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St Edward’s:
150 Years
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Chapter 5 / Doorways and Gateways
MUSIC
The cultural framework and musical outlook of St Edward’s
today could hardly have been imagined in the School’s earliest
days. Opportunities for the creative arts were limited at New
Inn Hall Street, and it is incredible, looking back, how the arts
have gradually flourished.
The School has, however, always had a choral foundation.
From ‘singing in line’ as the School progressed towards the
Church of St Thomas the Martyr, School choirs were formed,
in order to support the compulsory daily church services.
The consecration of the Chapel on the Summertown site
in June 1877 was at a time when the choir expanded, now
accompanied by the first Chapel organ. A series of Wardens
with musical skills and aspirations helped the choirs to flourish:
Warden Ferguson regularly found time to rehearse and conduct
the choir in the 1920s, and Wardens Sing and Kendall had,
before and after Ferguson, taken a full part in the organisation
of concerts and services.
Today’s Chapel Choir retains this striving for excellence:
the 70-strong group of singers regularly performs in major
cathedrals and concert halls, as well as supporting the worship
in Chapel, both for Sunday services and midweek Evensongs
twice a term. The Chamber Choir, a smaller group for 16 Sixth
Formers who aspire to choral scholarships at university, also
takes a lead in some services. The present St Edward’s Singers
is now ten years old, and is the natural successor to the Choral
Society, which is prominent in musical reports throughout
the School’s history, giving annual concerts. In 1926, the first
Choral Society numbered 35 people including two OSE, and
was conducted by Director of Music Lionel Ovenden; their first
performances received ‘enthusiastic applause’.
Orchestras and bands were, perhaps, less conspicuous
in the early history of the School, although there are reports
of Music Master A.H. Edwards forming the first brass band
in 1874, assisted by Mr Freeborn of the Oxford Royal Militia.
Two years later, this was a group with 11 regular members,
playing ‘very fairly’ with various marches and classical
pieces. The Orchestra was formed and re-formed as the
numbers of instrumentalists in the School fluctuated in the
late 1800s. Many of the reports from the early 1900s talk
about the growth of instrumental music, initially under Music
Master Reginald Carter, and later under Warden Ferguson.
Later on, in the 1950s and 1960s, the Orchestra grew in
maturity and in numbers involved, helped by the growth in
numbers at the School, and were often heard accompanying
the School Chapel Choir and Choral Society in performances
of major works.
Today’s Symphony Orchestra, now with 50 players,
builds upon this tradition: students undertake major works
from the repertoire, tackling music similar to that of a
county youth orchestra. Recent concerts have included
Beethoven’s
Symphony no 3
and Tchaikovsky’s
Nutcracker
Suite.
The School Concert Band and Brass Band are the
natural successors to those original brass and wind bands
set up by previous generations, tackling major repertoire
for concerts and CCF parades. The Sinfonia Orchestra and
Wind Band provide repertoire for those training to be in the
flagship groups, giving opportunities for all pupils to perform,
whatever their standard.
Top left: An early School Orchestra rehearsal, 1895.
Above left: Some of the cello and bass players prepare for the orchestral concert, 2013.
Above: The familiar noticeboards within the Ferguson Music School.
Above: The School’s
Chamber Choir, 2013.
Far left: The Chapel
Choir in 1977.
Left: Alex Tester,
Director of Music
with the Chapel Choir,
2010.