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At last, the complete memoirs
2nd May, 2011Here at last are the missing chapters of the memoirs of John Crossley Hayes, which were written in the months before his death in August 2003. They start with his childhood and musical education in Manchester in the early years of the last century, and pick up again after his “Sojourn in Guernsey” during the war.
They tell the story of his rich and varied life as an educator in Cyprus, Uganda and Nigeria between the 1940s and the 1960s, and his coming home to teach in an English comprehensive school until his retirement in 1975. Quite a change! His insightful comments will be of interest to anyone concerned with education. And of course he also presents a highly readable picture of life in those countries during those years.
There may be more to come to supplement the writings already published here, once we have penetrated the various notebooks and commonplace books he left. People used to copy out notable passages and quotations they particularly liked into what were called commonplace books. As far as I am aware nobody does this any more, which is a pity, as it was a way of preserving worthwhile things.
There are some new photos in the photo section. Click here.
Click here for Guernsey Press article “When Germans ruled our schools”. Reproduced courtesy of The Guernsey Press.
A Critical History of Education in Guernsey under German Occupation
2nd July, 2010This work was written for publication in 1947, and presented in typescript, but it was not published then and is now seen for the first time.
Although it was aimed at those with a special interest in education, it is full of gripping detail and amply conveys the atmosphere of the war years. To create a comprehensive picture of the subject, Mr Hayes interviewed many people who had been in positions of authority, including the Bailiff of Guernsey, and gained access to official data and statistics. We are left with a sense of “Guernsey seeming to have dropped out of life, to have moved in time and space, back down the centuries to some lonely uncharted ocean, so depressed was the standard of living and so complete the isolation.”
A Tribute to David Fanshawe Composer and Explorer
1st July, 201019th April 1942 – 5th July 2010
Our much loved David Fanshawe died peacefully on 5th July following a stroke. He was one of Britain’s finest musicians, composer of African Sanctus and many other notable works, and a tireless recordist who travelled the world rescuing music which would otherwise now be extinct.
I had the honour to get to know David and his wife Jane when I was looking for someone to help me with the Suite Guernesiaise. They lived not far from me, and they gave me invaluable help and advice, without which the outcome for my father’s music would have been very different.
David was as fine a man as he was a musician: open-hearted and generous, he conveyed a sense of spontaneity and freedom which is rare in someone in his position in the world, and he will be sorely missed. A memorial website has been created for him at www.davidfanshawe.com.
Ildiko Hayes, July 2010
This is the comment he sent me for the premiere of the Suite Guernesiaise:
Suite Guernesiaise is a musical gift, ranking with the very best of the established English repertoire. The fact that it was re-discovered, ‘mouldering away’, at the bottom of a dusty cupboard, beggars belief. It is incredulous that its composer, John Crossley Hayes, died without ever hearing this charming work performed live by a symphony orchestra.
In 4 Movements the composer displays a formidable technique; he is a natural master-craftsman of composition. Here is a symphonic suite of very endearing qualities, composed under the German Occupation of Guernsey in 1942 during the depths of WWII. As Ildiko Hayes, the composer’s daughter, so rightly states: “The Suite Guernesiaise is a happy, exuberant and tuneful work”… I would like to add: a patriotic, romantic, and nostalgic gem, which deserves to be performed, broadcast and recorded for us all to treasure in perpetuity.
David Fanshawe, Composer & Explorer
August 2009
Suite Guernesiaise review
17th November, 2009Please click here to read the Suite Guernesiaise review from the 11th November, reproduced by kind permission of the Guernsey Press.
Suite Success
13th October, 2009Please click here to read the article Suite Success, reproduced by kind permission of the Guernsey Press.
An Evening Serenade
6th September, 2009Saturday October 3rd 2009,
8.00pm, St James Concert Hall, Guernsey
Guest Conductor: Murray Stewart
Tickets £12 adult, £10 student, £6 restricted view, available at the box office tel 711361.
First Half:
Schubert – Rosamunde Suite
Mozart- Flute and Harp concerto 1st movement
Ravel – Pavane Pour une Infante Defunte
Interval
Second Half:
John Crossley Hayes – Suite Guernesiaise
Duparc Aux Etoiles
Faure – Dolly Suite
Robert Farnon – Portrait of flirt
Click here to see the poster and a pdf copy of the concert programme
Entry in September/October 2009 St. James Diary:
Guernsey Camerata, email camerata@cwgsy.net