Reminiscences and Selected Criticism of Herbert Thompson

Michael Allis is Professor of Musicology at the University of Leeds. He has published widely on a range of British composers, including the books Parry’s Creative Process (2003) and Granville Bantock’s Letters to William Wallace and Ernest Newman, 1893-1921 (2017). Often incorporating an interdisciplinary approach, as in his 2012 book British Music and Literary Context, and studies of musical refigurings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Tennyson, Poe, Villon, Southey and Shelley, he has also explored the role of music in the writings of Aldous Huxley, Aleister Crowley and Robertson Davies. He is currently working on a study of Bantock’s literature-inspired orchestral works. Paul Watt is an Adjunct Professor of Musicology at The University of Adelaide and Director of Research at the Busking Project, Berlin. He is the author of three books, Ernest Newman: A Critical Biography (2017), The Regulation and Reform of Music Criticism in In Nineteenth-Century England (2018), and Music, Morality and Social Reform in Nineteenth-Century Britain (2023) He currently writing a history of Gregorian chant in Australia.

• Acknowledgements AbbreviationsIntroductionMichael Allis: Thompson’s ReminiscencesPaul Watt: Thompson’s Music CriticismHerbert Thompson’s Reminiscences, ed. by Michael AllisEditorial NotesReminiscences TextHerbert Thompson’s Music Criticism: A Selection, ed. by Paul WattNote on the Text *Preparatory Method of Musical Instruction * Roubiliac’s Sculpture of Handel; Handel FestivalsLeeds Festival“Music for Children”“Saxophone Recital in Leeds”The Music and Musical Instruments of Southern India; Wagner’s Prose WritingsOpening of New Buildings at the Royal College of MusicHereford FestivalNew Quarterly Musical ReviewThe Leeds Musical Festival ConductorshipChurch Music; The Chord MagazineNational and Local Orchestras; Carl Rosa Opera CompanyAnnual Conference of Musicians; Expertise of VocalistsW. H. Hadow’s Leeds LectureCowen’s Concertstück for PianoMusic for the UnscientificThe Oxford History of MusicLeeds Festival Finances Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius in DüsseldorfLeeds MusiciansOld English BalladsCovent Garden Opera SeasonBritish Musicians Studying Abroad; Municipal TheatresDeath of A. E. Rodewald; Music in Liverpool and LeedsHector Berlioz CentenaryInternational Musical Society; Design of AuditoriumsMusic in Elementary SchoolsSpeech by Henry Coward on British Composers; Savoy Operas“Living Masters of Music” Essays; Henry Wood as a ConductorConference on the Incorporated Society of Musicians, Manchester; Municipal OrchestrasGerman Music CriticsTyranny of the ChoirElgar’s Professorship at the University of BirminghamGregorian ChantNational Opera; Musical TechniqueMusic Festival Proposed for NewcastleW. J. Galloway’s Musical England“Wagner’s Ring at Leeds”Covent Garden Opera: English Translations of Libretti; French Grand OperaFinancesAnalytical ProgrammeNotesMusic in WartimeMusic in Wartime CommitteeMusic Competition FestivalsBritish Music SocietyThe Ban on German MusicColour and MusicThe Trials of the Concert Promoter; A New Bishop at OxfordProgramme MusicMusic in Public Schools“Bradford Permanent Orchestra. Women as Violinists”The Efficient Training of ConductorsJazz“Notes on Concert-Hall Acoustics”The Dolmetsch FoundationOpera’s Fate in the North; Poor Support in Leeds and Bradford; Carl Rosa Company“Writing the History of Music”Some Commentators on Berlioz; A Diversity of Opinions“Handel’s Music in England”Appendix: Thompson’s timings for performances of Bach’s B minor Mass