Clarence Raybould
Encyclopedia
Clarence Raybould was born in Birmingham on 28 June 1886, to Robert J Raybould (born ca. 1862), a printer compositor, and Elen A Raybould (born ca. 1862), and died in Bideford on 27 March 1972. He was an English conductor, pianist and composer who conducted works ranging from musical comedy and operetta, Gilbert and Sullivan to the standard classical repertoire. He also championed works by contemporary, particularly British, composers.
He assisted Rutland Boughton
at early Glastonbury festivals, working later with the Beecham Opera Company and the British National Opera Company
. His opera The Sumida River (with a libretto by Marie Stopes
adapted from the same Japanese Noh play as, and anticipating Benjamin Britten
's Curlew River), was premiered in Birmingham on 25 September 1916.
Raybould toured Britain as a pianist and accompanist and was musical advisor for the Columbia Graphophone Company
between 1927 and 1931.
He joined the BBC
in 1936 and was assistant conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra
from 1939 to 1945. He conducted the first British concert performance of Hindemith's opera Cardillac in 1936 as well as that of Mathis der Maler in 1939. On 9 May 1951, Raybould conducted the London Symphony Orchestra
in their first concert in the recently opened Royal Festival Hall
.
Raybould became the first conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales
in 1945, and was its principal conductor until 1966.
Raybould died in 1972 and was survived by his wife Evelyn (27 March 1907 - 10 August 1976). They are buried together in Northam, near Bideford in Devon.
's death in 1953 when his successor Nikita Khrushchev
admitted 'past mistakes', cultural exchange became a possibility, and selected Soviet artists such as David Oistrakh
began to appear in Britain. So when Sir Arthur Bliss, Master of the Queen's Music, arranged for a representative group of six British musicians, including Raybould, to tour the USSR in 1956, it was a high-profile event: the result of painstaking negotiation and cause for intense curiosity on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
According to a carefully worded Times appraisal it was 'not an official mission but the outcome, with official blessing, of a personal invitation' to Bliss. Khrushchev was himself involved in the tour, and the plan was to programme modern British music alongside its Soviet equivalent in the course of sixteen concerts over three weeks.
Leaving London on April 14, 1956, the delegates were confronted with the practical consequences of the cold war: no direct flights to Russia. They flew British European Airways
to Copenhagen, then a Finnish flight to Helsinki, followed by another Finnish flight to Moscow.
Soprano Jennifer Vyvyan
's diary notes the 'poor food' on the British European Airways
flight and the gruelling length of the journey, which left her too ill and tired on arrival to do much except sleep for the next few days. But the Russians turned the arrival into a media event, with the composers Kabalevsky and Khatchaturian and the pianist Tatyana Nikolayeva welcoming the plane on its touchdown just before midnight. Every one of the sixteen concerts was sold out in advance, and the musicians found themselves instant celebrities, acknowledged in the street and pursued by journalists in their hotel rooms.
The programme started on April 17 with a public rehearsal of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra under Raybould, playing Bliss's Violin Concerto (with Alfredo Campoli
), Arnold Cooke
's Oboe Concerto (Leon Goossens
), some Elgar, some Kabalevsky, and one of Vyvyan's standard arias: Mozart's Martern aller Arten from Die Entführung aus dem Serail
. That evening Smith
and Sellick
played Beethoven and Vaughan Williams in the Great Hall of the Conservatory. The group also performed in Leningrad, Kiev and Kharkov, and returned to Moscow for a farewell concert attended by Khrushchev.
Biography
Clarence Raybould studied under Sir Granville Bantock and in 1912 became the first person to receive a BMus degree at Birmingham University.He assisted Rutland Boughton
Rutland Boughton
Rutland Boughton was an English composer who became well known in the early 20th century as a composer of opera and choral music....
at early Glastonbury festivals, working later with the Beecham Opera Company and the British National Opera Company
British National Opera Company
The British National Opera Company presented opera in English in London and on tour in the British provinces between 1922 and 1929. It was founded in December 1921 by singers and instrumentalists from Sir Thomas Beecham's Beecham Opera Company , which was disbanded when financial problems over...
. His opera The Sumida River (with a libretto by Marie Stopes
Marie Stopes
Marie Carmichael Stopes was a British author, palaeobotanist, campaigner for women's rights and pioneer in the field of birth control...
adapted from the same Japanese Noh play as, and anticipating Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's Curlew River), was premiered in Birmingham on 25 September 1916.
Raybould toured Britain as a pianist and accompanist and was musical advisor for the Columbia Graphophone Company
Columbia Graphophone Company
The Columbia Graphophone Company was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Under EMI, as Columbia Records, it became a very successful label in the 1950s and 1960s...
between 1927 and 1931.
He joined the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1936 and was assistant conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
from 1939 to 1945. He conducted the first British concert performance of Hindemith's opera Cardillac in 1936 as well as that of Mathis der Maler in 1939. On 9 May 1951, Raybould conducted the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
in their first concert in the recently opened Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
.
Raybould became the first conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales
National Youth Orchestra of Wales
The National Youth Orchestra of Wales , founded in 1945, has the distinction of being the first national youth orchestra in the world and is Europe’s longest-standing national youth orchestra....
in 1945, and was its principal conductor until 1966.
Raybould died in 1972 and was survived by his wife Evelyn (27 March 1907 - 10 August 1976). They are buried together in Northam, near Bideford in Devon.
1956 tour to Russia
After Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's death in 1953 when his successor Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
admitted 'past mistakes', cultural exchange became a possibility, and selected Soviet artists such as David Oistrakh
David Oistrakh
David Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....
began to appear in Britain. So when Sir Arthur Bliss, Master of the Queen's Music, arranged for a representative group of six British musicians, including Raybould, to tour the USSR in 1956, it was a high-profile event: the result of painstaking negotiation and cause for intense curiosity on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
According to a carefully worded Times appraisal it was 'not an official mission but the outcome, with official blessing, of a personal invitation' to Bliss. Khrushchev was himself involved in the tour, and the plan was to programme modern British music alongside its Soviet equivalent in the course of sixteen concerts over three weeks.
Leaving London on April 14, 1956, the delegates were confronted with the practical consequences of the cold war: no direct flights to Russia. They flew British European Airways
British European Airways
British European Airways or British European Airways Corporation was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom...
to Copenhagen, then a Finnish flight to Helsinki, followed by another Finnish flight to Moscow.
Soprano Jennifer Vyvyan
Jennifer Vyvyan
Jennifer Vyvyan was a British classical soprano who had an active international career in operas, concerts, and recitals from 1948 up until her death in 1974. She possessed a beautifully clear, steady voice with considerable flexibility in florid music...
's diary notes the 'poor food' on the British European Airways
British European Airways
British European Airways or British European Airways Corporation was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom...
flight and the gruelling length of the journey, which left her too ill and tired on arrival to do much except sleep for the next few days. But the Russians turned the arrival into a media event, with the composers Kabalevsky and Khatchaturian and the pianist Tatyana Nikolayeva welcoming the plane on its touchdown just before midnight. Every one of the sixteen concerts was sold out in advance, and the musicians found themselves instant celebrities, acknowledged in the street and pursued by journalists in their hotel rooms.
The programme started on April 17 with a public rehearsal of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra under Raybould, playing Bliss's Violin Concerto (with Alfredo Campoli
Alfredo Campoli
Alfredo Campoli was an Italian-born British violinist, often known simply as Campoli. He was noted for the beauty of the tone he produced from the violin.-Biography:...
), Arnold Cooke
Arnold Cooke
Arnold Atkinson Cooke was a British composer.-Career:He was born at Gomersal, West Yorkshire into a family of carpet manufacturers. He was educated at Repton School and at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, where he read History, but he was already attracted to a career in music...
's Oboe Concerto (Leon Goossens
Léon Goossens
Léon Jean Goossens CBE, FRCM was a British oboist.He was born in Liverpool and studied at the Royal College of Music...
), some Elgar, some Kabalevsky, and one of Vyvyan's standard arias: Mozart's Martern aller Arten from Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...
. That evening Smith
Cyril Smith
Sir Cyril Smith, MBE, was a British politician who served as Liberal and Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for the constituency of Rochdale from 1972 until his retirement in 1992.-Early life:...
and Sellick
Phyllis Sellick
Phyllis Sellick, OBE was a British pianist and teacher, best known for her partnership with her pianist husband Cyril Smith.-Biography:...
played Beethoven and Vaughan Williams in the Great Hall of the Conservatory. The group also performed in Leningrad, Kiev and Kharkov, and returned to Moscow for a farewell concert attended by Khrushchev.
Selected compositions
- The Sumida River, opera (1916)
- Score for Paul RothaPaul RothaPaul Rotha was a British documentary film-maker, film historian and critic. He was educated at Highgate School....
’s Rising Tide and Contact (1933) - Dance Serenade, for cello and piano (1937)
- A Legend, for cello and piano (1937)
- Three Pieces (Prelude, A Fairy Tale and Passepied) for piano solo (1938)
- Dorothy, for six-part mixed voices (1948)
- The Wistful Shepherd for clarinet and piano
- Four Songs (Merciles Beautie, In the Red April, Crepuscule and The Flower Girl)
First Performances
- Britten - King Arthur (1937), BBC Orch, 23 April 1937
- Ernest BlochErnest BlochErnest Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer.-Life:Bloch was born in Geneva and began playing the violin at age 9. He began composing soon afterwards. He studied music at the conservatory in Brussels, where his teachers included the celebrated Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe...
Les Poèmes de la Mer, UK premiere, BBCSO, 22 October 1937 - Granville BantockGranville BantockSir Granville Bantock was a British composer of classical music.-Biography:Granville Ransome Bantock was born in London. His father was a Scottish doctor. He was intended by his parents for the Indian Civil Service but was drawn into the musical world. His first teacher was Dr Gordon Saunders at...
- Five Ghazals of Hafiz with a prelude for baritone and orchestra, BBC Orch, 15 December 1937 - Britten - Kermesse canadienne (1939), BBCSO, 6 June 1940
- Philip Prosper SaintonPhilip SaintonPhilip Prosper Sainton was a British–French composer, conductor, and violist.-Biography:He was born in Arques-la-Bataille, in Seine-Maritime, France, grandson to violinist Prosper Sainton and contralto Charlotte Helen Sainton-Dolby. He started his music studies learning the violin...
- Symphonic Poem The Island (1939), BBC Orch, London, 5 June 1942
Recordings
- First complete recording of PurcellPurcellHenry Purcell was an English composer.Purcell may also refer to:*Purcell, Indiana, an unincorporated community in Johnson Township, Knox County, Indiana*Purcell, Missouri, a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States...
's Dido and Aeneas. Clarence Raybould (conductor). Decca X101-7, 1936 - Mozart Concert Rondo in A, K386. Clarence Raybould (conductor) with Eileen JoyceEileen JoyceEileen Alannah Joyce CMG was an Australian pianist whose career spanned more than 30 years. She lived in England in her adult years....
(piano). 5 February 1936, Parlophone - Elgar Sea Pictures, excerpts. Clarence Raybould (conductor), Mary JarredMary JarredMary Jarred was an English opera singer of the mid-twentieth century. She is sometimes classed as a mezzo-soprano and sometimes as a contralto.-Biography:...
(contralto) and BBC Symphony Orchestra - FauréFaureFaure or Fauré is a French family name and may refer to:People:* Edgar Faure, French politician* Élie Faure, French art historian and essayist* Émile Alphonse Faure, lead battery pioneer* Cédric Fauré, French football striker...
Vocalise-étude in E minor. Clarence Raybould (piano) with Leon GoossensLéon GoossensLéon Jean Goossens CBE, FRCM was a British oboist.He was born in Liverpool and studied at the Royal College of Music...
(oboe). Oboe Classics. CC2005. - BaxArnold BaxSir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation...
Winter Legends, Viola Sonata, A Mountain Mood, A Hill Tune. Clarence Raybould (conductor) with Harriet CohenHarriet CohenHarriet Cohen CBE was a British pianist.-Biography:Harriet Cohen was born in London and studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music under Tobias Matthay, having won the Ada Lewis scholarship at the age of 12. She made her debut at a Chappell's Sunday concert at the Queen's Hall a year later...
(piano), William PrimroseWilliam PrimroseWilliam Primrose CBE was a Scottish violist and teacher.-Biography:Primrose was born in Glasgow and studied violin initially. In 1919 he moved to study at the then Guildhall School of Music in London. On the urging of the accompanist Ivor Newton, Primrose moved to Belgium to study under Eugène...
(viola) and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Dutton. CDBP9751. - Mozart Fra gli amplessi from Così fan tutte. Clarence Raybould (conductor) with Ina Souez (soprano) and Heddle NashHeddle NashWilliam Heddle Nash was an English lyric tenor who appeared in opera and oratorio in the middle decades of the twentieth century. He also made numerous recordings that are still available on CD reissues....
(tenor)
Notable broadcasts
- Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky - a play based on the film broadcast on BBC radio on 26 April 1942 with Michael RedgraveMichael RedgraveSir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, CBE was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.-Youth and education:...
(Nevsky) and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chorus and Theatre Chorus, Clarence Raybould, conductor - BlissArthur BlissSir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, CH, KCVO was an English composer and conductor.Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army...
Peace Fanfare for Children. BBC SO/Clarence Raybould. BBC Home Service. Children’s Hour, broadcast 8 May 1945 (VE Day).