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harmonythe worshipful company of musicians

WHAT A YEAR!As Lady Bracknell never observed: to be the Mother

Company of a Lord Mayor of the City of Londonmight well be regarded as great good fortune; to be theMother Company of two within the space of four yearsmay certainly be regarded as a singular honour!When coupled with the fact that one, Alderman Sir

Roger Gifford, is a talented singer and instrumentalist and Alderman Dr Andrew Parmley, the other, a highly

Photo: ©

Mike Williams

The Rt. Hon The Lord Mayorperforming with the London

Symphony Orchestra in St Paul’s Cathedral at the 2016 Gala Livery Concert

respected and accomplished professional musician, theMusicians’ Company has a great deal of which it can bejustly proud. To celebrate this remarkable year, we felt itentirely appropriate to publish a special edition ofPreserve Harmony, highlighting some of the events alreadyenjoyed and others still to come.

Court Assistant JEFF KELLY Editor August 2017

SPECIAL EDITION

2 PRESERVE HARMONY SPECIAL EDITION 2017

The Chain Gang takes its name from thedistinctive chains worn by the Deacon Convener

and office bearers of the 14 Trade Incorporations,Glasgow’s equivalent of the London LiveryCompanies. The glittering insignia was seentogether for the first time outside of Glasgow onthe Trades House float – No 43 in the parade –under the banner ‘The Chain Gang – Glasgow’sLink to the Livery Companies’. It marks a year inwhich the Trades House is reaching out to the Liveryand associated organisations around the country insupport of its charitable and educational activities.

Keith Brown OBE is Deacon Convener of theTrades and Third Citizen of Glasgow. He is also aPastmaster of the Worshipful Company of Coopersin London, the first Pastmaster in London to serveas Deacon Convener in Glasgow. Commenting on

We suspect that one of the many memorableevents in the Lord Mayor’s diary this year

was meeting one particular fellow Lancashire lad.Sir Kenneth Arthur “Ken” Dodd OBE, isundoubtedly an English entertainment institution.A comedian, singer-songwriter and actor,identified by his unruly hair and protruding teeth,his red, white and blue ‘tickling stick’, with his

Photo: ©

The

Trade

s House of Glasgow

(Re

prod

uced

by kind

permission

).

the decision to participate in the Lord Mayor’sShow, Keith Brown said:

“Glasgow and London were two great ports ofthe Empire and were very much in competition.Their craftsmen played a vital part in ensuring thehighest levels of workmanship to support the shipsin their quest for trade. With the merchants, theygoverned their Cities. While this has changed overthe years, both enjoy a rich legacy. They have beenleft with endowments and funds that providesignificant support for charities and education today.

“No longer competitors, Livery companies inLondon and Incorporations in Glasgow, as well asother cities, have been developing friendly

The Chain Gang at the 2016 Lord Mayor’s Show

relationships. Glasgow Incorporations wish toencourage even more of these. In the Lord Mayor’sShow, our theme of ‘Reaching Out’ is an idealopportunity to bring our message of friendship tothe City of London.

“At my recent dinner at the Trades Hall inGlasgow, the new Lord Mayor of London, AndrewParmley, expressed his intention to bring togetherfor the first time all the Livery Companies,Merchants Houses and Trade Incorporations in theUK at Mansion House next year, to celebrate theircontribution to civic life, charitable giving,educational support and preserving the history andheritage of our country.”

“… more than my share of happiness!”upbeat greeting of “How tickled I am!” To quoteKen’s late contemporary, Max Miller: “there’ll neverbe another!”

Undoubtedly, much fun was to be had when SirKen Dodd attended the Mansion House to receivehis Freedom of the City of London in January.However, we trust that the visit was briefer thanone of Sir Ken’s shows, which famously can run to

The Trades House of Glasgow made history when its Chain Gang took part in the Lord Mayor’s Showin London on Saturday 12 November 2016

Photo: paulburns.co.uk

(L-R) The Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor; Mr KeithBrown OBE (Deacon Convenor of The TradesHouse of Glasgow); Mr Tom McInally (Collector ofThe Trades House of Glasgow)

Photos: ©

Mike Williams

Tickling Sticks at the readySir Ken Dodd, Freeman of the City of London

Photo: Christ’s Hospital Schoo

l

PRESERVE HARMONY SPECIAL EDITION 2017 3

As reported in the last issue of PH, theCompany Gift, which was initially presented

to the new Lord Mayor after the Silent Ceremonyon 11 November 2016, took the form of a newlycommissioned musical composition. Sax in ‘TheCity’ a Saxophone Quartet, composed byFreeman Paul Patterson, was given its premiereat the Midsummer Banquet by The KaleidoscopeSaxophone Quartet. The three movementsentitled Paternoster Square Dance, BishopsgateBlues, and Cheapside Chase, suggested athoroughly engaging and humorous piece, whichwas borne out by a lively performance, entirelyappropriate for such a joyous and celebratoryoccasion.

Paul’s oeuvre includes several prestigiouscommissions, is stylistically varied, and hiscomposition style of challenging but idiomatic

The Musicians’CompanyChrist’s HospitalSchool Prize

Tom Walker, recipient of the 2017 Prize, is clearlya highly talented young man. Born in London,

he came across Christ’s Hospital School whenplaying the organ at Union Chapel in Islington,where one of the school’s governors happened tobe listening. Tom, who received the Company Prizefrom The Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor, tells us more.

I started the violin at three and a half years old,before changing to viola around my fourth birthday.I studied viola under the Suzuki method until I went

to Christ’s Hospital. Alongside this, I had pianolessons and played the organ after services at mylocal church. I began composing pieces from ageseven on the software Sibelius, which continuedthrough my time at the school, leading me toeventually study composition at the Royal Academyof Music junior department alongside viola andconducting.

I am taking a year out in order to re-apply to

writing has resulted in many of his solo worksbeing chosen as set pieces for internationalcompetitions in Europe, Australia, Israel, Thailandand the USA. Over the course of his career, Paul

has made significantcontributions to many of thecountry’s leading musicalinstitutions. He is a fellow ofmany of the UK’s leading musiccolleges and has received severalawards in recognition of hisservices to music.

Paul Patterson and The Masterformally presented a bound andengraved edition of the score toThe Lord Mayor at theCompany’s MidsummerBanquet.

The Company Gift 2016

five hours in length (something your editor canattest to through personal experience). As thesephotos taken by Mike Williams clearly show, itwas certainly a particular highlight for Sir Kenhimself, as he observed in a subsequentinterview:

“I’ve been made Freeman of the City ofLondon by the Lord Mayor of London at theMansion House and it was thrilling in theextreme. We had a wonderful lunch andceremony.”

Oxford University where I hope to study music. I will spend a further term at the junior academyand then hopefully spend a few months in Berlin as an auditor at a Hochschule für Musik undTheater München.

Whilst I hope to join the army after university, I am looking to follow this with a Master’s degreefrom the Royal College of Music in Composition for Screen.

(L-R) The Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor; Tom Walker

…and now for a little light dusting

Photos: Peter Holland

(L-R) The Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor; FreemanPaul Patterson; The Master

The Master and Paul Patterson with The KaleidoscopeSaxophone Quartet

The 2016 Carol, commissioned by the Musicians’Company with support from the Catherine

Butcher Memorial Fund, was an unaccompaniedsetting for SSATBB, sung by the StMichael’s Choir of ten voices. Conductor,Pastmaster Jonathan Rennert commented:“This is no jokey, bubblesome, rutteresquetrifle. The music begins slowly as it reflectsthe awed expectation of the anonymoustext: “At dead of night, ‘mid frost andsnow...” With increasing harmonic intensityand rhythmic sophistication, it reaches theclimactic “... to realms of joy and bliss foraye.” Philip Moore is masterly in his

The 2016 Carol Commission: At dead of night (Dr. Philip Moore)

scoring for voices - a legacy of his many years’training and conducting the choirs of GuildfordCathedral and York Minster. Philip is, in my opinion,

one of the greatchoral composersof the past thirtyyears. His musicalharmonies andtextures havetheir ownrecognisablevoice, and theword-setting ismasterly.”Dr. Philip Moore


Fond memories of the Company’s 2013Midsummer Banquet featured, no doubt, in

many members’ thoughts recently. During thatyear’s banquet, Pastmaster Professor John Morehenwas Master Musician, our present Master was LordMayor and the present Lord Mayor was ourImmediate Pastmaster. In issue 47 of PreserveHarmony we described that event as being a“combination of white-tie dinner and Musicians’family party”.

What was true then was even more the case at

this year’s Midsummer Banquet, with a great dealof music (and considerable fun) enjoyed – and insome cases performed – by members of the‘Musicians’ extended family’. Liveryman RonaldCorp OBE conducted members of the New LondonOrchestra, both during the Reception and later in aselection of light music, Lady Gifford’s son FrederickWaxman performed the oboe solo in Ronald Binge’sThe Watermill, Liveryman Lady MacGregor’s son TheHon Ian MacGregor joined The Lord Mayor at thepiano for Binge’s Sailing By and Freeman Paul

Patterson’s Sax in ‘The City’ was premiered by theKaleidoscope Saxophone Quartet (see precedingpage). As Ian MacGregor commented afterwards:

“It was great fun playing the piano for theMidsummer Banquet with the NLO. It’s always quitean adventure because we were playing with only12 players rather than 50 and most of this musicdoesn’t have a full orchestral score – just a pianoreduction. So you don’t know what you are missinguntil you get everyone together. The first piecestarted with a brass fanfare, which I assumed would

MIDSUMMER MUSIC-MAK Ph

otos: Peter Holland

Music for the Reception

Liveryman Ronald Corp and The New London Orchestra The Hippopotamus Song raises the roof M

The Kaleidoscope Saxophone Quartet (L-R) Ronald Corp; The Lord Mayor; Frederick Waxman T T


be covered by the three brass players we had. But I discovered that it was only the trumpet so I had to play the fanfare pretty much as a piano solo!When the Lord Mayor took over on the piano, wediscovered that Sailing By really needed anotherflute to make the piece sound right and so that wasthe part that he played. That left a big gap withoutthe harp part so he suggested that we played thisas a piano duet. The highlight of my evening!”

As Ian’s comments suggest, the NLO ‘stood in’for The Fanfare Trumpeters of Her Majesty’s Royal

Marines, Portsmouth, whose transport failed to get them to the Mansion House, and members of St Paul’s Cathedral, directed by Andrew Carwood,sang Grace. Oh, and The Lord Mayor joined theMaster in performing a Telemann sonata forrecorder, with the Lord Mayor finally accompanyingeveryone in singing Flanders and Swann’s TheHippopotamus Song before the Stirrup Cup. Having experienced his first Musicians’ Companydinner, the comments of guest The Revd. CanonProfessor Peter Galloway OBE probably sum

up the feelings of all present:“Thank you very much for including me in last

night’s joyous celebration! I am a fan of Ron Corp’s‘light music’ – of which I think I have five CDs. Itwas certainly an uplifting evening. I can see thatthe Musicians are one of the City’s light-heartedand fun-loving companies... […and on returninghome] I sank into sleep – after I had eventuallymanaged to rid my mind of the tune and words: A bold hippopotamus was standing one day on the banks of the cool Shalimar!”

KING 2017

A job well done!

T Members of St Paul’s Cathedral Choir, with Director Andrew Carwood

( The Lord Mayor & The Master perform Telemann The Lord Mayor & Ian MacGregor playing Sailing By

considerable success, being awarded the RNCMGold Medal, had his music performed on Radio 3and has a growing number of conductingengagements, not least as founder and ArtisticDirector of the Constella OperaBallet.

The world premiere of Leo’s winning piece,Sideshows Suite, was given in June at St Stephen’sWalbrook in a concert in the Lord Mayor’s SerenadeSeries. It was performed by The Magnard Ensemble,including two Yeomen, Joseph Shiner (clarinet) andCatriona McDermid (bassoon), at the start of theirsplendidly varied and colourful programme whichalso featured works by Bach, Malcolm Arnold,Haydn, Ibert (his virtuosic Three Short Pieces), PaulPatterson (his wittily engaging Western Winds) andGershwin’s snappy I got rhythm as an encore.

Sideshows Suite is a re-imagining of severalnumbers from Geyer’s comic opera-balletSideshows, which tells of an unhinged circus show

Open to composers under the age of 35, theLord Mayor’s Composition Prize was initiated

in 2012 and is awarded every two years. The LordMayor decided that this year’s competition shouldbe set for wind quintet and the winner was chosenfrom a panel chaired by the Lord Mayor, who wasjoined by Pastmaster Leslie East, Freeman PaulPatterson and Freeman James Turnbull. The winningentry was by London-born 25-year-old Leo Geyer.Leo studied composition and conducting atManchester University, the Royal Northern Collegeof Music and Vienna University of Music andPerforming Arts. He has already enjoyed

with weird and wonderful acts. It had beenpremiered by Constella OperaBallet and has beenperformed over 30 times across the UK and UnitedStates. With some echoes of Stravinsky’s Petrushkaand inspired by Berio’s Opus Number Zoo,Sideshows Suite was a kaleidoscope of ideas andstyles; at once entertaining, quirky – involvingspoken passages from the players – and arresting,it was clearly a worthy winner of this year’scompetition. Leo received his prize from the LadyMayoress to warm applause from the largeaudience, which included many liverymen.

Those unable to attend the premiere haveanother opportunity to hear the work, as TheMagnard Ensemble will perform Sideshows Suiteagain on Friday 13 October at 1.05pm in St Bartholomew-the-Great as part of the City Music Society series, supported by the Company.

Court Assistant ADRIAN MUMFORD

The 2017 Panel of Adjudicators (L-R) FreemanPaul Patterson; Freeman James Turnbull;Pastmaster Leslie East OBE; The Lord Mayor

The Lady Mayoress welcomes the audience

Leo Geyer receives his award from The Lady Mayoress

Photos: H

arrie

tt Grove

Lord Mayor’sCompositionPrize 2017

The Magnard Ensemble


In a groundbreaking initiative The Master,Alderman Sir Roger Gifford, is organising a

series of Dialogues on the Future of Music. Thefirst, with 85 attendees, was held in July in a verywarm Ballroom at the Mansion House by kindpermission – and with the participation – of TheRt. Hon The Lord Mayor, Pastmaster Alderman DrAndrew Parmley. Liveryman The Hon RichardLyttelton, who provided a keynote address settingthe scene, has kindly agreed to share his thoughtson the event.

Moderated by The Master, a panel comprising:Adam Barker (Director of Business Affairs for theUniversal Group); Liveryman Richard Lyttelton (ex-President of EMI Classics and Jazz); FreemanRoger Press (MD of Academic Rights Press);Liveryman Nicholas Riddle (CEO of the CorporateMember Editions Peters Group) and Jeremy Silver(author and CEO of Digital Catapult) discussed thechallenges and opportunities for musicians in thecontext of the digital revolution and answeredsome challenging questions from the floor.

‘Classics’ represent just 4% of the music industryand in a lively debate one of the first issues thatarose was access to the market and the relevanceof recording companies in the digital age. Whilstprima facie this might seem to be decreasing, it was pointed out that recordings are integral to theconsumption of music on all media, particularlyradio and the internet and flawed as it mightsometimes appear, the recording industry has atleast established a financial model by which artistscan be paid.

A suggestion from the panel was that the firstperson an aspiring Musician should employ is notso much a record company, publisher or agent as ayoung technical whizz-kid capable of implementingan effective Internet strategy. It was also agreedthat social networking sites and YouTube were themost effective routes for young artists initially toreach consumers and create a fan base. Otherchallenges included the need to convey authenticityand in a crowded market; it has never been so easyto record and produce a good quality CD or video

The Digital Revolution

and yet never so difficult to draw attention to it.And all were likely to be loss-leaders for mostmusicians.

Consumption of music on downloads hasovertaken sales on physical carriers but there areparticular challenges facing classical artists, notleast of which the organisation of metadata andbeing fairly paid for streaming. Whilst a pop albumcomprising twelve tracks gets twelve credits fromcompanies like Spotify and Napster, a symphonicrecording comprising three movements onlyreceives three. This gave rise to more philosophicaldiscussion about consumption of Classical music,the importance of contemporary composers, theprofile of audiences, and how all this has changed

over the last two centuries. It was agreed by allpresent that the value of the dialogue was not somuch to give the answers but at least to raisequestions and highlight issues of importance tomusicians, particularly in the classics. Furtherdialogues are planned on the future of church musicand the proposed new Centre for Music in London.

In closing this first Dialogue, The Master said:“The Musicians’ Company surely has a role to playin stimulating debate on the future of music here inthe City – many thanks to all for participating and I look forward to the next one”.

A Date for your Diary…The next Future of Music Dialogue is to take placeon Monday 23 October 2017 at the MansionHouse. The subject will be the City of London’sCentre for Music, as part of the Cultural Hub – aunique collection of arts, cultural and educationalorganisations in the north of the ‘Square Mile’. It isa partnership of the City of London Corporation, theBarbican Centre, Guildhall School of Music &Drama, the London Symphony Orchestra and theMuseum of London. This promises to be a highlystimulating event and not to be missed. Freeman SirNicholas Kenyon CBE (Managing Director of theBarbican Centre) will lead the discussion, andfurther details of the event will be provided by theClerk’s Office nearer the date.

Liveryman Richard Lyttleton The Master The Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor

The Panel (L-R): The Master; Jeremy Silver;Nicholas Riddle; Roger Press; Adam Barker;Richard Lyttleton

Photos: A

man

da Ratcliffe


LOOKING AHEAD


As readers of PH will know, the 2017Hon Fellow is Carl Davis CBE and theHon Fellow’s Event will be a reallysplendid occasion in the Music Hall atGuildhall School of Music and Drama.Carl will join his long-standing friend John

Suchet, the broadcaster and writer, to discuss hisextraordinary career as a composer, conductorand pianist. Using footage from film, television,ballet, opera and concerts, John will guide Carlthrough definitive moments from an on-goingcareer that started as an accompanist for theRobert Shaw Chorale in the mid ‘50s before hismove to Europe in 1959.

Having already built a highly successful careercomposing for theatre and television, thewatershed moment was the music he wrote as alive accompaniment to Abel Gance’s Napoleon in1980. That project led to a continuingassociation with Thames TV and many morescores for silent films; ‘Live Cinema’ simply wouldnot have happened without Carl. Hisfeature film scores include TheFrench Lieutenant’s Woman,Champions, Scandal and Topsy-Turvy. TV work is as impressive,including The Snow Goose, TheWorld at War, Hollywood andPride and Prejudice.

Ballet has also been very muchat the heart of Carl’s work, withone of his first UK jobs beingrehearsal pianist for WesternTheatre Ballet in Bristol. ASimple Man (winning a 1987BAFTA) began a sequence ofsuccessful ballets includingCyrano and Aladdin with DavidBintley and Fire and Ice written for

Published by The Worshipful Company of Musicians2017. Registered at Stationers’ Hall. Views expresseddo not necessarily reflect the opinions of either theCourt or the editors. Printed by Potts Print (UK) Ltd.,Northumberland NE23 1WG. Unless otherwise stated,individual contributors retain their copyrights, and nopart of this publication may be reproduced withoutprior written permission.

Editor Emeritus ClerkAdrian Davis Hugh LloydEditor Deputy ClerkJeff Kelly Amanda RatcliffeEditorial Team Yeomen Co-ordinator Chris Lawrence Katie JonesMargot Mouat Magazine co-foundersAdrian Mumford John Iles and Adrian DavisDesignJohn Hawkins

The Worshipful Company of Musicians1 Speed HighwalkBarbicanLondon EC2Y 8DXT 020 7496 8980F 020 7628 4528E [email protected] www.wcom.org.ukRegistered numbers of the CharitableFunds 310040 and 264303VAT No. 162 1105 58

DIARY20176-8 SeptemberLivery Club VisitSnape Maltings & Aldeburgh21 SeptemberHon. Fellow Event 2017The Music Hall, GSMD (Time TBC)22 SeptemberBach Cantata & LunchSt Bartholomew-the-Great 1.05pm25 SeptemberMusicians’ Company Concert Wigmore Hall 7.30pm4 OctoberCompany Evensong St Paul’s Cathedral 5.00pm22 OctoberYoung Jazz Musician CompetitionSoho Jazz Club 7.00pm23 OctoberThe Future of Music Dialogue: The City ofLondon’s Centre for MusicThe Mansion House 4.00pm for 4.30pm8 NovemberInstallation Court & DinnerMerchant Taylors’ Hall 6.15pm13 DecemberCarol Service St Michael’s Cornhill 6.00pm

Musicians’ Company HonoraryFellow Event 21 September 2017 at 7.00pm

Torvill and Dean. His concert worksinclude a collaboration with SirPaul McCartney on the LiverpoolOratorio, and Last Train toTomorrow, a cantata for children’schoir and instrumental ensemblebased on the Kindertransport, therescue operation for Jewishchildren mounted in the aftermathof Kristallnacht in 1938.

Carl’s work as conductor hasvery much focused on “Pops”concerts (notably in Liverpool andKent) introducing repertoire to newaudiences and broadening thereach of music. Having workedwith Sir Billy Connolly on

McGonagall’s legendary Tay Bridge Disaster, thehigh point of this aspect of his career has to beThe Last Night of the Poms collaboration withBarry Humphries and his alter egos, Dame EdnaEverage and Sir Les Patterson.

Curated and conducted by John Suchet, theevening promises to visit as many of the myriad,glittering dimensions to this amazing musician’scareer as possible. Given a BAFTA SpecialLifetime Achievement Award in 2003 and beingmade CBE in 2005, Carl, now celebrating his

80th year, is showing nosigns whatsoever ofslowing down. It will bea very special event, sodo come and join us toshare in the fun.

Court AssistantCHRIS LAWRENCE

Carl Davis CBE,the Company’s Hon Fellow 2017

Photo: ©

Trevor Leighton

Photo: Classic FM

John Suchet

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