Rosemary Brown, The Musical Medium

MrRING

MrRING

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Anybody heard any of her medium-induced pieces?

Rosemary Brown and Franz Liszt (et al.)

Rosemary Brown surpassed even Curran with her artistic accomplishments, composing music, she claimed, through as many as 20 dead composers, many of them very well known. Born to a mother who was said to have psychic gifts, Rosemary claims that at age seven a white-haired spirit appeared to her and told her that she would become a famous musician. It wasn’t until 10 years later that, seeing his picture in a book, she realized the spirit was that of Franz Liszt. Despite the prophecy, Rosemary never became proficient in music, only taking a few piano lessons. In 1964, Rosemary, then a middle-aged British widow with two children, was again contacted by the spirit of Liszt. And he apparently brought some friends along. Rosemary began composing music through the guidance of such legendary composers as Bach, Chopin, Stravinsky, Schubert, Grieg, Debussy, Rachmoninoff, Liszt – even finishing Beethoven’s Tenth and Eleventh Symphonies.

The critical assessment of Rosemary Brown’s work is mixed. While all critics agreed that the compositions were definitely in the style of the composers to which they were attributed, some were very impressed with the works, finding several compositions to be subtle and complex. Other critics, however, argued that they were just reworkings of the composers’ known works, although they admitted that it would take a person of substantial musical knowledge and training even to pull off this feat – which Rosemary did not have. In fact, she had difficulty even playing many of the compositions she wrote down.
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http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa041299.htm

And another article which says her music has at least been recorded:

http://website.lineone.net/~enlightenment/rosemary_brown.htm
 
I have two records of her works: the Philips disc which had one side played by Peter Katin, the other by Rosemary Brown herself. The other disc was a private issue, played by Mary Firth. I also have her autobiography Unfinished Symphonies.

About the time of the Philips disc - 1969 - she was the subject of a television film which intrigued many people at the time.

Reading the book, it is clear that her creative efforts had helped somewhat to restore her status. She had acquired some rather well-to-do patrons in the spiritualist movement, though they later irked her by demanding results for their investment. Before this she had been in reduced circumstances - the shame of being a school dinner lady is a recurring theme in the book.

She played down the music lessons she had received in her earlier more genteel life. She did draw some admiring comments from musicians but at best the pieces are pale imitations. At their worst, they are pitiful things. None of the recorded pieces were extended or for more than solo piano. Symphonies and concertos were promised but they seem to have caused a great strain on her powers.

For all their translation to a new spiritual world, the composers did not seem to have anything new to say. It is a case of the kind of crypto-creative career, more often seen in fiction than music.

I wish I could be more enthusiastic. :(
 
I remember reading her book and at the time (I was a teenager) I was quite impressed by her sincerity, but that was a long time ago and I've never heard any of her music. She was visited in the main by Lizt, Beethoven and Chopin, wasn't she?

I seem to remember reading somewhere that someone claimed to have been visited by the spirits of artists, but forget the details.

Carole
 
Yes, Carole, her most frequent visitor was Liszt, who acted as her spirit guide.

She may well have been perfectly genuine in reporting her creative inspirations as they seemed to her. But I think she fits in very well with the category of people who find a creative voice which is so foreign to their daily lives that they attribute it to spirits. It is a step on that forking path which leads to multiple personalities. :imo:
 
Other critics, however, argued that they were just reworkings of the composers’ known works, although they admitted that it would take a person of substantial musical knowledge and training even to pull off this feat – which Rosemary did not have. In fact, she had difficulty even playing many of the compositions she wrote down
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There are quite a few composers who might have difficulty playing their own works: being able to compose complex music and being able to actually play it are two different skills. (For example, Ravel was by all accounts a pretty poor pianist, despite writing wonderfully for the instrument).

Rosemary Brown's defenders were also unduly impressed by the fact that she was seen writing out music in her "trance" state as fast as her pen would allow. Similarily, Schubert (if I remember rightly) used to astound his friends by apparently composing at breakneck speed in busy coffee shops, all the while carrying on a conversation with them. In fact, Schubert wasn't composing at all: he had already perfected the composition at the keyboard earlier. What he was actually doing was simply writing out the score - an impressive feat of memory, but hardly paranormal.

Unfortunately I cant find any sound clips or scores of Rosemary Brown's compositions on line, but I can assure you that any reasonably competent music student could turn out a pastiche of Chopin or Mozart which might well impress a non-musician (just as any competent art student could reproduce a passable copy of the Mona Lisa - if you live in a town with an art college you'll often see the students "busking" as pavement artists in the summer holidays.)
 
I am bumping this ancient thread because 2016 is the centenary year of Rosemary Brown, whose musical mediumship was much discussed in the late sixties, early seventies. I have just missed her birthday, she was born 27th July, 1916.

There are several videos on Youtube. This is the most substantial.

This is not the BBC documentary I remember seeing on television at that period but one made by a European company some years later. It treats the subject in a very solemn way with a sermon from a priest in the middle, to reassure us that Mrs Brown is not beguiled by demons, because she is so modest. I suspect there are many people now who know nothing of her. :)

Edited 06.08.2016 to add some description of the Youtube documentary. The picture quality is bog-standard and the sound out-of-synch. but it is worth a look.

I have included my Rosemary Brown archive in the list of things I am thinning from my collection. See Fortean Exchange for details.
 
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Ah, that was the BBC documentary I remembered. It was from the same period exactly as Monty Python; Mrs Brown looked as if she should talk with a crazy squawking voice! Her Balham location also had comedic implications at the time: mere mention of the place was likely to bring on a Sellers impression.

In fact, her gentle manner is totally disarming and she deals very well with sceptical questions. I rather wish she had replied that Beethoven or Liszt appeared to her in the nude, when the question of their dress was raised!

She does seem to be in a cleft stick when it comes to the question of style; one would think that Death must have an influence! Instead, in her hands, the deceased composers seemed often to revert to their earlier and simpler selves. Reading some of the literature of her Edinburgh-based patrons, we can see that her music was a useful case-study they felt should persuade the public of the reality of survival-after-death.

So far as I know, the larger works promised never materialized in full and she herself faded from view after the seventies. She lived on this plane until 2001, however! :clap:
 
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