The Origins of Musical Festivals
Below is the front cover of the 1919 Syllabus. Please click on it to view a bit of Musical Festival History.
Hastings Musical Festival is a charitable organisation whose aim is to provide a superb platform for amateur performance in Music, Speech, Drama and Dance for children, students and adults, combined with a strong educational element gained from the input of professional Adjudicators.
Music festivals have their origins in the North of England in the 1870’s. The first recorded festival was the Workington Festival in Cumbria; still running to this day. It was organised by William Griffiths of Aberavon who, in 1869, had purchased a tinplate works near Workington and brought with him families from South Wales. Griffiths first began a band, then a male voice choir – and then a festival. Meanwhile, in London, John Curwen had taken up the idea of the National Music Meetings at the Crystal Palace to begin the Stratford and East London Festival in 1882 – another festival which still flourishes! More significant yet, however, was the introduction in 1885 of competitions for vocal quartets near Kendal, Cumbria. This was the brainchild of Mary Wakefield, on whose father’s estate the local show took place. It was this Mary, together with another Mary – the Lady Trefusis, Lady in Waiting to the Duchess of York, who first had the idea of a Federation of Festivals.
Hastings only started in the early 1900’s, when Dr. Herman Brearley organised a festival ‘for the encouragement of choral singing’. Dr Brearley was a local music teacher who lived at ‘Rosebank’, Priory Avenue, where he taught – Piano, singing, organ, harmony, theory of music and composition.
100 Years Ago – Festival -4th – 6th April 1910
This festival took place in the Public Hall consisting of 31 Competitions and a Grand Concert by the prize winners each evening. Distribution of the 
prizes was by The Right Hon. Lord Brassey K.C.B., Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lady Frances Legge and J. Dodson Hessey L.R.C.P. M.R.C.S.
Day tickets cost from 6d to 2/- and the programme cost 3d. The High School Class for Singing included an entry from Thorn Bank School at Bexhill who were conducted by Mr Fraled Hallett.
The Festival promised to be a far greater success than was the case the previous year. His Worship the Mayor, Alderman R. W. Mitchell J.P., as Chairman of the Education Committee, had kindly given an extra prize of 10s. for the Elocution Competition for children under 13 who were scholars at the elementary schools in Hastings and St Leonards. There were separate classes for professionals and amateurs.
Dr Herman Brearley had again thrown himself into the work of organisation with great enthusiasm. Among the adjudicators was Prof. Chas Davieson (Leipzig, Berlin & Vienna Conservatoires) and Mr Warwick Deeping, the famous novelist.
Dr Charlton Palmer, speaking on the choirs, said that for the first time in any competition he had heard in Hastings, he noticed the evil tremolo.
50 Years Ago – Festival - 16th March – 2nd April 1960
Soon after the syllabus came out the Hastings Observer reported that the 297 Classes were to be split between the White Rock and Hastings Pier. Adjudicators included; - Roy Hickman, Choral Adviser to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama; Mr David Franklin, of Covent Garden; Dr Herbert Howells.
On the Junior Choir day there were more than 500 children taking part during one afternoon. Add to these the potential audience of family and friends and one wonders how they managed.
Satisfactory reports were received from the Royal Academy of Music on the two scholarship holders Howard Blake and Lorema Heasman.
The class for organ players under 18 was won by Jonathan Martin.
Dr. Ruth Gipps, who had been in the United States, said she had the chance to see American practice over Festivals. She had noted there that to encourage talent they had Festivals on a competitive basis at a higher level for young people up to 30 who had been through the music schools.
Mr. P. J. Morren commented on a letter about the Festival in which the writer had been “appalled” at the low musical standard. He answered by saying that anyone who attended the prize winner’s concert would hardly have gone away with that impression.
The Women’s singing Gold medal and a number of other awards went to Verity-Ann Bates.
Want to know more?
Then buy the complete book, ‘Hastings Musical Festival, A History’
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