# Rodewald Concert Society

The Rodewald Concert Society (RCS) is an unincorporated members' society which promotes musical education and chamber music in the Merseyside area, now part of Liverpool City Region. It was founded in 1911 as the Rodewald Concert Club, in memory of Alfred Edward Rodewald, a well known amateur conductor in Liverpool. The only known older chamber music society in the UK is the Newcastle Chamber Music Society, founded in 1880. Whilst the London Chamber Music Series of concerts has been running for longer, the society which currently promotes it, the London Chamber Music Society, is relatively new. The RCS changed its name to the Rodewald Concert Society in 1916 and it is now registered as a charity. Its founding chairman was Ernest Bryson, a composer. Its first Honorary President was Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. The first concert was given by the Rawdon-Briggs String Quartet at the former Carlton Restaurant, Eberle Street, on 16 October 1911.

## Education

Education has been a part of Rodewald Concert Society (RCS) activities from its inception. Alfred Edward Rodewald, the Society's dedicatee, was known for his public lectures on music. At the inaugural meeting, lectures on musical subjects, as well as concerts, were envisaged. The second event of the society was a lecture-recital given by baritone, Harry Plunket Greene. The first Rules only specified that chamber music concerts were to be given "under informal and social conditions". Education was not specifically included as part of the Object of the Society in its Rules until 1955, when the Rule on Dissolution was also expanded in more detail. These changes were linked to the avoidance of tax on a legacy.
The most significant educational development was the introduction of exceptionally cheap seats for students, which were marketed through schools in 1944 and attracted significant support. There have been only two specific educational projects since then: regular Play Days for amateur ensembles with professional tuition, and financial support for various projects at the University of Liverpool in Session 2016-17.

## Artists

At first, concerts were given by local musicians, usually the Rawdon-Briggs String Quartet, then principals of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, who were succeeded by the Catterall Quartet and, later, by the original Brodsky Quartet from Manchester. Since the 1930s, the Society has brought internationally famous chamber music ensembles to Liverpool, including such as: the Léner, Prague, Griller, Hungarian, Amadeus, Camilleri, Janáček, Smetena, Melos, Borodin, new Brodsky, Škampa, Belcea and Pavel Haas String Quartets. Other chamber groups have included the Robert Masters Piano Quartet, Melos Ensemble, Beaux Arts Trio, and the Florestan Trio. Recitalists have included: Harriet Cohen, Albert Sammons, Dennis Brain, Yfrah Neaman, Stephen Hough, Ian Bostridge, Radu Lupu, Midori, Andreas Scholl, Tasmin Little, Wolfgang Holzmair, Mark Padmore, Paul Lewis, and Nikolai Demidenko.

## Commissions

The Society has a record of commissioning new works, made possible through grant aid. The first commission was from Judith Weir, in partnership with the South East Arts Association, to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the RLPS, and the Endellion Quartet as Quartet-in-Residence for the South East Arts Association. A previous attempt to commission a string quartet from Benjamin Britten had failed becasuse he was fully committed with other commissions. To assist with commissioning, a special fund-raising scheme was set up, known as 'Sounds Creative'. The second commission was for a Clarinet Quintet
[from Hugh Wood, to celebrate Liverpool as European Capital of Culture in 2008.
Two commissions were made in 2012 to celebrate the Society's Centenary, a Horn Quintet from John McCabe, its President, and a Clarinet Quintet from Emily Howard. Professor Emily Howard, originally from Wirral, is now recognised as one of the UK's most significant composers. Another initiative that year was planning an experimantal concert featuring the Smith Quartet with electronics. Matthew Fairclough from the University of Liverpool and Ian Percy from Liverpool Hope University were invited to compose works for the occasion. The concert took place at Liverpool Hope University on 1 December 2012. Also, in 2012, a postgraduate student and local resident, Louis Johnson, was invited to compose a work to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Alfred Edward Rodewald. This was performed by the Ensemble of St Luke's in the former Carnatic House, which was opposite to Rodewald's birth place in Mossley Hill, on 29 January 2012.
In 2014 Ian Stephens, from West Kirby, Wirral, was commissioned to compose an Oboe Quintet in memory of two former committee members who were brilliant amateur oboists. More recently, Timothy Jackson, Principal Horn of the RLPO as well as a composer, was commissioned to write a sextet for the Pixels Ensemble for performance at a lunchtime concert in the Leggate Theatre of the University on 22 March 2017.

## Notable founders

* Robert Ernest Bryson (1867-1942), Cotton merchant, organist and composer
* Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924), Composer and Professor of Music at Cambridge and the Royal College of Music
* Harry Plunket Greene (1865-1936), Bass-baritone, long-standing friend of Rodewald, who gave lecture-recitals to the Society

## Honorary Presidents

* Sir Charles Villiers Stanford 1911-1924
* Ernest Bryson 1926-1942
* Sir Thomas Beecham 1944-1961
* Sir Adrian Boult 1961-1983
* Walter Weller 1983-?
* John McCabe (composer) 2008-2015

## Sources
### Primary Source

Archives-Liverpool Record Office,
The public location of the Rodewald Concert Society Archives (Ref 780 RCS), which may be viewed by appointment or photocopies of individual documents may be purchased through the online catalogue.
The archives of the RCS were originally housed at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall along with those of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society. Unfortunately they were not properly maintained and, over the years, they had become mixed up. In 2004, with the assistance of the City Archivist, a joint application was made by the two societies for Heritage Lottery Funding to allow the appointment of a professional archivist for a three-year period in order to sort and separately catalogue the archives of the two societies and to make them available to the public for historical research at the Liverpool Record Office. This application was successful and an archivist was appointed in 2005. The two archives, Refs 780 PHI and 780 RCS, were publicly launched with a joint exhibition of key items in Liverpool Central Library on 25 February 2008.

### Secondary Sources

* The online catalogue of the Rodewald Concert Society archives, Liverpool Record Office, Ref 780 RCS
* G Douglas Bell from notes of the late H Ernest Roberts, 'Rodewald Concert Society Jubilee 1911-1961', published by the Rodewald Concert Society, 1961
* B. B. Benas, 'A History of Orchestras on Merseyside', Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Vol 95 (1942), p 103, *
* J. E. Kelly, 'Elgar's Best Friend: Alfred Rodewald of Liverpool', Lancaster, Carnegie Publishing Ltd, 2013, (Kelly)
* D. Henley & V. McKernan. 'The Original Liverpool Sound: The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Story', Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2009
* S. de B. Taylor, 'Two Centuries of Music in Liverpool', Liverpool, Rockliff Brothers Ltd, 1976