The Arrival of Graded Music Exams in New Zealand: A Case Study of Dunedin up to 1916

Abstract

Toward the end of the nineteenth century a number of external music examining systems were introduced to New Zealand. Two of them, Trinity College, London, and the Associated Board, gained a strong following and became de facto standards in the absence of a national music conservatorium. This article briefly outlines the beginning of external exams in England and follows their export to various overseas members of the British Empire. Graded music exams as a form of tuition engendered considerable debate as to efficacy, merit, and overall validity. Trinity College arrived first in New Zealand, in 1888, followed by the Associated Board in 1897, and their rapid assumption in the southern city of Dunedin is documented and used as a case study of their progress up until 1916. There is a background discussion on the growth and use of post-nominal letters in the local music teaching profession, and the increasing use of formal qualifications by music teachers is noted. These included the professional diplomas from both schools, and the role they played in the formation of a local professional body is explored.

Keywords

nineteenth century instructional methods higher education historiography

Introduction

Toward the end of the nineteenth century a number of external music examining systems were introduced to New Zealand. Two of them gained a very strong following and became the de facto standards in the absence of a national music conservatorium. Trinity College, London (TCL), arrived first in 1888, followed in 1897 by the Associated Board (AB).¹

The extramural examining body established by the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in 1889.

Each offered graded practical music examinations from elementary performing concepts up to professional diplomas. Both required a mixture of musical theory prerequisites or corequisites to accompany the practical work and each provided incentives for the more capable candidates. From the outset AB set a higher bar for candidates to pass; 66% as compared to 60% for TCL.

Theoretical and practical aspects of music were examined using a graded approach to provide a comprehensive set of skills and knowledge. Musical theory had a core of “general musical knowledge,” advancing to additional papers that included history of music, harmony, modulation, and counterpoint.²

Otago Daily Times, July 13, 1895, 7; Various TCL theory papers from 1895. David C. H. Wright, The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music: A Social and Cultural History (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2013), 70. An example of the AB Preliminary Examination paper from 1890.

A prescribed list of carefully chosen works, both studies and pieces, was used as the basis of a practical syllabus.³

For example AB provided three lists of music annually, each with three pieces and three studies. Table 4.4 in Wright, The Associated Board, 80.

The remainder of a practical exam consisted of scales, arpeggios, sight reading, aural tests, and oral questions concerning the pieces played, while at a diploma level additional skills of accompanying and transposition at sight were included. Oral questions explored the breadth and depth of a candidate’s wider musical knowledge. Each school made syllabus changes on a regular basis, especially to the repertoire. Similarly, each school marked their practical exams against a marking schedule, which covered technique and musicality, to ensure consistency.⁴

Assessment criteria for AB Local Centre Exam syllabus in 1896. Table 4.3 in Wright, The Associated Board, 79.

The return of marking schedules to teachers and candidates was of major importance in the learning process for both parties. Within New Zealand, those sitting for the exams were likely to study the piano and be female.⁵

Philip Jane, “The Impact of Professional Music Diplomas on Women Music Teachers in Early Twentieth-Century New Zealand,” Journal of Historical Research in Music Education 39, no. 2 (2018): 148–170; At the diploma level from 1899 to 1903, 90% of passes were female, and 75% were on the piano.

Generally, they were from a well-off family, given the cost of an instrument, the ongoing costs of tuition, and the considerable exam fees.

This article investigates the arrival of graded music exams by using the South Island city of Dunedin as a case study. Dunedin was settled in 1848 by the Otago Association, a product of the Free Church which had broken from the established Church of Scotland. In 1861, a rich seam of gold was discovered in nearby Gabriel’s Gully and the subsequent large increase in Dunedin’s population made it New Zealand’s wealthiest, and the most influential and developed city during the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Both the Princess Theatre and Theatre Royal opened in Dunedin in 1862, providing impressive concert and opera venues, and in 1865 the city hosted the first New Zealand International Exhibition. Dunedin also established the first university and medical school in New Zealand in 1869. Local musical activity saw the establishment of a choral group in 1862 and an orchestral association in 1880. Meanwhile, the major churches recruited overseas musicians, many of whom remained long term. Prominent amongst these arrivals were Arthur Barth (1881), Albert Vallis (1887), Jesse Timson (1887), and William Taylor (1891), who all became strong supporters of the graded exams of TCL and AB.

Methodology

The study contributes to the understanding of the arrival of a specific form of music instruction into New Zealand. Dunedin is chosen as an early adopter of both systems and the largest examining centre in New Zealand for TCL. Quantitative data has been gathered and is discussed in a chronological narrative form, while frequent individual examples personalize and flesh out discussion, bringing to attention some of those with an important place in early New Zealand music history. Contemporary comment explores the debate for and against graded music exams, and there is discussion on their effect upon students and teachers. The professional diplomas of TCL and AB are examined for their role as a recognizable cachet for music teachers while conferring legitimacy on music as a profession. A brief outline of the use of post-nominal letters by musicians is given.⁶

Post-nominal letters are placed after a person’s name as an abbreviated means of indicating honors, qualifications, or membership of professional associations that they hold. Qualifications especially became an important identifier for providing validity for music teachers in New Zealand. This study focuses upon those letters from reputable organizations.

Further investigation explores the part graded exams played in the social and cultural life of Dunedin. The period under study ends in 1916, and includes a nineteen-year period when both schools were active.

Research Questions

Did graded music exams offer advancement opportunities for music students?

Was there any change in the standards of music teachers?

Did professional diplomas play any role in a local professional music teachers’ association?

What role did graded exams play in wider Dunedin society?

Sources

Contemporary newspapers have been used extensively in the study as Dunedin was well served with two daily and one weekly newspaper.⁷

Evening Star, Otago Daily Times, and an illustrated weekly newspaper, Otago Witness. All three are available online at paperspast.natlib.govt.nz

The introduction of local music examinations was viewed as an important cultural and educative event, and along with interviews with visiting examiners, regular reports of results were given prominence. Results included the name of the pupil, the grade passed, the marks gained and their teacher’s name.⁸

In 1916, an AB examiner expressed surprise at the publication of marks. He believed it was not carried out anywhere outside of New Zealand. Colonist, November 7, 1916, 3.

The raw data of music teacher numbers are gathered from exam reports and teachers’ advertisements, and assist the story of post-nominal letters.

The number of music teachers in Dunedin has been gathered at intervals matching those of the New Zealand-wide quinquennial census from 1896 to 1916.⁹

http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/digitised-collections/census-collection.aspx

Other online data sets, including electoral rolls and business directories have been consulted to improve the comprehensiveness and accuracy.¹⁰

Stone’s Otago & Southland directory and Wise’s New Zealand Post Office Directory online from the same source as the electoral rolls. https://search.ancestry.com.au The Otago section of the Cyclopedia of New Zealand is available online. http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc04Cycl-t1-body1-d2-d22-d4.html

Archival sources are not available online, but have been consulted at the Hocken Library of the University of Otago.¹¹

https://www.otago.ac.nz/library/hocken/Trinity College, ARC 0798; Associated Board, MS-1151; Society of Musicians of Otago, MS-1005.

The narrative begins with the cultural impact of colonial settlement in New Zealand. A brief description of the early history of local music exams in Britain and Australia is followed by a chronology of their arrival in New Zealand. The case study of Dunedin starts with the early use of post-nominal letters by music teachers, and then moves on to cover the uptake of grade music exams and their impact on the music profession and cultural life of the city.

Cultural Intrusion

The colonial settlement of New Zealand brought a complete translation of the norms and traditions of British society, resulting in a form of cultural intrusion. Indigenous Maori possessed languages and traditions markedly contrasting to the settler culture, especially so regarding communal organization around tribes and kinship, and a strong oral tradition. The early arrival of the piano has been noted as a means of fostering European cultural practices, “… a tool of colonisation, used by missionaries and school teachers to bring Maori into the Christian, civilised fold… .”¹²

Caroline Daley, “Modernity, Consumption and Leisure,” in The New Oxford History of New Zealand, ed. Giselle Byrnes (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2009), 438.

Maori land ownership when combined with the imposition of British law resulted in a period of armed conflict, the New Zealand Wars. During a 30-year period ending in 1870, 14 British Army regiments were resident in New Zealand; 11 were accompanied by their Regimental Band. This transplanted a very strong and popular form of British music culture to the country, further enhanced as many bandsmen remained in New Zealand at the end of their service. A strong choral tradition was instilled early, with many English-trained church musicians arriving; New Zealand choral societies became the pivot of the colonial musical scene.¹³

John Mansfield Thomson, The Oxford History of New Zealand Music (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1991), 91.

Music was included in the education syllabus of 1878, but was limited to vocal music centered around the tonic sol-fa methods of John Curwen and John Hullah, and used a repertoire indistinguishable from any British songbooks. Music was taught later at university level, but only at the two colleges of Auckland (1888) and Christchurch (1891), and was very much based on the English model in teaching and content.

During the period under study, indigenous music was ignored by the settlers. Te Puoho Katene notes in the Oxford History of New Zealand Music,

“It was impossible for [Maori] to adapt effectively and naturally to the imported culture and its entrenching institutions on Maori terms, and they were reduced to a state of dependency and forced to accept a policy of assimilation …the two races came to live largely in separate worlds, no more so than in the field of music.…”¹⁴

Te Puoho Katene, “The Maori World of Music,” in Thomson, The Oxford History, 6.

Martin Lodge agrees, and terms the treatment of Maori as “European intellectual hegemony.”¹⁵

Martin Lodge, “Music Historiography in New Zealand,” in Music’s Intellectual History, eds. Zdravko Blažeković and Barbara Dobbs Mackenzie (New York: Répertoire International de Litterature Musicale, 2009), 629.

In the absence of a national school of music, the initiative and impetus for music education largely remained with the diverse group who taught music individually. Comprised mainly of those with a British background, there was, however, a strong and growing continental influence.¹⁶

See for example Samantha Owens, “London, Leipzig or Local?: German Influence and Proposals for the Establishment of a New Zealand Conservatorium of Music, 1906-8,” in Searches for Tradition: Essays on New Zealand Music, Past & Present, eds. Michael Brown and Samantha Owens (Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2017), 46–58.

It was into this context that both TCL and AB arrived, adding yet another form of British cultural institution. The resultant rivalry between the two schools was merely part of the wider debate as to the efficacy of their format as an educational method.

Background

Local Music Exams in Britain

The history of music teaching for British musicians is well covered by both Cyril Ehrlich and Deborah Rohr, while David Wright documents external music exams of institutions prior to TCL and AB.¹⁷

Cyril Ehrlich, The Music Profession in Britain (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985). Deborah Rohr, The Careers of British Musicians, 1750 – 1850: A Profession of Artisans (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001). David C. H. Wright, “The South Kensington Music Schools and the Development of the British Conservatoire in the Late Nineteenth Century,” Journal of the Royal Musical Association 130 no. 2 (2005): 236–282. David C. H. Wright, “The Music Exams of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, 1859 – 1919,” in Music and Institutions in Nineteenth-Century Britain, ed. Paul Rodmell (Surrey: Ashgate, 2012), 161–181.

Additionally, aspects of the history of graded music exams are contained within the two institutional histories of TCL and the AB.¹⁸

Harold Rutland, Trinity College of Music: The First Hundred Years (London: Trinity College of Music, 1972). Wright, The Associated Board.

Graded music exams, originally termed “local examinations”, were begun by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in 1859. They were followed by those of the College of Organists (1866), TCL (1877), and then AB (1890). The first examinations of TCL in 1877 were musical knowledge only, with 1,100 candidates sitting. The next year the first local exams in practical subjects were offered, and by 1879 TCL exams drew 3,073 candidates from about 200 local centers throughout the United Kingdom.¹⁹

Rutland, Trinity College of Music, 14–15.

AB first offered local centre examinations in Britain in 1890. These were for two grades only, Junior and Senior, and 1,141 candidates sat at 46 centers.²⁰

Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (Great Britain), The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, 1889–1948 (London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, 1948), 13.

Both schools rapidly moved to provide the benefits of their own systems to overseas countries then part of the British Empire. TCL was first, with a local centre in Sri Lanka (1877), Australia (1879), South Africa and India (1882), and New Zealand (1888).²¹

Stephen Banfield, “Towards a History of Music in the British Empire: Three Export Studies,” in Britishness Abroad: Transnational Movements and Imperial Cultures, eds. Kate Darian-Smith, Patricia Grimshaw, and Stuart Macintyre (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 2007): 75. Note that the Australian starting date of 1879 is at variance with TCL official history, but is from recent local research. Frances Elliott and Jane Southcott, “Examinations in the life of studio music teachers in Australia prior to 1920,” Journal of Historical Research in Music Education (2019): 6. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536600619878562

The AB started with South Africa (1894), Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and Gibraltar (1897), and then Canada, and Sri Lanka (1898).²²

Neville Osborne, “The Making of the Grades,” International Journal of Music Education 2 no. 1 (1983): 56.

As measured by the increasing number of candidates who sat them, the success of the exams for both schools was outstanding. By 1890 TCL had 16,000 candidates annually worldwide.²³

Wright, The Associated Board, 49.

By 1904, AB claimed 23,000 candidates annually worldwide.²⁴

A figure quoted by James Muir, the Secretary of AB in London. New Zealand Herald, 18 October 1904, 3.

The Australian Experience

The arrival of examining systems to Australia is covered by Doreen Bridges and Kieran Crichton.²⁵

Doreen Bridges, “The Role of Universities in the Development of Music Education in Australia, 1885-1970.” (PhD diss., University of Sydney, 1970). Kieran Crichton, “Resisting the Empire? Public Music Examinations in Melbourne, 1896-1914,” in Music and Institutions in Nineteenth-century Britain, ed. Paul Rodmell (Surrey: Ashgate, 2012), 181–201.

TCL arrived in Sydney first (1879), Melbourne (1882), followed by Brisbane (1892), Perth (1895), and then Adelaide (1896). By 1896 they were well entrenched in Australia with more centers in Hobart, Launceston, plus 25 other country towns.²⁶

Bridges, The Role of Universities, 53, 57.

Their Australian introduction preceded a move to New Zealand by nine years, and reflects the earlier settlement of Australia, as well as a larger population. AB began in both Australia and New Zealand in 1897, fulfilling their Charter requirement to promote “the cultivation and dissemination of the art of Music in the United Kingdom and throughout the Dominions.”²⁷

Wright, The Associated Board, 76.

The arrival of TCL in Melbourne immediately provoked opposition from music teachers as they were in competition with exams begun in 1876 under a local professional society. A chair of music was established by the University of Melbourne in 1891, the first Professor, George Marshall Hall, was replaced by Franklin Peterson in 1901. Peterson was responsible for the formation of the University Conservatorium Music Examinations Board (UCMEB) in 1902, “in response to a need for responsible, standardized musical education and to improve the conservatorium’s financial position…and [which] replaced several overseas examining bodies.”²⁸

Faye E. Patton, “Peterson, Franklin Sievright (1861–1914)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/peterson-franklin-sievright-8028/text13995 published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed online 22 February 2019.

Earlier, at the University of Adelaide, Joshua Ives was appointed the first Professor of Music in 1885. He too introduced a system of Public Examinations in Music, and in 1907 they were combined with those from the University of Melbourne. In 1911, the University of Tasmania joined the scheme, followed by the Universities of Western Australia in 1912 and Queensland in 1913. With the entrance of New South Wales in 1918, the Australian Music Examinations Board was founded. Crichton in retrospect states that the influx of AB and TCL was disempowering to local teachers, and that the imperial assistance they purported was more akin to the “dead hand of paternalism.” Indeed, he claims that “[t]he success of the CEB was ultimately a vindication of local institutions over their Imperial counterparts in setting trends and standards for musical culture in Australia…”²⁹

Crichton, Resisting the Empire, 200, 201.

External Exams in New Zealand

Trinity College. The Wellington musician Robert Parker returned from a visit to England in 1886, authorized by TCL to initiate their system of local examinations.³⁰

Robert Parker (1847–1937) is a pre-eminent example of the professionally trained English musician and he was seen by many as the touchstone of musical excellence in Wellington for almost 60 years. John Mansfield Thomson. “Parker, Robert”, from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 7-Jan-2014. http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/biographies/2p6/parker-robert

By 1888 he had established a high-powered Local Committee, which included the Chancellor of the University of New Zealand, the Inspector General of Schools and the Chairman of the Wellington Board of Education.³¹

New Zealand Mail, February 24, 1888, 21.

In July of that year, theory exams were held in Wellington and Dunedin, with 54 passing from Wellington, and 4 from Dunedin; a pass rate of 91% (58/64). Four grades were examined: Junior “Pass”, Junior “Honors”, Senior “Pass” and Senior “Honors”. Papers were marked in London, so results were not available for three months. In 1890, an Intermediate grade exam was added. Numbers sitting the mid-year theory exams rose year by year until in 1895 some 500 candidates sat them in 17 centers throughout New Zealand.³²

Evening Post, October 15, 1895, 2.

In 1897, TCL extended to Australia and New Zealand exams for the theory diploma, Associate in Music (AMusTCL).³³

Evening Post, October 9, 1897, 11.

In 1895, TCL introduced their first practical exams to New Zealand. Examined by Miles Birket Foster, they were restricted to five centers: the four main centers of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, and the provincial North Island town of Wanganui. Pianoforte, pianoforte duet, cornet, violin and singing were examined with a pass rate of 62% (100/160). Only three grades were offered: Senior, Junior and Primary.

In 1898 the examiner, Charles Edwards, announced a number of changes for the following year.

An interim report on all examining would be provided immediately and the actual results would be made available within a few days of the exam. More importantly a new higher level diploma was to be instituted, “… we are going to literally hold examinations for the teachers—something that will give them a status.”³⁴

Otago Daily Times, November 17, 1898, 6.

In 1899, Foster returned as examiner and warned that the diploma exams were “… of a very searching character, and includes the performance of three difficult works of different schools, as well as reading, accompanying, and transposing at sight.”³⁵

Evening Post, October 26, 1899, 6.

In the first year only four candidates from Wellington attempted it. All were pupils of Parker, and just one was successful in gaining the Associate diploma (ATCL).³⁶

ATCL required 80% or over; 60%–79% received a certificate. Of the original four, one failed, while two were awarded a certificate.

In 1905, 10 years after practical exams were introduced, TCL had 22 centers evenly spread throughout New Zealand; 11 in the North Island, and 11 in the South Island: the 4 main centers with the remaining 18 in provincial towns. By 1916, 28 years after their first exams in New Zealand, TCL exams were being held at over 30 locations in New Zealand, from Whangarei in the far north to Invercargill in the south. Practical exams had expanded from the three grades in 1895 to eight, with two grades added at the start; First Steps (1912) and Preparatory (1899), and three more at the advanced level; Higher (1899), Associate (1899) and Licentiate (1905).³⁷

In 1905, an additional level above the Associate was instituted, the Licentiate (LTCL). At the same time, the regulations were changed to allow the holder of a Certificate or an Associate to progress to the next level qualification upon passing a written paper on “The Art of Teaching.”

Exams in practical music were held only at the end of the year. There had been changes and additions to the theoretical exams, which had expanded to seven levels by 1916. Preparatory (1903) was added at the lower level, with a Higher Local (1905) as the highest level, while a reshuffle and rename of Junior and Intermediate grades expanded out to five levels (1910). Theory exams were held both mid-year and at the end of year, all papers being three hours in length. In order to encourage the very best students, monetary incentives were provided annually by TCL, based upon international results during the calendar year. “National prizes” were awarded to a candidate achieving the highest marks in both a practical and theoretical exam in the same session, while scholarships, termed “Exhibitions” were similarly awarded, with two for each grade of practical and theory going to those achieving the highest marks.³⁸

“National Prizes” began in 1900 and ranged in value from £5 to £3. “Exhibitions” began in 1901 and ranged in value from £9 9s to £3 3s. They were awarded to the two best candidates from results in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

In 1916, Dunedin was the largest centre for TCL in New Zealand, and produced 38% of the total successful candidates for the four main centers. Dunedin candidates also comprised 49% of the successful theory results.

Associated Board. AB arrived in New Zealand in 1897, announced in glowing terms affording no recognition of the earlier arrival of TCL: “Young New Zealanders aspiring to musical honors have now the opportunity of obtaining certificates from England’s highest and best musical institutions.”³⁹

New Zealand Herald, September 29, 1897, 4.

Exams were carried out by C. Lee Williams in Auckland and Wellington with candidates having to pass a preliminary theory exam. Professor Carl Schmitt from Auckland was appointed Local Secretary for the Board in New Zealand and Mr. Archibald Park was appointed representative for Wellington. By the end of 1897, centers had been established in Auckland, Wellington, Napier, New Plymouth, Blenheim, Nelson, Dunedin and Invercargill.⁴⁰

Evening Post, December 11, 1897, 4.

These first exams were those used at Cape Colony in South Africa, but a high standard of passes prompted the immediate assumption of those from England the following year. From 1898 onward five grades in practical exams were offered: two Local Centre, Senior and Junior, and three School Exams, Higher Division, Lower Division, and Elementary Division. Local Centre exams required a higher standard than the School Exams. One of the two University of New Zealand colleges teaching music, Canterbury University College, immediately affiliated with AB.⁴¹

Press, March 1, 1898, 4. The affiliation was terminated at the end of 1908.

Likewise, the Canterbury Society of Musicians quickly discontinued their own examinations in favor of “those to be inaugurated by the Associated Board and Trinity College.”⁴²

Press, August 5, 1898, 4. Formed in 1889, the Canterbury Society of Musicians was the first professional body for musicians in New Zealand.

Auckland University College, however, instituted their own series of graded practical and theoretical examinations in direct competition with TCL and AB.⁴³

Auckland University College commenced external exams under Professor William Edward Thomas in 1903. New Zealand Herald, February 27, 1903, 5. They were discontinued at the end of 1931.

The independent Nelson School of Music maintained their own diploma, but affiliated with AB in 1899, and ceased their own theory exams in favor of those of AB in 1901.⁴⁴

Colonist, June 27, 1899, 2. Nelson Evening Mail, April 15, 1901, 2.

A professional teaching qualification, “Certificated Teacher, Associated Board,” was introduced in 1899.⁴⁵

Its title was changed to “Licentiate of the Associated Board” (LAB) in 1901, and changed again in 1933 to “Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music” (LRSM).

Comprising four separate requirements—elements of music exam, senior harmony local centre exam, senior practical local centre exam, and the final teachers’ exam—only one person was successful in its first year. A “performer’s” version of the diploma was introduced in the 1905 syllabus, and was intended as “an examination for solo performers of a concert standard.”⁴⁶

Otago Daily Times, October 31, 1905, 4.

By 1916 the original three practical School Exams had expanded to four with the inclusion of an introductory Primary Division (1906), while the original two Local Centre grades had grown to five, with the addition of an Intermediate Grade (1904), an Advanced Grade (1904), and the Professional Diploma (1899). By 1916 theory exams followed the practical exams differentiation between Local Centre and School Exams. School Exams had three Divisions of “Grammar of Music”, along with a Higher and Lower Division of Harmony. The Local Centre “Rudiments of Music” was accompanied by an Advanced and Intermediate grade of Harmony. Practical exams were held at the end of the year, while theory exams were held both mid-year and end of year.⁴⁷

The second session at the end of the year was introduced in 1907, mainly to accommodate candidates required to take the theory before being examined for a practical exam.

In 1907, 10 years after AB arrived in New Zealand, 20 centers were established throughout New Zealand with 9 in the North Island, and 11 in the South Island. They were in the four main centers with the remaining 16 in provincial towns. By 1916, AB exams were being held at just under 30 locations in New Zealand. They covered the same geographic spread as TCL, with considerable overlap in the locations where both became established, with only minor differences in smaller centers.

AB offered various incentives to high achieving candidates. While of no monetary value, their annual awards of Gold and Silver medals to those gaining the highest marks in the different grades became very prestigious to the recipient and to their teacher.⁴⁸

Personally by Samuel Aitken in 1897, they were formalized across Australia and New Zealand in 1899.

On another level altogether though, was the annual award of two exhibition scholarships from exam results across New Zealand. Begun in 1905, they entitled the recipient to two years’ study at either the Royal Academy of Music or the Royal College of Music in London. In 1916 Auckland produced 30% of the total successful candidates in AB exams for the four main centers. Dunedin’s preference for TCL exams was shown by being only 15% of the total successes in AB exams.

Rivalry between the two examining boards. With a second examining school entering New Zealand, there was an immediate sense of rivalry. In 1897 the AB Secretary Samuel Aitken pointed out they had taken the step into New Zealand “…by invitation, and not in any spirit of rivalry to Trinity College, London…”⁴⁹

Evening Post, December 3, 1897, 6.

He also stated that “…our standard is higher, and … we do not agree with some of the things done by Trinity College.”⁵⁰

Oamaru Mail, December 10, 1897, 4.

Unfortunately there was already a perception the exams of AB were “better.” Professor Sale in Dunedin, despite providing early support for TCL and a member of the Local Board in 1896, was unable to clarify what the differences were between the two schools when questioned at an Otago University Council meeting in 1898.⁵¹

George Samuel Sale (1831–1922) the foundation Professor of Classics at Otago University in 1870.

Indeed, “he understood in a sense they were rivals, but that the Royal Academy and Royal College were … on a higher plane.”⁵²

Otago Witness, November 10, 1898, 30.

He emphasized that the Royal Academy and the Royal College really stood at the “head of all musical institutions.”⁵³

Otago Daily Times, November 9, 1898, 2.

When affiliation was sought by Canterbury University College, fulsome support came from the local press, noting: “In England there are many bodies which conduct examinations in music, but unfortunately a large number of them have been established mainly for money-making purposes,…”⁵⁴

Lyttelton Times, March 14, 1898, 5.

The lecturer in music, George Tendall, openly supported AB “…in preference to any others, because they represent the two leading musical institutions of England…⁵⁵

Lyttelton Times, June 16, 1898, 6. Canterbury University College appointed George Frederick Tendall (1845–1901), a part-time lecturer in 1891. In June 1898 he was appointed the Honorary Local Representative for AB. Press, June 1, 1898, 6.

In 1900, a dispute between the local representatives of TCL and AB was aired in the correspondence columns of a New Plymouth newspaper.⁵⁶

Taranaki Herald, February 1, 1900, 3. Neil Kerr MacDiarmid was the first local secretary for TCL in New Plymouth when it was established in 1892. Unlike most other TCL secretaries, he was not a music teacher, but was the local bank manager and Chairman of the Board of Governors for the local High School. Francis William Richmond was appointed the first Honorary Local Representative in New Plymouth in late 1897. As with many of the Local Representatives for AB he was a solicitor.

It was an unseemly affair focusing on the public perception of which body gave “the most reliable certificates.” More a reflection of the personalities involved, it provides an example of the partisan nature of support found in some areas of the country. A similar question asked through a Napier newspaper regarding “the weight a TCL certificate carries at Home,” received a very diplomatic response:

Some teachers think the certificates of the Associated Board (Royal Academy of Music) are of more value than those of Trinity College. Others hold just the reverse; it is a matter of opinion. Both undoubtedly carry weight, as the certificates of the leading examining bodies in music in England.⁵⁷

Hawke’s Bay Herald, November 3, 1900, 2.

Both schools came in for criticism in 1902, when an unnamed correspondent in Wanganui questioned their musical guardianship, claiming both offered only certificated mediocrity: “Every year we are sending thousands of pounds to the Old Country, in return for which we receive a flying visit from a much-be-lettered, high-salaried maestro who, bestowing some ten minutes on each candidate, scatters certificates broadcast.”⁵⁸

Wanganui Herald, September 6, 1902, 3.

In 1908, during the debate over establishing a New Zealand conservatorium of music, concern was again expressed about money going offshore from the exams of AB and TCL. The figure of £4000 was quoted, but the Dunedin local representative for AB strongly refuted it and stated £200 was a more likely figure.⁵⁹

Evening Star, February 15, 1908, 11.

In fact AB exams in the colonies ran at a deficit for many years, and were subsidized by the United Kingdom income.⁶⁰

Wright, The Associated Board, 77. Here it is reported the 1898/9 colonial exams cost the board some £1,400.

Dunedin as a Case Study

Early Music Teaching in Dunedin

Prior to the arrival of external exams, music teachers often advertised by listing their own past teachers to show their musical pedigree. From 1873 onwards, many chose to indicate their background and competence by two other methods. Some claimed association with a musical institution, possibly indicating a formalized period of study for a diploma or certificate. Others showed membership of a professional body relevant to either teaching or performing. Dunedin music teachers originally from England included Miss Redmayne (arrived in 1858), George R. West (1861), and Arthur J. Towsey (1867). Miss Redmayne merely noted her teaching was “according to the principles taught in England.”⁶¹

Otago Witness, January 23, 1858, 4.

Alfred Anderson (1873) advertised his teaching services for the pianoforte and indicated a link to the Royal Academy of Music in London.⁶²

Otago Daily Times, December 30, 1873, 3. He used the letters RAM.

Similarly for James Schott (1875).⁶³

Evening Star, August 26, 1875, 1. He used RAML.

From then onwards, there was a steady stream of teachers claiming some relationship to the Royal Academy of Music.⁶⁴

Miss Gibson (1877) “Student of the Royal Academy of Music”; Miss Hales (1882) and Mr. Willeby-Hawthorne (1888) “Of the Royal Academy of Music”, and Madame Winter (1896), “RAM”.

Indeed, in 1893, Isabella Matheson advertised herself as “Certificated RAM, Bronze and Silver Medallist.”⁶⁵

Evening Star, January 19, 1893, 1. Her claim was based on actual attendance at a course of instruction in England.

Annie Blandford (1898) with an LRAM provides the first example of a holder of an external diploma from the Royal Academy.⁶⁶

Otago Daily Times, September 3, 1898, 1. During her time in Dunedin (1898–1906), she had a very high success rate of pupils in both Trinity College and Associated Board exams.

However, Percy Scholes noted that only Fellows were entitled to place RAM after their name, and “… it is certain that many former students were using the vague affix RAM without authorisation.”⁶⁷

Percy Scholes, The Mirror of Music 1844 -1944: A Century of Musical Life in Britain as Reflected in the Pages of the Musical Times (London: Novello & Company, 1947), 724.

Non-English musicians were not so prolific, but some came with formalized musical training from German conservatoriums in Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg and Leipzig, and similar institutions in Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, and the United States.⁶⁸

Berlin, Felix Steinmetz (1883); Dresden, Maud Fitchett (1895); Hamburg, Beatrice Wilcken (1895); Leipzig, Ludwig Mosch (1878); Turin, Raffaello Squarise (1890); Copenhagen, Kate Busck (1890); Zurich, May Hotop (1899); San Francisco, Mlle Dijou (1879).

Membership of professional associations from England also became commonly used.⁶⁹

National Society of Professional Musicians, London (1892); the Philharmonic Society, London, A.Ph.S. (1896), and the Collegiate Union of Teachers, England (1904).

From 1906, it included membership of either the Canterbury Society of Musicians or the Society of Musicians of Otago. It became common practice to show training, qualifications, or professional membership in the abbreviated form of post-nominal letters, and by the start of the twentieth-century the Dunedin public faced an ever-increasing and bewildering array of musical letters. Along with up to nine other English music institutions, the professional diplomas of TCL and AB added to the alphabet soup.⁷⁰

The College of Organists, FCO (1892) and ARCO (1906); Guildhall School of Music, GSM (1892); the Tonic Sol-fa College of London, ATC (1892) and ATSF (1898); the London Academy of Music, ATLAM (1892) and ALAM (1895); the National College of Music, ANCM (1903); Victoria College of Music, FVCM (1905); the Incorporated Guild of Church Musicians, FGCM (1905); the Guild of St. Cecilia and Church Organists, FGSC (1905); and the London College of Music, ALCM (1908).

Arrival of Exams

The arrival of TCL theory exams in 1888 received extensive press coverage.⁷¹

No information has been found on results in Dunedin from 1889 to 1891.

At least three teachers offered them to pupils; Arthur Barth, Annette Wilson and Blanche Joel.⁷²

Arthur James Barth (1850–1905), and Ellen Blanche Joel (1869–1947). Annette Eliza Wilson (1835–1902) during her time in Dunedin she was seen as instrumental in establishing the Trinity College examinations. See Elizabeth Frances Nichol, “‘Dedicated to the colonial music-loving public’: New Zealand’s published music 1850–1913,”(PhD diss., University of Auckland, 2017), 84–88.

The first practical exams for TCL in 1895 comprised 14 Junior passes, 7 Primary, and 15 Senior, with the highest marks throughout Australia and New Zealand for senior violin playing gained by three locals.⁷³

Southland Times, April 20, 1896, 2. Misses Williams, Moore and Watson, scoring 93, 94 and 93 marks respectively out of a possible 100.

Eight teachers in Dunedin participated in these first practical exams, with Barth and the local Dominican Convent each having nine successful pupils.⁷⁴

The other teachers were Jane Aitken; Blanche Joel; Ida Yorston; Raffaello Squarise; Isabella Matheson, and Charles Gray (who was actually from Invercargill).

From the start of theory exams in 1888, Barth vigorously championed the examination system, and in 1896 was appointed the first Honorary Local Secretary.⁷⁵

Otago Daily Times, July 9, 1888, 2.

Local secretaries were always a local music teacher and the role was the conduit between other teachers and Trinity College as regards administrative matters such as time, place and dates of exams, and syllabus requirements. A “capitation” fee was imposed on entry fees to fund some administration requirements.⁷⁶

In 1897 Higher certificate practical fees for TCL were £2 2s; grade practical fees ranged from 5s (Preparatory) to 10s 6d (Senior), and theory fees ranged from 6s to 10s 6d. The additional fee ranged from 2s 6d to 5s according to the level of the exam being enrolled in.

Notification of results was given a prominent role in community activity by TCL, with an annual concert and prize-giving ceremony. In 1896, TCL also gave official recognition to a Local Committee to have jurisdiction over the college examinations for Otago.⁷⁷

Evening Star, September 2, 1896, 2. The committee was Rev. William Hewitson (chairman), Judge Williams, Professor Sale, Messrs J. Allen, M.H.R., W. Nicholson, J. A. X. Riedle, with Barth as local secretary.

The local centre was the official point of contact for music teachers and their pupils and there was the main Dunedin centre, with another in the Dominican Convent.

AB was administered in a significantly different manner to TCL, with local oversight through an Honorary Local Representative who was not a local music teacher. The first appointment in 1898 was the Registrar of Otago University, Augustus Hamilton.⁷⁸

Augustus Hamilton (1854–1913) was appointed Registrar and Librarian of Otago University in 1890.

When he left at the end of 1903, his replacement, Frank Ogston, continued the link with the University.⁷⁹

Francis “Frank” Ogston (1846–1917) a medical doctor and Professor of Medical Jurisprudence at Otago University from 1886.

The link was severed in 1911, when Ogston was replaced by a lawyer, John A. Cook.⁸⁰

Evening Star, March 2, 1911, 4.

The Honorary Local Representative fulfilled some functions similar to those carried out by TCL Local Secretary, especially as regards liaison with AB over syllabus and timetabling matters, and communicating with teachers and pupils, but the opportunity to embed the AB organization in the local community was not taken. Unlike TCL there was no Local Committee, nor were there any opportunities for local businesses or individuals to support music endeavor with medals or prizes. Control was firmly retained by the parent body.

When AB arrived in the city in 1898, there were 28 entries for the first set of practical exams, comprising 10 for Local Centre and 18 for School.⁸¹

Otago Daily Times, March 30, 1903, 2.

In 1899, four teachers entered pupils for the 1899 practical exams: Annie Blandford, Arthur Barth, Miss Bessie Miller and Ida Yorston. There was a pass rate of 89% (25/28), and it was commented as being “distinctly satisfactory, and reflects great credit on the teachers, as the time for preparation has been short, and the candidates have had difficulty in getting the music required.”⁸²

Otago Witness, November 30, 1899, 46.

By 1901, there were 20 teachers in Dunedin who had successfully presented pupils for the AB exams, including those teaching through three schools.

The annual successful passes of each school are shown in Tables 1 and 2, and comparative figures are only from the period each school offered both theory and practical exams, 1895 (TCL) and 1899 (AB). These show TCL had an increase in the total number of successful candidates, rising from 173 (1895) to 408 (1916), a rise of 136%. AB rose from 37 (1899) to 133 (1916), a rise of 260%. The difference in numbers may reflect the advantage gained by the earlier arrival of TCL, or the higher pass mark required for AB. Nevertheless, by 1916, the number of successful candidates for TCL were three times those for AB. Another point of difference is the proportion of total passes for theory, these being overwhelmingly in favor of TCL. For 1916, 17% of AB passes were for theory (23/133), while TCL theory passes were 40% (166/408). There was an even larger disparity between the two schools for the total passes overall. Even with the lack of data for four years for TCL, 21% of AB passes were theory (593/2807) while 55% passed theory exams for TCL (3994/7257).

Table 1.

Trinity College Passes in Dunedin, 1888–1916.

Year	Total Passes	Theory Passes	Practical Passes	Diploma Passes	Honorary Secretary	Examiner
1888	4	4	–	–	Arthur Barth
1889			–	–	Arthur Barth
1890			–	–	Arthur Barth
1891			–	–	Arthur Barth
1892	10	10	–	–	Arthur Barth
1893	38	38	–	–	Arthur Barth
1894	48	48	–	–	Arthur Barth
1895	173	137	36	–	Arthur Barth	Myles Birket Foster
1896	259	224	35	–	Arthur Barth	Gordon Saunders
1897	277	241	36	–	Arthur Barth	Charles Vincent
1898	297	247	50	–	Arthur Barth	Charles Vincent
1899	284	205	79	2	Arthur Barth	Myles Birket Foster
1900	272	181	91	1	Arthur Barth	Charles Edwards
1901	335	209	126	2	Arthur Barth	Alfred Mistowski
1902	373	230	143	0	Arthur Barth	Alfred Mistowski
1903	306	164	142	6	Arthur Barth	Charles Edwards
1904	328	187	141	3	Arthur Barth	Charles Edwards
1905	322	162	159	9	Beatrice Barth	Alfred Mistowski
1906	339	174	165	10	Beatrice Barth	Charles Edwards
1907	282	126	156	9	Beatrice Barth	Charles Edwards
1908	274	117	157	5	Beatrice Barth	Henry Saint-George
1909	266	139	127	7	Beatrice Barth	Henry Saint-George
1910	326	152	174	8	Beatrice Barth	Charles Schilsky
1911	351	140	211	9	Beatrice Barth	Charles Schilsky
1912	388	172	216	16	Beatrice Barth	Charles Schilsky
1913	369	159	210	11	Beatrice Barth	Henry Saint-George
1914	456	177	279	8	Beatrice Barth	Henry Saint-George
1915	476	189	287	13	Beatrice Barth	S. Myerscough
1916	408	166	242	10	Beatrice Barth	S. Myerscough
	7,257	3,994	3,262	129

Table 2.

Associated Board Passes in Dunedin, 1899–1916.

Year	Total Passes	Theory Passes	Practical Passes	Diplomas Passes	Local Representative	Examiner
1897	–	–	–	0	–	–
1898	–	–	–	0	A. Hamilton	–
1899	37	12	25	0	A. Hamilton	Graham P. Moore
1900	89	16	73	0	A. Hamilton	Stewart MacPherson
1901	147	25	122	0	A. Hamilton	H. W. Richards
1902	140	23	117	0	A. Hamilton	T. B. Knott
1903	154	43	111	0	A. Hamilton	George Langley
1904	117	17	100	2	F. Ogston	Graham P. Moore
1905	158	50	108	1	F. Ogston	Graham P. Moore
1906	119	27	92	3	F. Ogston	Walter Wesche
1907	170	50	120	2	F. Ogston	Richard Cummings
1908	185	45	145	6	F. Ogston	Thomas Frederick Dunhill
1909	189	38	151	5	F. Ogston	Frederick Cliffe
1910	198	34	164	9	F. Ogston	Howard Hadley
1911	193	46	147	6	John A. Cook	Douglas Redman
1912	210	20	190	14	John A. Cook	Victor Booth
1913	205	37	168	4	John A. Cook	F. de G. English
1914	212	46	166	7	John A. Cook	F. de G. English
1915	151	41	110	4	John A. Cook	F. G. Shinn
1916	133	23	110	1	John A. Cook	Arthur Hinton
	2,807	593	2,219	64

Examination successes rapidly became seen as an indicator of the teachers’ ability, and for some it became a major and regular feature in their newspaper advertisements. The addition of local and national honors (in Table 3) provided yet another level of success for teachers to advertise. The top awards from AB in particular, the exhibitions and medals, indicate the high standard of music teaching in Dunedin. These awards were based upon exam results from Australia and New Zealand, and were not automatically awarded to the highest scoring candidate, but required the recommendation of the examiner. For the period 1906 to 1916, there were eight AB exhibitions awarded to New Zealand pupils, and two went to Dunedin pupils. From the total of 71 AB medals awarded throughout New Zealand, Dunedin garnered a total of 23, nearly a third. Of the four main centers, it was by far the highest number, the next closest being Wellington with 16. There were nine Dunedin teachers whose pupils were awarded an AB medal, with three having four pupils each, but it was Albert Vallis who shone out with three of his pupils gaining gold medals. Another indicator of teacher ability was the consistency of success with the Plunket Medal for TCL.⁸³

From 1906 a Gold Medal was instituted by the Governor of New Zealand, Lord Plunket, for the competitor showing most musical ability in the senior division of TCL from the most recent exams throughout New Zealand. In 1910 its name was changed from the Plunket Medal to the Governor’s Medal, and it ceased to be awarded after 1914.

In its brief existence it was awarded nine times, and gained by Dunedin pupils a total of seven times, with Vallis and Yorston each being the teacher on three occasions. Using the awards of AB exhibitions and medals, and the TCL Plunket Medal as an indicator of the relative merit of pupils and their music teachers, Dunedin performed very well.

Table 3.

National Awards Won by Dunedin Candidates, 1900–1916.

Year	Name	Area	Award	Teacher
1900	Luzetta Matthews	Piano	AB Junior Silver Medal	Annie Blandford
1901	Eileen Ward	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	St. Dominic’s
1901	Florence Irwin	Piano	AB Senior Silver Medal	Annie Blandford
1902	Ina Fea	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	Arthur Barth
1902	Myra Montague	Piano	AB Junior Gold Medal	St. Dominic’s
1903	Margaret Milne	Piano	AB Junior Silver Medal	Annie Blandford
1904	Lucy Fernie	Piano	TCL Intermediate Exhibition	Albert Vallis
1904	Mary Brown	Piano	TCL Junior Exhibition	Ina Fea
1904	Myra Montague	Piano	AB Advanced Silver Medal	St. Dominic’s
1904	Violet Fraser	Singing	TCL Senior Exhibition	St. Dominic’s
1905	Agnes Dawson	Piano	AB Advanced Gold Medal	Albert Vallis
1905	Annie Glasse	Piano	TCL Junior Exhibition	Ida Yorston
1905	Mary Brown	Piano	TCL Intermediate Exhibition	Ina Fea
1905	T. McMullen		TCL National Prize	St. Dominic’s
1906	Lucy Fernie		TCL National Prize	Albert Vallis
1906	Lucy Fernie	Piano	Plunket Medal	Albert Vallis
1906	Millie Iles	Piano	AB Intermediate Gold Medal	Arthur Barth
1907	Annie Glasse	Piano	TCL Intermediate Exhibition	Ida Yorston
1907	Daisy Millar	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	St. Dominic’s
1907	Dorothy Cowie	Piano	Plunket Medal	Albert Vallis
1907	Dorothy Cowie	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	Albert Vallis
1907	Millie Iles	Piano	AB Advanced Silver Medal	Max Scherek
1907	Nenetta Ridley	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	Ida Yorston
1907	Nenetta Ridley		TCL National Prize	Ida Yorston
1907	Pearl McElroy		TCL National Prize	St. Dominic’s
1907	Esma Levestan	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	St. Dominic’s
1908	Dorothy Cowie	Piano	AB Advanced Gold Medal	Albert Vallis
1908	Gladys Stoneham	Piano	Plunket Medal	Albert Vallis
1908	Gladys Stoneham	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	Albert Vallis
1908	Kathleen Levi	Piano	AB Intermediate Silver Medal	Blanche Levi
1909	Aimee Champion	Piano	AB Exhibition	Blanche Levi
1909	May Brown	Piano	AB Advanced Silver Medal	Blanche Levi
1909	Winifrede Haweridge	Piano	Plunket Medal	St. Dominic’s
1910	Alison Tucker	Piano	AB Intermediate Gold Medal	Ida Yorston
1910	Elsie MacDougall	Piano	Governor’s Medal	Ida Yorston
1910	Elsie MacDougall		TCL National Prize	Ida Yorston
1910	John Barr	Piano	AB Intermediate Silver Medal	Ida Yorston
1910	Mary A. Johnson	Piano	TCL Intermediate Exhibition	Ida Yorston
1910	Queenie Foster	Piano	AB Advanced Silver Medal	Blanche Levi
1911	Alfred Geddes	Piano	TCL Junior Exhibition	Ida Yorston
1911	Alison Tucker	Piano	Governor’s Medal	Ida Yorston
1911	Alison Tucker	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	Ida Yorston
1911	Doris Bagley	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	Ida Yorston
1911	Jessie Jones	Piano	AB Advanced Silver Medal	Ida Yorston
1911	Mary Frazer	Piano	TCL Intermediate Exhibition	Alexander Frazer
1911	Mary G. Fraser	Piano	AB Exhibition	Max Scherek
1911	Phyllis Perry	Counterpoint	AB Advanced Gold Medal	Blanche Levi
1912	Doris Bagley	Piano	AB Advanced Silver Medal	Ida Yorston
1912	Jessie Christie	Piano	AB Intermediate Gold Medal	Eliza Wright
1912	Renetta Rings	Piano	AB Intermediate Silver Medal	St. Dominic’s
1912	Ruby North	Piano	AB Advanced Gold Medal	Albert Vallis
1913	Koa Oliver	Piano	AB Intermediate Gold Medal	Mary Bannatyne
1913	Koa Oliver	Theory	TCL Junior Exhibition	Mary Bannatyne
1913	Monica Christie	Piano	TCL Junior Exhibition	Ida Yorston
1914	Adonia Aitken	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	Albert Vallis
1914	Frank Bennett	Piano	Governor’s Medal	Ida Yorston
1914	Garth Stoneham	Piano	TCL Junior Exhibition	Gladys Stoneham
1914	Jean Wagner	Piano	TCL Intermediate Exhibition	Gladys Stoneham
1914	Jessie Christie	Piano	AB Advanced Silver Medal	Eliza Wright
1914	Koa Oliver	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	Mary Bannatyne
1914	Lena Geddes	Piano	TCL Intermediate Exhibition	Ida Yorston
1914	Marjorie Stoneham	Piano	TCL Senior Exhibition	Gladys Stoneham
1915	Hyacinth Collins	Piano	AB Advanced Silver Medal	St. Dominic’s

Diploma Passes

The acquisition of professional diplomas in Dunedin are collated in Table 4. In the first three years TCL offered diplomas, 1899–1901, Dunedin had 5 passes out of a total of 14 throughout New Zealand, and all but one were pupils of Arthur Barth. A total of 129 TCL diplomas were awarded up to 1916, with 23 of these being at the higher Licentiate level. The most popular instrument was the piano, being 85% (110) of the total, with the next being singing, 7% (9). Females made up 94% of the successful candidates (121/129).

In the first three years AB offered diplomas, 1899–1901, Dunedin had no passes. The first passes for an AB diploma were not until 1904, when two pianists from St. Dominic’s Convent both achieved the “Teachers” diploma. By this date 22 diplomas had been awarded throughout the rest of New Zealand. In Dunedin up to 1916 there was a total of 64 AB diplomas awarded: 11 teachers and 53 performers. Again, the most popular instrument was the piano being 84% (56) of the total, with the next being singing, 12% (8). Unsurprisingly, females comprised 94% of the successful candidates (60/64). There were 23 people who gained both TCL and AB diplomas. Of the total gaining either AB, TCL or a combination of both school’s diplomas, 94% were female (181/193).

Table 4.

Diplomas Gained in Dunedin, 1899–1916.

Trinity College	1899	1900	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909	1910	1911	1912	1913	1914	1915	1916		%
Piano	–	1	1	–	4	3	8	7	6	5	6	8	9	16	10	7	10	9	110	85
Singing	–	–	–	–	1	–	1	2	2	–	–	–	–		1	–	1	1	9	7
Violin	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	1	–	1	–	–	–	–	1	2	–	6	5
Theory	2	–	1	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	3
Total	2	1	2	0	6	3	9	10	9	5	7	8	9	16	11	8	13	10	129

Associated Board	1899	1900	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909	1910	1911	1912	1913	1914	1915	1916
Piano	–	–	–	–	–	2	1	3	2	5	4	6	6	12	3	5	2	1	52	81
Singing	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	3	–	2	1	–	1	–	8	13
Violin	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	2
Organ	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	1	–	3	5
Total	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	3	2	6	5	9	6	14	4	7	4	1	64

Teaching Uptake

The number of music teachers who successfully presented pupils to either AB or TCL exams, 1896–1916, is shown in Table 5, and compares their number with teachers who did not have successful pupils at either of the schools’ exams. Sampled at five-yearly intervals, it indicates an increasing percentage of teachers using the exams and shows an increasing number of teachers who gained their own professional qualifications over this period. The number of teachers rose from 132 (1896) to 164 (1916), but there was a high point of 189 in 1911. The ratio of teachers to the overall population of Dunedin city is included, and these indicate that in 1906 there was 1 music teacher per 299 of Dunedin’s population, which had changed to 1 per 419 ten years later in 1916. These are high figures when compared with those noted by Dave Russell from the English census.⁸⁴

Dave Russell, “Key Workers: Toward an Occupational History of the Private Music Teacher in England and Wales, c.1861–c.1921,” Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle 47, no. 1, (2016): 15–155. He made extensive use of Census data to draw a more subtle picture using the ratio of teachers to population, and noted the best ratios of teacher to general population was 1:453 in Hampstead, London.

The increase may be an indication of the strength of music teaching in Dunedin, but can only be tested when similar figures are extracted from other major New Zealand cities.

Within the figures for the private music teachers in the city there are seven individuals who accounted for 66% (127/193) of the diploma successes, as seen in Table 6. For this group, the success rate of TCL diplomas comprised 56% (73/129) and AB 84% (54/64).⁸⁵

The individual teachers were Arthur and Beatrice Barth, Ida Yorston, Albert Vallis, Blanche Levi, Max Scherek, and William E. Taylor.

The total diploma figure rises to 88% (169/193) when the work carried out by St. Dominic’s is included. St. Dominic’s College is noteworthy for the number of prizes and medals attained by the pupils, and the fees attracted by music teaching probably formed a large part of its annual income.⁸⁶

Susannah Grant, Windows on a Women’s Word: The Dominican Sisters of Aotearoa New Zealand (Dunedin, Otago University Press, 2017). Grant reveals a similar establishment in Invercargill gained 64% of their total income from music lessons, the rest being from boarding and schooling fees. p. 266.

Grade examinations also became part of the education offered by a number of local schools.⁸⁷

The main schools were Braemar House, St. Dominic’s College, St. Hilda’s Collegiate, St. Philomena’s College, and Columba College.

Table 5.

Dunedin Music Teachers, 1896–1916.

Number of Teachers	1896	1901	1906	1911	1916
Successful pupils in Trinity College only	26	53	68	56	47
Successful pupils in Associated Board only	–	9	20	28	24
Successful pupils in both schools exams	–	11	10	23	19
Total	26	73	98	107	90
Teachers with no pupils in schools exams	105	100	89	82	74
Total music teachers in Dunedin	132	173	187	189	164
% of music teachers using grade examinations	20	42	52	57	55
Dunedin City population	47,280	52,390	56,020	64,237	68,716
Ratio of teachers to overall population	1:358	1:331	1:299	1:339	1:419
No. of teachers with professional diplomas	–	3	15	27	46
% of music teachers with professional diplomas	–	1.7	8	14	28

Table 6.

Most Successful Music Teachers in Dunedin to 1916.

	Arthur Barth	Beatrice	Yorston	Vallis	Levi	Scherek	Taylor	St. Dominic’s	TOTAL
Trinity College
ATCL	8	8	16	19	2	5	5	28	91
LTCL	1	3	4	4	–	1	1	4	18
New Zealand-wide exhibitions	1	1	7	1	–	–	–	9	19
NZ wide medals	–		–	3	–	–	–	1	4
Total	10	12	27	27	2	6	6	42	132
Associated Board
LAB	–	–	7	7	11	8	2	10	45
New Zealand-wide medals	1	–	4	3	5	1	–	4	18
New Zealand-wide exhibitions	–	–	–	–	1	1	–	–	2
Total	1	–	11	10	17	10	2	14	65
Grand Total	11	12	38	37	19	16	8	56	197

Note. Arthur Barth died in 1905, but his oldest daughter Beatrice, who was his assistant teacher, continued on his work.

Relationship with a Professional Society

The Society of Musicians of Otago was formed in 1904, with the aims to “promote the interests and welfare of their members and to protect the profession against the often harmful practices of some unqualified practitioners.”⁸⁸

John M. Jennings, The Music Teaching Profession in New Zealand: A Jubilee History of the Music Teachers’ Registration Board of New Zealand (Wellington: The Music Teachers’ Registration Board of New Zealand, 1978), 3.

By February the following year, there were 57 members of the Society but only three members claimed diplomas from either TCL or AB. The 5% this represented rose to 14% in 1906, (9/66 members), and by 1910 all eight new members possessed TCL or AB diplomas. Membership lists have been unobtainable after 1906, but the Officer and Council lists for each year indicates a growing number of the incumbents having locally-gained diplomas.⁸⁹

They rose from 25% in 1914 (4/16) to 38% in 1916 (5/13).

In 1907, a Musicians’ Bill was introduced to the New Zealand House of Representatives which aimed to amalgamate the various independent societies throughout New Zealand into one united body. Registration was intended to exclude unqualified teachers and required appropriate qualifications from applicants, such as a degree or diploma. Consequently, it proposed the new Society should structure and administer examinations for the purpose of registration.⁹⁰

Jennings, The Music Teaching Profession, 4–5.

There was doubt how this would relate to the workings of the University of New Zealand. In the same year there was debate about establishing a nation-wide Conservatory of Music in New Zealand. Both proposals would be in direct competition to the activities of TCL and AB, especially their professional diplomas. Neither the Musicians’ Bill nor the Conservatory eventuated.

Cultural Impact of Graded Exams

The local community in Dunedin supported music exams in ways other than just the provision of pupils, and more obviously for TCL. The TCL Local Committee, for example, provided a number of medals and matched official TCL Exhibitions with a number of their own. Similarly the three large local music stores, Beggs and Company, Dresden Piano Company, and the London Organ & Piano Company, along with one individual provided medals. TCL examiners gave interviews to the local press, providing expert musical comment, often on any musical subject, but more especially on the grade exams in New Zealand.⁹¹

Vincent (1897); Edwards (1900); Saint-George (1913).

Occasionally they gave recitals or lectures.⁹²

Charles Schilsky gave recitals in 1911 and 1912. Henry Saint-George (1908) gave a talk to teachers and students about exams. Saint-George (1913) gave a lecture to the Otago Society of Musicians on “The trend of modern music.”

AB instituted an annual prize-giving ceremony, but it did not generate the same overall impact as those of TCL, and from 1912 onwards, a public prize-giving concert no longer took place. Local businesses did not provide cups, medals or anything similar for successful pupils in AB exams. AB examiners did provide interviews with local newspapers, often on the state of music education in New Zealand in general, or Dunedin in particular.⁹³

Langley (1903); Dunhill (1908); Cliffe (1909); Redman (1911).

Public lectures were given, but no recitals.⁹⁴

Dunhill (1906) gave a lecture on “Musical curiosities.” Shinn (1915) gave a lecture on “War and Music.”

Reaction to Grade Examinations

Testing external music students was a process unique to Britain and the British Empire, and while the intentions were altruistic, they were not universally viewed with favor.⁹⁵

First noted by Percy Scholes, and then reiterated by both Doreen Bridges and Cyril Ehrlich. Scholes, 629. Bridges, 48. Ehrlich, 116.

They have been variously described as industrializing the cultural process of musical achievement, and as a “panopticon-like systemization of musical examinations … used as a means of hegemonic graded and controlled privilege.”⁹⁶

Wright, 2005, 257. Erin Grace Johnson-Williams, “Re-Examining the Academy: Music Institutions and Empire in Nineteenth-Century London,” (PhD diss., Yale University, 2015.)

To some they were an imposition of musical standards, repertoire, and prescribed methods of teaching, all encompassed within a money-making venture. Their presence represented another aspect of the diffusion of institutions, practices, and values that were transported abroad, a subtle form of domination using music as an imperial artefact, especially in how musical taste could be shaped by the repertoire required in syllabi.⁹⁷

Kate Darian-Smith, Patricia Grimshaw, and Stuart Macintyre, “Introduction: Britishness Abroad,” in Britishness Abroad: Transnational Movements and Imperial Cultures, eds. Kate Darian-Smith, Patricia Grimshaw, and Stuart Macintyre (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 2007): 4.

However, Stephen Banfield, refutes this aspect and notes the repertoire as being overwhelmingly canonic and international.⁹⁸

Banfield, 78.

The disempowerment of local private and institutional teachers by external exams is a major theme taken up by Crichton. But again, it is Banfield who provides a counter view of external music exams, as the “British brokerage of international standards … being offered and taken up, not the cachet of British creativity or ideology.”⁹⁹

Ibid.

Kirstine Moffat supports this, labelling AB and TCL as the primary arbiters of music excellence throughout the British Empire.¹⁰⁰

100

Kirstine Moffat, Piano Forte: Stories and Soundscapes from Colonial New Zealand (Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2011), 183.

Nevertheless, the Australian, South African and Canadian experience was to institute their own local examinations in fairly short order after the arrival of those from England.

Others though, saw graded exams as a system that could consistently provide many good aspects of teaching which were neither readily nor widely available within New Zealand. Most importantly they provided unified musical standards through the use of expert examiners. While a number of local teachers evidently taught based upon firm pedagogical principles, they probably tended to be exceptional within the overall pool of teachers.¹⁰¹

101

Early examiners from both TCL and AB commented upon the standard of music teaching, noting that there was “some as absolutely bad as could be”, but that it was more generally “very unequal, with room for improvement.” See Press, October 12, 1896, 4., and New Zealand Times, December 4, 1897, 2. Indeed, the Canterbury Society of Musicians (1896) was “formed as a protection against the unauthorized teaching and quackery that goes on…” See New Zealand Herald, May 16, 1896, supplement, 4.

Debate

The debate raised by the arrival of graded exams ranged from very general criticism of the concept, to the more detailed, such as the limitations of repertoire and the use of a single examiner. Most was informed opinion from music teachers and visiting examiners, but there was input from educationalists and members of the public. The numbers vehemently opposed to local exam systems were not large, and many teachers used both schools in tandem for their pupils, making use of the complementary strengths of each.

Raffaello Squarise in Dunedin provides an example of a teacher conflicted by his own view of the exams, with the demands of his pupils or their parents. The outstanding success of his pupils in 1895 sat alongside his opinion that teachers made money out of exams, pupils learned nothing of value, and the standard was too low.¹⁰²

102

David Murray, “Raffaello Squarise (1856–1945): The Colonial Career of an Italian maestro,” (PhD diss., University of Otago, 2005), 124.

He was quick to advertise his success, though, to attract more pupils.¹⁰³

103

Otago Daily Times, May 2, 1896, 1.

An Australian organist, G. Gibbs Jordan, settled in Christchurch in 1904 and promoted the direction taken in Melbourne with local examiners and experts for each instrument.¹⁰⁴

104

Hawke’s Bay Herald, May 25, 1904, 3.

Such an aspect was echoed by the local organist Maughan Barnett, although his major opposition was to the restrictive nature of a set syllabus. Barnett abhorred the “cram and exam” nature of exams, and considered them “valueless from an artistic point of view.”¹⁰⁵

105

New Zealand Times, May 25, 1905, 7.

In 1909, at the Second Annual Conference of Professional Musicians, a motion was proposed that supported TCL and AB as exercising an influence for good on both students and teachers in New Zealand. The motion itself was subject to considerable criticism by delegates as they indicated the great difficulty in voting either “yes” or “no”. When taken to a vote it was lost by a large majority.¹⁰⁶

106

New Zealand Herald, January 26, 1909, 6.

In 1915, a local educationalist of high repute, Professor White, observed that external music exams, tended to keep the standard of work on the same level as that adopted in the Home Country, and gave a status and value to the diplomas that would not be obtained by local examinations. They fixed a standard of work that the experience of teachers in older lands working under different conditions had shown to be practicable.¹⁰⁷

107

Evening Star, October 16, 1915, 9. David Renfrew White (1855 – 1937) was Professor of Education at Otago University 1904 – 1912.

A good endorsement from an expert. Wright provides a good summary of the pedagogical efficacy of grade exams: “[T]he grade system offered individual music teachers step-by-step guidance in matters of technical progression and musical formation that could be used to account to parents for their children’s development.” He termed it the “formative” process. The step up to the professional diplomas fulfilled a “summative” function, providing evidence that the holder had been subjected to a thorough testing by a board of eminent musicians.¹⁰⁸

108

Wright, The Associated Board, 55.

Conclusion

The evidence gathered indicates the graded examination structure was not an intrusion, but was a highly successful form of musical instruction. By 1916 an ever-increasing number of teachers and pupils participated, right through to the professional diploma level. Increasing numbers of pupils successfully taking the examinations is evidence of advancement opportunities previously unavailable. Additionally, monetary encouragement by payment of local or overseas tuition fees was a new feature. Graded exams followed by a professional diploma offered a clear path for those who wished to pursue music as a career, without the need for overseas study.

The extent to which local teachers were supporting the exams indicates a very large acceptance of them and it became common for teachers to display their own acquisition of professional diplomas. The growing number of pupils successful in the local, national, and international prizes, exhibitions and medals, indicates that teaching methods had adapted well to the process and were standing up to comparison on local, national, and international standards.

Even in the short period a professional association was active in Dunedin, it is evident that the diplomas of both AB and TCL became a default standard of competence for applicants. The initial requirements of prior teaching experience were swiftly replaced by standards that were accepted locally and throughout New Zealand.

External examinations brought an aura of respectability and rigor to local music teaching, while their annual prize-giving ceremonies assumed greater public importance than those from local teachers. Additionally examiners often contributed to city musical life by interviews or recitals. TCL exams in particular offered local music businesses the opportunity to provide support in a number of ways.¹⁰⁹

109

Indeed, at the fiftieth Jubilee of TCL in 1946, the Deputy Mayor took pains to emphasize the great part the TCL centre had played in promoting the cultural life of the city. Otago Daily Times, October 23, 1946, 8.

In 1986, the eminent New Zealand music educator David Sell observed: “[T]he English music examinations system dominated the private music teaching sector, and even to this day New Zealand is, proportionate to its population, the best client of the Associated Board and Trinity College overseas examinations.”¹¹⁰

110

David Sell, “Forward from the Famous Five: A Last Colonialism in Music Education,” Proceedings of the 6 National Conference, Australian Society for Music Education (1986): 89.

Now, over 30 years later, the successful assumption and integration of TCL and AB into New Zealand musical culture continues, with both still strongly active. This is despite tertiary level music tuition being available at a number of institutions and the introduction of the New Zealand Music Examinations Board in 2006.¹¹¹

111

Otago University (1925); and Victoria University of Wellington (1946). See also https://nzmeb.org

While there is still no national conservatory of music in New Zealand, there is now a strong, centralized professional musicians’ organization, the Institute of Registered Music Teachers of New Zealand, which continues to use the professional diploma level qualifications from both TCL and AB as proof of competency for applicants.¹¹²

112

http://www.irmt.org.nz

The arrival of graded music exams in New Zealand in the late nineteenth century was a significant event in the cultural history of the country. An examination of their impact within a major city such as Dunedin provides a view of the growth of private music education in a newly-developing country, with these two schools filling a void in the provision of credible and competent music instruction. By 1916 the void was still unfilled by any local associations or institutions. But even in the twenty-first century, the two schools continue to fill an important role in a two-fold manner—providing a large groundswell of aspiring musicians with a recognized means of fostering their abilities, while meeting the more advanced requirements of the few advancing to further tertiary study, either at home or abroad.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Philip Jane

Author Biography

Philip Jane is an independent scholar working in the area of the social history of music in nineteenth-century New Zealand. His background is as a performing professional orchestral violinist, as well as the manager of an academic library. He has a PhD in music from the University of Canterbury, with the thesis topic An historical survey of the development of an orchestral tradition in Christchurch to 1939.