WHARFEDALE FESTIVAL OF PERFORMING ARTS

Over the years many famous musicians have adjudicated, but lack of space permits the specific mention of just a few – Arthur Somer Walford Davies, Percy Hull, Thomas Dunhill, Julius Harr Geoffrey Shaw, Hugh Roberton, Maurice Jacobson, Herbert Wise, Sydney Northcote, Henry Hoist and Michael Head. For many years after the Second World War, it was the policy to invite specialist  musicians as adjudicators; these include Joseph Cooper, Watson Forbes, Hervey Alien, John Alldis, Marcus Dods, Ranken Bushby, Carl Dolmetsch, Sidney Harrison, Robert Irwin and David Parkhouse. Church musicians have also been represented by George Sinclair of  Hereford Cathedral who was portrayed, (together with his bulldog, in Elgar’s Enigma Variations), Harold Darke, Herbert Brewer, Richard Terry, Edward Bairstow, Gordon Slater and Melville Cook.

Of all these impressive names in British music, perhaps the most revered and respected at this festival was that of Walford Davies, who visited no fewer than seven times, firstly as plain ‘Dr.’ in 1914,1915,1917,1918, … as Professor, University of Wales in 1922, and finally as Sir Walford Davies in 1924 and 1925. Two of his many highly quotable aphorisms express the philosophy of those responsible for the organisation of this or any other music festival, ‘Festivals are in the nature of a concert, examination, and music lesson’, and the oft quoted ‘Competitors are not rivals, but comrades pacing one another on the road to perfection’. Maurice Jacobson, when adjudicating in 1941, paid tribute to Sir Walford Davies whose death had occurred a few months beforehand, and as a further tribute the Skipton Ensemble String Orchestra played Grieg’s Andante Doloroso at the end of the festival.

Not a festival passes without amusement being caused by adjudicator’s remarks, sometimes assisted by competitors. Walford Davies (in 1927), ‘What do you do before you shoot at a target?’ he asked the boy soloists. Tak aim’, said one of the lads. ‘Then take aim at this note. If you will do a little target shooting for about three minutes each day, you will get clever at it, and you will get a bull’s eye nearly every time’. The boy in question was competitor number six, one James F. Elder, better known to countless Ilkley residents as ‘Jimmy’. Incidentally, 1976 was Jimmy’s twenty-fifth and last festival as caretaker at the Kings Hall. One of Jimmy’s duties in the past was to empty a bottle of beer into a teapot which duly appeared on the adjudicator’s table – this particular gentleman being unwilling to drink festival tea or coffee – but to produce a bottle of beer on the exalted table would have offended the sense of decorum.

Regular festival goers will agree that it is the adjudicator who by his criticisms transforms a sequence of performances into a constructive and interesting session, thereby giving considerable enjoyment and help to competitors and audiences. Not all adjudicators, however, succeed to the same extent, and from time to time competitors and members of the public have voiced their objections to the manner in which the task has been approached, such criticism including rudeness, disinterest and verbosity. In the very nature of a festival there bound to be seemingly inconsistent decisions which are difficult to accept. Generally speaking, adjudicators have been able to exp admiration for the work presented to them; there have, however, been some exceptions:

We have had some startling examples of bad musicianship in the soprano class. I am addressing singers all over the world when I say that possession of a lovely voice does not give release from all that appertains to music. Some of the phrasing has been bad. lam paying the compliment of being a little severe because you are here to leam. I am not attacking you. We are good friends. (Herbert Howells, 1949)

A pretty poor Lieder Class! There is nothing much you can do when you have wrong notes, wrong mood, wrong pronunciation, and singer and pianist apart where they should be linked into one another. (Gordon Clinton, 1966)

One boy competitor lost marks through being handicapped by shes nervousness, and this led Sir Walford Davies into reminiscences:

I know the feeling and I know the cure. I adopted it when I was a kiddie. I had to sing to King Edward once. I was fearfully wrought up with nervousness, but I said to myself, “You silly fellow. Pretend you are at home!’ I did pretend, very hard. I forgot all about myself, or about the King, and was able to continue. Nervousness at the root comes from thinking of yourself instead of thinking of the song. If you lose yourself in the job you are doing you won’t feel nervous a bit.

From W.H. Reed (in 1928) comes:

It is not so very long ago that two old gentlemen who play the violin used to meet together to play duets. They did this for some years. At last they succeeded on one occasion in finishing together, they were so impressed by their success that they solemnly shook hands. Then one said, ‘Now let us play the slow movement.’ ‘The slow movement!’ said the other, ‘But I have played it already!’

In 1937 a song entitled May by Benjamin Britten was sung by the choir from the Addingham High School conducted by Mr. W. Lemmon, in the non-competitive class for Elementary School Choirs. Mr. Howells had some prophetic things to say about the composer and the choir:

In the opinion of many people Benjamin Britten is probably going to be one of the great people, and I think this little choir will look back to the day when they sang a Ben Britten work in 1937. He is now about twenty-four but he is going to make the British Empire sit up in the next ten years.

Dr. Hull, when commenting on the two performances in the class for soprano and contralto duets in 1938, said each couple had a little trouble with intonation. ‘But then it is an awful time of day to sing anything!’ ‘A dry time?’ suggested one of the singers. ‘Well I’m sorry I cannot take you out to a cocktail, it isn’t my job’ returned Dr. Hull. A moment later he was saying they were both almost equally good in their performances, and observed: ‘There is as much difference between you as between a Cherubim and Seraphim. Do you know the difference between Cherubim and Seraphim?’ One of the competitors immediately flashed back the answer, ‘They both continually do cry!”

At least two adjudicators had local connections; Dorothea Campey is the daughter of H.L. Everette Loosey, one time conductor of the Ilkley Municipal Orchestra in the years following World War I. She played ‘cello in this orchestra in which her father was pianist. Charles Woodhouse, one time leader of a B.B.C. Orchestra, was the uncle of Stuart Woodhouse, a founder member of the well known Ilkley Consort.

Adjudicators Arthur Rooke, Gordon Clinton and Alee Redshaw first appeared at this festival as competitors in their early years.

An interesting reflection on the social and industrial pattern of the early days is highlighted by a letter of complaint from a Leeds Male Voice Choir which was requested to report at the Kings Hall on Saturday afternoon at 2.30 p.m. The Secretary protested that most of his men had lost pay by leaving work early in order to catch the 1.00 p.m. train from Leeds, only to be kept waiting until their turn to sing came around 4.00 p.m. ‘Works’ choirs still enter festivals but it can be assumed that very little, if any, loss of pay occurs.

It was a Mixed Voice Choir that in 1921 gave rise to another complaint which almost resulted in litigation. This choir was disqualified for allegedly singing with more than the permitted maximum of forty singers, but for some unaccountable reason the objection was not conveyed to them at the time. It was not until three months and ten letters later, after the helpful intervention of the National Association of Choirs, that the matter was settled. The offending choir was disqualified from its third place and the prize awarded to the choir originally placed fourth. The Choir Secretary wrote to the effect that his choir would never again visit the Wharfedale Festival… but it did, thirty-eight years later!

The Railway Companies were always willing to run extra trains if there was sufficient demand and also issue return tickets at favourable discount rates, e.g. a day-return from Normanton to Ilkley at 4/-d. More than once has Ilkley Station resounded to the strain of choirs beguiling waiting passengers with their repertoire. Nowadays, the Male Voice Choirs repair to the nearest hostelry before boarding their coaches home. During a recent Finals Concert the conductor of the winning choir publicly referred to ‘Ale voice music’. Choirs competing in the Open Classes have travelled from as far as Macclesfield, Northumberland, Hull, Belfast, Birmingham and Barrow. The record for attendance is held by Keighley Vocal Union (28), Huddersfield Vocal Union (21) and Bradford Vocal Union (32).

Festival Secretaries frequently bemoan the fact that choirs are somewhat fickle in their support. It is not unusual to receive twelve entries one year but only one or two in the next. This inconsistency may be due to dislike of a particular adjudicator, dislike of the music set, concert engagements or clash of festival dates. The standard of choral singing throughout the years has been at a very high level. Maurice Jacobson once commented that a Mixed Voice Choir was the best he had heard at any festival. Judging from press reports from 1907 to 1975, adjudicators in praising choirs have used all the superlatives in the English language. This excellent singing rarely failed to engender great excitement when the three finalists took the platform at the Finals Concert in order to conclude the competitions. Some regular supporters regret that no longer is it possible to plan a Finals Concert on this basis, since, as mentioned earlier, choir support is by no means consistent, thus causing the committee to present what is basically a Prize Winners Concert in which winning choirs participate.

Occasionally the adjudicator conducts a combined performance of the set piece and on one such occasion a combined choir of 200 voices gave a performance of the Sanctus from Bach’s B Minor Mass, surely one of the most impressive sounds ever heard in the Kings Hall.

School Choirs, likewise have been the subject of favourable comments by adjudicators. In 1967 John Churchill said of the Ilkley and the Salts Grammar School Madrigal Groups, ‘Very few schools in the country could produce such groups as these two … I mean that sincerely.’ Nowadays, fewer School Choirs appear, there being a steady decline in number since the high level entry of 28 choirs in 1960. In 1918 non-competitive classes were introduced for the benefit of Elementary Schools where specialist music teaching was nonexistent, but these classes were badly supported and eventually withdrawn. During the 1930’s local Guides, Scouts and Cub Packs regularly supported their special classes, occasionally requesting the audience to join in the refrain of such songs as Widdicombe Fair and Admiral Benbow. One gathers that the audience response was at most half-hearted.

In 1929 Mr. Julius Harrison awarded the First Ilkley (Parish Church Troop conducted by Arthur E. Pickett) 81 marks. He spoke to them on the subject of rhythm and tone; on the announcement of the marks the troop responded with the scout cry based on the words, ‘Mr. Julius Harrison, Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah!’ Mr. Harrison at once turned round to them as he was returning to his table and said ’50 for rhythm; none for tone!’

During both World Wars the Committee determinedly carried on albeit on a restricted scale, this decision being of the utmost importance in maintaining the festival movement in Wharfedale. Its policy was expressed in the programme note for 1940:

In providing this outlet for the musical activities of the young people, the Committee feels that they will be serving the National interests, and, by doing so, they will brighten the lives and homes of the young competitors. Home-made music is the foundation stone of the competitive festival movement, the latter is the nursery and training ground of musical England, and, in anxious and dangerous times such as we are passing through, it is a vital necessity that we should protect and preserve this side of cultural life in every possible way.

In the Second World War it was possible to hold only a Saturday festival owing to the requisitioning of the Kings Hall for military purposes and the use of the Assembly Hall as a day school. The 1940-1945 festivals were for children only, and consisted mainly of pianoforte, solo singing and choir classes. The curtailment of bus and train services made travelling difficult and it is known that many children walked over the moors from Keighley, and others living in Poole and beyond had to walk to and from Otley. The last bus out of Ilkley in either direction left at 9.00 p.m. Ironically, the surrender of the German Armed Forces nearly caused the 1945 festival to be abandoned. This surrender was imminent and caused the Committee much concern lest the celebrations should coincide with the festival date, but fortunately V.E. Day was observed three days later.

The General Strike of 1926 resulted in many entries being cancelled, particularly those from choirs and orchestras. The calling off of the rail strike on the first day came too late to remedy the situation. Plans were made to hold the school choirs session in Bradford, since all the competitors came from schools within that city, but in the end this proved unnecessary. In more recent years the postal strike nearly strangled the 1971 festival at birth, industrial action occurring at that most vital period around the closing date for entries. A few years later at least one committee meeting was held by candle light because of phased power cuts through industrial action.

The bulk of pianoforte accompaniment has been provided by Alice Greenwood (1908-1938); W.H. Ibbotson (1909-1934); Anne Babidge (1935-1944) and Gwendolyn Martin (1940-1948). The festival’s principal accompanist, Alan Soulsby served from 1954 to 1976, assisted by Keith Swallow from 1962-1972, and Jean Wildman (a former competitor) from 1973. The present accompanists are Geoffrey Hamilton, Catherine Woodhouse, Joan Lewis-Ogden and David Wilks.

The only recorded exception to the high standard of accompaniment appears in the early committee minutes during which meeting one accompanist was not re-appointed because of complaints by the adjudicators and some competitors. Dr. Wiseman voiced the general feeling of visiting adjudicators when, in 1955, he said that’ it was a sheer joy to come to a festival and find accompanists who were so efficient’. In spite of this, competitors occasionally use their own accompanists, and sometimes hamper their efforts by so doing. More than once has an adjudicator publicly admonished a competitor for presenting without warning an Own Choice item with a fiendishly difficult pianoforte part, enough to flaw all but the most experienced accompanists.

Alan Soulsby was involved in one of those delightfully spontaneous incidents which provided light relief when, after three duet teams had performed the Polka from Weinberger’s Schwanda the Bagpiper, he and adjudicator Antony Hopkins mounted the platform and asked if their late entry could be accepted, one of them requesting to be judged on sight-reading standards. On hearing their performance, Dr. Wiseman said ‘You both have promise and should keep on working together!’

From 1921 to 1931 there was a flourishing section in which local schools and groups regularly competed. So successful was this activity that a separate festival under the auspices of the Wharfedale was held in 1930 and 1931.

The most famous adjudicator during this period was Cecil Sharp, whose visit in 1924 turned out to be his final public appearance, his death occurring a few weeks later. On the occasion of his previous visit in 1923, the Wednesday evening session was concluded with a sing-song ….

‘Mr Sharp earnestly desires that everyone present will join heartily in the singing of the following folk songs: O No John, The Keeper, The Cuckoo and the Nightingale,
The Crystal Spring, Dashing away with the Smoothing Iron, and The Keys of Canterbury’.

The country dances presented by competitors included:-

The Ribbon Dance, The Black Nag, Rufty Tufty. and Yorkshire Straight Sword Dance.

Verse classes were introduced in 1953 under the general guidance of a new committee member, Mrs Sylvia Greenwood, who has been very largely responsible for the growth of this section and for the excellent choice of poems which brought forth many complimentary remarks from adjudicators. . . ‘A syllabus which has given a rich intellectual and beautiful opportunity’ (Ida Shaw, 1953), ‘New and exciting poems which stretched the competitors and demanded their expertise’, (James Dodding, 1970).

Since 1972 entries in this section have sometimes exceeded those for music classes, which necessitates two adjudicators working extremely hard on the Monday and Tuesday of festival week. In the late 50’s and early 60’s an evening was devoted to one-act plays, but it became increasingly difficult to cater for these, and the interest and standard declined. On the last occasion, 1966, there were four groups, none of which gained even a second class certificate. A feature of recent festivals has been some superb work in the choral speaking classes of which Malcolm Morrison had this to say in 1967, ‘I am not really a devotee of choral speaking. This is the first festival I have been to where Choral Speaking really meant something,’ and in 1975 …. ‘a once-in-a-lifetime experience.’

The centenary of the birth of G.K. Chesterton (1972) was celebrated by a special class of own choice poems which was well supported. In his ‘Reflections’, the editor of the Ilkley Gazette mentioned that Chesterton was a frequent visitor to Ilkley.

It was said of the distinguished visitor that whenever inspiration came to him he was always prepared with paper and pencil to capture it before it escaped, and sat down wherever he was and wrote it down. The story is that he was once found by a policeman, his voluminous cloak thrown back from his shoulders in the middle of Hangingstone Road, writing steadily. He wanted no interruptions at that point and met the policeman’s enquiries with testy waves of his hand until his entry was complete. His explanations were eventually accepted, but the policeman is said to have taken some convincing.

The full scope of this festival is amply displayed in its official programme, one which typifies the variety of classes in music, verse and mime made available at many competitive festivals. From time to time adjudicators have complimented the committee on its adventurous and stimulating choice; it has always been the practice to try and select pieces which provide some form of challenge to technique and artistic sensitivity.

Wharfedale was one of the first to introduce classes for pianoforte trios, the selection from a somewhat limited repertoire being made more difficult by the physical limitations imposed by accommodating three pairs of hands at one keyboard. This class was very popular – 15 teams competed in 1932 – but has recently been discontinued through lack of support. Chamber music classes have earned high praise from adjudicators, but again, their popularity has unfortunately declined.

Percussion group classes for infant and junior schools were a firm favourite for many years, their inclusion being praised by adjudicators as a means of training young performers and encouraging them to venture forth in other musical fields. Kenneth Anderson referred to his ten year old daughter who had a predilection for rock and roll, and for whom such training would have been of benefit in improving her musical taste. At a more senior level orchestras, brass and military bands have provided some really thrilling moments. What is thought to be the highest mark ever awarded at Wharfedale was given by Watson Forbes to the Ripon Schools Orchestra in 1964, for their performance of Britten’s Simple Symphony, ‘Never have I heard it played better’ he said when he awarded them 98 marks.

Audience participation, sometimes limited to the singing of Parry’s Jerusalem at the Finals Concert, has always been a feature. Special permission had to be obtained from the publishers and Parry’s widow, in order that it might be taught to festival audiences. The composer’s England was used as an alternative on five or six occasions. The 1917 festival concluded with Walford Davies conducting choirs and audience in the hymn Lead Kindly Light.

Any visitor to this festival will readily observe that it is extremely well endowed with trophies, all of which are on display at the beginning of the festival week. The oldest and most prominent was presented by the Ilkley Tradesmen in 1913 for competition by Male Voice Choirs. This magnificent piece presents display problems and on at least two occasions it has fallen down causing much commotion especially in 1914 when it collapsed during – appropriately enough – the Male Voice Choir Competition.

Certificates for competitors gaining 80 marks or over were introduced in 1925 and up to then cash prizes were only awarded to choirs and orchestras. For a year or two cash prizes to choirs were replaced by grants for travelling expenses. This arrangement was carried out with the agreement of the National Association of Choirs, but in spite of official backing many choirs disliked the idea and entries dropped alarmingly. Sir Walford Davies was so opposed to cash prizes that he eventually declined adjudicating engagements at festivals where these existed.

During the post war period cash prizes were introduced for all classes, this culminating in at least one committee resignation as a matter of principle. The present practice is to award money only as special Memorial Prizes.

No one should suppose, that having established itself, the Wharfedale Music Festival enjoyed unbroken public support and enthusiasm. Up to 1929 support was consistent as evidenced by a news reporter’s comment that at 9.00 a.m. 50 people were waiting for admission to hear the solo pianists, and by 9.30 a.m. there were over 150 in the audience. There was a marked decline in patrons’ donations and audience support owing to the growing popularity of summer sports, the ‘motor habit’ and the ‘cinema habit’, plus the effects of a general trade depression.

Thinking that the time of year and season might have some effect, the committee changed the date to mid March – this proved disastrous – with a further decline in entries and public support and by general consent the next year’s festival reverted to its normal time. By 1933 a handsome investment fund of £500 in War Stock had been liquidated in order to keep the festival solvent. In the following year the committee seriously considered a proposal to wind up its affairs, but this was defeated, and a sub-committee appointed to consider ways and means of increasing support, with the happy result that by 1936 it was confidently booking adjudicators three years ahead.

Further troughs of depression occurred in 1954 when the Ilkley Gazette reported that ‘unless there are material signs that there is more support, the committee will seriously consider winding it up.’ During the 60’s vague hints were made culminating in a committee proposal in 1967 to prepare a letter for general publication announcing its doubts as to continuation, but this letter was never published as a record number of entries was received. The nagging doubts, however, were not completely dispelled and the subject exercised minds of committee members regularly until 1971. Public exhortations by the press and various chairmen of Ilkley Urban District Council were made, one of whom said that ‘Ilkley has in its midst an organisation which ranks highly in the festival world, and is held by many adjudicators to be of outstanding quality.

Throughout the festival, movement classes are provided for children and adults, but these almost invariably exclude music students attending recognised university departments or colleges of music in preparation for professional careers. In 1977, the Wharfedale Music Festival Committee decided to bridge the gap between school-age children and adults by running a special competition for music students, whose study at college might well have precluded their inclusion in the normal festival classes. In addition to creating an added dimension to the festival’s activity, this competition gave valuable experience to students who were still studying but wished to obtain a serious opportunity to perform a full recital before an audience which included professional adjudicators.

The first three competitions (1978/79/80) were known as the ‘Young Performers Competition’, but this title was found to be a trifle ambiguous, resulting in the next two competitions being entitled ‘Competition for Yorkshire Music Students’. It should be explained that the purpose of this special competition was to give opportunities to Yorkshire-born music students whether or not they were still residing in the county. By 1983 it was obvious that if these activities were to continue, it was necessary to widen the geographical areas to include the counties of Lancashire, Cumbria, Northumberland and Durham.

Competitors had to be aged 18 but not over 26 years (30 years for singers) on the competition date, and to have been awarded a performer’s diploma by a recognised college of music, or have achieved an equivalent standard verified by the tutor. The application forms stipulated that at the time of entry they should have prepared an hour’s recital, full details of which were submitted to the adjudicators who selected items or movements totalling twenty minutes. The competitors, therefore, had to prepare a sixty-minute recital but were not given advance information of the adjudicator’s selections. All the performers were heard by the adjudicators during the morning and afternoon sessions, from which five finalists were chosen to perform a further twenty-minute selection at the evening session.

The adjudicators for these competitions included Noel Cox, who was then Warden of the Royal Academy of Music; Lionel Salter, former B.B.C. Assistant Controller of Music; Derrick Cantrell, former organist at Manchester Cathedral; Gordon Stewart, former Chief Producer (Artists) B.B.C. Radio 3 Music Department; Hubert Dawkes, Professor, Royal College of Music; Mark Rowlinson, B.B.C. Music Producer, Manchester; Philip Cranmer, former Secretary Associated Board, Royal Schools of Music; James Langley, Senior Music Producer, B.B.C. Manchester; Jillian White, Music Producer, B.B.C. Bristol, and Glyn Bragg, Senior Music Producer, B.B.C. Scotland.

Throughout the whole series of competitions, the official accompanist was Geoffrey Hamilton, but students were permitted to use their own if they so wished, thus giving platform experience to aspiring young accompanists.

The winner of the first competition received a prize of £100, with £50 for the runner-up. At the last competition held in 1991, the winner received £500, with smaller prizes down to £100 for fifth place, and £75 for the best student accompanist.

The prize winners were offered a lunchtime recital in the Bradford Library Theatre, or a concert engagement with Cantores Olicana in their ‘Music at St. Margaret’s Church, Ilkley. Many of the winners expressed the view that the platform experience was invaluable, and their success in the competition itself gained them entry into further large-scale events.

The adjudicators highly acclaimed the competition, and in 1986 Jillian White, in supporting the next year’s event, quoted Brahms as saying ‘Music must speak from the heart to the heart’. She went on to say:

It can, of course, only do this when there are willing bodies to provide those hearts. At Ilkley, there is certainly a sizeable body who have, as it were, ‘seen the light’. But I want to encourage more people to support this competition. Last year’s winner went on to win the most prestigious prize in London, and other contestants have continued to develop their careers. I am convinced that the five finalists we heard on Saturday 15th November, in the King’s Hall, will continue to develop their careers.

It was a matter of great regret that the committee were unable to obtain a regular sponsor for this prestigious competition, but were nevertheless grateful to Guinness (1978), Yorkshire Bank (1979), Lloyds Bank (1982-1989) and Yorkshire Television (1991).
A sad end to a much-needed platform for music students.

At the 1990 conference of the British Federation of Festivals, concern was expressed at the serious diminution of instrumental teaching in state schools.   Arising from this came the suggestion that the Federation should have some input to the discussions taking place at that time, towards the formulation of an interim report on ‘Music in the National Curriculum’. All the fifteen areas of the Federation were represented at meetings of the United Kingdom Council for Music Education and Training.

At local level, one teacher expressed the view to the committee that, as a person without specialist music training, she felt hesitant about entering her children in the festival. This led to the festival committee taking the decision to set up some form of workshop for teachers in L.E.A. schools. After discussion with the Bradford Metropolitan Authority Music Advisor, an in-service training afternoon was held in one of the schools in March 1992, conducted by a festival adjudicator, James Wild. Following this, the participating schools prepared a number of songs which formed the basis of the workshop held during festival week. Two hundred children from eight schools took part, each school presenting a short programme of own-choice choral music.

From the comments given by the teachers involved, the committee felt confident enough to plan for further workshops, both for school choirs and drama groups. It is a well-established fact that the vast majority of entries in the speech and drama sections of most festivals, come from independent schools, and private speech and drama teachers. The workshops for speech and drama thereby provided some means of encouraging local schools to participate in a strictly non-competitive atmosphere. In 1993, adjudicator Ann Warr conducted the first drama workshop, devoting the morning session to exercising the technical ability of the pupils and illustrating ways in which their technique could be improved and developed.

From 1994, workshops for both school choirs and drama groups became a regular feature of festival week, thereby giving several hundreds of school children an opportunity to share in this activity in relaxed and friendly surroundings.

Wharfedale, along with many other festivals, has been fortunate enough to attract entries from a large number of excellent school orchestras, bands and instrumental groups. The performances gave striking proof of the excellent teaching which has taken place over the past few decades. Sadly, many schools have lost these facilities or have had them severely curtailed, but this festival is fortunate to receive continuing support from local schools and music centres.

A survey conducted a few years ago amongst the players in two of this country’s leading orchestras, revealed that 70% of the musicians received their initial instrumental training under the schools music service. At a concert given by the B.B.C. Philharmonic in Leeds a few years ago, there were no fewer than seven Wharfedale Music Festival prize-winners playing in the orchestra.

At one of the sessions of the Federation’s 1987 Conference, much discussion took place on the subject of establishing a more relevant and useful system of grading performances. For the best part of a century, performances had always been given a mark based on a percentage scale, but many adjudicators and festival organisers felt this to be inadequate, and on occasions inconsistent, between two or more adjudicators working at the same festival.

Adjudicator Christopher Wiltshire presented a paper outlining suggestions for a revised system using categories bearing titles not normally associated with school or examination work. This festival was one of many which adopted the proposals with effect from 1988. The 1989 programme includes the paragraph:

This festival has now adopted a system of categories instead of marks, in line with many other affiliated to the British Federation of Festivals throughout the country. Since the purpose of the festival movement is education, it is believed that this will make the best use of the adjudicator’s valuable time in providing helpful, constructive criticism and encouragement, both verbally and on the evaluation sheet received by each competitor.

Over the next few years, the definitions were refined in order to reflect the experience gamed, and these stand as follows:

O : OUTSTANDING – In terms of technique and artistic interpretation
V : VERY GOOD – A very good performance in terms of technical preparation & artistic merit.
G : GOOD – A good performance, well prepared and showing artistic merit.
M : MODERATE – Showing a fair standard of general preparation.
I : INSECURE – An insecure performance.

Without doubt, the highlight of 1991 was the Royal Reception held in St. James’s Palace on the 6th June, in the gracious presence of Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. The reception formed part of the Federation’s celebration of its 70th anniversary.

Eight hundred people attended this reception, drawn from officers and members of the Federation’s Central Board; adjudicators in the three disciplines of music, dance and speech; members of the Music Teachers Association; representatives from many of the affiliated festivals throughout the British Isles, and accompanist members together with special guests from national music organisations, stage and concert platforms.

The Secretary of this festival and his wife, Margaret, were requested to attend early in the day to help prepare the special tables and displays depicting the Federation’s history, and all aspects of the festival movement. This preparation time gave them an opportunity to look closely at the magnificent rooms with their wonderful paintings. Rather surprisingly, some of the furniture was well-worn, almost shabby.

Around the walls in each of the rooms were placed a series of tables, in front of which stood all those who were to be introduced to the Royal Party. The remainder of the guests stood behind, thus enabling everybody to have a good view of the proceedings.

In the Reception Room the Federation’s officers were introduced to the Royal Party before making an entrance into the Throne Room. The writer was the first person in the Throne Room to be introduced to Her Majesty, and he in turn introduced adjudicators Doris Parkinson and Ivor Benyon; Geoffrey Bridge, former Treasurer to the Federation, and Ursula Vaughan Williams, widow of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, who was an enthusiastic President of the Federation during the 1950’s. Her Majesty was introduced to the guests standing at one side of the room, with Prince Philip likewise being introduced to guests on the other side. Other guests from the Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts were chairman Blanche Woollin, accompanied by her husband Gerald, and committee member Sheila Sunderland.

The Reception was an exciting and happy occasion for all concerned. A measure of its success can be judged by the fact that Her Majesty and Prince Philip stayed a full hour longer than was originally planned. A truly wonderful day.