SIR LANDON RONALD AND BRITISH ORCHESTRAS

Evening Post, Issue 149, 20 December 1935, Page 24

SIR LANDON RONALD AND BRITISH ORCHESTRAS

(To the Editor.)

r Sir,—The article quoted by : "The Post" from the •'Manchester Guardian," iri? which Sir Landon Ronald gave his impressions of music' ih'England over a period of 25 years; made interesting reading; but I would like to comment upon one of Sir Landon's reported statements regarding the artistic standard of orchestral playing in England 30 years ago.' He is alleged to have said: "It was Strauss who, with his unusually difficult scoring, put an end to slipshod playing in the English orchestra. The performers had simply got to be able to play all the notes and in the way Strauss indicated on the score. :■>, Otherwisej complete chaos. That, to my mind, was the real beginning of first-rate orchestral playing in this country." • ■. . .

Now if we examine this amazing statement closely we come to the following conclusion: Sir Landon Ronald asserts that real orchestral playing began in England 30 years ago—namely, in 1905.1 Before then, according to him, orchestral musicians were slipshod and incapable of performing'the works of Richard Strauss! Such a contention is so ridiculous, and so absolutely contrary to fact, that it constitutes a slur on the achievements of bygone British orchestras. In the first place, English /instrumentalists were familiar with Strauss's works long before the date mentioned by Sir Landon, as they were introduced to English audiences by Sir August Manns at the Crystal Palace in 1896, and were already old history in 1905. But quite apart from this inaccuracy I must point out that, chiefly through acquaintance wtih the. compositions of Wagner, Liszt, arid Berlioz, Britis* orchestral players had long been accustomed to render the most ornate and intricate scores with meticulous accuracy and brilliance, under such renowned conductors as Richter, MottL and Nikisch, besides bur own Sir Henry Wood.

My musical memory goes back quite as far as that of Sir Landon Ronald, and I recall vividly many orchestral concerts in the nineties, including several series of promenade concerts at Queen's Hall, in which the general standard of orchestral playing was as high, perhaps higher, than it is today. Having just returned from London where I heard dozens of orchestras under various conductors, I can speak authoritatively on this point. Moreover, I discussed with Sir Henry Wood the very subject of the relative merits of orchestras, past and present, and he agreed with me that bygone players compared often more than favourably because in those days,there were fewer concerts, and performers were not so jaded as they frequently are todays

Beyond all this, there are historical records to prove that a century ago Mendelssohn was astonished and delighted with the "brilliance and finish" of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, whilst Richard Wagner expressed similar encomiums when he conducted concerts of his own works at the Al[bert Hall in 1877.

It is therefore apparent, Sir, that Sir Landon Ronald was very wide of the mark in his aspersions upon British orchestral.playing if he has been correctly reported, and I shall not be surprised to find his statements severely criticised in England by abler pens than mine.—l am, etc., L. D. AUSTIN.