The astonishing standard of the performances on Speech Day made it one of the best such concerts. The audience were clearly moved by the solo vocal performances of Laurence (tenor), Hebe (soprano), James (baritone) and Ruth (soprano) – in songs by Purcell, Mozart, Schubert, Howells and Ireland, and the superb performances of Poulenc and Massenet by Elizabeth Caffrey (U6, W) on flute and Guy Beynon (5th, Xt) on violin. Jazz was on a high, with Big Band and JIG giving a hugely successful concert in Big Classical in March, which was much enjoyed by the German exchange pupils. In April, Big Band gave a performance of which we are all very proud in the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, including Hit the Road Jack, Funk ya stuff, Mr Bojangles and What’d I say. JIG finished their very successful year in June with a dynamic performance in the Quad for the Prefects’ 24‑Hours event, including Superstition, Mustang Sally, This Love,
Our musical inheritance
Gordon Busbridge (staff, 1994‑2014) follows a line of distinguished Directors of Music at Cheltenham College. His 20 years in the post followed the 20 years by Robin Proctor (staff, 1974‑1994) – and he in turn had followed William Pritchard (staff, 1950‑1973). But even Pritchard’s 23 years did not hold the record; that is held by Arthur Edwin Dyer who served for 27 years. In fact the Dyer family had the monopoly on the post for nearly half a century, from 1875 to 1923.
Firstly – Arthur Edwin Dyer, who was Organist and Choirmaster from 1875 to 1902 and conductor of Cheltenham Musical Society, until Holst took on the role in 1884. Dyer also composed sacred cantatas and anthems, including the Salvator Mundi, performed at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, which gained him his doctorate in 1880. He composed items for the Three Choirs Festival at Gloucester in 1883, the music to Sophocles’ Electra, produced at College in June 1888 and Atlanta, produced at the Strand Theatre in London the same year. For the College Jubilee in 1891 he composed an anthem, ‘Except the Lord build the house’ which
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The Cheltonian 2013-2014
Get Lucky and a new Fleetwood Mac number, The Chain, with great solos from André Gusak (U6, BH) on lead guitar and Edward Robbins (L6, L) on bass. The Jazz Band, consisting of mainly Lower College members, continued to provide an ideal platform to develop the players for the senior bands as well as being hugely good fun in rehearsals. How High the Moon and I Heard it through the Grapevine have been classics for the band. Similarly, the Saxophone Ensemble and the Brass group, together with string quartets and other smaller groups, give pupils experience of the hugely important musical skills in ensemble playing. Mrs Sue Mills does wonders with the Wind Band in a short rehearsal every Friday morning; how they produce the performances which emerge is always a mystery! Real highlights have included Zoot Suit Riot by Perry, the Folk Song Suite by Vaughan Williams and River City Ramble by Eric Osterling with parts for extra music staff!
was again sung at the thanksgiving service for the new Chapel in 1896. He also wrote an opera, The Lady of Bayonne, which was produced at the Cheltenham Opera House in 1897. He died on 10 April 1902, the day after term ended, and the oak organ case, designed by the Chapel’s architect Henry Prothero (1862‑1867, Turnball and Green), with central figure of St Cecilia (patron saint of Music) is a fitting memorial to him. Incidentally, in 1882, his brother William Chinnock Dyer, organist, and conductor of the Norbiton Choral Society, invented and patented an ‘Improved means of connecting organ pedals with the keys of piano-fortes or other similar keyed instruments’ . Arthur’s son, Francis Gilbert Dyer (1886‑1895, Day Boy) won an Organ Scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He then succeeded his father as College Organist and Choirmaster in 1902, holding the post until 1923, although during the First World War he served in the Mediterranean as a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, 1915‑1919. Whilst away, John William Ivimey, previously Assistant Organist at Wellington, Harrow and Dulwich, was our Organist (1916‑1918); he afterwards became Organist and Director of Music at Marlborough College. Two people were Organists whilst still pupils at College: • George Blakemore Bayfield John Roberts (1860‑1866, Day Boy), Organist, 1863‑1866. After Oxford he became a vicar and in 1878 was presented with a fine Bible inscribed, ‘William Emperor of Germany, to the Rev. G. Roberts, in recognition of his services on the occasion of the loss of SMS Grosser Kurfurst’. [270 lives were lost when the ship collided with another German ship as they tried to avoid some fishing boats just off
Another development was the arrival of College’s first harp, and the enthusiasm of the first pupils has been infectious; Jasmine Ng (4th, W) must be singled out for her lovely performances in several of our Informal Concerts. In October the House singing competition was hugely good fun and as keenly-fought as ever. Newick House won, despite a strong performance from Southwood. The competition was adjudicated by Mr Mark Wilderspin (1990‑1995, NH) now Director of Music at St Paul’s School, London. College’s singing in Chapel has been tremendous and, with the new hymn book, many new hymns are being learnt. The tidal wave of singing on Sunday evenings and in Friday congregational practices sweeps everyone along with it. It is something of which we are all proud, and upon which visitors never fail to remark.
Folkestone; at the subsequent funerals Roberts read the burial service in German.] • Arthur Llewellyn Struve (1861‑1867, Chenery), Organist, 1866‑1867. Sadly he was killed in the earthquake at Ischia, near Naples, in September 1883. Other notable holders of the office include: • Frederick Helmore, former Choirmaster to HRH Prince Albert, was College Choirmaster for a few months in 1863, when he also founded the Cirencester Choral Society. Indeed, Helmore had earned the title ‘music missionary’ for his zeal in helping to establish choral societies around the country. • Thomas Riseley, who had been organist at Calcutta cathedral since 1861, was College Organist and Choirmaster from 1868 to 1875. During that time he wrote The Elements of Music, adapted for the use of Colleges and Schools (1870) and his Andante No 1 for the Organ (1872). • Philip John Taylor (staff, 1923‑1942) also conducted the Cheltenham Orchestra and Choral Societies and had much to do with the initiation of Cheltenham Competitive Festival – now called the Cheltenham Festival of the Performing Arts and one of the largest in England. He broadcast recitals with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Adrian Boult, gave talks on the radio, and was a member of the Council of the Incorporated Society of Musicians. • George Frederick Loughlin (Staff, 1943‑1950). According to one of his pupils he was ‘an excellent pianist; could have been of concert standard had he not lost the tip of one of his fingers in an accident’ [Gautier-Smith memoirs, p.11]
Mrs Christine Leighton