Richard Blagrove's Toy Symphony

[RoothamRVWFinzi]

Hello everybody,

I'd like to directly quote from a biography of Edward German by Brian Rees entitled 'A Musical Peacemaker' published back in 1986 by the Kensal Press:

"In 1918 in aid of the Red Cross and the Order of St John, he (Edward German) participated in a concert rganised by Landon Ronald at Queen's Hall. The programme contained a Toy Symphony in which many distinguished musicians took part. It was composed by Richard Blagrove, a professor of viola at the Academy and that rather rare being, a serious student of the concertina. German had asked to be allotted the triangle, but found himself at a desk in the second violins along with the brilliant Albert Sammons. Elgar played the cymbals, Myra Hess and the Misses Scharrer were the nightingales, the two Sir Fredericks, Cowen and Bridge, played the rattles, and the pianist Moisewitch, the coveted triangle; C. Haydn Coffin, the original Tom Jones and pianist Mark Hambourg played the castanets. When the nightingales began to blow into the mugs of water the second violins received a shower and Sir Alexander Mackenzie provided himself with an umbrella for the performance."

I wish I had been there!!! Ever since reading this account, I have always wanted to hear this piece of music. Does anybody know anything else about Richard Blagrove? There seems to be next to nothing recorded in the catalogue. I look forward to hearing from somebody
Best wishes,
Eric.

[John H White]

That would certainly have been an amazing spectacle: all the top musicians in the UK letting their hair down!
  Some years ago, the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra put on a performance of Malcolm Arnold's   Toy Symphony at their Christmas concert, but I'm afraid I didn't think it was a patch on Leopold Mozart's one, for so many years attributed to Haydn. I gather that Ignaz Lachner also wrote a symphony for children. It would be nice if one of the more enterprising record companies could gather up all these works onto one CD ( or maybe 2) and perhaps issue them just before Christmas as, one might hope, a welcome addition to some lucky children's stockings.

[JimL]

I believe Carl Reinecke has a Toy Symphony in his oeuvre, a rather late work IIRC.

[chill319]

Thread creep, yes. But, I hope, acceptable thread creep for a topic like this.

Mehul, Etienne-Nicholas (1763-1817) France
Overture/Burlesque for Piano, Violin, 3 Kazoos, Triangle, Toy Drum, Ratchet, and Whistle

Toy Symphony or Toy Concerto?

[TerraEpon]

I'd love to hear any and all 'Toy Symphony/Concerto's that aren't overly modern.

Nice to know there's more than just L. Mozart (or whoever actually wrote it)'s thing.

[RoothamRVWFinzi]

Hello everyone,

Thank you so very much for your interest in this thread.

John, it would be fabulous idea if some of the recording labels could bring together a collection of these works and place them on a CD - a label such as Dutton or Chandos or Hyperion for example. I would dearly love to get the chance to hear the Blagrove symphony!!

I knew of the Leopold Mozart work of course, but I had never come across the others. There is much food for musical thought here, as indeed there is everywhere on this forum.

Best wishes,

Eric.

[chill319]

... it would be fabulous idea if some of the recording labels could bring together a collection of these works and place them on a CD

Another candidate for that CD: the Kindersinfonie by Edmund Angerer, which includes parts not only for strings, triangle, rattles, glockenspiel, and drum but also for trumpet in G, Cuckoo in G-E, and Quail in F.

[pcc]

I think Richard Blagrove was a relative -- perhaps the son -- of another Blagrove who was a leading London violinist & violist in mid-Victorian orchestras and chamber groups.  The elder Blagrove's name crops up frequently in quartet performances and musicians' gatherings (I think he was at least an acquaintance of Sullivan's).

[pcc]

Pardon me -- Richard _is_ the Victorian Blagrove, not a relative!  Very sorry.  He was quite active in the 1850s and 60s, so the piece probably comes from around then -- I vaguely remember another "Toy Symphony" performance in which Julius Benedict and others participated during that period, and there may be even a photo of that group.  (It might be in Wilhelm Ganz's _Recollections_.)  The Blagrove piece is worth investigating; it may still be around somewhere, as it was presumably already close to 50 years old at the time of the 1918 concert.

[Robin]

Absurdly late to be responding to this topic now, but I have just seen it (while searching for something else...).

Did anyone think of checking in the Library or Archive at the Royal Academy of Music for this music? If the composer was a professor there, it seems like a reasonable place to search!

[Gareth Vaughan]

Nothing listed in the RAM's catalogue, I'm afraid.