THE BULLETIN OF THE NATIONAL SOUND ARCHIVE ‘playback’ PLAYBACK is the bulletin of the British Library National Sound Archive (NSA). It is published free of charge three playbacktimes a year, with information on the NSA’s current and future activities, and news from the world of sound archives and audio PLAYBACK: Editor Alan Ward, manager Production PLAYBACK:Alan Editor Richard Fairman, Layout Julie Rimmer preservation. Comments are welcome and should be addressed to the editor at the NSA. We have a special mailing list for PLAYBACK. Please write, phone, fax or e-mail us, or complete and send in the tear-off slip at the end of this issue (if you have not done so already) if you wish to receive future issues through the post. The National Sound Archive is one of the largest sound archives in the world and is based at the British Library’s new building at St. Pancras. For further information contact The British Library National Sound Archive 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB ISSN 0952-2360 Tel:020 7412 7440. Fax: 020 7412 7441 SPRING 2000 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.bl.uk/collections/sound-archive Front cover photograph: Anne Evans and John Mitchinson in Smetana’s ‘Dalibor’ at English National Opera 1976. Photo: Donald Southern 24 NATIONAL SOUND ARCHIVE what’s happening of early recordings from her region, Dr Tatyana Roon from the Sakhalin Regional Museum, Russia, came to the NSA and was immediately able to identify our items as recordings of the Ainu ■ BBC radio broadcasts will now be more widely and directly people, made on Sakhalin Island in 1902-3 by Bronislaw Pilsudski, accessible via the NSA Listening and Viewing Service. Under new a Polish political exile. He sold the three cylinders, to C.S. Myers, arrangements most programmes broadcast in recent years should without making copies, and their whereabouts have remained now be available for listening, without a lengthy waiting period. unknown to scholarship until now. Currently we are still unable to provide routine access to or references from BBC Sound Archive catalogue information post- ■ At the end of February the British Library proclaimed itself 1992, but we expect to have this available shortly. Meanwhile we ‘Lost for words’. In connection with its new exhibition on English can request recordings of recent programmes for which the title literature, called ‘Chapter and Verse’, the Library launched a Janet Caddock and date of broadcast are known. In view of this improved direct Tim Blackmore (centre) and Simon Cole (left) of the Unique Broadcasting campaign in the press to track down rare recordings of great access to BBC holdings, the need for us to record programmes off Company with Crispin Jewitt, NSA Director writers.Among the roll call of writers whose voices are believed the air no longer exists and this activity ceased in March this year. to have been lost forever are George Orwell (who made many The price is £8.99 including postage and cheques should be made broadcasts for the BBC during and after the Second World War), ■ The NSA catalogue CADENSA is scheduled to go on-line via payable to The British Library Bookshop. Telephone orders to: Thomas Hardy, D.H. Lawrence and A.E. Housman.Toby Oakes, the the internet this autumn.This will enable users who cannot visit +44 (0) 20 7412 7735. NSA’s curator of Drama and Literature said, ‘What we hope is the British library in person to find out what the NSA holds from that people who made amateur recordings or know people who anywhere in the world. CADENSA currently gives details of more ■ A press reception was held to mark the 50th meeting of the did will trawl through their attics. They could be holding than two million recordings. NSA Consultative Committee, at which Tim Blackmore of the something that will enrich the nation’s archive and be of great Unique Broadcasting Company presented a first batch of value to future generations.’ ■ Recordings from the The NSA’s millennium recordings of the company’s more significant programme series, National Sound Archive CD,The Century in Sound,was which are syndicated by several independent radio networks and further publicised by the BL stations (see short article on page six). NSA pop music curator Press Office in January, Andy Linehan was featured on BBC Southeast news and was resulting in an avalanche of interviewed by GLR about the donation. t media interest.The compiler h d e n Richard Fairman (Playback ■ The Wildlife Section supplied recordings of fish sounds to the ce ou ntury in s production manager) took psychologist Dr Neil Todd of Manchester University to develop a millennium CD part in two TV and six radio his widely-publicised theory that rock music lovers and soniferous programmes, and was interviewed by three national newspapers. fish stimulate the same parts of their brains; and blackbird sounds Articles about it appeared in two further papers and in The to Dr Luis Baptista of California, who proposes that Mozart and Spectator, all of which produced rapid sales through the BL Beethoven’s compositions were inspired by bird songs. bookshop, far exceeding the initial successful sale via the offer in the Daily Telegraph.We will be repressing the disc but meanwhile ■ The provenance and identification of three ethnographic wax hurry while stocks last! Orders by post to: The British Library cylinders from the collections of C.S. Myers remained a mystery 2 Sakhalin Island cylinders Bookshop,The British Library,96 Euston Road,London NW1 2DB. until March this year. On the last day of a visit to the UK in search Janet Caddock acquisitions 1999–2000 In response to the increasing number of text publications appearing on CD-ROM and exclusively online, the British Library is seeking to extend Legal Deposit legislation Sony’s ‘Soundtrack for a Century’ to encompass non-print publications.As an interim measure the Culture Minister 150000th CD accessioned by the NSA. A Simpsons CD, tying in Chris Smith has asked the Library to set up with the television cartoon series, came with a limited edition an experimental voluntary deposit system 250-piece jigsaw puzzle. We received once again Iron Maiden’s and this is now in operation. Of course it is complete output on CDs but this time housed in a large Janet Caddock not necessary to look further than the moulded plastic representation of the head of their National Sound Archive’s long-standing Photos: frightening mascot ‘Eddie’, complete with flashing voluntary arrangement with record red eyes (NSA ref. 1SS0002631). companies for an example of a successful In his role as custodian of our system in operation; and 1999 saw another artefacts collection, Noel Sidebottom gratifying and much appreciated response was glad to take in a dictaphone from both BPI member companies and The Simpsons CD with jigsaw puzzle previously owned by Hammond Innes independents, many of whom are now and found in a junk shop in members of the Association of Independent Music (AIM).We are one of the biggest companies in this developing field, Colchester. With it came unique also grateful for the cooperation of Millward Brown, the official and we expect to be making similar arrangements recordings of Mr Innes dictating. chart compilers based in Warwick, who receive most of the with other internet-based companies imminently. independent companies’ output which is then transferred to us. Among unusual items received were the complete Including the relatively small number of specialist overseas issues video collection of Queen; a disc of ‘EVP’ recordings which we purchase, our intake of published recordings totalled featuring ‘ghost’ voices etc.; a 5” vinyl single (EM 545: 30,131 in 1999/2000. ‘About 5AQM’ by Dark Star); a steady trickle of DVDs In a further important new development agreement has been including Herbert von Karajan concerts and Driller Killer; reached with Global Music Network (GMN) for them to four pop-quiz CDs each with free pencil; varied deposit copies of their master recordings with the NSA. GMN millennium-related items including Sony’s Soundtrack for a operates exclusively via the Internet [www.gmn.com] and Century (includes a lavishly produced book and 13 double currently offers free webcasts of its exclusive and rapidly CDs); and a CD by Ananda Shankar featuring Jumpin’ Jack expanding catalogue of live classical music and jazz. It is already Flash played on the sitar, which turned out to be the 3 Iron Maiden’s ‘Eddie’ ■ International Music Collection Reg Hall,one of the UK’s leading authorities on Irish traditional music and a central figure on the ‘traditional’ side of the post- war folk revival, deposited the first tranch of his field recording collection (C903). Ashmore Among many other activities (e.g. editing anner ine T ve Topic’s ‘Voice of the People’ series) Dr Hall an Kyncl Ste Cather Iv is a long-standing musician for both the Candide Private Lives The Riot Bampton Morris and the Padstow Obby Oss. By coincidence, previously unknown ■ Drama and literature Coward Private Lives (NT) recordings of performances and interviews Staff identified and purchased a video entitled Waiting for Beckett: a portrait of Osborne Look Back in Anger (NT with William Kimber, another famous Samuel Beckett (1CV0001243). Remarkably it includes the only known Rita Dove The Darker Face of the Earth (NT) musician for Cotswold morris (pre-war recording of Beckett speaking. It was used by the Library as an example of Gorky Summerfolk (NT) Headington this time), were donated by ‘how unknown recordings can turn up out of the blue’ in its widely [trial transcript] The Colour of Justice (NT) Christopher Chaundy.