In Spring 2022, we received an enquiry asking whether we hold any records of English composer Marian Arkwright’s ‘Requiem’. It led us to discover a wonderful scrapbook within our collection documenting Marian’s work covering the years 1913-1916 (ref. D/EX1090/8/1). As we looked through the book we discovered more about the artist and woman Marian was.
The scrapbook contains programmes and press cuttings of performances Marian was involved in. Above each tip-in features a comment which details the position(s) she held in each performance. Her roles ranged from conductor, part of the orchestra, lecturer, judge, and composer. Notes revealed that she played the piano, organ, and double bass – a woman of many talents.
Born in Norwich, Norfolk on 25 January 1863, she was the second woman in the UK to gain a bachelor’s degree in music and the first woman to do so at Durham University in 1895. Later, also at Durham, she became one of the first women to take the degree of Doctor of Music.
In an obituary, she is said to have ‘made it in her way to help those less fortunate than herself, not only by her share in organization of musical festivals and similar efforts, but by her keen personal interest in the works of individuals.’
Her most famous compositions comprise ‘The winds of the West’, ‘a Japanese suite’ which was created using authentic Japanese songs after a visit to Japan, and ‘The Requiem/ Requiem Mass’ which was a revised version of the work submitted for her doctorate in 1912-1913.
According to a press cutting within the scrapbook titled ‘Newbury Choral Society’, the Requiem consisted 'of fourteen movements, commencing with a funeral march, some of the subject matter reappearing in No.2, an unaccompanied 8 part chorus’.
The requiem was performed in a concert by the Newbury Choral Society at the Corn Exchange, Newbury in 1915. On the night, Marian was both the Composer and the Conductor. The reviewer said:
‘There was no lack of enthusiasm either in the chorus, orchestra, or audience, and it was not entirely due to appreciation. Those qualified to express their opinion spoke in the highest terms of the composition as one of great artistic merit.’
Marian later conducted Brahms Requiem in memory of Mr J S Liddle, at St Nicholas Church, Newbury on 20 April 1921 as part of his Memorial Concert. She sadly died suddenly in her sleep on 23 March 1922, aged 59.
Sources should you be interested in finding out more:
Newbury Choral Society website.
Life and Times of Lucy Broadwood by Dr Dorothy De Val.
Women Opera Composers by Mary F. McVicker.
Obituary of Marian Arkwright in the Musical News and Herald, vol 62-62.