Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Music Examples
- Preface
- Dedication
- 1 ‘A Veritable Muck-Midden’
- 2 The Royal College of Music and the Mendelssohn Scholarship, 1900-1907
- 3 The Mendelssohn Scholarship, 1904-7
- 4 Earning a Living
- 5 Dyson's War, 1914-16
- 6 Wellington College
- 7 Winchester College
- 8 Winchester Works: The Canterbury Pilgrims, St Paul's Voyage to Melita and The Blacksmiths
- 9 Winchester towards London
- 10 Major Works, 1937-43
- 11 Director of the Royal College of Music, 1938-52: The First Five Terms
- 12 The War Years, 1939-45, Seen through Dyson's College Addresses
- 13 The Royal College of Music, 1945-7
- 14 The Royal College of Music, 1947-52: Rebuilding, Development and Endgames
- 15 Major Works, 1948-52
- 16 Return to Winchester and Retirement
- 17 Carnegie Trust, Final Works and Endings
- Bibliography
- Appendix 1 List of Dyson's Works
- Appendix 2 Texts Set by Dyson
- Appendix 3 The Canterbury Pilgrims: 35 Performances Conducted by Dyson, 1931-60
- Appendix 4 Select Bibliography
- Appendix 5 Discography
- Index of Dyson's Works
- General Index
12 - The War Years, 1939-45, Seen through Dyson's College Addresses
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Music Examples
- Preface
- Dedication
- 1 ‘A Veritable Muck-Midden’
- 2 The Royal College of Music and the Mendelssohn Scholarship, 1900-1907
- 3 The Mendelssohn Scholarship, 1904-7
- 4 Earning a Living
- 5 Dyson's War, 1914-16
- 6 Wellington College
- 7 Winchester College
- 8 Winchester Works: The Canterbury Pilgrims, St Paul's Voyage to Melita and The Blacksmiths
- 9 Winchester towards London
- 10 Major Works, 1937-43
- 11 Director of the Royal College of Music, 1938-52: The First Five Terms
- 12 The War Years, 1939-45, Seen through Dyson's College Addresses
- 13 The Royal College of Music, 1945-7
- 14 The Royal College of Music, 1947-52: Rebuilding, Development and Endgames
- 15 Major Works, 1948-52
- 16 Return to Winchester and Retirement
- 17 Carnegie Trust, Final Works and Endings
- Bibliography
- Appendix 1 List of Dyson's Works
- Appendix 2 Texts Set by Dyson
- Appendix 3 The Canterbury Pilgrims: 35 Performances Conducted by Dyson, 1931-60
- Appendix 4 Select Bibliography
- Appendix 5 Discography
- Index of Dyson's Works
- General Index
Summary
‘Why should we not sing during the war?’
The return to College on 19 September 1939 saw Dyson in his element. His start-of-term address succinctly summed up the current situation, put things in their historical context and attended to the practicalities of life in wartime. But before he was able to stand up on the stage that day: ‘There had been deep and heart-searching discussion as to what course to pursue on the outbreak of war – to close, remove or struggle on.’ Mildred Dyson recalled that her husband was determined to keep the College open. The Royal Academy of Music and other institutions had already decided to close but, as Dyson laconically pointed out in his opening address:
It is no secret that our example here, in trying to continue our work as normally as possible, has led some other institutions, which had decided to close, to reconsider their position and re-open. I am sure this policy is right, and the response to it has been better than I had dared hope.
Herbert Howells wrote to Marion Scott on 25 October 1939:
R.C.M. goes on: and its being open at all is a sort of saving from the economic ruin that stares most of us in the face. Something of the initial economic fright is disappearing from the faces that were so long-drawn with anxiety in those early days of September: and I think Dr.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Sir George DysonHis Life and Music, pp. 244 - 273Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2014