Articles

Articles labelled ‘LBSJ’ were first published in the Lennox Berkeley Society Journal.

2024

Obituary of Jack Black, copyright lawyer and former Chairman Cheltenham Music Festival

Tony Scotland writes about the copyright lawyer Jack Black, rescued from Nazism by the Kindertransport, and later Chairman of the Cheltenham Music Festival. (LBSJ 2024)

Lennox Berkeley and the Latin Mass

Julian Berkeley writes about his father’s fight to save the Latin Mass after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. (LBSJ 2024)

The neglect of the Britten/Berkeley suite ‘Mont Juïc’

Tony Scotland argues the case for a revival of the orchestral suite, ‘Mont Juïc’, written jointly by Lennox Berkeley and Benjamin Britten. (LBSJ 2024)

Robin Tritschler on Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Songs of the Half-Light’

Tenor Robin Tritschler writes about Berkeley’s de la Mare setting, ‘Songs of the Half-Light’, which he has recorded with guitarist Sean Shibe. (LBSJ 2024)

Sir Ashley Clarke and Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Sonatina for Two Pianos’

Tony Scotland on the re-discovery of the score of Berkeley’s ‘Sonatina for Two Pianos’ - and Sir Ashley Clarke who comissioned it. (LBSJ 2024)

A look back at the funerals of Lennox Berkeley and his friend Benjamin Britten

Tony Scotland offers a last word about Lennox Berkeley and Benjamin Britten. (LBSJ 2024)

Marina Firpo on Lennox Berkeley's ‘Flute Sonatina’

The Italian flautist Marina Firpo analyses and compares works by Berkeley, Malcolm Arnold and York Bowen. (LBSJ 2024)

Sacred choral works by Berkeley father and son at Hampstead 2023

LFCCM Singers perform sacred works by Lennox and Michael Berkeley and William Byrd Hampstead 2023 (LBSJ 2024)

Obituary of Peter Dickinson by Tony Scotland

Tony Scotland writes about the composer, pianist, teacher and writer Peter Dickinson, champion of the music of Lennox Berkeley. (LBSJ 2024)

Nathan Williamson’s recording of Christopher Brown’s ‘24 Preludes & Fugues’

‘24 Preludes & Fugues’ by Lennox Berkeley’s pupil Christopher Brown. (LBSJ 2024)

John Turner on Lennox Berkeley’s Recorder Sonatina

Recorder player John Turner on Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Sonatina’. (LBSJ 2024)

Berkeley Society grants bear fruit in four major new recordings

Tony Scotland on four major recordings - and newy republished score - resulting from Berkeley Society grants. (LBSJ 2024)

Lennox Berkeley’s incidental music for ‘The Winter’s Tale’, RSC 1960

Tony Scotland writes about the premiere recording of Lennox Berkeley’s forgotten score for the RSC’s ‘The Winter’s Tale’ 1960. (LBSJ 2024)

Obituary of Peter Dickinson by John Turner

John Turner writes about his friend and fellow musician, the composer, pianist, teacher and writer Peter Dickinson. (LBSJ 2024)

2023

Julian Berkeley on Lennox Berkeley's 'Missa Brevis'

Julian Berkeley recalls the first performance of Berkeley's 'Missa Brevis' at Westminster Cathedral in 1960 – and the recent discovery of a BBC live recording. (LBSJ 2023)

Lennox Berkeley and the guitar

Guitarist Declan Hickey salutes Berkeley’s guitar repertoire, in particular the ‘Songs of the Half-Light’. (LBSJ 2023)

The John Wilson Effect

Adam Pounds on the musical touch of conductor John Wilson in his recording of Berkeley’s ‘Divertimento’ and Pounds’ ‘Symphony No. 3’ with the Sinfonia of London. (LBSJ 2023)

Lennox Berkeley’s family links with Leopold 1 of the Belgians – and the film ‘The First Gentleman’

Tony Scotland traces Lennox Berkeley’s family links with the Belgian royal family, and the story of the film, ‘The First Gentleman’ (LBSJ 2023)

Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Gibbons Variations’ revived by London Choral Sinfonia

Conductor David Wordsworth writes about Lennox Berkeley's ‘Gibbons Variations’, and its first-ever recording by the London Choral Sinfonia (LBSJ 2023)

Lennox Berkeley in Paris 1979

Allan Clive Jones introduces a Radio France archive about Lennox Berkeley’s brief return to Paris at the end of his life. (LBSJ 2023)

Peter Dickinson reviews the legacy of Lennox Berkeley

A personal selection of Lennox Berkeley's life work by Peter Dickinson, composer, pianist and biographer. (LBSJ 2023)

Robin Tritschler on Lennox Berkeley's ‘Five Housman Songs’

Tenor Robin Tritschler, who has just made the first complete recording of Berkeley’s ‘Five Housman Songs’, explores their complex emotional relationships. (LBSJ 2023)

Aubert Lemeland and Lennox Berkeley

Allan Clive Jones remembers French composer Aubert Lemeland and his admiration of Lennox Berkeley’s music. (LBSJ 2023)

2022

Lennox Berkeley 'Oboe Quartet' for Janet Craxton

John France examines the context of Lennox Berkeley's 'Oboe Quartet' of 1967 (LBSJ 2022)

Lennox Berkeley in 1938 writes to his aunt in Brussels about Benjamin Britten and impending war

Tony Scotland discovers a letter which Lennox Berkeley wrote to his aunt Anna, baronne d’Eppinghoven, in Brussels, about Benjamin Britten, his music and the war. (LBSJ 2022)

Jennife Bate on Lennox Berkeley's organ works

Organist Jennifer Bate recalls her first meeting with the composer Lennox Berkeley. (LBSJ 2022)

Composer Christopher Brown on Lennox Berkeley as teacher

Composer Christopher Brown, a student of Lennox Berkeley, writes about his teacher’s music and teaching methods – and the influence of Bach on both of them (LBSJ 2022)

Contrasting choral settings of the 'Stabat Mater' by Lennox Berkeley and Francis Poulenc

Conductor Peter Broadbent analyses settings of the 'Stabat Mater' by Francis Poulenc and Lennox Berkeley – and finds reflections of their personalities and faith. (LBSJ 2022)

2021

Lennox Berkeley concert in Minneapolis 1976

American choral conductor Philip Brunelle meets Lennox Berkeley at the University of Minnesota 1976 (LBSJ 2021)

Lennox Berkeley’s choral setting of John Donne’s ‘Legacie’

Chester Music publish Lennox Berkeley’s choral setting of John’s Donne’s love poem ‘Legacie’ (LBSJ 2021)

Sheet music of neglected keyboard pieces free online

William Wynne Willson’s archive of sheet music for the keyboard available free online (LBSJ 2021)

Lennox Berkeley’s setting of ‘Gibbons Variations’ for choir and orchestra

Conductor Michael Waldron revives Lennox Berkeley’s choral masterpiece the ‘Gibbons Variations’. (LBSJ 2021)

Christopher Daly tribute to Julian Bream

Guitar teacher Christopher Daly on Julian Bream as musician and guitar (LBSJ 2021)

Lennox Berkeley’s guitar collaborator Julian Bream

Guitar teacher Roland Gallery on Julian Bream’s collaboration with Lennox Berkeley (LBSJ 2021)

Berkeley Operas on CD

Tony Scotland on the BBC recordings of Lennox Berkeley’s grand opera ‘Nelson’ and his three one-acters, newly released by Nimbus. (LBSJ 2021)

An American perspective on Lennox Berkeley

Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal discovers Lennox Berkeley. (LBSJ 2021)

Michael Berkeley’s tribute to Julian Bream

Composer Michael Berkeley remembers Julian Bream (LBSJ 2021)

Lennox Berkeley’s neglected ‘Piano Concerto’

John France champions one of Lennox Berkeley’s hidden treasures, the ‘Piano Concerto’. (LBSJ 2021)

Choral Suite Lennox Berkeley's opera 'Nelson'

Pianist/conductor David Wordsworth writes about his planned suite of choruses from Lennox Berkeley’s opera 'Nelson'. (LBSJ 2021)

2020

Lennox Berkeley and the nocturne

Rob Barnett explores Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Nocturne’ and his recurring use of night music. (LBSJ 2020)

Tony Scotland on the faith in Lennox Berkeley’s music

In the Chapel of Lennox Berkeley’s alma mater, Merton College, Oxford, Tony Scotland talks about Berkeley’s faith and the way it is reflected in his music and that of his friends Ravel, Stravinsky and Poulenc. (LBSJ 2020)

Lennox Berkeley’s opera ‘A Dinner Engagement’ on tour in Lincolnshire

Pianist and broadcaster Paul Guinery writes about accompanying the New London Opera Group in Berkeley’s one-act comic favourite. (LBSJ 2020)

Lennox Berkeley at the Proms in 1973

John France examines the reception of Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Symphony No 3’ and ‘Sinfonia Concertante’ at the Proms in 1973. (LBSJ 2020)

Selina Hastings on Lennox Berkeley at Oxford in the Brideshead years

Selina Hastings, biographer of Evelyn Waugh, gives a talk at Merton College in 2019, about Berkeley’s years at Oxford in the Roaring Twenties. (LBSJ 2020)

Lennox Berkeley celebration Merton College Oxford 2019

A celebration of Lennox Berkeley’s years at Merton College in the Twenties with a talk by Selina Hastings, an address by his biographer Tony Scotland and an Evensong of his music. (LBSJ 2020)

Lennox Berkeley’s Music for a Prince

Tony Scotland on Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Andantino’ for Cello and Piano, written for King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales. (LBSJ 2020)

Lennox Berkeley’s recorder pieces premiered in Aldeburgh

Composer David Matthews, biographer of Britten, reviews Lennox Berkeley’s recorder premieres at the Red House in 2020. (LBSJ 2020)

Quad speakers at the Red House for a Berkeley concert

Audio designer Rupert Robertson offers a personal view of a concert of recorder music by Lennox Berkeley in Aldeburgh 2020. (LBSJ 2020)

Lennox Berkeley and Leonard Bernstein operas at the RCM

Julian Berkeley writes about a double bill at the Royal College of Music in 2020. (LBSJ 2020)

2019

Berkeley’s viola music

Jan van der Starre on Berkeley’s viola music (LBSJ 2019)

Berkeley’s orchestral ‘Nocturne’

Rob Barnett explores Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Nocturne’ and his recurring use of night music. (LBSJ 2019)

Berkeley’s opera ‘Nelson’

Tony Scotland tells the story of Lennox Berkeley’s grand opera ‘Nelson’ (LBSJ 2019)

Berkeley’s orchestral ‘Divertimento’

Adam Pounds writes about Berkeley’s wartime orchestral score ‘Divertimento’ (LBSJ 2019)

Douglas Stevens on Berkeley’s piano music

Douglas Stevens considers the challenges and fascination of Berkeley’s piano music, which he has recorded in its entirety. (LBSJ 2019)

Douglas Stevens’ album of Berkeley’s piano music

Peter Dickinson reviews Douglas Stevens’ new recording of Bertkeley’s piano music (LBSJ 2019)

Songs by Lennox and Michael Berkeley

Peter Reed reviews songs by Lennox and Michael Berkeley (LBSJ 2019)

Berkeley’s opera ‘A Dinner Engagement’ at the Guildhall School of Music

Students of the Guildhall School of Music stage Berkeley’s opera ‘A Dinner Engagement’ (LBSJ 2019)

Berkeley’s ‘Moderato’ for two recorders (1938)

Tony Scotland writes about the newly-discovered Moderato for two recorders (LBSJ 2019)

2018

Peter Dickinson and ‘Freda’s Blues’

Peter Dickinson writes about his early chamber music including ‘Freda’s Blues’ (LBSJ 2018)

Lennox Berkeley Society links with Gresham’s School

Julian Berkeley forges new links with his father’s alma mater in Norfolk (LBSJ 2018)

Obituary Sir John Manduell

Tony Scotland pays tribute to composer John Manduell, pupil of Lennox Berkeley (LBSJ 2018)

Paul’s Dehn’s life in music, poetry, films and wartime spying

Tony Scotland tells the story of Berkeley’s librettist Paul Dehn (LBSJ 2018)

Lennox Berkeley and Stravinsky 1934

Tony Scotland introduces his book about Lennox Berkeley’s journey to Paris with Stravinsky in the Boat Train 1934 (LBSJ 2018)

Lennox Berkeley’s Clarinet ‘Sonatine’

Clarinettist John Slack introduces Berkeley’s ‘Sonatine’ of 1928. (LBSJ 2018)

Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Quatre pièces for Guitar’

Guitarist Emmanuel Sowicz discusses Berkeley’s ‘Quatre pièces’ with Sidney Buckland. (LBSJ 2018)

Obituary Michael Elliott

Nigel Jarrett recalls the life of Berkeley’s first pupil, Michael Elliott (LBSJ 2018)

Berkeleys and the Paddington Set

John Julius Norwich on Lennox and Freda Berkeley and the Paddington Set (LBSJ 2018)

An old friend of the Society

Tony Scotland writes about Berkeley’s friend and colleague Roy Teed (LBSJ 2018)

Berkeley and Debussy at St. Bride’s Fleet Street

Adam Pounds previews a recital including music by Berkeley and Debussy in the lively acoustic of St. Bride’s church Fleet Street. (LBSJ 2018)

2017

Piano and Wind Quintet

Pianist Harvey Davies examines Berkeley’s fine and underrated ‘Piano and Wind Quintet’ Op. 90 (LBSJ 2017)

A tribute to Freda Berkeley

Composer, writer, pianist and Berkeley specialist Peter Dickinson pays tribute to Lady (Freda) Berkeley, widow of Sir Lennox, who died on 21 January 2016, aged 92 (LBSJ 2017)

Performing and recording the Stabat Mater

Lennox Berkeley Society president Petroc Trelawny and conductor David Wordsworth explain a highly ambitious project to revive, perform and record Lennox Berkeley’s masterpiece, the ‘Stabat Mater’. (LBSJ 2017)

Captain Lennox Berkeley, 7th Earl of Berkeley

Lennox Berkeley’s paternal grandfather is the subject of ‘Bazouker: The Untold Scandals of Captain Lennox Berkeley, 7th Earl of Berkeley’, by Tony Scotland and published by Shelf Lives. (LBSJ 2017)

Berkeley’s religious works

Lyrita Records have released an album of three major Berkeley religious works - Stabat Mater, Batter My Heart, Three-Person’d God and Magnificat - in performances which were originally broadcast on BBC Radio Three. (LBSJ 2017)

Lennox Berkeley on the art of music composition

Extracts from an interview between Canadian composer Murray Schafer and Lennox Berkeley at Berkeley’s home in 1960 (LBSJ 2017)

Remembering Freda Berkeley

Kathleen Walker, co-founder of the Lennox Berkeley Society, remembers Freda Berkeley (LBSJ 2017)

Première of Harpsichord Suite

Tony Scotland reviews the world première of Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Suite for the Harpsichord’, given by Christopher D. Lewis at Mittisfont Abbey in October 2016 (LBSJ 2017)

String Trio and The Winter’s Tale with the Royal Shakespeare Company

Berkeley’s incidental music for ‘The Winter’s Tale’ at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1960 was revived by the Royal Shakespeare Company for a concert of British Shakespeare music in September 2016. Meanwhile, Berkeley’s ‘String Trio’ of 1943 was performed at the Leicester International Music Festival and broadcast on BBC Radio Three a few days later. (LBSJ 2017)

Tradition and values in the art of music

Drawing parallels between Lennox Berkeley and Gabriel Fauré, Christopher Daly considers tradition and values in the art of music (LBSJ 2017)

Freda Berkeley’s mystical quality

Biographer Michael Bloch writes about Freda Berkeley and her Bernstein roots (LBSJ 2017)

2016

A Dinner Engagement and The Bear

John Michael East looks back at two operas at the Royal Academy of Music in May 2015 - Berkeley’s ‘A Dinner Engagement’ and Walton’s ‘The Bear’. (LBSJ 2016)

Catholic faith, sacred music and two composers

A letter from Lennox Berkeley to the composer Edmund Rubbra offers insights into their Catholic faith and sacred music, as Adrian Yardley discovers (LBSJ 2016)

The choir, liturgy and inspiration of Westminster Cathedral

Julian Berkeley writes about Westminster Cathedral, its choir, liturgy, and the musicians they have inspired (LBSJ 2016)

The Berkeley Ensemble at the British Library

Composer and writer Richard Stoker reviews the Berkeley Ensemble’s concert at the British Library in April 2015, including Stravinsky’s ‘Double Canon – Raoul Dufy in Memoriam’, Ravel’s ‘Introduction and Allegro for harp’ and ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square’. (LBSJ 2016)

Lennox Berkeley works for harpsichord, clavichord and piano

Harpsichordist Christopher D. Lewis explores Berkeley keyboard works, including ‘Mr Pilkington’s Toye’, ‘Suite For The Harpsichord’ and ‘Prelude and Fugue’. (LBSJ 2016)

Discovering Berkeley’s long-lost ‘Violin Sonata’

Tony Scotland tells the story of Berkeley’s ‘First Violin Sonata’, composed in 1931 with the advice of Nadia Boulanger, and eventually published by the Lennox Berkeley Society and Chester Music (LBSJ 2016)

Berkeley’s music manuscripts acquired by the British Library

Petroc Trelawny recalls the acquisition of Berkeley’s music manuscripts by the British Library, and the launch of the Resonus ‘Chamber Works’ album by the Berkeley Ensemble. (LBSJ 2016)

Phonographs, pianolas and Berkeley

Michael Boyd, an authority on the history and workings of the Pianola, considers the instruments and the repertoire which provided Berkeley’s gateway to music (LBSJ 2016)

Berkeley’s five film scores

Tony Scotland introduces Lennox Berkeley’s five film scores, including ‘The Sword of the Spirit’, ‘Hotel Reserve’ and ‘Out of Chaos’. (LBSJ 2016)

The Libretti of Opera

Novelists Ian McEwan and Philip Hensher, opera director Daisy Evans and composer Michael Berkeley talk to BBC Radio 3 presenter Petroc Trelawny about opera libretti (LBSJ 2016)

Preserving Berkeley’s work at the British Library

Music librarian and Berkeley scholar Joan Redding presents to the British Library a significant collection of Berkeley manuscripts and scores (LBSJ 2016)

2015

Berkeley’s Sacred Choral Music

The American composer and online reviewer Steve Schwartz takes a critical look at Berkeley’s sacred choral music (LBSJ 2015)

Divertimento

Tony Scotland examines a dossier on Berkeley’s ‘Divertimento’ (LBSJ 2015)

Theme & Variations for Guitar

Swedish/Greek guitarist Ioannis Theodoridis analyses Berkeley’s ‘Theme & Variations for Guitar’ – and finds traces of Beethoven (LBSJ 2015)

Berkeley Guitar Award 2015

Christopher Daly reports on the Berkeley Society Award for Guitar (LBSJ 2015)

The Music of Lennox Berkeley

Encounters with the music of Lennox Berkeley by Richard Leigh Harris (LBSJ 2015)

Berkeley the Teacher

A personal memoir by the Scottish composer John McLeod (LBSJ 2015)

‘A Dinner Engagement’ and ‘The Bear’ at the Royal Academy of Music

As an introduction to the student production of Berkeley’s comic opera ‘A Dinner Engagement’ and Walton’s extravaganza ‘The Bear’ at the Royal Academy of Music, Michael Berkeley discusses the two composers, and recalls their light-hearted friendship (LBSJ 2015)

Musical comedy singer Edith Brandon

Tony Scotland reveals Kate, Countess of Berkeley as the musical comedy singer Edith Brandon (LBSJ 2015)

2014

Emily Beynon on Berkeley and the flute

Society patron Emily Beynon discusses Berkeley’s flute works with Christopher Daly (LBSJ 2014)

David Wordsworth meets Lennox Berkeley

Conductor and pianist David Wordsworth, Musical Director of the Addison Singers, recalls his introduction to Berkeley (LBSJ 2014)

The Berkeley Song Repertoire

Soprano Claire McGinn introduces Berkeley’s song repertoire (LBSJ 2014)

Studying composition with Lennox Berkeley

Composer Michael Elliott recalls his studies at the Royal Academy of Music as one of Berkeley’s first students (LBSJ 2014)

Sir John Tavener obiturary (28 January 1944—12 November 2013)

Michael Berkeley remembers a friend, colleague and patron of the Lennox Berkeley Society (LBSJ 2014)

Introduction and Allegro and the double bass

Rodney Slatford writes about solo double bass repertoire and the birth of Berkeley’s ‘Introduction and Allegro’ (LBSJ 2014)

Berkeley Day at Royal Academy of Music

The guitar takes centre stage at the Royal Academy of Music’s annual Berkeley Day (LBSJ 2014)

Berkeley and Poulenc’s Musical Friendship

Sidney Buckland narrates a concert about the musical connections between Berkeley and Poulenc – influences in common, dedications by the one to the other, shared commissions and favourite pieces (LBSJ 2014)

Lennox Berkeley’s Piano Works

Michael Berkeley introduces musicological notes on nine of Lennox Berkeley’s piano works in ‘Composer Portraits: Lennox Berkeley’, published by the Music Sales Group (LBSJ 2014)

Sacred Choral Music

Stephen Cleobury, Director of Music at King’s College, Cambridge, talks to composer Adam Pounds about Berkeley’s favoured place in the King’s repertoire (LBSJ 2014)

Winton Basil Dean obituary (18 March 1916—19 December 2013)

Peter Dickinson remembers the distinguished musicologist who wrote the libretto for Berkeley’s unfinished opera, ‘Faldon Park’ (LBSJ 2014)

The 7th Earl Of Berkeley, Gambler And Musician

Tony Scotland on the 7th Earl of Berkeley, Lennox Berkeley’s bohemian grandfather (LBSJ 2014)