Theos-Talk Archives (February 1998 Message tt00049)

To Lorraine Christensen:

Cyril Scott, H.K. Challoner, David Anrias (Brian Ross) and Vera Stanley Adler
were sort of clique (for lack of a better word) within the orbit of the
Theosophical Movement. They used to pal around with one another and even
vacation together with their families in England. Their presentations of
theosophy were colored by the Alice Bailey teachings. As a composer, Cyril
Scott, like Scriabin, was influenced by the teachings of theosophy. He
considered Thomas More and the Master Kuthumi to be his gurus. For a full
accounting of his life, read his biography, BONE OF CONTENTION.  He also wrote
an interesting book on the esoteric influence of music.  I pulled the
following biographical information from the British Music Society:

Cyril Scott was a man of many parts - pianist, composer, poet and philosopher.
He explained this quite simply in saying that a composer has times when his
creative powers are at a low ebb and if he can occupy his mind with something
other than music it makes those periods a little more tolerable. In Scott s
case he turned his attention to poetry, occultism and unorthodox medicine, but
I would suggest that readers who have not got an open mind where the latter
two subjects are concerned should forget all about Scott's interest in such
matters, go straight to his music and accept it for what it is. As many of
Scott's personal papers were lost during the second war and his autobiography
is not written giving precise dates and accounts of events in chronological
order, it is sometimes difficult to piece together the life of this unusual
and gifted man. However, we do know that he was born on September 27th 1879 at
Oxton near Birkenhead, the third child of Henry Scott and Mary Scott, n e
Griffiths. His father was a business man but unlike most business men he was
never really interested in making lots of money, his chief interest in life
being Greek, He was in fact a Greek scholar. At an early age Cyril took piano
lessons and after a visit to the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool to hear
Paderewski he was resolved to become a musician. When only twelve years old he
went to Frankfurt where he studied piano with Herr Uzielli, who had been a
pupil of Mme. Schumann, and theory with Herr Humperdinck. Returning home to
Liverpool to receive general education Scott developed a firm friendship with
Hans Luthy who was an agnostic and before Scott left for Frankfurt again Luthy
had introduced him to agnosticism thus planting seeds of doubt about his own
religious convictions. It was through Luthy that Scott became agnostic, later
to be occultist. On returning to Frankfurt Scott studied composition with Iwan
Knorr who was reputed to have been one of the finest composition teachers of
his time. Then sixteen years old Scott composed a Piano Trio for his first
lesson with Knorr. "An indication of talent. The effort is considerable but as
a work of art it is nothing", said Knorr. Scott spent three years studying
with Knorr who never discouraged his individuality. During these three years
he was associated with Roger Quilter, Norman O Neill, Percy Grainger and
Balfour Gardiner and all later became known as the "Frankfurt Group".

Returning home to Liverpool for the second time Scott gave recitals, the
result of which was that he took two pupils at half a guinea per lesson. He
managed to compose a Piano Concerto which was later consigned to the dustheap
and met another friend, Dr. Charles Bonnier, Professor of French Literature at
the University College. This friendship, along with that of Stefan George in
Frankfurt, proved useful to Scott when he began writing poetry and libretti.
It was incidentally, at the suggestion of Stefan George that William de Haan
gave the first performance of the Symphony which Scott was daring enough to
write whilst still a student. Other early performances included the Heroic
Suite given by Hans Richter in Manchester and Liverpool but it was a chamber
music venture which brought Scott into the London limelight with Kreisler
playing the violin part in his Piano Quartet. In London Scott moved in society
and gave recitals at the Bechstein Hall Robert Elkin, the publisher, offered
him a contract whereby Scott had to write a certain number of works for
publication each year. This produced some pot-boilers but Elkin had taken up
an enfant terrible - a young composer who defied academic traditions. He did
him no disservice but it was the pot-boilers which later proved awkward for
the young artist. It was through a friend in London that Scott met Debussy and
Ravel and he gives a brief account of these meetings in his autobiography.
However before his visits to
Debussy ended, a publisher wishing to get some opinions of Scott for
publication asked Debussy to write something. Debussy did Scott a great
service in writing, "Cyril Scott is one of the rarest artists of the present
generation ..."

Other celebrities Scott was acquainted with were Arnold Bennett, H.G. Wells,
George Moore (who thought well of Scott s book, The Philosophy of Modernism ),
Stefan George, with whom Scott had a strong friendship ending in George
approving of Scott s translations of his poems, and George Bernard Shaw who
related that on one occasion when speaking to Elgar he had said, "Why, Elgar,
for a British composer you have become quite daring in your harmonies of
late". Elgar replied, "Yes, but don t forget it was Scott who started it all".
Scott had only met Elgar once for a few moments and never knew he took the
slightest interest in his work. It was also in London that Scott first
realized that Theosophy was worth looking into after having heard Annie Besant
lecture. He joined the Theosophical movement and as a result contacted a
number of gifted seers and occultists. Scott had some interesting views about
style, fashion and other composers which were elaborated in his book Music:
Its Secret Influence Throughout the Ages He maintained that composers are by
no means the best judges of other composers and that the only group of people
who listen to music with unprejudiced minds are the cultured amateurs. One of
his confessions was that much of accepted great music bored him. He pleaded
guilty to not having progressed with the times but stated that he had
progressed along the line and within the limits of his own particular idiom as
all creative artists should.

His own style evolved subconsciously and is based on no school or theory and
he did not deliberately attempt to express through his music any occult or
mystical facts. To mark Scott's seventieth birthday the BBC gave two of his
larger works a hearing which Scott thought were not representative. The BBC
were unconcerned and sent a letter to his publisher stating that, in effect,
whilst they conceded that Scott could write salon pieces of pleasing character
his more serious works were not the type of music that organization wished to
further. But he received many good wishes and articles appeared in music
journals. In 1951 the Music Teachers Association gave a concert entirely of s
works, recent works at that, and Francois D Albert came to play the then
recently composed Sonata Melodica (violin and piano). By the time he reached
his eightieth birthday Scott continued to write music without worrying at all
about the prospects of performance and Norman Demuth wrote, "A prophet is
often unhonoured in his own country but the complete neglect of Scott is
something inexplicably. Francois D Albert became President of the Chicago
Conservatory of music and arranged a concert of Scott's music there. In 1958
Dr. Vernon Griffiths at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, organized a
Cyril Scott Festival being a series of concerts of chamber music, piano pieces
and songs. The BBC gave illustrated talks and Edmund Rubbra, one time pupil of
Scott gave his own tribute. The BBC also included a programme of songs all
written long ago, including one or two pot-boilers which did nothing for
Scott's reputation. In his autobiography Scott does make a point of mentioning
that he bore no grudge as far as the BBC was concerned because they had
misrepresented rather than neglected. It was also during his eightieth year
that he was made Hon. Mus. Doc. Fellow by The International Academy World
Fraternity of Scholars.

 Having completed his autobiography in 1959 Scott had, in 1969, to add an
Afterword in which he told of the formation of the Cyril Scott Society at the
suggestion of W.R. Pasfield. The Society arranged its first concert in the
Duke s Hall at the Royal Academy of music in 1962 in which John Ogdon played
the Piano Sonata No. 3 and Scott received a standing ovation. Peter Pears,
Edmund Rubbra and the Alberni String Quartet also took part but sadly the
society has been unable to stay active. Also in 1969, Chicago Conservatory of
Music honoured Scott with an Hon. Mus. Doc. - that kind of degree never having
been accorded in his own country. Often rewarded as a bone of contention in
his youth, Scott lived to gain the respect he so richly deserved. Cyril Scott,
composer of serious music and writer has influenced my own outlook
considerably. I did not have the privilege of meeting him during his life time
but I believe I came to know the man through his late music. In listening to
his Pastoral Ode (1961), Piano Sonata No. 3 (1956), the Flute Sonata (1961),
the Piano Concerto No. 2 and the last string quartets one hears the true voice
of Cyril Scott. I do not think one could find a more sincere or self effacing
artist in British music.

Stuart Scott Editor's Note - It would be good to have an article from someone
who has researched the voluminous orchestral music:
Symphony No 3 The Muses (1939); Violin Concerto (1928); Cello Concerto (1931);
Sinfonietta for Strings (1962) etc. Further Listening - Cyril Scott Piano
Concertos ½ long deleted Lyrita LPs SRCS81/82 (1975, 1977; John Ogdon, LPO,
Bernard Herrmann - much missed and long overdue for reissue). Orchestral Music
selection CD Marco Polo 8.223485. Piano Music collections Christopher Howell,
Tremula TREM104-2 (available Tremula, PO Box 1491, Windsor, Berks SL4 2PE) and
deleted CD by Dennis Hennig Etcetera KTC1132. The BMS has an excellent
cassette BMS 401 of Piano Sonata No 3 (Raphael Terroni) also the Piano 5tet on
BMS411 (Terroni and Bingham 4tet). Both available from Hon Treasurer. Further
reading: Ian Parrott s book on the Scott piano music (Thames Publishing).
Scott's autobiography "Bone of Contention" (1969)