Spencer Dyke String Quartet

This page presents a brief account of the Spencer Dyke String Quartet, a British ensemble active during the first half of the twentieth century.

It is part of the site Classical 'Society' Records by Nick Morgan.

The Quartet is covered here as it was the most prolific ensemble to record for the National Gramophonic Society. It also recorded for Vocalion.

For dates of page creation and latest update, please see 'Page information' in left sidebar.

History

The Spencer Dyke String Quartet was formed by Edwin Spencer Dyke (1880-1946), its first and only leader, from the quartet of his teacher, Hans Wessely (1862-1926), although that group continued to perform in its original guise. Spencer Dyke moved from violin II to leader, while Ernest Tomlinson (1877-1957) remained as viola and Bertie Patterson Parker (1871-1930) as cello, positions they had occupied since 1904. Only Edwin Quaife (1880-1940) was newly recruited, as violin II.

Although reportedly formed in 1918, the Spencer Dyke Quartet gave its earliest documented public concert on 26 January 1920 at the Wigmore Hall in London, playing works by Elgar, Eugene Goossens [III], Ernest Tomlinson (its viola player), Frank Bridge and Haydn. The group enjoyed immediate success, perhaps partly capitalizing on the esteem which Wessely's formation had enjoyed, and played throughout Britain (unlike the Wessely Quartet, it does not seem to have performed abroad). The Quartet collaborated in concert and on disc with well-known soloists, and showed a notable commitment to modern music and to British composers.

Spencer Dyke had recorded violin 'solos' (i.e. duos with piano) for the British branch of Odeon before World War I; in a 1928 interview, he described the 'nervy business' of making early ensemble records, though these cannot be identified. From 1924, the Spencer Dyke Quartet recorded extensively, initially for Vocalion and then, until 1927, for the National Gramophonic Society (see below). It also broadcast for the B.B.C., from early 1924.

In 1927, two founding members left. Quaife resigned through pressure of work, and was replaced by Spencer Dyke's pupil Harold Tate Gilder (1899-1963); Tomlinson resigned through ill health, and was replaced by Bernard Shore (1896-1985). The new members took part in the Quartet's last recordings, made for the NGS in 1927 and 1928. In 1930, Patterson Parker, the founding cellist, died. He was replaced by Cedric Sharpe (1891-1978), who remained in the Quartet until it was disbanded.

It is not certain when or why the Spencer Dyke Quartet stopped performing in public; no concerts are currently documented after 1936. Shore was last billed as viola player in July 1939, and was replaced by Winifred Copperwheat (1905-1976). Substituted once in 1938 by Pierre Tas (1902-1971), Tate Gilder also departed in 1939, to be replaced first by Edwin Virgo (c.1880-1949) and then by James Cooper (dates unknown).

In 1940, the Musical Times reported that the Quartet had used a set of instruments made by Alfred Dixon of Folkestone; it is not known how often this happened or in which circumstances.

The Spencer Dyke Quartet continued to broadcast until January 1944. It appears to have performed again after the War, perhaps at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where Spencer Dyke had been a professor for decades. It did not survive his death in December 1946.

Discography

The Spencer Dyke String Quartet left a substantial recorded legacy of 130 '78 rpm' sides. Of these, 16 were recorded for the Vocalion label.

Vocalion

Vocalion had been at the forefront of classical record production in Britain for some years. In 1919 it had lured the violinist Albert Sammons (1886-1957) away from rival Columbia, followed in 1920 by the London String Quartet, which Sammons had led before going solo. Alongside the viola player Lionel Tertis (1876-1975), these artists recorded a considerable amount of chamber music for Vocalion, admittedly often abridged or, as in several of Tertis' recordings, slightly rescored. But by mid-1924 the London String Quartet had moved on again, and it is probably no coincidence that Vocalion engaged the Spencer Dyke Quartet around this time. For reasons explained below, the association was short-lived, and today the Quartet's Vocalion discs are uncommon and all but unknown. The series opened with two single discs of excerpts drawn from the Quartet's contemporary repertoire, both gramophone premieres and possibly an attempt to test buyers' interest in such music. If so, sales must have been disappointing, as the next two productions presented two of the most popular quartets, recorded complete and uncut. Again, both were effectively gramophone premieres; one had previously been issued complete only in an experimental long-play format, doomed to failure, and the other had been recorded abridged.

Composer Selection(s)	Matrix	Rec. date	Sys.	Location	Cat. ID	Diam.	Issue date	Note(s)	Source(s)
Bridge, Frank Noveletten – (i) Andante moderato	03485	early 1924(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	D 02155	12" / 30 cm	June 1924	First recording of this item First issued recording by Spencer Dyke String Quartet	Vocalion Records Bulletin No.35 June 1924; Andrews, Frank et al. Vocalion Records, CLPGS Reference Series No.42, 2017
(iii) Allegro vivo	03486	early 1924(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	D 02155	12" / 30 cm	June 1924	First recording of this item	Vocalion Records Bulletin No.35 June 1924; Andrews, Frank et al. Vocalion Records, CLPGS Reference Series No.42, 2017
McEwen Suite of Old National Dances (String Quartet No.12) - Group III. Two Japanese Dances (a) The Harvest of the Sea Salt, Japanese Vocal Dance. Adagio (b) Butterfly Dance. Molto vivace	03487	early 1924(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	R 6140	10" / 25 cm	April 1924	First recording of this item First known recording by Spencer Dyke String Quartet	Private collection; Andrews, Frank et al. Vocalion Records, CLPGS Reference Series No.42, 2017
Group II. Three Old French Melodies (c) Danse Basse [sic] "Jouissance vous donnerai" Group I. (b) Two Scottish Dances (Strathspey "Tullochgorum", Reel "Johnny Lad")	03488	early 1924(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	R 6140	10" / 25 cm	April 1924	First recording of this item	Private collection; Andrews, Frank et al. Vocalion Records, CLPGS Reference Series No.42, 2017
Dvořák String Quartet in F major Op.96 – (i) Allegro ma non troppo [part 1]	03695	late 1924(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	K 05132	12" / 30 cm	March 1925		Private collection; Andrews, Frank et al. Vocalion Records, CLPGS Reference Series No.42, 2017
(i) Allegro ma non troppo [part 2]	03696	late 1924(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	K 05132	12" / 30 cm	March 1925		Private collection; Andrews, Frank et al. Vocalion Records, CLPGS Reference Series No.42, 2017
(ii) Lento [part 1]	03697	late 1924(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	K 05133	12" / 30 cm	March 1925		Private collection; Andrews, Frank et al. Vocalion Records, CLPGS Reference Series No.42, 2017
(ii) Lento [part 2]	03698	late 1924(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	K 05133	12" / 30 cm	March 1925		Private collection; Andrews, Frank et al. Vocalion Records, CLPGS Reference Series No.42, 2017
(iii) Molto vivace	03626X	late 1924(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	K 05134	12" / 30 cm	March 1925	Andrews, Frank et al. Vocalion Records, CLPGS Reference Series No.42, 2017, omits take suffix	Private collection
(iv) Finale. Vivace ma non troppo	03700	late 1924(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	K 05134	12" / 30 cm	March 1925	Division of movements on this disc unclear	Private collection; Andrews, Frank et al. Vocalion Records, CLPGS Reference Series No.42, 2017
Haydn String Quartet in D major Op.64 No.5 – (i) Allegro moderato [part 1]	03804	early 1925(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	X 9554	10" / 25 cm	April 1925	First complete, uncut recording of this work	Vocalion Records Bulletin No.45 April, 1925; auction listings
(i) Allegro moderato [part 2]	03805	early 1925(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	X 9554	10" / 25 cm	April 1925		Vocalion Records Bulletin No.45 April, 1925; auction listings
(ii) Adagio cantabile [part 1]	03806	early 1925(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	X 9555	10" / 25 cm	April 1925		Vocalion Records Bulletin No.45 April, 1925; auction listings
(ii) Adagio cantabile [part 2]	03807	early 1925(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	X 9555	10" / 25 cm	April 1925		Vocalion Records Bulletin No.45 April, 1925; auction listings
(iii) Menuetto. Allegretto	03808	early 1925(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	X 9556	10" / 25 cm	April 1925		Vocalion Records Bulletin No.45 April, 1925; auction listings
Finale. Vivace	03809	early 1925(?)	ac	Vocalion studio, Duncan Avenue, London	X 9556	10" / 25 cm	April 1925		Vocalion Records Bulletin No.45 April, 1925; auction listings

National Gramophonic Society

See National Gramophonic Society discography

References

As well as references cited here, this page draws on:

• concert and broadcast listings, previews and reviews in The Gramophone, The Manchester Guardian, Musical Opinion and Music Trade Review, The Musical Times, The Observer and The Strad
• advertisements, notices and record reviews in The Gramophone and The Musical Times
• Genealogical sources consulted via ancestry.co.uk

There is an unrelated Wikipedia entry about the Spencer Dyke Quartet. It is not complete or entirely accurate.