|
Rehearsals in the early years took place on Friday nights, starting in All Saints School, but moving for the second season to the Grove Congregational Church School Room. That was the practice venue for many years, until it was felt that a change was needed, and Wells Road
Methodist Church was then chosen. In 1985, with the closure of the church, rehearsals transferred tothe Grove Church, now refurbished and renamed Christchurch. It provides the choir with excellent facilities, including committee rooms when required. The practices continued on Friday nights for almost twenty years, but in the last two decades rehearsals have been held on Mondays.
The finances of the choir have essentially been sustained by the subscriptions of the members, which consist of an annual sum, and a weekly 'offering' at rehearsals. The former started at two shillings and six pence in 1949, and has risen now to sixteen pounds, with concessionary rates for students. Two former members, Miss E.M. Smith and Miss M. Short, generously left us legacies. A social committee in the early days undertook to raise extra funds through coffee mornings, at homes, balls, dinners and other social events. We have been financially helped by some residents of Ilkley and district. A number became patrons of the Choral Society, and in the late 1950s, there were almost ninety people who paid annual subscriptions. However, the numbers dwindled in the 1970s and the practice of sending out new invitations ceased. We have also received support from public bodies. The former Ilkley Urban District Council made small grants, and we had support from the former West Riding County Council through the facilities of the Further Education Department. Recently we have had annual grants from Yorkshire Arts and Bradford Metropolitan District Council . We cannot assume, in the current political climate, that we will continue to receive such support. Clearly, however, the Choral Society has contributed to the cultural life of the district and it has been this which has surely justified our successful applications for grants.
The Ilkley Choral Society has always existed to provide an opportunity for those who love singing together to enjoy the collective experience and to give others some pleasure through performances in the district. In so doing it has benefitted from a deep seated choral tradition, on which CWB was originally able to build. A question mark may rest over the continuity of this tradition, as it seems difficult to recruit and retain younger members in this age of social and cultural change. There is no need for undue pessimism, however, when we consider the youthfulness of our recent conductors and the soloists and instrumentalists they have introduced. Further our fruitful and happy co-operation with the Otley Choral Society continues. The Otley members will be celebrating their fiftieth anniversary season in 1992/3, and we look forward to joining them in their celebrations, just as they are singing with us now in our fortieth.
REFERENCES
Halifax Choral Society, (1967), 150th Anniversary, Souvenir Brochure and Comprehensive Programme, Halifax.
The Ilkley Gazette, 1949-1989.
Annie W. Patterson, (1902), The Story of Oratorio, Scott, New York.
J. Sutcliffe-Smith, (19281, A Musical Pilgrimage in Yorkshire, Jackson, Leads.
M. Troughton, (1963), "The Story of Ilkley and Otley Choral Societies", The Dalesman, February.
R. Vaughan Williams, (1934), National Music, University Press, Oxford.
P. M. Young, (1981), The Choral Tradition, Norton, London.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The story of the first forty years is largely based on the carefully written minutes of Society committee meetings. We are therefore indebted to all the secretaries, whose names appear above. Scrapbooks compiled by the secretaries were also consulted, so that a full record of all Ilkley Concerts could be reconstructed. We thank Charles Bainbridge for giving us time to talk about the history of the Choral Society. Lydia Pettitt and Howard Clarke also offered useful information and all present committee members, including
Clifford Barber, Mary Carruthers, Suzanne McCallion, Sylvia Tilford and Stuart Woodhouse, as well as the current officers, made useful suggestions about the content and lay-out of the account. Thanks are also due to Charles Mason of the Halifax Choral Society for the loan of a history of his society, and to Donald Webster, a long-standing friend and authority on church music, for indicating possible sources of information. The observant will have noted that we are in fact celebrating our forty years in the forty-first season.
END
|
