The next concert by The Edinburgh Light Orchestra conducted by James Beyer will take place on Saturday 24 May in the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh. For more information telephone 0131 334 3140.
Plans are still progressing for the premiere performance of Robert Farnon’s Bassoon Concerto.Daniel Smith tells us that he now hopes that this will take place in the spring of 2009, and we will naturally keep RFS members informed of developments.
Kym Bonython writes from his home in Adelaide to send warmest regards to his RFS friends, and say that he has started to write a sequel to his 1979 autobiography "Ladies Legs and Lemonade". His friend Barry Humphries suggested that it should be called "In ever decreasing circles…" probably alluding to the fact that Kym (born in 1920) has been forced to give up riding his beloved Agusta motor cycle. It has been sold to the Headmistress of a girls’ school in Britain! From being a highly decorated pilot in World War 2, Kym became one of the greatest jazz promoters in Australia, and he has also been an important patron of Australian art.
The inclusion of the BBC recordings of "Oranges and Lemons" on the Guild ‘Musical Kaleidoscope Volume 1’ collection prompted our good friend Frank Hare to remind us that using this piece to introduce the day’s broadcasting on the Light programme was following an established tradition. This traditional melody was also a ‘call sign’ for the BBC Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme, which commenced broadcasting on 7 June 1944 - one day after D-day. It then consisted of about 12 seconds of the tune repeated over and over again, with a short break between each, and played in single notes by the famous organist Charles Smart on a Novachord with a sustain. This can be heard at the start of the RFS CD featuring Captain Robert Farnon and the Canadian Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces – still available from us for £6 (which includes p&p).
From Volker Rippe who discovered it in a German calendar for people learning English: Why is ‘our kind of music’ banned from radio and television? Too much sax and violins! (Say it out loud to yourself a few times and you’ll get the joke!)
Our thanks to Ann Adams who has sent us some nice colour photos taken at her Kensington Gardens Concert last summer. This time our colour reproductions had to be reserved for last November’s London meeting, but we hope to let you see Ann’s Ladies Palm Court Orchestra in the next issue.
Debbie Wiseman will be conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert of her Favourite Film and TV Moments at London’s Cadogan Hall on Sunday 30 March. Telephone bookings: 020 7730 4500.
Mort Garson (born 20 July 1924), the composer of the popular song "Our Day Will Come" died in San Francisco on 4 January 2008. During a long and successful career he worked with the likes of Doris Day and Mel Torme.
In February it was announced that the major British commercial broadcaster G-Cap was closing down a number of its digital radio channels including "The Jazz" and "Our Kind of Music" – the station for which RFS member Albert Killman had provided many recordings of quality popular music including, of course, Robert Farnon. It appears that the lunatics appear to have finally taken over the asylum as far as decent popular music on radio is concerned. Perhaps one day future generations will wake up to what they have lost and do something positive about it. At least the music is being preserved on CD, so it will be available if anyone has the good taste to rediscover.
We are sorry to report that Raymond Elgar Beaver, the son of composer Jack Beaver, died on 25 January 2008. Some years ago we had the pleasure of his company at one of our London meetings, when he spoke about his talented father whose music is still finding a new and appreciative audience through its reappearance on CDs.
Bev Mastin has alerted us to a music website which contains (in his words) ‘a phenomenal selection of Farnon et al’. Bev is right – you will be astonished at the number of often rare records that are offered for sale, and you will probably be surprised and delighted to discover how much some of your own treasured LPs and 45s are worth. The site is: www.gemm.com . As an example, when Jumping Bean looked recently he found a less than perfect copy of the Philips "Shalako" LP on sale at £154 [$303]!
If you can get to London, here’s an important date for your diary! Ann Adams and The Ladies Palm Court Orchestra will be playing in Kensington Gardens earlier this year – on Sunday 29 June from 2:00 to 3:30 pm. On our back page you can see pictures from last summer’s event, which was greatly enjoyed by all present, including many RFS members. If you want up-to-date information please contact our committee member Brian Reynolds.
We hope that RFS members wishing to complete their collection of Living Era CDs took heed of our warning in JIM 174, page 82. Many of these titles are now becoming hard to find, and prices are rising. It is not uncommon to find some dealers asking more than £30 for second-hand copies.
Jim Entwistle recently went into his local HMV store in the north of England and asked the assistant behind the counter for a Naxos catalogue. "What’s Naxos?" came the reply.
Last year Greg Francis formed The National Concert Orchestra of Great Britain. The orchestra is presently being registered with the ABO, and it performed its inaugural concert last December. The remit is to play ‘light popular music’, and for Greg this is probably the realisation of a lifetime’s dream – to create a new orchestra ‘specifically’ to play this music. The first of the Leroy Anderson Centennial Celebration Concerts is on Sunday 21st September 2008 at St George’s Hall, Liverpool. Greg would like this to be an annual event; he regards Leroy Anderson as a ‘master’ in the art of bringing popular light music to the fore, and he influenced many of the composers (including John Williams) who followed him. Greg says: "we can’t allow his music to go unheard and un-noticed, and it dismayed me to find that only one other orchestra (The Scottish Festival Orchestra) has planned any kind of tribute to him in this Centennial year."
Alan Wright recently published his final edition of "Nelson’s Notes", dedicated to that fine American arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle. In his last Editorial, headed "Time To Call It A Day" Alan explained that the pressures of producing regular newsletters (the last was his 51st) were starting to become too great, not helped (in Alan’s own words) "…due to those twin protagonists dodgy health and the march of time combining to take their toll." He felt that it was best to stop before standards went into serious decline. However the good news is that Nelson’s music will still be remembered through several websites dedicated to his memory. Alan is one of that elite group of people who has felt compelled to share his love of music with others by keeping alive the memory of those they admire. We wish him many happy years of enjoying Nelson’s music; since his collection numbers over 200 CDs he shouldn’t worry about being bored!
Warmest congratulations to our Australian member Philip Brady who, on 8 April, celebrated 50thyears working on Australian TV and Radio. In his long career Philip has been a newsreader, game show host and foil for the barbed comments of several comedians! He now co-hosts one of the country’s most popular radio shows, and is regarded as something of a broadcasting elder statesman – as well as a celebrity. British RFS members have had the pleasure of welcoming Philip to our London Meetings in the past, and we hope it will not be too long before we see him again. In the meantime we wish him many more years of successful broadcasting ‘down under’!
James Beyer and The Edinburgh Light Orchestra treated the good citizens of Scotland’s capital city to another fine concert in the Queen’s Hall on Saturday 24 May. James tells us that they had an almost capacity audience of 744 – around 30 more than their normal summer average, and he was particularly pleased to note quite a number of younger people in the audience. As usual the programme commenced with Robert Farnon’s Journey Into Melody and among other treats were Philip Lane’s arrangement of Over the Rainbow, In Sherwood from Frederic Curzon’s ‘Robin Hood’ Suite, Clive Richardson’s Shadow Waltz (composed under his pseudonym ‘Paul Dubois), and an exciting finale provided by Robert Russell Bennett’s arrangement of Richard Rodgers’ melodies from ‘Oklahoma’. As the music critic in the Edinburgh Evening News reported: "under the experienced baton of James Beyer …the orchestra were tempted back to perform the Can Can twice. Clearly the audience couldn’t get enough".
London-based members interested in forgotten Gaiety Musicals may like to know that Ken Reeves is presenting two talks (with audience participation in songs) at Westminster Reference Library. The first is on 23 September, with a second spotlighting "Our Miss Gibbs" on 21 October. Seat reservations can be made on 0207 641 5250, or contact Ken Reeves direct at 232 Rainham Road North, Dagenham, Essex, RM10 7EA.
The centenary of Sidney Torch (1908-1990) was celebrated in "Friday Night Is Music Night" on 6 June. The enthusiastic audience enjoyed many of his arrangements, plus some examples of his earlier distinguished career as a theatre organist. Sadly only two Torch compositions were featured –On A Spring Note and All Strings And Fancy Free - but it was a memorable occasion with Robin Stapleton conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra in superb form. RFS member David Daniels reminds us that events such as this are becoming all too rare on the BBC. It is essential that we let the ‘powers that be’ know how much we value them, and want many more. As David says: ‘if we don’t support FNIMN, who can?’
On Tuesday 24 June BBC Radio-3’s daily "In Tune" programme was a live broadcast from the Maida Vale studios featuring the BBC Symphony Orchestra. For part of the programme the orchestra regrouped to form ‘The BBC Light Orchestra’ conducted by John Wilson. John was also interviewed by presenter Petroc Trelawny, which gave him the opportunity to talk about his work with Light Music and the reconstruction of film scores. The ‘light’ section of the programme included Lonely Town(arranged by Angela Morley); Knightsbridge (Eric Coates); Melancholy Baby (arr. Richard Rodney Bennett); Westminster Waltz (Robert Farnon); and Nell Gwyn Overture (Edward German). If you think that John’s richly deserved international reputation now restricts his activities to big prestigious events you couldn’t be more wrong. Your Editor had the great pleasure of attending a concert in Martock, Somerset, church on 12 July, when John was conducting a group of twelve extremely talented young string players known as Sinfonia Westminster, in a programme including lighter works by Mozart, Delius, Elgar, Grieg, Percy Fletcher, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky and Mascagni – all in aid of the church’s bells appeal.
JESSE KNIGHT SPREADS THE WORD ABOUT LIGHT MUSIC
On 29 June Jesse Knight, one of our keen US members, gave a presentation on light music in Portland, Oregon, at the Atlas Society's 19th Annual Summer Seminar. The Atlas Society is an international group of intellectuals who meet every summer to discuss a wide range of topics — everything from current events to economics to politics to philosophy to literature to, of course, music. Ages range from students upwards. There were around 300 – 400 people attending the conference, and Jesse anticipated an audience in the region of 50 for his piece. Not a particularly large number, but as he told us "it’s a start!"
Jesse’s presentation was meant to be an introduction to light music for those not familiar with the genre and consisted of a lecture along with numerous musical examples. Among the familiar pieces he included were Robert Farnon’s "Jumping Bean"; "Serenade for Youth" and "Montmartre March" by Haydn Wood; "Golden Tango" by Victor Silvester (played by the Palm Court Light Orchestra); "Dusk" by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs; "Woodland Revel" by George Melachrino; "Serene Place" by Bill Worland; "Busy Streets" by Roger Roger; "Skyline Concerto" by Charles Kalman; "Gentle Rains" by Adam Langston; and finally "Festa Day" by Matthew Curtis.
The idea behind the presentation was to introduce a group of intellectually curious people to light music, a genre with which they may not be familiar. Hopefully it would encourage them to explore the field of light music further. He discussed such issues as the importance of melody in light music; the music’s immediate accessibility; the absence of angst; and other issues. He traced a bit of the history of light music, discussing its demise, and now its recent renaissance. In addition, he provided a list of resources for those interested in delving into light music more, the Robert Farnon Society.
When asked for some personal information, Jesse replied:
"I have listened to classical music since a youngster. I have for some time been interested in what might be called the pops repertoire—composers such as Ferde Grofe and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. A decade or so ago I happened to attend a Pops Concert conducted by Portland’s Norman Leyden. Among the items on the program was Robert Farnon’s "Jumping Bean". I was completely delighted by the music, and I said, "Who is this Robert Farnon?" I began to look around on the internet and elsewhere. It didn’t take long to uncover the Farnon Society and the broader range of light music. Since then, I’ve written an article on light music and done some minor reviewing."
ADAM SAUNDERS : A YOUNG COMPOSER WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE
RFS member Adam Saunders is already well-known to us through his compositions such as Comedy Overture (1993) and The Magic Kingdom (2003). Adam studied at the Royal Academy of Music and London University, winning several prizes for composition. Since leaving he has established a career composing music for the concert hall and for worldwide television, film and other media.
In addition to a period as composer-in-association with the East of England Orchestra, Adam has had his works performed and recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Academy of Ancient Music, London Mozart Players, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Renaissance and the Brighton Festival Chorus amongst others.
As well as his work as a composer, arranger and conductor, Adam also regularly performs as a jazz pianist with his own group, and as a pianist has performed at venues including Wembley Arena and the Royal Albert Hall. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
Since 1997, Adam Saunders and Mark Cousins have enjoyed a fruitful creative partnership writing music for worldwide television, film, radio and other media. They are regular contributing composers for some of the world's leading production music companies including Universal, Focus and Amphonic, working on tremendously varied projects - ranging from cutting-edge electronica to sumptuous orchestral scores and big band jazz. Whether they're working in front of a 90-piece orchestra, or in a completely electronic production environment, Adam and Mark produce music with consistently high production values and musicality.
To hear examples of Adam and Mark’s work, visit their website at: www.cousins-saunders.co.uk
Some JIM readers might be interested in the recently published third edition of the 'Encyclopedia of British Film' (published by Methuen in 2008, 885 pages, paperback), available for £16.99 from amazon.co.uk [ISBN: 9780413776600]. This is not a book listing films like Halliwell's Film Guide, but covers people that contributed to their making, a kind of 'Who's Who' of the British film industry from its beginnings (before Mitchell and Kenyon) to Harry Potter and beyond. It features over 6,000 articles, varying in length (up to to 1,000 words for major figures) plus articles covering genres and themes in British film. Articles are researched from a wide range of sources and lists of film credits are kept to a minimum, for there would be little point in such a book if most of the material was readily available on the internet. There is an excellent introductory essay by Observer film critic Philip French, a Preface from Dame Judi Dench, suggestions for further reading, and a listing of British film award winners. The articles cover star actors and character players, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, screenwriters, studios and production companies, costume designers, and, of course film music, composers and musical directors. Before 1960 light music (in its broadest sense) was the basis of most British film scoring, just as it dominated the radio airwaves. Jazz and pop scores were rare, but became more common with the rise of composers like John Barry, though classic orchestral scores were still being written by the likes of Ron Goodwin and Angela Morley. There are articles on these and many other film composers, which relate exclusively to the subject's contribution to British film. Apart from Robert Farnon, light music legends such as Louis Levy, Philip Green, Stanley Black, Laurie Johnson, Charles Williams and George Melachrino all feature, as well as William Alwyn, Malcolm Arnold, Eric Coates, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Addison, William Walton and Richard Addinsell, together with bandleaders [Ted Heath, Jack Hylton], singers [Dame Vera Lynn, Jill Day, Jeannie Carson, Frankie Vaughan] and songwriters [Noel Gay, Vivian Ellis, Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Paddy Roberts, Harry Woods]. There are articles on classical, jazz, and popular music in films, the 'Denham Concerto', and other music related topics, such as 'cinema orchestras and organists', with suggestions for further reading where this is available. So, for example, if you are a fan of the 1953 classic "Genevieve", you can discover that Kay Kendall's trumpet solo was played on the soundtrack by the legendary Kenny Baker and that the band musician who hands Kay the trumpet is none other than that familiar lived-in face from numerous 'B' movies, Michael Balfour (though we are sure many JIM readers will know this anyway !)
With so many fascinating websites now available on the internet (among all the rubbish that is best ignored), it can be somewhat bewildering when a simple question on a search engine produces so many results. If you want to find other music sites where would you start? With the name of the composer or artist is one obvious example, but this can involve a lot of time-consuming cross-referencing. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was just one place you could visit to see a vast number of links to all kinds of composers, record companies, publishers, radio stations etc… Well, the good news is that such a place does exist … on our very own website! Just visit www.rfsoc.org.uk and click on ‘links to other music sites’ where you will discover "The most comprehensive Links page on the Web for beautiful/ light music/ pop orchestral music." The man responsible for compiling this valuable feature is RFS member Christopher Landor, and we are most grateful to him (and our webmaster Ruud) for all the hard work involved in keeping it up to date and reliable.
RFS member Gareth Bramley has recently told us about a new book which should appeal to many in our Society. Unfortunately its publication this autumn was due just too late for a review to appear in this issue, but we look forward to including a full report on the contents in the March magazine. The new book is called "John Barry – The Man With The Midas Touch" and it is being published to coincide with Barry’s 75th birthday. Gareth writes: "Whether or not you purchased ‘John Barry - A life in Music’, ten years ago, you can look forward to a book that has been thoroughly re-written and completely updated. We have spent a lot of time on the picture content and this too has been extensively updated and includes a good selection of rare photos, both colour and black and white. There are approximately 300 pages including two photo sections of 16 pages each of colour and b & w. In addition to this, a photo introduces each of the thirty chapters, and, of course, the discography has been updated to include everything that’s happened since 1998. It’s a book that does full justice to a glittering career. We want to emphasise that this project is basically a self-publication by people such as Geoff Leonard and myself in that we have commissioned a publisher to act on our behalf. All the work has been done by a team of dedicated Barry fans, much of it voluntarily." To order this new book contact: Gareth Bramley, 3 Newland Close, Toton, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 6EQ, England. The price for UK is £19.99 and cheques should be payable to ‘G. Bramley – Book A/C’. RFS members outside the UK should contact Gareth direct for more information re price and postage. Alternatively you can visit the website: www.johnbarry.org.uk/bab.php
Jan Eriksen is well-known to RFS members who regularly attend our London meetings. He has been responsible for keeping Light Music to the fore in Norwegian broadcasting for many years, and produced concerts featuring ‘greats’ such as George Shearing and – of course – Robert Farnon. In a recent message he told us about his meetings with Iain Sutherland, who will be the Society’s Guest of Honour at our meeting on 30 November. Jan writes:
"Iain Sutherland was a very popular guest conductor during the 27 years I was responsible for light music here in Norway. It is a rather sad story that the Broadcasting Orchestra no longer plays light music in our sense of the word. It’s either serious like Mozart, Beethoven etc, or pop music with sustained notes in the strings and a noisy percussion in the middle. In 1985 we put on a light music concert at an event called the Elverum Festival 120 km north of Oslo with the Norwegian Youth Symphony Orchestra, a group of gifted young people aged from 15 to 25 years old. Bob Farnon should have conducted, but due to health reasons was unable to appear. So I had to phone this Scotsman [Iain!]; he came and was a great success as usual. The programme included: 76 Trombones Wilson arr R. Farnon; Symphonic Suite from "My Fair Lady" arr R. Farnon; Journey into Melody; To a Wild Rose arr R. Farnon; Portarit of a Flirt; State Occasion; Aviator David Reilly with his father Tommy as soloist; Westminster Waltz again Tommy’s version for mouth organ and orchestra;Toledo J Moody with Tommy solo; and last Jumping Bean. Iain Sutherland conducted our Broadcasting Orchestra on several occasions, including its 40th Anniversary Concert in Oslo Town Hall live on television!"
News reached us during the summer of several broadcasters who went out of their way to honour Robert Farnon’s birthday in July. Paul Barnes on BBC Radio Norfolk, and Ted Nunn on Angel Radio are just two who have been complimented by RFS members who appreciated what they did. No doubt there are many more around the world.
On 20 September John Wilson was in Germany to conduct the WDR Rundfunkorchester in a concert of British Light Music in Cologne. The concert was broadcast a week later on WDR Radio.
Andrew Davis has written and produced a radio documentary about Woolworths record labels, and we understand that he has interviewed Johnny Gregory about his work for the Embassy label. "The Wonderful Sound of Woolies" is scheduled for 10.30pm on 16 December – BBC Radio-2. The presenter is Brian Matthew.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the music industry is out of touch with the realities of present-day technologies and their likely effect upon the availability of music in the future. The long-running saga over sound copyright in Europe is an example of over-protectionism at its worst, yet surely there is no point in passing draconian laws which many people will ignore and find ways of circumventing. If laws are respected as being sensible and fair they will be obeyed by the large majority. With music available worldwide via the internet, and many third world countries producing pirate CDs and DVDs in ever increasing numbers, stricter and unpopular rules in the ‘old world’ (for want of a better term) will simply drive more business away from honest manufacturers. Roger Mellor recently sent us a report which indicates that some sanity may eventually prevail. In the USA new fees set by the Copyright Royalty Board for playing music online by internet radio stations were so unrealistically high that it would have put them out of business. A public campaign has forced a Webcaster Settlement Act to be approved by the House of Representatives, and as we go to press it is confidently expected to be passed by the Senate. This will allow each internet broadcaster to make separate arrangements with SoundExchange, the body which collects royalties in the US, according to their size and ability to pay. This replaces a standard fee which was going to be more than doubled, with many internet broadcasters on the point of ceasing operations. Apparently there was some suspicion that the attempt to force a massive increase in fees was encouraged by traditional radio stations, who are likely to lose out as more and more people start turning to the internet for their radio entertainment.
In our June issue (JIM 176) we reported that Alan Wright had published his last edition of "Nelson’s Notes", dedicated to that fine musician Nelson Riddle. We are pleased to report that our good friend David O’Rourke has decided that the newsletter should not be allowed to die, and the first issue of a new volume of "Nelson’s Notes" reached us at the end of September. It is a quality publication, nicely printed on gloss paper with plenty of photographs. The President of the Nelson Riddle Appreciation Society is Mrs. Rosemary Acerra (Nelson’s daughter), and membership enquiries should be sent direct to her at: 186 Enclave Boulevard, Lakewood, New Jersey, 08701, USA. You can also join online at: www.NelsonRiddleMusic.com.
Although the compilers of various editions of our Robert Farnon Discography undertook considerable detailed research, previously unknown recordings still occasionally come to our attention. Gilles Gouset recently wrote from Canada to say that he had discovered the following 78s featuring the soprano Ada Alsop asccompanied by Robert Farnon and his Orchestra:
London R.10014: Pale Moon; At Dawning
London R.10015: A Brown Bird Singing; Morning
London R.10016: I Hear You Calling Me; Homing
Previously we had only been aware of:
Decca F 8988 Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella; O Holy Night
Presumably the three London 78s were also released in the UK, and if any readers can supply catalogue numbers will they please let us know. We hope to be able to play Ada Alsop singing A Brown Bird Singing at our London meeting next April, when Gilles and Marjorie Cullerne will be presenting a special tribute to Haydn Wood.
Rosemary Squires recently signed a contract to produce a CD with the Brussels Philharmonic, and she was in the Belgian capital 18th-24th November to make the recordings. She is the star guest on a ten-day tour of major UK venues with the Glenn Miller Orchestra beginning immediately after Christmas: 27th December – Royal Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool; 28th/29th December - Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow; 31st December - Barbican, London; 2nd January - Symphony Hall Birmingham; 3rd January - Conference Centre Harrogate; 4th January - Bridgewater Hall Manchester (2 shows). In additional Rosemary continues to charm audiences with her one-woman shows, and you can catch her at: 4th December - Life is Song - Village Theatre, Carthorps; 5th December - Gigs,Giggles and Gossip, Bowhill House Theatre, Selkirk; 6th December - Gigs, Giggles and Gossip, Wynd Theatre, Melrose; 7th December - Westovian Theatre, South Shields; 19th December - Life is a Song, Burleigh Academy, Newport. Rosemary was honoured in 2004 with the MBE for services to music and charity, and she is now in her sixth decade as a performer. We are proud that she is a member of the Robert Farnon Society, and wish her continued success as a top attraction for many years to come.
A recent brochure from Reader’s Digest includes details of a new 3-CD collection called "British Light Music Favourites". The accompanying publicity blurb mentions just two orchestras - Mantovani and Robert Farnon! Just a few tune titles are given, but we would be interested to know a little more about this collection if any readers have purchased it. The reference number is 0349623, and the price is £29.99 which makes it considerably more expensive than similar amounts of music currently available from labels such as Vocalion and Guild.
We are getting a steady stream of recommendations for radio stations (mostly local or internet) which offer ‘our kind of music’. Rod Rizzo (USA) has told us about Rich Conarty who presents "The Big Broadcast" on Sundays 8:00pm-midnight on WFUV (90.7 FM) – a programme dedicated to music from the 20s onwards he has been hosting for 35 years.
Many of you with internet access have probably already discovered the "Whirligig" site, which covers vintage UK radio and television broadcasts – www.whirligig-tv.co.uk. Brian Reynolds has recently been contributing information on various programmes to the site. As he told us: "Whirligig covers many interesting facets of early TV and radio, but its details of music programmes is sparse. I’m trying to redress the balance!"
RFS Committee member Tony Foster entertained Cheltenham Big Band Society with a varied programme of music on 29 August, in which he included no less than five Robert Farnon recordings –Jumping Bean, Theme from ‘Captain Horatio Hornblower’, Portrait Of A Flirt, Wave and Canadian Caravan.
André Leon, the boss of UK LightRadio, tells us that response to the initial set of test broadcasts in August was very encouraging. More tests will be available during December, so do try to visitwww.uklightradio.co.uk Events are moving fast, and there could be some exciting news in the New Year. In the meantime please pay a visit to our own website every so often and check the ‘Latest News’ section on the RFS Information page.
Sound Copyright has been in the news on and off in recent months, and you may like to refresh your memories as to what is at stake by reading again the article on page 5 of JIM 176 (June 2008). As we go to press the stage has been reached where Members of the European Parliament are starting to consider the proposals. From what we have been able to discover as we go to press (mid-October), a report is scheduled for adoption in committee at a first or single reading on 19 January. This will then go forward to the full European Parliament at a Plenary Sitting on 1 April (note the date – April Fools Day).
As you read this report there may still be time to make your MEPs aware of your views. Professional Lobbyists for term extension are making the case to MEPs inside the European Parliament right now. But your voice is stronger than any lobbyist. We can't overstate it: the most important thing you can do to stop term extension is to let your MEPs know your concerns so they see and hear your side. In the meantime the Directive is also being discussed by representatives of Member States in the Council of Ministers. And criticism of the Commission's proposal is emerging all over Europe. The world leading Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property Law in Munich, has released a statement concluding that prolonging the term of protection "cannot be justified from any point of view." Professor Bernt Hugenholtz, Director of the Institute for Information Law in Amsterdam, and one of the Commission's own advisers, has accused Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso of intentionally misleading policy-makers with the proposal. Pekka Gronow, sound archivist, author of "An International History of the Recording Industry", and adjunct professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Helsinki, has written and concluded that performers benefit very little from the proposed extension ("in most cases the resulting sums will not even cover bank charges"). You are urged to add your own voice to the growing opposition against this ill-conceived set of proposals.
We are pleased to report that Ray Crick (previously in charge of the much-missed Living Era) label is now involved in an exciting new project. Details were still secret as we went to press, but we hope to have some positive news in our March issue.
Looking ahead to next April, plans are now being made for the Spring RFS Meeting which will include live music in honour of the 50th Anniversary of Haydn Wood’s passing. Members of his family will be with us at the Park Inn (formerly Bonnington Hotel), and this will be a special event that you won’t want to miss! Naturally full details will appear in our March magazine, together with a special feature on Haydn Wood – one of the great composers of the last century. Make a note of the date now: Sunday 5 April 2009.
A Society in honour of Eric Coates has been formed by the District Council in Hucknall,
Nottinghamshire, where he was born. Anyone wanting more information should contact the Secretary: Mr P.Butler, 47 Farleys Lane, Hucknall, Nottingham, NG15 6DT Tel 0115 9537393.
