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Northern School Of Music (NSM)
1959

Official Magazine of the Northern School of Music, covering the academic year 1958-59.

An eventful year at the Northern School of Music, the 1959 issue includes multiple contributions from current and former students with a definite air of changing times. The school’s Student Christian Movement continues to hold lectures with interesting characters, but topics discussed such as ‘Nuclear Warfare, Racial Prejudice and the German Problem’ highlight the revisionist standpoints characteristic of the late 1950s. As Britain (and the world) became increasingly multi-cultural as it moved further into the Cold War Era, issues of race, decolonisation, and international power balances were brought to the forefront of popular discussion – in this instance amongst NSM students.

The Christmas Dance article (pg.18) provides a particularly interesting insight into contemporary attitudes towards ‘popular dance music’ where ‘Bebop had replaced Bach’ and ‘Haydn had given place to Honky Tonk’. Conservatively depicted as a ‘temporary lapse from grace’, the tone of the piece suggests that although new ideas and opinions were brewing, they still required increased momentum before a consensus was established.

Pages 23-31 are censored to protect personal data.

Ref: NSM/21

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.