May Sabeston Walker

May Sabeston Walker was born around 1910. She was congenitally blind and so first attended the Royal National College for the Blind from 1921 to 1928. But her musical talent was exceptional that she was allowed to join the Royal Academy of Music afterwards. May Sabeston Walker studied mainly singing under Astra Desmond and Evelyn Langston and composition under Benjamin Dale. She was an outstanding student and received several awards during her time at the Royal Academy of Music. Among them were the Dove Prize for the most distinguished student in 1935, furthermore the Isabel Jay Gold Medal, the Rutson Memorial Prize, the Anne E. Lloyd Exhibitioner (all for singing) as well as the Cuthbert Nunn Prize, and a Josephine Troup Scholarship (both for composition). May Sabeston Walker was a common participant as singer and as composer in the Royal Academy of Music Fortnightly and Students' Chamber Concerts in the years until her graduation in 1936. At that time May Sabeston Walker was already managed by the renowned artist agency "Ibbs & Tillett" who also represented Fritz Kreisler or Sergei Rachmaninov. But a great career as a soprano wasn't granted to her. After her graduation May Sabeston Walker worked as a singing teacher at different music and girls schools and gave private lessons. It is unknown when May Sabeston Walker passed away.

May Sabeston Walker was also a composer and mainly active during her student years. Some of her songs were published by Augener in the early 1930s. The two songs "Everybody sang" and "Peace" received a remarkable review in the Monthly Musical Record in May 1936:

„The free lyricism of these soprano songs makes them akin in spirit to many of Roger Quilter's settings. Technically, however, they are more improvisatory, and evince a love for pure vocal sound divorced from words. This instinct for colour overlaps into the piano parts, which are highly decorative.“

From her documents I compiled a work list:

1) songs for voice and piano:

Landscape (on words by David Morton)
Goldenhair (on words by James Joyce)
The Eyes (on words by Ezra Pound)
The Story Teller (on words by Mark van Doren)
Everyone sang (on words by Siegfried Sassoon)
Peace (on words by Sara Teasdale)
Slumber Song (on words by Siegfried Sassoon)
Weathers (on words by Thomas Hardy)
Innesfree (on words by W.B. Yeats)
Not that April has begun (on words by Edward Davison)
The Bridge (on words by John Gawsworth)
Lullaby (on words by Sturge Moore)
A Wish (on words by W. Henley)
The Moon of Roses (on words by W. Henley)
Forester's song (on words by A. E. Coppard)
Three country songs (on words by Alex Carlisle)

Chamber music (unknown text author)

The Two Watchers (on words by Thomas Moult)

Into the Wood (on words by David Morton)

2) vocal music:
 

Trio for female voices with harp „Kingcups“
Lalulaby, for chorus
He came all so still, chorus
No more than a manger, chorus

3) chamber music:
 

Violin sonata in F sharp minor
String quartet
Variations on a Normandy Folk-song, for piano
Caprice for piano
Prelude for piano

May Sabeston Walker Archive

In my possession is a large archive of documents from the estate of May Sabeston Walker. That includes the original certificates for her prizes at the Royal Academy of Music, programs of many of her concerts from the 1930s, letters of reference from the heads of her later schools and the handwritten manuscripts of here "Three country songs".

Here are some deatils about the documents in the archive:

• handwritten manuscripts of the songs:
• Cluck Cluck, for voice and piano (complete)
• Gee-up! Whoa! for voice and piano (complete)
• I did not know, for voice and piano (complete)
• [untitled song for voice and piano, beginning with: The ox and the ass together said] (complete)
• [untitled song for voice and piano, incomplete (beginning missing), words include: "and then he stretched out in the sun"]
• original certificate of the Rutson Memorial Prize for singing, awarded to May Sabeston Walker on 20.11.1934
• original certificate of the Josephine Troup Scholarship for composition, awarded to May Sabeston Walker on 24.09.1934, signed by Stanley Marchant and John Blackwood McEwen
• original certificate of the Anne E. Lloyd Exhibition for singing, awarded to May Sabeston Walker on 07.07.1933, signed by John Blackwood McEwen
• certificate with High Commendation from the London Musical Competition Festival awarded to May Sabeston Walker and Myers Foggin in March 1932
• two certificates of merit from the Royal College of the Blind, one for pianoforte playing, dating from July 1924 and July 1925
• pass certificate with honourable mention for pianoforte of the Associated Board of The Royal Academy of Music and The Royal College of Music for May Sabeston Walker, dated 1926
• harmony examination of the Royal Academy of Music from 1929, passed by May Sabeston Walker with 82 points out of 100.
• three contracts of the publishing house Augener for the compositions "Everyone sang", "Peace" and "The Two Watchers" together with two letters by the publisher (dating from 1935)
• a typewritten text titled "Note Island", 9 pages in total. The text is a fantasy text for children and deals with Bella, a young mother, who comes to Note Island and learns everything about music.
• handwritten letter by Hazel Whomes, dating 18.02.1935
• snippet from a handwritten letter by Thomas Moult to May Sabeston Walker
• several programs of concerts and recitals including May Sabeston Walker as a singer and/or composer
• offical presentation booklet for May Sabeston Walker from the artists agency Ibbs & Tillett
• a large collection of newspaper clippings with reviews of concerts or publications by May Sabeston Walker
• typewritten CV from around 1950 with additional letters of reference from the heads of Maldon Girls' Secondary School, Chelmsford High School and Chorleywood College
• the offical Prize Lists of the Royal Academy of Music from 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934 and 1936

The manuscripts are obviously not in the hand of May Sabeston Walker. I don't know how she penned down music, but in this case someone must had written down the music for her into a normal music manuscript.

Two of the four complete songs were published by Augener in 1949 under the title "Three country songs". This published set includes the songs 1. "Old Neddy", 2. "Cluck! Cluck!" and 3. "Nightingale in the darkness" on words by Alex Carlisle. Comparing the text "Old Neddy" was previously titled "Gee-up! Whoa!".

The two other songs seem to be unpublished.