For at least twenty years I’ve had a battered book (bought for £1.25) of the complete performances at the Queen’s Hall in London of the 1898-99 season. The Queen’s Hall was the premier orchestral venue in the capital from its opening in 1893 to its destruction by an incendiary bomb in 1941.
Inside the front and back covers of the book is the bold and
beautiful signature of its original owner, one Arthur W Payne. I thought
nothing of it until yesterday evening. A regular concert-goer in the fin-de-siรจcle, I assumed?
But nothing of the sort. It seems that Mr Payne was leader
(concert-master) of the orchestra there, Sir Henry Wood’s famous Queen’s Hall
Orchestra, regularly taking over conducting duties when Sir Henry was
“indisposed”. He’s mentioned on multiple occasions in Wood’s memoirs, always
appreciatively. He performed at no less than 193 of Sir Henry’s pioneering
Promenade Concerts, often as soloist.
In 1904 he became leader of the newly-formed London Symphony
Orchestra, and he was violin professor at the Guildhall. Are there pupils of
his still living?
Although we would not be aware of it, he must feature as
leader of one or other of those great orchestras in a multitude of early
recordings, including those conducted by Sir Edward Elgar.
Arthur W Payne. Just another unsung hero (and leader).
Above: Sir Henry Wood conducting the Queen’s Hall Orchestra
by Cyrus Cuneo
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