1898

Summary

Bantock continued his pioneering programmes at New Brighton, devoting entire concerts to the music of Johann Strauss II, Wagner, Mackenzie, Waldteufel, Tchaikovsky, German and Haydn. Having married Helena in March, he was delighted at the birth of his son Julian Richard Granville Bantock on 19 December, but less enamoured with Arthur Hinton's suggestion of forming a Society of British Composers; he also began plans to relaunch the New Quarterly Musical Review. Wallace had begun his Choral symphony Ecclesiastes, an orchestral work The Forty-five, a symphonic poem The Covenanters and the University hymn ‘Carmen Glasguense’, and published two articles in The Idler: ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’, and ‘Richard Wagner and the “Nibelungen Ring”’, as well as contributions to The Outlook. This year marked Newman's first contribution to the Monthly Musical Record, with the short article ‘The Psychology of the Musician’.

28 GRANVILLE BANTOCK TO WILLIAM WALLACE

THE NEW BRIGHTON TOWER & RECREATION COMPANY. LIMITED

NEW BRIGHTON,

CHESHIRE,

June 21^st 1898

My dear Wallace.

Many thanks for your letter. I was wondering what had become of you. I want you to send me your scores & parts as soon as you can. Why the devil cannot you come and spend your holiday, or at least some of it up here. I want you to conduct some of your works, & can & would introduce you to some of the influential musical people up here. Bye the-bye, I want you to write a few male-voice choruses, like the German Liedertafel, as Goossens has such a choir here in Liverpool, & has asked me to write him some choruses. I have taken the Cavalier Tunes of Browning & one of the critics here is writing me something special & historical. If you will do something in this way, I think I can get it performed for you. But in your own interests, I should like to have you come & stay with us for some of your holidays. I am coming up to London on July 3^rd in the evening, as I am examining for the Queen Victoria Scholarship at Trinity College on the 4^th; returning here early on the morning of the 5^th. I want to see you for a short chat.