In July 2023 The Mathematical Gazette published an appreciation of Frank Budden, who had been President of the Mathematical Association in 1982. He died in 1986 and this appreciation, by Tony Gardiner and Chris Tew, was a belated obituary. You can read it here. Following on from that an exciting discovery was made, which you can read about below.
FOUND!
A 78 rpm record of Watford Grammar School for Boys Choir, conductor Frank Budden
During the 1950s the Watford Grammar School for Boys Choir, conductor Frank Budden, regularly took part in BBC broadcasts, including three performances of Britten’s Spring Symphony, all conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent: on 29th May 1952, on 3rd June 1953 at the Coronation Concert at the Royal Festival Hall, on 29th July 1954 at the BBC Promenade Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The choir’s conductor Frank Budden (1919-1986) was a remarkable man, collaborating with Britten and Vaughan Williams in performances of their choral works, and also a distinguished mathematician and teacher: a president of the Mathematical Association, author of The Fascination of Groups and several other books, and trainer of UK teams for Maths Olympiads.
Recording tape was expensive at that time and so it was frequently re-used once the broadcast had taken place. For this reason, the BBC no longer holds any recordings of the choir. There is no evidence that the choir made any commercial recordings, so it was long thought that no recordings of the choir existed.
In 2021, while researching an article for the Mathematical Gazette on the life and work of Frank Budden, the mathematician Tony Gardiner contacted Chris Daniels (1938-2023), a Toronto resident who sang as a boy treble in the choir in the early 1950s and later founded the Climax Jazz Band which performed internationally for some 50 years. Tony Gardiner learned much about the WGSB Choir from Chris Daniels and later Tony sent Chris a draft of the article, which he printed out.
Record rescued from a rubbish bag
Sadly, Chris Daniels died in January 2023. He had no family of his own so his sister, Shirley Davies, travelled from England to Toronto to sort through Chris’s possessions and to empty his home. While there, Shirley found and read the article and emailed Tony Gardiner to say how much she enjoyed reading it. In passing, she mentioned that she had found a record of the WGSB Choir. Tony immediately let me know so I emailed Shirley at once, only to learn that the record had been put in a rubbish bag for disposal.
Fortunately, Shirley was able to recover the record and a Climax Jazz Band member, Toby Hughes, was kind enough to transfer the recording to MP3 and sent it to me. They also arranged for the record to be brought to England by Julie Knowler, a family friend. I then had the problem of finding a long-term home for the record, given that this record may be unique. I wrote to the Britten/Pears Archive in Aldeburgh and they very kindly agreed to accept it, given Budden’s collaboration with Britten in the early performances of the Spring Symphony.
I would like thank Shirley Davies, Toby Hughes, Tony Gardiner and Julie Knowler for all their help in returning this record safely and ensuring its future safekeeping. I would also like to thank Martin Saunders for reducing the clicks and pops from the recording.
Christopher Tew, July 2023
If you have any comments or information about Frank Budden or the Watford Grammar School for Boys Choir please message here.
Listen to the two sides of the record below:
Side 1
Side 2
Radio Times: Broadcast 27 February 1951 on the BBC Home Service
