Trevor Matthews musical family history

Trevor  Matthews remembers his families musical history  growing up in Walsall.

Transcript

00:00My name's Trevor Matthews and I come from a very, very musical family. Dad, at the very

00:17early age of 14, was the organist at Ridgefield Road Methodist Chapel at New Invention and

00:28Mum got her ARCM piano by the age of 19 and she continued as a teacher of piano for a

00:40day from then onwards. So, both of them had long careers in music which, you know, you

00:53will know more about, too detailed for me to just tell you about, but they were extended all the

01:04way through from 1913 until 1980, when Mum finished as the accompanist to the Walsall

01:14Operatic Society, a post that she'd held since 1936. Dad went on to be assistant organist at

01:25several churches and then organist at Choirmaster, another three, before he actually died in harness

01:34at All Saints Church at Darleston, but in the interim he also had other musical interests. In

01:45fact, had his own orchestra at New Invention and also he was involved with writing music and, you

02:01know, a host of additional activities. So, I was born with music in my blood, but must have been a

02:14great disappointment to my parents, who never pushed me. I mean, I learnt to play piano, of

02:21course, to a reasonable standard, but to be fair to Mum, she never pushed my sister or myself to

02:31take any examinations, whereas, of course, all the pupils that she had, the parents were all keen to push

02:39them on to take successive examinations in music up to the Stage Eight, I think they called it,

02:47eventually. But yes, I do like music and I've got a very wide appreciation of it from, shall I say,

03:01classical music, piano music, orchestral music, brass band music, all what I would call proper music,

03:12but I've never been able to get on with modern jazz. I just don't understand it somehow, it doesn't seem to

03:20have any melody, you know, harmony and melody form. And of course, over the years, it got even worse

03:29because I can't describe what I think of what they call modern music. It isn't music to me at all, you know,

03:38it's just an absolute terrible noise. So, although I never actually reached any, shall I say, high degree of

03:50playing as a player, I did also, in addition to piano, I did have, and still got, a George Thornby-Styles Uke banjo.

04:02I also had a lovely Clifford Essex Concert Band tenor banjo, which I used to play with my brother's band, actually.

04:11But in addition, I'd cornet, a couple of trumpets, a trombone, and a euphonium. So, over the years, I've sort of, if you like,

04:32say, just amused myself with playing instruments. And I still retain that great love of music. Yeah. But unfortunately,

04:45my hearing is distorted now. And it's really, shall I say, spoilt any, shall I say, the degree of enjoyment that I used to get.

05:02So, that's quite sad. So, here I am, an ancient old man, reminiscing about things that have happened over many, many, many years.