Appreciation by David Fisher

Leicester Music Society’s President is certainly the most knowledgeable person of the Classical Music field that I or many of the members of our society have ever known. His vast knowledge comes from his personal and direct involvement in the musical life of Leicester in many guises: singer, conductor, librarian, music critic, author, programme note writer etc. and, just as importantly, a member of this society in various incarnations for just over half a century. He has given talks for many of the last fifty seasons (his first aged eighteen) and all have been presented with the same humour, wisdom and insight—always illustrated with perfectly chosen musical examples and often with physical mementos and ephemera on display as evidence.

This talk was particularly special in that Neil took us through his life from a 10-year-old primary school singer scared of the vertiginous heights of the top row of the raised stage choir seating of the De Montfort Hall to the present day with astonishing perception as to how the musical life of this vibrant city has changed in those years.

After being encouraged in listening to music by John Willder, a teacher at Gateway Grammar School in its cellar chapel, and thus stimulated to go to live performances, we learned about the hundreds of concerts, operas and recitals he attended or reviewed. Dozens of programmes were laid out on the table before him as evidence, quite a few of which were autographed by the internationally famous conductors and instrumentalists whom he’d met. His phenomenal recall of the outstanding performances he witnessed, along with memories of the musicians he has known made it particularly personal and all the more edifying. Faced with such a dauntingly vast topic, Neil was very careful in selecting the specific pieces of music which marked his musical journey through six decades, and what a wonderfully varied selection it was as evidenced by the playlist below.

Starting with Martin Shaw’s celebratory choral “Gloria in excelsis” (a favourite of Dr DG Davies, the Leicester City Musical Advisor and noted conductor of choirs, orchestras and, famously, of massed school choirs at the De Montfort Hall) through operetta, lush Strauss, emotionally charged Elgar then Nielsen and Arnold—the latter a really clever and attractive finale to a remarkable talk which demonstrated Neil’s erudition, intellectual understanding and deep abiding love of music in its infinite variety.

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