Gerald Walter Crawford 1868-1942

[giles.enders]

Gerald Walter Crawford  Born 3.9.1868  Edinburgh  Died 9.11.1942  Edinburgh.

The second son of a solicitor.  Gerald studied at Herriott Watt college, Edinburgh, becoming a draughtsman in various firms and later as a partner in a firm of consulting engineers.  In later life he became a city councillor and a JP. He remained unmarried. He had a secondary career in composition and conducting and seemed to have most of his compositions performed. I have been unable to find out how he learnt about music.  Some of his compositions are in an Edinburgh library.

Orchestral

Symphony in F major
Symphony in G minor
'Europa' symphonic poem on the European war
'Cambria'  tone poem based on Welsh national airs
'Cauld Kail and Cet'  fantasia on Scottish songs
'Celia' operatic overture
'George and the Dragon'  operatic overture
'The Grand Lama'  operatic overture and procession and dance
First Suite in A minor
Second suite in C major (triumphal march from this also for military band)
Processional march from 'Gehazi'  ( also adapted for military band)
'Coronation March
'Variations on 'Little Brown Jug'  for bassoon and orchestra

Chamber

Quintet in B flat for flute, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano
Trio for cor anglais, oboe and bassoon
Violin sonata in E minor
Violin sonata in A major
Sonata for flute or clarinet

Song

'O say, fond heart'  pub. by Kohler, Edinburgh
O, Winter is come' pub. by Kohler, Edinburgh

Choral

'Gehazi'  oratorio in three acts
'Artemis'  dramatic cantata
The 8th Psalm  for chorus, orchestra and organ

Incidental music

'Fenella'  incidental music to old Scots play

Opera

'Celia' romantic opera in one act
'George and the Dragon'  comic opera in three acts
'The Grand Lama'  comic opera in three acts
'Cleopatra'  tragic opera
'A Blot in the Scutcheon'  music drama in three acts

[Gareth Vaughan]

Some of his compositions are in an Edinburgh library.

Which compositions and which library? Don't be a tease, Giles. 

[semloh]

Thanks for drawing attention to yet another truly Unsung Composer, and another list of "lost" compositions to discover. I am always saddened by the fact that someone has laboured over a composition, put their heart and soul into it, and then it has been all but forgotten. I think a major purpose of UC is to try and redress that situation.

[matesic]

I don't think we need feel too sad. Given the low chance that their compositions would be performed more than a couple of times before being forgotten, I believe most composers, past and present, acquired their satisfaction chiefly from the act of composition itself. Like the vast majority of part-time artists, composition for them was essentially a private act. And also like part-time artists, most of them weren't actually very good!

[Double-A]

I don't think we need feel too sad. Given the low chance that their compositions would be performed more than a couple of times before being forgotten, I believe most composers, past and present, acquired their satisfaction chiefly from the act of composition itself. Like the vast majority of part-time artists, composition for them was essentially a private act. And also like part-time artists, most of them weren't actually very good!

I agree with this but not entirely:  First of all one needs to consider that the craft of musical composition is almost indefinitely more complex than painting.  It takes years of study to master the basics.  I'd say that for the composers we talk about here (19th century) the standards of education were high enough to qualify (almost) all of them as very good in a technical sense, something you wouldn't want to say about part time painters.  And while most of them were part time composers they were full time musicians.  (Indeed the first full time composer in history would have been Beethoven--and mostly because of his deafness which didn't allow him to go on performing on the piano or conducting.)  Full time composers become standard fairly late in history.

The second point is that "good" in the sense we are usually applying the term is time dependent.  What might have been considered very good indeed back in the day does not necessarily strike us nowadays in the same way--or even the other way round (Bach!).

[matesic]

Yes, I grant you that even part-time composers were usually pretty well trained, unlike most part-time artists. But whether a composer is "good" or not is entirely subjective and given that we as listeners must put a great deal more investment, particularly of time, into assessing a piece of music than viewing a painting, our criteria of "goodness" may thus be more demanding. Should we make an effort to seek out the compositions of Gerald Walter Crawford? I'd need to hear something by him first, or at least find out where he learned his craft. I found myself in this position with a close contemporary of Crawford's, Percy Hilder Miles, who trained and taught at the RAM. Thanks to a prod from Eric I found his three published works all to be rather haunting, and then to have the RAM librarian discover a box of his manuscripts lying uncatalogued in their vaults was revelatory! I don't expect this to happen every time though.

[Double-A]

Maybe two points to add:  A lot of those unsung composers managed to find publishers for at least a significant fraction of their work (J. B. Gross's 4 quartets were all published for example), so somebody who counted must have found the music good or at least marketable.  Hence my point about the changing judgement over time.

As to the question of how we individuals should what we listen to or play I completely agree:  There will be some impulse that drives us.  For example I found Onslow through a chamber music coach who "forced" us to work on one of Onslow's quartets; I had always liked Mazas' etudes, so one idle evening I checked him out in IMSLP and there were his quartets. 

[matesic]

It's probably true to say that until the mid-nineteenth century most composers relied either on the enterprise of publishers or the magnanimity of patrons to sponsor publication of their works. The boom in music publication that occurred later in the century was no doubt fuelled largely by more efficient printing and typesetting processes, hence reduced costs, so it became less necessary to have one's works approved by "somebody who counted". I don't know how many composers of this era resorted to self-publication which possibly didn't have the stigma then that it has today, but one such is John Lodge Ellerton who, having married into money, clearly sought to spend his way into the musical establishment by publishing as many string quartets as possible (I believe he got to about 22 from his total output of 50-odd). It didn't work, and I'm reluctantly prepared to concede that the establishment was right! I assume from Giles's post that Crawford's works, on the other hand, are all still in manuscript. This suggests he was a "modest" man, but in character, wealth or talent?

[giles.enders]

I believe there are two criteria for judging classical music.  Firstly is it well written and secondly and perhaps more importantly, is it pleasing and by that I mean stimulating, pleasurable, memorable etc.  It is interesting to note that during the last 60 years the BBC has spent several million pounds commissioning new music from PROFESSIONAL composers, most of which has sunk with little trace.  We can also look at the work of Malcolm Williamson, former Master of the Queen's Music.  There have been some recordings of his music but I know of no live performances during the last five years and even during his life time he was almost forgotten and certainly unsung.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Two excellent criteria, Giles.

[Double-A]

I agree with this with this modification:  Truly great music does more than please.  It compels an intensity of attention unmatched by any other experience I have had.  It touches me deeper than say a painting or even a novel ever could.

[matesic]

Unfortunately not many of us are qualified to judge whether a piece of music is "well written" or not. Reading a string quartet score there are certain criteria which prompt me to make such a judgment with a reasonable chance of not perpetrating a gross injustice, but when confronted with a piano piece I wouldn't have a clue. And in the context of this forum, with certain exceptions that can be argued over another day, there frankly aren't many pieces that would qualify as "truly great". The best we can hope to do is try to separate the good (stimulating, pleasurable, memorable etc) from the mediocre.  All subjective, of course, but very necessary when so many competent, well-trained, even professional composers of all ages have turned out so much music that wouldn't be missed.

[giles.enders]

9 posts on and we have already forgotten poor old Crawford.

[Alan Howe]

Trouble is, there's not much known about him, I suppose. Still, we should keep on-topic...