Michaelmas 2008

at Willow Meadow provides the setting for

an impressive new art work by Mark Wallinger (right)that was commissioned tocelebrate the College’s 550thAnniversary. Two years indevelopment, the sculptureY was unveiled on St. Mary Magdalen’s Day, 22ndJuly 2008. The artist says of his work: “Thebifurcating forks or tines of Y are like the branchesof the College’s ancestral tree or the antlers of the College deer. The repeated figure referencesdivining rods, typically cut from the trees found inBat Willow Meadow, and the structure echoes the Gothic tracery which is present within thearchitecture of the College”.

Mark Wallinger is best known for Ecce Homo, hislife-sized sculpture of Jesus Christ that in-augurated the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in1999, and State Britain, his re-creation of BrianHaw’s protest display outside parliament, whichwon the Turner Prize in 2007.

The commission has been supported by ArtsCouncil England and the Henry Moore Foundation,with the generous assistance of Magalen memberRoger Kay (1977) and his wife Izabella.

The most important book to emerge from MagdalenCollege’s flourishing publishing programme is a new his-tory of the College, edited by Magdalen’s senior histori-an, Laurence Brockliss. After many years’ work, he andhis team of Magdalen authors—including EmilyCockayne, Matthew d'Ancona, Robin Darwall-Smith,Christine Ferdinand, Gerald Harriss, Andrew Hegarty,Julian Lock, David Skinner, and Lucy Wooding—haveproduced a meticulously researched and very readableaccount of Magdalen College from its foundation in 1458to the early twenty-first century.

Magdalen has a long, complicated, and fascinating

history, and it is fair to saythat this is the first time thathistory has been comprehen-sively related. Brockliss’book is a big improvement onthe only other history of theCollege ever written, H.A.Wilson’s Magdalen College,published in 1899, and reprinted in 1998 when there wasno obvious successor. The differences are immediatelyevident: the new history has more than three times thetext of the nineteenth-century volume, and many more

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CELEBRATING 550 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE :1458–2008

A new sculpture to markthe 550th Anniversary

of the College

Coming soon – a new History of Magdalen CollegeAnd a special offer for members of Magdalen

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illustrations, including hundreds in black-and-white and dozens in colour, as wellas maps and graphs. Wilson’s bookstopped with the new statutes in 1857;more than half of Brockliss’ is devoted tothe period 1860–2005, so it will includethe very first account of the College’srecent past. Magdalen’s extensivearchives and numerous other sourceshave been mined for accurate informa-

tion on the College’s finances, the chang-ing character of its membership, its polit-ical fortunes and misfortunes, the devel-opment of Magdalen music, and thegrowth of an important academic library.The main narrative is supported by aglossary, appendices, and a detailedindex.

The College is enthusiastically commit-ted to the project, and wants to make

it widely accessible, especially to mem-bers past and present. ThereforeMagdalen has subsidized a discounted, pre-publication price for members only.

Until 15th September members can ordercopies of the book at a special 50% discounted pre-publication price of £45. Email: [email protected] tel: +44 (0) 1865 276052

2 F L O R E A T M A G D A L E N A • M I C H A E L M A S 2 0 0 8

One of the things that makesMagdalen such a special place is its

grounds and gardens. As a keen gardener Iam always eager to get my hands dirty so Iwas fortunate that the President’s Gardenhad potential for improvement, having beencleared of a number of old conifers justbefore we arrived three years ago.Working with the Head Gardener, ClaireShepherd, and her team, I have had amost enjoyable time creating andmaintaining a newly planted garden.

The earliest references to aPresident’s Garden occur on

Ralph Agas’ map (c.1578). This showsan extensive Garden that includedorchards and a fish pond lying to thenorth of the Lodgings, reachingacross what is now New Building andinto the Grove deer park. Recordssuggest that this garden was wellused by the first married President ofthe College, Laurence Humphrey(1561-1589), his wife and their 12offspring. When construction of theNew Building began in 1733 thePresident’s Garden was lost and forthe next 90 years, no records of aPresident’s Garden exist.

In the 1820s, President Routh tookadvantage of the demolition of mostof Magdalen Hall to include a largepart of the site in the creation of anew President’s Garden. Ordnancesurvey maps of 1880 show that it coveredmost of what is now St Swithun’s Quad.Here was situated a very large walledvegetable garden, a vinery and threeother glasshouses, as well as numerousflower beds intersected by winding paths.It was during President Bulley’s time inthe 1880s that the garden was reduced tothe size it is today to allow for thebuilding of St. Swithun’s Quad.

My challenge in creating a new garden was to keep the stage used by the

College’s theatrical group The MagdalenPlayers without its imposing on the gardenfor the rest of the year. As many gardenersbefore me, I have been inspired by GertrudeJekyll both in her use of shape and form, and

particularly in her use of colour. I wantedthere to be a lot of scent, places to sit andgenerally a softer shape to what wasessentially a rectangle of grass.

With the assistance of the Magdalengarden team and equipped with ropes,

cans of spray paint and spades, we marked outand re-shaped the borders, created newflower beds and began the first set of new

planting in 2006 of shrubs, bulbs, herbaceousplants and roses. Many of the roses which arenow flourishing have names which relate tothe College such as Falstaff (Fastolf), Gallicaofficinalis (the red rose of Lancaster), AlbaMaxima (the white rose of York), MaryMagdalene (with the Cambridge spelling) and

Winchester Cathedral, the closest link inthe world of roses to the College’sfounder, William Waynflete. The gardenwould not be complete without theflower most associated with Magdalen,the Lilium longiflorum. Not only are liliesrepresented on a rose arbour speciallycommissioned for the Garden, but thereal plants are now growing successfullyin pots having so far escaped theravages of the larvae of the dreadedscarlet lily beetle.

I wanted the garden to be especiallyattractive at the beginning of summerand also in the early autumn to coincidewith Gaudies, performances of plays andgarden parties. This seems to have workedwell, so that this year’s staging of Wilde’sAn Ideal Husband not only had a highlyscented, mauve backdrop of Wisteriasinensis in its prime but the footlightswere complemented by the first floweringof the yellow iris Golden Planet.

Thanks to Claire Shepherd and herteam, the garden is beginning to

mature. The odd straying frisbee flyingover the wall (often followed by an

undergraduate who thinks he or she has notbeen spotted) has fortunately failed to havethe same damaging impact as the fox thatslept on the euphorbia for several nights thisspring or the birds that decided to remove allthe buds from the dianthus.

This year the smaller walled section of thePresident’s Garden will be redesigned. I lookforward to inviting you to see the results inthe years to come. Heather Clary

The President’s GardenHeather Clary describes the art and joy of creating a new garden at Magdalen

Photograph: The Great Tower seen from the President’s Garden.R. Fenton (mid-19th century)

continued from p1

Photograph:The Great Tower seen from the President’s Garden, July 2008.Heather Clary

A Wilde Affairat MagdalenThis year, the Magdalen Players’ traditional

summer garden show was Oscar Wilde’sglitzy, scandal-filled classic, An IdealHusband. In the beautiful surroundings ofthe President’s Garden (and withconsiderable help from probably the bestweek of weather ever recorded in May), theIrish playwright’s tale of what-goes-around-comes-around was received enthusiasticallyby night after night of sell-out audiences. Theplay’s humour is memorably droll, and Wildeis at his epigrammatic best in the exchangesbetween devil-may-care socialite LordGoring and his weary butler Phipps:

Lord Goring [taking out old buttonhole]:You see, Phipps, fashion is what one wearsoneself. What is unfashionable is whatother people wear.Phipps: Yes, my lord.[...]Lord Goring: Other people are quitedreadful. The only possible society isoneself.Phipps: Yes, my lord.Lord Goring: To love oneself is thebeginning of a lifelong romance, Phipps.Phipps: Yes, my lord.

These one-liners, though, are balanced byserious drama, as rising political star

Robert Chiltern comes close to losing hismarriage over a revealed secret from the past.Wilde was a student at Magdalen during the1870s, so the play seemed especially suited tocommemorate the 550th anniversary of theCollege. For the same reason, a black-tie galaperformance was held on the last night of therun, which included champagne, canapés anda speech by Wilde’s great-grandson andMagdalen alumnus, Lucien Holland (1997).No one wants to say it was a work of idealhusbandry – but, then again, it probably was.

Clare Bucknell (2007), Producer

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The 550th Anniversary Garden Party on Saturday 28th June was attended byover 2,600 fellows, students, members andtheir guests. New Building’s Lawn provid-ed the perfect venue for a giant tea partywhere friends and families relaxed andchatted in the summer sunshine. Jugglersand clowns delighted a large audience ofchildren and their parents on St Swithun’sLawn. The programme also includedchauffered punts, tower climbs, organrecitals and an exhibition of the College’streasures, including the originalFoundation Charter of the College. As theafternoon drew to a close, the choir sangin Cloisters and at 6.00 pm the bells of theGreat Tower chimed out a joyful QuarterPeel to mark the conclusion of a highlysuccessful and very memorableAnniversary Garden Party.

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without paying the costs? For most primates,the problem of cooperation is solved throughsocial grooming, which has been shown tostimulate the flow of endorphins, chemicalswhich create a sense of well-being andcamaraderie. Humans, however, live in muchlarger groups. For grooming to solve theproblem of cooperation in humans, weshould have to spend well over half of ourwaking hours grooming one another.

How, then, do human beings solve theproblem of cooperation? Professor Dunbarargued that, through the development oflanguage and ‘theory-of-mind’ (a term fromdevelopmental psychology referring to thecapacity to think about the mental states of others), human beings use humour,communal religious ritual and storytelling tostimulate the release of endorphins and bringabout bonding within human groups. Ouruniqueness then lies in our stories, rituals,and jokes, which exist in order to bind ustogether in cooperative groups when socialgrooming is no longer enough.

Professor Whitehouse’s lecture, entitled‘Explaining Religion’, addressed the long-

standing question why human beingspractise religion. His lecture outlined how the ‘Explaining Religion’ or EXREL project, athree-year international research effortinvolving 14 universities and funded by theEuropean Commission, will attempt to solvethis puzzle.

While many scholars, including suchgiants as Marx, Freud, Durkheim, and Tylor,have attempted to explain the existence ofreligion, Professor Whitehouse argued thatall suffered from the problem of attemptingto boil religion down to one monolithicprocess and that all such ‘magic bullet’explanations, when rendered precise andtestable, have failed.Professor Whitehouseoutlined how the EXRELproject will carve a newpath forward in theexplanation of religionby abandoning magic-bullet explanations,fractionating religioninto specific patterns ofthought and behaviour(including beliefs insupernatural agents,


Great Apes and Religion: Anthropologists Tackle the Big Questions

Let it not be said that anthropology is anarrow discipline, as some anthro-

pologists examine Neanderthal crania whilstothers examine contemporary media. Withinthis broad discipline, some aim at a betterunderstanding of the particularities of place,culture, and history. Others aim at addressingquestions about human uniqueness in theanimal world and the commonalities humanbeings in all cultures may share as a result ofour evolutionary heritage.

At the Waynflete Symposium onAnthropology on 3rd May, the thirdSymposium held at Magdalen to celebratethe College’s 550th Anniversary, the focuswas certainly on the big questions. After anenthusiastic introduction from Dr ClareHarris, Magdalen Tutorial Fellow inAnthropology, a full auditorium of students,fellows, alumni, and guests, including SirDavid Attenborough, was treated to a pairof outstanding presentations on ambitioustopics by two of Magdalen’s newestProfessorial Fellows, Robin Dunbar andHarvey Whitehouse.

Professor Dunbar’s lecture, entitled‘Why humans are not just great apes’,

addressed the enduring question of human uniqueness. Professor Dunbar calledattention to the common heritage thathuman beings share with other great apesbut also argued that humans alone, throughreligion and storytelling, participate in avirtual life of the mind. His lecture focusedon why and how such a virtual life of themind has evolved.

Regarding why, Professor Dunbar con-sidered the problem of cooperation withincommunities. What allows primates to livetogether without disintegrating under thepressure of ‘free-riders’, group members whoenjoy the benefits of group membership

Robin Dunbar (right) and Harvey Whitehouse. Photograph: Tom Wild

Sir David Attenborough and The President. Photograph: Tom Wild

creationism, and the afterlife), and utilizingthe cognitive sciences in order to explainthese patterns. For example, rather thanexplaining creationism through individuals’exposure to explicit stories such as theGenesis myth, Professor Whitehouse arguedthat findings from developmentalpsychology lead us to conclude that humansare intuitive creationists and that thisexplains why so many stories like Genesisexist in the first place.

While he described how current findingscan offer tentative explanations for many ofthe specific patterns, Professor Whitehousealso noted how the EXREL project willattempt to explain how socio-culturalenvironments can result in the emphasis ofdifferent patterns. For example, creationistdiscourses are relatively rare in sometraditions, such as many Afro-Brazilianpossession cults, but very prominent inothers, including many branches ofAmerican Christianity. Furthermore,Professor Whitehouse outlined how theEXREL project will attempt to predict thefuture dynamics of religious traditionsaround the world, based on knowledge ofboth the psychological mechanisms andsocio-cultural environ-ments involved.

These two presentations by eminentscholars on challenging subjects not only

thrilled the audience and stimulated aspirited question-and-answer session, butalso showed that addressing anthropology’sbig questions is alive and well at Magdalen asit celebrates its 550th year.

Jonathan LanmanDPhil Student in Anthropology


When did you come to Magdalen, and inwhat capacity?The 14th February 1968 was the day I wassworn in. I came first as a Research Fellow. Ihad a year away in America and a year inBristol, before I started my TutorialFellowship in October 1973. So I have beenteaching for 35 years.

What are the most significant changes youhave observed at Magdalen and Oxfordgenerally during your time here?In the University as a whole one of the mostpositive and obvious changes has been thehuge increase in the proportion of women – itused to be a predominantly male outfit, whichtolerated women on the edge. Havingwomen in the College – it must be getting onnow for 50% – has changed the whole feel ofthe place. It has changed its intellectualnature just as much as it has changed its social nature.

How has it changed its intellectual nature?There’s less complacency, there’s lesscompetitiveness for its own sake, and there’sa better, rounded intellectual sense in theplace, to put it very crudely. A second, moreacademic shift, has been the increasingimportance of what you might call inter-disciplinarity. I’ve always been interested inother literatures beside classical literature,and I’ve always been interested in theatre.More recently I’ve been able to incorporateperformance and theatre studies much morein my interests than I used to be able to. Andwhat we very roughly call ‘Reception’,instead of being a kind of marginal hobby, isnow a significant part of the way we dothings. People used to be pretty territorial:‘This is my subject, you keep out of it’ used tobe the attitude. ‘And you, that’s your subject,I won’t try and interfere in that.’ But nowthere’s much more ‘Well, how do oursubjects interact? What have they got tooffer to each other?’ There’s more tolerance.

What have been your favourite aspects ofbeing a don at Magdalen, and why have youchosen to stay here for your career?A leading advantage of being here has beenmy independence: I have no boss, I have nobig-cheese professor whom I have to please.I’m not within a hierarchy; I have a veryconsiderable autonomy. Also we do have

very, very good students here. It is a job thatis dominated by undergraduate teaching,and the fact that the huge majority of theundergraduates are really bright and reallywell motivated is very important. Then this isa fantastic environment. Out of those 35years, I’ve probably been here [in the NewBuilding] for 25 of them, with Addison’s Walkliterally right outside my door, and all thegreenery right outside my window. When Ivisit other universities, I cannot helpcontrasting their pokey little offices, withhorrible views out of their windows, car parks or whatever. That is a verysignificant consideration.

Have you had any run-ins with the herd ofdeer outside your window here?I do remember a time not very long ago whenthey were over on the other side of the river[in the water meadow], and it had rainedheavily for two or three days, but peoplehadn’t foreseen that it was going to flood. Thestaff came in one morning and the deer werein there up to their necks. It was at the timewhen we were having a terrible trouble in thepress, because Gordon Brown had attackedus. And I suddenly saw in my mind, thishorrible headline,

‘Dead Deer Flot Pass

the Houses of Parliament’

[laughs].

In fact, the garden staff – I came in at 8o’clock in the morning and I saw this –managed to rescue every single one of themand get them back across the river.

Who is the most interesting person you’veencountered passing through Magdalen?I think I’d have to say Seamus Heaney.Magdalen was his base when he wasProfessor of Poetry. I used to go to all of hislectures, because he did just brilliantlectures. And we used to have drinks in theEastgate Hotel afterwards, and that kind ofthing. We’ve stayed in touch ever since. I seehim in Dublin now and then, or he comes toOxford. So he’s remained a friend ever sincehe was here visiting. He’s probably the mostfascinating and charismatic person to have passed through.

How have you most left your mark atMagdalen?I think what I would like to say I’ve managed

On a June afternoon at the end of Trinity Term 2008, Classics and English finalistRachel Lesser caught up with tutor Professor Taplin in his office in the NewBuilding. On the eve of his retirement they discussed his 40 years as a fellow atMagdalen College and his plans for the future. Oliver Taplin. 1968

Senior Common Room Photo Album.

is to make Classics and related subjects ofhigh standing in the college. It’s not a dyingsubject, it’s not a marginal subject, and it’s not a subject that’s only for public-school boys.

What are your plans for this next period ofyour life?To some extent I will carry on doing what I do,thinking and writing about ancient Greekliterature and about its reception in moderntimes, particularly its interaction with thetheatre. I am thinking that I may write a bookon ‘Tragedy’ or on ‘Going to the theatre.’

I am very interested in the practice as wellas the theory of translation. I really want toget down to doing my own translations,particularly of drama, and then it would bevery important for me to try and get thosetranslations performed. I am also thinking,for example, of doing an anthology of Greekpoetry, the poetry of love and death. We’lljust have to wait and see if I’ll turn into asignificant translator or not. I would actuallylike people to think of me maybe as they thinkof Richmond Lattimore, or Gilbert Murray,but we’ll have to see.

Well, I’ll be looking for your translations inthe bookstores. In five years time we should know.

Do you have any insights to share withMagdalen students, fellows, or alumni?I do think that freedom is important, both fordons and for students, and I think that over-monitoring is a danger, saying that every-thing should fit a pattern, and saying that allthe boxes should be ticked. That kind of abureaucratic authoritarian perspective maybe efficient, but it stifles individuality, it stiflesadventurousness, it stifles thinking outsidethe box. So I hope that this place will be able to stay independent enough of outsidemonitoring to give people the elbow roomand the air to be able to think laterally, to be able to be daring, to take some risks. AndI think this College is quite good at saying ‘we do the basic essentials well, and then we do something different as well, we dosomething that is more interesting, moreunusual. We encourage the individual, weencourage the variety, and we don’t expectpeople to conform.’ I think that’s good and Ihope it will stay like that.

An Interview with Oliver Taplin,Professor of Classics

‘Dead Deer Float Past the Houses of Parliament’ [laughs].

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HOLD HER UP – HARD!!Dominique Jackson looks back on an eventful year for MCWBC

As I hacked my way through theshoulder-high nettles and brambles

along the Isis, armed with only a bicyclepump and a mobile phone, I asked myselfhow it was exactly that I had got myselfinto this predicament?

I cast my mind back to the sunnySaturday of Eights Week the previous May.Back on the crowded terrace of MagdalenBoat House, banner fluttering overhead,large Pimms in hand, I was wallowing innostalgia for my own long-gone rowingdays. I fell to chatting with MCWBCCaptain Lauren Adair (2005), a fellowLinguist, and when asked, I offered myservices – just to help with recruiting andperhaps a little coaching.

Yet here I was, six months on, edgingalong the boggy banks of the Isis at 6.45a.m. on a damp November morning,shouting “Can you hear me, Magdalen?Think I’m nearly there!” A stiff breeze,implacable current and keen but novicecrew, many of them on their first waterouting, had combined to push the eightinto the far bank, just below the Gut.

When I reached them, I sawimmediately why no amount of

backing down had manoeuvred the boatfree. The bows were wedged firmly at a 15degree angle in the branches of a largewillow. With the problem identified, acombination of tapping and backing downsoon had the boat reversing into theundergrowth and out into the stream.

Thankfully, there was no damage done, tothe boat or to the rowers, although egoswere bruised as passing crews contributedmuch perceptive advice: “Magdalen! You’renot allowed to park up there!” Ourdistinctive lily blades can sometimes be adisadvantage.

Nevertheless, all but one of the ‘treecrew’ continued to row. Thanks to

brilliant organization and coaching byCaptain Chloë Strevens (2006), ViceCaptains Sarah McCraw (2006) andCaroline Dixon (2006), assisted by JamesSolly (2004), we had a 35-strong squadready to uphold MCBC honour at theChristchurch Regatta.

Sadly it was not to be: inclement weatherled to its cancellation. However, a weekearlier, two MCWBC crews put in acreditable performance and gained

valuable racing experience at NephthysRegatta.

More bad weather blighted Hilarypreparations with the Isis often closed andtraining restricted to the less picturesquesurroundings of the gym. Our indefatigablecoach Nic Thomas put the first VIII throughtheir paces at Radley while MatthewWerley (2004) supervised as much watertime as the seconds managed on the Isis.

Keenly aware of the 2007 anti-climax,when Torpids was cancelled outright,

we watched weather forecasts and riverlevels anxiously. We were not disappointed.All those hours in the gym clearly paid offwith both MCWBC crews bumping on eachday to win Blades.

Buoyed by Bumps success, andencouraged by the Men, whose 1st VIII tookthe Headship in Torpids for the first timesince 1937, MCBCstarted Trinity in fineform, with places inboth crews keenlycontested on longoutings and in gymsessions.

In this, the 150thanniversary year of theBoat Club, it isheartening to see thatMCBC traditions andfriendships remain sovibrant. The 2nd VIIIwere thrilled when DrSandy Cavenagh (1948)came all the way from his Brecon home togive us a pep talk at our last water outingahead of Eights.

Sandy suggested that, although so muchabout competitive rowing had changed,certainly since his father, J. B. C. Cavenagh(1909), rowed at bow in the Magdalen 1st VIII in1912 — the essential business of rowing for your College remainsunchanged. Today’s crews have to managethe same tensions, nerves and pressures asany Magdalen oarsmen would have felt,from no matter which era. Charles Cozens, aformer MCBC captain of a later generation(1979), also gave up much valuable time tooversee W1 at Radley.

Whether it is the weather, the Pimms orapproaching Long Vacation, it can

seem all too easy to fall into a false sense of

From left to right: Leila Gafaar (cox), Ben Harrop-Griffiths, Joe Abdalla, Henry Northern, KizzieFenner, Mark Haden, Susannah Belcher, Brett Tully, Alice Brennan. Photograph: Peter Nordberg

security ahead of Eights. Both crews werejustifiably confident and, when W2narrowly failed to catch Regents Park onthe first day, obliging them to row all theway over, I felt very guilty that I hadn’tprepared them for this exhaustingeventuality.

Yet, they were undaunted – they haddone it once and could do it again. Theywent on to bump twice and were ratherdisappointed that their final bump waswithin 30 strokes, robbing them of a morechallenging race. The 1st VIII, up amongtough competition in the First Division,rowed over three times but bravely bumpedMerton on the Friday, taking MCWBC totheir highest ever position on the river.

More recently, six stalwarts joined abunch of the boys on a charity row to

London (see next page). Boat Club veteransSusannah Belcher (2001) and Kelly Perkins(1999), the latter ‘on loan’ from her Fellow’sduties at Worcester, joined Alice Brennan

(2006) and Kizzie Fenner (2006) in thegalley while Reesha Sodha (2005) and LeilaGaafar (2007) took turns in the cox seat.

Next year, 2009, marks the 30thanniversary of women’s rowing at

Magdalen. Plans are afoot for specialevents, celebrations and possibly even somerowing. Suggestions, particularly from oldMCWBC members, will be welcomed bynew women’s Captain Hannah Caldwell(2007), and her deputy, Philippa Balestrieri(2007). We are always grateful for anyencouragement, but special thanks must go this year to Senior Treasurer MarkBlandford-Baker and to the President andMrs Clary for their unstinting, and oftenvery vocal, support.

Floreat Magdalena!

The Waynflete Symposium on Music on7th June was dedicated to exploring a

fundamental (though hardly self-evident)question within the field of musicology:‘Why Analyse Music?’ As a way of coming to grips with the experience of music,analysing music—the nuts-and-bolts app-roach to understanding musical structures—seems to demand a level of technicalengagement far beyond the reach of mostarmchair listeners. Requiring technical jar-gon, access to an authoritative score and ahistorical grasp of how composers worked,music analysis has unfortunately comeunder fire for being either an hermeticdiscussion for specialists, or an ideologicalenterprise rooted in nineteenth-centuryGerman instrumental music.

Undergraduate tutorial teaching at itsfinest, however, thrives whenever studentsare equipped with a variety of analyticaltools, and it is a testimony to the strengthsof music education at Magdalen that this topic served to commemorate theCollege’s 550th anniversary. Should anyoneattending the Symposium have asked ‘Well,why indeed analyse music?’, the fourspeakers convincingly argued why it still matters as a meaningful form ofengagement with musical experience.

Karol Berger (Stanford) opened theconference with a masterful discussion

of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, one of themost over-analysed pieces of all time. In stark contrast with previous com-mentators (who typically focus on theopera’s harmonic innovations), Bergermeticulously demonstrated how Wagnerrecast Italian operatic conventions to lendstructural cohesion to his drama.

Next up was Suzannah Clark (Merton),who immediately rephrased the Sym-posium’s question as ‘Why do I analysemusic?’ to introduce why she finds the musicof Franz Schubert so challenging fortraditional analytical methods. The over-arching concern of Clark’s work, in brief, is not to use analysis to understand Schubert anew, but to see how his music has overturned the prevailing theo-retical commitments of analysts through-out the years.

Nowhere were the inadequacies of musicanalysis more transparently shown

than in Professor Jonathan Cross’ (ChristChurch) analysis of the slow movement from‘Six Tempi for 10 instruments’ (1957),written by the English composer ElisabethLutyens (1906-1983). Rather than usingformal analysis to explain away every lastdetail of Lutyens’s complex score, Cross(previously editor of the prestigious journalmusic analysis) suggested that even themost sophisticated analytical systems leavethe sensual experience of listeningunaccounted for.

Concluding the Symposium, ProfessorLaurence Dreyfus gave a lucid discussion ofGibbons’ In Nomine No.2 for viol quintet.Dreyfus’ intimacy from performing thismusic (which over the years drew him intoanalysing the score) helped shed light on thetenacity with which Gibbons exhaustivelypursued various compositional possibilities.Although only scratching the surface,Dreyfus provided a glimpse into thecontrapuntal genius of Gibbons’ mind.

In a fitting coda to the preceding talks, theday closed with a Lieder recital by the

baritone Roderick Williams, who gavepowerful readings of Schumann’sLiederkreis and Brahms’ Vier ernsteGesänge. In the end, Williams’ commandingvoice managed to seduce these structurallycomplex songs away from the trappings ofintellectual abstraction and analysis, andback into the sensual realm of liveperformance.

Matthew Werley Music post-graduate

Why AnalyseMusic?


On 8th July Magdalen undergraduateNicholas Berry (2004) joined two

Oxford students Lennard Lee and HarryFisher in a fundraising swim across theStraits of Gibraltar. Not only did they raiseover £1,800 for the children’s charity Variety Club, but the trio also set a newBritish record. Dealing with strong currentsand dodging huge ships they crossed theStraits unaided in three hours and 38minutes. The students faced even moreadversity than usual, as they also had tocontend with a pod of killer whales followingthem on the final stage of their swim.Duncan Goodhew, one of Britain’s best-known Olympic athletes and a long-timesupporter of the charity, acknowledged theextent of the students’ success,

“This is an incredible achievement forthem. To be able to swim 22 kilometresacross open water in one of the mostperilous stretches of sea in the world is afantastic challenge in itself, let alonesetting a new British record. Thestudents displayed real drive in theirtraining and were passionate abouthelping what is a truly worthy charity.”

To find out more, please check out:www.justgiving.com/gibstraits.

On August 3rd, a mixed MCBC crew completed a190km row from the Isis to the Houses of Parliament,through 33 locks in 28 hours to raise more than £2,000for CLIC Sargent, which supports children and youngpeople with cancer. Finally at Westminster, the crewnarrowly escaped being swamped just as the tideturned. The last leg back to Putney was consequentlyhard going but they made it back by lunchtime,aching, blistered but understandably exhilarated. The row was organized by outgoing and incomingMCBC Captains Mark Haden (2003) and Joe Abdalla(2007) as a gesture of support for boat club coachesNic and Andy Thomas, whose infant son Morgan has been ill for several months and has beenreceiving treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital.To find out more, please check out: www.justgiving.com/magdalenrowtoLondon.

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Roderick Williams accompanied by Susie AllanPhotograph: Marilyn Bowler

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SOLUTIONSOLUTIONThe Floreat The Floreat Crossword No. 3Crossword No. 3

Design & layout: Rowie Christopher Design Printed by Holywell Press, Oxford

Congratulations to Kirsti Biggs (2007) whoprovided the first correct solution to the FloreatCrossword No.3.

The Floreat crossword will return in the nextissue.

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Subject Gaudy: Modern Languages *All Modern Linguists welcome

Anniversary Event: Waynflete Symposium on English Literature

Annual Alumni Dinner and Magdalen Society AGM *

University Reunion Weekend – for all Oxford alumniSee Oxford Today or www.alumniweekend.ox.ac.uk

Gaudy for Year Groups 1980–82. No guests *

Reception at the British Embassy in Washington DC, USAAll alumni welcome

Magdalen College Boat Club 150th Anniversary Dinner for Friends and Membersof the MCBC and their guests *

Anniversary Event: Waynflete Symposium onEducation, Faith and Citizenship

New Year Dinner at the Oxford & Cambridge Club in London* All alumni welcomeSpeaker: Dr Ralph Walker,Vice-President of Magdalen College

Hacks’ Dinner for members who are working in orretired from journalism and media

Invitations will be sent by post for events marked *.

All members and their guests are welcome atevents unless marked otherwise.

If you would like to receive an invitation to theAnniversary Symposia please contact:

The Development OfficeTel : 01865 276082 Fax: 01865 286654Email: [email protected]

Robert Hichens studied Law at Magdalen (1927)and like many of his undergraduate generationcame from ‘sturdy, solid, minor gentry’. His evo-lution from comfortably-off Cornish solicitor toacknowledged doyen of Coastal Forces and themost highly decorated RNVR (Royal NavalVolunteer Reserve) officer of World War II wasdetermined by nine factors: an intimacy withcoastal waters acquired in small boats; a ‘pas-sion for fast cars’ and their engines; a low-keypatriotism that was fed by his love of the sea; adesire to ‘avenge’ the wrongs being perpetratedby the ‘barbarian’ Nazis; a concern to defend hisfamily against ‘Hitlerism’; a penchant for gettingthings done quickly, aggressively and flawlessly;an ability to command by firm example, with aslittle ‘bawling-out’ as possible; an independent-mindedness; and a will to overcome the fear of sudden death by ‘daring the worst’ and out-facing it (p. 266). The account consists of un-edited diary entries (1939-41), collateral materi-al, extended passages from Robert’s never-com-pleted We Fought Them in Gunboats (1942-43,pub. 1944), and judicious commentary by theauthor, Robert’s younger son (Magdalen 1956).For the non-specialist, the book is a grippingread, for Robert writes clearly and fluently, andcombines vivid description with personal frank-

ness, compassion, analytical intelligence, excite-ment, sadness, outrage and even humour. For thehistorian, it has four great merits. First, it gives astark account of the inaction of the Phoney War,when Robert served in mine-sweepers, and thechaos he encountered at Dunkirk. Secondly, itpaints a highly unromantic picture of the bore-dom, discomfort and danger of life at sea insmall MGBs. Thirdly, it charts Coastal Forces’three-year transformation from a poorlyequipped, directionless side-show into a sig-nifcant spearhead in the struggle for navalsupremacy in home waters. Finally, it is deeplycritical of the innate conservatism of the Britishnaval hierarchy: their unwillingness to listen toand learn from those at the cutting edge. Robert,it seems, expended almost as much effort fight-ing the ‘brass’ as he did the Germans and theweather, and could do so with such effectivenessonly because he was not a regular officer. Allestablished hierarchies, whether military, educa-tional or commercial, suffer from this systemicproblem, especially in societies that are be-devilled by class. Which means that AntonyHichens’ remarkable biography is also a timelyparable of the human and material waste thatoccur when the arrogance of established powerimpedes rational and innovative thinking.

Gunboat Command: The Life of ‘Hitch’ – Lieutenant Commander Robert Hichens, DSO*, DSC** RNVR, (1909-1943). By Antony Hichens. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2007. pp. xiv + 348. £25.00.

Emeritus Fellow Professor Richard Sheppard reviews thebiography of Robert Hichens (1927), the most highly decoratedRNVR officer in the Second World War.

Film Update: Stephen Potts (1979 ) to write rowing sceenplay

In our last issue Stephen Potts discussed adapting Philip Pullman’sOxford-set novel The Butterfly Tattoo for the cinema. The film is to receive its world premiere in Holland in September, with screenings at subsequentfestivals in New York and elsewhere.Stephen is now working alongside producer colleagues Rik Visser andJolies van Emburg on their next project. Another adaptation, it features centrally the sport most dear to Oxford hearts: rowing.

Bill Ives was awarded the degree of Doctor of Music from the Archbishop ofCanterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, at Lambeth Palace on 1 July, in recognition ofhis significant contribution to church music, particularly as a composer and asOrganist and Informator Choristarum at Magdalen College. In Liverpool’sAnglican Cathedral on 17th May he also became a Fellow of the Royal Schoolof Church Music ‘in recognition of outstanding work as a liturgical composerand choral director’.

Professor Elizabeth Cooke née Coppin (1980) has been appointed as Law Commissioner.

The Law Commission is an independent statutory body, formed in 1965 to keep thelaw of England and Wales under review and to recommend reform where needed.Professor Cooke will be responsible for property, family and trust-law projects. Herappointment runs for five years from 3rd July 2008.Professor Cooke graduated from Magdalen with a first-class degree in Classics. She is Professor of Law at the University of Reading, also serving on the sub-lawpanel for the UK Universities’ Research Assessment Exercise. From 2006 to 2008 she was Chair of the University of Reading Research Ethics Committee. She hasrecently chaired a research team funded by the Nuffield Foundation investigatingcommunity of property regimes. Her publications include Land Law in 2006, The NewLaw of Land Registration, 2003, and The Modern Law of Estoppel in 2000.

Photo: Bill Ives conducting the Summer Concert at Magdalen’s 550th Anniversary Garden Party.

Photograph: DynamicEntertainmentr DEH

Photograph: Law Commission


Michaelmas 2008

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