A Short History of Taunton Madrigal Society and Taunton Choral Society 1855-2016
Above showing a 1925 photograph showing the Choir apparently on an outing (possibly Clevedon Pier)
Foreword:
A member of the public was clearing out her attic during the first Covid-19 lockdown when she discovered an old minute book entitled “Taunton Madrigal Society, Minutes of Meetings, 1945 – 1974”. We were delighted to have it returned to us, particularly as it covered a time of critical importance not only for the country, but also for music making in Taunton. Together with archive records and copies of concert programmes dating back to 1901, I was able to fill in some interesting gaps in our knowledge about the origins and development of what is now Taunton Choral Society.
Gail Cryer, TCS Secretary, 2021
It is hard to imagine the thoughts of the 23 (all male) members of the Taunton Madrigal Society (TMS) as they assembled in the Municipal Hall on Saturday 29th September 1945. They were meeting to plan the rejuvenation of the Society after so many years of war and loss. If the minutes of the meeting provide a full record, the President Mr G.U. Farrant, still holding office since 1939, commenced the meeting by remembering the Society’s losses: the Chairman Mr Arnold Goodman, the Hon Secretary Mr Percy Clements, the Joint Librarian Mr Widdicombe as well as other members who he would not name for fear of omitting anyone.
He then apparently moved on without delay to the main business of the meeting: electing the Conductor (Mr Herbert Knott FRCO), officers and members of the Committee. The first practice evening was set for Saturday 13th October at 7.30pm in the North Town Schools and subscriptions were to remain as before: 7/6d for Honorary Members and 5/- for Singing Members.
Extract from Taunton Courier, January 1855
(click to enlarge)
Of Taunton Choral Society (TCS) or women members there was no mention, and neither would there be until 1955 when the Taunton Madrigal and Choral Society (TM&CS) was formed and women were encouraged to join as singing members. The reasons for this are unclear. There had been a robust mixed choral society called, unsurprisingly, Taunton Choral Society, (which operated alongside its sibling TMS) from 1901 to 1939 and you might imagine that women’s prominent role during the war effort would have meant that a mixed choir would have been the ‘go to’ position, but plainly not so. Taunton appears to have been out of step with many other parts of the British Isles where choral societies flourished. The reason might have had its roots in the origins of the two choirs.
Taunton Madrigal Society (TMS) was established on 2 January 1855, with a Mr J. Comer chosen as its Conductor. The new society had 40 members, all male, including 12 boys. Its first rehearsal was noted in the Taunton Courier, 24 January 1855 and its first concert was held on 15th November 1855 at the London Assembly Rooms (also referred to as the Empire Hall) in the County Hotel.
The memories of Frank White, books of minutes and press cuttings indicate that over the years TMS had its lapses, not the least being during the two World Wars, but despite this, kept performing until 1955. Below is an extract from his memories of TMS in 1934.
Extract from Taunton Courier, January 1855
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
This concert was one of a series known as the ‘Ladies night’ because ladies were invited as members of the audience. Ladies nights had a long tradition of being held on Shrove Tuesday (I have been unable to find the reason for this as the music was almost entirely secular) and were a popular fixture until 1955.
Programme for ‘Smoking Concert’ 1950 (click to enlarge)
Despite its name, TMS did not restrict itself to madrigals. The earliest concert programme in the TCS archive is from 1926 and is an eclectic mix of English music and composers: part songs, folk song arrangements as well as madrigals, with as guest soprano soloist.
The second performance of the year was Smokers’ Night (known as ‘The smoker’) a rather bizarre occasion by today’s standards to which only a male audience was admitted, food and alcohol was served and smoking positively encouraged! These evenings were also held at the County Hotel and featured a guest performer – in 1937 this was Arthur Askey, which gives an indication of the style of the event. Smokers’ Nights were revived after WWII, having been strongly defended by the more conservative members of the society, but they swiftly fell out of favour with post-war audiences and the last concert of this kind appears to have been in 1950 (Fig.3), when the BBC, who had previously broadcast (and provided funding for) many earlier occasions, lost interest.
The genesis of Taunton Choral Society (TCS) is unclear, but TCS archives hold a single sheet folded concert programme announcing a concert on Sunday 15th December 1901.
Programme for ‘Smoking Concert’ 1950 (click to enlarge)
No performers are named for that concert, but in December 1904 a concert programme indicates that a new choir named Taunton Choral Society had become well-established in its own right under the baton of Mr Reginald Ward FRCO, who was to remain in that position until 1928. The programme, infinitely grander in presentation than the previous, offered Mendelssohn’s Hymn of Praise, Stanford’s Phaudrig Crohoore, and boasted three invited ‘Artistes’ and a ‘Band and chorus of 120 performers’. From this point the Society performed twice a year, largely in March and December, culminating in its 31st season with a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah on the 4th April 1939 in St Mary’s Parish church.
It is reasonable to assume that for all of these years the two Societies (TCS and TMS) existed side by side but separately. Their fate possibly became more intertwined when Reginald Ward became the conductor for both choirs, although we hold no record of the date he became conductor of TMS. Certainly, programmes dated 1926, 1927 and 1928 exist for both societies, all conducted by Reginald Ward. And when the redoubtable Herbert Knott succeeded Reginald Ward in 1929, programmes for both societies show that he continued this dual responsibility up until 1939.
In 1945 Herbert Knott once again took up the baton for the Taunton Madrigal Society but, as previously stated, TCS appeared to have been consigned to history. Reading between the lines of Committee meeting minutes, there is little doubt that he was a formidable force. In the 1946 AGM he was commended for “to obtain remarkable effects (sic) from the choir by his facial expressions”. And the demise of the ‘Smoker’ was undoubtedly due in no small part to his lack of support, preferring as he put it to give “two first class concerts” a year. It might well have been his drive, possibly combined with falling membership numbers and financial pressures that led to the decision at the AGM in September 1955 to admit ‘ladies’ to the choir and the reservation of four places for ladies on the committee. It appears that women singers promptly came forward to join the new choir, which was named the Taunton Madrigal and Choral Society (TM&CS), enabling it to give its inaugural performance of a Carol Service at St. Mary’s church on the 22 December 1955. Despite retaining ‘Madrigal’ in its title, it seems that the repertoire of the new choir consisted exclusively of sacred choral works. Herbert Knott retired in 1963 on the grounds of ill health, having served for an extraordinary 35 years.
Herbert Knott was succeeded by Ronald Tickner and TMCS continued very much in the same vein until 1975 when the Society was renamed Taunton Choral Society, presumably because this was a more true reflection of the repertoire, and also a rather more snappy title! The ‘mark two’ version of TCS continued under the baton of Ron Tickner until 1988 when he was succeeded by John Cole. A new era was about to begin.
John Cole brought a new dynamism and ambition to TCS, enabling the choir to tackle ambitious complete large scale works such as Bach’s B Minor Mass, Brahms German Requiem, the Verdi Requiem, the Britten War Requiem, Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony, Tippett A Child of our Time. In 1991 he invited a young Bryn Terfel to sing the title role in Elijah and subsequently Bryn agreed to become the Society’s Patron. John’s wife Linda Marshall Cole also played an active part in supporting the Society and is its President to this day. John Cole retired in 2004.
He was succeeded by Duncan Emerson who was with the choir until 2007 and after a period of short term conductors, Stephen Bell gave his first concert with the choir in March 2009 and this fruitful relationship lasted until his retirement in April 2016. He was succeeded by Edward Goater, the Society’s Musical Director at the time of writing.
Chronological Overview: 1855 to present
1855
The founding of Taunton Madrigal Society (male voice) under the baton of Mr J Comer.Subsequent conductors between the years 1901 and 1928 were the Rev HO Powell Jones, Mr Arthur Clements, Rev HN Dymond, Mr Harold A Jeboult and Mr Reginald Ward
1901
Taunton Choral Society is established under the baton of Mr Reginald Ward FRCO, who was to remain in that position until 1928
1929
Herbert Knott FRCO succeeds Reginald Ward as conductor of both TCS and TMS
1939
The activities of both choirs cease for the duration of the war
1945
TMS becomes newly active under the baton of Herbert Knott
1955
TMS changes its name to Taunton Madrigal and Choral Society and its constitution to enable the admission of women as singing members
1963
Herbert Knott is succeeded by Ronal Tickner
1975
TM&CS is renamed Taunton Choral Society and the current choir is born
1988/9
Ron Tickner is succeeded by John Cole as Musical Director
1991
Bryn Terfel sings the lead in Elijah and subsequently agrees to become Patron of the Society
2004
Duncan Emerson succeeds John Cole as Musical Director
2009
Stephen Bell becomes TCS’s new Musical Director
2016
Edward Goater succeeds Stephen Bell and is the Society’s current Musical Director
See Link for List of Performances by Conductor/Musical Director
Sources
All sources for the above article are held at:
South West Heritage Centre (Formerly Somerset Records Office)
Brunel Way, Norton Fitzwarren, Taunton TA2 6SF
Volumes of TMS Minutes dated 1855-60 and 1890-98 (S/1410 1&2) and various newspaper cuttings and notes, see LINK
Taunton Choral Archive
The following have also been lodged with South West Heritage Centre
Volume of TMS/TM&CS Minutes dated 1945-1975
TMS Programmes 1926-1955
TM&CS Programmes 1955-1975
TCS Programmes 1975- 2020
For further information access https://somerset-cat.swheritage.org.uk/ searching for either Taunton Choral Society or Taunton Madrigal Society.
The reference is A/EXE 1, 2 & 3