I first came across William Alwyn’s music in
1972: it was hearing the Symphonic
Prelude: Magic Island on Radio 3’s Record Review. As soon as the programme
ended I rushed into Cuthbertson’s music shop in Glasgow and bought the record
with some hard saved pocket money. I fell in love with that work and the
coupled Symphony No.3. Apart from the sleeve notes, I could find no details
about the composer. Even a visit to Glasgow’s Mitchell Library elicited little
information beyond what was in the then-current Grove. But it was the start of
my appreciation of Alywn’s music, and I have assiduously purchased releases of
his music as they have appeared on Lyrita, Chandos and Naxos over the
intervening 40 years.
John Dressler’s William Alwyn: A
Research and Information Guide is the book I would have dreamt about had I known
such things existed. Primarily, this book will appeal to enthusiasts of Alwyn’s
music: people who love his music and want to get to grips with its ‘sitz in
leben’ and to discover possible avenues for further exploration. Students
embarking on music courses or putative D.Mus’s will find this book essential
reading. Programme note writers and CD and concert reviewers who specialise in
British Music will require this book close at hand. And performers will be
interested to get background information when they come to prepare for recitals
(assuming they want to play Alwyn’s music). It is a book that will find its way
onto the shelves of most music college libraries and large references libraries
around the world.
For many years the only information about William
Alwyn (apart from Grove) was to be gleaned from Craggs & Poulton’s William Alwyn: A Catalogue of his music
(1985). As Dressler suggests in the present volume, it was a first attempt at
sorting out the composer’s works. It was prepared with his blessing. I was
lucky enough to find a copy of this book in a second-hand bookshop; I believe
that it is relatively rare. Even the Royal
College of Music or the Royal Academy of Music does not list this book in their
library catalogues.
Prior to this Francis Routh (a former pupil of
Alwyn) published an important book Contemporary
British Music in 1972. Included was an entire chapter devoted to Alwyn.
This is available for on-line perusal at MusicWeb
International.
For many years the major diary article written by
Alwyn for the ADAM International Review (1967) eluded me. This study elaborated
the day to day composition of the Third Symphony. For biographical details the
enquirer was limited to a slim volume entitled Winged Chariot. This book was selective in its coverage and discussion
of many important works was omitted. It was published in 1983 and was
effectively an ‘essay in autobiography.’
In 2005 Boydell Press published the significant
study, William Alwyn: The Art of Film
Music by Ian Johnson. This explored
in depth the composer’s major contribution to the world of the moving picture. Relatively
little information was given about Alywn’s ‘art music.’
Three years later, the
‘official biography, The Innumerable Dance: The Life and Work of William
Alwyn by Adrian
Wright was published by Boydell Press. This remains the only volume to deal
objectively with the composer’s life and music. The last major contribution to
the Alwyn bibliography was Composing in Words: William Alwyn on his Art (Musicians on Music Volume 9) published by
Toccata Press in 2010 and edited by Andrew Palmer. This is comprehensive
collection of texts written the composer, including the elusive ADAM diary and
the complete text of Winged Chariot with
extracts from an essay on Alywn’s boyhood, Early
Closing. Additionally, there are a number of pieces of journalism and
essays. This is essential reading for
all who wish to understand the composer’s milieu as it includes the majority of
Alwyn’s writings about music.
The Research
and Information guide is presented in four major sections preceded by a
short preface which outlines the purpose and scope of the volume alongside an
extensive list of acknowledgements.
The first part is largely biographical. This
begins with a brief sketch of the composer’s life and achievement by Andrew
Knowles who is currently archivist and administrator of the William Alwyn
Foundation. This is followed by a short ‘Discovering Alwyn by the current book’s
author which presents similar biographical material. The ‘Chronology’ is useful for situating the
composer’s life and works. The references to his compositions are selective: I
would have liked to have seen a full chronological
listing of all his works – whether by genre or simply in order. For example, exactly half a century ago,
Alwyn was inaugurated as a member of the Isle of Wight Sailing Club at Cowes;
he attended a memorial service for the poet Louis MacNeice and produced his
last film score, The Running Man. There
is no mention of his Twelve Diversions
for Five Fingers.
Nearly half of the book is devoted to a ‘Catalogue
of Works’. This is conveniently divided up into genre. Major elements of this
catalogue include the Documentary and Feature Film Scores and the usual ‘art’
music divisions such as Orchestral Works, Instrumental Chamber Music and Works
for Brass and Military Bands. Within these
divisions, each work is presented in alphabetical order.
For example, on Page 141, the Symphony No. 1 is
catalogued. The format includes the work’s instrumentation, the titles of each
movement, its duration and dedicatee. A list of first and early performances is
quoted. The work’s publisher is given. In the case of the First Symphony there
is a detailed description of the manuscript, including its location at the
Alwyn Archive. The last part of the
entry includes cross-references to various biographical or critical notes as
well as recordings.
The third major division of this Research Guide
is the main ‘Bibliography’. This is divided up into eight specific
sections. The first considers the
primary sources of material written by Alwyn. This includes details of
articles, essays, letters to publications and even an unpublished novel.
Additionally, there is a selected listing of letters from William Alwyn to and
from a number of correspondents including Arthur Bliss, Ruth Gipps, Benjamin
Britten and Muir Mathieson. Many of these are available for study in the Alwyn
Archive at Cambridge University.
A comprehensive list of ‘obituaries’ is presented
ranging from the Chicago Tribune to the Northampton Chronicle and Echo.
I was delighted to find an account of material
located at the BBC Written Archives, Caversham. This includes a variety of
scripts, films and radio broadcast featuring the composer. It is a pity that
some of these could not be made available on ‘podcasts’.
I was surprised that comparatively few ‘thesis
and dissertations’ have been written about the composer and his music. At 2011
these numbered only five. The most useful being Ian Carmalt’s William Alwyn (1905-1985) a Romantic Composer
of his Time. Fortunately this is available on-line.
One of the desiderata of Alywn scholars must be
to have ‘soft’ copies of the William
Alywn Newsletter. This ran for only eight issues between January 1996 and December 2000. John Dressler has provided a
convenient listing of the major articles featured in these publications.
Fortunately some of them are available for perusal at MusicWeb International. There is a listing detailing entries in
various dictionaries, encyclopaedias and general overviews of musical history
and achievement. This is followed by general studies dealing with Alwyn’s life
and works. These includes articles and books specifically about the composer,
and also references which contain useful information. Omitted from these are CD
and record liner notes, unfinished dissertation projects, brief press notices
and non-western European language materials.
The last major section of the bibliography
explores references to individual works. Dressler has included virtually all
William Alwyn’s major compositions, both film and art music, as well as a good
selection of less important pieces. For example there are 32 references to the
opera Miss Julie. The short Midsummer Night (c1930s) has been given
a single citation. As an example, I looked at the Symphonic Prelude: The Magic Island. Unfortunately no-one has written a major
study of this work however there are three reviews from the work’s premiere at
the 1953 Cheltenham Festival cited. Other references are to reviews of CDs and
records. In this case the 1972 Lyrita discs and the later Chandos and Naxos editions
of this work. There is a review cited of the miniature score – although this
fact is not noted in the text. I would
have appreciated these listings in chronological order.
The last major division of this book is the
extensive ‘discography’. For most listeners (and enthusiasts) the catalogues
currently available at Arkiv, Crotchet or Amazon are sufficient for their
explorations. Yet much more is available. For the The Magic Island, I was amazed to
discover eight entries. I know of only four releases- the Lyrita (vinyl &
CD) the Naxos and the Chandos. In
addition to these, there is a BBC Sound Archive recording from February 1966, a
Musical Heritage vinyl disc, which I think is the American imprint for Lyrita.
Interestingly Lyrita have presented The
Magic Island in Box 1 of the company’s popular 50th anniversary set.
Finally, the work has been included in a sampler of ‘mystic classics’ from
Naxos.
The Discography is given by record label, which
I am not sure is helpful – I guess that I would have preferred a chronological
order or work order.
The final part of this Research Guide is
‘Related Materials.’ This includes an interesting ‘selected’ list of ‘Former
First-Study Pupils of William Alwyn’ at the Royal Academy of Music. Names
include Iain Hamilton (sadly neglected as a composer) Minna Keal, John
Lanchberry, Steve Race and Francis Routh.
Alwyn also attracted a number of musical dedications with works by
Arnold Cooke, John Manduell, Thomas Pitfield and Trevor Hold. Finally there are two detailed indices –one
an ‘alphabetical index of works’ and the second an index of names.
Unfortunately,
there is no information given in the book about the author, John C.
Dressler. He is well-known to British
Music enthusiasts for his two important exercises in bibliography. In 1997
Greenwood Press issued Gerald Finzi-A
Bio-Bibliography. Some seven years later, there followed a similar book for
Alan Rawsthorne. The present volume, although different in format and
presentation, is of similarly high standard. John Dressler is Professor of Horn
and Musicology at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. As well as practical music lessons he has
lectured in a number of 19th and 20th century musicological
studies. He gained his Master’s and Doctoral degree from Indiana University. In
addition to his academic work he plays horn with a number of ‘local’ orchestras
and is also the organist at Fountain Avenue Methodist Church in Paducah,
Kentucky.
This book is well-presented.
It is printed on environmentally friendly paper: the text is clear and the
layout is definitely easy to use. I have not been able to review the Kindle
Version of this book: I note that it is priced at £62:23 on Amazon. I am not
convinced that a reference book like is quite as effective when presented
digitally. Personally, I like to be able to browse between sections, flick
between indices and text and gain inspiration from serendipity. I understand
that Kindle will allow a full search, but the results are not always clear to
peruse.
At £95.00 the hardback version of William
Alwyn: A Research and Information Guide is high-priced. Amazon is offering
it for £88.90 and other sellers for around the £80 mark. It is a fact of
academic life that books of this calibre are expensive, even by today’s
standard. Information does not come cheap in any walk of life.
I recommend this book as ‘required reading’ for all enthusiasts of
William Alwyn – whether they are ‘lay’ or ‘academic’. There is so much
information packed into these 336 pages that will be of interest and value to
researchers for many years to come.
William Alwyn: A Research and Information Guide
John C. Dressler
Routledge Musical Bibliographies
Routledge, hardback 336 pages
IBSN 978-0-415-88605-5
£95.00