The music score for Kingham’s 1974 production Jubilate Deo has been donated, nearly 50 years after the original production.
The score was donated to the Hill by Dr. Joss Bland-Hawthorn, a Hillian and the current director of the Sydney Institute for Astronomy, who was presented the score in lieu of the choir prize by the school’s music teacher, Mr. Wadham Sutton. The scores were stored in his aunt’s attic in Kent between 1974 and 2020, finding the prize when on brief return from Australia. In August 2021, Joss kindly donated it to Kingham, where it has been gifted to the current choir mistress and Head of English, Hannah Seward.
Wadham Sutton pictured in 1974
In addition, part of the score for the 1977 performance of Lumpkin was discovered and has also been donated. The play had been written by the Headmaster, David Shepherd, and Wadham, who went on to musicalise the production as an abridgment of Oliver Goldsmith’s 'She Stoops to Conquer'. Wadham wrote to Joss in 2021, indicating that he continues to be very proud of the musical, feeling as though the production had been a huge success. The 1977 school magazine describes how the production of Lumpkin gained “warmth and vitality” due to the musical numbers that Wadham had provided.
Hillian Nick Holmes, who played one of the main roles in Lumpkin, recalls how Wadham was a “highly talented musician [who] wore that talent very lightly… a modest, witty, patient and caring schoolmaster.” Nick further reflects on how “his music lessons were often no more than him placing a 78 vinyl record on the turntable in the music classroom.. explaining the background of the composer and how he came to write that particular piece, then placing the needle on the record, we then sat in silence as the music filled the room! I’m convinced that my love of classical music has its roots from those very early music lessons with Wadham.” Another of Wadham’s students described him as “one of the kindest, most patient and inspirational teachers the school had.”
Lumpkin, performed in 1977
Former Headmaster David Shepherd says, “he was a highly imaginative and creative musician. I told him I needed a drinking song and hey presto he came up with one; ‘we're drinking beer, we're drinking beer…’ etc, and a love song for someone with a marked stammer: ‘I am very very very very shy’. The boys sang them with great gusto.”
Wadham gained notoriety for his role as the Times Crossword compiler Orpheus; in 2012, he celebrated 40 years with the Times, and had compiled 1404 sets of crosswords since his first in 1972. On September 23rd 2020, Wadham’s crosswords were celebrated once more as he reached his 2000th published crossword.
On behalf of the Hill, we would like to thank Joss for his kind donation, which has helped tell a story many remember fondly.
June, 2021