Gervase Cary Elwes

Gervase Cary Elwes (15 November 1866 – 12 January 1921), always known as Gervase Elwes, was an English tenor of great distinction, who exercised a powerful influence over the development of English music.

Background to his career

He was born in Billing, Northampton, the son of Alice Geraldine (née Ward) and Valentine Dudley Henry Cary-Elwes. [ [http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/a/t/Robert-A-Battle/BOOK-0001/0002-0004.html Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: User Home Page Book: Cary Elwes: Ahnentafel Report of (Ivan Simon) CaryElwes ] ] Of the Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire county gentry, he attended the Roman Catholic school connected with the Birmingham Oratory from 1877 and moved to Woburn School, Weybridge in 1885, [The Musical Times, February 1 1921] leaving for Christ Church, Oxford in 1885, where he was active as a cricketer and violinist. At the age of 22 he married Lady Winifride Feilding. [Winifride Mary Elizabeth Feilding was daughter of Rudolph Feilding, 8th Earl of Denbigh. Marriage registered June 1889, Kensington, 1a 358] He first trained as a lawyer and diplomat, spending some years in Brussels. It was there that he began formal singing lessons at the age of 28. However he had to overcome a social convention of resistance to one of his class his making a professional career as a singer, and not until the early 1900s, in his late thirties, did he gave his first professional performances in London. His principal teachers were Jacques Bouhy in Paris (1901-1903), and in London Henry Russell and Victor Biegel, who remained his friend and teacher throughout his life. Bouhy asked him to decide between a baritone career in opera or a tenor career in oratorio and concert (and he chose the latter). [The primary source for G. Elwes biography is W. and R. Elwes, "Gervase Elwes, The Story of his Life" (Grayson and Grayson, London 1935).]

His first professional appearance in London was opposite Agnes Nicholls, in "Wallfahrt nach Kevlaar" by Engelbert Humperdinck at the St James's Hall, with the Handel Society under J.S. Liddle in late April 1903, [Ibid., 123-124; R. Elkin, Queen's Hall 1893-1944 (Rider, London 1944), 67-68.] and immediately afterwards he appeared at the Westmorland Festival. In June 1903 he was auditioned at the Royal College of Music in London by Charles Villiers Stanford - an anxious moment - who left the room and brought Hubert Parry in to hear him as well. The violinist Professor Kruse, who was then attempting to revive the Saturday 'Pops' at the St James's Hall jumped out of his chair and promptly engaged him, and it was Kruse who arranged for his first appearance in "The Dream of Gerontius" early in 1904 as an addition to his "Beethoven Festival". Harry Plunket Greene, who had encouraged Elwes through this audition, also remained his lifelong friend. [W. & R. Elwes, 126-128.]

The character of his voice

Elwes had a voice entirely in the English colouring, but with an unusual quality of sincerity and passion, and of considerable power. His diction and intonation were very secure, his delivery somewhat ‘gentlemanly’ but his phrasing long in conception and serving intense melodic inflections. [M. Scott, "The Record of Singing II" (Duckworth, London 1979), 172-173.] His singing possessed a spiritual fervour deriving from the religious disposition of his parents, who had taken the unusual step (for their class) of conversion to Catholicism when he was five years old. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 16-26.]

Victor Biegel, a 'little round, bald Viennese', was for some time accompanist to the celebrated German lieder singer Raimund von zur-Mühlen [Coenraad Van Bos was also an accompanist of von zur-Mühlen, cf. G. Moore, "Am I too Loud?" (Hamish Hamilton, London 1962). Von zur-Mühlen was the teacher of the singer Mark Raphael, who after the death of Elwes became the particular interpreter of Roger Quilter's songs.] and had a special understanding of the songs of Brahms, which he imparted to Elwes. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 129-132.] There was a great rapport, and his teaching, especially during his six-month residence at Little Billing (an Elwes estate) in 1903, completely freed and relaxed Elwes’ voice, opening the way for the sustained power and brilliance of his upper register, and the vocal stamina which enabled him to maintain great oratorio roles (for which he was much in demand) with absolute conviction through a singing career of nearly two decades. [W. & R Elwes 1935, 130-131. (Biegel also had a significant influence on the (very different) voice of Lauritz Melchior, at the time when he was commencing his career as a tenor at Covent Garden, cf. Scott 1979, 248; G. Davidson, "Opera Biographies" (Werner Laurie, London 1955, 197).]

Elwes and Lincolnshire music

During the early 1900s Elwes and his wife played an important part in encouraging and organizing the provincial Music Competition Festivals in Lincolnshire (Elwes often conducting or singing), centred upon their family home, the Manor at Brigg. In 1905, at the suggestion of his friend Percy Grainger, an open competition class for Folk-singers was included. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 156-166.] As a result many wonderful songs were collected, notably from Joseph Taylor (who made some commercial records for the Gramophone Company). [J.R. Bennett, "Voices of the Past, 1: The HMV English Catalogue" (Oakwood Press 1955), 65, G.C. nos 3-2971 to 3-2976, issued 1908).] Taylor was the source of the melody used by Delius for his ‘Brigg Fair’. [T.Beecham, "Frederick Delius" (Hutchinson 1959), 166.]

Gerontius and the St Matthew Passion

Elwes became the greatest living exponent (alongside John Coates) of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, which he first performed on April 9 1904, with Muriel Foster and David Ffrangcon-Davies at the Queen's Hall under the baton of Felix Weingartner. He was inspired by the music on hearing the concert performance in May 1903 just preceding the ceremonial opening of the Westminster Cathedral. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 136.] The religious authenticity of his interpretation was immediately recognized. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 136-138.] He performed the work 118 times in all. He was also completely identified with the role of the Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion. His appearances at the Three Choirs Festivals, and at those of Peterborough and Norwich, became annual fixtures. In 1908 at the Norwich Festival he was partnered (according to Henry J. Wood) in "Gerontius" by the Dutch contralto Julia Culp, and in the same Festival performed Bach's Magnificat with Louise Kirkby Lunn and Herbert Witherspoon. [H.J. Wood, "My Life of Music" (Gollancz, London 1946 edn), 214.] In 1909 Elwes sang Gerontius and the "St Matthew Passion" Evangelist in New York under Damrosch. [M. Scott, "The Record of Singing" II (Duckworth, London 1979), 173.]

Culp sang the Gerontius angel role at the London Music Festival on 22 May 1911 with Elwes, with Herbert Brown and the Norwich Festival Chorus, and Wood states that this was the occasion upon which Elwes finally established his reputation as the greatest exponent of the name part. [Wood 1946, 249-50.] Five days later Wood and Elwes closed the 1911 Festival with a performance of the "St Matthew Passion" with Agnes Nicholls, Edna Thornton, Herbert Brown, Herbert Heyner and Robert Radford. [Elkin 1944, 76-77.] In May 1916 he gave six performances of "Gerontius" on consecutive days, with Clara Butt as the Angel, Charles Mott (Angel of the Agony) and Herbert Brown (Priest), the Leeds Choral Union and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Elgar himself, in aid of the Red Cross. [Elkin 1944, 96.] His last performance of the work was in Northampton in October 1920, with Robert Radford and Norah Dawnay, shortly before leaving for his American tour. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 265.]

Elwes and Lieder

He was the foremost English-born performer of the Brahms lieder in the first decades of the 20th century. In January 1907 he made a tour in Germany which included Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Frankfort and Cologne, giving recitals with Fanny Davies (a most celebrated pupil of Clara Schumann’s). He sang mixed programmes, but his performance of German lieder, and especially of Brahms (in German) was greatly admired. (He was then singing 'Komm bald,' 'Am Sonntag Morgen,' 'Salamander,' 'Ein Wanderer,' 'Wir wandelten', 'Auf dem Kirchhof', 'Magyarisch,' 'Die Kränze,' Ständchen' and 'Botschaft.') [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 172-175.] He sang the Brahms "Liebeslieder" in Brussels in 1908 with Marie Brema, and in London gave a recital with Paderewski. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 181-183.] In January 1913 at the Queen's Hall, under Henry Wood, he sang Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" in company with the contralto Doris Woodall: Wood thought it 'excessively modern but very beautiful'. [H.J. Wood, "My Life of Music" (Gollancz, London 1946 edn), 287.] Brahms remained central to Elwes's repertoire to the end, and he also performed lieder of Grieg, Dvořák and George Henschel. Early in his career he found an ideal accompanist in Frederick B. Kiddle, and they remained associated until his death.

In January 1912 in a recital for Henry Wood at Queen's Hall he introduced the settings of poems of Paul Verlaine by Madame Poldowska, the daughter of Henri Wieniawski. These songs then had a great vogue in Paris and this performance made a deep impression. [Wood 1946, 269.]

Elwes and English art-song

But it was as singer of English art-song, the friend of many leading English composers, that he left his most permanent legacy. He was the dedicatee and first performer of (and the first person to record) the ‘On Wenlock Edge’ cycle of Vaughan Williams and many of the finest songs of Roger Quilter (including the cycle "To Julia"), both of whom wrote with his voice in mind. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, passim. cf also V. Langfield, "Roger Quilter, His Life and Music" (Boydell, Woodbridge 2002); cf also Trevor Hold, "From Parry to Finzi, Twenty English Song-Composers" (Boydell, Woodbridge 2002), 137-138.] In 1912 he gave the first performance of Thomas F Dunhill's song-cycle "The wind among the reeds" for the Philharmonic Society. [R. Elkin, Royal Philharmonic (Rider, London 1946, 138.] He had the wholehearted admiration of every generation from Charles Villiers Stanford to Frank Bridge, and their successors still acknowledge the authority of his influence. He was also a wonderful inspiration to leading British singers of his time, as their many private and published memorials of him testify. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 281-310.]

His tragic death

Elwes died aged 55, at the height of his powers, in a horrific accident at Boston, Massachusetts, railway station, in the midst of a high-profile recital tour of The United States. He tripped and fell between a train and the platform, and died of his injuries a few hours later. The tremendous loss felt by the musical establishment, the Churches, and the population in general left the impression not merely of a great singer, but of a great man, whom many who never met him felt they knew personally through his singing. In short, he was loved. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, p.270 ff.] A week after the event, Elgar wrote to Percy Hull, 'my personal loss is greater than I can bear to think upon, but this is nothing - or I must call it so - compared to the general artistic loss - a gap impossible to fill - in the musical world.' [Percy M. Young, "Letters of Edward Elgar" (Geoffrey Bles, London 1956), 267-268.]

Memorials

Among many memorial concerts nationwide, a memorial performance of "The Dream of Gerontius" was given at the Royal Albert Hall, at which John Coates and Frederick Ranalow sang with the Royal Choral Society. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 276-277.] The Musicians' Benevolent Fund was first established as the "Gervase Elwes Memorial Fund for Musicians", [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 278-279.] and his figure became a presiding genius of twentieth-century English music. His particular association with the lyrics of A.E. Housman and the music of Elgar, and his death soon after the First World War, reinforce his embodiment of the lost Edwardian generation, perhaps the last in which his religious conviction could so thoroughly have endeared him to so many.

At much the same time the Glasgow Orpheus Choir instituted a "Gervase Elwes silver medal", and the Feis Ceoil in Dublin inaugurated its "Gervase Elwes Memorial Cup". A choir named after him was established at Walsall. A portrait plaque by Arthur Vokes was set up in the centre of the village of Billing. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 276, 279.]

A portrait bust of him by Malvina Hoffmann was sent by Mrs Vincent Astor and was set in a specially prepared niche on the grand tier of the old Queen's Hall (the original venue of the Promenade Concerts) as a memorial by his American friends, being unveiled in 1922. Around the arch of the niche was a motto, 'With his whole heart he sang songs and loved Him that made him.' On that occasion two J.S. Bach Chorales were conducted by Dr Vaughan Williams. [W. & R. Elwes 1935, 277-278.] The Queen's Hall was destroyed by German bombing on 10-11 May 1941, in the night following another performance of "The Dream of Gerontius", on that occasion conducted by Malcolm Sargent with soloists Muriel Brunskill and Webster Booth. [R. Elkin 1944, 128.]

Sir John Barbirolli (a successor of the original conductor of "Gerontius", Hans Richter, as conductor of the Halle Orchestra, who had played as an orchestral cellist in "Gerontius" under Elgar’s baton with Elwes performing the soul) remembered Elwes as ‘that great and noble artist’. [J. Barbirolli, "The Dream of Gerontius – A Personal Note" (Recording insert, EMI 1965).] In addition to being a great singer, Elwes was a capital game shot, and devoted much of his spare time to shooting on his estates.

Recordings: Discography

Elwes recorded first in 1911-1913 for the Gramophone Company, and later for the Columbia Graphophone Company. This listing is thought to be complete for known recordings of this artist.

HMV [See J.R. Bennett, "Voices of the Past, 1: The HMV English Catalogue" (Oakwood Press 1955).]
*4-2156 Phyllis hath such charming graces (Lane Wilson arr.) 1911.
*4-2161 Absent yet present (Maude Valerie White) 1911.
*4-2189 Morning Hymn (Henschel) 1911-12.
*4-2195 To Daisies, "and" Song of the Blackbird (Quilter) 1912.
*4-2232 Sigh no more, ladies (Aiken) 1912.
*7-42004 Ich liebe dich (Grieg).
*02379 So we'll go no more a-roving (M.V. White) 1913.

Columbia
*65826 Battle Hymn (arr Stanford) /F.B. Kiddle
*65827 Sonnet XVIII (W.A. Aiken) /F.B. Kiddle
*6847 Blow, blow thou winter wind (Quilter)
*6848 Fill a glass with golden wine (Quilter)
*6849 In Summertime on Breedon (Peel)
*6850 Now sleeps the crimson petal, "and" Love's Philosophy (Quilter)
*6851 The Roadside Fire (Vaughan Williams)
*6852 Cuckoo Song (Quilter)
*71017 Listen to the voice of love
*71018 Brittany
*71051 Gifts (Taylor)/F.B. Kiddle
*71052 By Wenlock Town (Janet Hamilton) /F.B. Kiddle
*74150 The Lake Isle of Innisfree (Ley)/F.B. Kiddle
*74151 A Sea Dirge (Dunhill)/F.B. Kiddle
*75329 O Mistress Mine! "and" Fair House of Joy (Quilter)
*75330 Songs my mother taught me (Dvorak)
*75357 A carol of bells (C.V. Stanford) /F.B. Kiddle
*75360 Where'er you walk (Handel)/F.B. Kiddle
*75419 On Wenlock Edge (Vaughan Williams) /London String Quartet
*75420 From far, from eve "and" Oh when I was in love with you (Vaughan Williams) /London String Quartet
*75421 Is my team ploughing? (Vaughan Williams) /London String Quartet
*75422 Bredon Hill (Vaughan Williams) /London String Quartet
*75423 Clun (Vaughan Williams) /London String Quartet
*76089 So sweet love seemed (Piggot) "and" Jenny kissed me (Brougham)/F.B. Kiddle
*76091 A Pastoral (Colin Taylor) /F.B. Kiddle
*76092 Love went a-riding (Bridge)/F.B. Kiddle
*76093 Lift up your heads on high (Bach)/F.B. Kiddle

Family

He was the brother of Dudley Cary Elwes II, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Northampton.

His sons were:
* Simon Elwes, a portrait artist and Royal Academician
* Guy Elwes, an architect and interior designer
* Rudolph Elwes, an actor
* Monsignor Valentine Elwes, Roman Catholic cleric
* Sir Richard Elwes, a High Court judge and Recorder of Northampton.

Further reading

*J. Barbirolli, "The Dream of Gerontius – A Personal Note" (EMI 1965).
*J.R. Bennett, "Voices of the Past, 1: The HMV English Catalogue" (Oakwood Press 1955).
*R.D. Darrell, "The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music" (The Gramophone Shop, New York 1936).
*A. Eaglefield-Hull (Ed), "A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians" (Dent, London 1924).
*R. Elkin, "Queen's Hall 1893-1941" (Rider, London 1944).
*R. Elkin, "Royal Philharmonic" (Rider, London 1946).
*Lady W. Elwes and R. Elwes, "Gervase Elwes, The Story of his Life" (Grayson & Grayson, London 1935).
*V. Langfield, "Roger Quilter, His Life and Music" (Boydell, Woodbridge 2002).
*M. Scott, "The Record of Singing, II:1914 to 1925", 172-173 (Duckworth, London 1979).
*D. Taylor, Gervase Cary Elwes, in "Music Lovers' Encyclopedia" (5th edn), 1950.
*H. Wood, "My Life of Music" (Gollancz, London 1938).
* (MS Source): "Elwes (Great Billing)": Northamptonshire Family and Estate collections records 1610-1921. (1749 docs. & 9 boxes, ref. E(GB) & CE(B)).

References