| Conductors | Lieutenant H E Adkins,
Lieutenant B Walton O'Donnell,
C Thornton Lofthouse,
Dame Ethel Smyth DBE |
| Set List | 'Overture' from Die Meistersingers, Wagner (Band),
'Three Humoreskes', B Walton O'Donnell (Band),
Suite in F - 'March, Song Without Words', Holst (Band),
'The Song of the Blacksmith', Holst (Band),
'Fantasia on 'The Dargason', Holst (Band),
Songs for Male Voice Choir: 'A Festival Chime' and 'Turn Back O Man', Holst (Choir)
Overture; 'The Wreckers', Dame Ethel Smyth (Band),
'Egyptian Scenes', Cuthbert Harris (Band),
'Fugue on St. Anne's Tune', Bach (Band),
'Fugue in G Minor', Bach (Band) |
| Performance Notes | 'In connection with the British Music Society's annual conference, a concert was given in the Albert Hall on Friday night by the band of the Royal Military School of Music. They had three aims in view: to demonstrate the influence of the military band as a factor in the musical life of the nation; to encourage composers to write for it; and to secure public appreciation for military music and all concerned with its performance. Of these, perhaps, the most important was the second.'
(The Times, 2 July 1922)
'One object of this concert was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the military band as a medium for the performance of the best music, and in this way to draw the attention of the composer to the desirability of writing directly for it. Roughly speaking, it must be said that the serious composer still rejects the wide opportunity that lies open to him of reaching the great masses of the people who take their musical pleasure in parks and on piers, as distinct from the smaller special public that takes it in the concert halls. Perhaps he does so under the impression that as an instrument the military band is relatively inexpressive, but in this case a hearing of Holst's Suite in F.....must have convinced him that he is neglecting a mobile and varied agency of musical expression.'
(The Observer, 2 July 1922)
'Here is music which everyone can understand, but which also appeals to the musician, and should replace much of the bad music, both native and foreign, of which military bands are so fond - or believe to be the only thing the public wants.'
(The Daily News, 1 July 1922)
'The example of Mr Holst ought to bring about a change in this respect securing band works from composers, for his Suite in F (performed for the first time last night) is a most effective piece of serious music and at the same time a proof that a composer gifted with inspiration and understanding can obtain from a military band effects of sounds entirely novel and beautiful.'
(The Daily Telegraph, 1 July 1922) |
| Related Archival Material | Programme (RAHE/1/1922/35) |