Masterpiece by composer-jute baron rediscovered

Published On Fri 16 Mar 2018 by Grant Hill

The first performance in over a century of work by a highly successful local composer, who combined his creative endeavours with running the family jute dynasty, will take place in Dundee next week.

University of Dundee Music Society are currently busy rehearsing ahead of their performance of ‘King Arthur’, a dramatic cantata composed by John More Smieton, at the Caird Hall on Sunday 25 March.

Smieton, an accomplished contemporary of Gilbert & Sullivan, lived at Panumare Villa (most recently known as Armistead House and currently an at-risk building) at a time when Broughty Ferry famously boasted more millionaires per square mile than any other town in Britain thanks to Dundee’s jute boom.

The family, though little-known these days, made a remarkable contribution to Scotland’s cultural scene in the Victorian era. John’s parents had their paintings exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy while his mother Jane was also the first Scottish woman to compose an opera.

The Smietons’ wealth allowed John and his brother James, a poet, to indulge their passions for the arts. However, their commitment to the family business also curtailed their achievements in them and John took over the running of the Smietons’ jute mill in Carnoustie upon his father’s death in 1886.

Despite this he still managed to compose songs and piano solos as well as choral setting, a string quartet and an orchestral overture. He was best known for his dramatic cantatas, an extremely popular form in late Victorian times. He produced four cantatas, his first as a 10-year-old, with the latter three all to libretti by James.

Graeme Stevenson, Director of Music at the University, said, “King Arthur, which was written in 1889, was the most successful of John More Smieton’s cantatas. It received 100 performances across the UK and there were a dozen editions of the score published by the time of his death in 1904.

“These were big numbers, which show us that John’s work was highly popular in his day but, unfortunately, cantatas fell from popularity and his name fell from prominence over the years. Thankfully, his name has been kept alive by history enthusiasts and music buffs and it was Brian Clark, of Prima la Musica, a local music publishing company, who brought his work to my attention.

“King Arthur has now been long out of print but thanks to the assistance of the Royal Academy of Music, who supplied copies of the manuscript full scores, we are very excited to be able to present it in Smieton's home city. His masterpiece tells of Arthur's return to Camelot after defeating the Saxons, claiming Excalibur, his marriage to Guinevere and concludes with his death in battle and the return of Excalibur to the Ladies of the Lake.”

The first full performance of King Arthur was given by Broughty Ferry Choral Union in the Volunteer Hall on the 3rd December 1889. A review of the performance in the Dundee Advertiser the next day by that publication’s ‘Lady Correspondent’ goes into astonishing detail in reviewing the dresses worn on stage but mentions men only in noting that the tenor soloist turned up late for the show.

University of Dundee Music Society’s performance of King Arthur takes place at Caird Hall from 7.30pm on Sunday 25 March. Tickets, costing £12, £8 (concession) and £5 (student), can be purchased by visiting www.dundeebox.co.uk or calling 01382 434940 in advance, or from the door.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: +44 (0)1382 384768
Mobile: 07854 953277
Email: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk