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Chorus masters — Simon Halséy appointed by Tod?
What about Neville? Max says you and he made upa short list and each took a rehearsal before
agreeing on Neville. Agreed? Did Tod have any say as Groves was principal conductor by then.
Choir committee — did not really need one whenchoir just supported the GPO so the chairman was
really liaison officer with Philharmonic Office until the plans to join forces with Freiburg choir came
about. Then full committee formed. Max returned as Chair. Or continued?
Chairman
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comment — choir well drilled. Festival Choir sang Nelson Mass — vigorous and sensitive. Didn’t say
who conducted but it would have been Tod
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SURREY HERITAGE
REQUEST FORM 6
REQUEST TO PUBLISH MATERIAL
To: The Heritage Manager, Surrey History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey,
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VAVACE C Hoes)
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Address: AIK. VUD.G.E. ye. £6... GLAZIERS..LANE,
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FIRST GUILDFO RD MUSIC FESTIVAL
a
Rae
[N
lpn
Altre
STEP TOWARDS
REATING CULTURAL CENTRE
Having in mind the increasing en- tween many different organisations.
couragement of cultural pursuits in Mr, Clitheroe has had a great
‘THE MUSIC FESTIVAL
Guildford, particularly music, the
success.
‘The Musical Festival, which opens
on July 12th, carries a stage further
‘of Alderman Lawrence Powell, chair- the Corporation's policy. Tt is hopec
man of. the Library, Museum, and that it will become an annual event
whieh will be looked forward to end
Arts Committee,
sce se
“Surrey Advertiser” sought the views
patronised by peopleall. over West Sur-
Alderman Powell readily consented to rey and beyond the county boundary
comment upon a number of points An annual festival is, of course, no
new thing, even in towns smaller than
(Submitted to him by our represen- Guildford. Instances among our neigh-
tative, and his reply may be sum-~ bours are the Leith Hil) Festival, held
Dorking. and centred round the
oe at
person of Dr. Vaughan Williams, anc
marised ag follows!—
AWAY @ the Petersfield Festival. But a festifetetthis
‘+ think
“| don’t
think IIaam giving
val sponsored by the Corporation of a.
secret in saying that when,
month, the outline planfor .Guild« town ofGuildford’s size is, 80 far as 1.
ford is made public it. will be found to know,
a new thing, and in this respect
be bullt on two general principles, one we claim to be pioneers.
of which is-that the central area of]
"Por thisfirst year Mr. Clitheroe hes
the town should be developed as a arranged aprogramme to sult all seriIn the opening and clossutures centre for a surrounding dis- ous tastes.
t
ing concerts, which are fully orshes-
“A cultural centre muat provide a tral, some very well-known and popu
good library service, a theatre where lar classics wil) be played; at the fina!
good dramatic productions can he concert the Festival Choir will join
Yegularly enjoyed, a gallery for the fine the orchestra in Parry's ‘Bleet Pair of
arts and crafts, a museum of local his Sirens.’ On Sunday afternoon, July
tory, and, quite
asimportant as any Yiléth, the Gulldfor
Teachers’ Choir,
of
these,
regular
opportunities
for
with orchestra, will sing the first part
hearing good music well performed. of Bach's ‘Mass in B minor,’ in the
There are other ingredients, of course, opinion of the majority of musicians
but these are the chief, To. imple- robably the
xs
y ti
pense’ work ever writ-
ns
iment this cultural policy, the Library,| en. : It will e heard in conditio
,
Museum and Arts Committee of the more like those of Bach's day than
(i;Council was formed.
usual—in the Cathedral Church, with
©
e the a limited number of performers,.. A re“To develop and « o-ordinate
musical side, Mr. Crossley Olitheroe was peat performance (hy special request)
appointed 18 months ago as musical of the opera ‘Dido and Atneas,’ by Puridirector, with the twofold task of cell, greatest of English composers,
framing a properly graduated scheme will be given by the Girls’ County
and
will
give
‘under which the citizens of Guildford, Grammar School,
from childhood onwards, should be the public an opportunity of saeable to hear and learn to appreciate ing and hearing what was, by com-.
good musie—he had already unique mon consent, a superlative presentaa work not often done; and the .
opportunities of access to the schools tion of
of the borough, which the new educa- New English String Quartet. will give
tion authority has allowed to cone an evening of Haydn, Mogart, and
at the Borough Hall (now
tinue; and of organising. under muni- Beethoven
—
cipal auspices concerts which should the Repertory Theatre).
tiin addition attract
to them people
€./from a surrounding area which Guildiford might réasonably expect to serve.
LOOKING FORWARD
“Such a programme cannot fail. to
To promote these ends, in addition to attract. I hope Guildford people will
ip good deal of work in the schools, the give it their support and rally round
iGuiidford Teachers’ Choir was formed, Mr. Clitheroe, who has worked untirthe Municipal Philharmonic Orchestra ingly as manager, chorus-master, and
(which includes a small number of conductor of this, his first,venture of
their best local amateur players) built the kind. It obviously looks to the
y, of up, and a regular series of concerts, time when we have in the town @ pro‘ather orchestral, chamber, and choral, held, perly equipped concert hall. such as,
i him Contact was established with a large but for the war, would by now have
I hope that under the new
norn« number of choral bodies and church ‘been built.
an the choirs
in and around thetown, and scheme of building
augh-' for special purposes,
it will have high
and other builldriority, With this
ngs which go to make a cultural ceaThis choir made tre, and to which we. may now reae-
® this the festival choir, inaugurated through
the bringing together of many of these
d she its debut in Mendelasohn’s “Hymn of onably look forward, Guildford should
In the difficult be as pleasant a town as any In which
wn to Praise’ in February.
s and task of arranging for co-operation.
be-~ te spend a week of Summer Festival.”
@ her
nt to
down
rmed,
BUILDING, SOCIETY AND | ALLEGED THEFT FROM
h
oy S89
oeGPER 2
KTS
FRE AE TES
|
Memories of a Music Director - 1995 to the present day
January 1995
My first exposure to the Guildford Philharmonic Choir, as Vivace Chorus was then known,
was in January 1995 when | came to audition for the post of Chorus Director, in succession
to Neville Creed. On entering the large upper hall of the old Methodist Church, | was struck
first and foremost by the impressive dimensions of the podium on which the conductor
stood — huge! This was daunting enough without then having to face a choir of well over
100 — the largest | had stood up in front of to date! Tenors in the front row, basses lounging
at the back (!) and the swollen ranks of sopranos and altos to left and right respectively. At
the piano, both playing for the rehearsal and simultaneously reading a cricket magazine,
was Jeremy Filsell. We hadn’t met at that stage, but we were to become firm friends and
musical mates, still working together today and when time allows, sharing holidays. |
remember that we were to be rehearsing both the Verdi and the Berlioz Te Deums for a
concert in the cathedral to be conducted by Brain Wright (also including the Scriabin
Prometheus: The Poem of Fire with full coloured light show, as detailed in the score by the
composer — magic!). | constructed some warm-ups to lead directly into the music which |
sensed went down well, and | very much enjoyed the rest of the audition.
It seemed to go well; then came the interview with the committee. | don’t remember a
whole lot about it other than John Britten (rather scarily introduced as Benjamin Britten’s
nephew) asked me about my commitment to contemporary music. | was able to reassure
him of my love of that scene and of my fondness for commissioning new works, as | had
already been doing in my chamber choir, the Vasari Singers. If memory serves me right, |
was offered the job started pretty much straight away, the start of a long and happy musical
relationship.
9 November 1996
My first concert conducting the Guildford Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra (not as Chorus
Master), in the old Civic Hall. The programme | created was entitled ‘Visions of Paradise’ and
drew together pieces where the hope of paradise/heaven brought solace to the composer,
listener or characters portrayed. In the Poulenc, nuns in revolutionary France face the
guillotine with acceptance as they walk the scaffold to an ultimately better place; Howells’
visionary Hymnus paradisi was a musicai memorial to his 9-year-old son who had died
tragically young of meningitis; and the Szymanowski Stabat Mater paints a sublime musical
picture of heaven at the closing words “paradisi gloria”. It was a bold programme but one
that worked. And | will never forget the corporate gasp of shock from the audience as the
first of many guillotine chops (all notated in the score) rang horrifically out through the hall,
as one by one the nuns faced their death. The percussionist had relished the task of creating
something blood-curdlingly realistic!
7 March 1998
The first concert by the choir given as an independent choir, without the full support of the
Borough was Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. Rehearsals had gone well, the Forest
Philharmonic Orchestra was lined up and the soloists booked. The night before the concert,
| received a phone call from the tenor soloist — he sings the very demanding role of
Gerontius — saying he could not sing in the concert tomorrow and that “you would have to
find someone else to sing”. | immediately corrected him by saying that HE would have to
find someone else, and sharpish as the replacement singer would need to be on stage by
1.45pm the following day. Nightmare! The very wonderful Eugene Ginty was then a member
of the BBC Singers and had been left a message late on the Friday night to ask if he could do
the gig the next day. He assumed it was a wind-up and ignored it, but did just check the
following morning, only to find it was a real, urgent request! He leapt out of bed, out of his
house (living in Colchester, Essex) and duly appeared on stage in time for start of the
rehearsal in Guildford. John (Chair at the time) and Hilary Trigg swept him up at the end of
the rehearsal and took him to their home where he requested and consumed a massive Full
English Breakfast — he had not eaten all day! He was a real star that evening, singing
gloriously, and saved us from a deep embarrassment on our maiden concert as an
independent choir.
17 May 1998
Handel’s /srael in Egypt in Freiburg with our twin choir, the Freiburger Bachchor. A great
experience for me to be able to conduct in Freiburg. But oh the difference between the two
choirs’ funding and facilities! A beautiful purpose-built and dedicated rehearsal building on
a
rehearsal time that stretched for days before the concert! Very different from what we
Cech n-
the outskirts of the city; a state-of-the-art concert hall; and the luxury of seemingly endless trecbu 5
were used to in the UK. A wonderful experience and a lovely part of the choir’s life. It was so
much harder for their conductor, Hans Michael Beuerle, when he came to conduct in
Guildford, having only one three-hour rehearsal to put things together!
13 March 1999
Who would ever have believed when | started conducting that | would get to conduct
Mahler’s Symphony No.2 (Resurrection)?! One of my favourite symphonies and one of the
most uplifting works in the whole repertoire. | feel really fortunate and privileged to have
been able to do so with such a great choir. And then again for my 60" birthday concert in
2017.
12 May 2000
The day of another concert in Guildford Cathedral. Programme: Mendelssohn’s Hebrides
Overture (Fingal’s Cave); Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony; and sandwiched between these,
Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 with our then accompanist, Jeremy Filsell as soloist. It
being a very special occasion, the first concerto that Jeremy and | were to perform together
(we went on to perform the Rachmaninov 3% Piano Concerto), and with families assembling
to hear the results, we all decided to take rooms for the night in the Holiday Inn across the
A3 at the foot of Stag Hill, so as to be able to celebrate properly after the performance!
Between afternoon rehearsal and evening performance we also repaired to the hotel for a
gentle bite to eat and some rest. The arrangement we made was that Jeremy would drive
himself and me up to the cathedral in good time before the start of the concert at 7.30pm
(my car was already parked up at the cathedral).
At the pre-arranged time, | took myself, togged up in my concert dress, to the foyer of the
hotel to await Jeremy. | am the sort of person who likes to be places in good time, especially
for a concert. So, by 7.10pm was beginning to get edgy. Phone calls to Jeremy yielded
nothing (phone already switched off). | eventually got through to someone who said Jeremy
was already at the cathedral! By then it was about 7.20pm and | was still in the hotel foyer.
Calls to taxis were fruitless as answers came back saying “be with you in 30 minutes, guv’”.
NO GOOD! Aaaarrrrggghhh! Eventually someone from the cathedral came to fetch me, as |
recall. | just had time to drop my things in the Green Room (the Cathedral Library) where
Jeremy was preparing himself: “you’re cutting it a bit fine, aren’t you?” were his welcoming
words! Deep breath! | just had time to compose myself, walk on and hopefully conduct a
suitably calm and serene performanceof the Mendelssohn overture. Jeremy and | discussed
the misunderstanding and the fabulous Rachmaninov performance over many beers deep
into the night!
10 June 2000
My birthday and another great evening in the former Civic Hall. A stonking performance of
Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast and the premiere of David Fanshawe’s Millennium March. David
was a cousin of mine, so it was a particular privilege and honour to be able to perform this
blazing work with him in attendance.
13 May 2003
If Mahler 2 was one highlight of my time with Vivace, then how about my maiden flight
through Mahler 8, the Symphony of
a Thousand in Guildford Cathedral?! As | walked from
the Green Room to the north aisle for the start of the concert, | glanced at the altar: the
altar cloth appropriately was emblazoned with the words “Veni Creator Spiritus”, the very
opening words of the symphony | was about to conduct. This was a massive undertaking
and a complete triumph for the choir and its reputation. Little did we know that our next
performance of this amazing work would be on an even bigger stage ...
15 May 2011
... the Royal Albert Hall. This was the first of James’s Very Big Ideas! | remember him asking
me, at one of our earlier summer pub lunches where we reviewed the past season and
looked ahead to the future, “how do you fancy conducting Mahler 8 with the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra in the Royal Albert Hall?” Well, spluttering on my pint, | was not
going to turn that down, despite the huge challenge to me, James and the whole choir! But
that huge challenge turned into a towering triumph for all of us. It was perhaps the choir’s
finest hour. For me, it was an absolute privilege to be conducting that piece, in that building,
with that orchestra. Think of the international maestros throughout the life of the hall who
have stood on that podium ... and conducting an orchestra founded by the inimitable Sir
Thomas Beecham. There are not many conductors of a regional choral society who can
boast such an experience! Of course, it was stressful and | was nervous, but | remember
thinking, as | stood in front of the massed players and singers, that this is what | was born
for, this is where | belong. There was almost a strange sense of communion with the time,
place, event ... a profound feeling of fulfilment.
And then we shared the whole RAH/RPO experience again on 18 May 2014 with the Verdi
Requiem!
And so much more since then! There are countless truly memorable and exciting concerts
we have performed together: Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible, the War
Requiem, the Concert for Rowan where all three of my choirs joined together, the Concert
for Peace, the Nights at the Opera and the joint concert with the Guildford Shakespeare
Company, Will Todd’s Mass in Blue and most recently David Fanshawe’s incredible African
Sanctus complete with dancers ... not to mention the Handel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart and
more traditional works we have also enjoyed singing.
Commissioning new works has been important and we are proud to have works by
Humphrey Clucas (Evening Hymn), Will Todd (Te Deum) and our very own Francis Pott
(Cantus Maris — premiered in the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra)
written for us.
Tours to Germany, France, Italy, Austria, the Baltic States, as well as to UK cathedrals
(Gloucester, Tewkesbury Abbey, etc.) have provided unique, moving experiences for us all.
Working with amazing vocal soloists (student and professional alike), professional
orchestras, and with top-class soloists (Chloé Hanslip, Julian Lloyd Webber, Tasmin Little,
Michael Collins) has also beena rare privilege.
As | said, | could go on and on! Suffice it to say that on the occasion of the choir’s 75"
birthday, that | have been honoured to be part of an extraordinary choir, leading it to places
and in repertoire it might not otherwise have visited — and proud to be its Music Director for
so many years, sharing so many wonderful experiences together. Let’s hope the prevailing
COVID restrictions will allow us to get back together very soon to be able to sing together
again and celebrate 75 glorious years!
© Jeremy Backhouse, 2021
Soa
2-7- bs
Fort wel chou
ons
—“—
SHC next visit 26 May?
Surrey Ad 1965 — 20 Mar Festival Choir
-
SG aes
-
Coe
Mozart Mass in C
1 May Philharmonic and Proteus
25 June Festivaland Philharmonic. Did both choirs sing both pieces or did they
have separ
Surrey Ad Sep/Oct 1962 — opening of Civic Hall. Doessheehave anything on construction — timings
we
etc.
Microfilm of Surrey Ad First summer festival, after 9 Jul 1946. Festival choir and Cranleigh Choir. What did they perform?
Guildford Philharmonic Society SHC 8477. Most of my photos of 8477/3 were out of focus
PH/72/BOX1/150 c 1957 photo
Guildford, Upper High Street, Civic Hall - view of the construction site
7138/: CIVIC HALL, GUILDFORD (1947-1973)
e
7138/Box 13/3138: Scheme for a new Civic Hall, Guildford. General fi... (Apr 1947-Dec
©
7138/Box 13/3138/2: Civic Hall, Guildford. General file. Jan 1951-Sep 1955)
1950)
ye
7138/Box 13/3138/3: Scheme for a new Civic Hall, Guildford. General fi... Jul 1955Aug 1960)
oe
7138/Box 7/3138/4: Completion of Civic Hall, Guildford (Sep 1960-Mar 1963)
I confirm that we have booked you and Christine Wilks for the afternoon session on
Wednesday 26 May 2021 and the following items have been ordered.
Bound copy of Surrey Advertiser for 1962 and 1965
8477/1-3
7138/box13/3138/3
7138/b0x7/3138/4
PH/72/box1/150
The microfilms for the Surrey Advertiser in 1946 are also avaiable in the searchroom.
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ACCESSION RECEIPT
Surrey History Centre
130 Goldsworth Road
Woking
Surrey
GU21 6ND
Accession Number:
7946add6
Date of accession:
14/04/2021
Description
Vivace Chorus, formerly Guildford Philharmonic Choir: additional
Covering dates
c.1959-2019
Provenance
Presented by Mrs M Clayton, choir archivist
Quantity
1 box
Deposit terms
Long loan
Depositor
Mrs Mary Clayton, Vivace Chorus
Address
Wildfield,
programmes and fliers
West Flexford Lane,
Wanborough,
Guildford
GU3 2JW
Access Conditions
None
Copyright
Permission to destroy
unwanted material
Yes
Permission to transfer
material
Records held on long loan are subject to the terms of deposit overleaf (subject to any variations agreed in
writing): in signing this receipt, assent is given to these terms.
depositor:
Surrey Heritage:
Date:
Date:
File reference:
os
Signed on behalf of
Signed on behalf of
DF3763
22/t/ 2
Surrey Advertiser - looking for concerts.
Concert date
Occasion
Choir
Programme
Festival Choir
Mendelssohn: Hymn of Praise
Notes
See also 31 Jan 1946 W Sussex & S
26-Jan-46 Victory concert
of England Advertiser
Festival Choir and Cranleigh Choral
After 9 Jul 46
Summer Festival
07-Dec-46
Society
Festival Choir
Handel: Messiah
Is the programme of Events Jan to Jul
19/12/1946] Minutes
19-Jul-47}Summer Festival
Dec-47
1947 published
|Municipal Festival Choir
Mendelssohn: Elijah
Festival Choir
Handel: Messiah
1st performance in
Guildford? Programme
10-Jul-48|Summer Festival
|Festival Choir
27-Feb-49|Spring season
any choir?
at Technical College
12-Mar-49 |Spring season
any choir?
at Technical College
end Apr 49
Elgar: Dream of Gerontius
Spring season
notes
Faure: Requim
21-May-49] Music festival
Guildford Festival Choir
Bach: Mass in B Minor
at Technical College
info from programme
25-May-49] Music festival
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Faure: Requim
at Technical College
info from programme
Brahms: Requiem
at Technical College
info from programme
St Mary's Church, Quarry St
info from programme
27-Nov-49}concert dates
Adve’ »
10-Dec-49}concert dates
sence
13-May-50] Music festival
Festival Choir
15-May-50] Music festival
11-Nov-50)/concert dates
Wo ohtie
uw
Guildford Phitharnfonic Choir
at
Mendelssohn: Psalm 13; Bach: Choral, Jesu Joy of
Man's desiring
re
at Technical College
09-Dec-50|concert dates
forse 1 etn|
at Technical College
26-May-51] Music festival
Mendelssohn: Elijah
at Technical College
Le Se, sate Ser, .
at Technical College
Tle Sei Aden |
at Technical College
08-Dec-51|concert dates
10-24 May 52
Music festival
¢
Nl
13-Dec-52]concert date
2-17 May 53
Music festival
? 2 Jun 53
coronation
he season
9-24 May 54
Music festival
Tunsgate
Philharmonic Choir
Holy Trinity Hall, on a Wed.
Elgar: Dream of Gerontius
SHC documents for 28 Apr 2021
SWRA — a painting of ‘The Firs’, London Road Guildford 1863. Site of Civic Hall and GLive.
8477: GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY: RECORDS (1992-1999)
e
8477/1: File of minutes of committee meetings (1993-1999)
e
8477/2: File of annual accounts (1992-1999)
e
8477/3: File of correspondence and papers relating to the ... (1992-1999)
Surrey Advertiser.
1946-48 on microfilm for my friend to use.
| have a problem with microfilm as using it gives me motion sickness. Apart from feeling really ill, |
apparently turn an alarming shade of greenish white. Therefore could | see the hard copy for around
some specific dates. The dates are when there were (or may have been) choral concerts, so a week
after rather than before would good. I’m not sure how they come, how many issues together, or do
you select specific issues? If | can only have a few, the ones in bold are the ones I’d particularly like
to see. The first is a real must as it will have an obituary | really need.
23 June 1962 ~~
end Apr 49
r Cw e
21- ee). Ut Ylwste Vues vse@- Lavi amce
ike we.
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ra CVO C4
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27-Nov-49 —
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= Kyra j
10-Dec-49
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13-May-50
15-May-50
Se
oend ree, dite hut ve
09-Dec-50 ~~
26-May-51
Savers}
/
08-Dec-51 ree
10-24 May 52 ~~
13-Dec-52
yo”
4
2-17 May 53 ~~
?2Jun53 x
18-Mar-53
v
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/
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——
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11-Nov-50 Ww
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= a reeUs ‘
$saf
//30 vt
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Guildford Corporation Concerts: programmes for Annual Music Festival concerts to be performed
by Guildford Municipal Philharmonic Orchestra and Guildford Festival Choir, 1948, 1949, 1950. 3
items
|
708/File7 - 1948-1950 Programmes for performances by the following companies at venues
in Guildford: Guildford Festival Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Festival Ballet
and Guildford Opera Company
18/3/5 - 1952-1979 Programme for Guildford Corporation concert by the Festival Choir, the Philharmonic Choir and
Municipal Orchestra. Includes works by Elgar, Britten & Arnold Bax. Conductor Vernon Handley
-
_76659/1/1 - 14 Dec 1963GUILDFORD BOROUGH COUNCIL (1835-1974): RECORDS
BRSaCTM/LI/: LIBRARY COMMITTEE, AFTER 1944 THE LIBRARY, MUSEUM ... (1924-1968)
Be
BR/CTM/LI/1: Minute book of Library Committee (18 Mar 1924 -23 Mar 1944)
BR/CTM/LI/2: Minute book of Library, Museum and Arts Commmitee (Apr 1944 -Apr
1949)
BR/CTM/LI/3: Minute book of Library, Museum and Arts Commmitee (May 1949 -Dec
1955)
BR/CTM/LI/4: Minute book of Library, Museum and Arts Commmitee Jan 1956 -Mar
1968)
BR/CM/: GUILDFORD BOROUGH COUNCIL MINUTES (1835-1974)
\BR/CM/1/12: Council minute book (25 Jan 1944 -19 Sep 1953)
boo lo!
BR/CM/1/13: Borough Council minute book (27 Oct 1953 -31 Mar 1964)
BR/CTM/FI/12: Minute book of the Finance and General Purposes Co... (22 Jun 1942
1945)
-19 Feb
—PBR/CTM/FI/13: Minute book of the Finance and General Purposes Co... (Mar 1945 -Oct 1945)
BR/CTM/FI/14: Minute book of the Finance Committee (Nov 1945 -Sep 1949)
BR/CTM/FI/15: Minute book of the Finance Committee (Oct 1949 -Apr 1954)
BR/CTM/FI/16: Minute book of the Finance Committee Uul 1954 -Mar 1964)
BR/CTM/GP/5: Minute book of the General Purposes Committee (Nov 1945 -Jul 1951) —¢:
BR/CTM/GP/6: Minute book of the General Purposes Committee (Sep 1951 -Feb 1964)
—S> BR/CTM/CEL: Minute book of the Celebrations Committee (18 Nov 1955 -20 Dec
BR/CTM/CULT: Minute book of the Culture and Recreation Committe...
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Philharmonic Society Minutes SHC 8477/1
— //orm poet
Crl) bipvole 300 aeeG ot. So
fice lsd .
bepow Fs
Many out of focus minutes.
Meeting 9 Sep 1998
Choir rep Jackie Alderton said despite loss of grant, choir determined to make a go of it. Had planned
4 season of concerts. Some advantage in being able to choose their own works to perform. Nicola G
said there may beacall for ‘big works’ again in the future. Council budget tight but grant from SE
Arts was good.
Meeting 30 Apr 1998
Nicola answered questions from 11 members — summarised answers
Smaller venues easier to fill, Unaccompanied concerts eg Tallis singers, are part of the Borough’s
music commitment. Use of Camerata and Cathedral choirs justified on cost grounds as Opposed to
using GPC. (chairman highlighted that staging is a choir cost), The actual number of concertgoers
was approx. the same as the previous year but smaller venues ensured that percentage of seat
occupancy was higher. A £40,000 budget cut made it necessary to attract new audiences and,
despite the cut, GPO players will still be interested in coming to Guildford
Meeting 22 Apr 1999
Nicola Gould — Good start to the season with11of 13 concerts sold out. Trinity church could seat
as against 410 at the Civic Hall. The per capita subsidy from the Borough had dropped from
493
£30 to
£17. She had to operate from grants by the Borough, SE Arts and from sponsors
AOB
Choir had appreciated the Society’s sponsorship of the soloists. Council spent £3m on the arts. As
orchestra an ad hoc collection of musicians what was the point of the society?
Philharmonic Society Correspondence SHC 8477/3
All but the last one out of focus.
Dew! o
Letter from Rita Horton to Mr Watts GBC Chief Exec following a letter from Jim Miles
She did not intend to reply to the letter ‘not wanting petty quarrels’ but would like to make
following points.
the
Para 1 ‘The Society though closely connected with the Philharmonic Office,
is an independent
registered charity and does not need the agreement from the managementin its affairs.’
Para 2 ‘The choir informs me that they would use prefer always to use the GPO but they have to use
an orchestra they can afford.’
Para 3 Nicola waited until 10 days before the B Minor Mass concerts to ask what support the Society
could give towards the fees of £1000 for the soloists. ‘We felt this requirement must have been
known a considerable time earlier and that a peremptory request at such short notice, giving no
time for committee discussion, was unacceptable and the request was therefore refused’.
Para 4 re printing of newsletter from Philharmonic Office and costs.
‘The rest of Mr Miles’s letter we refute’.
Para about the possibility of the Society dissolving.
‘After 35 years of being personally associated with Guildford Philharmonic | repeat that writing this
letter causes me and members of my committee much distress, but we feel that the current
situation leaves us little option. We understand that Nicola Gould was given a difficult job to do but
sadly she seems always to alienate rather than reconcile. We feel that Lady Onslow, yourself and this
committee have tried hard to resolve this situation but fact have to be faced.
Niicheel hows Ford - Qiemm-a. spenker,
Questions for Maxwell New 27 May 2021
01483 764456 Fleet House, Hook Heath Road GU22 0ZD
May | ask when you joined the choir? | 6A-TO* Theta a(Let TSin 8 alter.
Do you know what the mechanism was for replacing a chorus master such as when Simon Halsey
was appointed or Neville Creed? Shik Wne alae S — Gbyrka Veleorel .
Why were we more involved when Jeremy replaced Neville?
Did the choir have any dealings with the Borough in his day?
pel: Kethy
Were you involved when we were cast adrift by the Borough, or should | really speak to John Trigg
about that?
jb — Tudtn ae
ees
Se
Ble Belhectey Termes Coon Mov
=
Do you remember the composer still composing while the choir learnt earlier sections? Apparently
the choir was learning the piece while the composer continued to compose it or-alter it at the back
ome
e
wack w
of the rehearsal room, rushing up to give Tod a few new sheets in the interval. Several choir
members remember this. Following some detective work by Peter Andrew, we think the composer
was Anthony Scott and that the piece may have been called ‘Mass of the Dawn’. This piece was
advertised as being in the 7° May 1983 concert, but it was not performed and Peter has a note in his
diary that Tod pulled the plug on it at the end of March. Do you remember anything about this?
Cor kred Theat ck enrrke pa ey raowded Nk “nonce ne’ vheaelM : we oe bey :
LOconteWere you involved with the first choir twinning event in April 1990? | have : ouple of lists from the
archive of Germans who came but they don’t tally. One list has approx{90 namespof those singing
and the other has a list of 42 Germans who were put up in our choir members’
homes.
leasn. Kar
Do you have any idea of the numbers who came to sing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in April 1990?
/ For the return visit in September | have a list with 61 names of our choir members who were
{
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accommodated in Bachchor members’ homes. Do you know how many went altogether? fp
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The Backhouse Years
Neville Creed moved on at the end of 1994. In contrast to earlier times, the choir were very involved
in choosing his successor. The Choir’s committee sifted through the many applications and came up
with a short list of eight candidates, who each took half of a rehearsal in January 1995. One rather
supercilious candidate explained that minims were the ‘white notes’ in our scores. How had we
managed before this elucidation! The choir then voted, putting the candidates in order of
preference. Peter White, who had been Neville’s assistant, came a close second but Jeremy
Backhouse was the overall favourite, and was warmly endorsed by our rehearsal pianist, Jeremy
Filsell. Over 25 years later Jeremy Backhouse is still with us — we definitely made the right choice.
Things looked different from Jeremy’s viewpoint. He found it quite daunting to face a choir of over
100 singers, the largest he had stood in front of at that time. Even tnore daunting was the interview
that followed the rehearsal, where he was introduced John Britten, one of the interviewers, as the
nephew of Benjamin Britten.
At this point the Borough still engaged guest conductors, including Edward Warren, Grant Llewellyn,
and Jonathan Willcocks who conducted his own composition Great is the Glory in November 1995.
In March 1997 En Shao, GPC’s principal conductor, took the baton fora brilliant and dramatic
performance of Rachmaninov’s The Bells.1 Then everything changed.
Kathy Atkins retired in 1995 as Orchestra Manager and was replaced by Nicola Gould. There
/
followed a dramatic shake up of music provision in the Borough which led to a flurry of critical
J Laeretters in the pages of the Surrey Advertiser. [More here]
Cmoe
Giboer ee In the end, the funding for the choir was drastically reduced and we were engaged for one Borough
Sel vs
sponsored performance a year,until 2003?when the ties with,and funding from the Borough
ceased. | All this section needs checking with John Trigg and others]
As we were now entirely free agents, we thought the choir’s name should reflect that. A list of
possible names was compiled, and the choir chose from 156 possibles. Luckily some of the more
bizarre ones did not make the shortlist, such as Choir 57, Singers R Us, or The Backhouse Babes,
which conjured up thoughts of soup, toys or scantilyclad young women (not in the Cathedral for a
November concert!). Vivace Chorus was finally chosen, and we hope it portrays the vitality and
enthusiasm the choir members all share.
There have been so many stand-out performances and experiences over during Jeremy’s tenure as
Music Director, the first being only a few months after his appointrnent.
On Sunday 7 May 1995 a group from thechoir joined Guildford Choral Society and ten other choirs
in Hyde Park as part of the 50" anniversary celebrations of VE Day. It was an incredibly hot day for so
early in May, about 25° C. We spent the morning in rehearsals with the European Union Youth
Orchestra, and then were in place on the stage for the arrival of 50 Heads of State and the Queen.
The Orchestra did very well, especially as the conductor Lt Col Ross stated that he could not possibly
conduct with his back to the Queen, so didn’t actually face the orchestra at all. It was even more
tricky in the piece with the bagpipes, as bagpipes start in their own time. Everyone had to follow
them.
The first concert by the choir given as an independent choir, without Borough support, was Elgar’s
Dream of Gerontius in March 1998. The night before the concert the solo tenor phoned Jeremy to
say he could not sing the following day. The ailing tenor left a message on Eugene Ginty’s
answerphone on that Friday night asking him to step into the breach, but Eugene had thought it was
mary.meclayton@gmail.com
From:
Sent:
21 June 2022 15:46
To:
Subject:
The History again
Attachments:
History foreword.docx
Categories:
Egress Switch: Unprotected
Hi Peter
I’ve been giving this some thought. Who prints our concert programmes? As good customers, I’m sure they would
quote you a good price for putting the text and pictures together without having to bother Jeremy, and would avoid
a blurring of lines, if you know what | mean. Can you really chivvy him? He did a glossy coffee table book for Vasari
which | think he found quite onerous, but as you say, that’s not what this is or wants to be. | think it should be a bit
bigger than AS — if that’s what the programmes are. Jeremy suggested BS. | think the idea of giving the booklet to
members as a sort of anniversary present is a good idea, but could some be available for others? | mentioned Kathy
Atkins, but Max and John Britten might want one, and Anna Jefferies, to name a few that I’ve just thought of. And
what about or faithful followers (if we have any). Could some be available for purchase at the Feast concert? For the
same price as the programme perhaps?
Because of the lapse between me finishing it and when it will available, | think we need to change a couple of things.
Firstly, to make sure we don’t have any confusion over when to celebrate, say, our 100th anniversary, the title
should read
aS
’ ® Musical Notes: The Vivace Story AS
1946-2021
On page 17 it says Because of the pandemic, Vivace Chorus will be celebrating its 75" anniversary a year late (just
like the Tokyo Olympics and Euro 2020).
| think it should read Because of the pandemic, Vivace Chorus is celebrating its 75" anniversary a year late with a
‘Feast’ of a concert, in November 2022. ( or something similar. | think it is too late to reference Tokyo or the Euros)
The final paragraph of the Tours section reads
The choir’s tour of Northern Spain has yet to take place. Planned for 2020, and delayed twice by the pandemic, they
hope to visit Burgos, Palencia and San Sebastian in 2022.
| think this should change to The choir’s tour of Northern Spain, planned for 2020 and delayed twice by the
pandemic, finally took place in June 2022. But the triumphs and adventures of that tour must wait for the next
volume of the Vivace Story
| terms of what’s in the History, | hope that the full text on Crossley Clitheroe hasn’t been cut at all. In addition, | was
not very happy at the idea of only two (or possible 3) of the many chairmen and women having sections to
themselves. Max, John and James are mentioned in the text, as they should be, and few (if any) other individual
choir members are, so | think to give thema section all to themselves would make the booklet unbalanced. James
did write a foreward — attached. It might need a bit of tweaking too because of the delay.
That’s all for now — enjoy the tour. So sorry to hear about Becky
Best...
Mary