Harold Truscott

23rd August 1914 - 7th October 1992

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Chart Map

Letters 1 - 10 11 – 20 21 – 30 31 – 40 41 – 50 51 – 52 Index

From Hitler To Horticulture: the letters of Havergal Brian to Harold Truscott

edited and annotated by Guy Rickards

(with additional comments from Malcolm MacDonald and Margaret Truscott) 

Letter #41: addressed to HT sent from HB dated 2:8:50,

postmarked Harrow, Middx, 1PM 2 AUG 1950.

[envelope is addressed as normal to 24 St. Aubyn's Road, Upper Norwood, SE19, but this is crossed through in blue biro with c/o Mrs Halby, 3 Kensington Terrace, Nutley, Plymouth, Devon written alongside. On the reverse in pencil in HT's hand are a series of street names which could be rough directions to an unspecified destination: Houndiscombe Rd.

North Rd.

Archer St.

Petrol

Bridge

plus two bars in treble clef 4/4 time consisting of minims of B flat above and the A flat below middle C, and a two-bar sketch in treble clef 6/4 time in E flat major/C minor]

Dear Harold & Margaret,

I do hope that change of air & environment will work wonders & that you will both return full of vigour, the one writing symphonies - the other playing Walton's Viola Concerto. The damnable pain I've had for some weeks from [something unreadable crossed through] fibrositis has lessened - but there is always a fresh 'except' when it seems clearing up. This morning there is acute pain when I put my right hand behind me or in my pocket. However, I hope it will go. I am using 'Iodex'.

The big operations on my son in law [sic] are over & I understand he is on the mend. I can only hope it will continue - though how far health is influenced by the loss of half a dozen ribs - I dont [sic] know.

All good wishes to you both from Mrs B & myself

Yours ever

HB

Letter #42: addressed to HT sent from HB dated 17:11:50,

postmarked Harrow, Middx, 3 45PM 17 NOV 1950.

[On the reverse of the envelope is a shopping list in HT's hand in pencil.]

My dear Harold

[...] The sick husband of my second daughter is slowly recovering & due to leave the hospital shortly. But, my youngest daughter & her husband are here from Africa & no intention of returning there. This perforce must be a short letter - but do let Margaret know how deeply we sympathise with you both. I am very sorry. Let us know if you get the new dwelling. We are hoping for you.

Yours ever

HB

Letter #43: addressed to HT sent from HB dated Boxing Day, 1950,

postmarked Harrow, Middx, 9 15PM 27 DEC 1950.

My dear Harold & Margaret

[...]. Mrs B [...] intends today to consult her daughter Jean - who lives amongst & helps hospital specialists [...]. This is the girl whose husband was knocked down by T.B. He is home from the hospital, looks a shadow, & undergoes weekly treatment at a clinic. [...]. Think on [possibly over] my suggestions - there are friendly quarters even in the present world of negation. All the best wishes from us & love

Yours ever

HB

Letter #44: addressed to HT sent from HB dated 2/4/51,

postmarked Harrow, Middx, 1 45PM 2 APR 1951.

[envelope is addressed to 24 St. Aubyn's Road, Upper Norwood, SE19, but this is crossed through in black ink with 192a Pampisford Road, South Croydon, Surrey written alongside and re-postmarked Sydenham, S.E.26 9 45AM 18 APR 1951]

Dear Harold & Margaret

[...]. As I have heard nothing from you about your hopes of removal I am writing to Upper Norwood and there is little chance of my getting to you now that my son who lived at Sydenham [i.e. Michael] has left that neighbourhood. Also - I had a fall over some frozen snow just before Xmas & upset something in my right thigh and this hinders my walking.

This morning I have received a circular letter from Dr Greenhouse Alt & if before I reply to him I should like to know what the position is with you & the Gothic [no quotation marks] Score. He may expect me to refer to it - I dont [ic] know. Did you get an extension from Trinity College for the use of that score. [No question mark] Kindly drop me a line. Of course the weather of the past 6 months or more has been unfavourable to sick people [...]

Kindest greetings

Yours sincerely

Havergal Brian

Letter #45: addressed to HT sent from HB dated 11th April 1951,

postmarked Harrow, Middx, 3 45PM 11 APR 1951.

[envelope marked in pencil Happiness with one another by HT.]

Dear Harold & Margaret

[...] I know of Dr Walsh by repute. My daughter brought her boys from Africa to consult him - [: written over the top] she is still consulting at the moment - now in Edinburgh. My second daughter with the T.B. husband returned to her [written over the top hospital] duty after 3 months leave on April. 3.

My youngest daughter is here with her husband - since end of last Sept. - and likely to remain here until they find a place of their own or return abroad. Both my eldest & youngest daughters dislike being abroad - but it is obvious that money & living are much more accessible there abroad than in this country. Try & find all the happiness you can with one another [...].

All the best from us to you both

HB

Letter #46: addressed to HT sent from HB dated 20th April 1951,

postmarked Harrow, Middx, 3 45PM 20 APR 1951.

[envelope marked in pencil BBC - taking it seriously by HT.]

Dear Harold & Margaret

Thank you for both for your letter. [...]. Your B.B.C. Broadcast sounds most interesting - for one of your admirable qualities is a keenness to explore unfamiliar parks [paths?; could be pastures at a pinch] - free of prejudices of nationality. We shall listen to you talk on Carl Nielsen. The B.B.C. has always shown readiness to perform & broadcast unfamiliar music by foreign composers. There was a time quarter of a century [sic] ago when few serious minded [sic] musicians regarded the B.B.C [no full stop] as anything more than amusement. After attending a studio orchestral rehearsal under Percy Pitt - I afterwards told him that I should make it my job to write of the B.B.C. & induce people to take it seriously. When I told my editor what I intended to do - he replied - 'Well, I believe you - but up to now I have not taken the B.B.C. seriously - and I dont [sic] want to be told by the B.B.C. how to keep Bees.' At that time all the broadcasts of chamber & orchestral music - were from the studio. I spent many interesting evenings at the old B.B.C. quarters at Savoy Hill meeting strange foreign composers (& stranger English music critics) and listening to their music & afterwards writing about it.

All good luck to you both [...] from us

Yours ever

HB

[There is now a large break in the correspondence of some 7 years, yet it is evident that the two composers had still kept in touch in the intervening period, and indeed on a fairly close basis as letter #47 et seq. reveal. It is impossible to gauge how many of these still missing letters there were.]

[By the time of this final batch of letters - early 1958 - HT, his wife and their - ultimately - 3 children were living in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, where HT had been appointed Lecturer in Music at the local Technical College in the previous year. They retained, however, a house in Deal, Kent, which they had bought some years earlier following their move from London.]

Letter #47: postcard addressed to HT sent from HB dated (vertically along one edge) 11th Jany 1958,

postmarked Harrow, Middx, 1 15PM 11 FEB 1958.

[addressed to HT at 103 Upper Clough, Linthwaite, Huddersfield, Yorkshire. Some of the green ink has smudged, rendering the small, tightly-packed writing very hard to decipher.]

Dear H.T.

I sent you a second reg [i.e. registered] packet last Wed (5th inst) containing sketches and Nettel's book. You will see from the sketches I now have to ink them in before I can use them. I can no longer see pencil sketches on my stand. I thought Nettel's book would give you some information. As regards your fancies & certain things. Before publication the Tigers [no quotation marks] was known as 'The Grotesques'. When I listened to Boults [sic] broadcast of 'The Wild Horsemen' - I fancied I heard bagpipe tunes, Chevalier's 'Laugh, laugh I thought I should have died' and his 'Knock 'em in the Old Kent Road' but it could only have been fancy. The 7th Symphony to be exact - consists of three movements and an Epilogue (a long movement) called 'Once upon a time'. I told Clarence Raybould it needed lots of rehearsals & he could have it for his student orchestras. He said he could not make head or tail of it.

Yours ever & to the family

H.B.

Letter #48: letter sent from HB dated 17th Feby 1958.

[no envelope survives; the paper is thin, pale blue and fragile. The 'Listener' article referred to at the end of this letter is probably that published on ??th concerning ???]

Dear Harold Truscott

Thanks for the script [missing comma or dash; what follows is part of this opening sentence] a splendid thoughtful piece of writing. I think you should mention the date of performance of the 9th [missing comma or dash] 22nd March. That is the only suggestion I can think of.

I wonder you never wrote that essay on the Gothic [no quotation marks]. Had you written the Gothic I should have spread myself on the Te Deum and particularly in the climax of the whole symphony in that [a letter crossed through and undecipherable] vast processional [missing hyphen] like "Judex crederis esse venturus". I dont [sic] think I have surpassed that climax where the procession is hailed by 4 distant Trumpets and a long wail in the high register of a distant soprano. Sometimes I wonder whose was that voice. I cannot recall any singer who would suggest it or I heard it. And - that 'Judex' with its immense orchestra & four distinct choirs - crying "Judex crederis" - is my tribute to Hans Richter [Richter died in December 1916]. I think my old school master [sic] and Hans Richter taught me all I know.

I shall look out for your article in the 'Listener'.

Kindest greetings to you & Margaret

from

Havergal Brian.

Letter #49: letter sent from HB dated 25th Feby 1958.

[no envelope survives; the paper is buff coloured and a single foolscap sheet. HB wrote the letter in Landscape (i.e. sideways on) rather than the more usual Portrait.]

Dear Harold Truscott

I am using this big size paper for I dont [sic] know how much space I shall need to say what I wish about your music and the reply to your letter.

Thirty years ago I commenced playing piano arrangements of pre-Bach composers, Buxtehude, Georg Bohm && [the signs are indecipherable, but et cetera is clearly meant] each morning before leaving home for [sic] office of Musical Opinion. I followed these with Busoni's edition of the Bach 48, the Chorale Preludes, the Prelude & Fugue [added over the top in D] (which I got H. J. Wood to do at a Prom in Respighi's [added over the top orchestral] arrangement) and the two big Weimar Toccatas in C Major and D minor. The two Toccatas were exciting, particularly the D minor & took time to master. We then lived in a place [missing comma] a large house made into two maisonnettes. We lived in one & a young married couple in the other. One day the lady from the maisonnette (2) stopped my wife & said:- "I was at a Courtauld-Sargent concert at Queen's Hall the other night and I listened to Horowitz play the Toccata in D minor - I must say I enjoy your husband's performance of the Toccata far more than Horowitz." [It is unclear if a new paragraph should follow.]

That was a surprise. I do not like snoops - so my piano playing ceased and today I dont [sic] even listen to a piano - no matter where. We have no radio here - only the TV and that is Mrs Bs [no apostrophe] possession.

These Sonatas of yours somehow remind me of Bach and Brahms [something unreadable which could be idioms, although the sense suggests in idiom] a healthy sign. The music is after my own heart, impulsive and unhesitatingly fluid. I offer no criticism for - "it is easier to be critical than to be exact." I admire the smooth skill of the inverted melodies - no [the next word is quite unreadable - it could be poetry or feeling but the sense precludes these] you seem most attached to the C major [i.e. HT's single-movement Seventh Sonata (1956), dedicated to HB.]. I have spent some time [sic] on the B minor [i.e. HT's Fifth Sonata (1951-5), in memoriam Nikolai Medtner, which Peter Jacobs has also recorded] with its thunderous first movement. Do you think - at foot of page 17 the passage to the Poco Allegretto is abrupt? I suggest interpolating a bar of rallentando to liberate the mind. Middle of page 23 - 3rd section [indecipherable character here; seems to indicate &c] reminds me of Brahms (& I think it is slow movement of No. 3) [probably Brahms' Symphony no. 3 in F; there is no full stop here but one is intended] On page 28 Poco Allargando - does that bass figure lose effect by its repetition. [Full stop rather than question mark clearly marked; the character of this part of the letter is suggestive of notes rather than formally refined criticism - as if HB were thinking/writing out loud] I put a pencil suggestion and also on page 29. A four note figure is often made more emphatic by the elision of the first or fourth note. This movement is big stuff. Of the II-4. [i.e. the remaining three movements of the Fifth Sonata - movement 2 indicated by Roman II, the finale by Arabic 4. As far as I can judge, HT did not implement HB's suggested changes.] I should mark it pp throughout like a closed swell on the organ and only gradually open the shutters to mf the middle of page 32 & closing to pp before entering the finale. I appreciate the dedication of the C major - but - I am not a lucky person. What I have written about the influential idioms & manipulation of your technique applies to this extension in one movement. It is a tour de force. I wish I could have listened to your playing of both Sonatas:- playing them myself is beyond me. I havent [sic] touched a piano keyboard for years. Did you offer to play them to the BBC [no intervening full stops] auditors. Why not send them to a publisher, Oxford Press, Augener, Lengnick, Schott & offer to play them. [No question marks after either of these last two sentences.]

Thank you & Margaret. I've been under treatment for the ulcer a week - saw the Dr yesterday. He referred to my medical card in his files. He said it was [? past or possibly just] 7 years since I was treated. Very queer - for I try to be careful. The Cranz branch in London is now no longer. A most disastrous trans-action [sic] for me - whilst I thought myself lucky to get two big works published, they only met with hindrance. Cranz has been taken over by a Mills Music Co & I wasnt [sic] even advised of it. I only heard of it in a very accidental manner. Dont [sic] be discouraged - keep your end up & keep your mind on fresh projects. I do hope you will let me hear occasionally (& also Mrs B) of your & Margaret's welfare & your children.

Yours ever

Havergal Brian

Letter #50: addressed to HT sent from HB dated 17th April 1958,

postmarked Harrow, Middx, 1 15PM 17 APR 1958.

[envelope is addressed to HT at 103 Upper Clough, Linthwaite, Huddersfield, Yorkshire and is marked in pencil Removal to Deal by HT. In a telephone conversation of 24.ii.94, Margaret Truscott recalled that HB went to look at the Truscotts' house in Deal with a view to possibly renting or buying it. In the event, HB and his wife moved to a flat in Shoreham in Sussex.]

Dear Harold

I fear you & Margaret will be disappointed - we are already so: for the removal from here to Deal is impracticable. No thought had been given to the cost - I had a vague idea that Deal was not far along the coast from Brighton. Yesterday we started to calculate costs of fares & removal. A return to Deal from here is 32/6 and the cost of only one van load of goods is extortionate - we should have to pay for an empty return as they call it. So we must reluctantly give up your very kind offer. At the same time it has brought to mind your number of removals and the money you have had to find for them. There is only one source of income here - pension and it just manages to stretch over the quarter - and leaves no margin at the end of it. The first of a quarter is always anticipated. We are sorry about Margaret and such a misfortune with the [?] dentist and having the responsibility of the young ones and the house. We wish we could help. Although you found Mrs B apparently in good health she has been laid up a lot this winter with chest trouble. You said you might be soon coming to town again. If you do - do not forget to see us.

Every kind wish to you both

Yours ever

Havergal