CLAUD POWELL (d. 1959), MUSICIAN AND CONDUCTOR OF GUILDFORD AND ELSEWHERE: RECORDS

The main series of records in the archive comprise:

1756/1/ COUNTY SCHOOL OF MUSIC, GUILDFORD AND RELATED ACTIVITIES 1920-1985
Claud Powell had been a visiting singing professor at Guildford School of Music before purchasing the school (with the backing of the conductor Adrian Boult: see letter -/1/1) in 1919. Premises were leased at St Nicolas Hall, Millmead Terrace, along with the Bellairs Ballet school. The school was briefly and unsuccessfully floated as a limited company from 1922, when Claud Powell became a salaried director, until 1934, when it went into voluntary liquidation. In 1968 it was formed into an educational trust. It advertised 'complete tuition in all musical and dramatic subjects' (1937) and acted as parent body to Guildford Symphony Orchestra (est. 1919: see -/2/- ) and to Guildford Repertory Company (est. 1932: see -/3/-). The school was forced to close in 1985, when it was unable to find alternative accommodation after the whole Millmead building was required by the owners, the Guildford School of Acting and Drama Dance Education Ltd. See also -/8/1 and /4 for references to scholarships to the school, 1919, and -/8/13 for newscuttings on school concerts

1756/1/ County School of Music, Guildford c.1920-1985

1756/1/ Concert programmes 1921-1984

1756/1/ Photographs and published material 1920-1959

1756/2/ GUILDFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND GUILDFORD SUBSCRIPTION CONCERTS SOCIETY 1919-1975
The orchestra was founded by Claud Powell in 1919, and conducted by him until his death. Its mainstay was the local amateur string section affiliated to the County School. The Guildford Subscriptions Concert Society was formed in 1945; previously the orchestra's finances had been the responsibility of Claud Powell and Dorothy Owen (see account book -/1/13 above) assisted by an 'association of friends' formed to support of the orchestra, and to promote seasons of concerts in the town which had been set up during the war. The Subscription Society was given the name the Claud Powell Concert Society in 1960. The scheme was perhaps a realization of his earlier, shorter-lived schemes for the founding of provincial orchestras and the provision of local promenade seasons (see also letter in -/1/1). Claud Powell reportedly claimed that one of the great disappointments of his career was the decision of Guildford Borough not to appoint him to the new post of municipal musical director in 1945, when he had long campaigned for the need for such a post: see especially -/-/13-15; and for his campaign for a Guildford hall, see -/8/3-4 and -/8/7 above. For reference to funding of GSO, see -/8/6; see -/8/8 for a review of GSO and -/8/12-13 for newscuttings.

1756/2/ Concert programmes, correspondence and papers, 1919-1975

1756/2/ Recordings c.1930

1756/3/ GUILDFORD REPERTORY COMPANY 1925-1968
Guildford Repertory Company of Light Opera and Drama Ltd was established in 1932 under the direction of the County School, and incorporated as Guildford Repertory Company Ltd in 1936. It was closely associated with the activities of the GSO, and itself absorbed the organisation of Guildford Choral Society (see correspondence in 'Theatre Hall' file in -/8/13 above). Dorothy Owen acted as the managing director. It comprised an amateur dramatic group with associated supporting members, with the aim of performing 'entertainments ... considered to be of an educational or partly educational description' (see memorandum of association, -/-/1 below). The company lapsed during the war, when the studio in St Nicholas Hall and equipment were said to have been lost, and had no regular meetings after 1947. In c.1954, it was re-formed as Surrey Thespids, and in 1968 again closed. For references to the Pageant Fund supported by the Company, see -/8/4; for proposal for a Guildford Theatre Club and review of Arms and the Man, see -/8/6 and for the Choral society's request for support from the Carnegie Trust, see -/8/8.

1756/3/ Programmes, photographs and correspondence relating to productions, 1936-1968

1756/3/ Recordings 1931

1756/4/ FURTHER MUSICAL ACTIVITIES 1905-1939
During Claud Powell's early career as teacher and performer (singing principally with the Frau Musika Quartette, and conducting in the Orpheus Choral and Orchestral Society, the Pinner Choral Society et al: see -/4/-), he was already involved in ambitious schemes for the musical well-being of the country: his initial attempt to establish a municipally-funded travelling orchestra - later the Claud Powell Symphony Orchestra - obtaining some success in Hampstead (see Claud Powell's pamphlet -/2/1 above, also -/5/- and -/8/2 below). For references to Claud Powell's early teaching career, see -8/1-2. In 1915 he was appointed as a temporary 2nd lieutenant in the army (infantry and later balloons: see letter -/1/1 above). He was later promoted to a captain and requisitioned by the composer Major (later Sir) H Walford Davies to organise a central RAF band and music school. Records are listed in -/6/1-4, and see also -/8/5 for Claud Powell's article on the evolution of RAF music. After demobilisation in 1919, Claud Powell began to concentrate his activities on Guildford, but did continue conducting commitments elsewhere (see in particular -/4/6)

1756/4/ Independent performing career 1905-1939

1756/5/ CLAUD POWELL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 1915-1928

1756/6/ ROYAL AIR FORCE BAND 1914-1922

1756/7/ CLAUD POWELL LIGHT OPERA LTD 1930-1945
The company was formed in 1935, with plans to establish a centre for British light opera at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. The project began with a revival of the successful production of 'Tantivy Towers' by Thomas F Dunhill originally staged by Nigel Playfair and conducted by Claud Powell (see album -/4/8 above), which Claud Powell claimed 'had a longer run than any Gilbert and Sullivan opera' (see 'Lyric Theatre Claud Powell correspondence' -/-/6). Losses on the production, however, prevented further ventures by the company, which was eventually wound up in 1936.

1756/8/ GENERAL FILES OF CLAUD POWELL AND DOROTHY OWEN 1906-1975

1756/8/ Correspondence and papers relating to music and concerts in Guildford and activities of Claud Powell, 1906-1975

1756/8/ Newspaper cuttings 1913-1975

1756/9/ CLAUD POWELL AND DOROTHY OWEN: PERSONAL MATERIAL 1935-1989

Claud Powell began as a singer, singing teacher and conductor, and went on to found numerous musical companies and societies, including the Guildford Symphony Orchestra (1919) and the Claud Powell Light Opera Ltd company (1935). His strong beliefs in the necessity for musical education of the public, and the need to provide for decentralised, provincial musical events and to foster British music (both 'folk' music and new composition) are reflected throughout the many aspects of his career until his death in 1959.

In 1919 Guildford School of Music (founded c.1910) was purchased, and its name changed to the County School of Music, by Claud Powell and Dorothy Owen, a pianist, fellow music professor and musical colleague since 1912. It then appears - from the varied material preserved in this collection - to have become the headquarters for the running of Claud Powell's many musical activities. By 1920, Claud Powell's responsibilities in Guildford alone were listed in a newpaper item as the Guildford Symphony Orchestra, conductorship of Guildford Choral Society (established 1841), Shalford Choral Society, Merrow Choral Society and Guildford Military Band. His efforts to gain a proper venue for Guildford music and theatre and municipal backing for his ventures continued over twenty years - only to be slighted by the appointment of another to the new position of municipal director of music and the establishment of a rival municipal orchestra.

Dorothy Owen collaborated in most of Claud Powell's projects (her work appearing frequently within Claud Powell's files), and continued to be involved in the County School (and other organisations) until its closure in 1985.

The organisation of Claud Powell's activities cannot easily be differentiated, as many of his files were kept for several purposes, and appear to have been stored in miscellaneous groupings, many including Dorothy Owen's work as well. The collection has been roughly divided and occasionally re-sorted into, first, activities in Guildford having some connection with the work of the County School, and second, Claud Powell's independent undertakings elsewhere, including his career prior to the school, his service in the army and RAF and his venture into professional light opera. Files of a very mixed content have been placed either in the most thematically appropriate section of the list, or under the heading of Claud Powell's working papers and personal papers in -/8/- and -/9/-. A few items have been extracted from files for the sake of clarity: these are individually noted in the list.

There are no access restrictions.

Deposited by the County School of Music, and per Mr Ralph Nicholson, in a series of five accesssions from July 1985 to November 1990. The deposit became a gift in 1995.

An item level description of the archive is available on the Surrey History Centre online catalogue

For records of Shalford Choral Society, 1920-2007, see 5382 and 8479.
For other records relating to Guildford Repertory Company, see 1693 and 1755.