Rutland Boughton was born on 23 January 1878 at 18 Bicester Road. He probably attended the nursery school ran by two school ma'ams at 5-9 Parsons Fee. Later he was a scholar at the Grammar School then in St. Mary's Square, and in 1891, as recorded in the Census; he was living at 13 Granville Street. He was composing music as a teenager, arranging concerts and participating in the musical life of the town. His father's grocery business at 37 Buckingham Street could not support an expensive musical education, but in 1899 sufficient money was raised for him to attend the Royal College of Music in London. In less than 2 years the money ran out and following a few more years living in poverty, in 1905 he secured an appointment at the Midland Institute of Music in Birmingham. By this time he had married - his mother in law had insisted he marry her daughter, as her reputation had been tarnished by a night out in London!

            In Birmingham he began to flourish as a composer of choral music, as a conductor and as a singing teacher, as well as a thinker and writer on music and social issues. There he met the second woman in his life, the artist Christina Walshe, and began to develop his ideas of a specifically English type of opera. These ideas reached fruition with the founding of a commune of artists in Glastonbury in 1912. With minimal financial resources but with enthusiastic support from local amateurs and benefactors as well as professional friends, the Glastonbury Festivals developed into an important aspect of the British operatic scene - an outlet for experimentation and a learning opportunity for young singers. Audiences came from all over the country, including most respected musicians, writers and artists, to hear performances in Glastonbury.

            His masterpiece The Immortal Hour was performed at the Glastonbury Festival in August 1914. The opera was eventually staged in London at the Regent Theatre, Kings Cross in 1922. It ran for 216 consecutive performances, still a world record, and was revived in 1923, 1926 and 1932. The winter, spring and Summer Festivals at Glastonbury continued until 1926, when in the year of the General Strike, displaying his socialist principles, Boughton put on performances of his Nativity opera Bethlehem in modern dress, outraging local opinion. Christ was born in a miner's cottage and Herod was a wicked capitalist! Following this production, financial support for the Glastonbury venture ebbed away and Boughton, with his third "wife" and family, moved to a village, deep in the countryside, near the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire border, continued composing, completing his Second and Third Symphonies, concertos and chamber music, and finally his cycle of five operas of the King Arthur legend."

            The first two parts of the Arthurian Cycle had been presented at Glastonbury - The Round Table in 1916 and The Birth of Arthur in 1920. The third part The Lily Maid received its first performance at Stroud in 1934 whilst the final parts Galahad and Avalon completed in 1945 have never been performed. Although The Queen of Cornwall composed in 1924 does not form part of Boughton's Arthurian Cycle its story belongs to the same canon. Boughton adapted the libretto from Thomas Hardy's play. It is this opera that the Rutland Boughton Music Trust is hoping will be the next opera to be recorded. The Trust is based at 25 Bearton Green, Hitchin, Herts. SG5 1UN (tel. 01462 434318). The Honorary Secretary is Mr. Ian Boughton, a grandson of the composer, whom you can contact to make a donation and to be included on the mailing list.

            There are now 6 CDs of Boughton's works: some are in stock at the Record House at 36 High Street, Aylesbury. They include the operas The Immortal Hour; Bethlehem; Symphony No.3 and the Oboe Concerto; Aylesbury Games, Flute Concerto and Concerto for String Orchestra; the Oboe Quartet No. 1, String Quartets - From the Welsh Hills and On Greek Folk Songs; and Songs of Rutland Boughton.

                                                                                             RUTLAND BOUGHTON

            Rutland Boughton, the composer and socialist was born in 1878 at 18 Bicester Road, and spent his formative years living at 13 Granville Street.

            A new CD has been released, which includes Boughton’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra featuring John Wallace and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simon Wright.  The disc - British Trumpet Concertos - is in stock at the Record House, 36 High Street, Aylesbury. (Price £9.99).

            Composed in 1943, the Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra was dedicated to Boughton’s youngest son, Brian, who was then studying at the Royal College of Music.  He seems to have had no particular player or occasion in mind, and was probably disheartened when leading musicians declared it too difficult for performance.  It was finally given a premier performance in 1989 when John Wallace rose to the challenge with the Fife Symphony Orchestra: three further performances followed in 1990, 1993 and 2002.

            As Rutland Boughton was a composer who was able to express his very considerable imagination entirely by the means of traditional forms and an orthodox musical vocabulary, his work poses few problems to the listener.  The two movements of the concerto move effortlessly through a series of contrasted sections and moods, each marked by a definite change in speed.  As befits an overtly virtuoso work, the accent is primarily on the soloist though Boughton’s colourful orchestration allows the accompanying players appropriate moments of glory.

            The Rutland Boughton Music Trust was established in 1978 as a registered charity to encourage performances and more particularly sponsor recordings of Boughton’s finest works.  If you would like to give financial support by making a donation, or subscribe to a newsletter, please contact The Administrator, The Rutland Boughton Music Trust, 25 Bearton Green, Hitchin, Herts. SG5 1UN or telephone 01462 434318 or e-mail Ianrboughton@aol.com or visit the Trust's website www.rutlandboughtonmusictrust.org.uk.

Rutland Boughton Music