The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

6. Madrigal "When the buds are blossoming" Arthur Sullivan from Ruddigore 7. Chorus, Orchestra, Solo Contralto and Solo Pianoforte The Rio Grande Constant Lambert (the poem by Sacheverell Sitwell) Solo Contralto: MARY DAVIES Solo Pianoforte: R. B. ATKINSON 8 Sonata for Violin and Pianoforte Henry Eccles

R. ATKINSON J. A. SUTTON

9. Solo Pianoforte Puck's Birthday

A. BLOOMFIELD John Ireland

10. Solo Viola (a) Sussex Lullaby Alan Richardson (b) A Jig (from Irish Folk Tunes) adapted Howard Ferguson W. B. HAWKINS

11. Solo Pianoforte Rondo Scherzoso

R. SHEPHERD

12. Chorus and Orchestra

The celebrated Ode in Honour of Great Britain called RULE, BRITANNIA (words by James Thomson)

The audience is invited to join in the Chorus:— Rule Britannia! Britannia rule the waves, Britons ne—ver will be slaves. John Field

Thomas Arne arr. Sargent

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

It was in 'August, 1949, that I first had the privilege of hearing the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, then five courses old. The following morning, the "Yorkshire Post" music critic said :- "I was not the only person at the concert to be completely taken by surprise when these enthusiastic youngsters opened the programme with Dvorak's "Carnival" overture. Here was alert, disciplined and even sensitive playing that set up a magnificent sound and could have put to shame many a professional orchestra.

Perhaps I should not be believed when I say that, in all the music

I have heard during the past month (Edinburgh Festival; Salzburg

Festival), nothing has quite excited me so much as the noise of this orchestra; an emotion aroused, no doubt, as much by genuine feeling behind the playing as by the playing itself."

I, too, was left with glowing reminiscences of that memorable night : I resolved to become a member of the Orchestra. But it was not until '1951 that was chosen to play on their twelfth course at Liverpool. All this time the N.Y.O. had been building up its reputation. I had had a second chance of hearing them in Hull (January, '1954 The "Hull Daily Mail" clearly appreciated the qualities of this one hundred and twenty-strong body of musicians between the ages of thirteen and nineteen :

". . . As our first big concert in the Festival of Britain programme, this has set a standard which it will not be easy to keep up."

By the time I joined, the Orchestra had already given concerts in deven different towns and cities in this country, including an appearance in the Edinburgh International Festival in the Summer of 1951, and had made its first trip abroad, on this occasion to Paris, where two concerts were given : one to the general public in the Palais de Chaillot, and the other before the Jeunesses Musicales in the Salle Pleyel.

From the beginning of the Orchestra's history, money was the main worry. Miss Ruth Railton, whose idea it was to found such a body, had saved every penny she could in order to launch her gigantic project. She had realised that there was an enormous amount of musical talent in the younger generation going to waste. She advertised her proposal, and arranged for auditions to be held all over the country. She had over two thousand applications, out of which had to be picked a select hundred. She engaged a secretary, and pleaded with conductors to come and conduct the Orchestra. She also pleaded with many leading musicians to coach the various sections of the Orchestra. The people concerned were most kind and appreciative of her efforts, but many thought that her plans would fall to ruin. They did not. Without Miss Railton's intense enthusiasm, her strong character and magnificent courage, the N.Y.O. would not exist.

Consequently, the first course was held during the Easter holidays at Bath (1947). Their first concert was the opening concert of the Bath 'Assembly. The conductor was Dr. 'Reginald Jacques, the eminent conductor of the 'Jacques String Orchestra. A B.B.C. recording was taken.

It was decided that a course would be held each school holiday '(the vast majority of members still being at school). A week or ten days of intensive rehearsal both by sections under eminent musicians, and in full under the conductor, would be followed by a concert, or perhaps two.

Dr. Jacques conducted during the first four courses, and the Leeds concert which I attended was directed by Mr. Walter Susskind. The directorship alternated between these two until the ninth course (at Hull), when Mr. Anthony Collins (who has recently made some fine recordings on UP. for Decca) took the baton.

The Orchestra's president, Sir Adrian Boult, conducted for the first time at Manchester in 'April, 1951. This was the "Manchester 'Guardian's" criticism after this concert : "The attack was precise and the intonation was impeccable throughout an exacting programme The tone was warm and vital, and there were many effects that were touching in their delicacy."

Sir Adrian is taking the Orchestra to the Edinburgh Festival for their third time in the Summer of 1953.

The N.Y.O.'s first Festival concert was "the sensation of this. Festival" ("Weekly Scotsman"). Dr. Bruno Walter, who in collaboration with 'Mr. Dimitri 'Metropoulos was conducting The Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York in a number of concerts at Edinburgh, attended one of the rehearsals. What he said was flared across the tops of newspaper reports : "One of the most inspiring things I have ever heard in my life."

When the ,1952 Festival arrived, I had been a member of the Orchestra for three courses. On this occasion, we ate, slept and rehearsed in Abington, a small village in Lanarkshire. Glengonnar Camp was the name given to a group of wooden chalets surrounded by trees and mountains, where all manner of strange and illuminating sounds might be heard in the heat of the day while we were in occupation. We had magnificent weather, and rehearsals were most exhausting. Such was our daily time-table : 7-30 a.m. Rising bell. 8-0 a.m. Breakfast. 9-30-10-45 a.m. Full Orchestra. 110-45-111- 1 10 a.m. Break. 11-.10—, 1-0 p.m. Full Orchestra. 1-0 p.m. Lunch. 2-0-3-0 p.m. (Much needed) rest, compulsory for the ladies. of the Orchestra. 3-0-4 0 p.m. Sectional Rehearsals. 4-0 p.m. Afternoon tea. 5-0-7-0 p.m. Full Orchestra. 7-0 p.m. High tea. 7-45-9-0 p.m. A recital by one of the professors. 10-0 p.m. Lights out.

A strenuous day indeed.

The Pathe-News people arrived on the first day, and took a number of shots. No sooner had they disappeared than two gentlemen in a large Humber drove up. They were from the B.B.C. Along, too, came pressmen with their inevitable cameras. We are always warned of the habits of pressmen.

It is surprising how rapidly ten days can pass. The day of the Edinburgh concert in the Usher Hall arrived. I had played in the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth, but this was the Usher 'Hall. Many international celebrities would be present. Edinburgh was forty miles from Abington, so we had an early start—at about eight o'clock. We arrived in time for the final rehearsal in the Hall. (It is sometimes hard to get used to playing in 34

a large concert hall, after being accustomed to play in a much smaller one, such as we had been rehearsing in for ten days. Instead of being very loud and overpowering, it is rather like playing one's own little solo.)

Imagine a vast, cold concert hall empty except for small groups of two or three people sitting in the stalls. We rehearsed from about eleven o'clock until lunch, which was taken at an Edinburgh school. 'After the meal we all were told to go and rest on mattresses, specially laid out in the gymnasium of the school. Already the sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach was prevalent in most people. We tried to visualise those countless rows of empty seats we had seen that morning, full of faces—faces of all nationalities and denominations. The B.B.C. were broadcasting us direct on the Third Programme.. Slowly the afternoon dragged away. Tea came. Then buses back to the Usher Hall. 'We had been put through our paces both on that morning and on all concert days of past courses. We, the string section, found ourselves in a large, carpeted green-room with a rather strong smell of stale tobacco and drink.

Mr. Rafael Kubelik, who was conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, had spoken a few words to us during the morning's rehearsal. Filled with these, we filed onto the platform, not brightly lit as yet. We sat in our places. I scanned the sea of muttering faces. It rested with us to make this concert as great a success as others we had given. A tremendous standard had been set up the previous Summer in Edinburgh. Were we to maintain it? The lights went up as the leader came on to the platform. He took his bow. The conductor followed close upon his heels : we rose : The National Anthem : The overture . . .PatheNews wished to photograph the overture for the end of their film The bright spotlights required for this could clearly not be switched on during the concert, so they were satisfied at the end. .. In a flash, we were in the second half.. In a flash, all was over. The newsreel men got their film, much to the audience's delight, we having to play once again the overture ("Russian and Ludmilla" by Glinka).

A visit to the renowned Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle, and bed at 4 a.m. brought the day successfully to a close. The following night we gave the same programme at Glasgow. The next day we went home.

Such, only too briefly, are the main features of the Orchestra's history, and some of my personal reminiscences.

I shall finish this article by quoting the words of Mr. Hugo Rignold (permanent conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra), who directed us on the fifteenth course (January, .1953). 35