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LT26.9 Lent Term Special · The Downing Arts Podcast

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Welcome to the Downing Arts Podcast.
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We've made it to the end of term and what a last week it's been.
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With the Festival of New Writing giving voice to a number of new scripts and
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the chapel choir's sell out performance of the Mozart Requiem on Sunday,
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I'm delighted to have with me today Jenny Ulf, who's a member of college staff.
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Welcome, Jenny. Thank you, Louisa. Now, I can see you're clutching a number of interesting
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looking items. Before we get into that, do you want to just explain a little
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bit about who you are and what your role is in college? Yes, I'm a
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college archivist, so I'm responsible for the college archives. So historical
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records, photographs, anything relating to the history
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of the college and its members and the Downing family back to
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the 16th century. Wow, that must be a really fascinating job.
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I mean, I mean, I know you've shown me some photographs of college sort of
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in the past and must be really interesting. Yes, yes, it is.
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And one of the things I wanted to share today is
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some of the early musical history of the college that members
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may not be aware of. Wow. So,
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going very back to the earliest
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residents of the college, one of the more interesting
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figures is the wife of the second master, William Frere.
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So Mary Frere and William were actually the first residents in
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the Master's lodge. The first Master, Francis Ansley, hadn't ever lived
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in college, so they moved in after William
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Frere became master in 1813. And at
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that time they were quite a lot younger than other heads
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of houses. William was much younger. So they
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actually were quite unusual in
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the social gatherings that they encouraged in
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Downing at that time, heads of houses often only
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socialized together, so even not with other academics. But William
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and Mary organized quite a lot of musical dramatic
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productions where they invited students,
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tenants and even sometimes staff and tradesmen.
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Wow. So I think probably
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the main instigator of all this was Mary, because she was very
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musical. She'd been trained as a singer and was widely admired.
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She'd helped organise the Cambridge Music Festival in
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1824. And one of the professional sopranos who
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performed at the concert, Angelina Catalani, actually commented
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that she thought her the best unprofessional singer in the whole of England.
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That's quite an accolade. Yeah. And she was quite keen to share
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this gift. So the college had several performances.
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They had a performance of Carmen in the hall in 1833 and
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Mary actually joined in with the professional singers.
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She was quite fond of opera and had been involved
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when her father was the MP for Norwich, choosing plays
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and performers at Norwich Theatre. So she was very knowledgeable and
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comfortable in these circles. So this all
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made her the perfect society hostess, really,
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hosting musical parties in the Master's Lodge,
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taking over the hall for dramatic productions. They had
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several performances of Sheridan's the Rivals and the critic
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in the 1830s, and around this time they
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often were accompanied by what was called public breakfasts.
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So I haven't been able to find a lot of information
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about this, but it seems to be a gathering of
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all of the great and the good in Cambridge, often in a big marquee.
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So a big meal and then followed by a ball.
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So at breakfast time? Yeah, the public breakfast, I think, was actually
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a breakfast time. It may have been slightly later,
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because it was. The one particular one in 1835 was
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followed by balls. So presumably that was more like an
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afternoon evening dinner. And in 1835,
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we know that there were several of these public breakfasts followed by plays.
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So Henry IV was performed, the Rivals and
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the Critic was performed again. And this one,
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the Downing, tenants from the estates around Cambridgeshire,
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tradespeople and staff were invited, which was really unusual
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at the time. So how big would the College have been at that time,
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in terms of students? Yeah, yeah. All in. So a handful
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of fellows, five or six fellows. The College had
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only really started admitting students from 1820.
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They'd had one student before that, but he wasn't really resident and
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it was just one of these needing to keep the name on the books.
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So from 1820, just.
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Just a handful of students a year. So it was really quite small.
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And at that point, you've only got. You've only got the east
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range and the west range, so they didn't have lots of rooms for students.
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So that's probably the reason why the College actually didn't
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grow particularly quickly. They weren't able at that point to
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offer scholarships and prizes at that point
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financially, because of the situation with the college finances.
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So it wasn't until the 1860s,
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when that situation changed, that they were able to start enticing students to migrate
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from other colleges. Oh, wow. So,
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yes, Mary Frere, somebody little known really,
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in the history of the College, but a really interesting figure.
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And although Downing was quite small in terms of students,
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it does seem to have been quite interesting and important
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in terms of the social and musical events
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that were going on at the time. I get the impression that the college site
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was quite big at that point. I mean, it's not small now, but yes.
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So at that point, up until late teens,
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the Whole of what is now the Downing site was part of
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the College. So the entrance to the College was originally on Downing street,
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where the museums are today. So in 1895 the college
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started selling off that land to fund
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more building work. So that money that they gained
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from the piecemeal sale of that land then would have gone towards
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building what's now the North Range.
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So you had a grand tree lined up avenue from
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Downing Street. Weren't there cows there as well?
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Yeah, yeah, there's a couple of photographs. And William and Mary
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Frere had a farm in the
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corner of the College, which is now. So where
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Lensfield Road and Tennis Court Road meet, where the bottom of the Fellows Garden
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is now, was a farm during their time. And much of what is
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now the paddock was the Master's gardens at that point.
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And during William's and Frere's time, that was obviously then taken
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back and some of it was given to the Fellows. So it
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was yeah, quite, quite a different place there,
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really. So the other
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interesting figure that people may not
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be aware of, an important visitor to the college in 1893.
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So I brought a photograph which is not in the College collection,
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unfortunately, but is widely available online.
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And this, this photograph shows the composer Tchaikovsky
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standing in the garden of West Lodge,
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photographed by Florence Maitland, who was the wife of the professor
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of Law at the time. And the West Lodge
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at that point and the garden were the private residence of
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the professor of Law. So the Maitland family with their two daughters, lived in the
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West Lodge. And when Tchaikovsky came to
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Cambridge in June 1893 with
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several other composers. So to mark the
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50th anniversary of the Cambridge University Musical Society,
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they'd awarded an honorary doctorate to Tchaikovsky,
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Brooke, Boito and Grieg.
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So they were all coming for the ceremony, which was
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to be held on 13 June 1893. And there was going
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to be a big concert in the Guildhall on the 12th, the day before,
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and Professor Maitland, just off his own
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back, wrote to Tchaikovsky and offered, invited him
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to stay in the West Lodge, which he accepted. Yeah. Wow.
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So, yeah, we've got this photo which may be one of
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the last portraits of Tchaikovsky before his death. So he died
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in November that year, standing, looking very
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grand in his doctoral robes, looking off to the side. He looks very pensive.
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Yes. So, yes, this was, we believe,
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taken by the wife of the professor of Law in
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West Lodge Garden at Downing. It is, I know it's a print
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of a very old photo, but he is almost see through.
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It looks quite ghostly at the closet yeah, of course. Is that
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the sort of gathering that Sanson was involved with as well?
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Yes. So, yes, sorry, I think I missed him off the list.
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So there was a big concert, so Grieg was actually ill,
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so he wasn't able to attend the concert and ceremony in person.
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But Sanson, Bruce, Boito,
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Tchaikovsky did and they held.
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There was a piece by each composer and Tchaikovsky
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conducted. Saintson played the piano.
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So, yeah, a really great occasion with a
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slight Downing connection, thanks to the Maitlands. Yeah. Wow.
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And Florence Maitland was. Was quite musical.
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We know that she played for Tchaikovsky
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when he was in the West Lodge. She was
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a first cousin of Virginia Woolf and a
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musician and playwright in her own right.
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Her sister Adeline went on to marry Ralph Horne Williams in
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1897. Very musical family.
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So, yeah, again, a little known connection,
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exciting connection. Sadly, we don't have the original photograph in
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the archive. It may have been you or somebody who told me once that Tchaikovsky
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slept in the room that is now the music room in e staircase. Is that
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right? I don't know. I guess we don't know where he slept. So I think.
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I think the music room may have been.
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There was. I think there was a lecture room, possibly in the West Lodge.
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So certainly it was all part of the house that he
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would have stayed in. But yes, we don't know where, unfortunately.
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Well, he can always speculate. Yeah. Wow. Oh, thank you for bringing that.
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The other thing I brought. So I brought a few
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things relating to the musical society at Downing, the first
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of which being the earliest surviving program that's in
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the archive, which is from the 27th of November 1896.
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Wow. And obviously this is not ideal for
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anybody listening, but it's beautiful.
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It's got a magenta ribbon and a black ribbon.
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So even then the college colors were.
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Were in evidence. And the crest as well, all the
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coats of arms. Yeah. So it's got the Downing.
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The Downing shield with the an arm and arrow
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above. That's slightly random. Yes. It's not. Not quite correct,
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but. And then the university, presumably the university musical.
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Yeah, well. Well, I don't know. It's probably just the university, actually.
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Yeah, possibly. I don't know. Anyway,
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we don't know when the musical society was established.
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The Griffin Darling one. Yes, yes. The Griffin
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Magazine was only set up in Michaelmas,
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1903. So from that point we've got reports of
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clubs and societies of the college. So before
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that,
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it's a bit of a gray area really. So we obviously know it
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was in existence from at least 1896 because of the
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surviving programs. And there are programs for
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each of the subsequent years up to 1900. And then it's a bit.
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A bit patchy after that. So this is for a smoking. Smoking concert.
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Yeah. So in terms of what that actually was,
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we have a couple of surviving photos from a couple of years later,
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so around 1900. And a great
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photograph which I've also brought with me, which is actually
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from an album in the Pembroke College archive,
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but clearly shows a huge group of
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men in black tie sitting in the hall with their back
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to. There's carpet and everything. Yeah. So with them back to what. What is
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now the big window that looks over towards the Master's Lodge, but at that time
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was a big wooden door and we can't see
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any musicians, but they
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are all, or the vast majority of them are holding these huge clay pipes.
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Yeah. And it does seem to have been a
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concert at which you could smoke with your big clay pipes.
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His facial expressions are quite hilarious. Yeah. I think some of the people sitting
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on the front are recognizable as college fellows.
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But because this is in a Pembroke student's photograph
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album, it was obviously something that was open to
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other members of other colleges to attend. Is that
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the chaplain? Yes. Yes, it is. Yeah. Wow.
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There's someone just with a normal cigarette. Yeah.
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Any kind of smoking allowed at that point. Seems that chap looks like
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he's just been poked in the eye with a long clay pipe. Doesn't look happy.
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Wow. So, yeah, it's an interesting
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aspect of the early history. They all seem to have been taking place
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in the hall. But then obviously at that point they wouldn't have really had anywhere
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else. The final photograph
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that I brought is again of the hall all
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looking in the same direction. So towards. Yeah.
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So towards the big columns that are either side of that. That window towards
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the Master's Lodge. This is a photograph from 1932.
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And at that point you don't see the wooden
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doors between the columns, but a huge organ.
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So at that point the college was given
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an organ which was known as the Bennington organ in
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1928 by an honorary Fellow.
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And at that point, before the chapel was
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built, or what we now know as the chapel, the college
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had a temporary chapel that was located on a floor above
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the hall, above where the high table
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is today. Because the original Wilkins
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Chapel, which should have been in the south range between the Master's
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Lodge and the hall, was never built. So in 1821,
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when it was beginning to look unlikely that they might be building that anytime soon,
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they designated this upper room, as it was called as
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a temporary chapel, but it actually stayed as the temporary
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chapel or the Official Chapel until 1953
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when the chapel, as we know it was actually
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completed and opened. So the, the organ that was donated in
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1928 couldn't go in this room, which presumably was not big
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enough or with the floor. This upper room is. It's not there now,
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presumably. No. So the hall in the late
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1960s when they built the SCR, previous to that,
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the SCR had been at that
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end of the hall. So the hall was divided in two.
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So where the high table is now was a totally separate fellows
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combination room. So in the 1960s, obviously when they moved
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the SCR to the new SCR, they knocked through
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all of that area into what we now know as the.
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So that's why it looks quite a lot shorter in this picture.
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Yes, yes, yeah. Okay. We understand that the. The organ stayed
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in the hall until 1937. So it was there for possibly nine years
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until it was moved into storage.
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So we've got a
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fantastic film that an alum from 1928,
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Iliff Cousins filmed of life around
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Cambridge in college. And one of the things he includes in
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the various scenes in this film is a concert
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that was obviously taking place in the hall and there's an organist and two
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people on grand pianos. So unfortunately the
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film's totally silent and we can only imagine what they were playing. But.
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So it was obviously used at that point in the hall and
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then moved into storage. So. Yeah, so yeah, you'd never
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know it today really, but you can't really imagine a huge organ at that
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point. But there's obviously nowhere else for them to put it at that point.
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Yeah, gosh, I'm just thinking that what it. The kind of acoustic in
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the hall, I mean, I imagine it's perhaps a bit different from what it is
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now, but also these windows look like they're sort of
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going outside. But if I've got my directions right there, it's not
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like that now. Yes. So this photograph looking towards the master's lodge above
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the doors on the left, where you
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would obviously now go through towards the servery, are windows
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that are letting in daylight. And at that point,
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and again until this work in the 1960s, so the 1960s work that
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involved the SCR opening up the hall,
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also reconfigured B staircase, so that
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we had obviously the upper administrative offices that
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we know today. Before that, there was nothing on
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that first floor at that point. So you could literally see
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daylight coming through it's. Quite complicated
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and difficult sometimes when you look at these photographs, to imagine how
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it was at that particular time. But yes, so it all changed
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at the end of the 1960s with the work on
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the staircase, the kitchens, the hall, the scr.
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So, yes, it looks quite dark and dreary
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really. This photo from 1932. I'm just
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thinking those little lights in the ceiling probably didn't make much difference.
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No. And obviously you didn't have the window at
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the front that you have now. Yeah, I mean, the hall's lovely and light now.
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So, yeah, this photograph. So I think the organ,
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once it came out of storage, did go in the chapel for
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maybe 10, 15 years before it was replaced. Obviously by then
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it was quite old, but it made it into and out of
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storage and into the new chapel. So, yeah, just a few items really,
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to give a bit of an overview of some of the early musical
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history of the college. It's difficult, obviously on a recording to
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bring that across, but hopefully. Yeah. Well, I mean,
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yeah, thank you for bringing, especially this program. I mean, I just think how
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on earth did they produce something like this? I mean, it really is beautiful.
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Yeah, it's really. Yeah, it's really quite. It's looking captive
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with the ribbons, some of the items they performed as well. The only composers
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I recognize are Chopin, Stanford Adams, Vanowski.
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Yeah, quite a variety. Comic song, a couple of comic songs,
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Violin solo, piano solo, lots of other songs.
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Yeah. Wow. Well, thank you so much. That's okay. My pleasure.
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Really interesting. And yeah, been great to talk
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to you. Thank you very much.
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This week in college, the final Music society event of
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the term happens tomorrow in the East Staircase Music Room.
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Celebrated sitar player Jasdeep Singh will be giving a lecture 4 till 6pm
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followed by a concert 6 till 7pm Tickets cover both of these events and are
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available on eventbrite. Details in the show notes. The gallery
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exhibition Tudor Contemporary continues until the 19th of April. Do pop
21:28
in if you're out and about, enjoying this lovely weather.
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Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to this term series and to
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all our listeners in the uk, usa, Indonesia, China,
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Colombia, Morocco, Spain, Singapore, Germany, Malaysia, Russia and
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the Netherlands. We're in need of interviewees for next term, so do drop me
21:51
a line on artspodcastao.comac.uk
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if you'd like to come on the show. Happy holidays and thanks for listening.