Something for Christmas

Harry Amers was and now never will be a household name. He however did his part to promote music to the masses in the first third of the 20th century at the seaside resort of Eastbourne on the South Coast of England for which we really should be grateful.

Amers: All on a Christmas Morning, Idyll [1920]

&

Amers: The B'hoys of Tipperary, Patrol [1915]

The Eastbourne Municipal Orchestra conducted by Harry G. Amers

Columbia 5400

(ⓦAX 8896-2 & ⓦAX 8894-2)

Recorded: Thursday, 18th April 1929 at Eastbourne

Issued: mid June 1929

Two FLAC selections in one Zip file 16bit [18Mb]

(If you are not familiar with FLAC I can recommend Foobar2000 player)

‘Harry’ Henry Gallon Amers (1875 - 1944) was born in Newcastle to a musical family. Harry’s Grandfather was a band sergeant in the Newcastle Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry and his father J.H. Amers may also have been a member of this same regiment but due to delicate health we find him conducting a string band that also grew large enough to be called and ‘orchestral band’ that gave entertainment at various shows and functions in the in the Newcastle area. Most notably as musical director to the Royal Jubilee Exhibition of 1887. Harry started as a chorister in St George's Newcastle and as a youth he played a solo by command before the Princess of Wales and several times before King Edward VII - unfortunately I do not know which instrument he played.

Harry Amers around 1908

Harry was to joined the same regiment, now renamed the Northumberland Hussars Imperial Yeomanry, on 24 March 1896 as a ‘Bandmaster.’ This was just a month after his father’s death so the two events are probably connected for Harry either joined in order not to be a drain on the family finances or to help support his mother and siblings. In 1898 he can be found conducting the Elswick Military Band at the Pleasure Gardens at Saltburn and seems to have conducted various military bands in popular and classical music throughout the North-East. He may have been with the Hussars during the Boer War however he was certainly in the UK in 1906 to record a number of pieces, including some of his compositions for the Homochord label. Harry apparently re-enlisted twice firstly in June 1906, roughly when the Homochord records were issued and again in June 1908.  One has the feeling that Harry’s health was also delicate for although receiving his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal when war broke out in August 1914, Harry, still only 39 he was found unfit for service. Despite this he still seems to have seen action as he was wounded in action. Harry remained with the Hussars and sometime after 1915  took charge of a prisoner of war camp. Once hostilities had ended he received the rank of captain in the reserves on his leaving the army in 1920. 

Inside the Eastbourne Pavilion.

Amers soon afterwards was employed by Eastbourne corporation to form a municipal orchestra that was based at the Devonshire Park both in the Pavilion auditorium and the Theatre for the next fifteen year the orchestras conductor. He conducted his small orchestra throughout the year, the orchestra being augmented with musicians down from London once the session there had ended. He clearly had good connections in the music world for he very soon instituted a music festival. The first of these remarkable festivals was in 1923 and was reviewed in the December issue of Musical Times.

Devonshire Park - the Theatre to the left and the Pavilion behind the trees.

'Eastbourne.- A notable Musical Festival was held by the Municipality at Devonshire Park on November 8-17,with the Municipal Orchestra under Capt. H. G. Amers. The interest and popularity of the Festival were maintained from beginning to end. The British music included Sir Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto. Herbert Howells’s new Pastoral Rhapsody, Alfred Wall’s Thanet and Lucretius, Mr. David Stephen’s Coronach, Holst’s Fugal Concerto and Fugal Overture, Dame Ethel Smyth’s Prelude to The Wreckers, Maurice Besly’s new Suite, Chelsea China, and works of Holbrooke, Eric Coates, W. H. Reed, Granville Bantock, John Foulds, Roger Quilter, Howard Carr. and A. W. Ketelbey, who all came to conduct their own compositions [!!!]. Franck’s Symphony was conducted by Sir Henry Wood. The choir appeared only once - in [German's] Merrie England. The Municipality is to be congratulated on the excellent management and success of its new venture.'

The festival continued annually, even the redoubtable Thomas Beecham came to conduct together with international soloists as Elizabeth Schumann, Arthur de Greef, and Guilhermina Suggia. 

During the late 1920s Amers and the Eastbourne Municipal Orchestra broadcast on the BBC a number of summer programmes from Devonshire Park. I understand that in the summer concerts were given in the Pavilion and in the winter in the Theatre. 

Film of the the North-East Coast Exhibition 1929.

The present recordings are connected to the North-East Coast Exhibition, a world fair held in Newcastle between May and October 1929. Recorded in Eastbourne in April 1926 the orchestra then headed north to Amers home town for the Exhibition. The record was issued by Columbia in their mid-June supplement when a total of eight sides which included these two of Amers own composition/arraignments.

Columbia Supplement mid-June 1929

1929 was probably the high watermark of the Eastbourne Municipal Orchestra’s success, a combination of economic distress and the Corporation of Eastbourne wanting a more popular fare with their new Band Stand  caused the orchestra to be disbanded in May. 1936. 

The last Festival was held at Devonshire Park on November 25-December 1 ‘The principal works in their programmes being as follows: Sir Hamilton Harty - Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. Elgar’s ‘Cello Concerto (Mr. Michael Cherniavsky), ‘In Ireland (Harty); Sir Thomas Beecham - Schubert’s Sixth Symphony. Sibelius’s Four Historical Themes. Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony; Sir Landon Ronald - Mozart’s Violin Concerto in D (Miss Orrea Pernel). Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony; Dr. Adrian Boult - [Elgar's] Cockaigne/ Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Haydn. Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto (Miss Myra Hess), Bax’s ‘Tintagel’; Sir Henrv Wood-Moussorgsky’s ‘Peep-Show’ Sibelius’s ‘En Saga.’ On the Friday afternoon Capt. Amers conducted a programme that included Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto (Orloff) and Mozart’s Symphony No. 34 in C. Mr. Gordon Jacob conducted his Passacaglia on a well-known Theme. The festival concluded with a performance of ‘The Messiah’ under Capt. Amers with Miss Isobel Baillie. Miss Betty Bannerman, Mr. Heddle Nash, and Mr. Harold Williams as soloists. It transpired that the Corporation intended to disband the Municipal Orchestra when its present contract expired next April. At the end of his concert Sir Thomas Beecham made a vigorous speech against this decision.' [Musical Times January, 1929].

Opening of the new Eastbourne Bandstand in 1936 - at 28 seconds there is what maybe a 

glimpse of our Capt. Amers standing behind the dignitaries at his last official function!

Harry 'was a handsome fellow; it seems, always immaculately dressed with a red carnation in his buttonhole and red hair to match. Much admired by lady members of the audience it is said ... . He had flair and a good sense of showmanship and never arrived until the second item on the programme, allowing his deputy to start the concert off. He appeared, as did the orchestra, in uniform during the day but in the evening he put on evening dress and became Captain Amers and his Famous Orchestra' (Pegg: Newcastle's Musical Heritage - unfortunately with a number of inaccuracies but with further information on Amers the contribution to the North-East Coast Exhibition)

I suppose Harry Amers probably went into retirement and is invariable recorded as having died in 1936 however Harry lived until 1944 and  died at West Hills, Ottery St Mary in East Devon. He was at the time of his death married to Kate Amers but he was also married to a Beatrice in 1907, but that ended in divorce in 1910. Harry was cremated and his ashes were interned with his parents John Hall Amers (1840-1895) and Frances Gallon Amers (1846-1906) and his siblings John Richardson Amers (1865-1946); Frances Amers (1874-1941); Hilda Amers (1881 - 1891) and Richard Amers (1884-1885). 

Debussy at the Grand Hotel Eastbourne taking a photo of the sea -
probably not really thinking about La Mer which he happened to compose there!

Dirigible Music

Hermann Männecke: "Graf Zeppelins" Weltreise 

Rund um die Erde - Großes Potpourri. 

Orchestra of  the Berlin Staatskapelle 

conducted by Dr Frieder Weissmann

Parlophone E10951

(Matrix Nos xxB 8393-2 & xxB 8394-2)

Tuesday, 10th September, 1929

One Flac file, Here at Mediafire. [about 24Mb]

The label on this British issue as you can see only gives half the story of this once 'topical' record and for some odd reason drops the name of both orchestra and conductor too. I can understand the wish to miss out the Zeppelin name because of the fairly recent raids during the First War but it is more likely that the loss of the British Airship R101 in September 1930 may have caused a label change! 

The composition celebrates the airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin circumnavigating the globe in 1929. It was really a trip round the northern hemisphere and depending on which starting point you want to pick the trip either started and finished at Lakehurst in New Jersey or Friedrichshafen in Germany.

Thus each leg of the journey was as follows:-

Friedrichshaften-Lakehurst: August 1, 1929- August 4, 1929

Lakehurst - Friedrichshaften: August 7, 1929 – August 10, 1929

Friedrichshafen – Tokyo: August 15, 1929 – August 19, 1929

Tokyo – Los Angeles: August 23, 1929 – August 26, 1929

Los Angeles – Lakehurst: August 27, 1929 – August 29, 1929

Lakehurst – Friedrichshafen: September 1, 1929 – September 4, 1929

Wikipedia et al take the Lakehurst position but our composer clearly preferred the Friedrichshafen one. He must have dashed the piece off in August 1929 for the recording was made within a week of the Graf Zeppelin landing back home.

Of Hermann Männecke (1879-1950) I have little to tell and can only transcribe the information in Wikipedia. Hermann was born and studied music at Hanover, he conducted his own band Blasorchester Hermann Männecke made a number of recordings and broadcasts. In 1931 Männecke became head of the orchestra class at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. He made a large number of adaptations of classical music, but also  wrote his own work. Along with other composers and arrangers (Georg Haentzschel, Gerhard Winkler, Hans Mielenz etc.) on November 29, 1950, he founded the Vereinigung Deutscher Musik-Bearbeiter eV (Association of German Music Arrangers). 

This is a film of the Graf Zeppelin over the Netherlands dropping a mail sack as it passes by.

On Margate sands

Well not quite on Margate sands but hard-by to them are the Winter Gardens host to Laurel & Hardy, The Beatles and various political party conferences. But also once the home to the Margate Municipal Orchestral during the heyday of such watering places before the 1950s.

Tunelandia - Orchestral Selection arranged by Lodge & Franks

The Margate Municipal Orchestra

Conducted by Herbert Lodge

Dominion A.185

(1254-2, 1255)

Issued November, 1929 but recorded about July, 1929

Link to FLAC file (about 15Mb)

First a quick tour through Margate's musical history. Margate employed Herr Moritz Würm's 'Red Viennese Band' as their municipal band from the 1890s and later by Karoly Klay and his 'Blue Hungarian Band' in 1903 when Würm had been tempted away by Folkstone. The musicians in these band were predominately British players dressed up in quasi military uniforms in various colours – Holst being a trombonist in one, and bitterly regretting it.

In 1904 Margate formed the Royal Meister Orchestra of seventeen or so musicians and employed Edmund Maney, a violinist of the newly formed LSO, as conductor. As the years progressed the orchestra increased to twenty-five, thirty-six which was bolstered to forty-one as the season got going in August. In 1911 a new pavilion and winter garden was built at a cost of £26,000 and the orchestra was renamed Margate Municipal Orchestra. The municipal purse was then strong enough to attract soloist that included Tetrazzini, Melba, Clara Butt, Kreisler and Backhaus. 

The Orchestra had to be reformed after the World War when G. Bainbridge Robinson took over as chief conductor. He instituted the Robinson's Music Festival that ran from mid-September to the end of the season  attracting other conductors including Landon Ronald, Cowan, Sargent and Holst. These concerts were not financially stable and Robinson departed

In 1928 Herbert Lodge, a fine bass player became the new conductor. He studied at the Royal Academy and Berlin, played for the Kroll Opera House and then in the Royal Opera, Covent Garden 1913-21, LSO 1921-31 and Royal Philharmonic 1932-35. He also claimed to be the first bass player to make a solo gramophone record, broadcast, and to feature in a talking picture, this apparently in 1931, the film still survives and can be watched here! 

Herbert Lodge conducting at Worthing 1950

With experience of playing in various orchestras to a circus and apparently appearing at times in London cinemas with an all saxophone band this short, dark and dapper man with a wide experience made him the perfect conductor for Margate. He played light classical concerts at the Margate Oval on Friday mornings but also concertos and symphonies at the Winter Gardens but had to accompany all sorts of acts and act as the house dance band. The Second World War killed the orchestra off and Lodge became conductor of the 'Southern Orchestra' to entertain factory workers and troops. He managed to reform the orchestra in 1946 but it lasted only a season before fading out. Lodge had already been conducting the orchestra at Worthing from the mid 1930s but after the war this was loosing money and came to an end  on Lodge's retirement, through ill health in 1954

The Winter Gardens from the air

Lodge composed or arranged various orchestral items to entertain the seaside goers, and Tunelandia was typical of the entertainment that was given at Margate. I do not believe it has ever been published; i also do not know what 'Franks' had in the piece or indeed who he/she was.

Dominion Records first supplement appeared in September 1928 but by July 1930 it was all over and declared bankrupt. The company was part owned by an American company called Cameo records, a number of whose recordings where pressed here in the UK under the Dominion label. Cameo went bust in 1929 and the UK end of the business struggled on. The records are pressed on very cheep and noisy shellac and this copy is not in the first flush of youth. I'm not altogether sure what recording system they are using but it is quite probably a bespoke system to avoid paying royalties to Western Electric; the sound although quite boxy still has a verydecent high frequency response and fine violin tone.

The previous conductor, Robinsoin, had recorded the orchestra on the Edison Bell label so naturally enough did Lodge when he took over. He recorded Lizst Hungarian Rhapsody No 14 for Edison Bell but when issued in May 1929 this 'New Margate Municipal Orchestra' effort was badly reviewed 'I am sorry I cannot commend this. The music is taken much too fast, without poise or style. Some of the instruments appear to be indifferently in tune. We must have better work than this nowadays.' In October 1929 Lodge and the Margate where demoted to the Edison Bell Winner label for their next release. Maybe this was the reason for the move to Dominion. When Tunelandia was issued in November 1929 the review was a bit more supportive 'Those who like a medley of well-known airs, or rather a musical switch, will much appreciate Tunelundia, by the Margate Municipal Orchestra.'

The Winter Gardens was damaged in the last war and the original way it functioned has changed. The interior shows the stage where the orchestra performed, behind them was a semi circular glass wall which can be seen on the next photograph, The idea was to have the orchestra facing the sea so that the facing glass wall could be opened to the sea and the southern breeze would waft through the building with the audience partly inside and partly on a large veranda in deckchairs facing the music. This sea veranda has no been built over as can be seen in the ariel photograph.

The fun of inflicting old records on innocent ears

This excerpt was  recorded some eighteen days before the world premier of the opera at Covent Garden. maybe better to listen to this before you read the comments below as we don't want any bias. The sound is quite poor for the period as I think the music may have been problematic to record.  

I had better  state that the music is still in copyright and thus downloading is technically illegal, but as it is but a sample of the work we may all survive the full weight of the law. ' I won't let it happen again officer.' 


I admit also this has been reissued on Dutton as part of a compilation but still another example won't hurt and this one is Free! The voice of Arthur Fear is distorted on the recording, he would have been recorded from a separate microphone and mixing was not an exact science in 1929, some wear on the grooves at this point hasn't helped either.

Eugene Goossens : Judith - Ballet Music. 

New Symphony Orchestra  & Arthur Fear, Baritone

conducted by Eugene Goossens.

HMV C 1706

[Cc 16661-2 , Cc16662-3A]

Recorded: 7th June 1929 at the Kingsway Hall, London 

I have joined the two sides together into one Flac file, HERE at Mediafire. [about 14Mb].

‘The collaboration of Arnold Bennett and Eugene Goossens which resulted in Judith proved to be most successful, and the opera, which was first performed at Covent Garden on June 25th, 1929, made a deep impression. The wild, barbaric atmosphere of the libretto is reflected in Goossens’ score, which is a masterpiece of orchestral writing. This is the first recorded performance of music from this interesting opera, being conducted by the composer, who is an exclusive “His Master’s Voice” artist, is authentic,. The richness of orchestral colouring and the fire and passion of the music will ensure this record wide popularity’

Well that is how the Mid-September HMV Supplement described this record. As for the rest of the press, well lets say it resolutely damned the work.

The Gramophone review of October 1929 did not pull any punches:- ‘I did not hear Judith, but I remember that nearly all accounts spoke ill of the ballet dancing, which was deemed unworthy of the occasion. Perhaps for that reason the music did not make quite its full effect. Without the stage pictures it is not possible to judge it properly, of course. To me it sounds wry, and wilfully so. Near the end of the first side [2:20] I am strongly reminded of the Punch and Judy fight in one of Goossens' early sets of sketches, Four Conceits, which Velvet Face recorded long ago, and which ought to be produced again. The second side [from 3:06] sounds rather more developed and logical. Arthur Fear, the bass, interjects a few resounding bars at one point. I am afraid most of us will not have a chance  to hear this opera ; it is unlikely to be revived ; so if any want to secure a souvenir of it now is the time. Though I cannot recommend this sample of the music I can praise the record for its presentation of the orchestral colours.'

Mmmm this all sounds a bit ominous as does the The Musical Times for August 1929 read on...

‘It is said at Holywood [sic] that a successful film invariably makes use of these ingredients: religious uplift, snobbery, and sex appeal; and the shortest scenario which has ever been written to this formula was, "My God," said the Duchess, "what legs!" Mr. Arnold Bennett has reduced the story of Judith to the same formula, with the addition of a murder to amplify it, and has handed it to Mr. Eugene Goossens to make into an opera. The conflict between the God of Israel and His pagan enemy is the main theme; instead of the Duchess we have the Oriental Court of Holofernes ; the legs of the Russian Ballet are there, and we have the seduction of Holofernes by Judith to lend further sex interest, while his murder by the same lady gives a good strong dramatic situation. So far, admirable; for we can have a soprano heroine whose varying passions give scope for coloratura, a contralto attendant to enunciate the obvious at the right places, a love duet, a ballet, an Oriental potentate who can rant and play the he-man, and a nice, modest baritone to be his victim. The only trouble about this perfect opera book is that it needs not merely music but the right kind of music. The right kind of music will be good, honest Italian stuff a la Tosca. Mr. Eugene Goossens is not Puccini, nor would he be if he could; he is not a nationalist composer at all, but one of the cosmopolitans who are at all costs dry …  I could quote yards of text here but it all basiscally says the same thing …'It is sad to have to write an obituary notice of yet another gallant attempt at creating a British opera. But facts are facts; the opera was still-born, and there is not likely to be any attempt at reviving that which never had any real operatic life in it.'


For anyone still reading, or indeed listening to this piece, I throw in a conversation that is completely unconnected and totally irrelevant to the work in hand that Goossens had with Elgar. When Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy was amazingly for that time included in a Three Choirs Festival programme at Gloucester Cathedral in 1922 Elgar suggested to Goossens:-
'Write a Festival Mass, Eugene, and atone for this outrage.'
'All right, Sir Edward, but Mother Church won't approve of my modernisms.'
'Never mind. I'll be in Heaven by then; I'll make it all right for you! Don't forget, plenty of  percussion in the Sanctus!'

More info on Eugene Goossens Here