Chapter Six - Entr’acte, 1933–41

Summary

That this Society, with its long and honourable record of splendid work, should cease its activities or any part of its work is a musical calamity.

With the demise of both the Musical Society and the Choral Society in 1933, there followed a period where there was no choir able to perform large scale choral works with some form of orchestral accompaniment. However, there were a number of choirs in the town, and a considerable amount of live choral music was performed during the period 1933–40. There were also regular orchestral and chamber music concerts. This chapter will look at the variety of musical activity that continued during these years.

The Mary Palmer Choir

Mary Palmer (1868–41), née Cowley, was the wife of the prominent editor of the Bedfordshire Times and Independent newspaper. She originated from Brighton and gained scholarships at the Brighton School of Music (then an unofficial branch of the Royal Academy of Music in London): ‘As a singer and pianist, her services were of great demand at Brighton concerts, her soprano voice being notable for its purity and range … She was handicapped by ill-health and was virtually an invalid over a period of years … But in the last twenty years of her life her health showed some signs of improvement.’

Mary Palmer was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the Bedford Festival. Initially, she trained children's choirs to compete. She formed a ladies’ choir in the autumn of 1924, and they sang in the Bedford Festival in the following March. She formed a mixed choir in 1925. The ladies’ choir comprised about thirty members and they were joined by about twenty men to form the mixed choir. The choir was well regarded and even sang for the radio, as her obituary says:

The Mary Palmer Choir gained an enviable reputation wherever they sang. Although there were the ladies’ and mixed voice choirs performing separately there was actually one choir, a friendly body of people whom Mrs. Palmer inspired with her own love of singing. They sang together as her friends; they appreciated the value of preparing for and competing at music festivals and their numerous successes were a testimony to Mrs. Palmer's ability as a choir-trainer. Always Mrs. Palmer expected the best of which they were capable and she achieved remarkable success in this endeavour.