Arthur John Mason


Arthur John Mason was an Australian organist and journalist, remembered as Sydney City Organist from 1901 to 1907, when he moved to London as correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald. He was a son of George Birkbeck Mason, musician and entrepreneur, and grandson of Abraham John Mason, wood engraver of London and New York.

Arthur Mason

Mason was born in either Gympie or Maryborough, Queensland, the second son of dance master and musician George Birkbeck Mason and Margaret Kate Mason, née Tomlins, who married in Sydney on 17 July 1852.
Mason grew up in Sydney, and had some musical training from his father, and at an early age became a chorister of St Andrew's Cathedral. He became a pupil of choirmaster and organist Montague Younger and eventually his deputy, frequently presiding at the cathedral organ. He passed the Trinity College senior examination with honors in 1889.
Around the same time, at age 13, he passed the entrance examination for the New South Wales public service and became a clerk, remaining in the service for 17 years, part at least in the Education Department.
He gained further experience as organist of St John's and St Thomas's churches in Balmain and served as honorary pianist to the Metropolitan Liedertafel, and was organist of St Thomas's, Balmain when he was appointed organist and choirmaster of the elegant and cultured Trinity Congregational Church, Strathfield, in July 1892.
His next appointment was as organist and choirmaster at St James's Church, King Street in 1898.
He was still employed as a public service clerk in 1901 when he was appointed Sydney's City Organist for a period of one year, some 18 months after the departure of the Belgian Auguste Wiegand. In the interim several musicians had filled the vacancy, one being T. H. Massey. On 10 December 1902 the appointment was extended for another two years at an annual salary of £300.
While City Organist, Mason was able to take students, notably Robert Dalley-Scarlett and Winifred Purnell. He also contributed articles and critiques on musical subjects to the Sydney Morning Herald.
In March 1906 he took a six-month holiday in London, and while there wrote extensively for the Herald, leading to his appointment as that newspaper's London correspondent.
He resigned as City Organist in June 1907, was given a mayoral reception on 26 July and the family left for London by the Wakool on the 27th.
Mason made several successful public appearances in London: a Sunday concert at the Albert Hall, which led to an invitation to head a production of Widor's symphony for organ and orchestra at the Queen's Hall with the LSO, conducted by the composer himself.
He returned with his family to Sydney on 28 November 1910, to act as leader writer for the Herald. One of his first musical assignments was to play the Wedding March for George Allman, who had succeeded him at St James's Church.
In February 2011 he returned to the Town Hall organ to play in a benefit concert for the widows of the Coogee surf disaster and the heroes Harald Baker and James Clarken.

London

Mason and family returned to London by the Scharnhorst in February 1913. Before leaving, he held a farewell concert at the Sydney Town Hall, where he played "A Venetian Serenade", an original composition. He was again treated to a mayoral function.
In 1921 his contract with the Herald ended, and he started work as publicity agent for Australia House, writing articles for the Australian press about items of interest in England and vice versa.
Around this time he was also working as secretary for Federated British Music Industries.
In 1932 he became the Australian Broadcasting Commission 's London agent, with a brief to identify radio plays and new music for rebroadcast in Australia, also to arrange tours of Australia by notable musicians.
During the bombing of London he served as London correspondent for the ABC.
In 1932 or 1933 he was appointed organist to St James's Church, Piccadilly and held that post until 1940, when the building sustained heavy damage from a German bomb.
He presided at the St Martins-in-the-Fields organ for the Anzac Day service in 1942 and the Australia Day service 26 January 1944.
He was injured in a German V-1 flying bomb blast while working as an ABC correspondent.
He died in London on 2 December 1946, aged 70.

Town Hall Recitals

Mason's first recital at the Sydney Town Hall stood out from those of his predecessor Wiegand, in being somewhat more serious, a fact not lost on Sydney's music-loving public. The Sydney Morning Herald reviewer declared, perhaps with some relief:
It is recognized on all hands that the existence of the noble instrument which adds much dignity to our Town Hall is mainly due to the fact that it supplies an educational want, for musical culture is a necessary portion of every educational system. It is, therefore, pleasing to observe that in his first programme Mr Mason, whilst presenting compositions in such variety of styles that all present must have found something to their taste, also introduced several classical numbers which, to the student, were as interesting as they were instructive.

The programme was:
  • Toccata and Fugue in D minor - J. S. Bach
  • Communion in F - Grison
  • Souvenir Gavotte - Zelman
  • Operatic Fantasia, Carmen - Bizet
  • March in F - Guilmant
  • The Question, The Answer - Wolstenholme
  • Fantasia on British Airs - Mason
  • Salut d'Amour - Elgar
  • Hungarian March, 'Rákóczi March' - Liszt
Transcriptions from opera were popular, and gave Mason the opportunity to present some challenging "new" work, such as excerpts from Wagner's Ring cycle.
A controversial innovation was Sunday concerts — to propitiate Sydney's more earnest churchgoers and officials, all works played were of the "sacred" genre, the concerts were held in the afternoon, no soloists were engaged, and admission was free.
His first Sunday concert consisted of:
;St. John's, Balmain
  • Arthur Mason 1889
;St Thomas's, Balmain
  • Arthur Mason 1890 to 1892
  • S. Gordon Lavers
  • Francis Martin
  • George C. Boulton c. 1902 to 1924 or later
;Trinity Congregational Church, Strathfield
  • Arthur Mason 1893 to 1896
  • E. G. Turner 1926
  • G. H. Turner 1933
  • Charles Tuckwell 1937
;St James' Church, Sydney
  • Arthur Mason 1897 to 1907
  • George Faunce Allman 1907 to 1961
  • Field
;Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ
  • Auguste Wiegand 1891 to 1900
  • Arthur Mason 1901 to 1907
  • Ernest Edwin Philip Truman 1909 to 1935
  • — not filled — 1935 to 1978
  • Robert Ampt 1978 to
;St James's Church, Piccadilly
  • Raphael Courteville 1691 to c. 1735
  • Leopold Stokowski 1902 to
  • Arthur Mason 1932 to 1940

    Family

, wood engraver of London and New York, was married to Robinianna Mason They followed their sons to Sydney in 1856; he died two years later, at Newtown, Sydney. She died at the home of their son George B. Mason. Their family included:
  • Walter George Mason was born in London, and was taught art of wood engraving by his father while the family was in New York in the 1930s. He received further training under G. Bonner, worked for The Illustrated London News, Punch and other pictorial magazines. He followed his brothers George and Charles to Australia aboard Windsor, arriving November 1852 with his wife Eliza Mason, née Whiteman, and four sons. He worked for Sydney Punch and The Illustrated Sydney News, which he co-founded. He married again, to Jane Mary Theresa Brady on 15 September 1859.
  • George Birkbeck Mason married Margaret Kate Tomlins at St James' Church, Sydney on 17 July 1852. They had a home at Talford Street, Lyndhurst, New South Wales in 1876–78; 472 Crown Street, Surry Hills in 1896. Their children include:
  • Charles Voelker Mason was a stage comic and theatrical agent known as "Charles V. Howard". His last residence was at Birchgrove Road, Balmain. He was married to Annie Mason. Fredrick C. Howard was a son.