This chapter indicates some of the changes in the condition of the British composer between the pre–First World War situation that Vaughan Williams had outlined in ‘Who Wants the English Composer?’ and the developments that began to come into place in the 1920s and 1930s. It focusses on aspects of fresh leadership, opportunities, and practical encouragement as evidenced through Hugh Allen and the Royal College of Music, Adrian Boult and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Hubert Foss and the Oxford University Press Music Department. The Royal College of Music became a composers’ resource, its orchestra and the new Parry theatre offering opportunities for composers to try out works in rehearsal or on the stage. Boult’s championship of British composition was evident in his Royal College conducting class and from his assiduous broadcasting of British composers at the BBC. British music publishers were slow to appreciate the opportunities of income deriving from performance and broadcasting rights, clinging to the tradition of revenue meaning copies sold. But these new income streams enabled material change, and Hubert Foss persuaded OUP to publish serious orchestral music by young British talent. In all of this, Vaughan Williams was an essential point of influence and example.

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.

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.