Ruhleben

Sir Ernest MacMillan:
Portrait of a Canadian Musician (1893 - 1973)

Group of prisoners (MacMillan - back row, far left), n.d.
Photographer unknown.

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Here beginneth a new chapter in the history of a captive Colonial… I fully expect to be a truly interesting personage… You may imagine how the ingenuity of several thousand men succeeds when they have practically all their time to themselves! One soon falls into one's place, and I feel quite at home(!) 1

In early June 1914, MacMillan set sail for Paris with Mrs. Burgess and her daughter Barbara. He intended to study piano with Harold Bauer, as well as composition, at the Conservatoire national de Paris. He sought to make arrangements only to discover that all summer teaching had been cancelled and that he would be unable to register for the entrance examinations before October. In the interim, MacMillan studied piano privately with Thérèse Chaigneau, Bauer's assistant.

In July, MacMillan was invited to accompany the Burgesses to the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth. Then came the outbreak of World War I. MacMillan's American friends advised him to go to Nuremberg to seek advice from the American Consul. On August 4, England declared war on Germany. MacMillan, as a British subject, was considered an enemy alien and required to register with the Nuremberg police. After doing so, he returned to Bayreuth for the Festival.

Shortly after his twenty-first birthday, arrangements were made for the Burgesses to leave Europe. MacMillan accompanied them to Nuremberg for their departure. He was instructed to remain in the city until the international situation had been clarified and to report daily to the police. The American Consul took MacMillan under his wing and recommended that he take a room at the Pension Trefzer. This became his home for the next four months.

In January 1915 he was arrested, tried and imprisoned for having violated Article 4, No. 2 of the Defence of the Realm Act, an order which required every foreigner to register with the police. MacMillan had failed to comply, though not intentionally. His knowledge of German was limited and he did not understand the notices ordering all foreigners to report daily to the police. After nine weeks in solitary confinement he was transferred to Ruhleben, a racetrack near Berlin which had been converted to a British civilian prisoner-of-war camp.

When MacMillan arrived, he quickly became involved in the active social and cultural structure in the camp, particularly in the musical and dramatic ventures. With the formation of the Ruhleben Musical Society in June 1915, all interned musicians became acquainted. Among them were Benjamin Dale, Edgar Bainton, John Peebles Conn, Charles Webber and Quentin MacLean.

MacMillan's first project was to compose and conduct the music for a revue entitled Don't Laugh. This event was significant as it provided him with his first conducting experience (other than with church choirs). While he professed a dislike for the popular element, he gained valuable experience by directing variety shows, a Christmas pantomime and a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado.

By the end of 1915, MacMillan was put in charge of composing, rehearsing and conducting the music for the camp pantomime of Cinderella. The production was so impressive that the American ambassador, James Gerard, came from Berlin to see it.

Probably the most ambitious of the camp's musical productions was that of The Mikado. One of the prisoners had a copy of the libretto but no musical score. MacMillan and four other camp musicians undertook the task of writing the score from memory. The orchestration, of course, had to conform to the talents and instrumental resources of the camp. MacMillan conducted 13 performances of the production in December 1916.

Recognized by his colleagues as a serious musician, he was invited to conduct a number of orchestral concerts. At the first, pianist Harry Field, a fellow Canadian, presented Liszt's Concerto in E-flat. MacMillan also performed as accompanist and solo pianist in some recitals.

In addition to the Ruhleben Musical Society, there were a number of clubs which allowed the prisoners to lead an active intellectual life. These included the Corner House, the Arts & Science Union and the Historical Circle. MacMillan gave several lectures. He drew on his history studies at the University of Toronto when, on May 13, 1916, he presented for the Historical Circle his lecture "Milestones in Canadian Constitutional Development." A second lecture for the Circle, dealing with music ("The Viennese Classicists"), took place on June 15. His lecture for the Arts & Sciences Union, "A Sketch of Russian Music" (April 1917), prepared an audience for a concert of music by Russian composers. Similarly, in 1918, two lectures preceded concerts devoted to the music of English composers. The most extensive lecture series took place in May 1917 when MacMillan and Benjamin Dale gave ten illustrated lectures entitled "Beethoven's Symphonies." The first lecture was introductory, while each of the other nine was devoted to a particular symphony. In each instance, MacMillan presented an analysis of the work, followed by a complete performance at the piano by Dale and himself.

MacMillan was also involved in the Ruhleben Drama Society (camp theatre), mainly as an actor. In April 1916, the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare's death was commemorated by the productions of Twelfth Night and Othello. MacMillan played Maria in Twelfth Night and the small part of Gratiano in Othello. Still young in appearance, he frequently played the role of female characters. In Michel Carré's pantomime L'enfant prodigue he appeared as the laundress Phrynette. For this particular performance the entire work was orchestrated by Bainton, Dale, Webber and MacMillan, although the original music was by André Wormser. In 1915 he played the role of Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest and the role of Sheeler the parlour-maid, in John Galsworthy's The Silver Box. In R.C. Carton's late Victorian comedy, Mr. Preedy and the Countess, he was the maid, Harriet Budgeon. His stage career included one production of his own, George Bernard Shaw's Fanny's First Play, in which he played the part of Darling Dora.

MacMillan was anxious to begin work towards his doctorate in music at Oxford. In May 1915, the University of Toronto had conferred upon him in absentia the degree of Bachelor of Arts based on his outstanding results during his first three years of study. By early 1916, he began preparing to take the entrance examinations at Oxford after the end of the war. Dr. Logie, a fellow prisoner with numerous contacts at Oxford, encouraged MacMillan to apply and petitioned the University to examine him while in the camp. Much to his surprise, permission was granted. MacMillan was excused from the written examination and only required to compose the Musical Exercise. In addition, should the Exercise be accepted, he would be exempt from further examination and granted his degree.

By April 1918, MacMillan had completed his Exercise, a choral-orchestral setting to Algernon Charles Swinburne's ode "England." While waiting for his results he continued to prepare himself for his final examinations. Two months later, MacMillan received word that his Exercise had indeed satisfied the examiners.

It was only by the late summer of 1918 that the prisoners realized that the war was coming to an end. Following the signing of the Armistice, the restrictions on the movements of the prisoners of Ruhleben were practically abolished and MacMillan was able to attend several concerts in Berlin.

At the end of November he was sent to Copenhagen where he was put on a ship bound for Leith, the port suburb of Edinburgh. Several weeks later, he left for London to meet with the music publisher Novello to arrange for the publication of his Ode England, and with Henry Coward, conductor of the Sheffield Musical Union for the première performance. He returned to Canada in January 1919.

Notes

1. Letter to Elsie Keith, March 25, 1915. Sir Ernest MacMillan fonds, Manuscript Section, Music Division, National Library of Canada.

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