Contents page 2 Sir William Emrys William s 3 Ends: Means : Progress 9 Appointments, Retirements and Honour s 11 Drama 22 Music 32 Opera and Balle t 40 Art 44 Poetry 49 Arts Festivals : Arts Associations, Centres and Club s 52 Scotland 64 Wale s 71 Accountant's Notes Appendices (A-WWv E G®R *Y The Arts Council of Great Britain 1S N%rA gR GOAt .( of ~1gRAR PRSS cco 1 `O%IAA~1aN gese*vr► The 18th Annual Report 1962/196 3 4 St. James's Square, London, S.W. 1 Sir William Emrys Williams, C .B.E., A Litt. Member of CEMA and the Arts Council 1940-195 1 Secretary-General of the Arts Council 1951-1963 It has fallen to the lot of few in our country to show so long an d thorough a devotion to the underlying purpose of the Arts Council . Long before the Council came into being, Sir William Emrys Williams gave himself to the promotion of general interest in spreading the riches of the world of Art, in making it possible for ordinary people to shar e in the privileges of the few . A founder-member of the Council and on e of its progenitors, he undertook the office of Secretary-General in 1951 , to the great satisfaction of its members . They knew that he brought with him a continuity of purpose, strong convictions, an understandin g of people, the gift of speech-and, rare in a Welshman, the gift of silence . All this seems a long time ago, and there have been many changes i n the climate of the Arts in Britain . Throughout these years, he has bee n something more than an instrument of the Council 's policy . That alon e would have been work enough for one man, calling as it does for powers of organisation, for patience and persuasion, for the sacrifice of leisure , for many hours spent in travelling the country, addressing audiences , confronting local authorities. He helped to mould that policy, an d perhaps above all, to make it known to and acceptable by the public . At the Council meetings, he was silent unless asked for his opinion , content to keep his finger on our pulse, aware of the significance of wha t was left unsaid, always able to bring order out of the clash of minds . The three Chairmen under whom he served would, I am sure, agree that his unflinching devotion, his stubborn persistence in pursuit of the best, hi s sanity and his integrity, are largely responsible for the success the Art s Council has achieved during his stewardship . There is an old Welsh saying that three things are needed to bring a man to his reward : he must be skilled in action, patient in conference , and steadfast in purpose . We know that there will be no respite in Si r William 's labours for the Arts now that he has left the service of the Council; his reward will still be the affection and respect of all who work with him . WYN GRIFFIT H Member of the Arts Council, 1949-6 1 Vice-Chairman, 1952-61 f ~ ~ r t +~ ~ ~ + f`• `r ~a r . t r' a I { i . y y .• iv r ~ ~, 1 '-V- . E.' Bronze F . E . McNN illiam Ends `Let there be ligh t'-the policy so defined is not executed by any singl e luminary : `the night has a thousand eyes ', and every farthing dip derive s its mandate from the same general principle ; that is what it is for . In the preamble of the Charter of the Arts Council, the ends of our creation are set out (with something less than lapidary precision) as follows : to `develop a greater knowledge, understanding and practice of the fine art s exclusively, and in particular to increase the accessibility of the fine art s to the public', and to `improve the standard of execution of the fine arts '. We cannot do all that, but that is all we can do. Our responsibility for effective leadership at the grand strategic level thus has to be discharged piecemeal, at the tactical and operational level, entirely by seconding the activities of others . Appreciation is the proper work of people who look at a picture, listen to music, go to a play or rea d poetry. We are to help more people to do this work better, not to do it for them . Execution is the artists ' work-painters and sculptors, Aa composers and playwrights and choreographers, conductors, producers , actors, singers, musicians and poets. Can we help them to do it better ? It is perhaps the most exhilarating prospect one could imagine, but i t is a tall order. However, there are two alleviating circumstances . In the first place, we can reasonably expect our patients to be willing . Anything we can do to help people to appreciate works of art is directly enablin g them to enjoy life more, and if we can help artists to do better work, tha t is just what they want . There may not be enough of our medicine to g o round, but at least it is not nasty medicine . Secondly, we are not require d to teach anyone his own business. In one sense, our work can never be done . We have no single, definitive `target' whose achievement will complete our mission, such as raising a fund, or the eradication of some evil. As the standards of performance and appreciation rise in this country, and enjoyment of the arts is mor e generously diffused, we have to raise our sights. There will always b e room for improvement, because perfection is unattainable . In anothe r sense, the achievement of our aim can be continuous . Every distinguished new production anywhere in England, Scotland or Wales, every indi- vidual's fresh experience of a work of art, is a fulfilment of our objects, whether or not we had anything directly to do with it. It is a special source of pleasure and pride to the Arts Council that some noteworthy successes result from our own efforts . One of our oldest-established lines of business is in exhibitions of painting and sculpture : last year more than 175,000 people came to these exhibitions in London, and perhaps twic e as many in the provinces. Opera for All, which is `all our own work', played to more than 40,000 people who have little opportunity to enjo y opera otherwise . The work of Sadler's Wells, especially in tours outsid e London, and the ever-growing prestige of the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, and the constant progress, both in standards and in popularity , of the Repertory companies that look to us for support, are heart - warming. Full houses at Stratford-on-Avon this year will be all the mor e welcome to us because the programmes are now noted `in association with the Arts Council of Great Britain '. But full houses at Glyndebourn e are also doing our work for us . The public standard of appreciation in Great Britain is as surely improved when our people enjoy Australian painting, or share the experience of Picasso 's `War and Peace' at Vallauris, as when they are dazzled by a visiting Ballet Company, or feed on honey-dew at a reading of poetry, under our own auspices . We are in th e main stream of a current of activity that flow, irresistibly towards a finer and more splendid life for our own people : `everything 's going our way '. .Means The means appropriate to our ends (thus constantly in process o f fulfilment, yet constantly receding from our advance) are listed generically in the Charter. We are to advise and co-operate with Government Departments, local authorities and other bodies, and we are to hold an d deal with money provided by Parliament and with money or propert y `otherwise available' for our objects . Advice to, and co-operation with the constituted agencies of politica l authority imports a nuance of responsibility which is entirely character- istic of our special activity and also of British public administration . The Council consists essentially of public-spirited private persons, whos e interest in the Arts may or may not be professional . These people ar e appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Assessors from th e Civil Service attend all meetings : but the Council's work and discussions are uninhibited by any official `veto'. The Council appoints its own panels of experts, and its own staff (subject, in the single case of the Secretary - General, to the approval of the Chancellor) . This particular pattern of relationship between Government and th e Arts would be hard to parallel elsewhere, lacking as it does the dirigisme of continental arrangements under a Minister of Culture or of the Fin e Arts, and lacking also the irresponsibility of unaided voluntary patronag e as exercised (say) in nineteenth-century England. It is a case of private enterprise ridden on the snaffle . The efficiency of the system depends o n the predominantly sensible contributions of all concerned, and on their ability to recognise what is good with understanding and enthusiasm, rather than on any particular combination of checks and balances . The system has been and is still challenged from two directions. Some people consider that a certain informality in our procedures i s unbecoming, seeing that the Council is entrusted with substantial sums of public money ; they fear that our freedom from Parliamentar y inquisition or official control in matters of policy makes us autocratic , and arbitrary in our choice of candidates for support- `irresponsible' in the plain as well as in the technical sense.