.

ICMA is notable for its highly flexible approach to examining, arranging times at the candidate’s convenience and conducting the examination in surroundings familiar to the candidate. It has a substantial and loyal following throughout the UK.

In addition to its principal work of examining, ICMA offers an advice line, a regular newsletter and endeavours to organise both formal and informal social events for students and teachers.

As well as their main office in Witney, ICMA also maintains a base in Scotland.

Academical Dress

There have been four rescensions, as follows:

2002-

All awards unchanged from the 1998 rescension, except:

FDipMusP/T was replaced by AdvDipMusP/T – with no change in the prescribed robes.

Gowns:

HonPDMusEd, PPICMA (which replaced the former PDMusEd): Cambridge MA in black stuff [m2].

All other honorary awards except HonFMusICMA (which is unchanged): Cambridge BA in black stuff [b2].

Hoods:

PPICMA: grey watered silk, lined red watered silk, faced 2” white watered silk inside cowl and on outside of cape [f1].

HonPDMusEd: red watered silk, lined grey watered silk, faced 2” white watered silk inside cowl and outside cape [f1].

All other honorary awards except HonFMusICMA (which is unchanged): red watered silk, lined grey watered silk [s1].

1998-

Gowns:

Certificated Teacher (CT,ICMA) DipMus and FDipMus; also HonICMA: Cambridge BA in black stuff [b2].

DASM, PDMusEd and HonFMusICMA: Cambridge MA in black stuff [m2].

Chief Executive: as for 1993-98 rescension.

Hoods:

CT: grey watered silk, lined self-colour, the cowl bound red cord [s1].

DipMus: grey watered silk, lined red watered silk [s1].

FDipMus: grey watered silk, lined red watered silk, faced on all edges with 2” white watered silk [s1].

DASM; PDMusEd: grey watered silk, lined red watered silk, faced 2” white watered silk inside cowl and on outside of cape [f1].

HonICMA: red watered silk, lined grey watered silk, faced on all edges 2” white watered silk [s1].

HonFMusICMA: red watered silk, lined grey watered silk, faced 2” with white watered silk inside cowl and outside cape [f1].

Chief Executive: as for 1993-98 rescension.

Note: a “hire hood” used to cover all diplomas is also used; it is of grey stuff, lined red for earned and red stuff lined grey for honorary diplomas; it is of Aberdeen pattern [a1].

1993-98

Gowns:

CertMus: a black gown of basic Cambridge undergraduate pattern [u2].

DipMus, HonICMA: a black gown of Cambridge BA pattern [b2].

FDipMus, DASM, HonFMusICMA, ProfDipMusEd: Cambridge MA in black [m2].

Chief Executive: a black gown of Cambridge MA pattern [m2] with cherry watered facings. There is a white cord and button on the yoke.

Hoods:

CertMus: grey silk, lined self-colour, bound pink silk, 2” inside and ¼” outside [s1].

DipMus: grey silk, lined white silk, bound kingfisher blue silk, 2” inside and ¼” outside [s1].

FDipMus: grey silk, lined white silk, faced 2” gold silk inside cowl and outside cape [f1].

DASM: as FDipMus, but faced bright cherry watered silk.

ProfDipMusEd: as FDipMus, but faced dark cherry watered silk.

HonICMA: originally red silk, lined grey silk [s1]; later white silk, lined grey silk, faced 2” gold silk on all edges [s1].

HonFMusICMA: white watered silk, lined grey silk, faced 2” gold silk inside cowl and outside cape [f1].

Chief Executive: cherry watered silk, lined white silk, faced 2” grey silk inside cowl and outside cape [f1].

1985-93

Gowns:

CertMus, DipMus, FDipMus: Cambridge BA in black [b2].

AdvDipMus, HonFMusICMA: Cambridge MA in black [m2].

Hoods:

CertMus: gold silk, lined black silk [s1].

DipMus: gold silk, lined black silk, the cowl bound 2” fur [s1].

FDipMus: gold silk, lined red silk, the cowl bound 2” fur [f1].

AdvDipMus: gold silk, lined pale blue silk, cape and cowl bound fur [f1].

HonFMusICMA: gold silk, lined black silk, cape and cowl bound fur [f1].

Note: originally there were also honorary diplomas of HonAICMA, HonLICMA and HonFICMA.

Lancashire College of Music (1935)

Academical Dress

Hood:

LLCM: black lined black, with 2 strips of black, 4” x 36” hanging in front from the join of the neckband and hood, with 2 bands of violet ribbon. The ends of the strips are ‘fishtailed’.

Lancashire College of Music (1986); see North and Midlands School of Music

London Academy of Music

Now part of the North and Midlands School of Music (q.v.)

Revd. Stephen Callander writes:

“The London Academy of Music (not LAMDA), was, I believe, a resurrection of an earlier body of the same name. I came across them in 1986 on a visit to London. Their small ad was on the noticeboard of the Westminster Music Library. They operated from an address in N1 – alas, I can’t find the details. It was run by a chap called Martin Glover and his wife, Sally, and offered only the award of Fellow Musician (FMusLAM). There were no membership fees. The Academy ceased to function in about 1991. I inherited the remaining certificates and a list of about 30 names (mostly in USA – Florida, in fact) when the Glovers retired to Vancouver in June 1994.

When the NMSM offered to adopt it, the NMSM council at the time were given FMusLAM. The remaining certificates were then destroyed. The certificates were large (larger than A3), heavy buff card, with engraved-script text.

There were no robes – the thought had not occurred to the Glovers, however, I designed, at the NMSM’s request a green Cambridge full-shape hood, fully lined terracotta taffeta. Fortunately it did not leave the launch pad!”

London College of Music

Founded 1887

Since 1993 part of Thames Valley University; now known as the London College of Music and Media (LCM2, now LCMM)

Pro-Vice Chancellor: Professor Colin Lawson (until 2005)

Thames Valley University, St Mary’s Road, London W5 5RF

 020 8231 2364

www:tvu.ac.uk

The London College of Music was established as a teaching and examining institution in 1887, and for much of its history occupied premises in Great Marlborough Street in central London. From its outset it was committed to the tuition of both full and part-time students in music, speech and drama, and was open into the evening in order to fulfil the latter objective. Correspondence lessons in theoretical aspects of Speech Training were also offered.

The College offered tuition for teachers leading to the diplomas of GLCM (Graduate Diploma) and from 1957 a School Music Diploma Course extending over two years was introduced leading to LLCM in School Music. Dr Reginald Hunt, Director 1954-64, was instrumental in promoting these developments.

The London College was fortunate in obtaining the services of a number of distinguished musicians on its professorial and administrative staffs. The composer Dr William Lloyd Webber was associated with the College from 1964 as Director, simultaneously holding a Professorship at the Royal College of Music, and his successor in the office of Director was the well-known pianist and composer John McCabe.

Following John McCabe’s retirement in 1993, the College amalgamated with Thames Valley University and moved to its present base in Ealing. It has since developed particular strengths in Media Studies and in popular music, with specialist units now devoted to teaching electric guitar, electric bass and drums.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

GLCM (now defunct): the London BMus gown in black [d4].

Other diplomas: the London BA gown [b4] in black, with light blue cords and buttons on the sleeves, 1 for ALCM, 2 for LLCM and 3 for FLCM.

Hoods:

ALCM, AMusLCM: no hood.

LLCM, LMusLCM: black, lined light blue [f1].

FLCM: black, lined light blue faced 2” lemon [f1].

GLCM: black, lined light blue faced 2” white [f1].

Note: until 1978, the FLCM had no lemon facing (i.e. as LLCM) and the LLCM was black, faced 2” light blue [s1].

Northam gives the following:

Gowns:

LMusLCM: as London BA, but with 3 light blue cords and buttons on each sleeve.

ALCM: as LMus, but only 1 cord on each sleeve.

Hoods:

LMusLCM: black silk lined light blue. [?]

ALCM: black, lined and bound sky blue, [‘special shape’].

London Music School; see Incorporated London Academy of Music

London School of Music

Date of foundation unknown, but active in the 1950s. Presumably defunct.

A clergyman of Nicholas Groves’s acquaintance was known to hold the ALSM diploma; he is the only link to this school that has been traced.

A limited company of this name (no. 03455861) was dissolved on 14 September 1999.

Academical Dress

Hoods:

ALSM: royal blue, faced 2” pale gold [f1].

FLSM: not known

London Society for Musicological Research

Founded 2002

Director: Professor John Kersey

BM1867, London WC1N 3XX

www:johnkersey.org/lsmr.html

The London Society for Musicological Research is an independent learned society which aims to encourage the pursuit of research of all kinds into subjects of a musicological nature. It interprets this aim in a broad and liberal manner so as to include all research that has a bearing on the understanding of the phenomenon of music.

Election to Associateship and Fellowship of the Society is dependent on the submission of an appropriate research dissertation of a high standard; for Associates of 10,000 words in length and for Fellows of 20,000 words. The Society aims to encourage candidates to consider research of a more experimental and searching nature than institutional constraints often allow. It is not a requirement that candidates should have obtained any specific qualification before submitting work for the Society’s diplomas. There is also provision for admission to the diplomas of the Society on the basis of previously published work.

The Society administers two prizes available to diploma candidates or other nominees.

The Society also elects persons who have made a distinguished contribution to musicological research, or to the work of the Society, or who are judged in the opinion of the Council to be generally deserving of such distinction, to Honorary Fellowship and Associateship.

The Society supports research projects that have included the “Romantic Discoveries” series of world première recordings of nineteenth-century piano music, research into the music of St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, and the organ-builder Richard Bridge.

The Patrons are Dr David Baker, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia and Lt-Col. Dr Ray Steadman-Allen (q.v. under National College of Music). The Executive Council includes Giles Brightwell (former organist of Glasgow University), Dr Terry Worroll (q.v. under Curwen College of Music) and Gerald Pieti (Director of Music, St James, Spanish Place). Honorary Fellows include the distinguished Liszt pianist Leslie Howard, Professors Ian Tracey, Elena Gorokhovik and Linda Burman-Hall.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

ALSMR: a black gown of Cambridge BA pattern with a white cord and button on the yoke [b2].

FLSMR: a black gown of Cambridge BA pattern with an old gold cord and button on the yoke [b2] (this was the undress robe until 2005).

Until 2005:

Full dress robe: a scarlet gown of Cambridge BA pattern with a white cord and button on the yoke [b2].

Hoods:

ALSMR: black, lined scarlet taffeta, faced 1” white watered taffeta set 1” in [s2].

FLSMR: scarlet, lined old gold taffeta, faced 1” white watered taffeta set 1” in [f1].

Matthay School of Music; see Royal Northern College of Music

Metropolitan College of Music (1889); see Incorporated London Academy of Music

Metropolitan College of Music (1996)

Founded 1996. Re-constituted 2002.

Registrar: Brother Dr Michael Powell,

St George’s College, Weybridge, Surrey KT15 2QS

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/Metropolitan

The Metropolitan College of Music was founded by Nicholas Groves (q.v. under Norwich School of Church Music), Lee Longden (q.v. under Cambridge School of Music) and Dr Terry Worroll (q.v. under Curwen College of Music). Since its re-constitution in 2002 it has awarded the diploma of FMCM only, on the basis of service to music, with a special emphasis on recognising the “ordinary” musician. The Governing Council currently includes Giles Brightwell (Organist, Glasgow University), Gerald Pieti (Director of Music, St James, Spanish Place), Brother Dr Michael Powell (Josephite Community, St George’s College, Weybridge) and Professor John Kersey (q.v. under London Society for Musicological Research).

Academical Dress

1. 2002-

All diplomas except FMCM abolished

Gown:

FMCM: a black gown of Oxford MA pattern [m1].

Hood:

FMCM: crimson, lined sky blue, faced 4” University of Bradford saffron [f7].

2. 1996-2002

Gowns:

AMCM: a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1].

LMCM: a black gown of London BA pattern [b4].

FMCM, HonMCM: a black gown of CNAA pattern [m10].

Hoods:

AMCM: spruce green, bound ½” scarlet on all edges [s1].

LMCM: spruce green, faced 4” scarlet on the cowl [s2].

FMCM: spruce green, lined scarlet [f7].

HonMCM: spruce green, bound 2” scarlet on all edges [f1].

Musical International College

Date of foundation unknown, but believed to have been active in the early twentieth-century. Now defunct.

This was under the control of Dr Edwin Lott, who was organist of St Sepulchre, Holborn Viaduct, and who taught Sir Henry Wood, who was his assistant. In the 1890s it was suggested that the Fellowship diploma ranked higher than the equivalent diploma of the VCM.

Academical Dress

Hoods:

LMusMIC: purple poplin, lined and bound 1” white silk [s1].

FMIC: purple silk, lined and bound 1” white silk [s1].

National Academy of Music

Date of foundation unknown but active from at least the 1920s until the 1990s, presumably now defunct. The last known Principal was the late Revd. Canon W. Donald Baker, also quondam Principal of the Victoria College of Music (q.v.) The similarity of these hoods to those of the VCM will be noted.

Academical Dress

Hoods:

ANAM: navy blue silk, lined red silk [s1].

LNAM: navy blue silk, lined red silk, either bound fur (1920s) or bound white (1970s) [s1].

FNAM: navy blue silk, lined red silk, bound fur [s1].

National College of Music

Founded 1894.

General Secretary: Eric Hayward,

4, Duffield Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 9RY

 01245 354596

www:nat-col-mus.org

The National College of Music and Arts, London, was established in 1894 by the Moss family and friends and incorporated in 1898. A number of eminent musicians, aristocrats and other distinguished people of the day were persuaded to become Founder Patrons.

As a result of the wish of Mr William J. Moss, the senior member of the family, for the College to remain in the hands of the founders for as long as possible, a company was established entitled The Musical Reform Association in order to secure this objective. The design of the unusually large certificates of the NCM continues to follow the pattern established by Mr William J. Moss.

Until the Second World War the College operated from premises in London and established many centres throughout the country for the conduct of external examinations. During the war, the College lost its London building and since then has concentrated upon the work of examining, carrying out this activity not only within the UK but also increasingly overseas.

The position of General Secretary was held successively by Messrs Harold and Noel Moss and then by Mr Noel Moss’s widow Violet until she was well into her eighties. The current management of the College is in the hands of its Academical Board of six, comprising the President, Director of Studies, General Secretary and three senior Area Representatives. The Board meets a number of times each year in order to formulate policy.

In 1994 the NCM celebrated its centenary with a concert and service of thanksgiving in the Archway Central Hall in London. That year also saw the recognition of the College’s diplomas by what is now the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

The ethos of the NCM is firmly towards the creation of the well-rounded musician, and the College encourages the enjoyment of the candidates’ studies in both music and speech subjects. A very wide range of syllabuses is offered, covering all major disciplines at Grades 1-8, Medal and Diploma examinations. Diplomas are available by examination, composition and thesis.

The current President of the NCM is Lt-Col. Dr Ray Steadman-Allen, who is well-known for his work as a composer and arranger for the Brass Band movement and is also an Assistant Professor of Church Music of the Central School of Religion (q.v.) and Patron of the London Society for Musicological Research (q.v.). Dr Steadman-Allen pursued a distinguished career within the Salvation Army, in which he attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and ran its music publishing division. The Director of Studies was formerly Professor Leonard Henderson; since Professor Henderson’s death in 2000 this post has been held by James Holt (q.v. under North and Midlands School of Music).

Academical Dress

1. 2002-

Gowns:

ANCM, AMusNCM, LNCM, LMusNCM: a black gown [b4], the sleeves gathered by two lavender ribbons and buttons.

FNCM, FMusNCM: a black gown [b4] faced lavender, the sleeves gathered by three lavender ribbons and buttons.

Hoods:

ANCM, AMusNCM: black, faced 2½” lavender [s1].

The other hoods are unchanged.

2. 1894-2001

Gown:

a black gown of London BA pattern [b4], with the sleeves gathered by a lavender ribbon and button.

Hoods:

ANCM, AMusNCM: no hood.

LNCM, LMusNCM: black, lined lavender [s1].

FNCM, FMusNCM: black, lined lavender, bound fur on the cowl [s1].

National College of Music and Drama, Wales; see Welsh College of Music and Drama

National Conservatoire of Music[xiii]

Founded 1900. Now defunct.

The National Conservatoire of Music was established as a limited company by Alexander Phipps, who had been educated at the RAM and obtained the degree of MusBac Toronto, and who thereafter became Principal and Professor of the Conservatoire. Initially based at 5, Hardman Street, Liverpool, the NCM moved shortly afterwards to 124, Princes Road, Toxteth. Phipps was assisted in the running of the NCM by his wife Elizabeth, who held the appointment of Professor of Physical Culture and Scientific Physical Education at the College, and their daughters Alice, Bessie and Lily. As well as the disciplines of music and physical culture, the NCM also taught foreign languages, and its memorandum of association further provided for it to carry on business as a concert agent and musical instrument maker.

The NCM offered local grade and medal examinations as well as diplomas, and held an annual presentation ceremony at the Methodist Central Hall in Liverpool. There was a system whereby teachers received a financial incentive for entering their students for examinations of up to one half of the original entry fees. Tuition was also offered at the Conservatoire itself.

The editors of Musical News and Truth became the recipients of threats from Professor Phipps’s lawyer on account of their published comments in 1901 regarding the apparent ease with which the Conservatoire’s awards could be obtained. During the course of this year new syllabuses were prepared.

The Academical Dress of the NCM was offered with “prices from one guinea – fur trimming extra”. In an article in the Organist’s Review, Alex McMillan suggests that the hoods, which were obtainable from the Conservatoire, were probably manufactured by the Phipps daughters.

The NCM withstood its early conflicts to become an enterprise of very considerable financial success. It is not known exactly when it ceased activity, but it was probably defunct by the 1920s if not before.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

not known

Hoods:

AMusNCM: black reppe, bound inside and out ½” old gold silk [s1].

LMusNCM: black corded reppe, bound 2” old gold silk, the neckband bound old gold silk [s1].

FMusNCM: black reppe, lined old gold silk [s1].

Note: fur trimming was an optional addition.

National Training School of Music; see Royal College of Music

North & Midlands School of Music

Founded 1986 as the Lancashire School of Music

Re-constituted under present title since 1994.

In 1999 it incorporated the London Academy of Music and the Association of Church Musicians.

Principal: Dr Colin Parsons,

“Counterpoint”, 10, Whernside Road, Scale Hall, Lancaster LA1 2TA

www:nmsm.org.uk

The Lancashire School of Music was founded by the noted organist of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, Reginald Dixon, and soon established itself as an examining body within Lancashire. Its original purpose was to encourage young keyboard musicians. The LSM was run by Dixon from Blackpool and then from Manchester where premises were purchased. There was a strong emphasis on encouraging players of the electronic home organ. Upon Dixon’s death the LSM was carried on by John Dickinson until his own death in about 1989. Dickinson introduced a graded examination scheme that was recognised by the then Department for Education and Science. There was also a wide range of diploma awards, notably the graduate diploma of GLSM and the two higher-level diplomas of Master Musician and Master Technician. Diplomas were awarded largely on the basis of accreditation of prior learning.

Upon the death of Dickinson the LSM fell into abeyance. Although restarting it was discussed, it was eventually felt that the desired aims and objectives would be better served by a new institution.

Consequently the North and Midlands School of Music opened in 1993, in which Dr Colin Parsons, James Holt, Neil Shepherd and the late Michael Howard were the leading forces. Today the NMSM is active as an examining body, differing radically from other colleges in that it does not prescribe a set syllabus for its awards, instead allowing candidates a great deal of flexibility in the way they choose to present themselves for examination. This unique methodology has attracted considerable attention from other institutions. Admission at member level is possible without examination. The NMSM also encourages musical performance through occasional concerts and recitals. The Thomas Memorial Fund, which assists young performers from disadvantaged backgrounds with the costs of NMSM examination fees, is administered by the School. Membership stands at around 300.

The NMSM maintains regional representatives in the UK in order to assist in its administration, and has an increasing number of members abroad. It issues a newsletter, “News and Notes” twice a year. Current plans include a vocal training scheme for members. The present Principal is Dr Colin Parsons, who is also an organist with a teaching practice in Lancaster. James Holt was formerly Vice Principal and is now Director of Studies of the National College of Music (q.v.) There are close links with the Australian Society of Musicology and Composition (q.v.)

In 1999 the NMSM incorporated the Association of Church Musicians (q.v.) (which had been founded under the patronage of the late Sir John Gielgud) and the London Academy of Music (q.v.)

The NMSM has a number of distinguished patrons, including Professor Ian Tracey, Evelyn Glennie and Peter Wright.

To commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the NMSM in 2003, ten Senior Fellowships (SnrFNMSM) were conferred. It is anticipated that ten more will be conferred in 2013 and so on every ten years. Dr Colin Parsons was advanced to Professor in recognition of his service as Principal. In 2004, he announced that he was to step down from that position.

Academical Dress

Current robes:

Gown: a black gown of London BA pattern with a red cord and button at the sleeves and the yoke [b4]. The President wears a gown with scarlet facings edged with ¼’’ gold [b4].

Hoods:

ANMSM: black, lined scarlet taffeta [f1].

LNMSM: black, lined and bound on cape and cowl 2” scarlet taffeta [f1].

AdvDipMT, AdvDipCT: black, lined scarlet taffeta, the cowl bound ½” white watered silk for AdvDipMT and ½” grey silk for AdvDipCT [a1].

FNMSM: as LNMSM, the cowl also bound 2” fur.

SnrFNMSM: as for FNMSM but with ½” of gold between the scarlet taffeta and the black.

Schools’ Membership (2001 onwards): mid-blue, lined silver satin [s2].

Management Committee (Academic Registrar, Treasurer, General Secretary): blue St Margaret brocade lined silver satin, cape and cowl bound 2” fur [f1].

Management Committee (Principal, Vice Principal): blue St Margaret brocade lined silver satin, cape  bound 2” fur and cape bound 5½” fur [f1].

Regional Representative: as for Management but without the fur.

President’s Ceremonial: wine shot silk embossed with 22 carat gold lyres, lined black brocade, the neckband with two gold lyres on each side [f1].

Companion: mid-blue cloth, lined fur and the cape bound 2” fur [f1].

Millennium (available from 2000 to all members): sea-green, lined old gold [s2].

Until 200?: Management: black, lined emerald watered taffeta, the cowl bound 2” fur [f1].

Original robes:

Gown: a black gown of flap collar pattern [d4]. The facings and collar are covered with red satin; the sleeve openings are lined with red satin, and there is a 2” bar of red satin across the base of each sleeve. The facings fasten in front.

Hoods:

ANMSM: black, lined red satin [f1].

LNMSM: black, lined and bound 2” red satin [f1].

FNMSM: as LNMSM, the cowl also faced 3” fur.

Robes of the Lancashire School of Music

Gown:

a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1].

Hoods:

ALSM: mid-blue, lined gold [s2].

AChLSM: mid-blue, lined self-colour, bound 2” gold [s2].

LLSM: mid-blue, lined gold bound ½” royal blue [s2].

GLSM: mid-blue, lined gold, bound ½” crimson [s2].

MMusLSM/MTechLSM (Master Musician/Master Technician): mid-blue, lined white [s2].

FLSM: mid-blue, lined red brocade, bound white watered silk [s2].

Note: there were several associate and licentiate diplomas – AMusLSM, ALSM(Tech), etc: all used the ALSM or LLSM hood as appropriate.

Northern School of Music and Northern College of Music; see Royal Northern College of Music

Norwich School of Church Music[xiv]

Founded 1981

Provost: Nicholas Groves

43, Normandie Tower, Norwich NR1 1QR

http://mysite.freeserve.com/NSCM

The Norwich School of Church Music was founded in 1981 by some local church musicians in Norwich. Its diplomas are awarded either after examination or by recommendation. The diploma of Associate of the School is awarded after successful completion of two essays of between 5,000 and 7,000 words each. The titles are published by the School; one must be on History of Church Music, and the other on Liturgy and Practice. The entry requirement is five years’ experience as a church musician in whatever capacity. The diploma of Fellow of the School is awarded after successful submission of an extended essay of about 10,000 words, or of a portfolio of compositions. Entry requirements for Fellowship are the ANSCM with two extra years’ experience, or five years’ experience with certain approved qualifications.

Diplomas may also be awarded on the basis of work done, with recipients being recommended to the Council for election, usually by existing Fellows of the School. In this way they resemble somewhat the manner in which “Lambeth” degrees are awarded. The Fellowship is awarded to church musicians of long standing or of prominence; the Associateship is awarded to those who, while not necessarily musicians in the first case, have the interests of church music at heart. There is no difference in standing of recipients of diplomas by this method as opposed to those who gain them by examination.

There are now just the two diplomas: Fellow (FNSCM) and Associate (ANSCM); the former diploma of Honorary Life Member (HonNSCM) has been discontinued.

Amongst the Fellows of the School are Professor Ian Tracey (q.v.), Dr Maurice Merrell (Bishop & Sons, Organ Builders), Giles Brightwell (q.v. under London Society for Musicological Research); Nigel Kerry (Director of Music, Church of Our Lady & the English Martyrs, Cambridge); Dr Terry Worroll (q.v. under Curwen College of Music), Professor John Kersey (q.v. under London Society for Musicological Research) and Lt-Col. Dr Ray Steadman-Allen (q.v. under National College of Music).

Academical Dress

Gowns:

ANSCM: a black gown of Cambridge BA pattern [b2].

FNSCM and ANSCM: a black gown of Cambridge MA pattern [m2]; HonNSCM, and the FNSCM if honorary, also have a pink cord and button on the yoke.

Hoods:

1995-

ANSCM: black, faced 4” salmon pink [f1].

FNSCM: black, lined salmon pink [f1].

HonNSCM (1995-99): black, bound on all edges 2” salmon pink [f1].

The neckbands of all hoods are lined and bound pink.

The Provost’s hood is unchanged from the previous rescension.

1981-95

ANSCM: magenta, faced 4” silver [f1].

FNSCM: magenta, lined silver [f1].

HonNSCM: magenta, bound 1” silver on all edges [f1].

The Provost wears a hood of Medici crimson, lined silver, the cowl faced 3” and the cape bound fur [f1].

There was no difference for the honorary gown.

Note 1: in 1999 the HonNSCM diploma was abolished, and its hood transferred to ANSCM, whose hood became defunct.

Note 2: there is also a School scarf, in grey and magenta.

Phillips College; see Cambridge Society of Musicians

The Royal Academy of Music

Founded 1822

Principal: Professor Curtis Price

Marylebone Road, London NW1 5HT

 020 7873 7372

www:ram.ac.uk

The Royal Academy of Music was formed in 1822 following a meeting of noblemen and gentlemen and was opened in Tenterden Street, London, in the following year. A Royal Charter was granted by HM King George IV in 1830 and this was subsequently renewed in 1910 and 1928. The RAM is therefore the oldest institution solely concerned with music education in the British Isles.

The President has always been a member of the Royal Family and is currently HRH the Duchess of Gloucester. From the outset the Academy has enjoyed the service of distinguished musicians in the office of Principal, including Dr William Crotch, Sir William Sterndale Bennett, Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Sir David Lumsden.

During its early history the Academy functioned as a school for musically-gifted children, educating those aged between ten and fourteen. By 1900 its operations had expanded to include older students as well.

Being without degree-granting authority itself, the Academy has prepared its students for the external degrees of the Universities, and for many years was a recognised School of the University of London. Students on the undergraduate Performers’ Course, which was of four years’ duration (three years until 1989), gained the Professional Certificate at the conclusion of their studies, whilst others read for GRSM or BMus(London). Admission to these courses was discontinued in 1991 (see below). All past students of the Academy are eligible for election to Associateship or Fellowship if they distinguish themselves in the musical world. However, until the early twentieth-century the diploma of ARAM was also available by examination. The Recital Diploma is reserved for elite postgraduate students and is the highest RAM award in performance or composition obtainable by examination. Other postgraduates gained the Diploma of Advanced Studies until the revision of postgraduate programmes in 1996. The diploma of LRAM, originally available in all the main divisions of performing, teaching and speech and drama, has since 1991 been restricted to internal applicants and is now only available in teaching.

In 1991, at which time the Principal was Sir David Lumsden, the Academy formed the Centre for Advanced Performance Studies with King’s College, London, as a consequence of which the Academy’s awards were largely replaced with purpose-designed qualifications validated by King’s College London. After a period of rapid change during the mid-1990s, marked by the brief Principalship of the cellist Dr Lynn Harrell, the Academy appointed Dr Curtis Price, formerly King Edward VII Professor of Music in the University of London, as Principal. Since his appointment Dr Price has been instrumental in stabilising the Academy and in assembling a strong professorial staff. This period has also seen the Academy achieve full collegiate status within the University of London in 1999, appointing its first Professors under the new scheme in 2001.

Many musicians who have since found international recognition received their training at the Academy. Among these names might particularly be mentioned Sir Henry Wood, Sir Arthur Sullivan, Sir John Barbirolli and Sir Arnold Bax. In the recent era we may find Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Sir Simon Rattle and Richard Rodney Bennett.

The Academy moved to a striking building on Marylebone Road in 1912, which includes the Duke’s Hall, used for major concert performances, and the Sir Jack Lyons Opera Theatre. In recent years the Academy has broadened its curriculum to embrace studies in jazz and musical theatre. It continues to attract a notably international student body.

Academical Dress (introduced post-1970)

Gown:

a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1].

Professional Certificate, Diploma of Advanced Studies: no robes.

Hoods:

LRAM: scarlet, faced 3” gold [s1].

DipRAM: scarlet, lined gold [s1].

ARAM: scarlet, bound 2” gold on all edges [f1].

FRAM: scarlet, lined gold [f1].

The Royal College of Music

Founded 1883

Successor to the National Training School of Music, founded 1873.

Director: Dame Janet Ritterman (until 2005); Professor Colin Lawson (from 2005)

Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BS

 020 7589 3643

www:rcm.ac.uk

The Royal College of Music was founded by the Prince of Wales, later HM King Edward VII. His Royal Highness was to become the College’s first President and continued actively in that office until acceding to the throne. The President has since this time always been a member of the Royal Family and is currently HRH the Prince of Wales.

The origins of the RCM may be found in the National Training School of Music, which had been founded following a report of the Royal Society of Arts, and was largely brought into being by the Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851. It occupied the striking premises later to become the home of the Royal College of Organists (q.v.) immediately adjoining the Royal Albert Hall, and opened its doors in 1876. It was founded on the principle of providing free education for talented musicians by means of public subscriptions, although it later admitted some paying students. The first Principal was Sir Arthur Sullivan, who was succeeded in 1882 by Dr John Stainer. In 1882 the School announced its intention to close in order to hand over its assets to the new Royal College of Music.

A meeting in 1878 had outlined the intention of the Prince of Wales to establish the RCM as his personal concern, and to that end he successfully petitioned the Privy Council in 1880 for the Draft Charter. In 1883 his scheme came to fruition with the opening of the College, which in 1894 removed to imposing premises in Prince Consort Road. These include a magnificent Concert Hall and have since been augmented by further teaching rooms and the Britten Opera Theatre, opened in 1986.

The College’s Royal Charter, granted in 1883, marked it out as unique among conservatoires at that time in that it was given the power in its own right to confer the degrees of Bachelor, Master and Doctor in Music either after examination or honoris causa. The RCM first used these powers in 1933 when it conferred the degree of DMusRCM, honoris causa, upon HM Queen Mary. From then until 1982 this degree was conferred only on members of the Royal Family. The degree of MMusRCM was first awarded in the 1940s and that of BMusRCM in 1995.

Since its initial Director, Sir George Grove, the RCM has been served in that office by several distinguished musicians, including Sir Hubert Parry, Sir Keith Falkner and Sir David Willcocks.

Many famous musicians have received their training at the College, including Sir Michael Tippett, Dame Joan Sutherland, Sir Neville Marriner and Dame Gwyneth Jones. The professorial staff has also been fortunate in securing the service of such musicians as Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Malcolm Sargent and Professor Norman Del Mar. The RCM maintains a pre-eminent place amongst the world’s conservatoires today and its student body reflects its international reputation for musical training.

A number of the robes below were designed by Dr John Birch, Organist of Chichester Cathedral (1958-80) and of the Temple Church (from 1982) who was a Professor at the RCM (1959-97). In 1970 the only qualifications to be granted robes were DMusRCM hc, MMusRCM and FRCM; the others have been added since.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

MMusRCM: a black gown of Cambridge MA pattern [m2]. Originally (1970) this degree wore the Cambridge MA gown without the strings.

DMusRCM: a robe of Oxford pattern in cream brocade, with facings and sleeves of royal blue silk [d2]. Doctors honoris causa have gold strings and a gold cord and button on the yoke; doctors by examination have royal blue strings and a royal blue cord and button on the yoke. Until 2000 (when the degree was conferred honoris causa solely), a robe of Oxford pattern in royal blue brocade, with facings and sleeves of gold [d2].

HonRCM: as MMusRCM, but with blue strings.

FRCM: as MMusRCM, but with facings of royal blue edged with gold, and a royal blue cord and gold button on the yoke. Originally (1970) this diploma wore a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1].

GRCM (defunct by 1930s): no robes.

All other qualifications: a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1]. BMusRCM holders may also wear a full dress robe of this pattern in royal blue.

Hoods:

ARCM: royal blue, faced 3” gold [s1].

ARCM(PG) (now PGDipRCM): royal blue, bound 2” gold [f1].

DipRCM (Teacher): royal blue, lined gold, faced 1” white [s1]. (Performer): gold, lined royal blue [s1]

Artist Diploma RCM (2002-): not known.

HonRCM: royal blue, lined and bound gold [s2].

FRCM: royal blue, lined gold [f1]. Originally (1970): dark blue cloth, the cowl faced 3½” gold silk and the cape bound ¼” gold silk [f1].

BMusRCM: royal blue, bound fur on all edges, with 1” gold laid next to the fur [f7].

MMusRCM: cream damask, lined and the neckband bound gold [s2]. Until 2000 black, lined royal blue silk, the cowl bound 1” gold [f1].

DMusRCM (post-2000): cream brocade, lined royal blue silk, the neckband bound royal blue [f1].

DMusRCM honoris causa: cream brocade, lined royal blue silk, the neckband bound gold [f1]. Until 2000, royal blue brocade, lined gold [f1].

The gold used is London Pharmacy (old) gold.

Note 1: The Director wears a robe of Oxford doctors’ shape [d1] in royal blue, with facings and sleeves of gold.

Note 2: There is no hood for PGCertRCM; the standard gown is worn.

The Royal College of Organists

Founded 1864 as the College of Organists. Known by present title since 1893.

Alan Dear, Chief Executive

Millennium Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham B4 7XG

www:rco.ac.uk

The Royal College of Organists exists to encourage and maintain high standards in organ playing and teaching and, through its activities, to stimulate interest in the organ and its repertoire. Its home for much of its history was the remarkable building in Kensington Gore adjacent to the Royal Albert Hall that had originally been designed by Lt-Col. H. H. Cole, RE, for the National Training School of Music (q.v.), which was described as “in an English style of the sixteenth-century, with panels in sgraffito”. There were some thirty classrooms, which in the latter years of the RCO’s occupation included a library, a record listening room and three organs, the largest of which was used for examinations. The College was granted a Royal Charter in 1893.

From its outset, the College was committed to providing examinations that would, by their demanding nature, establish improvements in the national standard of organ playing and choirmastership. The diploma of FRCO was introduced in 1866; that of ARCO in 1881 and that of ChM in 1924. The practical organ playing requirements for the examinations of ARCO and FRCO were supplemented by paper work in harmony, counterpoint and history of music. Exemptions from the paper work sections of the ARCO were formerly offered for graduates in music of any UK university; these were subsequently rescinded.

In order to sit for ARCO candidates must first be elected members of the College; in order to sit for FRCO they must first have obtained the ARCO diploma. The diploma of FRCO has been conceded pass degree status by the Department of Education. Holders of either ARCO or FRCO may be candidates for the further diplomas of Choir Director (previously Choir Master) and of Teacher. Those who attain the FRCO and ChM (now ChD) diplomas may be candidates for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Diploma in Church Music (see RSCM).

A number of prizes and scholarships are bestowed by the RCO chiefly upon persons who have distinguished themselves in their examinations (including several reserved for young candidates). Honorary awards are bestowed, rarely, upon organists of international distinction who are not diploma holders of the College, and upon those who have rendered signal service to the College.

Since its foundation the College has been fortunate in securing the services of many distinguished organists as members of its Council. Past Presidents include Sir David Willcocks and Sir David Lumsden.

In 1990, faced with mounting costs, the College negotiated an early surrender of its lease on its premises in Kensington Gore and moved to rooms in St Andrew’s Church, Holborn. It announced in January 2002 that it was to relocate to premises in the former Curzon Street station in Birmingham.

Academical Dress

Gown:

a black gown of London MA pattern [m5], but with a inverted-T armhole.

Hoods:

2000- (revised by Dr John Birch (q.v. under Royal College of Music))

ARCO: black, bound 2” crimson damask on all edges [f1].

ARCO(ChD): as ARCO, lined pearl shot (a shot silk of three hues) [f1].

ARCO(TCR): as ARCO, lined light blue [f1].

LTRCO (2003-): not known

ChD (as stand-alone diploma): black, lined pearl shot [f1].

FRCO: unchanged from previous rescension.

HonRCO: crimson damask, lined and bound ¼” pearl shot [s2].

1971-2000

ARCO: black, the cowl bound 2” crimson damask [s1].

FRCO: crimson damask, lined pearl shot [f3].

HonRCO (introduced c.1996): crimson damask, lined edge to edge pearl shot [s2].

The additional diplomas of ChM (Choir Master) and TCR (Teacher) did not have separate robes.

1866-1971

ARCO: no hood.

FRCO: brown, lined light blue [s5].

Both used the Oxford BA gown.

Royal Manchester College of Music; see Royal Northern College of Music

The Royal Northern College of Music

Formed in 1972 as the Northern College of Music from the Northern School of Music, founded as the Matthay School of Music in 1920 and incorporated 1942, and the Royal Manchester College of Music, founded 1893. Since 1973 known by its present title.

Principal: Dr Edward Gregson

124, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RD

 0161 907 5200

www:rncm.ac.uk

The Royal Northern College of Music is the North of England’s pre-eminent conservatoire, but its reputation is also strong internationally, with a high proportion of its students coming from overseas. It offers training at both undergraduate and postgraduate level to the highest standards of applied music, and amongst a strong professorial staff in recent years have been numbered such musicians as the cellist Ralph Kirschbaum and the violinist Lydia Mordkovich.

Plans to amalgamate the Manchester-based Northern School of Music with the Royal Manchester College had been advanced as early as 1962, but the process of creating the new college was a long and complex one, involving the Royal Manchester College in the surrender of its Royal Charter. Work commenced in 1969 on a building that was to include an opera theatre, concert hall and some ninety teaching rooms. In 1970 the composer and administrator Sir John Manduell succeeded Frederic Cox as Principal of the RMCM, and it was he that would become Principal of the united Northern College of Music when the latter opened in 1972, serving the College in that capacity for over twenty years.

The constituent institutions that were to form the RNCM were quite different in character, although both had established strong reputations within the North of England and beyond. The Northern School of Music developed from the Matthay School founded by Hilda Collens and in its earlier years offered training in both music and speech, with especially high numbers of part-time students. In 1957 Hilda Collens was succeeded by Ida Carroll, under whose leadership the School acquired a higher profile and earned considerable respect for the quality of its musical training.

The Royal Manchester College was founded by Sir Charles Hallé and from its outset concentrated on providing its students with a full and complete musical education extending over several years. Its Royal title was conceded by HM Queen Victoria in 1893 and in 1923 the College was accorded the status of incorporation by Royal Charter. Its early professorial staff included a number of internationally distinguished musicians, including the pianists Egon Petri, Wilhelm Backhaus and Arthur Friedheim. Later in the century, the pianist Gordon Green established a high reputation as a teacher. Close links were established between the College and the Hallé Orchestra, with that orchestra having consisted at times to a large extent of RMCM alumni, many of whom returned to teach at their alma mater.

A similar link existed since the College’s inception with the Victoria University of Manchester, and from the 1950s an element of collaboration was introduced whereby certain students studied jointly at both institutions receiving the MusB of the University together with a diploma of the College. This scheme was to continue and strengthen over the years. In 1947 the RMCM became a member of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

During the 1950s and 1960s the College produced a number of students who were to become internationally influential, including the composers Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Professor Alexander Goehr, and the pianist-composer John Ogdon.

Since the formation of the RNCM in 1973 the mission of the College has continued apace. In the modern era all undergraduate students of the College gain a degree from the Victoria University of Manchester together with one of the College’s own diplomas. The current Principal is the composer Edward Gregson, who is particularly known for his work with the Brass Band Movement.

Academical Dress

Robes of the Northern (1972-73)[xv] and Royal Northern College of Music (1973-)

Gown:

CRNCM: a black silk gown of Oxford lay pattern [d4] with facings and flap collar covered with purple damask and also edged with 2” gold oakleaf braid. There is a small panel at the top of each sleeve of purple damask edged with 1” gold oakleaf braid on which is embroidered the college crest. The inverted T-shape sleeve opening is edged, and the lower part of the sleeve decorated with four bars of 1” gold oakleaf braid (a double row for each bar). There is no hood.

President: a gown of the same pattern as for CRNCM but made of purple damask with the facings and flap collar edged with 2” gold oakleaf braid. The college crest is embroidered at the head of each sleeve, which is trimmed with braid in a similar style to CRNCM, except that there are 3 gold metallic “frogs” at the bottom of each sleeve. There is no hood.

All other qualifications: a black gown of Cambridge BA pattern [b2].

Hoods:

ARNCM: no hood.
GRNCM: purple, lined and bound saffron [s9].

GMusRNCM: purple, lined saffron piped white [s9].

PPRNCM: purple, lined white [s9].

PGRNCM: purple, lined blue faced 1” gold [f1].

HonRNCM: purple, lined gold, faced 3” white [f1].

FRNCM: purple, lined saffron, the cowl faced 3½” fur [f1].

Robes of the Royal Manchester College of Music (1893-1972)

Gown:

a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1].

Hoods:

ARMCM: royal blue, the cowl bound gold silk 1” inside, ½” outside, with a reversed neckband [s9].

FRMCM: royal blue, lined gold [f1].

Robes of the Northern School of Music (1920-72)

Gown: a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1].

Hoods:

ANSM: no hood.
GNSM: grass green, faced 3” yellow-gold [f1].

FNSM: grass green, lined white, faced 3” yellow-gold [f1].

Royal School of Church Music

Founded 1927 as the School of English Church Music, with the College of St Nicolas as its teaching college. Known by present title since 1945.

Director of Studies: Geoff Weaver,

Cleveland Lodge, Westhumble, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6BW

01306 877676

www:rscm.com

The School of English Church Music was founded through the efforts of Sir Sydney Nicholson, Organist of Westminster Abbey, supported by Sir Walford Davies (Master of the King’s Musick) and Sir Hugh Allen (Director of the RCM and Heather Professor of Music of Oxford University), on St Nicolas’ Day, 1927. Sir Sydney resigned his post at the Abbey to devote himself to the new venture.

The School originally intended to train Anglican church musicians in London, but upon consulting with parish churches, Sir Sydney established that the greater need was for assistance within the parishes themselves. Consequently this became and has remained one of the central objectives of the School, with choirs being able to affiliate to the RSCM in order to make use of its help, and a series of medal awards being offered to encourage choristers. Meantime, the RSCM’s College of St Nicolas, founded at Chislehurst and accepting its first students in 1929, provided residential training on a wide range of subjects of interest to the church musician. The choir of the College sang regularly during this period at St Sepulchre’s Church, Holborn Viaduct, which became its London centre.

The outbreak of war in 1939 caused the closure of the College because all of its students were of an age to make them eligible for military service. When it re-opened in 1946 it was resolved to transfer its premises to Canterbury, where the full course prepared students for the examinations of the Royal College of Organists and numerous short courses addressed the needs of both laymen and clergy.

Dr Gerald Knight, Organist of Canterbury Cathedral, succeeded Sir Sydney Nicholson as Warden of the College of St Nicolas in 1945, in which year HM King George VI graciously permitted that the prefix “Royal” be added to the College’s name. Sir Sydney continued as Director of the RSCM until his death in 1947. After an interregnum Dr Gerald Knight succeeded him in 1952 and held office until 1972, when he was succeeded by Dr Lionel Dakers. The School had removed in 1954 to Addington Palace, Croydon, and in the early 1990s removed again to premises in Dorking, formerly the home of the organist Susi, Lady Jeans. Today the mission of the RSCM is non-denominational. There are currently over 7000 affiliated members and over 4000 Friends. The RSCM publishes the magazine “Church Music Quarterly” and offers a plethora of advice and services for the liturgical musician.

The awards of the RSCM (except ADCM) are bestowed honoris causa upon those who have rendered distinguished service to church music.

Academical Dress

Gown:

a black stuff gown of Cambridge BA pattern [b2], with blue strings.

Hoods:

CertRSCM (2004-): blue, lined blue [a1].

DipRSCM (2004-): blue, lined terra-cotta [a1].

ARSCM: mid-blue, lined and bound ¼” ivory [f1].

LRSCM (2004-): blue, lined gold [a1].

FRSCM: mid-blue, lined and bound ¼” red [f1].

HonRSCM: mid-blue, lined and bound ¼” silver [f1].

The School also administers the Archbishop’s Diploma in Church Music (ADCM, formerly ACDCM), (introduced in 1936) which is open only to FRCO(ChM (now ChD)) holders; the hood is full [f1] in blue velvet, lined with white satin; there is no gown prescribed.

The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama

Founded 1890 as the Glasgow Athenaeum School of Music.

Re-named as the Scottish National Academy of Music in 1930.

Further re-named as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in 1944.

Known by its present title since 1968.

Principal: John Wallace

100, Renfrew Street, Glasgow G2 3DB

 0141 332 4101

www:rsamd.ac.uk

The origins of the RSAMD, Scotland’s premier conservatoire, may be traced back to the inauguration of the Glasgow Athenaeum, an institute for adult education, in 1847. In 1890 the School of Music of the Athenaeum was established under the Principalship of Allan Macbeth and a three-year course for intending professional musicians instituted. Macbeth resigned in 1902 to be succeeded by Dr Edward Harper, who in turn resigned in 1904. From that year until 1930 the School functioned without a Principal, but up to about 1920 there was a reasonably steady expansion in numbers and activities.

In 1929 a scheme was brought forward by Sir Daniel Stevenson, Bart., to combine a Chair of Music at the University of Glasgow with a Scottish National Academy of Music that would prove to be the successor of the Athenaeum. In consequence the following year saw the appointment of Dr Whittaker to the joint positions of Professor and Principal. In 1939 the Academy was recognised as a Central Institution under the terms of the Education (Scotland) Act of 1908 and in 1944 HM King George VI approved that the prefix Royal should be added to its name.

A College of Dramatic Art was established as an integral part of the Academy in 1950. It was agreed that the joint positions of Professor at the University and Principal of the Academy should be separated and in 1952, upon the appointment of the then holder of those offices, Sir Ernest Bullock, to the Directorship of the Royal College of Music, effect was given to this decision. The further change in the name of the Academy in 1968 caused the creation of two separate departments for administrative and teaching purposes, styled the School of Music and the School of Drama.

From 1982 onwards the RSAMD was served in the office of Principal by Sir Philip Ledger, formerly Fellow and Director of Studies in Music at King’s College, Cambridge. Sir Philip was succeeded by the distinguished Scottish trumpeter John Wallace in 2002.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

Diplomates and bachelors wear a purple stuff gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1].

Masters wear a purple stuff gown of Scottish MA pattern [similar to m1].

Doctors wear a purple robe, with facings and sleeves to match the hood linings.

Hoods:

Diplomas: a dark red hood of Edinburgh pattern [s4], lined as follows:

DipStageMgmt: part lined pink

DRSAMD: part lined white

DipDramArt: fully lined white

Bachelors: a purple hood of full shape [f1], lined as follows:

BA(Drama): deep turquoise brocade

BA(Music): red brocade

BEd: red brocade, faced ½” white

MMus: red brocade, lined purple [f1].

Doctors: a purple hood of full shape[f1], fully lined and bound 1” with:

DMus: red brocade

DDramArt: deep turquoise brocade

Note: formerly, all diplomas used a black Oxford BA gown [b1] and a maroon hood of Edinburgh pattern [s4], faced 2” caroline rose.

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama[xvi]

Founded 1949

Known as the National College of Music and Drama until 1950.

Known as the College of Music and Drama, Cardiff from 1950 until about 1973.

Known as the Welsh College of Music and Drama since about 1973.

Known by present title since 2002.

Principal: Edmond Fivet,
Castle Grounds, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF1 3ER
01222 640 054

www:wcmd.ac.uk

The Welsh College of Music and Drama is Wales’ national conservatoire. Its history begins after the end of the Second World War, when the Bute family made a gift of Cardiff Castle to the city council. The council resolved to use the castle as an educational establishment, and thus it opened as such in 1949 under the Principalship of Harold Hind (1949-59). However, proposals to establish a National Centre for Music and Drama at the College were unsuccessful, and consequently the word “National” was dropped from the College’s title in 1950. That year also saw the appointment of Raymond Edwards as Head of Drama and the establishment of full-time courses. By 1959 there were 99 full-time students and many more part-time students.

In 1959 Harold Hind retired, to be succeeded by Raymond Edwards (1959-84). Edwards found his chief challenge to be the College’s accommodation, which was no longer sufficient to contain the number of students enrolled. In consequence, the College moved to new purpose-built premises in the Castle grounds in 1973. The Bute Theatre was opened in 1977.

By the time of Raymond Edwards’ retirement in 1984 the College roll had increased to nearly 300 students. He was succeeded by the conductor and composer Peter Fletcher (1984-89) who in turn was succeeded by the trombonist and conductor Edmond Fivet (1989-) who had previously been Director of the Royal College of Music Junior Department. Edmond Fivet has presided over a further increase in student numbers to 500 or so, an enhancement of the academic programme of the College (which now includes courses validated by the University of Wales) and further developments to the College’s buildings including the new Anthony Hopkins Centre. In 2002 HM the Queen graciously permitted that the prefix “Royal” be added to the name of the College.

Academical Dress

There have been at least two schemes of academical dress.

Gowns:
Diplomates wear a black gown [b..?]. Honorary Fellows wear a purple robe of [d4] pattern, trimmed with ribbon in red and white, each colour occupying 1”.

Hoods:

LWCMD: black, part-lined blue and white [s1] (until 2001, when it became defunct).

GWCMD: not known.

PGDipWCMD: purple, lined gold [s1?]

FWCMD: purple, lined gold [s1?].

ADWCMD: black, part-lined red and white [s1] (until 2002) (2002-:) gold, lined purple [s1].

Other qualifications use the appropriate robes of the University of Wales.

School of English Church Music; see Royal School of Church Music

Society of Church Musicians; see Faculty of Church Music

Southern Music Training Centre

Founded 1946 as the Surrey School of Music, closed 1995.

The Centre was founded by Reginald Jevons, Senior Lecturer and Music Adviser of the Department of Adult Education at Goldsmiths’ College, London and former Director of Music at Epsom College, who remained its Principal thereafter. The Centre was housed in Bromley, Kent and offered general musical training, as well as international correspondence courses and Teachers’ Handbooks on all musical subjects.

Academical Dress

Gown:
a black gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1].

Hoods:

ASMTC, LSMTC: a burgundy hood, part lined with grey [s1].

FSMTC: burgundy, part lined grey, bound fur [presumably s1].

The rank of ATM(SMTC) (Associate Teacher Member) did not have robes.

Surrey School of Music; see Southern Music Training Centre

Tonic Sol-Fa College of Music; see Curwen College of Music

Trinity College of Music

Founded 1872 as The Church Choral Society and College of Church Music, subsequently known as Trinity College London. Known by present title since 1904.

Principal: Gavin Henderson

King Charles Court, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London SE10 9JF

 020 8305 3888

www:tcm.ac.uk

(external examinations section separate, now known as Trinity College London)

Chief Executive: Dr Roger Bowers

89, Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP

020 7820 6100

www:trinitycollege.co.uk

In the early 1870s a group of church musicians under the leadership of the Revd. Dr Henry Bonavia Hunt formed a plan to organise instructional courses in organ playing and choir training, with a particular interest in the use of plainsong in worship. As a consequence The Church Choral Society and College of Church Music was formed in Ridinghouse Street, London in 1872 and incorporated in 1875. In 1874 this foundation was followed by the institution of the first major series of local graded examinations. Examination centres overseas, which were quickly to extend throughout the Empire, were set up from 1876.

Major G.A. Crawford, writing in the 1899 edition of Grove, informs us that: “In the following year [vidz 1873] examinations of a practical and theoretical nature were established for admission to the position of Fellow of the Society, and in 1874 to that of Associate, diplomas or certificates being granted to the successful candidates, who were subsequently classed as ‘Licentiates’, ‘Associates’, and ‘Students’.”

It thus appears at this point as though everyone did the same exam, and the best performers became LCCS, the less good ACCS, and the least good SCCS.

In 1875 a Memorial bearing the signatures of some sixty musicians was sent from the College to the Senate of the University of London, in support of the concession of University status to scholarship in Music. This was approved and as a result a scheme of degree examinations was instituted. The College also provided the funds needed for the establishment of the King Edward VII Professorship in Music, of which Sir Frederick Bridge, then Chairman of the Governing Body of the College, became the first holder. Originally, the College offered a complete training for church musicians, educating both in music and other arts subjects. Until the 1990s the College offered the degrees of the University of London together with the Graduate Diploma of GTCL. Now the College offers qualifications validated predominantly by the University of Westminster.

From the outset, the training of teachers was an important element of the College’s activities and this continues to the present day. In addition the College was swift to create a Junior Department providing for the education of gifted young musicians from the London County Council area, and after this innovation in 1906 other colleges followed suit. During the first twenty years of its existence the College provided this tuition free of charge.

In 1936 the College pioneered the study of early music performance by setting up a Department of Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century Music, later to become the Department of Renaissance and Baroque Music.

The system of local and external examinations in music, speech and drama, which extends up to Fellowship diploma level, is now separately run from the main College and is known as Trinity College London. The main College was housed until 2001 in attractive premises in Mandeville Place but has recently moved to the imposing surroundings of the former Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

Recently, under the Principalship of the arts administrator Gavin Henderson, Trinity has begun to enjoy a higher profile for its activities within the musical life of the capital. The College is now also active in the teaching of jazz.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

MA: a black gown of University of Westminster MA pattern [m10].

All other qualifications: a black stuff gown of Oxford BA pattern [b1], but with two points at the base of the sleeve.

A purple brocaded robe [d…?] has recently been designed for the Principal.

Hoods:
ATCL and HonTCL: no hood.

LTCL: purple, faced 3” mauve [f1].

FTCL: purple, lined mauve [f1].

DipTCL (now defunct): purple, lined self-colour, faced 6” mauve and with 1” purple inset on the mauve facing [f1].

GTCL (now defunct): purple, bound 2” mauve on all edges [f1].

BMusTCL (validated by the University of Westminster): black, lined lilac, bound fur [s2].

MA (validated by Westminster): claret, lined lilac [s2].

PGDipTCL: (from 2002) as FTCL, the cowl bound 1” fur.

PGADipTCL: (from 2002) as FTCL, the cowl faced 5” fur, the cape bound 1” fur.

Note: the mauve now used is a very light shade.

Hoods until c.1920 (see note) were as follows:

LMusTCL (Licentiate in Music): black, lined violet satin, bound fur [s1].

HonLMusTCL: as LMusTCL, but without the fur [s1]. By 1927, this had changed to violet satin, lined mauve silk [s1].

LA (Licentiate in Arts): black satin, lined rose pink silk, bound fur [s1].

HonLA: as LA, but without the fur [s1].

Robes from 1872-18– were as follows:

Gowns:

Choral Associate (ChA or ChATCL): a black stuff gown.

Choral Fellow (ChF or ChFTCL): a black stuff gown with violet velvet facings.

Senior Choral Fellow (SCF or SChFTCL): a black silk or stuff gown with violet silk facings. This diploma appears to have been awarded well into the twentieth-century.

Hoods:

ChA and ChF: no hoods.

SCF: a black silk hood, lined with violet silk and edged on the outside with fur.

The shapes are not known.

Note:

The exact dates when these robes were replaced are not known – the records were destroyed in the Blitz. However, it is believed that in the 1920s the college stopped using robes for a time for the ordinary LA and LMusTCL diplomas at least.

Robes as given in Northams’ MS Workbook (dated 1850)

Gowns:

LMusTCL, LA: black ‘with tapering sleeves’ [?b1]

LMusTCL(Hon), LA(Hon): black ‘with embroidered sleeves’

Student: as AKC [d4], with gimp around armhole.

Hoods:

LMusTCL: black lined violet satin trimmed white fur.

LMusTCL(Hon): violet satin lined silver grey.

LA: black lined rose pink silk trimmed white fur.

LA(Hon): black lined rose pink silk.

A later entry:

LTCL: black lined violet faced 4” fur outside.

FTCL & HonLTCL: violet satin lined mauve silk.

Victoria College of Music

Founded 1890

It incorporates the College of Violinists and Victoria College of Arts

Director of Examinations: Dr Jeffrey Tillett,

9, Staple Inn, London WC1V 7QH

 020 7405 6483

www:webcymrudesign.com/vcmexams

The Victoria College of Music is nowadays active only as an examining body; however, earlier in its foundation it had performed many of the other functions of a conservatoire. Its founding Principal was Dr J.H. Lewis, who remained in charge of the VCM for thirty-four years. From its outset the mission of the VCM has been extremely broadly-based, so that, as well as examining in all musical disciplines, it also examines in Bible reading and in a range of speech and drama subjects, currently including Shakespeare, mime, Group Discussion and Business English, and interview technique.

Although the local grades 1 to 8 of the VCM are intended to be comparable in standard with the equivalently-named examinations of other examination boards, special attention is given to the early grades. Grades 1 and 2 are supplemented by Grades 1A and 2A, thus offering particular encouragement to young children. The College is also active in enabling candidates with a disability to take its examinations. There is a Grade 9 examination, which provides a bridge to the diploma of AVCM, as well as a series of medal awards. The College of Violinists, incorporated into the VCM, is no longer active as an independent body, although its diplomas are still used by the VCM as honorary awards.

The College maintains the London Music Press, which is the in-house publisher of music for its examinations, and keeps in touch with teachers via its newsletter “College Noticeboard”. A widespread network of local secretaries is used to administer its examinations, which are usually held twice a year. The certificate design used for diplomas is identical to that first established in 1890.

The present Principal is Martin Ellerby, the composer, who is also Head of Composition at the London College of Music and Media at Thames Valley University (q.v.) Former holders of the office of Principal include the Revd. Canon Donald Baker (1989-97), who was also Principal of the National Academy of Music (q.v.), Revd. Dr John Styles (1977-88), who was also President of the Faculty of Church Music (q.v.), the composer Sam B. Wood (1968-77) and the organist Purcell J. Mansfield (1958-68).

The current President of the VCM is the distinguished composer Sir Malcolm Arnold.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

a black gown with bell sleeves [d1], the sleeves lined as follows:

AVCM: 1” royal blue.

LVCM: 2” maroon.

FVCM and CT,VCM: 3” scarlet.

HonVCM: no robes

Hoods:

AVCM/AMusVCM: royal blue, lined self-colour [s1[xvii]].

LVCM/LMusVCM: royal blue, lined maroon [s1].

FVCM: royal blue, lined scarlet, the cowl bound fur [s1].

CT,VCM: red[xviii], lined scarlet [s1].

Original hoods included the following (all were [s1] in design):

Graduate in Elocution: as FVCM, but the neckband bound gold.

Associate Artist, VCM: royal blue, lined scarlet bound white satin.

AVCM and AMusVCM (until about 1905): royal blue, lined light blue.

LVCM (until about 1905): royal blue, lined white damask, the neckband bound red.

AVCA (Associate, Victoria College of Arts): royal blue, lined emerald.

FVCA (Fellow, Victoria College of Arts): as FVCM.

DipTeachingVCM: red satin, lined red silk.

There were also Associate, Licentiate and Fellowship diplomas in Elocution, designated AElocVCM etc. which used the standard robes for AVCM, LVCM and FVCM.

Certificated Teachers add this qualification to their highest VCM diploma, viz. CT, FVCM.

Hoods as given in Northam:

FVCM: royal blue corded silk, lined white satin damask, the neckband edged red.

LVCM: as FVCM, but of poplin.

Note: The College of Violinists uses the relevant VCM robes for its diplomas of ACV, LCV and FCV.

Williams School of Church Music; see Correspondence College of Church Music

The Worshipful Company of Musicians

Founded c.1500

Master: Jonathan Rennert
6th Floor, No. 2, London Wall Buildings, London EC2M 5PP
020 7496 8980

www:wcom.org.uk

The Worshipful Company of Musicians traces its history from the medieval fraternities of musicians in London, most notably the Minstrels of London, to whom HM King Edward III granted an agreement in 1350. In 1500 Articles of Incorporation were granted by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen to the Fellowship of Minstrels, which gave them power to control the activities of all practising the art of Music in the City of London. During the seventeenth-century there was intense rivalry between what had become the Company and the King’s Minstrels. This centred on the grant of a Royal Charter to the Company in 1604, which, the King’s Minstrels were successfully to argue, conflicted with their own existing chartered rights. Consequently the Company’s charter was revoked in 1634.

The Company continued in existence throughout the succeeding centuries, although it had by then fallen from its former position of influence.

In the 1870s, William Chappell was responsible for the resurgence of the Company by involving a number of prominent musicians and lovers of music in its work, and placed at its heart the aim of assisting young musicians by means of charitable activities. Today the Company controls a number of scholarships, awards and bequests that mean that it is able to offer help in the crucial early stages of a musician’s career as well as recognising excellence at whatever stage it manifests itself.

A new Royal Charter was granted in 1950 by HM King George VI, and this marked the movement towards the Company’s present strength and influence. Many prominent individuals have been amongst its membership, and today the Company draws upon the expertise not only of those who make music their profession, but also many others in positions of influence for whom music is a lifelong interest. Membership is by invitation and is at two levels; the introductory position of Freeman and the full membership status of Liveryman. Members must be Freemen of the City of London. The Court of Assistants, from which the Master and Wardens are chosen annually, is appointed from the Livery.

The robes of the Company date from the early years of the twentieth-century.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

Freemen: no robes

Liverymen: A gown of Common Councillors’ shape [similar to d2] in dark blue wool panama faced gold corded silk. The facings continue around the yoke. The sleeves are cut in a V-shape and are lined gold, with the gold lining turned back so as to show ¼” at the edge of the sleeve. There is a simpler robe used as a clothing robe. Liverymen wear the Livery Medal, depicting a silver swan surrounded by the dates 1500, 1604 and 1950, dependent from a ribbon of the colours, gold, red, blue, on the right breast. The Court of Assistants wears the Livery Medal attached to a neck ribbon of the colours.

There are special robes for the Master, Wardens and Beadle. The Master wears a robe of black silk, with the facings and yoke covered with brown fur. There is 2” of black velvet laid next to the fur on the lower half of the gown, culminating in two black velvet panels on the upper portion. The ends of the sleeves (which are V-cut) are edged with 1” brown fur, with ½” gold laid next to the fur and 2” black velvet laid next to the gold. There is a neck jewel consisting of a shield depicting the arms of the Company depending from the arms of the City of London, the whole attached to a neck chain. The Wardens also wear neck jewels and black silk robes trimmed with brown fur. The Beadle wears a robe in black silk with gold frogging on the sleeves.

Hoods:

These are of a small [s1] shape attached to the yoke of the gown by means of two loops and buttons on opposite sides – a standard livery hood. There is no neckband.

Liverymen: dark blue silk lined scarlet silk.

Court of Assistants: as for Liverymen, but also edged white fur.

Master: as for Liverymen, but also edged brown fur.

DEGREES AND DIPLOMAS IN MUSIC OF OTHER INSTITUTIONS

The American Guild of Organists

Founded 1896

Executive Director: James E. Thomashower

Suite 1260, 475 Riverside Drive, New York NY 10115, USA

(USA) 212-870-2310

www:agohq.org

The American Guild of Organists was chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York in 1896. It has offered a nationally-recognised certification programme for organists since its foundation.

The AGO now has 20,000 members organised in 348 chapters in the USA, as well as in Europe, Korea and Argentina. It maintains a national headquarters in New York, where it employs a permanent staff, but otherwise is a predominantly voluntary organisation. It publishes “The American Organist”, one of the most widely-read magazines of its kind and sponsors competitions in organ performance and improvisation. It organises regular national and regional conventions.

Academical Dress

1. 1996-

Gowns:

FAGO: AIC doctors’ shape in black, with black velvet sleeve-bars and facings. The Guild emblem may be sewn on each facing, with the letters FAGO below. Those who hold the ChM diploma as well may have FAGO on one facing and ChM on the other.

AAGO, ChM: AIC bachelors gown in black.

Tippet:

AAGO, ChM: may wear the badges AAGO and ChM on a tippet (scarf).

Hoods:

FAGO: a silver satin hood of modified [f1] pattern, lined crimson satin.

AAGO: a silver satin hood of AIC bachelors pattern, lined crimson satin.

2. 1896-1996

Gown:

Ordinary: AIC doctors’ shape in black, with the sleeves slit from shoulder to wrist; the sleeves are lined with black satin and have three bars of black velvet.

Ceremonial: As for the ordinary gown, but with facings of black satin also. For FAGO the sleeve-bars are edged black and silver cord. The Guild emblem may be sewn on the left facing, with the letters AGO below it, and F, A or ChM above, as appropriate.

Hoods:

AAGO: [small s1] grey, lined rose.

FAGO: [larger s1] grey, lined rose.

ChM: as for either AAGO or FAGO as appropriate, with a black and silver twisted cord along all edges.

Colleagues of the AGO do not wear academical dress.

Australia and New Zealand Cultural Arts

Founded 1983

Maureen Forster, Administrator

PO Box 70, Greensborough, Victoria 3088, Australia.

E-mail: admin@anzca.com

An active examining board at all levels.

Academical Dress

Gown:

A plain black gown.

Hoods:

ADipA(Perf): A black hood with apricot border.

LDipA(Perf): A black hood fully lined apricot.

FDipA(Perf): A burgundy stole.

ATDA(Teacher): A black hood with green border.

LTDA(Teacher): A black hood fully lined green.

Note: the shapes are not known.

Australian Music Examinations Board

Founded 1918, formerly the Board of the Universities of Adelaide and Melbourne, founded 1887

Federal Chair: Mark Coughlan

5th Floor, 175, Flinders Lane, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia

(Australia) 03 9650 2833

www:ameb.edu.au

The Australian Music Examinations Board is Australia’s principal indigenous examining board and has the support of many leading institutions of higher education there. In addition to its two original partners, it also came to include the Universities of Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia, and the State Conservatory of New South Wales.

Today the AMEB is represented by Boards in every state in Australia and offers recognised diplomas up to tertiary level in both music and in speech and drama.

Academical Dress

Gown:

A plain black Australian undergraduate-style gown

Epitoges:

LTMusA: not known, appears to have been discontinued.

LMusA: rose pink

LSDA: old gold

ATMusA: peacock

AMusA: lilac

ASDA: grass green

TMusA: Stewart blue

FMusA: royal purple, the epitoge edged on the outside edge only 1” gold braid

FSDA: garnet, the epitoge edged on the outside edge only 1” gold lace

There is no Academical Dress for the CTMusA.

Australian Society of Musicology and Composition

Founded 2000

Director: Robert Nixon

16 Baralga St, Cranbrook, Queensland 4814, Australia

E-mail:robertnixon40@hotmail.com

The Australian Society of Musicology and Composition offers a diverse method of examination in most musical areas free from institutional constraints and without a set syllabus. Uniquely, candidates do not enter for a specific level of diploma, their level instead being determined by the examiner who considers their submission. They may enter from anywhere within Australia, or from overseas. ASMC examiners are required to hold a higher degree from an Australian university and Fellowship diploma, and to have been employed on the staff of an Australian tertiary-level educational institution. Those who are accepted as Fellows are invited to join the Council of the Society. The disciplines examined are composition, musicology, performance and music education (this latter originally only available to Licentiateship level). Diplomas may additionally be awarded with Honours at the examiner’s discretion. The Society does not confer honorary awards, but may admit suitable persons to a diploma without examination or suspend the relevant fees in special cases.

ASMC diplomas have been accepted by the Cambridge Society of Musicians (q.v.) as fulfilling the qualification requirements for election to the CSM at Associateship and Fellowship levels. The Society is also a link partner of the North and Midlands School of Music. The Patron is His Excellency the Rt. Revd. Dr Peter Hollingworth, the Governor-General of Australia.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

A (and AMusEd)ASMC, L(and LMusEd)ASMC: a black cloth gown of the Cambridge BA pattern [b2].

F(and FMusEd)ASMC: a black cloth gown of the Cambridge MA pattern [m2].

Hoods:

A(and AMusEd)ASMC: black cloth, the cowl lined violet silk and faced 4cm gold silk [f1].

L(and LMusEd)ASMC: black cloth, the cowl lined violet silk and faced 5cm gold silk [f1].

F(and FMusEd)ASMC: scarlet cloth, the cowl lined violet silk and faced 5cm gold silk [f1].

Mr Robert Nixon also writes in explanation of the designation OM-ASMC as follows:

“These postnominals refers to the title of  ‘Officer of Merit’, i.e. a person appointed as a representative and/or examiner. It is not a diploma in music and does not constitute membership of the ASMC, rather a certificate of appointment. The authorisation of postnominals is no longer issued in this context (for the reason of difficulty of recognition and possible confusion), but not discontinued for the very small number of persons who received such certificates of appointment.”

College of Church Music and Intercollegiate University, Kansas

Founded 1890. Now defunct.

Academical Dress

Hoods:

MusBac: Sepia silk, lined crimson satin [s1].

MusDoc: Scarlet cloth, lined gold silk or satin [f…].

Conservatory Canada

Formed c.1995-96 from the former Western Ontario Conservatory of Music and the Western Board of Music, Calgary

645 Windermere Road, London, Ontario, N5X 2P1, Canada
(Canada) 519 433 3147

www:conservatorycanada.ca

Conservatory Canada is a nationally-active examining board at all levels and also provides tuition in music at its headquarters above. It maintains a national network of music teachers and publishes a regular newsletter, Hi Notes, and other texts of interest.

Academical Dress

Hoods of Conservatory Canada

ACC: black, lined green, bound white [a1].

LCC: black, lined green, bound pink [a1].

Hoods of the Western Ontario Conservatory of Music

LWOCM: purple, lined cream [a1].

AWOCM: red, lined cream [a1].

The gowns are not known, but it is not believed that any were prescribed.

Note: the Western Board of Music did not use academical dress.

Graz: Academy for Music and Dramatic Art

www:kug.ac.at

Academical Dress

The President wears a gold chain of office from which is suspended an oblong gold medallion in the form of a stylised lyre between the masks of comedy and tragedy.

There is no Academical Dress for other members of the Academy.

Moray House College of Education, Edinburgh

Founded 1835; as the Free Church Training College and the Church of Scotland Training College formed the Edinburgh Provincial Training Centre in 1907; adopted Moray House name in 1959; merged with the University of Edinburgh in 1998.

The Moray House College of Education was a leading institute for the training of teachers, with campuses at Holyrood and Barnton. Its graduates included Revd. Dr John Styles (q.v. under Victoria College of Music).

Academical Dress

Gown:

not known

Hood:

Teachers’ Certificate in Music: a black hood of Edinburgh shape [s4], lined with saffron and faced inside the cowl for 3” with maroon.

New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music

Founded 1916; now part of the University of Sydney

Professor Sharman Pretty, Principal and Dean,

Building C41, The University of Sydney NSW 2006, Australia.

(Australia) 61 29351 1222

www:usyd.ed.au/su/conmusic

The New South Wales Conservatorium offers a complete musical education at tertiary level and also has a state high school that educates musically gifted young people. Currently there are over 600 students in the senior department and over 200 members of staff.

The Conservatorium has produced many graduates who have gone on to occupy a prominent place in music. Past Directors of distinction include Sir Eugene Goossens (1948-55), Sir Bernard Heinze (1957-66) and Rex Hobcroft (1972-82).

Academical Dress

Hoods:

DSCM: Union Jack red edged 6cm buttercup [shape not known].

DipMusEd: Union Jack red edged 6cm white [shape not known].

Other diplomas: not known.

BMus: blue silk bound fur [f…]. (1948) buttercup edged 6cm Union Jack red (1977-81) [shape not known].

MMus: not known.

DMus: white brocade, lined blue silk [f…]. (1948)

Royal Canadian College of Organists

Founded 1909 as The Canadian Guild of Organists; renamed the Canadian College of Organists in 1920. Since grant of Royal Charter in 1959 known by present title.

Executive Director: James Lee

112, St Clair Avenue West, Suite 403, Toronto, Ontario M4V 2Y3, Canada.

(Canada) (416) 929 6400

www:rcco.ca

The Royal Canadian College of Organists consists today of 31 centres grouped into 8 regions throughout Canada. It organises workshops and scholarship programmes, as well as preparing documents giving appropriate standards for the employment of church musicians.

Past Presidents include Sir Ernest Macmillan (1927-28) and Dr Healey Willan (1922-23, 1933-35). The current President is Dr Marnie Giesbrecht.

Academical Dress

Gown:

A gown of London bachelors’ pattern [b4] in black, with the sleeves looped up with a blue cord and button, and a blue cord outlining the yoke.

Hoods:

1996-:

Colleague: small [f5] in royal blue bengaline, the cowl edged 1” white silk.

ARCCO: small [f5] in royal blue bengaline, the cowl edged 2” white velvet.

FRCCO: larger [f5] in royal blue bengaline, lined and the cape edged ½” white silk, the cowl edged 3” white velvet.

CHM: the Associate or Fellow hood is worn as applicable with the addition of a bright yellow cord on the cowl, where the velvet meets the bengaline.

Until 1996:

Colleague: small [f5] in dark blue, the cowl edged 1” white.

ARCCO: small [f5] in dark blue, the cowl edged 2” white.

FRCCO: small [f5] in dark blue silk, lined and bound ½” white silk.

Until the 1970s, Colleagues and ARCCO had no hoods. From 1913-96 a dark blue shade was used; this is now much brighter.

Revd Philip Goff’s small MS book gives:

FRCCO (1925): blue silk lined Birmingham arts blue watered. [f1].

Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto

Founded 1886 as the Toronto Conservatory of Music.

273, Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1W2, Canada

(Canada) (416) 408 2824

www:rcmusic.ca

This was established in 1886 as the Toronto Conservatory of Music. The Canadian Academy of Music (1911-24), founded by Sir Albert Gooderham, which awarded diplomas of ACAM and LCAM, absorbed the Toronto College of Music (which was affiliated with the University of Toronto) in 1918 following Torrington’s death, and the CAM was in turn absorbed by the Toronto Conservatory in 1924. The Conservatory awarded diplomas of ATCM and LTCM. The Royal Charter was granted in 1946 to mark its diamond jubilee. The ARCT hood was designed in 1971. An honorary FRCT diploma was introduced in 2000.The ARCT diploma is awarded in all the usual divisions of performing and teaching.

Academical Dress

Gown:

There is no gown prescribed.

Hood:

ARCT: mid-blue, part-lined white [a1][xix].

The robes for the honorary FRCT diploma are not known. An LRCT diploma was formerly awarded; it had no robes.

Royal Danish Academy of Music

Rector: Steen Pade

Niels Brock Gade 1, DK-1574 København V, Denmark

(Denmark) 33 69 22 69

www:dkdm.dk

Academical Dress

The Rector wears a gold chain of office from which is suspended a badge bearing a stylised lyre circumscribed by an oval band.

There is no Academical Dress for other members of the Academy.

Salzburg: Mozarteum Academy for Music and Dramatic Art

www:moz.ac.at

Academical Dress

The President wears a gold chain of office from which is suspended a medallion bearing on its obverse a portrait of W.A. Mozart, and on its reverse the Austrian State Arms with the circumscription “Akademie fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mozarteum”. Beneath the State Arms are the words “Gestiftet von Bundesministerium fur Unterricht MCMLXVII”.

There is no Academical Dress for other members of the Academy.

St James Ecumenical Institute

This entity appeared on a very short-lived website in 2004. Thomas Wilson, Registrar, informed us that the Institute was founded in the USA in 1985 and established a presence in the UK in 1999. The UK wing became independent of the US body in 2001 and was (is?) based in Bournemouth. According to Mr Wilson, the Institute was undergoing major revision at the time of writing.

The website stated, “We are a non-denominational, inclusive progressive liberal Christian learned society, specialising in the study of all aspects of religious belief, worship, practice and literature (including but not restricted to sacred scriptures), with particular reference to the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Our aim is to promote the impartial study of any aspect of religious experience and practice, although our area of expertise currently lies mainly within the Western Christian tradition. We are essentially an academic research and educational organisation and not a lobbying or campaigning group. Membership is open to all students and scholars (professional academics, clergy and laity)  who embrace the ideals of impartiality, non-discrimination and inclusivity in the approach to religion.”

Academical Dress

Gowns:

SeniorFSJI, FSJI: Oxford or any other master’s gown in black.

ASJI: a black bachelor’s gown.

Hoods:

SeniorFSJI: red Winchester brocade, lined and the cape bound 2” crimson art silk, the cowl edged 2” fur. The neckband is bound ⅛” crimson art silk top and bottom [f1].

FSJI: red Winchester brocade, lined and the cape bound 1” crimson art silk, the cowl edged 2” fur. The neckband is plain Winchester brocade lined crimson art silk [f1].

ASJI: red Winchester brocade, lined and bound ½” on all edges crimson art silk. The neckband is plain Winchester brocade lined crimson art silk.

St Mark’s Institute of Theology

Founded 1869. Present status uncertain.

St Mark’s Institute traces its origins back to 1869, when a group of men, reading privately for ordination under Dean C.J. Vaughan, formed the “Association of Non-College Theological Students” (ANCTS). They were joined by the private students of other clergy – both Anglican and Nonconformist. The Association started by circulating prayer-lists, copies of sermons and personal news about members. In the later 1870s, it subsumed the Divinity Studies Institute, and a few years later the Scottish-based Overseas Missionary Academy. By this time (late 1880s) the ANCTS had its own premises, and extended its activities to correspondence courses, publication of tracts and provision of touring lecturers. It was particularly proud of its interdenominational status at a time when denominationalism was very strong. From 1916 until 1919 it temporarily ceased its activities.

On its reopening in 1919, it amalgamated with some more small theological institutions which had fallen into difficulties – specifically the Independent Theological Faculty, the British Divinity School, the Reformed Church College and the Working Man’s Bible Study Circle. The various bodies each wanted their name perpetuated in that of the new body, which was clearly impractical, so, given that the amalgamation took place on St Mark’s Day 1920, the title St Mark’s Theological College was adopted. Many of the activities of the former bodies were continued, but the principal work of the new college was to train and examine men and women for religious work, and it had hopes of becoming an interdenominational theological university, though this was not to be. It awarded four graded diplomas – ATh, LTh, GTh and FTh, for which academical dress was designed; in 1928 the GTh was abolished and students prepared instead for the external London BD. The FTh was awarded after successful submission of a thesis (presumably at postgraduate level), and was also awarded as an honorary distinction.

The Second World War again forced the closure of the College in 1940, and it was not to re-open until 1946, when the three surviving very elderly trustees appointed a Governing Council to carry out its work, which, in addition to tuition at the London premises, also included postal courses and lecture tours. The awards in Church Music (AChMus and MChMus) were introduced in the 1950s, but the College was not as successful as it had been, and existed on a nominal basis only for some years.

In 1969 a complete re-organisation took place. Teaching ceased, and the examined awards were abolished. All diplomas were to be awarded on an honorary basis from then on. To reflect this, on St Mark’s Day 1969, the College was renamed as St Mark’s Institute of Theology. The awards, which retained the same titles, were made to persons who had given notable service in religious work. The list of Governors was not published, so that no self-canvassing might take place. All nominations were obtained without the knowledge of the candidate, and this led to accusations of secrecy.

Despite the fact that the 1974 document says that the hoods are seen “increasingly in the churches of various denominations…in Britain” and even “regularly at Evensong in four cathedrals”, and several enquiries in Hoodata of the 1980s, specific information about diploma holders or about the current status of the Institute was impossible to come by. Perhaps the Institute is now defunct; perhaps it continues to go about its work in secret.

Academical Dress

Gowns:

ATh: a black gown with bell-sleeves [d2], which are trimmed with grey silk.

LTh: a black gown of London BA pattern [b4], with a grey cord and button on the yoke.

GTh: not known

FTh: a black gown of London MA pattern [m5], with a grey cord and button on the yoke.

AChMus: a black gown with bell sleeves [d2], which are trimmed with grey velvet.

FChMus: a black gown of London MA pattern [m5], with grey velvet facings.

Hoods:

ATh: black, bound on all edges grey silk 1” inside and out [f1].

LTh: black, lined and bound 1” grey silk [f1].

GTh: scarlet, bound on all edges grey silk 1” inside and out [f1].

FTh: scarlet, lined and bound 1” grey silk [f1].

AChMus: black stuff, faced grey velvet [s1].

MChMus: scarlet stuff, faced 3” grey velvet [s1].

Society of Science, Letters, and Arts, South Kensington

Early twentieth-century

Academical Dress

Northam gives:

Hood:

‘like an Oxford MA, but lined throughout in brownish-red silk.’

Another entry in the same book gives:

Gowns:

FSSAL: as London BA, but with crimson cord and button on the sleeves, and crimson facings [b4].

LSSAL: as Oxford BA, but with crimson facings [b1].

MSSAL: as London undergraduate, but with crimson facings [u3].

Hoods:

FSSAL: black faced 3” crimson [f3].

LSSAL: black lined crimson. [f3].

MSSAL: black faced 3” crimson [f3].

A third entry (which may or may not refer to the same society) gives:

‘To L Wilson BA(Lond), St John’s Hill, Clapham, for a new Society of Lit and Art’:

Hood:

Black silk lined Brussels sky blue silk. [f1].

This is the Brussels MD silk, of which a specimen is in the book. It is a little less greenish than Hull turquoise.

Wessex Theological College

Founded 1987. Defunct 1991.

We quote from the prospectus of this institution, “The concept of a theological college based in the Wessex region, administered from Sherborne but operated solely on the principle of home-based study, was formed when a group of theologians identified the potential for a world-wide sharing of their particular interests and specialisations with suitable students. Though initially with an Anglican bias, it now possesses faculty members from most denominations in keeping with the gradual emergence of a truly inter-denominational Church.”

The College was a limited company accredited by the American Accrediting Association of Theological Institutions (AAATI) (an institution based in Rocky Mount, North Carolina). It awarded the earned AWTC, DipTh, LTh and FWTC diplomas in theology and church music, and the honorary award of HonFWTC.

WTC Ltd. had planned to reopen as an unincorporated business, but in the event ceased trading on 31 March 1991. It was run by David Rogers, who was also involved with Somerset University. The President was Revd. Dr Clifford Waite, DFC.

Academical Dress

Hood:

College hood: black, lined silver, tipped maroon, and faced 1” old gold [a1].

NOTES

[i] There was also an earlier, unrelated Central Academy of Music that flourished circa 1930. Its advertisement read “Central Academy of Music. Tuition daily on all Instruments by Eminent Professors. Reasonable terms. 3a, Tottenham Court Road, London. If there were diplomas or academic dress, their details are not known.
[ii] Although ICMA (q.v.) was founded at a similar time.
[iii] MS workbook of Wm. Northam and Son, dated 1850.
[iv] Watered silk.
[v] Revd. Andrew Linley writes: “The Faculty hoods were designed by Stephen Callander. The idea for the shot silk came from the Warwick PhD robes which use the same material, which is the only shot silk stocked by Wippell’s.”
[vi] Revd Dr Paul Faunch suggested that this hood had no gold edging, but the example seen would indicate otherwise.
[vii] Almost black.
[viii] A society founded in 1999 for those interested in academical dress and related ceremonial.
[ix] On an example seen in 2004 the lining was a slightly different colour from the outer, and the terracotta was a bright orange.
[x] This was an unique award made in 2002 to a Mrs Newell, who had completed “study over several years of a demanding post-graduate course in church music, and was conferred after both written and practical examinations.” Mrs Newell apparently had a special hood designed for her. The situation was reported in the Church of Ireland Gazette in January 2003.
[xi] It is not clear whether this refers to the London BMus or the MMus, which use different shades of blue.
[xii] Very similar to the colour of the Oxford MTh lining.
[xiii] Note: The author is indebted to an article about the NCM in the “Organists’ Review”, February 1993, by Alex McMillan, which also incorporated information gathered by the late Stainton de Boufflers Taylor. This author takes a strongly negative view of the NCM, possibly unfairly.
[xiv] There was an earlier and unrelated Norfolk and Norwich School of Music: This was set up in response to the large number of ‘unqualified persons’ setting themselves up as teachers of music, which was causing the standard of music in the City to fall. A meeting convened in the Guildhall on 17 July 1894 led to establishment of the School which opened at 14 Rampant Horse Street on 4 March 1895. It was a limited liability company, with a capital of £1000. It awarded ‘certificates of competency’ to those students capable of teaching – but does not seem to have awarded formal diplomas. It had a ‘commodious’ concert room attached; also an organ. Lessons were 25/- to 3 gns per term, for which each student received 40 minutes of tuition per week. Evening classes were planned for choral, orchestral and harmony tuition at 12/6 per term. One of the shareholders and professors was Horace Hill, who was also the local representative for the London College of Music, and in 1895 the LCM held examinations at the School. By 1898, it had reached 100 students, and at least one was successful in gaining the LRAM in piano that year. In 1899, Hill was elected a Member of the College, to fill a vacancy, by now Trinity was also using the School as an examinations centre. In November 1899, Dr EH Turpin, the Warden of Trinity, was invited to the School to distribute the prizes and certificates, to 61 successful students. The NNSM was active in raising funds for the RCM, and at one point there was a Norfolk and Norwich Scholarship there. Details from Mr Hill the Chorus Master by Pauline Stratton; Wymondham, 2001; 0-900616-61-X
[xv] A mystery hood has come to the attention of the author; it is [f1], purple, lined white bound gold on all edges, designated simply “Northern College of Music”. It appears to be an unadopted prototype.
[xvi] There were at least two earlier music colleges in Wales. The Music College of Wales was founded in Swansea in 1881; Joseph Parry became its Principal when he left Aberystwyth in 1882. He remained there until 1888. The South Wales School of Music was founded by Parry himself, in Cardiff, at some point after 1888. It is not known whether they awarded diplomas or what became of them.
[xvii] Revd Dr Jack Styles told Revd Dr Mark Gretason that he had persuaded Dr Tillett to change the VCM hood shape to [s2]. This appears, however, not to have been followed through.
[xviii] The red is a very bright shade, so there is little difference between that and the scarlet.
[xix] This hood was introduced in 1971.

Other Canadian institutions include the Royal Hamilton Conservatory of Music (1965-80) formerly the Hamilton Conservatory (1897-1965) which awarded the diplomas of ARHCM and LRHCM together with the honorary diploma of FRHCM from 1965.