Kathleen Ferrier (1912–1953) – Her life and legacy

Distinguished author and lecturer Paul Campion gave a fascinating talk in Westminster Music Library yesterday, to commemorate the centenary of one of the UK’s best loved singers.

In the 41 years that made her life, Kathleen Ferrier became one of the most admired and popular singers in the world.  Her voice was a true contralto – quite a rarity – and her style of singing was uniquely British. The daughter of a school-teacher, Kathleen left school at the age of 14 and became a telephone operator on the Blackburn exchange. Not the most promising of beginnings for a future interpreter of Handel, Mahler and Gluck. Yet her background had been musical, her mother had insisted she had piano lessons from an early age, and her father was a music teacher who instilled rigid principles into his daughter. If a piece was to be played it was to be played properly, and according to the composer’s intentions.

At the age of 25, Kathleen became a professional singer, learning her trade by appearing pretty much wherever she was asked. The great conductor Bruno Walter himself was so impressed by her singing that he paid her the ultimate compliment of personally accompanying her at the piano during various recitals.

Kathleen gave many British, European and American concerts where she sang previously neglected British songs to her audiences, songs such as Blow the wind southerly, which some of her critics considered artistically inferior, but which now, thanks to her courage in recording them, form a much-loved part of her musical heritage.

In 1953, Kathleen was engaged to sing Orpheus at Covent Garden in a new production of Gluck’s Orfeo et Euridice. To be sung in English, critics were unanimous in their praise of her singing and interpretation. Tragically, she lived only long enough to complete two performances before succumbing to the cancer against which she had valiantly struggled for the last years of her life. An extraordinary and unaffected talent, and unlike in today’s world of divas and celebrities – she really was “just an ordinary lass from Lancashire”.

“She had such a lovely voice and seemed so natural, when I was a girl she was on the radio all the time”

“I remember my Father playing “Blow the wind Southerly” on the Dansette [record player] over and over, I was sure that record would wear out”

[Ruth]

 

Intrigues and alliances

Paddington Library Readers’ Group started the New Year by delving into a bit of history and looking at how writers have used historical fact to create novels.

We discussed the works of Alison Weir who has done a lot of research into the Tudors, among other dynasties. In her novel, Innocent Traitor, she gives an account of the short, eventful life of Lady Jane Grey who was on the throne for just nine days and who was a pawn in the power struggle of the Tudor dynasty.

The group also looked at a factual historical book by Weir -  Mary Boleyn: The Great and Infamous Whore. Mary was the sister of Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII’s wives. Members of the Boleyn family were central to the intrigue and power struggles of the Tudor period. The author is very aware of the issue of historical accuracy and how fiction can almost innocently be regarded as fact with the passage of time.

On a slightly different note, the group also looked at a book (contributed to by Weir, amongst others) entitled The Ring and the Crown: A History of Royal Weddings 1066-2011. Royal Unions right up to the 20th century were intended to complement and cement alliances between nations. Brides and grooms often did not meet for the first time until the day before their wedding! Weir gives interesting accounts of tearful Royal brides who were shocked and intimidated on meeting their future husbands…

The next meeting, on 17 February, will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. If you’re reading a Dickens book this year – indeed, if you’re taking part in City Read London - do come along!

[Laurence]

Celebrating fashion history as we hit the sales!

Shoppers hit the Regent Street Liberty store in the 1920s. Image property of Westminster City Archives.

In these opening weeks of 2012, hundreds of thousands of people have flocked to the West End’s shopping districts to ease the post-festive season blues by hitting the shops.

The January sales are not a new attraction: catalogues at the City of Westminster Archives Centre show how bargain-hunting was a big draw for Londoners and visitors as far back as the 1890s, and photographs show shoppers eyeing up stock on sale at Liberty’s in the 1920s.

What would you wear? Fashions from William Whiteley’s Westbourne Grove store, 1885. Image property of Westminster City Archives.

People have been lifting their mood by investing in wardrobe updates for centuries, and the psychological and cultural relationships between individuals and the clothes they wear has long been analysed and documented.

A recent contributor to this field of study, acquired for the reference collection at the City of Westminster Archives Centre, is NJ Stevenson’s The Chronology of Fashion.

Stevenson’s book, which traces the development of modern fashion (from 1800 onwards), contains sumptuous full-colour illustrations depicting trends ranging from the Empire-line silhouette of the Regency era, through to Victorian whale-bone corsets, outlandish 1980s post-punk creations and ending with an intriguing forecast of what we’ll be wearing in 2020.

[Michelle]

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Today is the Chinese New Year 2012, the start of the Year of the Dragon. London’s main celebrations will be held on 29 January. You can find out more about the parade, ceremony and fireworks on Visit London.

And it seems like a great time to tell you more about Westminster’s Chinese Library, right in the heart of the West End. With London’s Chinatown being located just off Leicester Square and attracting the Chinese community from across London and the South-East, it is no surprise that the Chinese Library service is based at Charing Cross Library and holds one of the largest collections of Chinese materials in any UK public library.

What can we offer?

• Over 50.000 Chinese adult and children’s books for loan and reference, including the most popular fiction books and top sellers. There are books by Chinese authors and popular Western writers in translation. Romance stories are very popular, as are Kung Fu thrillers and Manga series in translation.
• The non-fiction collection covers all areas, including art, business, history, social life and travel.
• There are also more than 80 different kinds of  magazines and periodical publications plus Chinese pop and classical music CDs.
• Community information and general enquiry answering, with a team of  Chinese speaking staff (Cantonese and Mandarin)
• CLSS – a national subscription service of Chinese books. We lend selected bulk collections to other library authorities for a fee to build up their Chinese library services.

All that, and more, behind a somewhat unassuming exterior on Charing Cross Road
- come along and see us.

And Happy New Year!

[Chichy]

The Race to the Antarctic, 1912

Many people will have watched the recent BBC series ‘Frozen Planet’ and marvelled at the scenes of the Antarctic, and the skill and dedication of the camera crews who filmed the series.

One hundred years ago, in 1912, there was no television, but people would have been gripped by the Antarctic as reports came in of the two rival expeditions to reach the South Pole, which sadly had tragic consequences.

During his second venture to the Antarctic, Captain Robert Scott led a party of five which reached the South Pole in January 1912, only to find that they had been preceded by Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian expedition. On their return journey, Scott and his comrades all perished from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold.

If you too have been gripped by the story, take a look at this list of books exploring the events from a range of angles:

Scott of the Antarctic, by David Crane
This biography of Captain Scott, the pivotal figure in pre-First World War Antarctic exploration re-examines the courage and tragedy of Scott’s expedition and reasserts his position in the pantheon of British heroes.

Shackleton’s dream: Fuchs, Hillary and the crossing of Antarctica, by Stephen Haddelsey
This title presents a full account of the last ‘Heroic Age’ expedition to Antarctica. Based upon previously unpublished material, including interviews with the survivors, and contemporary diaries and letters, the book explores the often antagonistic relationship of two giants of 20th-century exploration.

An Empire of ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the heroic age of Antarctic science, by Edward J Larson
This title offers a different perspective on the Antarctic expeditions of the early 20th century by looking at the British efforts for what they actually were – massive scientific enterprises in which reaching the South Pole was but a spectacular sideshow.

The Mammoth book of Antarctic journeys: 35 eye-witness accounts of adventure in the Antarctic, by Jon E Lewis
The very best writing on the Antarctic, from James Cook’s 18th-century assertion that ‘no man will ever venture further than I have done’ to Lynne Cox’s description of her epic, icy swim in the 21st century – 32 first-hand accounts of men and women challenging one of the Earth’s last true wildernesses.

Dead men, by Richard Pierce
A novel of exploration, obsession, life, death and the power of love, which centres on Captain Scott’s Antarctic expedition of 1912.

Death on the ice, by Rob Ryan
The story of one of the last great epic journeys of exploration made before World War I – Robert Falcon Scott’s fateful journey to the South Pole.

A first rate tragedy, by Diana Preston
The great tragedy that befell the Scott team could have been averted if they could have trudged just 11 more miles. The Norwegian Trygge Gran found their frozen bodies close to the food depot. Diana Preston’s story recounts the dramatic events.

Racing with death: Douglas Mawson, Antarctic explorer, by Beau Riffenburgh 
In ‘Racing with Death’, Beau Riffenburgh rediscovers the almost forgotten story of Mawson – with Shackleton and Scott, one of the three ‘greats’ of Antarctic exploration. It is an unforgettable story of raw courage and escape from the icy jaws of death.

The last expedition, by Robert Falcon Scott (with an introduction by Ranulph Fiennes)
Captain Scott’s gripping account of his expedition to the South Pole. This book details the incidents, the drama, the courage, the hopes and the bitter disappointment of the ultimately tragic attempt to beat Amundsen to the South Pole.

In Shackleton’s footsteps: a return to the heart of the Antarctic, by Henry Worsley
In this book, Ernest Shackleton’s descendants take on the expedition that defeated him in the most extreme Antarctic challenge known to man.

Children’s book:

No return, by Peter Gouldthorpe
In the age of discovery, Antarctica remained an unknown quantity amongst the world’s explorers. Robert Falcon Scott was amongst the pioneers who penetrated the ice and cruel weather. This is the story of his journey from England, culminating in the ill-fated final march to his goal, only to be beaten by the Norwegians.

[Malcolm]