The Musical Conductors’ Association: Collective Podium Power in Wartime Britain?

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the impetus, aspirations, membership, propaganda, and impact of the Musical Conductors’ Association, founded 10 March 1916. A collective effort to resist foreign invasion of British orchestral life, the MCA provides a lens through which artistic struggles in and out of wartime are brought into sharper focus. During the decades preceding the First World War the function, status, and value of the conductor’s role in Britain had evolved in the thrall of foreign exemplars. This evaluation of the MCA provides new perspectives on a protectionist agenda shared among conductors whose working conditions were diverse. An exploration of unionization within the wider music profession underlines the value placed in the formation of professional societies in this period. Fresh insights emerge in respect of individual and collective agency, networks, collective bargaining, and authority among British conductors who sought to identify themselves as a separate and powerful branch of the music profession.