News In this issue ... Page Page Address for Communications 2 Elgar Society Medal 20 Keep in touch 2 Sir Neville Marriner : Letter from the Chairman 3 90th Birthday Concert 22 Another ‘Not the Editorial’ 5 Scener Fra Sagaen Om Kong Olav 23 An appeal from our Treasurer 6 Elgar’s solemn fanfare 25 From the Membership Secretary 7 This is what I do 26 Follow the Colours 8 Birthplace News 27 2014 AGM and AT Shaw lecture 9 Birthplace Events 29 Obituary – Margot Pearmond 14 From the Birthplace Archive 30 Obituary – JT Shaw 15 Elgar Fun(d) Raisers 32 Elgar Works 15 News in brief 33 Delius Society 16 Branch Reports 36 Julian and Jiaxin Lloyd Webber : Letters to the Editor 49 – Malvern Forum 17 Branch Events 54 – Recording sessions 18 Dates for your Diary 56 Crossword 62 No. 53 – August 2014 Address for Communications Contributions for the December 2014 issue of the Elgar Society News should be sent to both or either of the compilers: Richard Smith Ernie Kay Tel: 01453 882091 Tel: 01684 567917 e–mail: [email protected] e–mail: [email protected] Sunny Ridge, Bourne Lane, 76 Graham Road, Brimscombe, Stroud, Malvern, Glos GL5 2RP Worcs, WR14 2HU The latest date for submissions for the December issue is 25 October 2014. Keep in touch Remember: you can keep up to date with the latest Elgarian news on: Facebook www.facebook.com Twitter www.twitter.com YouTube www.youtube.com then, search for ‘Elgar’ or ‘Elgar Society’ or ‘Elgar Birthplace’. If you have details of a concert containing a work by Elgar, please notify us by e–mail at: [email protected] As we are less constrained by space on the Elgar website, wherever possible please remember to include : – The starting time, full address of the venue and an enquiry telephone number; – Details of other works in the concert; and – The full names of all performers. 2 Elgar Society News Letter from the Chairman Dear Friends It was delightful to see so many friends at the Birthday weekend, and thank you to Helen Petchey for organizing the Cathedral tours, AGM, Council meeting and Shaw lecture – a passionate and enjoyable presentation by the conductor, Adrian Brown – and the West Midlands Branch and the Birthplace for the other events. It was particularly good to have the Cathedral Choir available for Evensong as well. I was saddened that Stuart Freed’s hospital stay meant he could not join us (and I am pleased and relieved that he is now making a full recovery at home) but I must pay tribute to Antonio Solimena for stepping in to take charge of the technical aspect of the AGM and lecture, and to Jan Freed for generously spending her time and culinary skills to entertain the Council to a delicious lunch at her home. The Council meeting there covered subscription income, Elgar in Performance, our President’s last concert, Introducing Elgar’s music to schools & involving young people, the A.T. Shaw history booklet, Membership cards and a possible Society event, nearly all of which require further details at our next meeting. I also, however, want to mention especially the Saturday evening concert. It is difficult to imagine a more authentic performance: held at Malvern Priory, sung by the Elgar Chorale under Donald Hunt (the former Worcester Cathedral Organist, Three Choirs Conductor and editor of the Complete Editions’ recent part–songs volume), and using the original two–violin and piano accompaniments (Noriko Tusaki, Josie Bedford–Davies and Malcolm Forbes–Peckham respectively), it provided an atmospheric and thoroughly enjoyable evening of beautifully sung performances of these often neglected yet significant parts of Elgar’s output. Interspersed with a couple of instrumental pieces, our journey led us not only “through a valley steep, Lovely in a lonely place”, but from “heights of the mountains to deeps of the ocean”, over the billowy sea and many a dusty mile to far flung destinations from Smyrna and Greece in the East to the Weary Wind of the West, from a love dwelling in a Northern Land to another one sleeping in Spain, from the hills of Dreamland to ten leagues beyond the wide world’s end. And the evening No. 53 – August 2014 3 Letter from the Chairman encompassed such weather!: snow, torrents in Summer, wild winds, blissful skies, thunderbolts, fire and night–dews on still waters. Still, if Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? Donald gracefully accepted from John Norris, the Managing Director of the Complete Edition, a presentation copy of ‘his’ volume which itself is just one fitting tribute to Donald’s musicianship, scholarship and unflagging support of Elgar over many years, and we should all extend to him our ‘Salut d’Amour’ for all he has done. Thank you, Donald. I am lucky enough to be able to record other, thoroughly enjoyable Society events, and there is space to mention just three. My wife and I very much enjoyed our trip to York in March to visit the Yorkshire Branch and attend John Norris’s lively and informative talk on the Complete Edition. Despite being early in the season, York looked as stunning as I remembered it from years ago, and I was delighted to meet our Yorkshire colleagues, who extended such a warm welcome. More recently, I received a similarly friendly welcome from the East Midlands branch in Leicester on the first anniversary of their rebirth. As it was also the exact centenary of the Sarajevo assassination that sparked off the First World War, I was appositely presenting a talk on Elgar’s musical and emotional response to the war. Mind you, as it came at the end of a week when Radio 3’s Composer of the Week featured Elgar and World War One, guaranteeing a worryingly well informed audience, and as the latter (and the former) also contained Barry Collett, the doyen of the subject, I was grateful for the indulgent welcome and their restraining themselves from expert heckling! Finally, it was a pleasure and privilege to attend a dinner generously hosted by Philip and Helen Petchey at the Oxford & Cambridge Club. The evening was both very enjoyable but equally poignant. We were there to present to Sheida, Sir Colin Davis’s widow, the Society’s Medal awarded to Sir Colin, who died before we could present it to him, but who was well aware of the esteem in which we all held him. Moreover, our President, Julian Lloyd Webber, was able to present the medal. He was accompanied by his wife, Jiaxin, and this was the first time we were able to discuss the untimely and precipitate end to his cello–playing career – such 4 Elgar Society News Letter from the Chairman a shock to us all. However, I was considerably heartened to hear at first hand both that Julian wishes to remain our President and that he is determined to continue his contribution to music, and particularly music education, in this country. I am sure that his post–playing career will be equally distinguished and I look forward to the forthcoming CD of his conducting the English Chamber Orchestra – with plenty of Elgar! I am sorry I shall not be joining you at the Three Choirs Festival event and lunch in August, but I hope you enjoy fine weather and even finer music. Doubtless you will see there our temporary editors, Richard Smith and Ernie Kay, who have asked me to remind you that this is their third and final edition as ‘locum compilers’ of the Elgar News, and may I thank them for so ably and enthusiastically stepping into the breach. As to the future? For news of that, carry on reading….! Another ‘Not the Editorial’ (from the stand–ins) A year ago we took on the job of keeping the ‘Elgar News’ going while the search for a new permanent Editor (or Editors) continued. This we offered for a year and this edition, our third, fulfils our commitment. We now have two tentative approaches from members willing to consider taking on or sharing the task between them and they are being kept in touch with this issue as it progresses to final production to see what conclusions they draw. It would be unfair to reveal names at this stage but ‘watch this space’. We hope that there will be a shared succession as we have found the support that two have been able to give each other quite invaluable. We could also not have got very far without Ann Vernau and Ian Morgan as proof readers, Robert Gilbert as setter and John Price our firm of printers. Due to age and/or other commitments we are not prepared to take on Editorship as ‘our job’ but are very willing to give all the help we can to our successor(s), No. 53 – August 2014 5 Not the Editorial for as long as need be. In the last resort we may have to continue issue by issue – but with great reluctance. However, we firmly believe that the News must continue; a Society without a regular channel of information to members and potential members can quickly lose its way and once lost it is not easy to restart. Our second task, beyond keeping the show going, was to make certain changes that would clarify the intent of the News and clearly distinguish its rôle from that of the archival research publication, the Journal. To achieve this we set a pattern of noting down all those who ought to send reports and by what date; a ‘nil return’ was acceptable – silence was not! This has been generally accepted and we have not had complaints over our methods or indeed about the finished product.