Adrian Boult - Musicianship

Musicianship

A review in The Observer of Boult's second London concert, in 1918, said, "Having, apparently, a thorough knowledge of the work, he was content to let it speak for itself without having recourse to those aids to success which are a constant temptation to conductors." Sixty-five years later, in an obituary tribute, Peter Hepworth wrote in the same newspaper: "From Nikisch he had early acquired an immaculate stick technique and was quietly scathing about conductors who used their anatomy to indicate their artistic requirements. ... In an occupation ridden with inflated egos and circus tricksters Boult brought a rare probity to everything he undertook."

Boult's biographer, Kennedy, gave this summary: "In the music he admired most, Boult was often a great conductor; in the rest, an extremely conscientious one. ... If from behind he seemed unexciting and unemotional, the players could see the animation in his face – and he was capable of frightening outbursts of temper at rehearsals. Tall and erect, with something of the military in his appearance ... he seemed the personification of the English gentleman. But recipients of his cutting wit and occasional sarcasm knew that this was not the whole picture." Grove's Dictionary similarly said of him:

Of the leading British conductors of his time, Boult was the least sensational but not the least remarkable. He made no attempt to cultivate a public image. He was neither oracle, orator nor professional wit, but he expressed himself with trenchancy, and his gentlemanly self-control was occasionally ruffled by storms of anger. ... here were nights when the physical impact of his conducting was low, and there was little beyond faithfulness to the notes. There were others when precise, sensitive stick technique, loyalty to the composer, selflessness and ability to see the music as a whole, produced results equally satisfying in the classics and the British music he understood so well.

Boult, unlike many of his contemporaries, preferred the traditional orchestral layout, with first violins on the conductor's left and the seconds on the right. Of the practice of grouping all the violins together on the left, he wrote, "The new seating is, I admit, easier for the conductor and the second violins, but I firmly maintain that the second violins themselves sound far better on the right. ... When the new fashion reached us from America somewhere about 1908 it was adopted by some conductors, but Richter, Weingartner, Walter, Toscanini and many others kept what I feel is the right balance."

This care for balance was an important feature of Boult's music-making. Orchestral players across decades commented on his insistence that every important part should be heard without difficulty. His BBC principal violist wrote in 1938, "If a woodwind player has to complain that he has already been blowing 'fit to burst' there is trouble for somebody." The trombonist Ray Premru wrote forty years later, "One of the old school, like Boult, is so refreshing because he will reduce the dynamic level – 'No, no, pianissimo, strings, let the soloist through, less from everyone else.' That is the old idea of balance."

As an educator, Boult influenced several generations of musicians, beginning with his conducting class at the Royal College of Music, London, which he ran from 1919 to 1930. As no such classes had been held before in Britain, Boult "created its curriculum from out of his own experience. ... From that first small class has come all the later formal training for conductors throughout Britain." In the 1930s Boult ran a series of "conferences for conductors" at his country house near Guildford, sometimes helped by Vaughan Williams who lived a few miles away. From 1962 to 1966 he again taught at the Royal College of Music. In later life, he made time for young conductors who sought his counsel. Among those who studied with or were influenced by Boult were Colin Davis, James Loughran, Richard Hickox and Vernon Handley. The last was not only a pupil of Boult, but acted as his musical assistant on many occasions.