Book contents
- The Royal College of Music and Its Contexts
- Music Since 1900
- The Royal College of Music and Its Contexts
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Building and Consolidating (1883–1914)
- Part II Renewal and Conventionality (1919–1960)
- 5 Hugh Allen’s RCM and Musical Life between the Wars, 1919–1937
- 6 The Years of Austerity
- Part III Changing Musical Cultures (1960–1984)
- Part IV Into Its Second Century, 1984–2018
- Epilogue
- Works Cited
- Index
5 - Hugh Allen’s RCM and Musical Life between the Wars, 1919–1937
from Part II - Renewal and Conventionality (1919–1960)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 August 2019
- The Royal College of Music and Its Contexts
- Music Since 1900
- The Royal College of Music and Its Contexts
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Building and Consolidating (1883–1914)
- Part II Renewal and Conventionality (1919–1960)
- 5 Hugh Allen’s RCM and Musical Life between the Wars, 1919–1937
- 6 The Years of Austerity
- Part III Changing Musical Cultures (1960–1984)
- Part IV Into Its Second Century, 1984–2018
- Epilogue
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
The chapter opens with an account of the Golden Jubilee orchestral concert (1933) because the orchestra (made up of former students) is representative of the major orchestral players the College had trained, and Leopold Stokowski, the conductor. Yet this did not seem quite so likely at the end of the First World War. The College was fortunate that Hugh Allen succeeded Parry as Director, because he transformed its prospects through his selection of staff (including Adrian Boult) and revitalizing of its curriculum. Anxious to ensure employment for College students, Allen cooperated with the Teachers’ Registration Council to institute the Graduate diploma (GRSM) in association with the RAM. Allen brought about the Parry Theatre, beginning the RCM’s reputation for opera training. Allen’s liberal regime of allowing students to remain at the College for as long as they wanted helped some initially unpromising students to find themselves and to flourish within the RCM’s unconventional milieu. But Allen saw the RCM as representative of British musicians’ interests and this led to clashes with the BBC. George Dyson and Constant Lambert are discussed as two antipodal figures of Allen's RCM.
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- The Royal College of Music and its ContextsAn Artistic and Social History, pp. 133 - 186Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019