10 - Administrative Diversions, 1959–66

Summary

The Sofa was not the only significant event towards the end of 1959 to which Maconchy's name would be linked in the press: after serving for a year as Chairman-elect of the Composers’ Guild, Maconchy ascended to the role of Chairman at the conclusion of the Guild's Annual General Meeting held on 5 December. As the first woman to be elected to the position, the significance of the appointment generated ample coverage in the press, with notices appearing in the Times, the Birmingham Post, the Star, and Essex Weekly News, in addition to an interview with David Jones for the BBC's day-time television programme Mainly for Women, which aired on 2 December. This feat, however, could have arrived a few years earlier: in January 1956, Guy Warrack approached Maconchy about serving as Chairman the following year. In his letter, Warrack cited a complaint that had been received at the Composers’ Guild's Annual General Meeting in December 1955 that women were inadequately represented. Maconchy ultimately decided to decline the invitation, with the heavy workload that the job entailed, combined with having Nicola still at home presumably a contributing factor.

With Composers’ Guild matters taking up a sizable amount of Maconchy's time in 1960, it should come as no surprise that she found herself with little time to compose. Nevertheless, she continued to make strides on The Departure and also began work on a carol cantata titled Christmas Morning, which she completed the following year. Though performances of her music remained scarce for the duration of 1960, Maconchy's fortunes would soon change as her work with the Composers’ Guild dramatically elevated her visibility and public profile, thus leading to an increasing number of performances and commissions in the ensuing years. In 1960 alone, she received a commission from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) for an orchestral work to be included in their 1961–2 season, as well as an invitation from William Glock to write a work for the BBC's Thursday Invitation Concerts.

The 1960s was not without its challenges, however, as changes in musical fashions marked by the rising popularity of serialism and electronic music spurred heated debate and fears of marginalisation among composers whose works were lumped into the broad category of ‘tonal’ music.