Gipps: Prelude for Bass Clarinet Solo / Mark O’Brien

Ruth Gipps: Prelude for Bass Clarinet Solo / Mark O’Brien, CBSO Principal Bass Clarinet

Ruth Gipps MBE (1921-99)

Ruth ‘Wid’ Gipps joined the CBO (City of Birmingham Orchestra, as it was known then) as second oboe in the summer of 1944 – an early appointment to the new full-time orchestra. Also an accomplished concert pianist, Gipps was already finding her voice as a composer and conductor and the orchestra’s principal conductor at the time, George Weldon, offered her numerous opportunities to showcase her many musical talents. On 25 March 1945 she played in the orchestra in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, appeared as soloist in Glazunov’s First Piano Concerto, and finally played cor anglais in the premiere of her own First Symphony. ‘How often does musical history show a case of so remarkable a symphony written by a girl of twenty-one – or for that matter, by a boy?’ asked the Birmingham Post. After she left the orchestra in the spring of that year, Weldon continued to champion Gipps’ music and she went on to direct the City of Birmingham Choir, found the London Repertoire Orchestra and compose a further four symphonies. In 1949, meanwhile, she launched and edited Play On – the CBSO’s first in-house magazine. Gipps was a truly remarkable lady with an incredible musical talent and continues to hold a special place within the CBSO family history.

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