Carnegie Collection of British Music
The Carnegie Collection of British Music was founded in 1917 by the Carnegie Trust to encourage the publication of large scale British musical works. Composers were asked to submit their manuscripts to an anonymous panel. On the panel at various times were Hugh Allen, Granville Bantock, Arnold Bax, Dan Godfrey, Henry Hadow and Donald Tovey. Up to six works per year were chosen for an award – publication at the expense of the Trust, in conjunction with music publishers Stainer & Bell. Unfortunately the war delayed things for the earliest prizewinners. The first to be published was the Piano Quartet in A minor by Herbert Howells.. By the end of 1920 some 13 works were available. 30 were out by the end of 1922, and when the scheme finally closed in 1928 some 60 substantial works that might not otherwise have seen the light of day had been issued under the Carnegie Collection of British Music imprint.
Not all the works published were new and unknown. Some, such as Vaughan Williams' London Symphony and Rutland Boughton's opera The Immortal Hour were already long established pieces. Stanford's Fifth Symphony, composed almost 30 years before, hadn't kept its place in the repertoire, but was published in recognition of the influential composer and teacher at the very end of his life. Ernest Farrar, who died in 1918, was posthumously awarded publications in 1921 and 1925. However, many of the lesser known works and their composers have been all but forgotten today. A collection of most of the scores is held at the Maughan Library on the Strand.
In 1995 the BBC broadcast three programmes on the Carnegie Collection, providing the first modern recordings of some of the most neglected works. These included Edgar Bainton's Before Sunrise, Norman Hay's String Quartet in A, Ina Boyle's The Magic Harp, R O Morris' Quartet in A, Lawrence Collingwood's Poeme symphonique, Edward Mitchell's Fantasy Overture and John McEwen's Solway Symphony.
Scores published
Edgar Bainton Concerto Fantasia, piano and orchestra Before Sunrise, symphony for contralto solo, chorus, and orchestraGranville Bantock Hebridean Symphony
Herbert Bedford Night Piece No 2 , for voice, flute, oboe, and piano
Arthur Benjamin Pastoral Fantasy, for string quartet
Arthur BlissRhapsody for flute, cor anglais, string quartet, bass and two voices, soprano and tenor
Rutland Boughton The Immortal Hour, music-drama
York Bowen
- String Quartet No 2 in D minor, op 41
Sam Hartley Braithwaite Snow Picture, for orchestra Elegy, for orchestra
Frank Bridge The Sea, suite for orchestra
Alan Bush
Lawrence CollingwoodPoeme Symphonique, for orchestra
Learmont DrysdaleTam o’Shanter, concert overture
Thomas DunhillThe Enchanted Garden, opera in one act, op 65
George DysonThree Rhapsodies, for string quartet, op 7
David Evans
Harry FarjeonSt Dominic Mass, for choir, orchestra, solo soprano, tenor and solo violin, op 51 Phantasy Concerto, for piano and chamber orchestra, op 64
Ernest FarrarEnglish Pastoral Impressions, suite for orchestra Three Spiritual Studies, for string orchestra, op 33
Gerald FinziA Severn Rhapsody, for chamber orchestra
Nicholas GattyPrince Ferelon, or, The Princess’s Suitors: a musical extravaganza in one act
Cecil Armstrong GibbsThe Blue Peter: a comic opera in one act
Ivor GurneyThe Western Playland: song-cycle for baritone voice, string quartet and piano Ludlow and Teme, song-cycle for tenor voice, string quartet and piano
W H HarrisThe Hound of Heaven, for baritone solo, chorus & orchestra
Edward Norman Hay
Victor Hely-HutchinsonVariations, Intermezzo, Scherzo & Finale, for orchestra
Gustav HolstThe Hymn of Jesus, for two choruses, semi-chorus and full orchestra, op 37
Herbert Howells
- Piano Quartet in A minor, op 21 Rhapsodic Quintet, clarinet quintet, op 31
Jeffrey MarkScottish Suite, for violins and piano
Percy Hilder Miles
- Sextet in G minor
Edward MitchellFantasy Overture, for orchestra
R O MorrisFantasy, for string quartet
Cyril RoothamBrown Earth, for chorus and orchestra Ode on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity, for chorus and orchestra
Alec RowleyThe Princess Who Lost a Tune, ballet-mime
Cyril ScottNativity Hymn, for chorus and orchestra
Charles Villiers Stanford
- Symphony No 5 in D major The Travelling Companion, opera in four acts, op 146
Alfred M Wall
- Quartet for Piano & Strings in C minor
- Piano Quartet in A minor
Felix Harold WhiteThe Nymph’s Complaint for oboe, viola & piano Four Proverbs, for flute, oboe violin, viola and cello
W G WhittakerAmong the Northumbrian Hills, free variations on an original theme for piano and string quartet A Lyke-Wake Dirge, for chorus and orchestra
Stanley WilsonA Skye Symphony, op 38
Leslie WoodgateTwo Hymns, for baritone solo, men’s voices, strings, piano and organ
- * 'A Hymn to the Virgin'
- * 'The White Island'