Profile

INTRODUCTION

Rutland Boughton was born in Aylesbury on 23 January 1878. After studying with Sir Charles V Stanford and Walford Davies at the Royal College of Music, he spent some years asa repetiteur at the Haymarket Theatre in London before eventually being offered a permanent teaching post by Sir Granville Bantock at the then Birmingham and Midland and Institute of School of Music. There he established himself as a singing teacher, composer and writer. In 1914, and with the support of the Clark family (of shoe manufacturing fame), he founded and directed the first of his Glastonbury Festivals in order to provide a platform not only for his works but for any other music that accorded with his artistic ideals. The Festivals, the first of their kind to be seen in England, continued with increasing success and sophistication until 1926, by which time he had mounted over 300 staged performances and 100 chamber concerts, besides related lectures, exhibitions and a series of innovative Summer Schools.

In 1922 his opera (or choral-drama)'The Immortal Hour' was produced in London where it enjoyed a phenomenal success and still holds the world-record for a continuous run of any serious opera written by an Englishman. Boughton's other notable works for the stage are "The Queen of Cornwall" (based on the play by Thomas Hardy),'Bethlehem' and 'Alkestis'.

After Glastonbury, Boughton took up residence at Kilcot, a small village in Gloucestershire, primarily to complete the cycle of Arthurian Music Dramas that he had begun in 1908 but also to organise further festivals at Stroud (1934) and Bath (1935). Whilst living at Kilcot, Boughton also produced some of his finest orchestral pieces. Despite successful revivals of 'The Immortal Hour' and 'Bethlehem',Boughton's fame declined and it is only in recent years, largely through the activities of The Rutland Boughton Music Trust, that his importance in the history of British music has begun once more to be appreciated.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Boughton was the son of grocer William Boughton (1841-1905) whose shop occupied 34 Buckingham Street in Aylesbury. From an early age, he showed signs of musical talent although his formal training did not begin until he was apprenticed to a London concert agency and later, with financial assistance from the Rothschild family and by recommendation from his future teacher Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, he was able to take up studies at the Royal College of Music. Insufficient monies meant he had to depart college after one year and after a short while performing ad- hoc duties, he secured a job in the pit at the Haymarket Theatre in London and then as official accompanist to the baritone David Ffrangcon-Davies. In 1905, he eventually got invited by Sir Granvile Bantock to join his staff at the Birmingham school of music.

Whilst at Birmingham, Boughton made many new friends and accepted new opportunities and proved to be an excellent teacher and an outstanding choral conductor which won him much recognition. He was drawn into the socialist ideas through the writings of John Ruskin, William Morris, Edward Carpenter and George Bernard Shaw, the latter two of whom became good friends. Out of his process of self-discovery and self- eductaion came the artistic aims that were to occupy Boughton for the rest of his life. As a young man he had planned a fourteen-day cycle of dramas on the life of Christ in which the story would be enacted on a small stage in the middle of an orchestra which soloists and the chorus would comment on their action. Although this did not come to fruition, the idea remained with him and by 1907 Bougton's discovery of the theories and practices of Wagner turned to another subject, that of King Arthur. Based upon the festivals at Bayreuth and parallel to the ideas set about by the poet Reginald Buckley in his book called "Arthur of Britain", Boughton set out to create a new form of opera which he caled "music-drama" and to establish a national festival of music and drama. Although some of the national opera houses were less than ideal, Boughton and Buckley were moved to create their own theatre and using local talent create a form of musical cooperative. At first, Letchworth Garden City was deemed a suitable location (the Arts and Crafts Movement was significant at this time) but he later turned to the Someset town of Glastonbury where, allegedly, King Arthur was laid to rest. Meanwhile, Sir Dan Godfrey and his Bournemouth orchestra had established a reputation for supporting new English msuic and it was there where Boughton's first opera from the Arthurian cycle, "The Birth of Arthur", was performed.

By 1911, Boughton had left his post at Birmingham and moved to Glastonbury where, with Walshe and Buckley, began to focus on establishing the country's first national annual summer of music and drama. The first production was not, in fact, the project of the Arthurian Cycle but that of Boughton's new opera, or choral- drama, "The Immortal Hour" which he had composed in 1912 and following a national appeal to raise funds supported by the likes of Sir Granville bantock, Thomas Beecham, John Glasworthy, Eugene Aynsley Goossens, Gustav Holst, Dame Ethel Smyth and George Bernard Shaw,plans were laid to buld a temple theatre with a seating capacity of over 1200. Sir Edward Elgar promised to lay the foundation stone whilst Beecham was to lend his Beecham Symphony Orchestra. In August 1914, and the day the opening production was set to take place, World War was declared which caused the plans to be postponed. However, Boughton was determined to see his project go forward and instead of Beecham's orchestra, a grand piano was employed, and instead of a purpose-built theatre, the local Assembly Rooms that were to remain the centre of activities until 1926, became the venue. By the end of the Festivals, Boughton had mounted over 350 staged works; 100 chamber concerts, a number of exhibitions and series of lectures and recitals never previously seen in England. In 1922, the Glastonbury Festival Players went on tour and became established at the Bristol Folk House (now demolished) and at Bournemouth.

The most notable and successful of Boughton's works is the choral-drama "The Immortal Hour", an adaptation of the play by Fiona Macleod (the pseudynm name for William Sharp) based on Celtic mythology. Having been successful at Glastonbury and wel received in Birmingham, the Director of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Sir Barry Jackson, took the choral-drama to the Regent Theatre in London where it acheived a record-breaking run of over 600 consecutive performances. On its arrival in 1922, it secured an initial run of over 200 performances and a further 160 the folowing year with a successful revival in 1932. The work was attended by many people on more than one occasion, including Royalty, especially to hear the young Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies whose portrayal as Etain began her professional acting career.

In addition to "The Immortal Hour" and "Bethlehem", his other notable operas include "The Queen of Cornwall" (completed 1924 and based on Thomas Hardy's play); "Alkestis" (1922 - based on the Greek play Euripedes) and "The Moon Maiden" (a ballet for female dancers and singers). The Cycle of Arthurian Music Dramas began in 1908 with "The Birth of Arthur" followed by "The Round Table" in 1915, "The Lily Maid" (1934), "Galahad" (1944) and "Avalon" (1945). Of these "The Lily Maid" was first performed at Stroud in 1934 whilst the last two operas have never been performed.

The downfall of the Glastonbury Festivals came about when Boughton, sympathising with the Miners' Lockout in 1926, insisted on staging his "Bethlehem" at Church House, Westminster, London, with Jesus born in a miner's cottage and Herod portrayed as a top-hatted Capitalist, surrounded by soldiers and police. The event caused much embarrassment to the people of Glastonbury and they withdrew their support. The Festival Players went into liquidation and Boughton was forced to move out.

From 1927 until his death in 1960, Boughton lived in the tiny village of Kilcot, near Newent in Gloucestershire where he went on to produce, arguably, some of his finest works, only a handful of which have been realised in the past 25 years. These include his symphonies, short orchestral pieces, concertii, and a number of chamber music. Boughton also attempted to repeat his successes at Glastonbury by organising festivals at Stroud, Ross-on-Wye and Bath but these became short- lived. Boughton was visited by many well-known figures, the most prominent is perhaps by the American singer Paul Robeson who, whilst on tour in the UK, paid a short visit in 1958/9. Boughton died at Barnes in London in 1960.

(Written and compiled by IAN BOUGHTON)

A full account of the life and music of Rutland Boughton was made by the late Michael Hurd, official biographer, in his book "Rutland Boughton and the Glastonbury Festivals"(ISBN 0-19-816316-9, OUP, 1993). Other recent publications featuring Boughton include: King Arthur in Music (Boydell & Brewer Ltd, ISSN 0261- 9814 www.boydell.co.uk); "The Avalonians" by Patrick Benham (Gothic Image Publications - www.gothicimage.co.uk/avalonians.html; "The Twilight of the Knights: Rutland Boughton's Arthurian cycle and national epic/Le Crepuscule de la chevalerie: le cycle arthurien de Rutland Boughton et l'epopee nationale - by Dr Nadege Le Lan (in French)- see http://www.unicaen.fr.mrsh/lisa/publications/019/07LeLan.pdf "The Little Book of the Great Enchantment" by Steve Blamires (R J Stewart Books, USA,wwwrjstewart.net)

BBC Radio 4: The First Glastonbury Festival 1914. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/firstglastonburyfestival.shtml

Coming soon on Youtube- a documentary film called "Glastonbury - The Untold Story", featuring Boughton, Buckton and Bligh Bond.



Website signature tune: extract from "The Faery Song" from The Immortal Hour (Hyperion), sung by Maldwyn Davies.