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History of the EMA
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In the latter part of the 19th Century, the competition festival became a very popular form of musical event. By the start of the 20th Century there were music festivals throughout Britain; the British Federation of Music Festivals had over seventy member
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History of the EMA
The first step towards an Essex Festival was an event called the 'East Essex Musical Competition', which took place in June 1906 in the Public Hall Witham. (The advertisement right appeared in the Essex Chronicle.) This first Essex festival was ambitious, with seven classes ranging from small groups to full choirs. Eleven choirs participated in the competition, all from an area within 10 miles of Witham, and in the evening there was a performance by a choir of 150 persons, formed from the competing choirs. The format of this first East Essex Musical Competition set the broad pattern for about the first 75 years of the festival - first the competition by class and then the coming together of the choirs for a final concert performance under a conductor of high repute and ability both as a choral conductor and as an adjudicator of amateurs. The format was highly successful, and the demand from amateur musicians was very strong, since by 1938, probably the zenith year for the festival, the number of participating choirs had reached twenty nine. Two 'Divisions' were created for the large and small choirs. The expansion increased the area from which the choirs were drawn and this necessitated changes of name from the original 'East Essex Musical Competition' to the rather longwinded 'Central and East Essex Musical Competition' in 1909 and then to 'Essex Musical Association' in 1922. The list of participating choirs has never been static, with choirs leaving and new ones joining. In the references, 83 choirs are listed as participants over the first one hundred years of the EMA, and there is virtually no part of Essex which has not been represented. Starting in 1908, children took a prominent part in the Festival, special 'Children's Days' being set aside for them. Instrumental competitions were introduced in 1934, adjudicated at venues separate from the choral classes.
Had the EMA not adapted to changing conditions, it would not have survived into the 21st Century. The change in the musical taste of the public affected the fortunes of 'classical' musical societies in England, such as the EMA . In 1961, the decision was made to reduce the number of festival days from two to one, because audience attendance was poor and the overhead costs were unsustainable. On her retirement in 1971, Hilary Tudor, a long term secretary of the EMA, made the proposal that the society should concentrate on a one day event for smaller choirs, those previously categorised as Division II, thus reducing the overheads and helping members of small choirs get big choir experience. Financial problems continued and the sale of some of a collection of 27 challenge cups was considered as the EMA struggled on, only surviving with donations and help from patrons, private and corporate, and with the goodwill of the musical community. Artists even waived parts of their fees, a notable case being where Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears took only token amounts for their services. In 1985 the committee reluctantly decided that the competitions were not achieving the objective of improving the knowledge of the Festival pieces, and it decided that introducing two preliminary massed rehearsal would do more to improve the knowledge of the music.
Unfortunately the EMA gave its last ever concert on 2nd May 2009
4th May 2009
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