Manchester’s own chronicle of north west musical history reaches its 10th volume and 20th anniversary with a new edition commemorating the centenary of the Northern School of Music.
A compilation of memories by former students – headed by the late Sir Peter Jonas – accompanies profiles of the NSM’s founder, Hilda Collens, two of its most loved teachers, Dorothy Pilling and Betty Bannerman, and a concise history of the institution which united with the Royal Manchester College of Music in 1972 to become today’s Royal Northern College of Music.
The journal also covers topics ranging from the work of two mid-19th century musical directors of the Manchester Theatre Royal, by way of a portrait of violinist Arthur Catterall, research on composers Arnold Cooke and John Golland and the story of the re-discovery of Alan Rawsthorne’s Chamber Cantata, to a memoir of organist and choral trainer Ronald Frost.
Contributors include Michael Baron, Robert Beale, Harvey Davies, Anthony Gilbert, Paul Hindmarsh, Richard Lockett, Simon Passmore, Stuart Scott and John Turner.
The volume is completed by a cumulative index to all 10 volumes of Manchester Sounds. Editors are David Fallows and Robert Beale, and the new edition is available price £15 (along with previous editions) from Forsyth Brothers Ltd, Manchester.
