Appreciation by Neil Crutchley

Neil Roberts is a former chairman of this society and his tenure in that role saw an increase in membership and a roster of distinguished speakers including such notable names as Edward Greenfield, Nicholas Daniel, Ronan O’Hora and John Steane. I know that all the above-mentioned (and many more) became his friends and enjoyed his erudition, wit and wide musical knowledge, and these were the characteristics that were on display in this remarkable talk spanning his seven decades as a concert-goer, in which he has seen the “Teutonic” domination of the classical music world diminish and the stock of other countries (not least Great Britain) rise.

Neil was blessed with a distinct advantage as a young music lover: he was within reach of London’s Royal Festival Hall and he has vivid memories of concerts conducted by such legendary names as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer and Pierre Monteux. These he shared with us along with an illuminating analysis of their conducting styles and personalities. The musical excerpts were almost incidental to the fascinating narrative, but Karajan in Strauss’s Don Juan and Monteux in Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe illustrated superbly his observations on their respective approaches to the music.

Not surprisingly, a large part of the evening was devoted to opera and one in particular – Britten’s Peter Grimes; a work Neil has seen on countless occasions. His analysis of what makes it a great work was a masterclass in itself and made the ensuing excerpt all the more compelling.

Another of Neil’s great loves is the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, whose stature is rising ever higher with the passing years. As an illustration of VW’s “visionary” genius Neil played the sublime slow movement of his 5th Symphony, commenting at the end, “If that isn’t great music, I don’t know what is.” So say all of us.

I have only scratched the surface of its content here, but this talk was truly unique, as it could only be given by Neil Roberts.