WILLIAM BUSCH: 1901-1945
It is always a cruel injustice when a talent
is cut off at the moment when recognition and repayment for all
the hardship years would be just around the corner. This is what
happened to William Busch just six months before the end of the
War. As John Amis says in his programme "Forgotten Reputations"
for BBC Radio 3 "Of all the musicians of the ’30s and
’40s … William Busch is the most likely to be forgotten."
William was born in 1901 in England of German parents. They
had settled in North London after spending several years in South
Africa as William’s father was in the diamond trade having an
office in Hatton Garden.
In 1915 he travelled to New York to study. He
attended Riverdale Country School and Columbia School. It was
Mr Franz Woodmansee, his piano teacher in America, who suggested
that William should study also harmony and composition, so in
January 1920 he started harmony lessons with Mr A.W. Lilienthal,
a former violin player with the Philharmonic Orchestra. William
found harmony rather tedious at first, always putting it off until
the last moment before completing his homework!
After five years in New York his father insisted that he returned
to Europe, so in October 1921 William arrived in Berlin with a
letter of introduction from Dr Guils Bagier to Leonid Kreutzer
who took William on as a pupil outside the Hochschule. William
greatly enjoyed observing lessons at the Hochschule, listening
to concerts and practising hard. Kreutzer suggested that he should
study harmony with Herr Leichentritt. He took a while to settle
into the different methods of teaching from each of his teachers,
but once into their methodology, he felt safe and secure. William’s
father was still complaining again about the amount of money it
was costing him for William’s fees and accommodation in Germany,
so after three years in Berlin William finally came back to continue
his studies in England.
He decided he would ask Moiseiwitsch and Backhaus.
William had met Benno Moiseiwitsch during one of the many journeys
between New York and London. William found Benno’s musicality
confusing, sometimes he played beautifully "He has an
admirable technique, though his moods do not always suit the compositions."
He had met Wilhelm Backhaus at his aunt, Sophie Wagner’s house,
who held many Bohemian parties with musicians and artists. She
being an artist in her own right, of colourful paintings of flowers,
several being shown in the Royal Academy of Art. Unfortunately
Backhaus was too busy to take pupils, but gave him various exercises
and pointers. William approached Moiseiwitsch for piano lessons,
which unfortunately were few and far between because of commitments,
however he put William in touch with Miss Mabel Lander who became
his piano tutor and life-long friend. There was a fortunate meeting
here though due to a mistake on Moiseiwitsch’s part, he booked
both William Busch and Alan Bush in for a lesson at the same time;
they met, and became firm friends. This friendship was to prove
very advantageous.
It was during the year of 1926 that his friendship
with Alan Bush flourished. Together they attended concerts as
well as visiting each other’s homes, enjoying listening to music
and having long discussions on politics, philosophy and healing.
William wanted to start composing again; the several attempts
he had made ended up in the bin whereas Alan was already composing
and having his music performed. William went to hear Bush’s String
Quartet at the Contemporary Music Club in Queen’s Street played
by the Kutcher Quartet and this spurred him on towards his own
composition. Miss Lander wanted William to play the Chopin Fantasia
in a recital at the Wigmore Hall; here at last was a public concert
to work towards, something he really needed and wanted. He also
decided to ask Alan Bush to give him some lessons in composition,
as although they were similar in age, Alan had been composing
for quite a while, but William needed the stimulation and confidence
to start again. At last the day of the concert arrived, the first
William had performed in front of a critical audience. He felt
he played well, though in typical William style he has to throw
in "…it might have gone better, but it went quite as well
as I had really expected …I received four recalls."
He was beginning to work hard at composition.
So he was thrilled to receive a telephone call from Miss Barron,
Secretary of the Faculty of Arts, saying that his two short compositions
Two Pieces for Wind Instruments had been accepted for performance
at the Composers concert and stood top of the list, which Arthur
Bliss judged. The first rehearsal of his first composition proved
to be rather a disaster. The second rehearsal went much better.
Alan had offered to conduct the piece and on May 24th
1927 at the Faculty of Art, his first composition was performed.
Spurred on with this good news he started to work hard on the
promotional side of his career. He arranged a meeting with Philip
Ashbrooke who organised concerts at the Aeolian and Grotrian Halls,
and a date was booked for William to give his first London Debut
on October 20th 1927. So work in earnest had to begin.
Work came in slowly, certainly not fast enough
to create much of a living. His father was critical of his progress
not really understanding the concept of how much work and practice
needed to be done. It was in June of that year that William was
introduced to Mr Clements who was Secretary of the Finchley Chamber
Concerts. He began to play duets and trios with him and various
friends. Finally much to William’s joy Mr Clements invited him
to play the César Franck Prelude, Chorus and Fugue and
several other pieces at the Chamber concert on October 4th
1927. On October 15th he played to John Ireland at
his South Kensington Studio, the pieces he was going to play at
his first piano recital at the Grotrian Hall. William was thrilled
with Ireland’s response. "He said my interpretations were
not very different from his own and he gave me various pointers
on them. He was very nice; played me a new unfinished work… and
said of his own accord that he would like to have me as
a pupil in composition!" At last William was beginning
to infiltrate into the musical world of London in 1927.
The day of his first solo recital dawned on Thursday
October 20th – "Today I made my London Debut…well,
it was not a failure, thank goodness. It was, perhaps a success."
William never allowed himself to revel in success, it was
always tempered with a ‘perhaps’ or ‘I could have done
better.’ "The Beethoven Bagatelle went quite well for a beginning,
the César Franck was the least satisfactory. The Fugue
part was muddled in a good many places unfortunately. But the
modern group of Bax and Ireland (Hill Tune and Country Tune of
Bax, Prelude in E flat, April, Towing Path and Bergomask) went
much better and the Brahms group perhaps best of all. What pleased
me best of all was that John Ireland himself came around and seemed
really pleased with the way his pieces went. Most of the people
seemed to like it."
1928 was a year full of promise. Mr Clements
offered William a recital at the South Place Concert at the City
of London School and to become the resident pianist for
the South Place Ethical Society at Conway Hall and William’s next
London recital was on March 21st again at the Grotrian
Hall. His father, finally realising that William was serious in
his ambition to become a concert pianist, bought him a beautiful
Blackwood secondhand Bluthner "…it had a soft mellow tone,
not brilliant, but very lovely" to replace the
worn out Lipp (no. 288422) that had withstood the tremendous amount
of practice. He was practising hard for his second London recital
where he played a Schubert Impromptu Opus 142 and Sonata, Brahms
Variations Opus 21 and the Rhapsody in E flat together with a
modern group by Moeran, Ireland and Bush. He was thrilled to have
Moeran himself come backstage and congratulate him on playing
his pieces so beautifully. The critics next day were fairly complimentary.
Francis Toye in the Morning Post giving a ‘good’ account as well
as in the Times and a ‘fairly good’ one in the Telegraph. His
third concert on November 9th was with John Ireland
and Evelyn Arden. The next day he eagerly scanned the newspapers
and even though it was mostly about John Ireland the Telegraph
said "…an able and sympathetic interpreter with a high
level of technical achievement…." With more performances
his musical career began to expand. He accompanied Evelyn Arden
and continued playing for the South Place at Conway Hall as well
as the Faculty of Art, the 1927 Music Club and the Contemporary
Music Club. This combined with six hours of practice and many
visit to concerts, theatres and films didn’t leave much time for
composition. His composition lessons continued with John Ireland,
though sometimes their personalities clashed as Ireland felt that
William would benefit by leaving home. William was trying to maintain
a good relationship with his father who was paying most of the
bills. "Had a row with Father last night, strong and dominating
personality as he is, I don’t see why I should feebly swallow
all criticism of his and tremble in fear of him…I must strive
harder and harder to earn my own living." It was very
difficult for William to leave a very comfortable home but it
was also very difficult to earn any reasonable money from music.
His performances at ‘At Homes’, The Faculty of Arts and elsewhere
didn’t generate any income. His recitals perhaps generated a small
income but two or three a year was not enough to live on. He was
working on his composition but to get anything published required
months of work and the ability to ‘network’, which was not one
of William’s strengths. Many times William’s father suggested
that he joined the business with his brother Richard, but William
stubbornly refused to relinquish his dedication to music for the
sake of money, so an uneasy truce was maintained.
1929 sees William working hard on his Variations
that he performed for the first time in March. The reception was
lukewarm, the Times giving it quite a damning critique which upset
William so that he wrote a letter stating "…unfavourable
criticism is legitimate of course but at least an intelligent
explanation can be offered…" He later played them at
an ‘anonymous’ concert at the Faculty of Arts where the reception
was more promising "…the effect was most encouraging,
for several people (among them critics and composers) made very
complementary remarks. If people ‘feel’ the work, that is perhaps
the most that I can expect and hope for." In April of
that year he travelled back to Berlin to give his first recital
at the Scheuechten Saal. He met up with Kreutzer who he found
pessimistic and full of woe as to the future of Germany and also
Hugo Leichtentritt who was especially impressed with his Theme
Variations and Fugue. He played the Schubert Impromptu Opus
142, Theme and Variations, the D minor op.34 No.2 Sonata of Beethoven,
a modern group, Ireland’s Sonatina (1st Berlin
performance), Bax’s Hill Song and Apple Blossom Time,
his own Theme, Variations and Fugue and then a group of
Brahms Intermezzi and the Capriccio in D minor.
The critics in Germany were very complimentary, especially in
the Borsen-Zeitung which pleased William greatly.
It was a very slow process to get work. Several
recitals in London and one in Berlin was not a guarantee of a
full hall and agents were difficult to impress. He played the
piano part of Herbert Bedford’s ballet music ‘Peribanon’
together with Malipiero’s ‘Grotteses’, which was being
performed at the Faculty of Arts with Angel Grande. This was his
first meeting with Angel, who proved to be a good friend and worked
extremely hard to give him work. He also began working for the
BBC, a concert tour of New York was in prospect for February next
year and another tour to Berlin was on the cards, so at last he
was beginning to feel more independent. He produced a brochure
containing his notes on modern music and critiques of his recitals,
as self-promotion was the only was forward. He was very keen to
promote modern music.
1930 started off on a very promising footing,
the friendship with Angel Grande was proving to be very fruitful.
The prospect of a tour of South America, one in Spain and the
playing of a modern concerto with Grande’s orchestra at the Wigmore
Hall were all on the cards. The South Place Ethical Society concerts
were now a regular feature and people were approaching him for
his accompaniment. Although he was extremely flattered, he still
had his prime goal as a solo concert pianist and was fearful of
being side tracked from his absolute ambition. The tour of America
in February of 1931 was very successful, ending up in New York.
He was delighted to receive good notices and his American Agent
was anxious for him to return the following year. On returning
to England, he was anxious to get back into composition as the
Spanish Tour with Angel Grande was fading away due to the political
situation. He continued to attend meetings at the Faculty of Arts
and enjoying evenings with his friend May Mukle where he first
meet Rebecca Clark who engaged him in long conversations on music
and composition, and who dedicating ‘Cortège’ one
of her pieces to him.
Even though he was beginning to get extremely
busy he was beginning to question as to whether he was really
cut out to be a first class pianist, "…very busy day,
but by no means satisfactory. This morning attended a rehearsal
at the Faculty of Arts for the Bedford ‘Divertimento for Piano
& Strings. Then played two movements of the Beethoven Sonata
op.2 No.2 at Conway Hall. This evening played with Grande at the
South Place Concerts, the Beethoven ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata and Mozart’s
Bb and Spanish solos. Through nervousness and very inadequate
technique the Kreutzer suffered considerably. The Mozart went
better. What can I do about it? Do I want to remain a limited
and second-rate pianist?" He couldn’t shake off his depression
about his playing, the nervousness that permeated into his muscles
made it difficult to move his fingers. He decided that as composition
had taken rather a back seat over the last couple of years he
would start again. He still continued with his playing having
a few lessons from Egon Petri trying to improve his technique,
which he always felt was lacking. He was introduced to Bernard
Van Dieren who had expressed admiration for his Variations
and this subsequently led to William starting lessons for composition
again. Composition began to excite him again with Van Dieren bringing
him face to face with how little he knew about ear training and
improvisation together with the ability to think in various parts.
These lesson were a constant source of inspiration to William.
It was this year that he first met Gerald Finzi, through Howard
Ferguson, and they hit it off immediately with William playing
his Variations and Gerald liking them. He would visit Gerald
in his little house in Caroline Street where they played their
compositions to each other. William liked his works"…most
of them bear traces of ‘pastoral’ influences, so often exposed
in English Music (from Vaughan Williams downwards) but they are
much superior to the ordinary type…." Throughout July
1931 he was working hard on the Mozart Bb concerto (K456), practising
with Mabel Lander, Charles Proctor, May Mukle and Rebecca Clark
as he was to play it on July 20th with the Bournemouth
Municipal Orchestra under Sir Dan Godfrey. The concert was broadcast
on the BBC and William was pleased with the outcome "…three
recalls…" On August 30th 1931 he again did
a recording for the BBC where he played two Mendelssohn ‘Songs
without Words’, Haydn F minor Variations, a new piece
by Rebecca Clarke and his own Gigue amongst others.
He was still dogged with frustration at his inability
to get down to serious composing, he had a burning desire to write
some truly fine valuable music, which no doubt he would have achieved
if he hadn’t died so young. The small amount that he did produce
was improving all the time as he was gaining confidence in his
own ability to write good original composition. Gerald Finzi was
very enthusiastic and encouraging, eager for William to progress
in his work "…he thinks that I should have the character
to carry out what he believes is real work of value…I can
do it!"
With his composition and piano technique improving
he began to relax, opening himself out from the constant condemnation
of his inability to master his own tough self-criticism. This
might have been due to the fact that he met ‘Babs Taylor’, who
in 1935 became his wife. However, before their marriage he had
to prove to his father that he was able to ‘keep’ his wife. Panic
set in as he almost gave up his music to go into the business.
Composition was thrown into the background as he threshed around
trying to think of ways he could earn a regular income. He played
again for Sir Dan Godfrey and the BBC as well as practising for
his solo concert at the Wigmore Hall on October 6th,
1933. He also took on piano pupils, but eventually the situation
was eased as Sheila (Babs) began working as a diamond dealer in
his father’s business and finally they were married on June 1st
1935. The prospect of marital harmony seemed to settle William
as at last he could put his mind to composition. He took his songs,
Sweet Content, Rest, Harvest Moon and The Fairies
to the blind singer Sinclair Logan, whom he had begun to accompany
at Conway Hall. He liked them very much and on the strength of
their friendship they decided to collaborate, feeling that together
they would create more interest in William’s songs. Sinclair wrote
after his death, "The Song-Cycle ‘There have been Happy
Days’… should rank with the large-scale works because of its masterly
design and its significant character. The work is complex yet
stark in its clear-cut conciseness and is the complete expression
of Busch’s philosophy of life. It is in fact in his songs that
Busch is most original and it is not yet generally realised that
he actually wrote a new page in the history of Song."
The continued problem of finding a publisher
to take on his work never ceased to cause anxiety. He approached
Hubert Foss of the Oxford University Press, but as always there
was a slight note of caution. Though he liked the songs and the
Piano Variations he only kept them for "further consideration".
This was a constant source of irritation for William, but
because of his good nature he never pushed or ‘networked’ himself.
He would help anyone else to gain recognition, but when it came
to pushing himself into the limelight he always held back, continually
berating himself for his non-productivity. He had regular work
at Conway Hall, several piano pupils and his reputation as an
accompanist was growing. He began to realise that in actuality
he didn’t have the right temperament to become a concert pianist,
he had the dedication but nerves and self-consciousness affected
his muscles. He felt it was time to devote more time to composition
and now with a new wife and a house with a beautiful music room
there was nothing to hold him back. He started work on two compositions
"one is orchestral, the other is for violin and piano
– the former seems the more weighty of the two". This
was his Piano Concerto. He didn’t find composing easy,
his compulsive self examination and criticism made every bar composed
a torture. He struggled until John Hunt looked over the work and
enthusiastically encouraged William to continue, later Alan Bush
and Bernard Stevens and then Gerald Finzi did the same. All through
1937 he struggled hard sometimes in despair at his inability to
find his muse contrasted with periods of sheer exhilaration when
the muse was found, until finally in December the concerto was
finished. Alongside this he was working on Ode to Autumn which
he later arranged for string quartet, and a short piano piece
Intermezzo. Margaret Ablethorpe and John Hunt played his
Theme, Variations and Fugue for the BBC and at the Aeolian
Hall respectively. The Prelude for Orchestra was composed
in this year, which he showed to Angel Grande who wanted it transposed
for strings where it was played at the Aeolian Hall on December
3rd 1937. The following year William and Howard Ferguson
gave a double piano performance of the Piano Concerto at
Mabel Lander’s studio on October 27th 1938 which Vaughan
Williams, Bliss, Edmund Rubbra, Calvocoressi, Elizabeth Maconchy,
Alan Bush, Sophie Wyss, John Hunt, Norman Fraser and many more
attended. Gerald Finzi turned for William. He was thrilled to
get a letter from Vaughan Williams saying how much he had enjoyed
the concerto, and that he hoped to hear it soon with orchestra
as it was "masterly". On the strength of this
one performance he received a contract from the BBC to play his
own concerto on Friday 6th Jan 1939 with Sir Adrian
Boult conducting "I am so thrilled and excited!"
he writes in his diary. In actuality it was performed by William
with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Clarence Raybould.
After this excitement William settled down to work on the Piano
Quartet, several songs and a "sort of Passacaglia
for Violin and Viola, four bar theme and seven variations
so far." He played these to Gerald Finzi whose reaction
was enthusiastic. "I felt greatly ‘bucked’ because
his opinion is really honest and candid. He is such a dear
chap and I like him among the best of my friends."
The impending war hung heavily over William,
particularly as Sheila was expecting their first child. He couldn’t
focus his mind on work. Their doctor suggested that they move
out of London so a trunk was packed as a precautionary measure.
On September 1st 1939 came the news that Germany had
invaded Poland so William and Sheila regretfully left their home
in Linden Lea, Hampstead and travelled to Thatcham where Anthony
and Ruth Scott had offered sanctuary. Then on to Ashmansworth
to the Finzi’s and eventually to Woolacombe where they stayed
for the duration of the war. A long and sad period was about to
start. They rented a small house in Woolacombe, ‘Greenbanks’ which
became a constant haven for many of his friends in London. He
immediately became a loyal member of the Peace Pledge Union in
Barnstaple run by the local grocer Mr Thornton "It is
among these people that the strength of pacifism should lie."
On November 4th 1939 William was ecstatic to finally
become a father. Sheila gave birth at 10.55 to a 6¼lb healthy
boy. The days now became pleasantly similar with a routine of
work, Sheila and Nicholas, reading and then at 9.00 o‘clock the
news with its unreal and terrible tales of killing. He was approached
by Mr Cowler to play piano for his folk dance group which he enjoyed
except in winter when it was so cold that his fingers froze.
William felt very cut off from the musical scene.
He was always hungry for news and was thrilled to receive a letter
from Effie Hunt asking for copies of the Ode to Autumn
and Passacaglia for the reading committee of the L.C.M.C
for a concert on April 9th 1940. The Ode was
performed by Betty Bannerman and Harry Blech. Whenever William
managed to travel to London, the days were filled with rushing
around meeting friends, going to concerts, trying to get publishers
interested in his music; the war was having a dire effect on the
interest in contemporary music. The Piano Quartet was first
broadcast by the BBC on July 12th from Wood Norton
with William playing the piano.
As the war deepened the question of "call
up" was imminent. Mr Thornton of the PPU offered to incorporate
William into his business, but William couldn’t see himself as
a grocer. A letter from Edmund Rubbra boosted his moral "don’t
let the war get you down, go on writing – it is the only
way to keep one’s perspective." This bolstered William
and by the end of that year he had written three movements of
his Cello Concerto for Florence Hooton who had requested
he write one for her. On August 1st 1941 the letter
he had been dreading arrived. He was summoned to appear before
the Tribunal for Conscientious Objectors at Bristol on Thursday
7th August – only seven days to organise his
defence. His brother-in-law attested for him, Norman Fraser wrote
a letter to justify his occupation as a composer and he took several
cuttings from the Radio Times with career particulars. Judge Wethered
seemed impressed and to William's relief and amazement he was
let off to continue composing his cello concerto. On returning
home he joined the Woolacombe Fire Service and was asked to organise
a concert in aid of Stirrup Pumps! With the Tribunal behind him,
he felt he couldn’t slack for a moment in composition and by the
end of August he had orchestrated the first and second movements.
He sent the score to Julian Herbage at the BBC only to get a rejection
but Florence Hooton rang to say that O’Donnell of Oxbridge RAF
Orchestra wanted to hear it. So the first performance of the Cello
Concerto was by the RAF with Florence as soloist on December
18th 1941. The second playing, also with Florence Hooton,
was with the BBC under Sir Adrian Boult, who was very complimentary
about the piece. Edric Cundell of the Guildhall School of Music
was very impressed saying it was ‘real music’. Henry Cummings
asked him to write a song for a recital he was to give and William
managed to produce The Centurion in two days! David Martin
and Max Gilbert played his Passacaglia and he took the
opportunity to meet Michael Tippett again. They had met several
times and corresponded regularly. Tippett had lent him his ‘Concerto
for Double String Orchestra’ as they often exchanged compositions;
Michael especially liked the piano quartet and the songs.
1942 was a difficult year with spasmodic periods
of composition. He was re-scoring the cello concerto and working
a new piano piece which was the Nicholas Variations inspired
by his beloved son, but the war conditions weighed heavily on
William "I feel my days are empty at present, empty of
real work – composition." At this time his health also
began to worry him with bouts of jaundice and stomach trouble,
the doctors diagnosing gall bladder trouble. He began working
on a Capriccio for cello which he immediately sent to Florence
Hooton, Memory for cello and piano, "a peaceful
piece, I thought of looking into Nicholas’s room as he slept"
The Elegy, Nocturne and Capriccio were broadcast
in Feb 1943. He played the Nicholas Variations before Horace
Dann, Ronald Briggs and Lennox Berkeley "and to this somewhat
overpowering collection of BBC officials I played the work…they
seemed interested enough." Also Sir Henry Wood requested
a copy of his cello concerto.
1943 was a very productive year, William worked
hard on many songs requested by Henry Cummings and Peter Pears,
violin and cello pieces for David Martin and Florence Hooton,
then on August 13th his cello concerto was played at
the Albert Hall Proms under Sir Adrian Boult. "… The Albert
Hall was full to overflowing…it was thrilling to feel that my
work was going to be played, especially when Sir Adrian Boult
and Florence Hooton came out on to the platform…." People
were beginning to perform his music, Ilona Kabos was to play the
Theme Variation and Fugue on a broadcast by the BBC where
Henry Cummings also sang seven of William’s songs and Tom Bromley
played the Nicholas Variations. At last he was becoming
known as a composer in his own right. Elizabeth Poston of the
BBC was always enthusiastic about his songs as were Norman Fraser
and Gerald Finzi about his concertos. However, he longed for the
time and space to write another serious piece "…so anxious
to start something long and serious – but summer here is not a
good time in this seaside-bedroom-studio of mine for long undisturbed
thought." William was very susceptible to his environment
but songs and short pieces were all that he could concentrate
on during his time in Devonshire. However his output of songs
grew day by day. He worked on several Blake songs, The Shepherd,
The Echoing Green, Thomas Campion’s, Come, O Come My Life’s
Delight. Suddenly publishers were interested "Went
to several publishers, Chester & OUP. Mr Gibson would like
to take the Laughing Song, Memory Come Hither and Centurion.
Mr Norman Peterkin of OUP says that The Shepherd and
Echoing Green are two of the best Blake settings he has
ever seen. Mr Boosey was interested in the Nicholas Variations
and the cello pieces." So after years of trailing
his work to publishers and getting little response, they were
falling over themselves to publish his work!
In May 1944 he travelled up to London where he
played and Sinclair Logan sang If Thou Wilt Ease Thine Heart,
Centurion, Snowdrop, Memory Hither Come and Laughing
Song, at a concert where Lennox Berkeley played his new Viola
and Piano Sonatina with Max Rostal. Berkeley liked his songs very
much indeed. On the 16th May 1944 at the Maida Vale
Studios the London Belgian Piano Quartet recorded the Piano
Quartet. This impressed Mr Peterkin of the OUP who said he
was very interested in publishing the quartet as well as the cello
pieces, Suite for Cello and Piano, Prelude, Capriccio, Nocturne
and Tarantella. Gerald Finzi particularly liked the Tarantella.
A few days later the BBC recorded ten of his songs, the above
group as well as Come, O Come; Bellman; L’Oiseau Bleu; The
Soldier and The Promise. Elizabeth Poston became very
supportive of William, encouraging him to work which, even though
he was producing more good composition, he was finding the grind
of war difficult to contend with. The bursts up to London were
contrasted with long periods of isolation in Woolacombe. Even
though he had his beloved wife and son he missed the companionship
of fellow artists, "Although I have been fairly steadily
at work, I feel little enthusiasm and am constantly allowing myself
to be distracted by war news; anxious thoughts for friends in
London (with those horrible flying bombs)." He composed
an arrangement and extension of the song The Promise into
the cello piece A Memory, which he sent to Elizabeth
Poston.
In June 1944 he was thrilled to learn that Sheila
was pregnant with their long awaited second child. He was then
working on a Violin Concerto but being constantly interrupted
with visitors fleeing the bombs of London. John Amis and Olive
Zorian, violinist; Rudolph Soiron, cellist of the London Belgian
Piano Quartet; Nancy Bush and her children, Gerald and Joy Finzi
and their children, he loved having all these visitors but it
broke the concentration needed for composition. He managed to
write a short six-minute piece which he called Lacrimosa
for violin and piano. His last visit to London in December 1944
was for a performance of his Cello Concerto by the BBC
Concert Orchestra under Raybould, "Raybould and different
members of the orchestra; Paul Beard (1st Violin),
Gerald Jackson (Flute), Aubrey Brain (1st horn) and
others seemed to like it very much…." William Pleeth
played the Elegy on the European Service that month also.
On December 19th he met Lennox Berkeley who was enthusiastic
about his concerto, "…admiring the ‘skill in orchestration’
and letting the cello be heard all the time…" So Lennox,
John Amis and Olive Zorian were the last musicians to see him
alive. He returned to Woolacombe where he celebrated Christmas
with his family. On January 26th 1945 his daughter
was born in an Ilfracombe Nursing Home. He was impatient to see
his new-born child but while visiting his wife and child all transport
was cancelled owing to unusually heavy falls of snow. He had to
get back to Nicholas that night so he walked back to Woolacombe
along the now impassable cliff path made treacherous by the snow.
Exhausted and freezing cold he suffered a severe internal haemorrhage
and due to the banks of snow blocking the small roads, no doctor
could get through and he tragically died on January 30th
1945.
This piece is written by his daughter Julia Cornaby
Busch.
© Julia Cornaby
Busch, 2003
List of Works by WILLIAM BUSCH – 1901-1945
Piano: 1923 Gigue (Chesters); 1928 Theme, Variations and
Fugue (Chesters); 1933 Allegretto quasi Pastorale (Chesters);
1935 Intermezzo; 1942 Nicholas Variations
Violin and Piano: 1942 Cantilena; 1943
Caprice; 1944 Lacrimosa
Cello and Piano: 1943 Suite: Prelude, Capriccio,
Nocturne, Tarantella; 1944 Elegy; 1944 A Memory
Violin and Cello: 1939 Passacaglia
Strings and Piano: 1939 Quartet in G Minor
Voice and Strings: 1937 Ode to Autumn
Orchestra: 1924 Two Pieces for Wind Instruments; 1937-9
Piano Concerto; 1939 Prelude for Orchestra; 1940-1 Cello Concerto;
1944-5 Violin Concerto (Unfinished)
Voice and Piano: 1930 Slumber Song; 1933 Sweet
Content, Harvest Moon, Rest, Weep You No
More, The Fairies; 1937 When Thou Did’st Give Thy
Love To Me; 1942-3 The Snowdrop in the Wind, The
Echoing Green, The Shepherd, If Thou Wilt Ease Thine
Heart, Come, O Come My Life’s Delight, The Bellman,
The Lowest Trees Hath Tops, L’Oiseau Bleu, Goldfinches,
Kitbag, Soldier, There Have Been Happy Days,
Promise, Laughing Song, Merry Hither Come.
There are two more Blake songs published by Chesters
All the above work (except those still under
the Chesters publications sadly out of print, but Chesters will
reprinted if required) is soon to be published by: Just Accord
Music, P.O. Box 224, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 5YJ Tel: 01737 371631
Email: contact@justaccordmusic.com
Raphael Wallfisch (cello)Piers Lane (piano) Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra/Vernon Handley rec. details
not supplied, 1994? DDD