Sir John Barbirolli

[johnb]

As a teenager I was very fortunate to go to a school which participated in a scheme for cheap tickets in the Gods at the Free Trade Hall for Halle Concerts - so going to the Halle and seeing JB conduct was a regular part of my teenage years. Very fond memories.

Two stand out concerts that still resonate after all those years were Gerontius and, especially, Mahler 2.

[vibratoforever]

Sadly, many of those Halle brass players with whom you shared interval pints are no longer with us. I was lucky to work with them, mainly at the end of their careers; Bram Gay, the Principal trumpet (and was from New Zealand) went into management; he passed away quite recently; his Trumpet colleague Sydney King (one of the real old school, a legendary character and a particular crony of Sir John) a few years now. 1st Trombone Terence Nagle and Tuba player Stuart Roebuck are also now gone as are the married couple of horn players Arthur Bevan and Enid Roper (mind you, I suspect that they would have been having a nice cup of tea in those intervals!). Happily, my old teacher Julian Baker (wonderful player) is still with us and still active.

Without in any way ignoring the legacy of Sir John himself, let us remember all of these players who, often overworked and underpaid, spent hours on buses to bring live music of high quality to the North of England and elsewhere.

Malcolm Tillis in his book "Chords and Discords" and more recently John Georgiadis in "Bow to Baton" provide a fascinating view of life in the Halle.

The orchestra and conductor provided an unforgettable experience for so many

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/howard-jacobson-on-the-hall-how-an-orchestra-changed-my-life-769522.html

[Once Was 4]

Yes, Tillis tells it as it is - things are perhaps not as bad now in some respects but he makes it clear that it's not an easy life. I was once on a TUC Health and Safety course where the instructor, a real old-school trade unionist, told me in front of everybody that I just swanned around enjoying myself for a living.

BTW: In the list of sadly now passed Halle brass players I should have mentioned Neville 'Nev' Roberts - a larger than life character in more than one way. He was knocked over by a car on his way home from getting a takaway meal and never really recovered. Yes, all those musicians have the usual day-to-day risks and stresses.

[cloughie]

Most of the Halle brass players would have ‘served their apprenticeships’ in one or other of the many fine northern company, colliery or town bands. Another larger than life character in the orchestra was Rayson Whalley who could be called upon to many instruments in the kitchen sink section and was a much accomplished keyboard player, coming to the fore in symphonic works which required piano, celesta etc.

[Once Was 4]

Most of the Halle brass players would have ‘served their apprenticeships’ in one or other of the many fine northern company, colliery or town bands. Another larger than life character in the orchestra was Rayson Whalley who could be called upon to many instruments in the kitchen sink section and was a much accomplished keyboard player, coming to the fore in symphonic works which required piano, celesta etc.

Rayson Whalley once gave me a keyboard exam at the Northern School of Music but spent most of the time talking about a certain horn player. Yes, a multi-talent and also a very distinguished-looking figure.

Your mention of brass bands reminds one that the Halle in the late 40s and early 50s, then as now, had a female Principal trombone - Maisie Ringham (still with us by all accounts). This is nothing unusual these days but would have been quite a thing then. The wonderful conductor, but objectionable character, Sergiu Celibadache spent years trying to sack his Principal trombone in Munich purely because he objected to a female in this seat. Sir John also appointed Livia Gollancx (of the publishing firm) as Principal horn when he rebuilt the orchestra in 1943 - on third was Enid Roper, previously a schoolteacher in Haworth. Again, this was groundbreaking; one of them told me that the 4th horn was Raymond Meert (of Belgian birth) who had been Principal horn and Sir John brought him out of retirement; but he "objected to playing down the line to two girls!" (her words, not mine!) How times have changed! sadly Ms Gollancx and Sir John fell out eventually and she left for the BBC in Glasgow (although the story as often told was not quite accurate apparently).

[Opinionated Knowall]

Your mention of brass bands reminds one that the Halle in the late 40s and early 50s, then as now, had a female Principal trombone - Maisie Ringham (still with us by all accounts).

Sadly Maisie died in 2016 at the age of 92. I had the good fortune to be coached by her in the Harrow Youth Orchestra in the 1970s. There were some quite *lively* characters in the orchestra then, but my goodness, everybody was in awe of Maisie!

[Once Was 4]

Malcolm Tillis in his book "Chords and Discords" and more recently John Georgiadis in "Bow to Baton" provide a fascinating view of life in the Halle.

The orchestra and conductor provided an unforgettable experience for so many

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...fe-769522.html

That article is a gem and brings back the atmosphere of the late 60s and early 70s (when I was in Manchester) so clearly. Re the rehearsal room in Hulme; security guards had to be hired to watch over the players' cars; I remember them when I played as an extra and deputy with the Halle and later, when my old firm rehearsed there a few times, we asked our manager about the security guards. He first accused us of being 'soft' but then hired one guard; who said that, as he was on his own, he would sit in the van and keep an eye out but would radio for the police if needed and not try to intervene himself. Mind you, just down the road was the Hulme Hippodrome which was the BBC's light music studio in Manchester and housed the Northern Radio Orchestra (which disappeared in the 1982 cuts); there was a school with a certain reputation over the road and, one day, the kids came over and started messing with our cars. Those BBC security men with peaked caps, so good at demanding to see our passes every day, stayed well behind their desk leading to the players going out and sorting out the kids themselves with the help of some harassed teachers who came running across. Such is the life of a musician.

Staying with the article; the boy's imagination regarding the lady 'cellists reminds me of a double entendre thrown at a female 'cello student by Maurice Handford one day in a student orchestra rehearsal; these days and quite rightly this would not be tolerated. Here things have certainly changed for the better.

The schools' concerts to which he refers would have been conducted by Arthur Percival, once the Halle's deputy leader but in my day in the rank and file. A dapper little man, another crony of Sir John's and a noted mimic. Which reminds one of the oft-told story of the Halle going over to Belfast on the Liverpool boat; the Irish Sea was at its worst and Arthur Percival was laid prostrate on a bench on deck; Sir John and his group came out of the bar and Sydney King, trumpeter and old school Lancastrian exclaimed "eeeee! therrre's Arrthur doin' an imperrrrsonation of somebody being sick on the Irish Sea!"

Memories, memories.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Does anyone have a JB handkerchief, embroidered with the conductor’s signature and a quotation from Bruckner 3?

[cloughie]

Does anyone have a JB handkerchief, embroidered with the conductor’s signature and a quotation from Bruckner 3?

No but it sounds like a nice thing to have, particularly as those are my initials! Interesting that JB did no commercial recordings of Bruckner but then in the 60s Bruckner’s popularity was still growing as was the record companies enthusiasm for doing symphony cycles.

[Once Was 4]

Your mention of brass bands reminds one that the Halle in the late 40s and early 50s, then as now, had a female Principal trombone - Maisie Ringham (still with us by all accounts).

Sadly Maisie died in 2016 at the age of 92. I had the good fortune to be coached by her in the Harrow Youth Orchestra in the 1970s. There were some quite *lively* characters in the orchestra then, but my goodness, everybody was in awe of Maisie!

I am really sorry to hear that but we are talking about a generation that is passing. I was prompted by this thread to have another look at Michael Kennedy's book on the Halle and its listing of the personnel from 1958. The horn section was Maurice Handford, Kenneth Shaw, Arthur Bevan, David Wise and Enid Roper. All have now passed on. David died relatively young and was pre-deceased by his wife Jean Briar. Both fell victim to brain tumours. He was a particular friend, colleague and mentor for me - nicknamed 'Charlie' by Sir John because of his short stature. Arthur and Enid were legends - as one of the BBC Northern players put it "long as they have been doing that job they have never lost their enthusiasm and would play all day if you would let them". When Enid died Arthur soldiered on and, after retirement, became a great chamber music fan. Handford was, well, Handford. Not a nice man - people are quite open in reminiscences of how badly he treated other people. For all that a fine musician who deserves to be remembered for that. I only met Ken Shaw a couple of times after he had moved to London - a great model railway enthusiast.

[johnb]

The schools' concerts to which he refers would have been conducted by Arthur Percival, once the Halle's deputy leader but in my day in the rank and file.

I guess that the Halle had an arrangement with schools where they could order, in advance, tickets for the regular concerts (i.e. not special "school's concerts) at a reduced price - for my school the arrangement was for tickets in the gods.

In my school, a list of concerts went up on the noticeboard and pupils could write their name against those they were interested in attending. The tickets would arrive some time later and we all made our own way, on the bus, from the Eccles area to the Free Trade Hall on the evening. There were quite a few of us who regularly attended - it was just a normal thing to do. (During the periods when JB was away in Houston, etc it was Maurice Handford who usually conducted the orchestra.)

I guess that Howard Jacobson's school had a more formal arrangement, with buses laid on.

[Nimrod]

Does anyone have a JB handkerchief, embroidered with the conductor’s signature and a quotation from Bruckner 3?

I have one of these, too. Inherited from a deceased aunt. Do you know the story behind the issue of these? I'd post a picture, but I'm not sure how to do that on this site?

[Nimrod]

Removing the lions was an act of vandalism - I fondly remember JB appearing from between them acknowledging the orchestra and his performances of the National Anthem were applause worthy before the concert proper began. Were you there when there were severe gales in Sheffield probably Feb 1962 - Tchaikovsky 6 was very atmospheric as the wind could be heard in the roof vents in the quiet passages. There were countless works that I grew to love by first hearing them there.

Your comment about JB's performance of the National Anthem is spot on. It was a performance, not just another hackneyed run-through (such as we used to get in Birmingham in the mid-60's). I'll never forget the first time I travelled up to a concert, Elgar's Funeral March to Grania and Diarmid and Bruckner's 8th (my main reason to motor bike 80 miles on a Winter's afternoon!). JB came on and faced the audience to acknowledge the applause and then, with a flick of his baton to the side drummer we all arose and heard the anthem as I, for one, had never heard it performed with such intensity and feeling. The horns roared out their notes towards the end with spine tingling effect. Unforgettable

[cloughie]

Your comment about JB's performance of the National Anthem is spot on. It was a performance, not just another hackneyed run-through (such as we used to get in Birmingham in the mid-60's). I'll never forget the first time I travelled up to a concert, Elgar's Funeral March to Grania and Diarmid and Bruckner's 8th (my main reason to motor bike 80 miles on a Winter's afternoon!). JB came on and faced the audience to acknowledge the applause and then, with a flick of his baton to the side drummer we all arose and heard the anthem as I, for one, had never heard it performed with such intensity and feeling. The horns roared out their notes towards the end with spine tingling effect. Unforgettable

I remember the CBSO at Sheffield - the Sheffield Philharmonic Concerts were predominantly Halle but with occasional visiting orchestras - Harold Gray’s name comes to mind - but by no means as memorable as JB, but then was anyone?

[cloughie]

I guess that the Halle had an arrangement with schools where they could order, in advance, tickets for the regular concerts (i.e. not special "school's concerts) at a reduced price - for my school the arrangement was for tickets in the gods.

In my school, a list of concerts went up on the noticeboard and pupils could write their name against those they were interested in attending. The tickets would arrive some time later and we all made our own way, on the bus, from the Eccles area to the Free Trade Hall on the evening. There were quite a few of us who regularly attended - it was just a normal thing to do. (During the periods when JB was away in Houston, etc it was Maurice Handford who usually conducted the orchestra.)

I guess that Howard Jacobson's school had a more formal arrangement, with buses laid on.

I did the ticket job at my school - one shilling for seats on the platform and for concerts with a chorus had to pay sixpence more for seats in the ‘gods’ or front stalls. Also ‘Messiah’ tickets were like gold and had to queue at ‘Wilson Peck’s’ in the city for tickets and I was allowed a hour off school to go in for them! George Weldon was JB’s number two for much of time I saw them with Maurice taking over on George’s death.