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History of the orchestra
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The Alderley Edge Advertiser of 26th May 1922 contains an announcement that a
meeting of the Alderley Edge Musical Festival committee had taken place to
discuss the formation of an Orchestra. It reported that 'Mr WO West (organist
of St Philip's Church, Alderley Edge) had consented to conduct. Weekly
rehearsals will begin in the autumn.'
Amongst those attending the meeting was Philip Godlee, the nephew of the
prominent Manchester businessman Francis Godlee (1854-1928), a man of many
interests including astonomy; he presented his Godlee Observatory and
telescopes to the City of Manchester in 1903 following the foundation of the
Manchester Astronomical Society. Francis Godlee was joint owner (with a
relative William Simpson) of a prosperous cotton manufacturers and calico
printers Simpson & Godlee, with offices in Manchester and mills in Bolton and Bury. Philip Godlee
became owner of the business in 1924.
Unlike his uncle, Philip Godlee was a very keen musician; he was a proficient
viola player and an excellent amateur conductor. He was closely involved with
the Alderley Edge Musical Festival (still going strong today) and in later
years became Chairman of the Hall é Concerts Society where was responsible for inviting John Barbirolli to become
conductor of the Hall é Orchestra.
To Philip Godlee must go the credit for the development of the Orchestra in the
early years. The Alderley Edge Orchestral Society gave regular concerts during
the late 1920s and 1930s (see Philip Godlee's repertoire notes on left) and
performed with great success in the Alderley Edge Musical Festival every year
from 1927 to 1938. Godlee built up an impressive list of players on whose
services he was able to draw:was able to draw:
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Philip Godlee, founder of the orchestra, photographed playing his viola in 1942
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VIOLINS
VG Hill
Elsie M Draper
Margaret West
Oswald Milburn
Denys Milburn
Vivien Simpson
Mrs Bythell
Miss Eleanor Lockhart
Mrs J Mosscrop
AG Haworth
Miss J. Slaughter
Miss S. Black
Margaret Milnes
Beatrice Brown
Miss Owen
Miss Mead
Wilfred Cleaver
Mrs TR Worthington
Miss S Warburg
AIlen Vaughan
Miss Anne C. Mason
Mrs A Frischmann
Miss Boon
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Charles Hopwood
Miss Frieda Smith
Miss RE Davenport
Miss Betty Nickson
Miss Jean H Thomson
CG Agate
Lawrence Poval
B Nelstrap
Diana Dobson
Mrs Ogg
Nan Morris
Mrs Hampson
Miss Gertrude Coutts
VIOLA
Rev. HE Maddox
Gwenifer Walsh
P.Godlee
E Bryce
Miss Elsie Boon
Frank S Park (Pro.)
Bradford Barton (Pro.)
Wallace Bennett (Pro.)
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CELLO
Mrs JR Scott
Miss Frieda Hill
Rev. EA Voysey
Dr Bythell
Mrs Shepard
Mrs Clayton
Godfrey Frischmann
Miss BytheIl
BASS
Mrs Scott
H Howarth (Pro.)
FLUTE
Capt. Oakley
Mr Gray
Miss Stancliffe
CAM Thornton
FB Mayo
PR Lewis [and Clarinet]
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CLARINET
Mr Murtagh
HC Prew
Lanham
OBOE
James Boyce
Mark Thornton
Mr Walton
HORN
Alec Greg
GA Gaddum
A Healey
BASSOON
Mark Thornton 2
Roy Clayton
PIANOFORTE
TO Bridge
Mrs Voysey
Miss D Watson
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'The Regal' was the venue for the Orchestra's first post-war concert in 1952. It
was built in 1928 at a cost of £9,500 for the Alderley Edge Musical Festival and boasted a unique adjustable
floor which could be flat for ballroom dancing and sloping for concerts and
other entertainments. The Festival Hall later ran into financial difficulties
and became the Regal cinema and dance hall in 1938.
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In 1936, the orchestra's concert included a performance by James Whitehead of a
cello concerto by the seventeenth century Italian composer Leonardo Leo. His
work is almost unknown today
'The Regal' was the venue for the Orchestra's first post-war concert in 1952. It
was built in 1928 at a cost of £9,500 for the Alderley Edge Musical Festival and boasted a unique adjustable
floor which could be flat for ballroom dancing and sloping for concerts and
other entertainments. The Festival Hall later ran into financial difficulties
and became the Regal cinema and dance hall in 1938.
Some of these names are of particular interest. AG Howarth (violin) became Sir
AG Howarth and was Chairman of the Hallé Orchestra in the 1950s and 1960s. Frank Park played viola in the Hallé, and Miss Stancliffe (flute) was the sister of Patricia Stancliffe who played
cor anglais in the Hall é both before and during the Barbirolli years. Rev EA Voysey (cello) was
father-in-law of the Manchester-born actor Robert Donat (1905-1958) who starred
in many films, including the huge hit The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935).
Evelyn Clayton, a childhood friend of Philip Godlee's wife Barbara, has written
a fascinating account of those pre-war days:
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It gradually became known as the ‘Assembly Rooms’ and looked like this until recent years.
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'One of the first musical activities I joined when we went to live in
Manchester, was the Alderley Edge Orchestra. It was at Philip's instigation. "I
wish you'd play in the orchestra," he said, "we have very good fun." This was
true. It was "very good fun," and the inspiration for the fun and the music
came from him.
'It was a curious mixture, like all amateur orchestras. But, unlike many, it was
properly run. There was a fixed practice night which Philip, as conductor,
never missed. I cannot remember a single time when he sent a deputy , although
he was a busy man, and must have had to make some sacrifices. There was a
subscription. There was a secretary and a treasurer and properly audited
accounts. Music was allowed to be borrowed, but is it was kept too long - and
only those who lend music know how conscious less people are in this respect -
Philip used to drive round in his car and make a personal call.
'There was a standard both of playing and of attendance. Philip was kindness
itself to those who tried hard, even if they couldn't play. I used to write out
carefully edited parts which were up to their technique - or lack of it. If
more conductors of amateur bands did this, we should not hear the sounds we do
at competition festivals. But he was adamant on dynamics and on careful
playing. "Dogs' bodies! " he used to shout. "Even if you can't play the notes,
you can play softly - and much better, too if you do". And there were one or
two scrapers he wouldn't have in, not because they couldn't play, but because
they wouldn't try.
'The reason for the excellence of the orchestra - and it was exceedingly good -
was this firm basis. Also, of course, he did have some very good players which
made the whole. The Bythell family, which supplied two excellent 'cellos and a
superlative violin, also added to the keenness and zest for they, too, never
missed. And there was the priceless blessing of a double bass who really could
play and who understood the music through and through. This was Olga Scott, who
was a rock and a tower of strength whether she played the bass or became a
'cello, which was her real instrument. George Lancashire cheerfully drove over
from Didsbury , wet or fine - or through fog - to play in the second violins,
because he so loved the atmosphere of music and gaiety.
'I remember playing in the "St Paul's" Suite of Gustav Holst, then not so well
known as it is now, and the enthusiasm of the audience. Philip confessed to the
orchestra afterwards, that once having given it its head in the last movement
he had moments when he wasn't sure that he could control it, if anything
untoward happened. But nothing upsetting did happen. We just went rollicking
along to the end with Philip looking gay and assured, and the final run-up and
crashing cord were a triumph. We were playing in the Alderley Edge Festival*,
and we won.
'It would be a one-sided picture of the orchestra if only its triumphs were
recorded. I remember the absolute failure. This was another Alderley Edge
Festival. We attempted a rather ambitious Handel concert**, and everything went
wrong. After a shaky start, we seemed unable to pull ourselves together and, in
spite of Philip's coaching produced more wrong entries than we had in all the
rehearsals put together. We wailed ourselves to an inglorious conclusion. I
ventured a timid glance at Philip, and was amazed to see that he was shaking
with uncontrollable laughter. He said afterwards that everything seemed to
"come on us" at once, and the only thing to do was to just to try hard, battle
on, and call it a day.
'This light heartedness restored the morale of the orchestra in miraculous
fashion, and our next performance was as assured and smooth running as the last
one disastrous.
'I do not know what happened to the orchestra - obviously it could not continue
during the war. And now it will never function again, or if it does, it will
have a tradition for an inspiration.'
*In 1928
**Concerto Grosso No 11 in B flat (arr. Esposito), performed at the 1933
Festival
But after the war, the Orchestra did indeed function again, and the recent
re-emergence of its first post-war minute book, after years in storage, gives a
fascinating insight into its early post-war months.
The Orchestra was re-established in its present form in 1952. A preliminary
Committee met on 12th June under the chaimanship of Mrs V M Shawcross and
agreed, after a discussion ‘at some length’ that the new organisation should be known as ‘The Alderley Edge Orchestral Society’ with the intention of giving an inaugural concert at the end of October or
early November.
It was agreed that rehearsals would take place at the Belmont Mission Hall in
Heyes Lane, premises then owned by the Wesleyan Methodist Church; the building
still exists, although it has in recent years been converted into private
dwellings.
The first formal committee meeting, chaired by Mr T Anderson and with Mrs
Shawcross as Treasurer and Miss M A Francis as Secretary, took place a
fortnight later on 30th June at Miss Francis ’s home at 28 Carrwood Road, Wilmslow. It was decided that the annual
subscription should be £1. 1. 0d [£1.05 in today’s terms] and that those attending rehearsals (on Thursday evenings, as today)
would be charged 3d [just over 1p] for tea and biscuits. Philip Godlee was
invited to be the Society ’s first President, in recognition of his pre-war musical activities.
The major item of discussion, as might be expected, was the programme for the
first concert. This again was discussed ‘at some length’ and in keeping with the concert planning traditions of the day the Committee
finally agreed the generous, if somewhat indigestible, offering of:
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Magic Flute Overture [Mozart]
Chanson de Matin [Elgar]
Chanson de Nuit [Elgar]
Horn Concerto No 4, movements 2 and 3 [Mozart] (soloist: Ione Petch)
The Grenadiers [Waldteufel]
Swan Lake [Tchaikovsky]
(subsequently replaced by William Tell [Rossini])
INTERVAL
Nell Gwynn Dances [Edward German]
Pianoforte Solo (soloist: Rachel Anderson)
(subsequently replaced by Piano Concerto No 1, movements 1 and 2 [Mendelssohn]
London Every Day No 1 [Eric Coates]
The Last Spring [Grieg]
Pomp & Circumstance March No 1 [Elgar]
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
Present at this first post-war concert was Alderley Edge writer writer Alan
Garner (right). Click here to hear his memories of the occasion.
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The venue for the concert, on Thursday 23rd October 1952, was to be the Regal
Ballroom in Alderley Edge, now known as the Festival Hall. Known for many years
as the Assembly Rooms, this was built in 1927 on the initiative of Philip
Godlee (who lived nearby at The Meadows, Ryley's Lane) to accommodate the new
Alderley Edge Music Festival that had been founded in 1910 by a group led by
Charles Crofts. During World War 2, the Assembly Rooms functioned under the
name of The Regal as a cinema and dance hall, and local girls found it an ideal
venue at which to meet the American servicemen stationed in the area.
An immediate problem for the new Committee was that the Regal was not well
equipped with audience seating. The committee was undaunted:
Mr Anderson said that he had managed to get 80 chairs from the Church Institute
and these, together with about 50 upstairs at the Regal and 60 downstairs at
the sides means that 290 chairs must be obtained elsewhere. [In the event, they
were borrowed from various church halls in Alderley].
Committee meeting: 30th September 1952
The problem of ushers also taxed the Committee, and Mr Anderson (the village
electrician and clearly a man with an eye for detail) had worries about the
reliability of the Regal ’s electricity supply:
Miss Francis said she was going to arrange for two girls on each side of the
room to sell programmes and for two girls upstairs and for one boy to be in the
booking office, one at each door and one upstairs. Mr Arkell and Mr Anderson,
it was decided, would be stationed in the Entrance Hall in case anything went
wrong. Mr Anderson said they should all have torches.
Committee meeting: 30th September 1952
The concert, with around 400 seats for the audience, was a sell-out. Ticket
sales, with prices ranging from 3/6d [18p] for the best seats upstairs to 1/6d
[8p] elsewhere resulted in box office takings of £59. 5. 0 [£59.25].
Fund-raising continued to be a major pre-occupation of the Committee and what
could be more logical in view of the popularity of The Regal as a dance hall
than the setting up of a Dance Commttee? In November 1952, the Committee
proudly announced:
A Dance Committee was elected: Mr D Moody, Mr G Hepworth, Mr J Neill, Mr J
Anderson, Miss E Lee, Miss S Towell, Miss S Bibbington, Miss N Sumner and Miss
J Oldham. Miss Francis said that she would notify this Committee that the dance
[to take place at The Regal on a Friday early in February 1953] was to show a
profit of £30 to enable the Orchestra to purchase the Percussion intruments.
Committee meeting: 4th November 1952
The ‘percussion instruments’ had previously belonged to a retired Hallé percussion player and had become available to the Orchestra at a knock-down
price of £29. 10. 0d [£29.50]. Anticipating the success of the Dance, the Committee had no concerns
about finding suitable percussion players:
Mr French said that he would ask a man from Congleton to become a playing member
of the Society and lead the Percussion Section. Several non-playing members had
expressed a desire to learn to play one of the many instruments belonging to
this section.
Committee meeting: 4th November 1952
Fortunately, the Committee’s optimism about the Dance proved to be well-founded: it was a great success and
realised £36. 13. 2d [£36.66]. The Percussion instruments (still in the Society’s possession) proved to be ‘a good bargain’, although:
Mr French said it would be necessary to purchase two skins for the timpani which
would cost about £8.
Committee meeting: 17th February 1953
Sadly, Philip Godlee died soon after his appointment as President and the
Committee started to give thought to the appointment of a suitable replacement:
After a long discussion, it was unanimously agreed that Miss Francis should
write to Mr John Hopkins (Conductor of the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra) and
ask him to be Mr Philip Godlee ’s successor.
Committee meeting: 17th February 1953
Hopkins was honoured to accept the appointment and played an active role in
guiding the Orchestra's subsequent activities. The minutes of 8th June 1953
record ‘how grateful the Orchestra were to Mr John Hopkins for agreeing to become their
President and for helping so much at rehearsals. ’
The Committee now turned its sights on the Alderley Edge Music Festival and
decided to enter the 1953 competition. On 19th June 1953, the Orchestra played
with such expertise (possibly assisted by a lack of competition in this
particular class) that it was awarded the Cup. In due course, the Committee
proudly recorded:
We played the Magic Flute Overture by Mozart - a difficult work, but with a
great deal of practice and valuable help from our President we managed to
obtain high praise from Mr Herbert Howells the Judge.
Committee’s Annual Report in June 1953
John Hopkins, the enthusiastic new President, attended the Annual General
Meeting in July 1953:
The President said that he was proud of the Orchestra, not only because of their
recent success in the Alderley Musical Festival but he liked to be associated
with a “Living Body” and he was very happy to be their President. He felt that a warmth of
enthusiasm for the music was present in this Orchestra which was rarely felt
elsewhere. The President closed his remarks by tellling the Orchestra always to
aim a little higher, but never to attempt something they could not do.
Annual General Meeting: 9th July 1953
The Annual Report paints a glowing picture of the Orchestral Society's first
post-war year. It had gained a membership of 47 playing and 14 non-playing
members; curiously, it reported a shortage of violin, viola, double bass and
trombone players, suggesting a remarkable predominance of wind which must have
produced problems of balance in those early days. Boosted by profits from the
Regal concert, the Dance and further concerts during the year at Lindow and
Mobberley, the Society was able to record first-year profit of £15. 13. 1½ [ £15.66] on a turnover of £161. 8. 5½ [£161.42] - a creditable achievement when it is borne in mind that £15 had a buying power of around £300 today.
In compiling this account of the Orchestra's early years, we acknowledge with
gratitude the aassistance we have received from Philip Godlee's son Dr Nicholas
Godlee.
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The Festival Hall today
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