A GREAT MUSICIAN

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 17, 21 January 1939, Page 23

A GREAT MUSICIAN

siR HENRY WOOD'S

MEMORIES

FASCINATING JUBILEE BOOK

• (By L. D. Austin.)

"My Life of Music": The Autobiography of Sir Henry Wood. London: Victor Gollancz, Ltd., 1938, 7s 6d.

At last the long-awaited life story of England's most popular orchestral conductor, published concurrently with the celebration of his recent musical jubilee, has reached New Zealand. A treasured autographed copy arrived in time for a most welcome Christmas gift which, during, the holiday period, has. provided many hours' reading of absorbing interest. The book runs to nearly 500 pages. /What happy memories they evoke for the middle-aged musical Londoner! As one who was present at the first promenade concert in Queen's Hall on that faraway .evening in August; 1895, I found myself reliving those joyous years from that memorable date until 1908, when I left for New Zealand. During this period I rarely missed a week of the Proms. : , so my personal interest in such a book as now lies before me }s easily understandable. But it must not be thought that the appeal of this autobiography exists solely for musicians and ex-

Londoners. Everybody who appreciates a well-written book of reminiscences will enjoy it. The style is throughout easy and almost colloquial. It is exactly the kind of book one would expect from a man who may be said beyond all others to have democratised music. Moreover,; a keen sense of humour pervades' it from cover to cover, funny stories of celebrities abound, and the.narrative,is altogether delightful." Sir Hugh Allen, late principal of the Royal /College of Music, and an almost, exact contemporary, has written an iotrqductibii ; tq> the . book, which is not; only an?'excellent 'pen!picture ,6f' Sir '.I^enry but gives the key to' the story that''follows. Let me quote-from it: '..;■ •■

Sir Henry Wood holds a unique position in our musical -world. .His name is a household word.. • His influence on our music as an orchestral conductor has made itself felt for fully fifty years in a remarkable way and. with, beneficent results. He has good reason indeed to be proud of all he has done, and we to be grateful for it. . . . No one has had greater influence on the music of his time and generation, nor given himself so unsparingly to its service. More than most, he has come into close touch with our music-making in every part of the kingdom,. and . has always stimulated it. He lias never visited any music society or organisation that was not the better for the contact.

Sir _ Henry learned his job by,- actual experience and never took anything at second hand. He has some practical solution for every problem; that presents .itself. The effect of' this is that everybody trusts him; for they .know, .that ,he. will always ''deliver the goods."

This reliability, this immense range of experience—of musicnl sympathy, 'this power of administration—these unique gifts of musicianship and of leadei'ship are factors in the hold he possesses on the good will and imagination of U9 all.

Herein lies the secret- of (Sir Henry Wood's success. He has always been trusted implicitly—first by his parents, and then by the great public whom he has served so i aithfully^for over half a century. :;. -C '.',', '"'■■'■

In a brief foreword he tells us that his determination had been "never to write memoirs—a . suggestion, offered many times by publishers and friends of music," because "of the fear that any such publication "might prove dull reading to those who look for anecdote and travel in an autobiogx*aphy." Not that he has few stories to tell. "Of anecdotes," says Sir Henry, "I have a full store, but as these are so of ten unkind I decided that most, of them .would: have to ;be omitted;" while travel: has bfeen denied me since, from? 1895, tfye Proms.,',": symphony, and "Sunday concerts at Queen's Hall have: held; in'e prisoner in England." ~ : But eventually the pressure i ,'Jrom; friends - became. '. too! strong, and >■ Sir Henry was prevailed upon to write his book chiefly because he is now "the only one left 'to * give. the true history of these faimpus •concerts." i ;;,^,. : . I thmk iVwas;' Arnpld"Behneit wh;o once said that the success of diny'book I largely depends upon -its opening J words. Sir Henry Wood evidently! knew this when he penned the initial i paragraph of "My Life of Music." The very first sentence enchains the reader's attention, and from then on the interest is never allowed to flag; It begins like an exciting novel: "A terrible scream—that of my darling mother—is my first recollection." The maternal scream arose from hearing baby Henry Wood, aged about three, fall off a table whereon he had climbed to get a better . view of an organ-grinder in the street below. Consequence— <fa broken nose v/as the first souvenir of my inborn love for music."

This musical instinct was wisely developed by a fond mother who, says the author, "during my babyhood would take me on her knee and give me my first lessons in music as well as the alphabet."

Sir Henry was fortunate in both his parents. "Now that I am a man of years," he writes, "I derive much happiness from the sweet memory I have carried throughout my life of my beloved father and mother, realising that to them I owe whatever success I have achieved."

His father used to test the boy's ear by tapping, at meal times, a tumbler, or cup, or any article on the table that could give out a recognisable tone, and ask young Henry: "What note's that?" When there was any doubt about the answer it would be verified at the piano. "Thus," says Sir Henry, "I gained the sense of absolute pitch which I have never, since lost."

From his father, too, who was an optician and model engineer by trade, young Henry inherited the craftsmanship which in later life enabled him to exploit his love of carpentry and other similar hobbies, while his mother also fostered the 3^-ent artistic talent that resulted in a considerable mastery of palette and brush. Had not Sir Henry elected to follow music he might have become a leading' light of London's other Royal Academy.

Within the limits of space at my disposal it is not possible to review at any length the most remarkable book of musical memoirs that has appeared in this generation. Sir Henry Wood relates the history not only of the Promenade Concerts but of innumerable other enterprises with which he has been connected. He gives us a veritable cavalcade of music and musicians during the past fifty years. In the most amusing fashion—sometimes quite in Wodehousian vein—he tells anecdotes about all the great personages who have crossed the musical stage within

his circle, which embraces practically the entire world of music. And, despite what he says in his foreword, not one of these stories is unkind, nor has i any of them appeared in print before. Moreover, they will be relished with keen enjoyment even by non-musical readers. Sir Henry's sense of fun can be noted on nearly every page^ with delightfully sly touches, as when he rechri.stened the R.A.M., after its succession of Scottish principals—Sir George Macfarren, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and Sir John- McEwen —the Royal Macademy of Music! And again, in the chapter headed "Discipline," with which quotation I must regretfully conclude this review, we read:

Orchestral rehearsals were now (1896) part of my daily life. I was a very young man, all the same, to take on the responsibilities of. directing and training so large a body of musicians—many of them, old hands who had played while I was still in my cradle.' 'They' were up to every, trick of the trade—and there are .many tricks!

•I began my first rehearsal with a determination not to give them so much as an i inch. If I ever intended to be on top I must begin on top. Consequently, I was i not exactly loved by some of the players. During' a rehearsal interval one morning I wen(; into the library, from which I chanced to overhear two of the oldest hands discussing current events in an adjoining room. ' • : '-'■■ :.'■ . "We eeem to be haying a hell of, a time, Teddy," said one. "Aye. I wonder where Newman (the manager) picked up this brat Wood." "You . remember, Teddy," went on the iirst speaker, "how we used to stroll in at half-past ten. But this chap is on that rostrum with his big watch in his hand, and his stick —ready at ten." "I know. If only half, of us is there he begins. No good creeping in quietly, either, with him stopping ' and saying 'Good-morning Another cab-horse down?' in that nasty voice of his." "What annoys me," said the other, "ia that he starts the piece again. He does the same blasted trick with everyone who comes in late. I suppose there's nothing for it, Teddy; we shall have to be there by ten!" »

Such was the attitude to Henry Wood by his players at the start of his career, but it was not long before it gave way to the esteem and affection in which he is now universally held. No one should miss this fascinating book.