The Essex Musical Association

In this text "Reference 1 " means "The Essex Musical Association 1906 - 2006" published for the Essex Musical Association by Bruce Pennick. The ESO Webmaster thanks Mr Pennick for permission to use material from his publication for this page, and Mr Don Beckett for clarification of some points during editing. Copies of Mr Pennick's document, which contains some superb pictures of the EMA in action between 1922 and 1973, can be obtained at a moderate price by ringing 01277 372549 or visiting James Dace the music shop, Chelmsford.

The Essex Musical Association Today (See Thaxted Church right)

The EMA combined Choirs Festival Concert given on 2nd May 2009 was the last ever, and so the following should be read with that sad thought in mind.

The Essex Musical Association celebrated its Centenary with a special choral concert in Thaxted Church, Essex, UK on May 6th 2006. Thaxted Church has been the splendid venue for their annual concert nearly every year since 1979. Through this event, held in May or late April, the EMA gives amateur choirs from around Essex the chance take part in large scale works, accompanied by a full orchestra, an experience which might not be within their separate means. Over the years, these Essex choirs have sung under the direction of conductors with national and international reputations (many with strong connections to the County of Essex) and they have been enthralled by the top class professional singers engaged by the EMA for the solo parts. Since 1992, the accompanying orchestra at Thaxted has been the Essex Symphony Orchestra (UK), which benefits greatly from its association with the EMA, not only from the enjoyable experience of 'playing away' in the company of fellow Essex musicians, but also from the opportunity to reach an audience drawn from all over the county of Essex. (See below for a fuller account of the association between the ESO and the EMA.) Rehearsals start earlier in the year, with the musical directors of the various choirs taking them separately through their parts, and, nearer the time of the event, there are up to two combined rehearsals of the choirs taken by the chosen conductor for the concert day. The orchestra is rehearsed separately by its own musical director and sometimes by the conductor for the concert at their own rehearsal venue. On the day, coaches stream into the delightful, historic small country town of Thaxted, carrying musicians from all parts. (A tradition broken in 2008 when the venue was Chelmsford Cathedral). There are quite a few grey heads among them, a natural outcome of the long life of the EMA, and the EMA organisers are always looking for new blood to carry the great tradition forward. Where choirs discontinue their participation for some reason, the committee searches urgently for a replacement to keep the combined choir up to a size and strength at which it can give performances which thrill both performers and audience. For more detail on Thaxted click this link. The EMA is very ably chaired by Bruce Pennick, who has held this position since 1989.

Origins of the Essex Musical Association.

In the latter part of the 19th Century, the competition festival became a very popular form of musical event. These festivals often covered several aspects of musical performance, extended over more than one day and were held at more than one venue. By the start of the 20th Century there were music festivals in this format throughout Britain, many being sponsored by leading composers and musicians of the day .The British Federation of Music Festivals had over seventy member societies in 1907 and by 1939 there were about two hundred and thirty five. The first step towards an Essex Festival was made by Mr Bramwell of Maldon, a clerk in the House of Commons, and Canon Luard of Birch, who organised an event called the 'East Essex Musical Competition', which took place in June 1906 in the Public Hall Witham. This first Essex festival was ambitious, with seven classes ranging from small groups to full choirs. Eleven choirs participated, all from an area within 10 miles of Witham, a fact which shows just how much amateur musical activity there was in Mid Essex in those times before the advent of radio, television and recording. In the evening there was a performance by a choir of 150 persons, formed from the competing choirs and conducted by Dr McNaught, whose strong views on the lower standard of amateur singing in the south of England, compared to that in the north, had brought him to the attention of the organisers. In 1932, twenty six years after the first Essex festival, Mr Bramwell and Canon Luard were able to report their great satisfaction with the way their creation had developed in a special edition programme printed for the 'coming of age' (5 years having been discounted to allow for the Great War 1914 to 1916 and its aftermath.)

The advertisement left appeared in the Essex Chronicle.

From Strength to Strength

The format of the first East Essex Musical Competition in 1906 set the broad pattern for about the first 75 years! - first the competition by class and then the coming together of the choirs for a final concert performance under a conductor of high repute and ability both as a choral conductor and as an adjudicator of amateurs. Mr Bramwell recognised the complementary relationship between the two parts of his creation, stating in his review of 1932 that he saw the competition part as "a means to an end viz. the enjoyment of combined performance of good music" The format was highly successful and the demand from amateur musicians was very strong, since by 1938, probably the zenith year for the festival, the number of participating choirs had reached twenty nine. Two 'Divisions' were created for the large and small choirs. The expansion increased the area from which the choirs were drawn and this necessitated changes of name from the original 'East Essex Musical Competition' to the rather longwinded 'Central and East Essex Musical Competition' in 1909 and then to 'Essex Musical Association' in 1922. The list of participating choirs has never been static, with choirs leaving and new ones joining. In Reference 1, 83 choirs are listed as participants over the first one hundred years of the EMA, and there is virtually no part of Essex which is not represented. Starting in 1908, children took a prominent part in the Festival, special 'Children's Days' being set aside for them. Instrumental competitions were introduced in 1934, adjudicated at venues separate from the choral classes, and they were particularly successful under the chairmanship of Tom Wright, later a founder member and chairman of the Essex Symphony Orchestra.

Scaling Down

Had the EMA not adapted to changing conditions, it would not be here today! The change in the musical taste of the public, largely brought about by the rapid development of electronic media, and probably by the global rise of the African American musical culture, was a major factor affecting the fortunes of 'classical' musical societies in England, such as the EMA . In 1961, the decision was made to reduce the number of festival days from two to one, because audience attendance was poor and the overhead costs were unsustainable. Rather surprisingly, they first opted to use two venues on the same day for the two divisions, which must have significantly increased the cost per day! On her retirement in 1971, Hilary Tudor, a long term secretary of the EMA, made the proposal that the society should concentrate on a one day event for smaller choirs, those previously categorised as Division II, thus reducing the overheads and helping members of small choirs get big choir experience. Financial problems continued and the sale of some of a collection of 27 challenge cups was considered as the EMA struggled on, only surviving with donations and help from patrons, private and corporate, and with the goodwill of the musical community. Artists even waived parts of their fees, a notable case being where Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears took only token amounts for their services. ( Sir Adrian Boult had returned the cheque for his services as conductor in 1956.) In 1985 the committee reluctantly decided that the competitions were not achieving the objective of improving the knowledge of the Festival pieces, and it decided to concentrate on the performance aspect. This is the mode in which the Association operates today. Nothing is certain, and only the wholehearted support of serious music lovers in Essex can secure the EMA's future in its second century.

EMA Venues

Chelmsford had a Corn Exchange - until vandals demolished it in 1969, together with other splendid buildings, to make way for a mediocre shopping precinct. Until this time the building served well as a concert hall for the EMA, even if the facilities might seem rudimentary today. The nearby Shire Hall was also used. When the demolition plans for the Chelmsford Corn Exchange were known, the Association had a difficult task finding an alternative, since Chelmsford, County Town of Essex, was (and still is) badly served for serious music venues. From 1969 until 1979 a variety venues were used by the EMA: Chelmsford Civic Theatre; Thurrock Civic Hall; Hoffmann Hall; Harlow Sports Centre; King Edward VI School Chelmsford; Cliffs Pavilion Westcliff. Readers with knowledge of Essex will appreciate that not all these were ideal for large scale choral - orchestral works! Thaxted Church has been used for the annual concert since 1979, almost continuously, and this beautiful church has proved a splendid venue.

Celebrity Connections (See Sir Adrian Boult right)

The EMA has been associated with some of the greatest names in English music. Competitions have been judged and choirs conducted by such as: Dr Malcolm Sargeant; Sir Adran Boult; Vaughan Williams; Dr Armstrong Gibbs; Gustav Holst; Antony Hopkins; Charles Groves; David Willcocks; Noel Cox; Maurice Jacobson; Philip Ledger to name some of the best known (of course!). Soloists have included: Peter Pears, with Benjamin Britten at the piano, and Isobel Baillie. Dennis Brain (Horn) and John Williams (Guitar) played solo in purely orchestral pieces with the Essex Symphony Orchestra at the Festival. There have been many other musicians and conductors of great repute, who have given outstanding performances and leadership over the years, and they are too numerous to give a fair presentation in this short text. Youthful Competitors in the Instrumental Days included Timothy Carey, Paul McCreesh, Paul Willey, Nicholas Sherwood and the Marwood family, all of whom later achieved distinction in the musical profession. Please click for presentation of the Jubilee programme where Sir Adrian Boult is given as conductor in 1956.

The Essex Symphony Orchestra and the EMA

The Essex Symphony Orchestra was born out of the EMA. Over the years, the EMA choral concerts had been supported by a variety of orchestras, formed from musicians from the Essex area, and brought together for the event. William Bush, who founded the Chelmsford Singers in 1927, created a local orchestra to accompany the choirs at EMA choral concerts and to work with the Chelmsford Singers. The first recorded purely orchestral concert given by this orchestra, then called the 'Chelmsford Festival Orchestra', was in 1949, and this is accepted as the year of the ESO's birth.

In 1950, Dr. Stanley Vann, the ESO president today, became organist at Chelmsford Cathedral, and he also took over as conductor of the Chelmsford Singers and, in 1951, the Chelmsford Festival Orchestra. Under his leadership, the ESO expanded from what was essentially a string orchestra into a full orchestra and was renamed the Essex Symphony Orchestra. With a new professional leader, Arthur Davison, it started to perform an ambitious programme of orchestral concerts, whilst still working with the EMA. When Stanley Vann moved on to Peterborough in 1953 , conductorship of the ESO stayed with Masters of Music at the Cathedral, first with Derrick Cantrell and then with Philip Ledger who also conducted and adjudicated for the EMA.

It would be nice to chronicle continuous co-operation between the ESO and the EMA over the whole lifetime of the ESO, but there was a breakdown in 1971. For the reason of difficulty in finding a suitable set of support players , the ESO pulled out of the 1971 Festival in the February before the event in May, which left the EMA in a fix and no doubt very displeased. The relationship was happily re-established in 1988, after 17 years, due in no small part to the initiative of Antoine Mitchell, the ESO's star conductor, who had revitalised the orchestra following his appointment in 1984. In 1992 Antoine himself conducted Verdi's Requiem with the ESO and from that time on the ESO has been the chosen EMA orchestra, supporting the combined choirs and sometimes performing their own pieces at EMA concerts. Long may the union last!