News In this issue ... Page Page Address for Communications 2 From the Birthplace Archive 34 Keep in touch, next Edition 2 This is what I do 36 Letter from the Chairman 3 Elgar Society Medal presentations: From the Vice–Chairman 7 Daniel Barenboim 37 Hon. Secretary’s AGM Report 8 Diana McVeagh at Champs Hill 40 AGM and Birthday weekend 10 Parry’s Judith in Canada 42 From the Treasurer 15 The Apostles in Dublin 43 From the Membership Secretary 22 Elgarians in Bamberg 45 Follow the Colours 23 Obituaries 46 Elgar Works 24 The Three Choirs Festival 2015 49 A new book from Pauline Collett 25 Brief items 49 Michael Kennedy Branch Reports 53 and Lady Barbirolli interview 25 Branch Events 62 Elgar’s Interpreters on Record 26 Delius Society 64 The future of the Birthplace 28 Michael Kennedy Memorial Concert 64 From the Birthplace 29 Dates for your Diary 65 Birthplace Events 33 Crossword 70 No. 56 – August 2015 Address for Communications Contributions for the December 2015 issue of the Elgar Society News should be e–mailed to all the compilers: Ernie Kay: [email protected] Richard Smith: [email protected] Peter James: [email protected] Full contact details can be found on the back cover. The latest date for submissions for the December issue is 25 October 2015. 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; – Composers of other works in the concert; and – The full names of all performers. 2 Elgar Society News Letter from the Chairman Dear Friends I thoroughly enjoyed the Birthday Weekend (despite our team’s gallant last place in Stuart Freed’s excellent quiz), and I hope all those who attended also enjoyed themselves. The various points and highlights are covered elsewhere in this edition of the News, so I am confining my introduction to an edited version of my report to stand as a minute of that part of the meeting and so that the non–attenders have a flavour of the report. We started with the ‘Meditation’ from Light of Life from a new CD, Elgar from Salisbury, played by John Challenger at the Salisbury Cathedral organ. I’ve reviewed it for the Journal, and it’s clear how much I enjoyed this CD. ‘Looking backwards, I covered much of what I wanted to say in the Trustees’ Annual Report, a copy of which all members received in the last edition of the News. However, I did want to put on record some thanks. First, I welcome Helen Whittaker to her first AGM as our Treasurer, and I thank her for so smoothly fitting onto the Executive and for bringing her considerable existing expertise as, inter alia, Treasurer of the East Anglian Branch. ‘Our Vice–Chairman, Stuart Freed, missed our last AGM, but not half as much as I missed him, and I am grateful for his enormous support. He has been indefatigable in updating our website – whilst the site looks virtually the same, the basis upon which it now operates is completely different and offers us greater security, stability and flexibility. ‘The newly configured site also makes available for the first time the Elgar Discography compiled by John Knowles. This exciting new development allows visitors to the site to examine the entire listing, to search by category and by key word. ‘Stuart has also been in charge of the electronic distribution of the News, Journal and Birthplace leaflet. With his introduction of the new method of facilitating the Society website, we can now deliver, through the site, the publications to all of the membership No. 56 – August 2015 3 Letter from the Chairman for whom we have an e–mail address. We should all be grateful for Stuart’s time and sheer persistence in helping enhance and modernise the Society’s work. ‘Helen Petchey has her own report later in the agenda, and I am going to criticise her for being so modest. In a recent e–mail, I described her as “admirably efficient”, which she is, and more. For she and I are in frequent touch and she will always put up confidently her point of view, is invaluable as a sounding board for some of my thoughts, and of course she is a repository of Society information going back years. We don’t always agree, but we never fall out about the issues. ‘Geoff Scargill is stepping down from the Executive at Christmas so I wanted to thank him publicly for his contributions to our debates. He has been a tireless advocate for the Branches, has been responsible for reviving I think three, and has steered our German initiative, the recent highpoint of which was the Bamberg weekend in April. He was behind the initiative to present the Society’s Cerificate of Merit to Meinhard Saremba and Wolfgang Armin–Rittmeier, which also occurred at the Bamberg Weekend. ‘I want to recognise the contribution of the members of our Council, on which we have had some changes: Clive Weeks agreed to remain on the Council after his Treasurership, Richard Hall stood down in 2014, and John Harcup stands down at this meeting, whilst we welcome our Certificate of Merit holder, Jon Goldswain, and Roy Whittaker. ‘Spreading the net wider to the managers of the Society, I salute our Archivist & Data Protection Officer, Richard Hall, our Membership Secretary, David Young, helped by David Jones, our News Editors, Ernie Kay, Richard Smith and Peter James, and Journal Editor, Martin Bird. Martin completes his five years as Journal Editor at the end of 2016, so we need a new editor. ‘You may also be interested to know that a Constitutional Working Party is being set up, following meetings held and suggestions put forward by members of West Midlands Branch. ‘One thing I wanted to do this AGM was to refer back to the sad plight of our President, Julian Lloyd Webber, who, in the middle of 4 Elgar Society News Letter from the Chairman last year, learnt he had to put an untimely and precipitate end to his cello–playing career. He completed a final concert in Malvern – and John Harcup talked of this at our last AGM – and a final recording with the English Chamber Orchestra which he also conducted. The disc was released by Naxos in April and I thought you would like to hear Chanson de Matin from the delightful disc. ‘Finally I pay tribute to all the Branch Officers listed. I am all too aware of the huge amount of thought and action that takes place to enable the Society to run smoothly and achieve what it does. ‘As far as the Branches themselves are concerned, last April I wrote I was planning to visit over the following twelve months our newer Branches, as well of course as longer–established ones. I have already enjoyed immensely my visits and I extend my thanks to all the Branch officials and members for their universally warm welcomes. ‘On 14 June 2014, I received a very friendly welcome from the East Midlands Branch in Leicester on the first anniversary of their rebirth, for which anniversary I cut the delicious cake. 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. ‘It was North–West Branch’s turn in November 2014. The delightful memory of this commemorative lunch has been overshadowed for me by the fact that it was the last occasion I had the pleasure of seeing Michael Kennedy. It was impossible not to warm to Michael, whose humility and easy friendliness in our company were readily apparent. I was especially pleased when the Elgar Society widened in 2010 he criteria for awarding our highest honour, the Elgar Medal, to embrace citizens of the UK in addition to foreign nationals, because we immediately agreed the first recipient should be Michael. In the citation, it read with absolute truth that “no–one has done more to promote the cause over such a long time and contribute so much to Elgar appreciation and scholarship as Michael Kennedy”. ‘As last year, I started 2015 with a visit to the Scottish Branch, this time to talk about Elgar’s Brinkwells music. It is always a great pleasure visiting the magnificent city of Edinburgh and seeing our friends in the North. No. 56 – August 2015 5 Letter from the Chairman ‘In another magnificent city, York, I was entertained delightfully by the Yorkshire Branch and I hope my talk on the War Music entertained them likewise. ‘My biggest disappointment of the year was anticipating visiting the North America Branch’s convocation in Indianapolis and then having it cancelled owing to the illness of Raymond Leppard, who was due to conduct Elgar as the centrepiece of the weekend. I hope very much that the Branch will come up with a new meeting somewhere. ‘My first visit to the East Anglia Branch was on 11 May after the General and local elections, and after those exertions (I know whereof I speak: I am a Returning Officer for the elections) what a delightful contrast it was to survey all of Elgar’s chamber music in a talk written especially for the Branch.