Ronald Cunliffe Shaw

Ronald Cunliffe (14 November 1899 – 2 April 1944) was an English choirmaster, organist, music educator, and BBC broadcaster. He achieved national and international prominence in the 1920s as the founder and director of the Todmorden Boys' Choir, which was noted for performing full-scale grand operas by composers such as Mozart and Rimsky-Korsakov without simplification. He later served as the long-time Music Master at The Latymer School in Edmonton, London, where he composed the school's official song, before joining the BBC full-time as a music broadcaster and writer.

Early life and education Ronald Cunliffe was born on 14 November 1899 at 10 Mount Pleasant in Todmorden, West Riding of Yorkshire, in an area then known as Cobden. He was the first child of John Cunliffe, a Walsden-born cotton weaver, and Lydia Ann Cunliffe (née Corbet). In January 1912, as a pupil of Parker, Cunliffe gained 99 marks out of a possible 100 in the intermediate division (grade 2) musical knowledge examination conducted by the Trinity College of Music.

Alongside his musical training, Cunliffe attended sessional classes at the Municipal Technical Schools. In 1916, he passed the third-year commercial course, earning a first-class pass with distinction in shorthand. He also received a distinction pass in the National Shorthand Association's examination at 60 words per minute.

Career

Early Career in Todmorden

Church organist appointments

In 1916, when the organist of St. Aidan's Church in Todmorden joined the military forces, Cunliffe took over the duties temporarily. In November 1917, upon reaching the age of 18, Cunliffe was called up for service in the First World War, and his close friend Stewart Dennett was appointed to take over his duties as organist and choirmaster. He succeeded A. J. Bracewell, who had held the post since 1887, and officially commenced his duties at Easter 1922.

Following the death of his former teacher W. A. Wrigley in 1923, the Todmorden Parish Church Committee reduced the pool of candidates for the vacant organist position to four applicants. Cunliffe was selected and appointed organist and choirmaster in June 1923. He completed his duties at the Parish Church at the end of June 1925 and was succeeded by John Crowther FRCO, who took over the role in July.

Todmorden Boys' Choir 472x472px On 27 March 1922, Cunliffe founded the Todmorden Boys' Choir. The choir maintained an open admissions policy; no formal voice test was required, and any boy showing basic intelligence, perseverance, and obedience was accepted. Within six weeks of starting, 37 boys had enrolled, and they gave their first demonstration after eight weeks. By August 1922, the choir numbered over 50 boys and was preparing for an inaugural autumn concert at the Todmorden Town Hall. The production was performed at the Dale Street Co-operative Hall at Easter 1924, and was staged again for a five-night run beginning on 30 September 1924. The performances received critical praise from Samuel Langford of The Manchester Guardian and attracted visitors including composer Granville Bantock and writer George Bernard Shaw.

On 31 March 1925, the choir opened a five-night run of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel. After attending a performance, Sydney Nicholson, the organist and Master of Choristers at Westminster Abbey, wrote an appreciative review for The Times, remarking that the sight of a "newspaper boy singing 'Coq d'Or'" signaled the potential for a truly national opera.

In late 1925, the choir prepared an ambitious winter repertory season consisting of four operas: The Magic Flute, The Golden Cockerel, Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, and Wolf-Ferrari's Susanna's Secret. However, on 28 November 1925, Cunliffe collapsed due to a severe ulcer illness during a performance at Wilmslow and was rushed to Manchester Royal Infirmary for surgery. Despite his absence, the three-week Christmas season went ahead as scheduled, with the boys performing the operas entirely without a conductor or prompter. The Todmorden Boys' Choir was officially disbanded at the conclusion of the season, having given over 100 concerts and 35 fully produced operatic performances during its five-and-a-half-year existence. Todmorden Clef Club In June 1920, Cunliffe published a letter to the editor proposing the establishment of a local branch of the British Music Society under the name of the Todmorden Music Club or the Todmorden Clef Club, aiming to bring local musicians and listeners together to perform and discuss works rarely heard on the concert platform. The inaugural meeting of the Todmorden Clef Club was subsequently held on 22 June 1920 at the Weaver's Institute. Cunliffe was appointed as the club's first honorary secretary, working alongside President W. A. Barker and Treasurer J. S. Pilling.

The club was designed as an educational rather than a performing body, charging an annual subscription of five shillings to build an extensive library of classical sheet music and host monthly piano recitals. At the first annual meeting in April 1921, Cunliffe declined re-election as secretary due to illness and a heavy workload, though he was elected to remain on the general committee.

Throughout his involvement with the club, Cunliffe frequently performed as a piano soloist and accompanist. At the club's second meeting in October 1920, he performed the piano part in Brahms's Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34 and accompanied soprano Annis Studd from memory. In March 1921, he performed as a soloist, playing Cyril Scott's Passacaglia, a Sterndale Bennett toccata, and John Ireland's The Holy Boy and The Island Spell. He also maintained a regular musical partnership with young local violinist Stewart Dennett, with whom he rehearsed and performed Eugene Goossens's Sonata in E minor for violin and piano at several club events.

The Latymer School, Edmonton (1927–1941) In September 1927, Cunliffe was appointed by Richard Ashworth as the first Music Master at The Latymer School in Edmonton, London. The school governors selected him in the belief that he would bring a fresh and modern approach to music instruction in secondary education. Shortly after taking up his duties, Cunliffe composed the music for the official s Speech Day in November 1927.

Cunliffe established a rigorous routine of daily singing, using the first fifteen minutes of each school day for morning assemblies. In addition to his choral work, Cunliffe composed incidental music for the school Dramatic Society's production of Sophocles' Electra and directed plays such as Shaw's Misalliance for the Latymer Players, an old students' amateur dramatic group. The Latymer choir also revived works from Cunliffe's Todmorden era; at a 1937 concert, they performed the musical fragment Elgar had written for the Todmorden Boys' Choir in 1922. A retrospective school memoir noted that the choir later broadcast this piece, recalling it as a dedicated fanfare. He was also engaged by the Forces programme to present music talks and perform as a pianist for the "Forces Music Club".

Cunliffe also developed a career as a radio dramatist and writer. In early 1943, he completed a full-length radio feature titled The House of the Dead, which was broadcast twice on shortwave to Brazil, with subsequent transmissions broadcast in Spanish. Although the book and the broadcast remained unfinished at his death, his research notes and draft scripts were preserved. In London, he maintained a registered address at 12 Ranelagh Drive, Edgware, but resided at 262 Philip Lane, Tottenham. In May 1937, while living in Tottenham, he was fined £1 by the Tamworth magistrates for driving a motor car above the 30 mph speed limit in a built-up area.

The coroner's inquest recorded a verdict that Cunliffe took his own life while the balance of his mind was disturbed, noting that he left a suicide note explaining the physical agony and mental distress caused by his chronic illnesses.