John Ansell: Overture – Plymouth Hoe (1914)

John Ansell is now largely forgotten. Yet, during the first half of the 20th century, he was highly regarded as composer of ‘light’ music. He wrote several overtures during his career. There was one for all occasions. Huntsmen were catered for by Tally Ho!, the Army with Private Ortheris, the Merchant Navy with The Windjammer and finally, the Royal Navy with Plymouth Hoe. 

A few words about the composer may be of interest. Born in Hoxton on 26 March 1874, Ansell studied at the Guildhall School of Music with the Scottish composer Hamish MacCunn. In the early part of his career, he played viola under the baton of Arthur Sullivan. He spent much of his career conducting theatre orchestras in London including the Playhouse (1907-13), the Alhambra (1913-20), the Adelphi (1920) and the Winter Gardens. Other posts included being on the staff of the BBC (1926-30) and occasional sessions conducting the Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra. A highlight was the brief appointment in 1930 as assistant conductor of the then new BBC Symphony Orchestra. John Ansell’s catalogue includes several operettas including The King’s Bride and Violette. They have all sunk without trace. Like Haydn Wood and Eric Coates, Ansell wrote several orchestral Suites with evocative titles: the Mediterranean Suite, the Suite Pastorale and the Three Irish Pictures. There are several piano pieces as well as reductions of his orchestral works.  A Serenade for cello and orchestra was featured during the 1898 Promenade Concerts (29 September). One relatively unknown fact about Ansell was that in his later years he devoted much of his time to hotel management as the landlord of the George and Dragon public house in Marlow. Fortunately, this institution is still going strong, lockdown notwithstanding. John Ansell died in Marlow, Buckinghamshire on 14 December 1948.

Philip Scowcroft (MusicWeb International) has quoted The Times obituarist (15 December 1948) which notes that Ansell's incidental music 'exhibits a soundness of construction and vein of fantasy which should ensure it the regard of discriminating audiences'.  Ansell’s music is typically in the ‘light’ genre, however there is no ‘suggestion of triviality.’

The Overture: Plymouth Hoe was composed in 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. It is not a ‘concert overture’ written in a variant of sonata form. The listener will hear a string of melodies designed to whet the audience’s appetite: it more like an overture to a Gilbert and Sullivan opera. Philip Scowcroft (MusicWeb International) has described the piece as ‘a potpourri of popular nautical melodies rather than a truly original work’. The Chandos CD liner notes suggest that the Overture was Ansell’s response to the war. On the other hand, it does not display ‘a tragic or lugubrious mood’ but one of ‘stiffening of sinew and positive resolve.’  

Plymouth Hoe is a cheery, upbeat work from the first note to the last. It opens with the hornpipe, ‘Jack’s the Lad’, and includes ‘The Saucy Arethusa’, echoes of HMS Pinafore and includes the inevitable ‘Rule Britannia’. Listeners will be surprised at the competency of Ansell’s orchestration and sensitivity towards these tunes.

I was unable to establish the date of the premiere. However, there are several references to the Overture in the musical press and daily newspapers. The reviewer of a Chappell Ballad Concert held at the Queen’s Hall reported that ‘At the concert given on March 3 [1917] an Overture: Plymouth Hoe, by John Ansell, showed that the composer knew how to deck out popular melodies.’

The Overture: Plymouth Hoe remained popular with military bands and orchestras for many years and was a favourite at Bournemouth with Dan Godfrey. It gradually faded from view. However, in the past few years it has made something of a comeback. Interestingly, the work was performed during the ‘Last Night of the Proms’ in 2014. The Overture has relatively recently been recorded on Sanctuary Classics (CD WHL 2137, 2003), Somm (SOMMCD243, 2009), and Chandos (CHAN10898, 2015) record labels. 

John Ansell’s Overture: Plymouth Hoe can be heard on YouTube in several versions. Perhaps the best example of the orchestral score is thar played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Rumon Gamba (CHAN10898).