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1937
Monthly
Record
of
South
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Ethical
Society
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Telephone
: CHANCERY 8032.
OBJECrS OF THE SOCIETY are the study and dissemination
of
principles
and the cultivation of a rational religious sentiment."
" The
ethical
SUNDAY
MORNING
at ELEVEN
MEETINGS
O'CLOCK.
•
March rf—S.
First
K. RATCLIFFE—England
and Amerioa—Now
two movements of Sonata in G, Op. 78, for Violin and Pianoforte
Vivace ma non troppo.
ii. Adagio—Piu Andante--Adagio.
Miss BEATRIX MARR and Mr. WILLIAM BUSCH.
No. 25. 0 brother man, fold to thy heart thy brother!
Hymns
No. 81. We may not think that all of good.
..
Brahms
•
March 28—No Meeting
April 4--S.
K. RATCLIFFE—Stop
Caro mM ben
Sol0
BOSS
Soprano
Solo:
Faith
Playing the Camel
...
in Spring
Giordani
Mr.
G. C. DOWMAN
...
...
Schubert
MiSS HERE SIMPSON.
No. 147. Earnest words must needs be spoken.
No. 123. The man of life upright.
H ymns
April 11—HAR
Pianoforte
Solo:
DAYAL,
Prelude
M.A.,
Ph.D.—Ethical
and Chorale
Mr.
..
Aspects of Buddhism
César Franck
WILLIAM BUSCH.
No. 1. %Be true to every inmost thought.
No.45. All are architects of fate.
Hymns
April 18—JOHN
KATZ,
B.A.—Religion
and the Intellectuals
Sonata
in B fiat, K378, for Violin and Pianoforte
...
I. Allegro moderato.
a Andantino.
tn. Rondo: Allegro
Miss VERA KANTROVITCH and Mr. WILLIAM BUSCH.
No. 73. Out of the dark the circling sphere.
Hymns
No.100. What iS it that the crowd requite.
April 25—S.
Bass Solo :
Soprano
K. RATCLIFFE—The
Breathe
Solo:
New Problem of Loyalty
soft ye Winds
Loveliest
...
Mr. G. C. DOWMAN.
of Trees
...
MiSS HESE
Hymns
Mozart
Handel
Graham Peel
SIMPSON.
No. 120 and 227. The heart it hath its own estate.
No.28 (second tune).
Oh dew of life! oh light of earth!
Pianist
: Mr. WILLIAM BUSCH.
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the " RECORD."
A DANGEROUS
be
in
WORLD
It is needless to dwell upon the disconcerting
acceptance of the fact indicated
by this title. A gas-mask for everyone, conscription
for military and industrial war
services, storage of foods, unlimited expenditure
upon armaments.
are accepted by
the overwhelming
majority of people here and on the Continent as indicative of a
general war regarded as an early probability,
almost a certainty.
History is the
product of force and chance, a will to war brought into action by some frontier
fncident or other opportunity.
While no people wants war, every people thinks
it may " break out "—a phrase itself expressive of irrational causation.
Can nothing
be done to prevent it? For though no people wants war, every people can be forced
into what their national propaganda
will make them believe to be a necessity of
national defence.
This urgent peril can neither be understood nor guarded against until its common
causation is rightly grasped.
Though self-assertion
and a fighting " instinct " may
belong to most men's inborn equipment, or be educated by environment,
they would
not carry modern peoples into collective carnage, unless they were associated with
the economic interests and necessities of powerful political groups, the owning ruling
classes in the several nations.
For war is not the only danger which oppresses modern man.
The periodic
slumps and depressions, with their intolerable burdens and wastes of unemployment,
are an equal testimony to the irrationality
and the inhumanity
of our civilisation.
But what, it may be asked, is the connection between war and unemployment?
At
first sight they may seem to be opposed.
For both war itself and its preliminary
process of armed preparation
furnish paid occupations to those who otherwise may
be unemployed.
It is true that these occupations
can hardly be termed economic.
3
The production
and consumption
they provide consist in the destruction
alike of
wealth and life. The large sums devoted to our rearmament
from taxation
and
borrowing are taken, in a period of reviving prosperity,
from money that would
otherwise have been spent on making more consumptive goods or more capital goods
for enlarged production.
They constitute a substantial
reduction of the real income
of the nation and, by reason of the rise of prices they cause, of the real wages of the
workers.
These truths, however, even if accepted by our war-preparers,
do not
convince.
For, it is said here, as in Germany, there are critical occasions when
butter must be sacrificed to bullets.
" We don't want to fight, but . . . " Why must
we7 Because "national
honour " is involved in a " fight for markets."
The very
notion that markets can be objects of
and contention
seems at first sight
ridiculous.
Why should nations find a deficiency of markets in their own country
or abroad?
Why should they put on tariffs to keep out foreign goods, and employ all
their forces, financial, diplomatic
and ultimately
military, to secure " their share"
of the world's markets?
No nation can gain by restricting
the freedom of access to
the resources of the world which will enable them to be put to their best use and
increase the real income of everyone by free processes of exchange.
This free trade
logic is irrefragable—but
somehow its rationality does not prevail.
Why? Because it
assumes that consumers are always ready in large enough numbers to purchase and
consume all that can be produced.
Now this is not the fact. Production
is held up
periodically
by reason of an insufficiency of markets.
For though everything
that
is or can be produced belongs to somebody, who can buy it for consumption
or
exchange it for something
else he would consume, this does not cover a situation
where standards
of consumption
do not rise to keep pace with improved technique
of productive processes in manufacture,
agriculture
and transport.
For the classes
in each nation which profit most out of these improvements
are as a rule satisfied
with their current standards of living, spend little more in profitable times, but save
for investment
a larger proportion of their increased income.
So long as they use
these savings to pay workers to make more plant, raw materials and other capital
goods, the trouble is postponed.
But when it is seen that there exists an excess of
producing power beyond the limit of profitable trade, then comes a stoppage of
production and employment, especially in the fundamental
industries and the export
trades.
This recurrent deficiency of markets, home and foreign, is the direct cause
of these barriers and hostilities in trade which are a direct denial of its co-operative
nature and which are the secret feeders of international
hostility.
Each nation
seeks to keep its own markets for itself and to keep out foreigners, while at the same
time it uses its political power to get foreign markets away from its foreign competitors.
This trouble arises from a chronic maldistribution
of the national income,
due to advantages in bargaining which put too large a share of income in the hands
of the numerically smaller owning and ruling classes, too small a share in the hands of
the larger working classes. Thus economic insecurity and international
hostility are
fed from the same vicious source.
J. A. Housow.
PROFESSORT. H. PEAR ON " THE STUDY OF PERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS"
(February 28. 1937)
(1) First Epistle to the Corinthians,
12th Verse (James Moffatt's
translation
of the New Testament).
(2) From William James' Chapter on " Self," in his Principles of
Psychology."
Laurence Hyde in his book " The Learned Knife" said some cutting things about
sociologists and economists.
He pointed out that the physical sciences had achieved
a spectacular
success, but that they no longer dealt with real things but with
abstractions.
To apply purely abstract
laws to human problems was impossible.
Psychologists were let off lightly in the book, but it would be possible to apply the
same criticism to them. Psychologists, in attempting
to be scientific, may become too
abstract and confuse measurability
with significance.
Countless data will be collected
by second-rate minds data that may have little connection with warm reality.
To-day, I intend to speak not of technique but of subject matter; of the living
flesh and blood which is the basis of psychology.
To begin with, it is necessary to define personality, character, and self. Words
are our only means of communication,
and a misunderstanding
of a word may lead
to complete confusion.
I shall take Jung's definition of personality, McDougall's of
character, and William James' of self.
Personality is defined as the effects upon other people, caused by individual
persons, in as much as they are distinctive signs of that individual;
that is : physique,
colouring, clothes, speech, gesture, posture, choice of phrase.
Readings
:
4
stable state of a person's mind, which weaves
Character is the " comparatively
into a unified pattern his skills, ideals, etc."
Self is a total awareness of one's existence, of body, clothes, friends, children.
It is easy to see that a man's personality may not coincide with his character.
A chauffeur may exhibit one personality when he is in uniform and working for his
master; in fact, in a sense, he will suppress any individual traits; but when he is free
he may seem an entirely different man.
Both these personalities may hide a
perfectly stable character.
To-day, the study of personal relationships
is particularly
interesting,
because
personality can borrow so much from the cinema, cosmetics and other sources, that
it may have little reference to the character behind it.
Class distinctions
play a large part in personal relations.
It is patent in such
phrases as "To be brutally frank," " To be a snob for a moment,"
"Between
ourselves."
A feeling of social inferiority gives rise to class consciousness.
It may be one's
clothes, one's worldly goods or one's profession.
There are interesting exceptions to the rule of class consciousness;
one may be
democratic
in a swimming
pool, or in full evening dress, provided that it is
immaculate;
war, too, tends to eradicate
class feeling, so does mild alcoholic
intoxication.
In understanding
personal relationships,
it is important
to study the problem of
manners.
One aspect of good manners is the ability to find a solution to a difficult
• social situation.
Different types of social manners are seen in the offering of food
and drink. Some people are extremely sensitive to social atmosphere, and smart for
weeks if their advances are not reciprocated.
This is especially true of introverts.
Heartiness is another way of overcoming the natural shyness of first social contacts.
It probably is a good way, but many people, including myself, feel slightly ridiculous
on such occasions.
This is due very likely to upbringing.
Manners sometimes build an artificial barrier between people. The peculiar voice
and intonation used by many clergymen make them difficult to approach in a natural
manner.
Now that language and clothes are becoming more standardised,
some of the more
superficial class barriers are disappearing.
Ultimately all class distinction
must go. A classless society should evolve, but
it must be a society where cruelty between individuals is bad form, where plumbing is
efficient, and where there is plenty of soap.
J. L. G.
PROFESSOR H. LEVY ON - HERESY HUNTING."
(March
Readings
:
7, 1937)
(1) "The Doom of Dogma," by H. Prank.
(2) "The Recording Angel," by J. A. Hobson.
Professor Levy said that when he was asked to give a title for this lecture the
subject of heresy hunting was much in evidence owing to the Russian trials, which
were another illustration
of the historical heresy hunting to which we had become
accustomed.
The knowledge we had accumulated during the past century or two gave us a new
insight into the whole history of the subject, looked at broadly. We were accustomed
to think of particular
historical trials that had taken place and of individuals who
had stood out against authority, usually in connection with the Church.
They had
stood out for rather changeable and ephemeral things which nowadays could not be
considered to have established any fundamental
truth.
The particular things which
these people, from Christ onwards, felt very keenly about, did not react upon us with
the same strength.
It was conceivable that the special kinds of truth for which they
stood were very closely related and conditioned to the environment
in which they
lived.
The modernist Christian, from whose work his first reading was taken, writing
about 1900, and attempting
to make a more reasonable foundation
for the structure
of his beliefs, stated that in the last resort truth and salvation were individual
salvation, and were not founded upon the mass of opinion.
History has belied that
statement;
Society was prior to man.
With the accumulation
of experience,
knowledge and understanding
held from generation to generation and passed on to
each individual in society there arises an accumulation
of knowledge en masse and
a handing out of it to the individual.
When, at the end of the 19th century, writers
took up the individualistic
attitude, they were looking at a bit of the picture and not
seeing it as a whole. In each particular epoch in history the attempt has always been
made to cleanse society of its heretical sins. Christ could be regarded as a heretic
who stood up against constituted authority to insist on the right of the peasant and
5
underdog.
His was a spiritual
and sometimes economic upstanding
against the
constituted authority of a powerful Church.
He was swept out of the way.
In the late Middle Ages, in the time of Galileo, the experience that had been
acquired from navigation. commerce and craft industries during the previous centuries
had taught people something
about the world, about the stars, about metallurgy.
Knowledge was applied to industrial purposes rather than to dogmas and beliefs, and
men like Galileo had to ask themselves, after a life of investigation,
do I or do I not
believe the evidence of my own eyes, or do I believe the so-called established dogmas
of the Catholic Church, handed
down in an abstract
way from generation
to
generation?
Galileo invited professors of universities
to look through his telescope
at the revolving moons of Jupiter and the spots on the sun. When they were
approached
by the Papal representatives
to agree or deny the truth of Galileo's
observations,
they said they did not see the moons or sunspots.
They knew they
did, but they would not say so. The heretic is he who can formulate
in precise
language a new idea of which he is not the sole possessor.
Psychologists
know the
effect of repressing a certain word. There is a tradition of society which says you
must not say it verbally.
The heretic says I must say it or burst. Then somebody
else says it by saying that the heretic said it. The heretic breaks the ice and makes
the bound forward.
Galileo's new conception of the earth as a revolving globe rested
on the accumulated experience of a number of comparatively
simple-minded
sailors.
Spinoza, a Spanish Jew brought up in Holland, a prosperous country which had
broken the fetters of the Catholic Church, expressed a new kind of liberalism, and
put forward a philosophy which is to all intents and purposes atheist.
He threw off
the whole trammels of the Jewish Church and said that man made his own morality
and did not need dogmas given by an unknown, unseen power.
He was excommunicated.
Spinoza lived in the 17th century in a social environment
of an advanced
type. In England the Civil War of 1640 had made the first challenge to the doctrine
of the divine right of kings. In 1688 the king was brought back, but he had lost his
divine right and there was a limited monarchy.
The Jacobite rebellion of 1715
attempted
to bring it back, but in 1745 there was a counter-revolutionary
movement
which finished it. New ideas had expressed themselves in a new form of government.
Holland at the time of Spinoza was closely allied religiously, intellectually
and industrially with England.
It took one hundred years to quash the divine right of the king. It has taken
a hundred years to establish the French revolution.
We must not be surprised if
there are ups and downs in Russia.
The kind of things which might be considered heresy to-day are not religious,
they are more fundamental.
We belong to a liberal era and think we do not believe
in heresy. We say you can do as you like as long as you do not interfere with other
people, but there is not a man who does not say : " Well, the limit is so and so," but
the limit differs. When we say we believe in freedom for heretics we must say how
Much freedom.
How much will they get, how much will they have to suffer if they
step beyond the limit. The blasphemy laws still apply. We do not burn heretics now,
but in some places their books are burned.
We do not burn books in this country,
but there are many books which could be written, about which we should say that they
should not have been written.
What is happening
to-day in Russia. Germany. England. France and Spain is a
clash between people who believe in the system they have and those who do not.
There are enormous groups of heretics ready to die for their beliefs. Large numbers
of people in Spain are dying to get rid of a kind of society that they think should not
exist. There is an increase in the scale of heresy hunting and in the scale of exposing
heresy.
It has passed from being an individual thing and is a group thing.
A new
morale comes into being when a man is not alone; a new quality emerges in a crowd
which does not exist in the individuals it composes.
Instead of individual heretics
expounding
new ideas, you get groups of heretics saying we stand for so and so.
This brings about a social revolution.
E. W.
CONWAY
DISCUSSION
CIRCLE
DR. HAR DAYAL ON " THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY "
(February 23, 1937)
Dr. Har Dayal enquired what are the chances of the survival of democracy in the
modern world. During the 19th century we have seen freedom developing, but since
the Great War the process has suffered a setback. Fascism has triumphed in Germany
and Italy. Actually in this country we only enjoy a partial democracy.
In a perfect
democracy every citizen should base his opinions on proper information,
but we do
not get that from the Press, or the 13.13.C.,or from propaganda
lectures.
Then there
are certain institutions
which mock democracy.
In England we have the House of
Lords and the Royal Family.
In America there is the Senate and the Supreme
Court. in France a second Chamber.
He did not believe the problem can be solved
by reference to capitalism.
That is only one factor.
The immediate cause of the
success of Fascism in Germany and Italy was want of agreement among the various
Left-wing parties, but fundamentally
it was the Great War which caused economic,
social, psychological conditions favourable to dictatorship.
The policy of France and
England in browbeating
Germany
and treating Italy unfairly was also a factor.
The Treaty of Versailles led to a great revival of patriotism.
When nationalism
has
been outraged, people will sacrifice liberty and democracy for national success. The
middle classes in Germany are the backbone of the reactionary
movement.
They
have allied themselves with the upper rather than with the working classes. The
latter cannot maintain democracy alone. Then there is the effect of the Church.
People think that the erroneous superstitions
fostered by the priests are insignificant.
But such an enormous institution with its prestige and theological background cannot
be neglected in politics.
It was Dr. Har Dayal's conviction that no nation which
belongs to a superstitious
church can have democratic institutions
in the long run.
Superstition
is an underlying cause of social slavery.
The Christian
Church is an
institution
based on authority.
Members learn to obey and look up to priests.
It is
not possible in a community to obey the Church and love liberty and democracy in
the State.
He had no hope of establishing
a democratic State in a Roman Catholic
country.
What finally contributed
to the success of the fascists was the sheer
incompetence
of the democratic leaders.
It is a peculiar fact that the success of
democracy .depends on leadership, because it consists of millions of average people
.who need leadership
and organisation.
It is not the same thing as dictatorship.
The democratic leader inspires others.
In Germany and Italy the so-called democratic parties were entirely moth-eaten
with self-complacency
and the inertia which
comes of having safe jobs in the capitalist system.
Lansbury in Office thought too
much of bathers in Hyde Park. That was not a proper use of his powers, but that
happens when leaders become entangled in the oligarchic State.
These institutions
are like so many spiders' webs. The great leaders should not be in them.
They
should be outside, guiding those who must make compromises in the Government
machinery.
In Germany there were no great leaders outside the political machinery.
On the day Hitler was appointed Chancellor, Vorwaerts wrote : " We will be fair and
courteous to the Nazi administration."
They thought they would be one party like
the others.
They were not prepared for any sort of struggle.
To go down as the
German democracy did was ignominious.
Can Fascism succeed in England, France and America?
It may or It may not.
He believed in people working to make history.
The ideal is the establishment
of
liberty, equality and fraternity in the whole world. We must distinguish our friends
from our enemies.
All of us are supposed to be democratic,
but wealthy people,
whether Tory or Liberal, are not democrats—they
still belong to 1832. They have
accepted
reforms
unwillingly
and would reverse all legislation
if they could.
The only friends of democracy are the small men economically.
There may be a
few idealists,
but we must base democracy
on the small farmer,
shopkeeper,
professional
worker, soldier and sailor, who earn their living and do not exploit.
Many of these vote wrongly.
It is otir task to persuade them to vote for the Labour
Movement.
Unless the farmers are with you there will not be a stable democracy.
He did not favour Land Nationalisation.
The farmer thinks in terms of land and
should have his own. There is nothing undemocratic
in that. Peasant proprietorship
is good. In Sweden to-day there is a coalition of farmers and Socialists.
The shopkeepers and the professional workers must be shown how they are exploited by the
oligarchies.
Soldiers and sailors are a class apart.
No revolution can take place
without their support.
We must impress on soldiers and sailors that their loyalty and
allegiance is always to the constitutionally
elected government.
We must try to have
more international
trade.
Hitler's movement succeeded during the depression of
1929 and through the aggressive action of France.
We must Join hands with those
small free northern countries which are trying to free trade from its barriers.
We
must work for peace. One probable result of the next war will be the establishment
of fascism.
Every infringement
of democratic rights must be resisted.
If there is
bureaucratic
action against liberty of speech, association, and criticism, it must be
fought, as it was when fascists threatened
to march in the East End. People came
out into the streets to the discomfiture of Mosley. We must support the National
Council for Civil Liberties.
DR. J. C. FLUGEL
ON "NATIONALISM
AND
(March 2, 1937)
Dr. Flugel said that rationalism required that we should,
and live according to reason in all spheres.
Religion to-day
the most important field in which irrationality
shows itself,
and more recognised that many of the feelings and motives
REASON "
as far as possible, think
was perhaps no longer
and it has become more
which lead to unreason-
7
able belief In religious affairs have passed to the political sphere, and the rationalist
There is more need in the field of
should pursue unreason to those other spheres.
politics than elsewhere.
Within the general sphere of politics there is the sub-group of nationalism, which
is dangerous because of its connection with war.. Almost everybody realises that war
but you must deal specially with its psychological causes
is essentially unreasonable,
It can show us the best way to attain
Reason itself has limitations.
and motives.
the desired end, but it is desire which dictates this end. When we desire the good.
is easier
reason tells us how to attain it. The task of reason in regard to nationalism
whereas
Nations are man-made,
religion.
than in the battle against superstitious
religious dogmas are accepted as intrinsic values. We have to persuade the believer
is recognised to be
Nationalism
that there are higher values than religious dogma.
the
nothing more than a human value. In the tight against belligerent nationalism,
to our safety, it is highly
should show that in so far as conducing
rationalist
needs which find expression can be supplied by
Secondly, emotional
dangerous.
allegiance to a wider whole. And thirdly, that in the case of patriotism even our local
patriotisms can still be enjoyed, but with reference to certain ends in social efficiency
and national health and happiness, science, literature and art, etc. National law is at
to enforce it. Clearly, if we are to
present a farce because there is no authority
The
avoid war, there must be a limitation to the complete sovereignty of nations.
League of Nations presupposed that the general desire for peace following the Great
War was sufficient to make nations regard themselves as bound by a gentleman's
agreement, but events have shown they cannot be trusted to behave as gentlemen.
They are the going concerns
have their valuable qualities.
Nations, nevertheless,
The nation is.
which exist from which all further development, has to be built.
and
world in which communications
however, often two small for the present
transport have increased so enormously.
is the question of loyalty to a greater whole.
The second point for the rationalist
of a sovereign state we must receive
If we are to give up this precious tradition
We must cultivate this loyalty to a
in one way or another.
emotional compensation
greater whole. The League of fiations should do something to cultivate loyalty to
see our
itself. It has a flag, but nobody knows anything about it. We constantly
national flags and uniforms, but very seldom at any fete connected with the League
Every time we go to a theatre we have to sing
do we see its flag or hear its anthem.
but the
" God Save the King," and thus our loyalties are always being stimulated,
basis. Everytime we have a national
League is conducted on a purely intellectual
fête we should emphasise that we are part of a greater whole. At the Coronation the
Are we
national flag and the League of Nations flag should be displayed together.
to aim at the retention of something like the national spirit or at cosmopolitanism?
Mr. Wells thinks it impossible to render nations peaceful because of aggressive
for the wider whole must be aroused. The League has utterly
Enthusiasm
tradition.
failed in this respect. It was formed by the inclusion of nearly all the civilised nations
They were at different stages of culture, and national
on the basis of nationality.
Nazism is a very difficult
rivalries and political ideologies had to be cut across.
to all except tempoiary federation.
problem, as it is antagonistic
in size and power.
A third difficulty is that existing nations differ enormously
the larger nations take a leading part, whereas the
and under these circumstances
If it were possible to produce a
League treats the various members as individuals.
federation of Prance, U.S.A.. and the British Empire. there would be a very important
group to act as a nucleus round which smaller ones would collect, but these nations
and there should be
should trust each bther sufficiently to pool their armaments,
economic union. Even that seems very remote. Within such a group there would be
Smaller nations
little distrust of each other.
no loss of prestige and comparatively
joining In would gain prestige and power.
If we have these national loyalties and are asked to give up certain powers, we
There
to some extent within our own group.
can receive emotional compensation
are other than military glories.
It is one of the great achievements
of Russian
If we are to flfnr.
that they have stressed peaceful accomplishments.
politicians
for military glories, we must dwell on our own very real achievements
substitutes
which we tend to pass over in silence. Examples are the grid electricity scheme, the
of the B.B.C., and the creation of the London Passenger Transport
establishment
Board. In other countries these would have been celebrated as national achievements.
We must have the moral equivalents of war. Loyalties connected with aggression are
powerful because they call for sacrifice. The need to sacrifice ourselves and put our
energy and liveS in the service of some great cause is deep-Seated in the human
must see that it is used for good. We must have some big
heart, and the rationalist
equal to
to the cause of humanity
idea for which we can make great contributions
those afforded by war.
F. a G.
8
SOth Anniversary
of first South Place Concert
MRS. MARY AGNES HAMILTON ON - MUSIC AND LIFE."
(February 21. 1937)
(1) John Milton : " At a Solemn Music."
(2) Robert
Browning : " Abt
Vogler—after
he has
been
extemporising
upon the musical instrument of his invention."
It is probably in the minds of all of you that there is taking place to-day a very
interesting celebration intimately connected with this Society. We celebrate the fact
that our Sunday concerts, founded with extraordinary
faith by Mr. A. J. Cements
to
give ordinary people the opportunity
of hearing chamber music at small cost, have
been going on for fifty years.
Since Mr. Clements started he has enlisted the co-operation
of almost every
musical executant one can think of. In these tif ty years an extraordinary
change has
taken place in the degree to which ordinary people take music into their life. I
belong to a generation
whose musical education
and opportunity
lagged extraordinarily
far behind their reading.
At whatever cost, we did get hold of books.
We knew something also of pictures.
But seldom, if ever, were we taught to read
music. If we enjoy it, it is largely in ignorance of its alphabet.
It is a common
experience to meet a man or woman in the forties who would be ashamed not to
have heard. of Browning, but they would not be ashamed not to have heard of
Brahms or Beethoven.
That has changed, and I am inclined to think that the true
historian of the future, who looks at how ordinary people are living, may very well
flnd that this general acquisition of some acquaintance
with music has been the
most important change in our lives. In the schools to-day there is going on a training
in music, and broadcasting
has been a tremendous influence in enabling thousands of
people to hear the best music so as to be able to enjoy music in an instructed manner.
I have been interested
in the last few years because it has been my work to
interview candidates for the Civil Service.
In an examination
question for clericals,
it was asked : "Does broadcasting help or hinder music?"
From both groups—cadets
and executives—one got the same impression that music was a real fact in their lives.
Young men from universities asked as to their recreation, many said : " To take part.
in chamber or choral music, or to listen to it." Several asked. "If transported
to a
desert island, what books would you take?" replied : "Books of gramophone records."
Of the boys and girls who came from our secondary schools, mostly children from
working-class homes, many said, frankly and rightly : " It hinders music because we
have to listen to broadcasting in rooms where other things are going on." That made
one feel that, musical appreciation
depends partly on housing, but a great number
of others said wireless was helping musical appreciation
because nothing helps so
much as to have listened to a piece on the wireless with the score in the hands.
Many had listened with pleasure with the score in their hands.
Twenty-five years
hence it will be as ignorant not to read music as it is now not to read the ordinary
printed word.
No one can pretend that the khid of enjoyment which the ignorant get from
listening to music is the same or as deep as that which comes when you understand
what you are listening to. I have no fear that knowledge of music is going to do
anything but immensely increase the enjoyment of music.
Goethe said : "He who
does not love music is dead." We are not complete without love of music. Music and
life has been much more illuminated
by the glorious music we have heard this
morning than anything else I can say. The value of music increases with me, but I
can only read a score with great difficulty, and I speak as one of the enjoyers, but
no more. But people like me are still entitled to have a view on what is the biggest
controversy about music. This is as passionately pursued as the old controversy about
Art and Morals. The modern phase of the controversy
asks whether Art, and in
particular
Music, has any meaning.
There is a school of musicians who proclaim
that music has no meaning, and is degraded by having meaning imputed to it.
Stravinsky is of this school. They mean meaning in terms of anything but itself as
expressing anything in relation to life as a whole. They say that the musician is not
concerned with the problems which afflict human beings. He is building a pattern
which has nothing to do with life. The same practice is followed by contemporary
painters, who say painting is a subtle gradation of colour values, just as music is a
gradation of tones. But those who say with Stravinsky that music has no meaning
are still under the influence of the old literary standards
and conventions
under
which most of us grew up. Those who say that music has meaning and that it
expresses and can illuminate experiences,
do not imply that you can translate
the
substance or content of a piece of music into words, and by those words express what
is being said. Those who go to concerts must have suffered from the attempts of
the programme editor to say what the piece means, or to cast it Into a visible picture.
Readings
:
9
Music can be understood in musical terms. I agree, but you cannot take it out of its
own expression into another.
You cannot translate a picture into words, or a play
into song. Certainly it is true to say that the meaning of a piece of music cannot be
translated
into words. It is another thing to say music has nothing to tell us about
life or to give us about life itself. Those who claim that music is not only unique,
but isolated from life, are wrong.
Music can tell us something
about life—an
illumination
that nothing else can bring in the same way. I would ask anyone who
asserts that music is meaningless : "Is that his impression when going away from
hearing one of the great works?"
Does any human being, familiar with Mozart's
chamber music or who has heard The Magic Flute, not feel he has been in contact
with an illumination
of life which has brought him into contact with fundamental
experiences
of life, and that one is receiving some sort of acquaintance
with the
whole approach to the mystery of our common existence with Mozart himself?
It would be interesting for each of us to make a list of the works which have given
this experience.
The Magic Flute would be one universally admitted.
Gluck's Orpheus
also, and Beethoven's Fidelio. I do not get it in Parsilal, but I do in Lohengrin : there
are passages in it which have just that ramified, tenuous quality and contact with the
spiritual.
When I pass to the great Symphonies, the list is much too long, but it is
interesting to interrogate one's musical experience and ask which have given you a sense
of spiritual awareness which one cannot turn into words but is not a vague emotion.
Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony
cannot
be appreciated
without
a sense of the
tremendous feeling it gives one of an experience which passing through every range
of sorrow and despair enters in that divine Adagio into a complete release from every
trace of self-consciousness
and then says: " I cannot have this for myself alone,
every brother must enjoy it with me." People ask why Beethoven admitted human
voices, but do not they express this sharing
of accepted experience?
That is
what great music demands of us. The great Fugue elevates us from the sloppily
emotional stage.
Beethoven,
Mozart, Bach try to convey to their fellow human
beings a sense of their total experience of what life meant to them, and how they
saw through it and beyond it. To say music has no meaning is definitely wrong. We
belong to a period when it is difficult to see any meaning in life. It is chaotic and
unorganised.
We live in a state of apprehension.
All this turmoil and despair means
that the artist to-day dares not think of life as a whole, and his experience of life
will seek to escape in forms as absolute as possible.
There is no accident in the
fact that while you have to-day an incredible degree of technical mastery, many Of
these masters seem to have little or nothing to say. Technical skill and its exercise
is thcn a form of escape. Out of this desire to escape from an experience that cannot
be mastered psychologically
springs the view that the unique language of music is
somehow incapable of, or degraded by. utterance
in terms that have anything to do
with human experience.
But so limiting a view cannot seriously be accepted for a
moment.
Music has intimate relevance to life. I do not believe it is possible that
there exists a great artistic medium whose exponents are not using it to say what
they most deeply think.
Mussorgsky said Art is communication
between man and
man. You have got it all there—a passionate impulse to express to the rest of your
fellows the sum of your own reaction and experience.
Music is a medium of communication direct and intimate, subtle and strong, capable of illuminating
mysteries
the other arts can suggest but not reveal.
Where words imprison us, music sets
us free.
THE JUBILEE CONCERT
The 50th anniversary
of the first South Place Concert (20th February, 1887), held
on the 21st February, 1937, will remain in the memory of those who took part in it
as a gay and festive family affair. The atmosphere seemed to be electric with goodwill.
high spirits and the happiness of generous co operation.
All seats were taken, all
standing
accommodation
filled, and hundreds
of people were turned away.
The
unusual happened;
reserved seats were filled early; in the unreserved, familiar faces
appeared
in unaccustomed
places, the weekly routine
upset by the rush.
The
Committee members wore spring flowers instead of lettered buttons;
the entrance
hall foretold refreshments:
the seats of Mr. and Mrs. Clements were filled with
flowers. Programmes
de luxe appeared of size fourfold, the covers adorned with the
Secretary's portrait, the inner pages packed with the musical matter to be given by
fifteen notable artistes, long and affectionately
associated with South Place Concerts.
The programme,
skilfully built by its organiser
from many diverse items was
opened by the Rawlins String Quartet, who played Beethoven's Op. 18, No. 4. Among
the songs chosen by the singers (Mr. Gordon Cleather and Miss Helen Henschel) were
compositions by Mr. Walthew and by Miss Henschel's father, who sang in the early
concerts. The veteran, Mr. Ltddle, aCCOmpanied groups of songs and duets.
-
10
Among the varied pianoforte
solos of Mr. Arthur Alexander were Beethoven's
Thirty-two Variations in C minor.
The climax of the concert was the qubit et of Haensel, annotated by the Secretary,
who delights in bringing to notice just such unknown music.
An out bor:4 of cheering greeted the appearance
of Mr. Clements as 2nd viola
with the Griller quartet, who share the general enthusiasm
for his work in Chamber
Music. Unabashed by the warmth ot the public's greeting, Mr. Clements refusS to
be side-tracked
from music to oratory.
Characteristically,
he told a simple story of
the small boy, who, when prompted,
as he was hesitating
to say grace, by the
dangenms
suggestion,
" What would father say? '' answered,
"Nah then, git on
wif it ! "
ALFREDE. CLEMENTS
Honorary Secretary, 1887-1937
'Phis the quhitet did. When. :it [he end, the cheering was renea:Mr.
Clements
remained uncorrupted, and, instead of reminiscing, gave the terse reminder, "Business
as usual next Sunday."
All wished that Mr. plunket Greene could have lived to sing and to speak at the
Jubilee concert.
Ill the speech-of-grace
before the collection, Mr. Thistleton,
in
referring to him and his work, thanked the Society for the help it had given to the
two causes so dear to his heart. the Musicians
Benevolent Fund and the Music
Festival movement.
During the interval, the artists'
room was thronged
by artists, critics and
committee, whose faces -were illumined by the 50-candle power of a fine Jubilee cake
11
made by one of the Committee members as a tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Clements.
Mr.
Gordon Cleather, at their request, with his professional
breath de-control, blew out
the 50 candles in one breath.
The cutting and consuming followed easily and merrily.
The vocal duets and the great Schumann
quintet, with Mr. Walthew as pianist
making his 215th appearance,
brought the concert to a cheerful close. Mr. Clements
seemed to have renewed his youth, and all anticipate that he will fulfil his ambition
to reach a Diamond Jubilee and equal his father's record of playing years.
C. K. 0,
REPRINTS FROM THE PUBLIC:PRESS
A NOTABLE PROGRAMME
The South Place Sunday Concerts celebrated yesterday in Conway Hall the 50th
anniversary
of the first concert which was given on February 20. 1887.
The programme
for this occasion was exceptional
in quality and quantity, the
crowded hall bearing evidence to the popularity of an institution as highly creditable
to its founders and organisers as to the artists who invariably reserve their best for
this most appreciative audience.
The South Place concerts are now a London institution, and our music would be much the poorer without them.
Yesterday two quartets took part in the programme—the
Rawlins String Quartet
played Beethoven's
Op. 18, No. 4: the Griller Quartet
contributed
a quintet by a
composer forgotten to-day, Pierre Haensel.
Between
these interesting
and admirable
performances
two singers—Helen
Henschel and Gordon Cleather—sang
with impeccable taste a number of songs well
contrasted in character:
Ethel Hobday and Albert Sammons gave a warm and finished
interpretation
of Elgar's Sonata for piano and violin. and Arthur Alexander played
brilliantly a programme of pianoforte solos which included Beethoven's 32 Variations.
The second viola part in Haensel's quintet was played—and played very creditably
—by the 77-year-old secretary of the concerts, Mr. Alfred J. Clements.
The evening
concluded with Schumann's
quintet far piano and strings, in which the piano part
was played by the well-known composer, Richard H. Walthew.
F. B.
The Daily Telegraph, February 22, 1937.
SOUTH PLACE JUBILEE
Conway Hall was filled last Sunday when the fiftieth anniversary
of the first
South Place Concert was celebrated.
A programme
of great variety and of really
fabulous length had been chosen, and among the performers were some who now give
lustre to South Place, others to whom South Place is still a necessary encouragement,
but all owing a profound debt to an institution without which London's musical life
would be the poorer. Alfred J. Clements, who has been organising secretary since the
first concert on February
20, 1887, played himself in a quintet by Pierre Haensel.
How many chamber music societies have been founded and have collapsed since Mr.
Clements' enterprise was begun? To his vision and determination
must be attributed
in large measure the unique record of the South Place Concerts.
We hope he and
his great work will prosper for many years to come.
The Observer, February 28, 1937.
COMPLIMENTARY
PARTY TO MR. AND
MRS. A. J. CLEMENTS
On Friday, March 5, a party to celebrate the Jubilee of the Sunday Concerts
under Mr. Alfred J. Clements' direction was given by the General Committee in
honour of Mr. and Mrs. Clements.
There was a reception in the Library, followed by supper which was served in the
large hall to about 200 people—musical
friends of Mr. and Mrs. Cements,
past and
present members of the Concert Committee
and of the General Committee,
and
others.
After supper the Chairman, Mr. C. J. Pollard. said that Mr. and Mrs. Clements
had received numerous telephone messages, letters and telegrams of congratulation.
He appreciated
the honour of presiding
over this historical
occasion in the
annals of South Place Ethical Society, which was to be congratulated
on having
attracted
the hero of the evening to membership
in 1880, when he was in his 21st
year. Mr. Clements had always been an exponent and upholder of ethical ideals,
freedom and free enquiry in accordance
with the principles of the Society.
Mr.
Pollard wished to testify that Mr. Clements was a marvellous committee man and a
particularly
fine member of the executive body which he served. He had individual
and virile judgment combined with toleration for the opinions of others.
Mr. Pollard
was delighted to have the opportunity of showing gratitude for the splendid work Mr.
and Mrs. Clements had given to the Society and appreciation of their charming
12
personalities.
This gathering was not only a tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Cements, but it
reminded the members that a Society which could attract the suvport of a man and
woman such as these for so many years must be congratulated
upon the nature and
force of its appeal.
Mrs. Hawkins, speaking for the Concert Committee, said she joined the Society in
November. 1921, and the following Easter. when on the holiday at Ryde, had the good
fortune to be domiciled at headquarters
with Mr. and Mrs. Clements.
Shortly
afterwards
she was invited to join the Concert Committee,
and she had been a
member ever since. On the Committee she had met all kinds of people—literary,
good
organisers, good musicians and some excellent, critics. It was the happiest Committee
in the building, the people being hold together for the purpose of giving the finest
music available at minimum cost, The Committee admired Mr. Clements' simplicity,
Integrity, devotion to his cause and capacity for hard work, The finest thing about
him was his ability to forget not only himself but the self of the person he was talking
to and to demand the best that could be given. He was not attracted
by marvellous
personalities nor overcome by glamour.
For 50 years Mr. and Mrs. Clements had left
their fireside on Sundays.
The finest thing that could happen to a man was to have a
wife who was actively and intelligently sympathetic
with what he had at heart.
Mr.
Clements could not have done what he had without the help of Mrs. Clements.
Mr. Wallis Mansford spoke of his long friendship with Mr. and Mrs. Clements and
the enjoyable holidays he had spent with them. On one of these they had heard John
Saunders, who was afterwards invited to play at the concerts and he did so frequently
up to his early and regrettable death. Mr. Clements' 50 years' continuous service had
provided untold pleasure to countless thousands.
It was a unique experience in the
• realm of music and one of which the Society might well be proud. He concluded by
wishing Alfred and Dora Clements
continued
happiness
and success In their
altruistic work.
Mr. Richard Walthew said that Mr. Clements' reputation
extended far beyond
the bounds of the frequenters
of these concerts.
Wherever professional
musicians
were gathered together the remark was heard that Mr. Cements had done more for
chamber music than anyone else. Mr. Walthew was grateful for the opportunity Mr.
Clements had afforded him of hearing his own works more than once. A critic once
called a new work that was produced in South Place '• Reminiscences of South Place,"
It was intended to be scathing, but taken properly it was very complimentary
because
reminiscences of South Place would be most interesting
and amusing and he hoped
Mr. Clements would one day write a book with that title.
One .of Mr. Walthew's
most cherished memories of South Place was his frequent asSociation with that great
violinist John Saunders and his quartet. one of the original members of which, Mr.
Ernest Yonge, was present this evening.
Mr. E. J. Fairhall said that during all the time they had been working, Mr. and
Mrs. Clements had had the affection and regard of the people with whom they had
come into contact.
Although the concerts were their major work they seemed to go
in for duration records in all directions.
Mr. Clements was the first secretary and
leader oi the orchestra started by a small band of enthusiasts
over 39 years ago. Mr.
and Mrs. Clements were interested
in 'the Rambling Club and arranged the Hyde
Easter Holiday with largely the same people, for something like 40 years.
The Chairman
then read a letter from the Cements' Party Sub Committee
stating that a number of South Place and Concert friends rejoiced with Mr. and Mrs.
Clements in this celebration and wished to give them a present as a token of their
affection and appreciation.
Many contributors
thought that a suitable gift would be
a combined wireless receiving set and gramophone
attachment,
with some chamber
music records, but in case Mr. and Mrs. Clements would prefer something else the
Sub-Committee
asked them to accept a cheque in the meantime, and hoped that they
would have many years to enjoy whatever they decided to buy. Mrs. Watson, the
secretary of the Sub-Committee,
then presented Mrs. Clements with bouquets from
Dr. Stanton Coit, who was one of the guests, and from the Sub-Committee.
Mr. Clements, replying, recalled that on the occasion of Harry Plunket Green's
70th birthday there was no time for any music, after the speeches, except "God Save
the King,"
He did not propose to make a long speech.
So many beautiful things
had been said to Mrs. Clements and himself to-night that he wondered they had any
heads left. He thanked Mr. Pollard and the other speakers, all friends and the
General Committee for thinking of and carrying out so admirably
this delightful
gathering.
He found life good and he wanted to have as much of it as possible. He
and Mrs. Clements hoped to reach the Diamond Jubilee of the South Place Concerts.
Talking of the influences on his life, Mr. Clements said that his mother was so
kind and loving that she very nearly spoilt him, but before she entirely did so he Met
the young lady whom he married.
The union of Ireland and England in domestic life
as in politics had not been unruffled.
Mrs. Clements could trace a long ancestry, but
Mr. Clements could not get beyond Whitechapel;
she had a vivacious Celtic tempera-
13
ment. he a slow Saxon one. Then there was the difference between the woman's
Mrs. Clements' were most exalted upon every subject and
standards and the man's.
However, these differences were not deep and the 50
he could not get near them.
years they had had together had passed very quickly. He thought that the sad and
serious state of affairs in the world to-day were caused by women not being
If they were and their kindness and human feelings were
sufficiently considered.
to bring
regarded, we should have a much better world, but they were encouraged
children into the world very often for devastation and destruction.
First among the men who had meant most to him in his life was his father, a
he had not been able to probe,
man the depths of whose character
remarkable
although he lived to within three weeks of 88. His father took him to the old chapel
in St. Paul's Road, where he came under the influence of Dr. Moncure Conway. Later
they both joined South Place Ethical Society and his father continued to attend until
Mr. Clements remembered with gratitude John A.
he went to live at Bournemouth.
Hobson, whose wisdom steered him through a private financial crisis and from whom
he learned that no amount of financial trouble need touch the vital and enduring
and most beautiful things in life. Then there was Dr. Delisle Burns, who said that
thing was what England could give, not what she could get. Many
the important
happy years were spent under the inspiring leadership of Dr. Stanton Coit at the
Guild in Kentish Town.
Neighbourhood
Mr. Clements said this work of 50 years would have been quite impossible without
wished to mention
the support of the artists who came to play. He particularly
(who played at a third of all the concerts, given up to his death),
John Saunders
Richard Walthew, Jessie Grimson and Harry Plunket Greene, the greatest vocalist we
had had and who would have sung at the Jubilee concert and to-night if he had lived.
The work could not have been carried on without the loyal co-operation of the Combusiness ability, and Andrew
mittee. Frank Hawkins, as treasurer, had extraordinary
Watson could not better him except by living longer and being treasurer for a longer
time.
His long experience of life had taught him that one must lose oneself in order to
He was convinced
find oneself. Enduring happiness could otherwise not be achieved.
that to get true peace and happiness all must put service before self.
Mrs. Clements thanked the Committee, the workers and helpers for a delightful
She
evening; she hardly realised that she and Mr. Clements had so many friends.
also thanked all those concerned, for the Cheque. Referring to the personal remarks
made about her by Mr. Clements, she could tell stories about him too. She deplored
the terrible collar buttons and studs, and hoped that the next man she married would
Her father
be able to dress himself I However, he had not been a bad husband.
attended South Place when Wm. Johnson Fox was there and he sang in the choir.
her father followed her
Her mother went to Dr. Conway's services in Cincinnati;
Her father took her to
mother out there and they were married by Dr. Conway.
South Place and made her a member in 1884.
After the tables were cleared a gramophone record of a talk by Mr. Clements on
" Chamber Music and Life " was played. Then Miss Viola Morris and Miss Victoria
with Mr. Samuel Liddle at the piano, Miss
together
Anderson sang exquisitely
Winifred Small and Mr. Reginald Paul played piano and violin duets, and Mr, Richard
Walthew and Mr. Wm. Busch pianoforte solos A short period of ball-room dancing
brought a remarkable event to a close.
and to all helpers
Thanks are due to the members of the Party Sub-Committee
E. w.
who worked so hard to promote the success of the evening.
NOTES
We are glad to be able to publish what is nearly a verbatim report of the eloquent
lecture delivered on the morning of February 21 by Mrs. M. A. Hamiliton in connection
Mrs.
of the First South Place Chamber Music Concert.
with the 50th anniversary
Hamilton speaks exteMpore, with few, if any, notes, and very kindly she not only
We did not
proof.
draft, but also went over the printer's
revised our reporter's
observe any large number of the supporters of the concerts at the morning meeting,
but in view of the difficulty many people have in being present at both morning and
their preference for the concert. At the same
evening assemblies we quite understand
the words of Mrs. Hamilton.
time we are sure they will read with much appreciation
It is significant of his strong attachment
Mr. Clements was an interested listener.
to the Society that he is so frequently to be seen on Sunday mornings, in spite of the
He
he must give the same evening during the Concert Season.
further attendance
is indeed to be congratulated on the retention of vigour which enables him at his age
tO bear such continuous straim
and we hope that this
We are privileged to publish Mr. Clements' photograph,
number of the RECORD, with its descriptions of the Anniversary Concert itself, and
14
detailed account of the proceedings
at the Complimentary
Party on the night of
March 5 (for which special thanks are due to Edith Washbrook),
will provide a
pleasing souvenir for all who are in sympathy with our Society's work on behalf of
music.
There have been several references to the Jubilee Concert in the public Press.
With the courteous permission of the Editors we are glad to reprint those which
appeared in The Daily Telegraph and The Observer.
The " At Homes " in the Library on the third Sunday afternoons have been made
additionally
enjoyable this year by the new plan of inviting certain Circles to provide
short entertainments.
The Literary, Play Reading and Poetry Circles have all made
effective use of dramatic items. The Play Reading Circle, which has been established
much longer than the others—we have recollections of its readings in the Library of
old South Place Chapel—is celebrating
its twelfth birthday on Thursday, April 29,
and, to use the words of its Hon. Sec., it proposes to " go gay." We do not know
precisely what this means, and it is hoped that desire on the part of members to
satisfy their curiosity will result in a large attendance.
An interesting and enjoyable
evening may confidently be anticipated.
Attention is called to the request on page 15
that those proposing to attend will say so in the manner indicated.
Special attention is drawn to the inset of an invitation card issued to members
of S.P.E.S. by the Council of the Ethical Union for the Jubilee Commemoration
of
the English Ethical Movement at The Ethical Church, Queen's Road, Bayswater, at
7 p.m. on Tuesday. April 13. We are asked to remind members that it is much hoped
that as many as possible will avail themselves of this opportunity
to be present.
The Hon. Treasurer of the Conway Children's Circle gratefully acknowledges the
receipt of donations from Mrs. Herbert Mansford, Mr. W. P. Toussaint and Mr. Julian
Roney, and the sum of £7 2s., resulting from the conjuring entertainment
at Conway
Hall on December 7. 1936, organised by Mr. Sidney J. Green.
There is still time for members and friends to send articles to Mrs. Hart for
• inclusion in the Jumble Sale at the Peel Institute
on April 2. The Committee is
relying upon the proceeds of this sale to enable them to give the children some happy
outings during the summer.
We reprint the following from The Times of March 18:—
House OF COMMONS (Monday, March 15).—The Speaker took the Chair at a
quarter to 3 o'clock. Fear of Aerial War f are—Mr. Mothers (Linlithgow, Lab.) presented a petition which, he said, had been organised by the Federation of Progressive
Societies and individuals,
drawing attention
to the universal
apprehension
that
existed with regard to the fear of aerial warfare.
The petitioners prayed the House
to reopen the disarmament
discussions at Geneva which were suspended in 1933, and
to prepare for the submission of arrangements
for international
ownership
and
control of civil aviation, thus paving the way for complete disarmament.
Bravo I F.P.S.I.
NOMINATIONS
FOR COMMITTEE
AND AUDITORS
The Annual Meeting will be held towards the end of May. Nominations
for
seven vacancies on the Committee and for two Auditors must be in the hands of the
Secretary (Mr. S. G. GREEN) not later than Sunday, April 25. Each candidate must
be nominated by two members.
Nomination forms may be obtained from Mr. S. G.
GREEN.
THE SOCIETY'S ACTIVITIES
Matter for insertion in the Ma.y issue of the RECORDshould reach the Editor early
in the month, and in any case not later than SATURDAY,April 17.
"AT
HOMES."—The last Sunday afternoon
monthly "At Home" in the Library of
this season will be on April 18, at 4 p.m.
Mr. F. G. Gould will show many kinds of Daffodil, and talk about them.
Tea is provided at a nominal charge of 13d.
The Club Room is available on Sundays for those who wish to bring their
lunch.
CHORAL GROUP.—After
March 23 there will be no further meeting until Tuesday.
April 27, at 7.30 p.m. Subsequent
meetings will be on the last Tuesday of the
month.
There are vacancies for all voices. Further
information
from Mr. Ft.
Snelling, 51, Church Road, N.W.4.
15
CONWAY DISCUSSION CIRCLE.-Meetings
suspended.
Sec.: Mr. E. Thurtle, M.P., 4-6, Johnson's Court., Fleet Street, E.C.4.
COUNTRY DANCE GROUP.-After
Easter, practices will be held in the Library
every Monday from 6.30 p.m. The charge is 6d. per evening. The dates arranged
by the Folk Dancing Society for dancing in the parks will be announced later.
Further
particulars
may be had from the Hon. Secs., Miss H. Shott, 31,
Horsham Avenue, N.12; Miss P. Snelling, 8, Amberley Road, E.10.
CONWAY CHILDREN'S
CIRCLE meets at the Peel Institute,
St. John Street,
Clerkenwell, E.C.1, the Girls' Club on Tuesdays, and the Boys' Club on Fridays,
from 6 to '7.30 p.m.
A Jumble Sale in aid of the funds will be held at. the Peel Institute. 65, St.
John Street, E.C.1, on Friday, April 2, at 3 p.m.
Clothing, boots, furniture, kitchen utensils, toys, books, pictures and all kinds
of odds and ends will be welcome.
It is hoped that members of the Society,
and other readers of the MONTHLY RECORD,will help the work of the Circle by
sending contributions
for delivery by April 1, either to the Peel Institute or to
Conway Hall, addressed to the organiser of the sale : Mrs. E. P. Hart.
Hon. Sec.: Miss N. Wootton, 2. Gledstanes
Road, W. 14.
CONWAY MEMORIAL
LECTURE.-This
has been postponed
until Wednesday,
May 26, at 7 p.m., when Dr. Stanton Coit will deliver his lecture on "The One
Sure Foundation
for Democracy."
The chair will be taken by Dr. G. P. Gooch.
Hon. Sec.: Mr. E. Carr, " Lyndall," Forest Drive. Kingswood, Surrey.
LIBRARY.-Open
Sunday mornings before and after the Service, and on Mondays
during the Country Dance Class, Free to members and associates.
Non-members
may borrow books on payment of Gs. per annum.
A slip must be filled in for
each book borrowed.
When books are returned
they must be handed to the
Librarians,
and not be replaced on the shelves.
LITERARY CIRCLE meets monthly in the Library on Thursdays at 7.15 p.m.
April 15.-A Shakespeare
Evening.
Mr. T. Wyatt : " Shakespeare's
Sonnets."
There will also be short papers by Mr. E. P. Hart. Miss F. Wilkins and other
members of the Circle. An interesting evening is being arranged and it is hoped
that there will be many visitors.
May 6.-Mr. A. A. Burall : "The Pleasures of Poetry."
Hon. Sec.: Miss F. Wilkins, 7, Evelyn Mansions, Queen's Club Gardens, W.14.
PLAY READING CIRCLE will meet in the Library on the second and fifth ThursdaYs
at 7 p.m. Membership open to members and associates of the Society. Subscription : Is. for the half season, January to April.
April 8.-" Sheppey," by Somerset Maughan.
April 29.-Play Readers' Party, to celebrate the twelfth birthday of the Circle.
On this occasion the P.R.C. will " go gay."
There will be competitions
and dancing.
All members and friends welcome. A charge of 6d. will be made
to cover cost of refreshments.
It will greatly help arrangements
for refreshments
if members and friends who intend coming will write their names on a paper,
which will be put on small notice board, for the purpose, in the vestibule.
Hon. Sec.: Mrs. Hinchliff, 23, Russell Gardens, N.W.11.
POETRY CIRCLE.-Meetings
suspended.
Hon. Sec.: Mrs. Marianne Idiens, 85, Windsor Road, Forest Gate, E.7.
RAMBLES.-Good
Friday, March 26.-No organised ramble is being arranged but, if
sufficient names are given in advance, ramblers
could join the "Ramblers'
Special " at 9.30 from Victoria to Bramber and Steyning, 4s. fare.
Easter Sunday, March 28.-All-day
ramble in Bucks. Train : 10.25 Euston to
King's Langley. Cheap Day Return, 2s. 8d. Tea at Miss Knight's.
Leader : Miss
D. Winter, will meet party at King's Langley.
Sunday, April 4.-Ramble
in Kent.
Train : 1.25 Charing Cross to Bexley.
Cheap Day Return IS. 9d. Tea at Bridge House, Eynsford.
Return from Dartford
(excess fare), 6d. Leader : Miss M. Ellis will meet party at Bexley station.
Sunday, April 11.-Ramble
in Herts.
Train : 1.5 King's Cross to Hayford.
Cheap Day Return 2s. 2d. Tea at " Rose and Crown," Tewin.
Leader : Miss
R. Bush.
Sunday, April 25.-Druids
Grove, Ranmore Common, and Box Hill. Train :
1.20 Waterloo to Leatherhead.
Cheap Day Return 2s. 3d. Tea at "Railway
Arms," Bexhill.
Leader : Miss D. Winter.
Ramble subscriptions
for 1937 are now due : Is. 6d. for members of S.P.E.S.:
non-members, 2s. 6d.
Hon. Sec. • Mr C S Newsom, 9, Homefleld Rise, Orpington, Kent.
16
SOUTH
PLACE STRING ORCHESTRA.—Practices
suspended.
Hon. Sec. : Mr. E. J. Fairhall, 18, Golden Manor, W.V.
STUDY CIRCLE—Last
two meetings of the season at 7.30 P.m.
April 2.—Mr. J. G. Briggs will open a discussion on : " Monetary Reform."
April 16.—Miss Mavis Ellis : " Colonies, Dominions and Empire—What
They
Mean."
Hon. Sec.: Doris Partington,
32, Churchill Road, Edgware, Middlesex.
SOUTH PLACE SUNDAY
CONCERT
SOCIETY
THE FIFTY-FIRST
SEASON of the South Place Sunday Concerts will be continued every Sunday (except March 28) to May 2 inclusive,
March 21—The Birmingham
Ladies' String Quartet : Muriel Tookey, Dorothy
Hemming, Lena Wood, Elsa Tookey. Clarinet: R. S. Walthew.
Quintets for Clarinet
and Strings by Coleridge Taylor and R. H. Walthew.
March 28.—(Easter Sunday) No Concert.
April 4.—Stratton String Quartet : George Stratton, Carl Taylor, Watson Forbes,
John Moore; Piano : Johanne
Stockmarr;
Vocalist : Nora Gruhn; At the Piano :
Hermann Grunebaum.
Beethoven's Quartet in B flat, Op. 18, No. 6; Cesar Franck's
Piano Quintet; Chopin's Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 58.
April 11.—Violin
Brosa; Piano : Franz Reizenstein;
Vocalists : Veronica Mansfield and Basil Parsons; At the Piano : Cecil Belcher.
Cesar Franck's Violin and
Piano Sonata•; Bach's Chaconne for Violin alone; Group of Violin Solos; Piano Solos;
Songs and Vocal-Duets.
April 18.—Blech String Quartet : Harry Blech, Edward Silverman, Douglas Thomson, Maurice Westerby;
Solo Piano : Lance Dossor• Vocalist : Seymour Dossor; At
the Piano • Mary Dossor.
April 25.—Griller String Quartet : Sidney Griller, Jack O'Brien, Philip Burton,
Cohn Hampton;
Clarinet : Pauline Juler; Solo Piano : Phyllis Sellick. Arthur Bliss'
and Mozart's Quintets for Clarinet and Strings; Dvorak's Quartet in A fiat, OP. 105:
Schumann's
Etudes Symyhoniques
for Piano.
May 2.—Last concert of the season.
Members' Tickets 3s. each, admitting to Reserved Seats every Sunday to May 2nd
(except Easter Sunday, March 28th) may be had at the Concerts or from Andrew E.
Watson, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, W.C.1, by sending Crossed Remittance
and
Stamped Addressed Envelope.
Doors open at 6.10. Concerts begin 6.30. Admission Free. Silver Collection.
Hon. Treasurer: ANDREW- E. WATSON, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, W.C.1.
Hon. Secretary:
8, Finchley Way, N.3.
ALFRED J. CLEMENTS,
MRS. D. M. CLEMENTS,
Hon. Assistant
8, Finchley Way, N.3.
Secretaries: , GEORGE HUTCHINSON, Conway Hall, Red Lion Sq., W.C.I.
New Associate
Miss S. KEEN, 11, Powell Road, Clayton, E.5.
New Members
Miss R. BERNSTEIN, 124,,Stoke Newington Road, N.16.
Mrs. C. E. DOWNS, 150, Ivor Court, Gloucester Place, N,W.1.
Miss D. GODFREY, 37, West Bank, N.16.
Mr. E. T. WILLIAMSON,
30, East Street, W.C.1.
Changes of Address
Mr. C. S. HODGINS, 11, Tunley Road, Balham, S.W.17.
Miss C. Soromow, c o Mrs. Cripps, 89, Hillfield Avenue, Hornsey, N.8.
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Jumble Sale (Peel Institute)
Study Circle......
Lecture.........
Ramble (see page 15)
Concert...,..
Country Dances...
General Committee
Play Reading Circle
Lecture......
Ramble (see page 15)
Concert.,...,
Country Dances...
Printed
and published
by
THE
DIARY FOR APRIL.
15 Literary Circle
3 p.m.
16 Study Circle
7.30 p.m.
18 Lecture...
11 a.m.
18 "At Home "
18 Concert...
6.30 p.m.
19 Country Dances...
6.30 p.m.
25 Lecture...
6.30 p.m.
25 Ramble (see page 15)
7 p.m.
25 Concert...
11 a.m.
26 Country Dances...
27 Choral Group...
6.30 p.m.
29 Play Readers' Party
6.30 p.m.
FARLEIGH
PRESS
(T.U.), 17-29, Cayton
Street,
7.15 p.m.
7.30 p.m.
II a.m.
4 p.m.
6.30 p.m.
6.30 p.m.
11 a.m.
6.30 p.m.
6.30 p.m.
7.30 p.m.
7 p.m.
E.C.I.