Some Lost British Cantatas from the Edwardian Era

Just a list today. I was investigating a specific cantata by Rutland Boughton, when I turned up this list of ‘recently published works’ by Novello in the September 1910 issue of the Musical Times. I have only listed the British examples: there are also two, one each by Schubert and Gounod. Most of the composers are familiar names to British music enthusiasts, although I guess many would have to look up Messrs. William H. Speer, Bertram Luard-Selby and David Stephen.

How many of these works have survived into the 21^st century? How many deserve to have survived?  Do any demand revival? Fortunately, the scores for a surprising number of them are available on line, so it is possible to assess. However, as I have found in investigating just one work, this does take much time and effort, and the problem of subjectivity is ever present. One person’s ‘high-flown twaddle’ is another’s lost masterpiece. Playing the score through on the piano is one thing: organising a performance with chorus, soloists and orchestra is another. Finally, maybe some of these works could be performed by a ‘Cantatas from Scratch’ group meeting for pleasure rather than profit?

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Bon-Bon Suite

Cyril B. Rootham: Andromeda

Ernest Walker: Ode to a Nightingale

Charles Hubert Hastings Parry: Beyond these voices there is peace.

Rutland Boughton: Midnight & The Invincible Armada

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Endymion’s Dream

Frederic H. Cowen: The Veil

Charles A. E. Harris: The Sands of Dee

Herbert Brewer: Sir Patrick Spens

Henry Walford Davies: Ode on Time

Alex. M. Maclean: The Annunciation

Rutland Boughton: The Skeleton in Armour

Bertram Luard-Selby: The Fakenham Ghost

Herbert Brewer: Summer Sports

Henry Walford Davies: Noble Numbers

William.H. Speer: The Lay of Cuthbert

Ivor Atkins: Hymn of Faith

David Stephen: The Laird O’ Cockpen.