COUNCI L

*Sir Kenneth Clark, K .C.B . ; D .Litt., LL .D ., F.B .A . (Chairman) *Wyn Griffith, O.B .E ., D .Litt . (Vice-Chairman) Ernest Boden Robert Kem p *Professor Sir William Coldstream, C.B .E. *Benn W. Levy, M .B .E. *Josepph Compton, C .B .E. *Professor Anthony Lewi s Lt .-Col . Vere E. Cotton, C.B.E ., T .D., J .P. *Sir George T . McGlashan, C .B .E., J .P . Mrs . Hugh Dalton John Newsom, C .B .E . The Lady Fermoy, O.B .E . Lady Ogilivie *Professor Gwyn Jones Sir Wynn Wheldon, K.B .E ., D .S .O ., LL .D . *Member of Executive Committee

SCOTTISH COMMITTEE

Sir George T. McGlashan, C.B .E., J.P. (Chairman) D. K . Baxandall J. A . Henderson William MacTaggart, R .S.A . Ernest Boden Robert Kemp Hugh Marshal l Colin Chandler The Hon . Mrs. Michael Lyle John M. Playfair Ian Finlay Sir John McEwen, Bart, D .L., Miss Violet C . Young E. S . Harrison J.P.

WELSH COMMITTEE

Professor Gwyn Jones (Chairman) The Marquess of Anglesey J. Henry Jones, Ph.D . Ceri Richard s S . Kenneth Davies, C.B .E . Thomas Parry, D .Litt . Dr . William Thomas, C.B . Aneirin Talfan Davies Robert E. Presswood Sir Wynn Wheldon, K .B .E., Professor I . L . Foste r Mrs . D . R . Prosse r D .S .O ., LL .D David Dilwyn John, T.D . , Miss Frances Rees, O .B .E . D . E . Parry Williams, D .Mus . D .Sc ., F.M .A . Emlyn Williams

STAFF

HEADQUARTERS 4 St. James's Square, London, S.W.1 Whiteha11973 7 Secretary-General : Sir William Emrys Williams, C.B .E . Deputy-Secretary and Finance Officer: M . J. McRober t Art Director : Music Director Drama Director : Philip James, C .B .E . John Denison, M .B .E . J. L. Hodgkinson, O .B .E . Assistant Secretary: Eric W . Whit e Accountant D . P. Lund, F .C .A .

SCOTLAND Director : Dr. George Firth, O .B .E ., 11 Rothesay Terrace, Edinburgh, 3 (Edinburgh 34635/6 ) Deputy Director: Donald Mather WALES Director: Miss Myra Owen, O.B .E., 29 Park Place, Cardiff, South Wales (Cardiff 23488) Deputy Director : David Peters P~ 2cc-c J~ GQ P ~y

T H E A R T S C O U N C I L OF G R E A T B R I T A I N

ARTS COUNCI L OF GREAT BRITAI N

REFERENCE ONLY

DO NOT REMOVE FROM THE LIBRARY TWELFT H ANNUAL REPOR T I956-I957

q. 'ST . JAMES'S SQUARE, LONDON, S .W .i DESIGNED BY MISS G . DRUMMOND McKERROW AND PRINTED IN ENGLAND AT THE BAYNARD PRESS

CONTENTS

Page 1 . ART IN THE RED 5

2. NOTES OF THE YEAR 10

3. DRAMA 33

4. ART 38

5. MUSIC 44

6. OPERA AND BALLET 52

7. POETRY 56

8 . SCOTLAND 58

9. WALES 64

APPENDICES :

Appendix A The Arts Council of Great Britain : Audited Accounts 74

Appendix B The Council's Committee in Scotland : Audited Accounts 88

Appendix C The Council's Committee in Wales : Audited Accounts 94

Appendix D Arts Council Exhibitions held in Great Britain 100

Appendix E Subsidies from Local Authorities and Local Educatio n Authorities 102 1

ART' IN THE RED

At the beginning of its eleventh year the Arts Council was assisting about 125 bodies engaged in providing the public of Great Britain wit h opera, ballet, music and drama on a professional basis. By the end of that year all these bodies were still alive ; but several of them had nearly come to grief, some had been compelled to curtail their activities, and all but two or three had been harassed by economic difficulties. Yet this same period was one of much artistic accomplishment, and abundant suppor t at the box office. At Covent Garden, for instance, there were performance s of The Ring which were acclaimed on good authority as the best to be see n and heard in Europe. Sadler's Wells gave its ardent and devoted audience some memorable new productions, including an enchanting Figaro. The Carl Rosa employed a modest budget on very successful tours of the Provinces and broke all attendance records during its fortnight in London. Heartening results of similar quality were achieved by the London and Provincial Orchestras, The Welsh National Opera Company, the Old Vic and many of the Repertory Theatres and Arts Festivals . The two com- panies of the Royal Ballet delighted multitudes at home and abroad, an d the gallant Ballet Rambert continued its demonstrations of style on a sho e string. There was no lack of quality, experiment and initiative among mos t of these providing bodies and no evidence that their public is being diminished by the onset of television. Yet most of them continue to be in a chronic condition of economic insecurity . Some of their difficulties are, evidently, due to the familiar spiral of mounting costs . A Credit Squeeze is no respecter of moral purpose, an d the manager of a non-profit repertory theatre is on no better a footing than a bookmaker when he seeks more accommodation from his bank . But the economic malady of the arts is not primarily due to the phenomenon o f inflation, although inflation is aggravating the trouble. It is caused by an almost universal lack of working capital among the companies which produce opera and music and plays on a non-profit basis . All the companies which the Arts Council assists are of this kind. They distribute no dividends, and when they secure a trading surplus, as some of them occasionally do, they plough it back into further production . But their exemption from the obligation to declare dividends is a benefit offset, more often than not, by their lack of capital assets and their consequent vulnerability to any of the hazards which beset their trading operations-such as a bad winter, a pre - mature summer, an epidemic, a transport strike, a miscalculated produc- tion. When the Royal Opera House embarked upon its prodigious task , ten years ago, of creating a national theatre of opera and ballet it was no t furnished with a penny-piece of working capital, and there was no provisio n in its budget, then as now, to cover or mitigate the accidents which ca n befall such delicate mechanisms . The alternative to capital is subsidy. Nations which adopt the principle of public patronage for the fine arts usually prefer annual subsidy to capital provision-although Canada has boldly taken the opposite view i n financing the new Canada Council, a body analogous to the Arts Council , which is described in some detail on page 14. The Doctrine of the Subsidy has much to commend it. It ensures that all money allocated is subject t o annual control by Parliament ; it is, theoretically, based upon a calculation of actual need ; and by its short-term nature it restrains its beneficiaries from developing grandiose ambitions . Its disadvantages are equally ap- parent : it inhibits long-term planning, allows no margin for accidents, dis - courages any accumulation of reserves for rainy days . But the most irk- some aspect of this doctrine of the subsidy is that it appears to pre-suppos e a horse-trading mentality among those who participate in its application . The governing bodies of the orchestras and theatres furnish the Art s Council year by year with precise estimates of their needs ; the Arts Council in turn scrutinises these figures with the closest attention, and finally sub- mits to the Treasury a consolidated estimate of the subsidy required t o maintain the present level of the fine arts in this country . Yet despite thes e careful calculations the money to cover the ascertained needs of the arts i s never forthcoming ; and the extent to which the Arts Council is unable , year after year, to offer its associated bodies the subsidies they need i s regularly reflected in the balance sheets and the anxieties of those bodies . In the last twelve months two of the symphony orchestras have narrowl y escaped dissolution ; the two national opera houses are burdened with heavy overdrafts, which represent the difference between their annual grants from the Arts Council and their actual needs ; the Carl Rosa is com- pelled to curtail its popular tours and to conduct its operations in hand-to - mouth fashion. The Royal Ballet and the Old Vic are constrained to under - take prolonged dollar-drives in America in order to make ends meet at 6 home. Several provincial repertory theatres, not least those engaged in ad - venturous programmes of new drama, are liable to be forced back into th e servitude and squalor of weekly rep . because they lack the couple o f thousand a year which would make it possible to put quality befor e quantity. If this economic insecurity were due to a widespread public in - difference to the fine arts it would be idle to persist in the attempt to main- tain the present level of provision. But the audience for the arts in thi s country today is a very large and appreciative one. It is being augmented, moreover, by many devices, such as supporters clubs for theatres and orchestras, special concerts for industrial workers, school visits, coac h parties of villagers combining their shopping with a visit to the repertory. Whether admission charges are being raised enough to keep pace wit h rising costs is a matter for argument ; yet where they are being increased consumer-resistance is not fulfilling the woeful predictions of the mor e timorous theatre and concert promoters . This aspect of administering the arts needs constant watching. Some theatres have flinched year after year from asking more at the door, and when at long last price-increases became a desperate remedy they had to be of such a dimension as to scare away a section of a public too long accustomed to too cheap a seat . In a period of inflation, particularly, price increases must operate like a creeping barrage ; they must be periodic and gradual, and they can therefore be small i n amount. An annual sixpenny increase on a basic price of five shillings is a wiser policy than a sudden panic-increase, after several years of doubt an d hesitation, from five shillings to seven-and-six . There are other complexi- ties, however, to be considered . For the visit of the Bolshoi Ballet people paid very high prices at the Covent Garden box office, and still higher one s on the black market . This phenomenon was interpreted by some critics of Covent Garden as a sign that they could raise their usual prices even mor e than they have actually been doing, in instalments, for some time. The fact is that these fiestas of the arts, wherever they occur, are invariably followe d by a temporary slump in attendances . The extra expense to which people will gladly go for a special celebration is reflected in a subsequent retrench - ment in their normal expenditure on the arts . The one unmistakable ele- ment in the price-factor is the public willingness to pay more for the bes t than for the second-best, which in itself is a potent argument for maintain- ing the arts of this country at a high level of selective performance and , therefore, on a scale limited by the quantity of excellence we possess amon g our musicians and actors and singers and dancers . Everything must continue to be done by the promoters of opera and music and drama to match admission prices as closely as possible to risin g costs. But even when that obligation is fully recognised and observed th e arts cannot survive without a larger scale of subsidy from public funds than the present one . The amount by which the existing level needs to be raised is not a daunting one, either in itself or in terms of other comparabl e public expenditure. In the financial year 1957-58, the Arts Council gran t from the Exchequer stands at £995,000, which is £110,000 more than the year before. Call it a million . If that figure were raised by one-quarter th e current situation of chronic crisis in the arts would be resolved, higher standards of performance encouraged, and the potential of many frus- trated enterprises more fully achieved . Some of the symphony orchestras are, at present, overworked by the necessity to augment their income by too - frequent recording-sessions ; they should be relieved of some of these pres - sures and given more time to rehearse for their concert-hall performances . The Carl Rosa should be on tour for longer than its present thirty weeks ; the Ballet Rambert has pinched and scraped long enough ; a first-class theatre company should be regularly touring the English Classics in the provinces ; The Welsh National Opera Company should have more scope ; the Old Vic needs the means to build up new talent on a long-term basi s more provision is wanted for schemes to provide opportunity and ex- perience for young conductors, designers, producers, sculptors, painters and singers. These are a random sample of the developments which ar e overdue, and which could be achieved by a 25 per cent increase on the Art s Council's present scale of Exchequer grant . An increase of that order could also provide (by way of further illustra- tion) a special loan-fund for refurbishing the arts. The prospects of many repertory theatres could be substantially improved if they had the means t o make themselves more attractive-better seats, new carpets, a cyclorama , efficient lighting, an attractive bar, a more accessible box office. They need a £5,000 face-lift . Even a coat of paint on a peeling facade can coax a ne w customer into the house. Experience has already shown-at the excellent Theatre Royal, Windsor, for example-that money spent on such improve- ments and amenities not only brings in larger audiences but makes the m less reluctant to pay higher prices for their seats. Some of the halls where the symphony orchestras play would equally benefit by refurbishing . A similar principle applies no less to some of the devoted but ill-provided touring companies which take drama and ballet and opera round the country. They, too, could put to timely and profitable use a loan sufficien t to equip themselves with more attractive costumes and scenery . For a sum of the order of £50,000 there could be established a loan fund, long-term and interest-free, operating like a fountain and replenishing its level by th e gradual paying-back of the sums it lent for every kind of physical re- furbishment. No national funds whatever exist for capital expenditure on the arts, fo r putting up theatres or opera houses or concert halls. Since the war ended the only new building of this kind provided by public funds in this country is the Royal Festival Hall ; the only municipality so far to follow th e example of the LCC is the City of Coventry whose handsome new theatre , to be opened next spring, has cost them over a quarter of a million . In the same period scores of such buildings have been constructed abroad, som e of them in countries (such as Austria, Italy and Holland and Turkey) n o better off than Britain . Germany has provided itself with new opera house s and concert halls in Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Hanover, Hamburg , Wuppertal, Dusseldorf, Mannheim, Munster, Stuttgart and several smaller places. In this country these requirements evidently come at the end of the housing queue. What could be done on an expenditure of, say, a million a year for five years? A million would build four new theatres in the pro- vinces, where theatres are closing every day. It would build two new concert halls in cities which have no place fit for a symphony orchestra t o play, or an intimate opera house, complementary to Covent Garden, for the performance of Mozart and Donizetti . In our protracted failure to furnish Britain with these local habitations for the further nourishment o f the fine arts we have displayed a lamentable lack of civilised values . The Turks are in such economic difficulties that they cannot afford to impor t coffee, their traditional national drink, and many other amenities of living ; nevertheless, a magnificent new opera house is approachin g completion in Istanbul . Meanwhile, the Arts Council is actively engaged on an enquiry called `Housing the Arts' . It undertook the task at the request of a former Chancellor of the present Government, and it is pursuing the exercise with diligence ; but its deliberations are to some extent clouded by the remem- brance that to its terms of reference was coupled the warning not to assume that capital funds would be available for carrying out any recom- mendations it might make . The hardships of the Briton must almost reconcile the Turk to going without his coffee .

9 z

NOTES OF THE YEA R

1 . A NATIONAL THEATRE COMPANY ? The National Theatre remains a remote objective . An Act of Parliament has decreed that it shall be built ; a Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in Parliament several years ago that a million pounds would be eventuall y allocated to the project ; the foundation stone has been laid on the South Bank ; and a handsome model, constructed from the architect's plans, is i n existence. In the absence of any evidence that the National Theatre i s likely to be built in the near future there is at present little public interest i n the scheme . Indeed, the deferment of it has revived suggestions that aplan o f lesser scope might be more attainable : i.e. the acquisition of an existin g London theatre for adaptation as the national home of drama in Britain. But, while we wait for a building, is there any reason why we should no t begin to interpret in practical terms the concept of a National Theatre ? A National Theatre is an entity as well as an edifice . It is a company of actors, a repertory of classics, a pattern of performance, a display of artistic excellence. Would it be possible, here and now, to devise some method of realising and rehearsing these responsibilities so that when the Nationa l Theatre comes into being we shall possess some knowledge and experience of the way to conduct it? Should we attempt, perhaps, to constitute a National Theatre Company on a provisional and part-time basis ; a com- pany of our finest talent to undertake, say, two or three short seasons a year of plays from the classical repertory? There seem several merits in suc h a proposal if it could be realised . For one thing, it would publicise the con - cept of a National Theatre, which not one person in a hundred has ye t assimilated, and thus help to build the sort of audience on which such a n institution must depend. A sample is still the best way to sell and popularis e a commodity. A National Theatre should also serve, so to speak, as a National Provincial Theatre, and the inclusion in the Company's pro- gramme of some visits to the major cities would be an affirmation of the principle that a National Theatre is more than a metropolitan possession . By gathering together for a few weeks a year an assembly of our national 10 talent we should present a striking visible revelation of our nationa l status in this art . Actors on the whole are a race of nomads . They move from play to play and place to place, and to that extent they have few opportunities to develop a sense of collective purpose to match their in- dividual effort. Players who have worked at Stratford or the Old Vic wil l testify to the enhanced sense of fulfilment they derive from such a purpose- ful association. A National Theatre Company would enjoy the same in- vigorating experience . Other benefits might be derived from an experimental National Theatr e Company. It could provide evidence in some respects of what a National Theatre would cost in production expenses, salaries, and several othe r items-and it cannot be said too often that if Britain really intends to establish a National Theatre it must be also prepared to find the appro- priate subsidy for its operations . The failure to be realistic on that accoun t is the cause of the chronic financial anxieties which beset our National Theatre of Opera and Ballet . A consolidated effort of this kind to create a prestige company from ou r abundant talent seems worth consideration . Most of our leading actors and actresses could be counted upon to participate in a project of this kind o n a limited scale, and to devote a few weeks apiece each year to appearing i n a National Theatre production ; and to the less established or less ex- perienced actors the prospect of selection for such a company could be a powerful incentive . There exist several managements including Stratford, the Old Vic, som e of the London promoters, and some of the repertories, whose interest and experience could collectively create an experimental National Theatre Company. A project of this kind must be exemplary, and not a well intentioned improvisation ; and unless it can be developed under suc h auspices it is best left alone . Finally, it will cost money, for the productions must always foreshadow the excellence we one day hope to see in th e national home of drama on the South Bank .

2. THE PLIGHT OF THE LIVING THEATR E Many theatres have lately been shut down or demolished and, despit e the abolition of Entertainments Duty, the process is bound to continue . Some of the towns which have thus lost their only theatre had long sinc e demonstrated the fact that they were unable or unwilling to provide a regular and dependable audience for professional drama . In other places the local theatre had long since declined into the status of a commo n 11 lodging-house for the less reputable kind of Variety show . In such cir- cumstances the closure of many theatres is either inevitable or socially desirable. But these considerations apart, the casualty-rate is an alarming symptom of a malady which threatens to extinguish the provincial theatre. The announcement by a theatre-landlord that he is disposing of his pro- perty to make way for an office-block or a chain-store invariably rouse s some degree of local agitation, and frequently produces the exhortatio n that the Arts Council should `step-in' . Step in with what? Presumably with a cheque of five or six figures . The Arts Council has no funds for such sal- vage operations ; even if it had, there would be many local factors to con- sider before it dispensed bounty on such a scale. A theatre enterprise involves much more than the possession of a building ; it requires a policy, a body of management, a resident company, a reliable audience ; and unless a town is willing and able to provide such essentials its mere acquisition of a theatre could prove a costly piece of sentiment . Even when the omens are favourable in this respect, the only immediately effective way of `saving ' a local theatre is for the City Council or Borough Council to buy it as an ac t of faith. Several theatres have, indeed, been saved on this basis, and of thes e the ones most likely to survive are those whose management has been en - trusted to a Civic Theatre Trust rather than to the Town Hall. The wisest and fittest role for a Local Authority in this domain is that of benevolen t landlord to an independent governing body representing a broad range o f civic interest in the arts . As things stand, the only agency with the means to buy a theatre in danger of closure is the Local Authority, and even then a Local Authority is only justified in taking this expensive emergency actio n if it is confident of the capacity of its citizens to provide not only the appa- ratus of governing the theatre but also the audience to keep it reasonably full. If the present rate of closure continues it will become impossible t o maintain the framework of a touring circuit in the Provinces, and excep t for what the score of resident repertory companies can provide, the Londo n successes will not be seen outside the boundaries of the metropolis . This is another sound reason why vigorous efforts should be made to preserve a certain number of theatres in the larger towns . Is any other collective patron in sight to assist Local Authorities in main- taining the provincial theatre on a limited scale? The West End theatre, a s its responsible managements readily recognise, is much beholden to th e provincial theatre, on which it depends for recruiting young actors, for try - out opportunities and for the touring of its metropolitan successes . Is it 12 conceivable that the West End could make itself the trustee for a group o f provincial theatres and, possibly, contribute to that purpose some fraction of the benefits it has secured from the abolition of Entertainments Duty? Self-interest would not be a negligible motive in such an action . Can the theatre in the Provinces look elsewhere for assistance in its effort to survive? Television has an evident interest in the maintenance of the living theatre . It is an enormous devourer of drama, and in that field feeds largely upon plays which were written in the first place for the liv e theatre. Unless the drama it consumes is replenished by new dramatists , television will find that the material it so omnivorously consumes is n o longer sufficiently there . Television, of course, pays performing-fees for the plays it borrows or adapts from the product of the theatre, but it may well be argued that its dependence on the theatre as a whole, for actors as well as plays, creates some obligation to assist in sustaining the living source o f its televised drama. Both the BBC and the Commercials have such problem s on their hands at present as may well prevent them from accepting any further obligations, even on a minimum scale . But if and when these prob- lems are eased or resolved, the massed forces of television might well be persuaded to recognise their obligations to the living theatre and to accept some responsibility for its survival. Another proposal for mitigating the plight of the theatre, and indeed th e arts generally, is to establish a Lapsed Copyright Fund . No royalties, o f course, are payable for the performance of the old masters in drama or music-or, indeed, of works which (within broad limits) were published more than fifty years ago. If a nominal royalty equivalent were levied o n such performances a very substantial sum would be gathered in, and ploughed back into the nourishment of the arts of our own time . Even if the levy were as low as point one per cent (instead of the 10 per cent or 121 pe r cent royalty payable on copyright material) it could amass a very large fun d indeed from performances of Shakespeare, Sheridan, Congreve, Wycher- ley, Goldsmith, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and scores of others ; and if the levy were extended to the published plays and music, to the broadcasts, an d to the gramophone records of the classics it could reach an annual total of seven figures without necessitating increases in the cost of seats, books o r records. The Arts Council canvassed the idea a couple of years ago with the limited object of discovering whether such a fund could be set up on a voluntary basis ; but of the publishers and theatre managements ap- proached at that time the only ones found willing to play were Stratford , the Old Vic and Penguin Books . Such innovations have no. hope of succes s 13 on a voluntary basis, and this particular project would evidently require legislation to make it work. It would also impose a very considerable ne w function upon the Performing Rights Society . But the principle behind it i s simple and defensible ; by reviving a nominal copyright in material which has long lapsed from its original ownership, and assigning that copyrigh t to a central fund, a valuable fountain of replenishment could be created fo r the further nourishment of the arts .

3. THE ARTS IN THE COMMONWEALT H On March 12th, 1957, the Canadian Parliament approved the establish- ment of the Canada Council, a body (foreshadowed by the Massey Repor t of 1917) which is charged with encouraging the arts, humanities and socia l sciences in Canada . These comprehensive duties resemble the functions which, in Britain, are undertaken by the Arts Council and the Universit y Grants Committee ; but what distinguishes this notable development is th e method by which the Canada Council is financed. Instead of being re- quired to face the hazards of an annual Exchequer grant it is furnished with an Endowment Fund which it can invest as it thinks best, and distribute th e interest among those bodies which fulfil its objects. The Endowment Fund for this purpose is a sum of fifty million dollars-with a similar su m assigned for capital expenditure on the Universities. It is anticipated that the annual income available for the development of the arts and humanitie s will be more than two million dollars a year . The most admirable feature of this historic decision is that the method o f financing the Canada Council will permit it to develop long-term plans i n the arts, instead of being dependent for its resources upon an annual and unpredictable Parliamentary Vote . In short, the members of the Canad a Council are being endowed with an adequate capital sum and told to get on with the job in the knowledge that they will be spared the annual and ignobl e ordeal of Oliver Twist. The Commonwealth is now well furnished with bodies analogous to th e Arts Council and charged with similar duties of patronage and develop- ment. The list already includes Canada, Australia, Northern Ireland, South Africa and Ceylon ; and schemes are maturing for the creation of Art s Councils in the Central African Federation and the West Indies. These en- couraging examples promote the notion that in the near future a Common - wealth Arts Council might be feasible to carry out, as one of its duties, th e systematic interchange of the product and the talent of its member-states . An appropriate pendant to this paragraph is the news that two American 14 Senators, one Democrat and one Republican, are sponsoring a Bill t o create a United States Art Foundation and are proposing an annual appro- priation of five million dollars `for subsidising plays, ballet and musical works, etc.'. The proposal is being widely backed, and at the centennia l celebration of the American Institute of Architects, Lilian Gish, invokin g the Federal Government to adopt a system of patronage for the arts, observed, `Billions for arms and armies to defend this country and not one cent for the background and beauty which these arms and men defend' .

4. THE PRINCIPLE OF FREE ADMISSIO N The tradition in this country that the Fine Arts are to be enjoyed free of charge dies hard. We have a long history of free admission to galleries and museums, whereas on the Continent the public are required to pay entranc e fees equivalent to the price of a seat in the cinema, and, in addition, up t o as much as ten shillings for a by no means lavishly illustrated catalogue . To take one case-the combined cost of admission and catalogue for a recen t Picasso exhibition in Paris was sixteen shillings, yet nearly 200,000 visitors paid this amount. The Arts Council has discarded the free admission principle in many o f its own exhibitions. It now charges an admission fee of one shilling for exhibitions held at St . James's Square and since October, 1955, an incom e of over £4,000 has been earned from this source alone . The cost of mounting exhibitions has risen sharply in recent years and, without either a sub- stantial increase in the Art Department's budget, or the alternative of ad - mission charges, the exhibition programme last year would have had to be severely pruned . As it is, however, the cost of exhibitions has averaged a little over £40,000 a year during the past three years, and half of thi s considerable sum has been recouped by takings in some form . No reduction, therefore, in the scale of operations has been necessary . The tradition of free admission continues to be maintained in municipa l art galleries, and for that reason the numerous Arts Council exhibition s held on municipal premises are unable to secure a contribution from th e thousands who visit them. There seems a case for the revision of the bye- laws on this matter. Why should the public pay for admission to a municipa l concert-hall or a municipal repertory theatre and yet pay nothing to visit the municipal art gallery? In a period of full employment this exemptio n has less justification than ever. The introduction of a sixpenny entrance fe e to public art galleries would serve not only to emphasise the principle tha t something for nothing is, psychologically, a poor proposition, but it woul d 15

companies, it is not unreasonable in the special conditions prevailing, an d particularly if the final result proves to be what everyone hoped for. The Coventry Corporation has recently nominated fifteen persons (ten of

. 'fit St4 ~~ _

THE BELGRADE THEATRE, COVENTRY . This theatre, designed to seat a n audience of 910, is sited in the central area of the City with one frontage o n to Corporation Street, where the main entrance lies, and another frontag e on to a new square which will be laid out with grass, trees and a small pool . The foyers and bars will overlook this square and the ground-floor foye r will open on to a terrace alongside . Boxes are arranged in two tiers on either side of the auditorium and also line the rear of the stalls . There is one balcony with entrances from either side and this is divided into a circle and dress circle . The stage is equipped with a set ofsingle purchase counter- weights and the rear wall forms a permanent cyclorama . A workshop and paint room adjoin the stage and a room at the rear of the stalls with an uninterrupted view of the stage accommodates the remote control for lighting and sound. The theatre has been wired for television broadcasts . On the Corporation Street frontage are six shops and twenty-one single- roomed flats, some of which will be reserved for letting to artists and staff. 18 whom are members of the City Council) to form a non-profit-distributin g Trust for the new theatre and invited them to decide upon the policy, appoint the artistic and administrative personnel and be responsible for th e day-to-day running of the building . The Arts Council will give its support to this new home of drama in the Midlands, and has, indeed, already given a token of its goodwill in the following way. Three years ago the Coventry Corporation invited the Council to nominate an artist to co-operate with the City architect in plan- ning decorative features of the theatre. Mr. Martin Froy was nominate d for this assignment and produced some interesting suggestions for th e interior treatment of the theatre ; but since that time costs have risen so steeply that economies have compelled the adoption of a modified scheme . In the revised scheme Mr . Froy has produced, for the walls of the two mai n foyers, some designs which were to have been done in oils . It became evi- dent, however, that a more durable method of decoration was desirable i f rapid deterioration and costly upkeep were to be avoided . As these non- figurative designs were particularly apt for treatment in mosaic it has bee n decided to produce them in that form ; and the Arts Council has made a grant to meet the extra cost of this material .

7. THE FRENCH PROVINCIAL DRAMATIC CENTRE S Despite its limitations and difficulties the theatre in this country ha s roots in its Provinces as well as in London. In France, even before the war, the theatre was becoming more and more concentrated in Paris, but in 1945, Jean Daste began a provincial experiment with a company based a t Grenoble. The following year, under the auspices of La Direction Generale des Arts et des Lettres (a section of The Ministry of Education) a plan wa s evolved for the decentralisation of the theatre by setting up, with the join t support of the State and Municipalities, five provincial dramatic centre s at widely spaced points in the country. The first in 1947 was Le Centre Dramatique de L'Est, a syndicate of five towns in the east of France - Colmar, Haguenau, Metz, Mulhouse and Strasbourg, where the Centr e is now. Later in 1947 Jean Daste moved his company from Grenoble , where the municipality had not proved generous, to St . Etienne, roughly in the centre of France, and formed La Comidie de St . Etienne. In 1949 in the south-west, Le Grenier de Toulouse was set up as a professional com- pany after about four years' work on an amateur basis ; and this was followed later in the same year by Le Centre Dramatique de L'Ouest, at Rennes, in the north-west . Lastly, in 1952, La Comidie de Provence was 19 formed at Aix-en-Provence to serve the south-east . The aim of the system as a whole, and of each company individually, i s twofold-to provide a theatre for the public in these regions ; and to foster the special tastes and talents of each region . Naturally an enterprise on thi s scale requires substantial subsidy and from the beginning it has been give n ungrudgingly, the State of course contributing the greatest part . In addition to grants from the respective municipalities many towns give smaller sum s or the use of their theatre rent free . This is what the Centres will receive during the current year :- State Municipal Equivalent grants grants in £ Le Centre Dramatique de L'Est Fr. 47m. Fr. 3m. £50,000 La Com6die de St. Etienne Fr. 20m. Fr. 3m. £23,000 Le Grenier de Toulouse Fr. 18m. Fr. 22m. £20,500 Le Centre Dramatique de L'Ouest Fr. 17m. Fr. 21m. £19,500 La Com6die de Provence Fr. 16m. Fr. 2m. £18,000 These figures illustrate a scale of subsidy far beyond that which any pro- vincial theatre in this country receives, and which in each case amounts to approximately half the total cost of the Centres . The balance is earned through the box office, with prices ranging between Fr . 100 and Fr . 500 (roughly 2/- to 10/-), but the companies are required to pay Entertainment Tax at half rate, about 12% of the box office receipts . Each Centre mounts four or five productions a year, the plays being re- hearsed for four weeks and then toured for forty or more performances , mostly one-night stands, with the twelve to thirty actors travelling b y coach, together with their costumes and settings . Many Directors and actors have been with the Centres since they began, and are happy to serve the Centre as an end in itself without feeling that they are suffering a perio d of `exile' from Paris, and without using the provinces as a mere stepping - stone to T.V.

8 . ENCOURAGING YOUNG CONDUCTOR S A good deal of attention has been given in the Press and in music journal s to the problem of finding new conductors, and to the corresponding prob- lem of providing suitable opportunities for such talented apprentices t o prove their worth. In other countries, notably Italy and Germany, th e traditional and orthodox method for providing such opportunities for younger men is carried out in the opera houses. Young musicians with conducting ambitions enter the opera house through appointment to the 20 music staff, and graduate to the posts of chorus master and assistant con- ductor. While the three British permanent opera companies do indeed offe r such facilities, the number of posts available is extremely limited, and ther e are scant opportunities for testing the talent of the younger men who nee d to prove themselves before securing appointments in opera companies o r symphony orchestras . Try-outs for conductors can never be as numerous as those available t o other concert artists because of the very heavy cost of providing an orchestra on which they can demonstrate their abilities. The public is notoriously conservative in supporting concerts directed by conductors with unknown names, and skilful planning is required to balance the con- cert schedules of orchestras which must still depend on public suppor t from the box office. For some years the Arts Council has been encouragin g and assisting orchestral managements to provide occasions for potentia l conductors to reveal their capacities, and it is heartening to record that i n the past year some progress has been made . The London Philharmonic Orchestra has devised a scheme for intending conductors to be given oppor - tunities on a graduated basis both at rehearsals and at concerts . So far, some twenty young conductors have been selected and passed through pre- liminary or more advanced stages . The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra have bot h provided regular, if not frequent, opportunities for conductors of th e younger generation to take charge of some of their concerts . The City of Birmingham Orchestra has recently created a second associate-conductor post, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra will be holding a n important course for young conductors during May, 1958 . The awards for those who are successful will include a cash prize open to students fro m the United Kingdom or countries overseas, and an appointment to a musical assistant post limited to students of British nationality . In February, 1957, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra also held a short course for young conductors . Robert Philpott, a New Zealander, who wa s adjudged the most promising on the course, has in consequence received an appointment as music assistant to the Orchestra's principal conductor , Mr. Charles Groves. He will be given regular opportunities to conduct the Orchestra and to rehearse it . The London Symphony Orchestra hopes to present a series of four concerts at the Royal Festival Hall at which four of the more established young conductors will appear, and the Morley College Symphony Orchestra will organise a course on competitive lines given under the direction of a distinguished panel of judges . The Council intends 21 to offer its support to both these forthcoming projects and to others whic h merit recognition in this important task.

9. -AND YOUNG SCULPTOR S Rising costs fall particularly hard on the young artist of promise wh o has emerged from apprenticeship to face the task of earning an incom e sufficient for the further expression of his talent. This problem applies especially to the young sculptor, who may have to find as much as £500 t o pay for the cost of casting a life-size figure in bronze. The Arts Council ha s now set aside a modest sum from which grants, in the form of loans, may be made to young sculptors . This scheme applies at present only to works which are included in the Council's exhibitions ; the loans are repayable either when the work is sold or when it is returned to the sculptor . The plan has already been of particular value in providing the open-air exhibi- tion of Contemporary British Sculpture which the Council has bee n circulating in a number of British towns .

10. THE ROYAL BALLE T The Queen has been pleased to grant a Charter of Incorporation which brings together the Sadler's Wells Ballet, the Sadler's Wells Theatre Balle t and the Sadler's Wells School in a Corporation with the general title, Th e Royal Ballet. The principal function of this body is to co-ordinate th e work of the two ballet companies and the Ballet School. Before the granting of the Charter, the two ballet companies and the School had operated as three independent units and, whereas co-ordination had previously bee n left to voluntary action by the four governing bodies, namely, the Royal Opera House, Sadler's Wells Foundation, Sadler's Wells Trust and the Governors of the Sadler's Wells School, co-ordination will in future b e secured under the terms of the Charter . An important provision in the Charter is the power to delegate authority to `other persons or corpora- tions' to maintain and conduct the activities of all or any of the units no w under its control . Accordingly, at its first meeting in December, 1956, th e Governors of the Royal Ballet took advantage of this provision an d delegated authority to the Royal Opera House, Sadler's Wells Trust and th e Sadler's Wells School to maintain and conduct the activities in which the y had previously been engaged . The Companies and the School, however , assumed new titles, namely, `The Royal Ballet' (for the two companies) and `The Royal Ballet School' . The granting of the title `Royal' at the end of the Ballet's first quarter of a century confers a worthy reward upon the brilliant 22 achievements of the Company, and is a particular tribute to the unique contribution of Dame Ninette de Valois, its founder . With the approval o f the Council and Governors of the Royal Ballet, responsibility for th e maintenance and administration of the second company (Sadler's Well s Theatre Ballet) formerly controlled by Sadler's Wells Trust Limited , passed to the Royal Opera House at the beginning of the Autumn Season, 1957. This transfer will ensure an even closer integration of the work of the two companies and will facilitate the interchange of principal artist s between the two. Henceforth, both companies will adopt the style `The Royal Ballet' whether playing at home or in countries overseas.

11 . THE LONDON OPERA CRISIS Although Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells continue to attract very substantial audiences, both theatres are afflicted by financial worries . By Continental standards they are under-subsidised, and for some years th e Arts Council has been unable to provide them with grants sufficient t o operate their respective policies. Opera and Ballet are the most sumptuou s and costly of the arts. At Covent Garden, which is the national theatre o f Opera and Ballet, there are over 600 people on the pay-roll, including a n orchestra of 88, and this large complement of musicians, chorus, principals and stage staff are all maintained at trade union rates and on annual con - tract. Expenditure at Sadler's Wells, although not of the same magnitud e as that of Covent Garden, is on a similar .scale. The inability of the Arts Council, year after year, to furnish these theatres with the grants they re - quire on their present basis has many deplorable consequences : an accu- mulation of deficits, a limitation of new productions, and a sense of in- security which makes constructive long-term planning impossible . Covent Garden has managed to scrape through in recent years on the profits of th e successful American tours of the Royal Ballet . But it would evidently prefer to use this revenue to finance the Royal Ballet School or other necessary developments, than to apply them to making ends meet on its running costs. Both theatres have pruned their expenses to the very margin of efficiency, and Sadler's Wells has been forced to adopt the extreme policy of suspending new productions for a year-a policy which, if continued, i s more than likely to lead to a loss of support at the box office . The two former Sadler's Wells Ballet companies are now amalgamated into the unity of the Royal Ballet, and Covent Garden has accepted respon- sibility for its operations both in London and the Provinces . Consideration has been given for some time to the possibility of a similar integration 23 between the opera companies at Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells . It may prove possible to devise a structure of association between the two which, for the time being at any rate, could reduce expenditure by a modest fraction. But whatever success such a degree of integration might have, the fact remains that if our two opera houses are to be maintained o n their present basis they will need a higher level of subsidy . If that is not forthcoming the closure of one or the other will soon become inevitable .

12. POETRY READING S While some people believe that poetry can be truly judged and properl y appreciated only on the printed page, others are convinced that the divorc e of the sound from the word fails to secure the full evocation of poetry . The music of the spoken word with its rich inflexions, subtle rhythms and varying speeds is something that cannot be fully recorded in print ; on the other hand, it needs a reader of great skill and imagination to re-create o r represent a poem without distortion . The Arts Council has adopted the view that public readings of poetry fulfil a useful function, provided th e conditions are propitious-and this means first-class readers, a judiciously chosen programme, a room of the right size and shape, and a receptiv e audience. These conditions were fully realised in the two readings that wer e given in the Arts Council Great Drawing Room during 1956 . At the first (August 1 st) Sir John Gielgud read excerpts from The Ages of Man: Shake- speare's Image of Man and Nature arranged by George Rylands ; and the three different sections of the programme-Youth, Manhood and Age- were introduced with lute music played by Julian Bream . Walter de la Mare, O.M., C.H., who had died early in the summer, was commemorate d by a special reading on October 11th, when Dame Peggy Ashcroft , Margaret Rutherford and Christopher Hassall read a group of poem s chosen by John Carroll ; and this part of the programme was preceded by a tribute from T . S. Eliot, O.M. Outside London, the Arts Council arrange d a poetry tour for V. C. Clinton-Baddeley and John Glen, who visited Leeds , Wakefield, Sheffield, Newcastle upon Tyne, West Hartlepool, Warminster , Bath, Cheltenham, Newton Abbot, Blandford and Bridgwater . Even if it cannot be claimed that halls at these towns and villages were in every cas e ideal for the speaking of poetry, the audiences were certainly warmly appre - ciative, and there was no doubt they were prepared to endorse V. C. Clinton-Baddeley's views on the value of such readings as set out in hi s introduction to the programme :- 24 `In the rules of a 13th century London Brotherhood, devoted to festiv e gatherings and the encouragement of musical and poetical compositions , it is laid down that all songs must be tried, "for without singing no on e ought to call a composition of words a song" . The intricacies of a musical score may be examined on paper by an expert . But it has to be played to be properly enjoyed, even by him. One might think that a poem would presen t a far easier problem . Everyone knows how to read . But it is certainly possible to understand the meaning of a poem, to read it again and agai n with delight, and still to miss those pleasures which are outside the meaning , and beyond the range of the eye-pleasures of rhythm, of timing, o f echoing sounds, pleasures even of interpretation. These are things which only declare themselves when the poem is heard spoken aloud, or rea d aloud to oneself. '

13. NEW PLAY S It is just over four years since the Arts Council announced a scheme o f financial assistance to encourage new writing for the theatre . The scheme differs from most others of its kind because selection is based not on a competitive, prize-winning basis, but on the desire of a theatre manage- ment to collaborate with a new writer, either by offering to produce hi s play or by inviting him to write one . Under this scheme the playwright doe s not submit his script to the Arts Council : he first finds a managemen t which believes sufficiently in the quality of his work to want to produce his play, which may then be submitted by the management for reading by th e Council's panel of readers . If it is approved, the management is offered a limited guarantee against loss on the play's presentation, and the author , in consequence, is guaranteed the normal royalty percentage on box offic e takings . Indeed, he may get these whether the Arts Council approves o r not, for managements frequently have the courage of their own convictio n that a play is worth producing . In the year under review 53 plays were submitted, of which 12 qualified for financial assistance towards thei r presentation ; in addition two authors (William Merwin and Mrs . Mary Norton) were considered to be worthy of special help to enable them to concentrate for a time on writing exclusively for the theatre, and wer e awarded bursaries on the recommendation of the Arts Council's Dram a Panel . Schemes of this kind do not yield quick or spectacular results ; rather do they create a climate and establish the conditions which make the writing of plays attractive and rewarding to the talented author, eithe r young or established . This has been the purpose of the scheme which th e Arts Council has developed in the last four years among the provincial repertory theatres, and in consequence more new plays have been success - 25 fully produced among them than ever before . The initiative in presenting new plays is no longer limited to London, but operates also at Guildford , Oxford, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Salisbury and Nottingham ; and dramatic critics can be seen as often on the trains to these adventurou s places as in the foyers of West End theatres.

14. A WRITER ' S THEATRE The English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre has so quickl y become an essential part of any theatregoer's experience, and its produc- tions so widely discussed in London, that it is hard to believe that it opene d its first season as recently as April, 1956 . Its policy was to present both contemporary drama and the classics in true repertory (as distinct fro m the `run'), and to create its own team of writers who would thus establish a writer's theatre rather than a producer's or actor's theatre. It was thought that three years would be required before any tangible result could be expected, but though there were setbacks involving the abandonment o f the more costly repertory policy, at least for a time, the Company ha s already made an impressive beginning with its team of writers . This ven- ture is warmly welcomed (and financially supported) by the Arts Council , because it promises to provide the contemporary English theatre with th e sort of playhouse which has long been recognised as the model structur e for a creative theatre. Such theatres are a normal part of the scene in almos t every European city, except in Britain, where they have been left to survive as best they can the vagaries and expedience of commercial enterprise.

15. ENTERTAINMENTS DUT Y By the 1957 Finance Act, the Chancellor of the Exchequer remove d from the living theatre, and other `live' forms of entertainment, the highl y contentious and long-debated Entertainments Duty . While this undoub- tedly removed a burdensome Tax from the commercial theatre, it para- doxically had the effect of imposing, or threatening to impose, additiona l burdens on the `non-profit-distributing' theatre companies with which the Arts Council is associated . Those companies accepted by the Departmen t of Customs and Excise as `not established for profit' were exempted fro m Entertainments Duty, and by customary practice they received the whol e of the hypothetical `Tax equivalent' plus a percentage of the net theatr e takings, when sharing with a theatre management. In a similar way authors' royalties payable by the non-profit-distributing companies were always calculated on net takings, i .e. takings less `tax-equivalent' . 26 The removal of Entertainments Duty produced a situation in which eac h of these calculations would henceforth be made on the gross theatre tak- ings, and it seemed likely that the non-commercial theatre companies whic h the Arts Council assists would suffer both an increase in costs and, i n certain cases, a diminution in revenue . However, before the passing of th e 1957 Finance Act the Theatrical Managers' Association announced that i f the Tax were removed from the living theatre their members would b e prepared to negotiate new sharing-terms with non-profit-distributing com- panies, which would compensate for the loss of `tax equivalent' . The T.M .A. undertaking which has now been implemented will not cover al l cases throughout the country, but it certainly goes a long way to remove a hardship which might have been imposed on those of the non-commercia l companies engaged in touring. The repertory theatres are in most cases concerned only with the ques- tion of Authors' Royalties, and at the present time negotiations are goin g on between the Council of Repertory Theatres, the Society of Authors an d the League of Dramatists for some concession in royalty rates in view of th e fact that calculations will, in future, be made on gross and not net takings .

16. THE LCC AS ART PATRON The decision of the LCC to spend £20,000 a year on the purchase o r commission of works of art is an event of the utmost importance and a source of the greatest encouragement in a field of patronage, where many Local Authorities have yet to discover their responsibilities . Not only ar e grants to municipal art galleries still woefully meagre ; but the acquisitio n of works of art for civic buildings and sites, such as schools, parks and housing estates, are few and far between . The LCC are tackling thi s problem in a big way . They have sought the advice of the Arts Council i n the expenditure of this annual allocation, and the Art Panel has set up a Sub-Committee to deal with each case as it arises, and to make appropriate recommendations . The first group of commissions is confined to sculpture for schools and housing estates, but as the scheme develops it is hoped that pictures, mural s and mosaics may soon be seen in public places within the County o f London .

17. YORK MYSTERY PLAYS AND FESTIVA L Of the post-war Festivals in England, by far the largest in scale is th e triennial York Mystery Plays and Festival, an event first held in 1951 . Its 27 1957 programme fully justified the faith and imagination of its directors . The heart of this Festival is the open-air performance of the Mystery Play s in the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, and this year's new production, b y E. Martin Browne, presented a new selection of the Cycle, in a new trans- cription by Canon J. S. Purvis, with new scenic designs by Norah Lam- bourne. This masterpiece is the story of mankind from the Creation of the World to the Last Judgment, as seen through the eyes of the citizens of York in the Middle Ages, and re-enacted (for the most part) by thei r present-day descendants . It was appropriate that, as a pendant to th e Mystery Plays, there should be a production by John Fernald at the Theatre Royal of Bertolt Brecht's modern morality play, The Caucasian Chalk Circle . A particularly attractive programme of concerts was arranged in York Minster, culminating in a performance of the Vespers of 1610 by Monteverdi in a new version by Walter Goehr ; and a number of recitals of chamber music were given in the Church of St. Michael le Belfry . There were several exhibitions including an Exhibition of Burgundian art . Open- air attractions included The Exodus, one of the Cycle of Mystery Play s staged in the medieval manner on a wagon in the streets of York ; jugglers and mountebanks in the streets ; military displays by Northern Command ; flood-lighting throughout the three weeks' period of the Festival ; and a spectacular display at midnight on the last day . H.M. the Queen and H.R.H. Prince Philip visited the Festival on July 10th. It is calculated that about 60,000 persons attended the Festival in all .

18. SOUTH WESTERN ARTS ASSOCIATIO N The South Western Arts Association, which was set up when the Council closed its regional office in Bristol at the end of March, 1956, has complete d its first year's work ; and its first Annual Report contains an encouraging account of its progress. Twenty-six Arts Centres and Arts Clubs are ful l members ; associate members (i.e. those organisations that are in sympathy with the association's objects) number thirteen ; and there are 104 in- dividual members. Three well-attended conferences were held during th e year at Dartington, Plymouth and Exeter ; and useful work was done by specialist groups, particularly in the fields of poetry and the visual arts . The first regional exhibition-a selection of paintings from the Swindon Cor- poration permanent collection-was opened at Dartington in April, 1957 ; and an offer of help from the Arts Council's Art Department has made i t possible for this Exhibition to be widely toured throughout the region . Plans are now under consideration for the publication of an anthology o f 28

poetry by West Country poets . A new Arts Centre project is going forwar d at St. Austell, where the local Club has been instrumental in acquiring a large house with sufficient ground for building a theatre and laying out a car park. The Shaftesbury Arts Centre scheme, launched four years ag o when a start was made with the adaptation of the old Market Hall in th e town, is nearing completion, and the Centre will be formally opened in the autumn. There is clearly no lack of interest in the arts in the south-west ; and the Association is doing a useful job in helping to improve the stand- ards and widen the scope of the programme of the various centres an d clubs. The Arts Council continues to recognise the Association as th e appropriate channel for grant-aid to its constituent members, and to mak e it a grant for administrative purposes . 19. POETRY BOOK SOCIET Y In the third year of its existence the membership of the Poetry Book Society showed a substantial increase-from 624 in 1955 to 776 in 1956 . If this increase can be maintained-and there is no doubt that the 195 7 figures will show an improvement on those for the previous year-th e Society will have gone a considerable way towards fulfilling its aim to pro - vide a service of real benefit to poets and their publishers, as well as to the reading public. It is particularly satisfactory to note that the number o f schools in the Society has risen from 93 to 228 in the course of a singl e year. The selectors for 1956 were Cyril Connolly, G. S. Fraser and Terence Tiller ; and the four books chosen and distributed to members were ONE FOOT IN EDEN Edwin Muir NEW POEMS 1956 P.E.N. Anthology GREEN WITH BEASTS W. S. Merwin THE MINUTE John Holloway Recommendations were given to : THE RIVER STEAMER E. J. Scovell POEMS FROM THE NORTH Kathleen Not t A CASE OF SAMPLES Kingsley Amis SEQUENCES Siegfried Sassoon A feature was made in the Society's Bulletin of printing poems by the authors of books that had been recommended ; and a special poetry sup- plement was edited by G . S. Fraser, to which twelve poets including the late Walter de la Mare contributed . The 1957 selectors are Professor W . H. Auden, the Hon. V. Sackville West and Vernon Watkins . 29 20. THE RISING COSTS OF SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA S For some time the inevitability of substantial wage increases has con - fronted the symphony orchestras . Increases of pay for the players were , indeed, due-but how to find the considerable extra sums required to mee t these reasonable demands has been a perplexing problem . The Musicians' Union had presented claims covering not only increases in wages an d allowances, but also further limitations in the conditions of service unde r which the players could be called upon to perform . Protracted discussions between the Orchestral Employers Association and the Musicians' Unio n failed to reach agreement, and at the Union's request, the claims wer e finally referred to the Industrial Disputes Tribunal . This Tribunal has now heard both parties to the proceedings, and has recently issued its Award , which is binding upon both sides . As was expected, the basic salaries of players in the permanent orchestras have been increased in proportion to the rise in the cost of living sinc e 1952, the last occasion upon which the rates were fixed by arbitration . Increases on a similar scale have been awarded for the other well-know n national orchestras who engage their players for each individual concert as required. Minor increases have also been approved in the rates of sub- sistence allowance payable when the players have to perform at concerts outside their home towns . The Tribunal found that the remaining claims of the Musicians' Union had not been established, and there is consequentl y no alteration in the existing general conditions of service . The new rates of pay became operative on July 1st, 1957 . This decision has led to an appre- ciable increase in the cost of all forms of professional orchestral activity . Symphony concerts will, of course, be the principal activity affected, bu t choral societies which employ professional orchestras will also have t o accept considerable increases of expenditure . The Arts Council was able to make some provision against this con- tingency in its allocations to the permanent orchestras for the year 195758 , and this extra provision will cover nearly half of the increased expenditur e in that financial year. In a full working year, however, the increased ex- penditure to which each permanent orchestra will be committed will vary from £7,000 to £11,000, and while each management will no doubt be com - pelled to put up admission prices wherever practicable, this source cannot yield more than a small part of the sum required . Both the Arts Council and Local Authorities will be expected to play their part, and despite the man y and pressing calls upon the funds of both, the sums required when distri- buted among those concerned, are not impossibly large . Unless they can be 30 found from these and any other available sources, the orchestras face a dark future.

21. HOUSING THE ART S As a result of the Report of the Committee to consider a new Queen' s Hall, (1955), the Chancellor of the Exchequer decided to abandon the Queen's Hall project, but to accept the recommendation that a compre- hensive survey of the needs for cultural buildings in London and the res t of the country should be made and maintained by the Arts Council . Early in 1956, the Arts Council accordingly set up a Committee of Enquiry unde r the Chairmanship of Dr. Wyn Griffith, the Vice-Chairman of the Council . This Committee is composed of the following Members of the Council - Professor Sir William Coldstream, Mr . Benn Levy, Professor Anthon y Lewis, Mr. John Newsom-together with Mr . Ernest Bean, Mr . Richard Findlater and Sir William Holford. In Scotland and Wales the Enquiry i s being conducted by procedures determined by the Scottish and Wels h Committees. At the beginning of its operations, the Committee of Enquiry decided to concentrate on the needs of the metropolis and to survey such schemes an d ideas as were already in existence, not only for new buildings but for im- provements and adaptations of existing ones . This part of the enquiry in- cludes the consideration of such schemes as the National Theatre, th e London Society's proposals for a Music Centre in Regent's Park, the plans for building on the South Bank a new medium-sized concert hall and an exhibition gallery, and the case for a new metropolitan opera house . Although the survey is a continuing one, and will eventually cover th e whole country, the Council has authorised the Committee to produce its report in instalments, of which the London and Scottish Sections ar e likely to be the first .

22. MEMBERSHIP OF THE COUNCI L The Viscount Esher, G .B.E., and Sir John McEwen, Bart ., retired from the Council on December 31st, 1956 . Apart from one year out of office, Lord Esher had served on the Council, and its predecessor, C.E.M .A., since March, 1943 . Sir John McEwen had served on the Council for a period of five years ; he remains a member of the Scottish Committee . The appointment of Mr . Joseph Compton, C.B.E., as a member of the Council expired on December 31st, 1956, but he was, as a member of the Executive Committee, eligible for reappointment ; and was reappointed 31 by the Chancellor to the Council for a further period of three years from January 1st, 1957. The Chancellor also appointed to the Council, for a period of five years from January 1st, 1957, Mrs. Hugh Dalton and Professor Gwyn Jones. Mrs. Dalton had previously served on the Council from January 1st, 1949 , to December 31st, 1952. Professor Gwyn Jones, already a member of the Welsh Committee since January 1st, 1948, was appointed by the Counci l as Chairman of the Welsh Committee for a period of five years fro m January 1st, 1957, in succession to Dr . Wyn Griffith, O .B.E. Dr. Wyn Griffith was reappointed as Vice-Chairman of the Council an d a member of the Executive Committee for a further period of one yea r from January 1st, 1957. The following were also appointed, or reappointe d to the Executive Committee for a period of one year from January 1st , 1957, and, where noted, as Chairmen of the Panels given in brackets afte r their names :- Professor Sir William Coldstream, C .B.E. (Art) Joseph Compton, C .B.E. (Poetry) Professor Gwyn Jone s Benn W. Levy, M.B.E. (Drama) Professor Anthony Lewis (Music) Sir George T. McGlashan, C .B.E.

Honours The following members of the Council's Panels were honoured by in- clusion in the Queen's Birthday List for 1957 : Professor J. Leslie Martin , Ph.D., F.R.I.B.A. (Knight Bachelor) ; Miss Kathleen Long, George Devine and Basil Gray (C.B.E.) .

Obituaries We deeply regret the deaths during the year of Sir Cecil Graves , K.C.M.G., M.C., and Mr. D. H. I. Powell, who both gave unstinting service to the work of the Council and its Committees . Sir Cecil Graves had served on the Scottish Committee since the beginning of 1950, and until the end of 1954 he was also a member of the Council . Mr. Powell had served on the Welsh Committee since January 1st, 1949, with one year ou t of office in 1955 . 32 3

DRAMA

In the summer of 1956 the Birmingham Repertory Theatre mounted a Birmingham special production of Caesar and Cleopatra to celebrate the centenary o f Repertory Theatre the birth of Bernard Shaw : the play was produced at Birmingham, then taken to Malvern and the Paris International Festival of Drama and , finally, was presented for two weeks at the Old Vic in London . Early in 1957 a notable production of Shakespeare's Henry V played to capacity for five weeks and, with the success of the preceding Christmas production , this meant that the theatre had virtually no seats empty for three months- a remarkable achievement for any theatre, and particularly encouragin g to the oldest repertory theatre in the country which is now presenting mor e new plays in a season than ever before . The Marlowe Theatre has reverted to weekly repertory after three year s Canterbury of interchanging productions with the Leatherhead Theatre Club . The Theatre Management has offered the public an adventurous programme and it wil l Trust take time to judge the results of this bold policy : the fact remains that this is a large theatre for a city with a small population and it could not possibl y continue without the very generous support it receives from the Loca l Authority. The policy of mixing contemporary and classical plays which has bee n Bristol an outstanding feature at this theatre for some time was continued in the Old Vic year under review ; The Empty Chair, a new play by Peter Ustinov, wa s followed by Sheridan's The Rivals which the company took to the Zurich Festival with very happy results . But the autumn season, which opene d with The Beaux' Stratagem, was only moderately successful at the box office, largely because of the failure of two contemporary plays, The Lamp at Midnight and The Queen and the Rebels, to attract more than lukewar m interest, though Othello played to 80 per cent capacity. After Christmas the company presented, most happily and successfully , a musical play Oh! My Papa! which took the town by storm and wa s immediately sold to a London management . From then onwards, until the season ended, the theatre enjoyed remarkable success with three more contemporary plays-Look Back in Anger, The Iron Harp and The 33

Strangers, and a modern dress version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Opportunity arose during the year to acquire a strip of land alongsid e the theatre and adjoining the present workshop, which connects directl y (and inconveniently) with the stage. It would clearly be of great advantage to be able, later on if desired, to transfer the workshops into new bu t still adjacent premises . Accordingly, on the recommendation of the Management Committee the Old Vic Trust acquired this strip of lan d and made it over to the Trustees of the theatre as an investment for th e future. Chesterfield Chesterfield Civic Theatre has found it uneconomical to play repertor y Civic Theatre the whole year round . The theatre closed for a long period during the summer of 1956, and the Management has decided to re-open for six to eight months of the year only from the beginning of autumn until about Easter. The Chesterfield Corporation has again demonstrated its generosity and faith in the Civic Theatre by making a grant of £12,500 to be sprea d over five years, and a further supplementary grant of £3,500 in 1957 . Derby Little The Derby Playhouse was burnt out on March 28th, 1956, and through - Theatre Club out the year the work of reconstruction has been going on : generous gifts from Messrs . Rolls-Royce, the Derby Corporation and from other source s has enabled many improvements to be made and the seating capacity to b e increased from 350 to 400. The theatre re-opened on April 25th, 1957 . Guildford The Guildford Theatre Club has continued its admirable policy of pro- Theatre Club during probably as many new plays as any other weekly repertory compan y in the country. During the year under review five new plays were presented , of which three were approved after reading by the Drama Panel and offere d limited guarantees against loss . Leatherhead The Leatherhead Theatre Club had for three years been the producin g Theatre Club management of two companies interchanging between Leatherhead an d Canterbury. In 1956 both parties agreed to give up this arrangement and Leatherhead has returned to weekly repertory and has had a very success- ful year without the need to call in full upon the guarantee offered by the Arts Council. Lincoln The Lincoln Theatre Royal continues to thrive, and during the yea r Theatre developed a bus scheme for bringing parties to the theatre from the sur - Association rounding district. A start has also been made on long-term plans for the redecoration of the theatre. Margate The Theatre Royal at Margate is the second oldest working theatre in Theatre the country and has recently been most attractively redecorated . In Trust December, 1956, the management was reconstituted on a non-profit - 34 distributing basis and was given a grant by the Local Authority as well a s by the Arts Council . The Northampton Repertory Players celebrated their 30th birthday on Northampto n January 10th, 1957 : this is a record of which the company is very justly Repertory proud. During the year, and with the help of an Arts Council bus subsidy Players the company attracted 11,630 people to the theatre in parties, who might not otherwise have been patrons, and have again demonstrated the valu e of this form of financial guarantee . The Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre seating 467 and which, having Nottingham been converted from a cinema, has inadequate and cramped back-stage Theatre facilities. During the year the Trust purchased the freehold of the theatre Trust and immediately considered plans for its complete reconstruction, puttin g a formal application before the City Council inviting it, in effect, to provide a new theatre for the City and a home for the company . The Corporation has instructed a special Sub-Committee to consider the whole problem and its decision is eagerly awaited . The scheme to present all the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays in a Old Vic period of five years goes steadily on ; in the earlier part of the year under Trust review the company presented Troilus and Cressida, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and Richard II, and these productions were then taken on a short successful provincial tour to Bristol, Manchester and Liverpool befor e proceeding for a six months' tour of Canada and the United States . Meanwhile, a new company was assembled for the autumn and after visit- ing Newcastle-on-Tyne the season at the Old Vic Theatre itself opened wit h Timon of Athens, after which came Cymbeline, Much Ado about Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Titus Andronicu s and Antony and Cleopatra. There was a considerable fall in attendances during the autumn season, due no doubt partly to the disturbed politica l atmosphere and partly to the necessity to introduce some of the les s familiar plays in the Folio ; but though attendances at one period wer e less than fifty per cent of capacity the season generally improved somewha t to give an overall average of sixty-four per cent . The plans for new workshops and stores in Webber Street were com- pleted and approved during the year and work has now begun on what will clearly be a valuable addition to the theatre's technical equipment as wel l as being an immense help to the staff in mounting such an extensive programme as the one just completed . The Oxford Playhouse remained dark for most of the summer of 1956, Oxford- until a new company, the Meadow Players, was formed with an ambitious Meadow Players 35

policy of presenting as far as possible new English plays, or foreign play s that are new to England. Since the company opened in October, 1956, it has presented nine plays up to the end of March, 1957, and of these three were world premieres-The Numbered, by Elias Canetti, Lock and Key, by Nicholas Moore, Frost at Midnight, by Andre Obey-and three wer e British premieres-Electra, by Jean Giraudoux, Medea, by Jean Anouilh, Lysistrata, by Aristophanes, in the Dudley Fitts translation. The company has made an encouraging start although the public has been slow to respond to some of the plays . Salisbury The company at the Salisbury Playhouse has had the most successfu l Arts Theatre year financially in its history, with attendances averaging 79 per cent o f capacity. Considerable improvements have been made to the back-stag e accommodation and the auditorium has been redecorated . Over a third of the productions received more than a week's rehearsal and of several new plays which attracted the attention of the National Press two, The Lovebird and Meet me by Moonlight, were bought by London Managements as a result of their first presentation at Salisbury . Studio The Studio Theatre has continued its successful Sunday Night produc- Theatre tions of mostly new plays in its `Theatre in the Round' in London and i s still trying to find a permanent home . Suitable premises have, from time to time, come on the market but in each case lack of capital has prevented the Company from making a firm offer. The Company played a second season at Scarborough during the summer of 1956, and were immediately invited to return in 1957. West of The West of England Theatre Company, after ten years of touring over a England three-weekly circuit based on Exmouth, found itself in extreme difficulty i n Theatre the spring of 1956. However, the Company was able to take a lease of th e Company Corporation-owned Pavilion Theatre in Exmouth, giving them a better base from which to work and some income from letting the Pavilion fo r dances and social functions . The Company gave the first production of A Man Called Judas for the 1956 Taw and Torridge Festival and was in- vited by the Welsh Committee of the Arts Council to produce As You Like It for the spring 1957 tour of Wales, after it had played in the South-West . Repertory During the year there were five repertory interchanges where each com- Interchanges pany visited the other theatre with one production-Nottingham and Sheffield : Guildford and Colchester : Northampton and Salisbury (al l mentioned in the last Annual Report) : Salisbury and Guildford for a second time, and Leatherhead and Bromley. A number of further ex- changes are planned for 1957/58. The Arts Council normally meets the 36 additional expenses incurred by each company, and useful informatio n has been collected on the practical and technical difficulties involved . Generally speaking the public has welcomed a visiting company an d business has been up to average . The weekly repertory companies, of course, derive most benefit from these interchanges which allow them to double their rehearsal time for the following production . This sort of exchange is stimulating for the audiences who are given an opportunity t o see more of the repertory movement, which is a unique part of the whol e British Theatre but which for too many people means only the local company. In the autumn of 1956 the Arts Council directly managed a production Arts Chair, a new play by Peter Ustinov which had been pre- Council of The Empty Tours sented at the Bristol Old Vic but has not yet been seen in London : the play was produced by Mr. Frank Dunlop. After touring for five weeks in Wales, for the Welsh Committee, the play was taken for two weeks to the Nort h East where it was seen by 2,738 people, representing 71 per cent capacity of the halls visited, at a subsidy of 3s . 2d. per head. The Company then played for one week at the Oxford Playhouse to 92 per cent capacity and one week at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge . This was everywhere agreed as one of the very best examples of `good theatre' to be sent on these tours , and has stimulated a growing interest in contemporary plays amon g audiences more inclined in the past to prefer the classical authors . Only the Lincoln and Northampton Repertory Companies asked for, Bus and were given, bus subsidies, and the Arts Council is disappointed to Subsidies find so few repertory theatres asking for this support when most of the m could with advantage absorb a larger audience . Of course, to organise bus parties needs a good deal of time and work ; but it is fully justified in the result, because, roughly speaking, the subsidy offered by the Arts Counci l quadruples itself in the box office : not only does it make money but it makes an audience. Chesterfield Civic Theatre, one of the first companies to develop this idea, Northampton and Lincoln have shown the value o f bus party bookings. The Arts Council has continued its policy of encouraging new plays and New Drama playwrights . It is evident that more new plays are being given a showing , and their authors thereby encouraged, than ever before, and that th e Council's Scheme must take some credit for this : repertory companies seem to be more adventurous in presenting new plays and the provincia l public a little less reluctant to see them . Of 53 plays submitted under the guarantee scheme, 12 were offered a limited guarantee against loss . Two 37

plays were specially commissioned for managements, and bursaries wer e offered during the year to Mr . William Merwin and Mrs . Mary Norton. Suez Crisis The International Crisis in October and November, 1956, affected and Petrol Rationing theatre business everywhere immediately and very severely indeed, an d audiences dropped by 25 per cent overnight in some theatres . As the tension in the Middle East eased people began to go back to the theatre but almos t immediately petrol rationing was imposed . The Repertory Theatres' first reaction was one of alarm but at once companies devised new forms o f publicity or altered times of performances to attract a local audience tha t was unable to move far for its entertainment. The resilience of the theatre was demonstrated by a great many companies being able to turn thi s apparent setback to their advantage, for several companies have reporte d increased attendances since petrol rationing. This has probably been mos t true in the companies around London where the public has visited th e local theatre rather than travel to the West End . Four companies were, however, severely hit-Canterbury, Chesterfield, Colchester and the Mid- land Theatre Company at Coventry-and the Council was fortunately abl e to offer supplementary grants to help them . Travel Through a generous gift from an anonymous donor of a sum of money Grants to be spent at the recommendation of the Drama Panel for the benefit an d encouragement of young artists concerned with the theatre, it was possibl e this year to award small travel grants to two producers, Mr . Frank Dunlop and Mr. Peter Wood, and one designer, Mr. Norman Smith, wh o have all made short but concentrated visits to a number of Continenta l Theatres.

AR T

Foreign A number of important exhibitions of the work of foreign artists wa s Exhibitions held. The Musee National d'Art Moderne in Paris lent a small group o f cubist paintings under the title Autour du Cubisme; and an exhibition, Children painted by Dutch Artists, 1550-1820, was arranged with the Cul- tural Department of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in London . The most important one-man show was undoubtedly the retrospective exhibition of 38 Braque which was arranged for the Edinburgh Festival and shown sub- sequently at the Tate Gallery (the eighth in this series) . Once again the selection was made and the admirable catalogue prepared by Mr . Douglas Cooper. Thanks to the continuing support of lenders in all parts of th e world, this exhibition was perhaps the most completely representative o f the whole Festival series. It consisted of 87 paintings . The total attendances at both showings was 82,027. The work of Picasso, Braque's partner in the invention of cubism, was also shown in the form of a retrospective exhibition of his graphic wor k covering fifty years. The exhibition, which was arranged in honour of th e artist's 75th birthday, included nearly 360 engravings, etchings, aquatint s and lithographs. A documentary, photographic exhibition called Picasso Himself, arranged by the Institute of Contemporary Arts, was also shown in the provinces after it had been on view in Dover Street . Two smaller one-man shows were held of J. F. Millet whose drawings , selected by Sir Kenneth Clark, were on view first at the Aldeburgh Festiva l and later, after a provincial tour, in London ; and John Marin, the American artist, of whose work a comprehensive exhibition was shown in Londo n for the first time . Other exhibitions of foreign art included a selection of Modern Italian Painting from the collection of Mr. Eric Estorick ; some Indian Paintings from Rajasthan from the collection of Sri Gopi Krishna Kanoria of Calcutta ; a collection of Modern Yugoslav Painting; and an exhibition of Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Theatre Design in Paris from the splendid collection of drawings in the National Museum of Stockholm, t o which were added some models from the famous theatre museum a t Drottningholm . In April of this year a great concentration of effort was made in the simultaneous arrangement of four important foreign exhibitions, three o f them forming an appropriate contribution to the French Fortnight. At 4 St. James's Square a collection of seventy drawings by Ingres from the museum at Montauban and seventy-two examples of recent ceramics decorated by Picasso were on show and drew 16,179 visitors . The drawing s by Ingres, selected by Monsieur Daniel Ternois, were chiefly studies, man y of them drawings of the nude, for the artist's paintings . At the galleries of the Royal Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street 164 paintings by artists of the modern French school from the permanent collection of th e Mus6e National d'Art Moderne in Paris were on view. Beginning with the neo-impressionists and the Nabis, the exhibition covered most of the move - 39

ments of the present century, ending with the figurative and non-figurativ e painters of the present generation . In particular the Fauve period was strongly represented . This exhibition was attended by 14,445 visitors . As the fourth exhibition a magnificent selection of paintings from the collec- tion of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation of New York were shown at the Tate Gallery, which, although of course it was not confined to Frenc h paintings, contained some splendid works by French Masters (notabl y Cezanne, Bonnard, Picasso, Delaunay and Leger) and was an interesting complement to the exhibition in Suffolk Street. Chagall and Kandinsky were also impressively represented . The attendances at this exhibition were 29,577 and 9,148 catalogues were sold. The total attendances, therefore, for the four exhibitions were 60,201 . British Art The following exhibitions of work by British artists were made : Robert Bevan, in continuation of the series of exhibitions illustrating the work o f members of the Camden Town Group ; Wyndham Lewis and Vorticism, a selection from the exhibition arranged by the Tate Gallery ; Samuel Palmer and his Circle; and Keith Vaughan, first arranged by the Hatton Gallery, King's College, Newcastle. At the invitation of the Cheltenham Art Festival an exhibition was mad e of the work of Six Young Painters, that is artists who have had one-man shows in the West End but who are as yet comparatively unknown in th e provinces. For this show the following artists were chosen : Michael Andrews, John Bratby, Harold Cohen, Martin Froy, Derrick Greaves an d Philip Sutton. The experiment was well received and is being repeated thi s year in an exhibition of work by Donald Hamilton Fraser, Anthony Fry , Peter Kinley, Edward Middleditch, Jack Smith and Michael Wishart. Exhibitions Criticism is sometimes made of the favoured treatment which th e for the metropolis receives in the matter of art exhibitions . While this must Provinces necessarily be true to a great extent, in view of the conditions frequentl y imposed by lenders and the need, when only a single showing is possible , to consider the convenience of the greatest number of visitors, it should b e recorded that four recent exhibitions were arranged in the first instanc e with provincial showings only in mind. These were Samuel Palmer and his Circle, New Trends in Painting, Drawings from the De Pass Collection and Some Contemporary British Sculptors. The fact that the first two were later shown, and the third will eventually be shown, in St . James's Square, , was entirely due to the pressure of public demand following their reception in provincial towns. The growth of appreciation of sculpture shown in the open air-partly 40 P, _ .,, A1nvw e

RECLINING FIGUR E

by Henry Moore-195 1

This bronze figure, commissioned by the Arts Council in 1951 . has been on loan to the city of Leeds, where it was shown in th e grounds of Temple Newsam . It has recently been lent t o Southampton Art Gallery for three years . FAMBITION POSTER Designer : Jack Bowles (Sherrca! Press) 22 A NE TO 5 Al (A ST 1950 W cckdu% . I(h6 ( Cuc.. Thurs. 10-5) Sunda) 2-6 tJmiynion I

FXHIBITION POSTER Designer : Paul James O vnoch Press) r7~r

Phmngranhrr Giil,-r< A rrn PICASS O Plate, biscuit . Portrait of Jacqueline Roque Diam . 161 inches. Dated 29 .1 .55 due, no doubt, to the three open-air exhibitions arranged by the LCC-is again revealed in the response to the touring exhibition of contemporar y British sculpture, which had been collected in the first instance by the organisers of the Aldeburgh Festival. This was shown in a variety of set- tings, including Lord Bathurst's stately park at Cirencester . The success o f this experiment has resulted in the arrangement of a second exhibition no w on tour, again in the provinces only. It is pleasant to record the loan of the drawings from the De Pass Col- lection in the Royal Institution of Cornwall at Truro which have been appreciated by a public to whom they would normally be inaccessible . The revival of mosaic as a medium for the decoration of a modern Stained Glass theatre has been mentioned elsewhere (page 19). Of equal or even greater potency as one of the arts of light-one can describe mosaic as the art o f reflected light-is the art of stained glass, a medium of transmitted ligh t and colour. Here too there has been a welcome revival, centred chiefly round the Department of Stained Glass at the Royal College of Art, where, unde r three distinguished craftsmen-Lawrence Lee, Geoffrey Clarke and Keit h New-work of great distinction has been produced. A notable success of this group has been the commission which they have received for the stained glass windows in the new cathedral at Coventry from the Coventr y Reconstruction Committee, with the support of the ecclesiastical author- ities and the architect Basil Spence . Last summer six of the ten windows were exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Council gladl y gave a substantial grant towards the necessarily high cost of giving the public a foretaste of what will clearly be an outstanding achievement in th e contemporary use of this medium. The Council also made A Small Anthology of Modern Stained Glass which was selected by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens and shown in twelve centres including Oxford and Cambridge. In spite of the fact that the panels were, necessarily, portable and, therefore, unrepresentative o f the artists' powers of composition on a large scale the interest shown wa s considerable and it is satisfactory to know that one important commissio n at least resulted from this exhibition. The additions to the Council's own collection of Contemporary British Arts Council art during the year amounted to. 14 paintings, 5 drawings, 5 pieces of Collection sculpture and 25 prints, at a total cost of £2,621 18s . 10d. The collectio n of designs for the theatre was notably enriched by a generous gift fro m John Piper of his origin -il drawing for the backdrop in the ballroom scene in Gloriana. 41 The relative increase in the number of prints acquired reflects a decisio n to strengthen the collection of graphic art (especially by artists of the School of Paris) . Most of the painters of this school were also distinguishe d print-makers and a representative permanent collection of their work fo r circulation could clearly only be possible in this medium . Lithographs, etchings and drypoints by Picasso, Braque, Villon, Marcoussis and Gia- cometti were acquired . Some of the more important paintings purchased were by Bloch, Gwen John, Hayter and Medley . Among artists of th e younger generation whose work was bought were George, Inlander , Bratby, Fussell, Greaves, Kinley, Wynter and Ferguson. The pieces of sculpture were by Adams, McWilliam, Hoskins, King and Wright ; and the drawings included a study of bomb damage by Graham Sutherland an d works by Robert Bevan, Christopher Wood and Martin Bloch . The collection now consists of 192 oil paintings, 123 watercolours and gouaches, 50 drawings, 29 pieces of sculpture and 329 prints . These are in constant circulation and in the autumn will be regrouped to illustrate the various styles of painting, e .g. the Euston Road school, the neo-romantics (Sutherland, Piper, Craxton and others), the new realism, the abstract painters, etc . It is intended that these shall be booked by galleries as a suc- cessive series of exhibitions illustrating the various trends in British paint- ing since the war. At the end of 1956 the loan expired of the Council's large bronze Reclining Figure by Henry Moore, commissioned in 1951, which had been sited in the garden of Temple Newsam, Leeds. The figure has now been lent to Southampton Art Gallery for three years, where it will be placed in the open space in front of the main entrance . Art Films The seventh season of the art films tour was as successful as ever. Twenty-six films were shown in 105 places and attendances, smaller tha n usual owing to petrol rationing, totalled about 16,000 . The Arts Council's own film, The Stained Glass at Fairford, was well received and was shown at ninety of the 137 performances . Among the eleven other new films in the repertory, the most popular were John Read's Stanley Spencer: Cookham Village, made for the B.B.C. television, Martin et Gaston, a colour cartoon made by French school children, an American film on Alexander Calder and Joan and Peter Foldes's lively comment on the atomic age, Short Vision. The Stained Glass at Fairford was shown at the Venice and Edinburgh Film Festivals, 1956, and has been entered for the Third Internationa l Film Festival at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1957. Dis- 42 tribution of the film has now been handed over to the British Film Institut e and copies are available on 35 and 16 mm . The British Council placed an initial order for fourteen prints and negotiations are in progress for the sal e of copies in the United States and elsewhere. An Art Film Festival, sponsored by the Federation Internationale du Film sur I'Art, took place during the Edinburgh Festival and prizes wer e offered for the best films on art. Many of the outstanding production s were not submitted and the jury made only five lesser awards, one of which was earned by Short Vision . It is now some 18 months since the closure of the Regional Offices, and Regional Ar t the new pattern of Art Department's work outside London has emerged . Activities 7 Circulation of touring exhibitions, and, to a lesser degree, organisation of 1956- art film tours, remain the most important activities . These activities con- tinue to flourish : there have been as many bookings of Arts Counci l exhibitions outside London this year as in previous years . The Regional Art Officers keep in touch with galleries (large and small), art schools an d art societies. Obviously the half-dozen great provincial cities that had a n Arts Council Art Assistant in permanent residence have suffered a loss , notably because his personality , inevitably 'made itself felt on the city' s cultural life, but in certain respects the position was anomalous impingin g as it sometimes did upon the work of the city's art gallery and university and others concerned with adult education . The other cities and towns have been visited by the Regional Art Officer s probably as frequently as did their locally based predecessors, and certai n advantages of the new arrangement have become apparent . Not only is administration very much simpler because of centralisation in London, bu t the usefulness of the Arts Council's representatives has increased. England is a small country, and the whole area south of the Wash regards Londo n as its art centre . (The north is admittedly more independent, but this has been recognised by the fact that one of the Regional Art Officers lives in Manchester, spending a few days in London each month .) The Regional Art Officer, in touch as he is with the art world of London, and knowing lecturers, museum officials, dealers, collectors, can be a very useful un- official contact in the metropolis for the provincial gallery director or art school principal or arts society secretary.

43

s

MUSI C

Symphony Although falling outside the year under review, the most important event Orchestras in the economic life of Symphony Orchestras has been the award made b y the Industrial Disputes Tribunal on the Musicians' Union claims for in - creased wages and allowances to players . This is discussed in `Notes of the Year.' There has been no decline over the year in public support for concerts generally, although the incidence of petrol rationing at the time of th e Suez crisis had some temporary effect on attendances in certain parts of the country. Admission charges have been increased for most concerts, an d agreement was reached among the principal promoting societies and im- presarios in London that a charge of 5s . should be the minimum price fo r a bookable seat at all major events in the Royal Festival Hall . Societies elsewhere have followed suit in proportionate degree. The comparative number of concerts given in the last two years, by the six permanent Symphony Orchestras associated with the Arts Council, are these :- 1955/56 1956/57 ' Birmingham Symphony 218 213 Bournemouth Symphony . . 154 182* Halle 238 220 Royal Liverpool Philharmonic 182 195 * London Philharmonic 193 169 * Scottish National . . 178 165 * t excluding television and sound broadcasting *including performances abroad and engagements with Opera Companies City of Through the generosity of the Feeney Trust, The City of Birmingha m Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was able to present two further specially-commis - Symphony sioned works. Michael Tippett's Piano Concerto was performed for th Orchestra e first time in the Town Hall, Birmingham, and again, later in the season, a t the Royal Festival Hall. On both occasions the soloist was Louis Kentner . The Concerto for Orchestra by the Midland composer Peter Wishart als o received its premiere but awaits a London hearing. 44 Mr. Andrzej Panufnik was appointed Musical Director in succession to Mr. Rudolf Schwarz and takes up his duties in September, 1957 . Mr. Panufnik will be assisted by Mr . Harold Gray and Mr. Meredith Davies, as associate conductors . The year 1956 proved to be no exception in the chequered history of Bournemouth . A major financial crisis was only Symphony orchestral music in Bournemouth Orchestra averted through the success of a fund-raising competition launched on a nation-wide scale. The result will ensure the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra's existence for a further short period, but considerably more support from Local Authorities in the West is required to put the orches - tra's finances on a stable footing. The loyalty of Mr. Groves and hi s players through these critical months is worthy of the greatest credit, an d has been rewarded by an increased number of important engagement s which included the Bolshoi Ballet Company's season at the Davis Theatre , Croydon. Manchester heard the world premiere of Vaughan. Williams' Symphony Halle No. 8 when it was played, in the presence of the composer, by the Hall6 Orchestra Orchestra under their conductor Sir John Barbirolli . It was subsequently performed in London at the Royal Festival Hall, and also recorded . The success of the Industrial Concerts promoted by the Halle Concerts Societ y is underlined by the response of the firms subscribing to the scheme . Over 400 organisations now offer their employees the opportunity of attendin g concerts by the Orchestra . Programmes in Manchester, London and else- where have included major works by Elgar to mark the centenary of Elgar's birth in 1857 . The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society announced early in 1957 Royal that Her Majesty the Queen `had been graciously pleased to command that Liverpool Philharmoni c the Liverpool Philharmonic Society and Orchestra should henceforth be Orchestra known as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society and Orchestra .' The appointment was announced of Mr . John Pritchard as Musical Director and principal conductor of the Society's orchestra . A notable . event during the year was the visit to Liverpool of the Glyndebourn e Festival Opera with its principal artists and conductors in some of the best - known operas from its repertoire . The company was supported by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra who contributed much to the success o f the occasion . After many efforts to cope with their serious financial difficulties the London Directors of the London Philharmonic Orchestra were reluctantly com- Philharmonic Orchestra pelled to announce that, after March 31st, 1957, it would not be possibl e 45

for the Orchestra to continue on a permanent contract basis . Fortunately, the continued existence of the Orchestra seems assured, thanks to the co - operation and support of an independent Board of Trustees under the chairmanship of Sir Adrian Boult, with representatives of the firms o f Messrs. Ibbs & Tillett and Harold Holt Ltd . among its members . The Council continues to support specific concert activities by means o f guarantees against loss . Towards the end of the season the normal routine of London concert life was enlivened with an original and boldly-conceived series of nine concerts entitled `Music of a Century' devised and presented by th e Orchestra. Its success consolidated the interest shown in an experimenta l series given during the previous year under the title of `From Bach to Bart6k.' Ingeniously packaged programmes with arresting titles attracte d surprisingly large audiences to most of the concerts, the programmes o f which consisted mainly of contemporary music . In October, 1956, as the first British orchestra to visit the Soviet Unio n the London Philharmonic Orchestra began their tour with a concert in th e Great Hall of the Conservatoire Bolshoi, Moscow . The programme included Vaughan Williams' Symphony No . 5 and The Planets by Holst, in which the Orchestra was supported by a Moscow choir of women' s voices. The long list of British works performed during the tour include d compositions by Arnold, Bax, Britten, Elgar, Rawsthorne and Walton . On the return journey to this country, the orchestra gave a number o f concerts in Berlin and Western Germany where it won high praise for it s Beethoven performances under Sir Adrian Boult . Scottish The Scottish National Orchestra paid a welcome visit to London i n National November, 1956, under its conductor Mr . Karl Rankl on the occasion of Orchestra the Royal Concert in aid of musical charities at the Royal Festival Hall . Further activities of the orchestra are referred to in the Scottish section o f this Report. Chamber and Notable performances by the Boyd Neel Orchestra included a specia l String series of Bach/Mozart programmes at the Royal Festival Hall ; The Orchestras Handel Opera Society's production of Alcina and Purcell's The Fairy Queen. The latter was presented in Birmingham under the direction of Professo r Anthony Lewis whose Horn Concerto received its premiere at a concert in the Victoria and Albert Museum when the orchestra was joined by Dennis Brain and conducted by Brian Priestman . The Orchestra is at present en- gaged in recording the complete orchestral works of J . S. Bach, while a 46

record, made in June, 1956, has been awarded the French `Grand Prix d u Disque 1957. ' The Jacques Orchestra gave concerts in London and the provinces, an d was particularly welcomed again in Cumberland where they returned t o tour six towns in the Lake District . A Home Service broadcast with Th e Bach Choir in the B.B.C.'s `Music to Remember' Series marked not only the 21st birthday of the Orchestra but also the 25th anniversary of Dr . Jacques' association with the Choir. Comparative totals of concerts are as under :- 1955/56t 1956/571 Boyd Neel 57* 44 Jacques 32 29 *including concerts abroa d 'excluding television and sound broadcastin g Since the disbandment of the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra in 195 5 Lemare there has been a drift of players away from the area which has made i t Orchestra extremely hard for local amateur societies to find the professional musicians required for their orchestral concerts or orchestral-accompanied chora l performances. This weakening of the orchestral potential in the North - East has also produced difficulties for the Lemare Orchestra, a professional body working with the Council's support since 1947 which, during the pas t year, was given additional assistance to meet the extra cost of `importing' for its concerts whatever instrumentalists were specially required and no t available locally. In an attempt to prevent a further flight from Yorkshire, and perhaps to lure some of the players back with better prospects of engagements, th e Lemare Concert Society is now seeking (with Arts Council aid) t o strengthen its position and to increase the amount of its work . Consulta- tions have taken place with the hope of encouraging the formation of an advisory `Users' Association,' to co-ordinate the needs of the principal educational and other bodies in the region interested in the employment o f professional orchestral players, but the result has so far proved negative . The Arts Council increased their grants to the National Federation o f National Music Societies for the year 1956/57, and the summary of the Federation' s Federation of Music activities in relation to these grants is as follows :- Amoun t Societies Type of Society Number Offere d I England `A' Societies . . 116 £9,190 VA' Societies are those with a total annual concert expenditure of over £400 47

Amount Type of Society Number Offered `B' Societies . . 178 £5,580 Music Clubs . . 108 £2,960 In addition, 41 Music Clubs were offered a total of £555 i n the form of Special Grants under the scheme for stimulating engagements of String Quartets . II Scotland `A' Societies . . 7 £81 0 `B' Societies 15 £465 Music Clubs . . 12 £545 In addition, 12 Music Clubs were offered a total of £250 i n the form of special grants for String Quartet engagements. III Wales `A' Societies . . 4 £80 `B' Societies 14 £440 The final results of the season 1955/56 are summarised in the followin g statement - I England 104 `A' Societies : offered £8,560 : claimed £7,898 = 92 per cen t 162 `B' Societies : offered £5,285 : claimed £4,770 = 90 per cent 112 Music Clubs : offered £2,955 : claimed £2,591 = 89 per cent 7 `A' Societies, 12 `B' Societies and 15 Music Clubs made no claim. II Scotland 9 `A' Societies : offered £830 : claimed £830 = 100 per cent 16 `B' Societies : offered £475 : claimed £272 = 58 per cent 12 Music Clubs : offered £560 : claimed £425 = 76 per cent No `A' Societies, 4 `B' Societies and 2 Music Clubs made no claim . III Wales 4 `A' Societies : offered £130 : claimed £ 65 = 50 per cent 13 `B' Societies : offered £325 : claimed £276 = 80 per cent 2 `A' Societies and 2 `B' Societies made no claim. The scheme of special grants to music clubs for String Quartet engage- ments, which came into operation two years ago, was continued . There is no doubt that the number of such engagements has increased since th e scheme was started, and a number of Clubs have been enabled to presen t recitals by String Quartets for the first time. It has been decided to kee p the scheme going for a third year and thereafter to discontinue it, though Music Clubs' commitments in respect of String Quartet engagements will 48 still be given special consideration when the amounts to be offered a s guarantees are assessed . Four Music Clubs have so far taken advantage of the Piano Loa n scheme to purchase their own pianos . The Federation celebrated its 21st Anniversary in November, 1956 , with a Conference in County Hall, Westminster (at the invitation of the London County Council) and a Choral Concert at the Royal Festival Hal l (which was sold out) in the presence of H .R.H. The Princess Royal, at which the President of the Federation (Dr. Reginald Jacques), two past Presidents (Sir Adrian Boult and Sir George Dyson) and the Chairman of the Executive (Mr . Alan J. Kirby) shared the direction . Dr. Vaughan Williams composed a short unaccompanied `Choral Flourish' in honou r of the occasion, and the programme comprised choral works by Britis h composers covering the last three centuries . The Council gave financial support to this concert in the form of a guarantee, but it is gratifying t o note that the Federation had to claim less than forty per cent of the amoun t offered. The repertoire of choral works performed by affiliated Societies agai n comprised some two hundred different works . These included nine by Sir Edward Elgar, which between them received a total of more than sevent y performances, which represented the anxiety of Choral Societies to com- memorate Elgar's birthday centenary in a manner as worthy as their re - sources would permit. Further centenary concerts are planned by many Societies to take place during the latter part of 1957 . Fifteen of Handel's major works appeared in Societies' programmes, eighteen of J.*S. Bach's (including twenty-seven performances of the St. Matthew Passion) and nineteen by Vaughan Williams . Among the sacred works performed were no less than seventeen different settings of the Mass in addition to the fou r famous Requiems. The Federation's Regional Committees have continued their valuable work. Annual Regional Meetings, to which members of all Societies in the Region are invited, have been well attended, and attractions of widely differing sorts have been arranged ; in one Region for instance many Societies sent contingents to join in a rehearsal of a new choral work by a British composer under a distinguished professional conductor, while th e Artists' Parties arranged by the Council in certain centres have proved a s popular as ever. Members of Regional Committees have been increasingly active in visiting concerts given by Societies in their Regions, and have thereby acquired greater insight into the difficulties encountered by 49 D Societies of all types, and knowledge of their activities . This helps Com- mittees materially in making recommendations on the financial needs o f each Society. The Council's Liaison Officer, whose appointment was mentioned in th e last Report, has had a busy year, in the course of which he has met all the Federation's Regional Committees in England and has attended no less than ninety-eight concerts presented by affiliated Societies in all parts of the country. Mr. Dunn has received a warm welcome wherever he has been ; his Reports on concerts have proved of value to Regional Committees ; and he has been able to offer advice to many Societies and Clubs . The Joint Allocation Committee have published the particulars of an entirely new scheme for the encouragement of enterprise in the choice of works for performance by Choral Societies, which is explained in the following extract from the Announcement which was made in March , 1957 :-, The Committee, in furtherance of their policy of encouraging the en- largement of the choral repertoire, have decided, as an experiment durin g the season 1957/58, to offer an award for special enterprise . This award will be in the form of a single grant of a sum of money not exceeding £400 , for the performance of a choral work, British or foreign, of not less tha n 20 minutes' duration and with orchestral accompaniment, which has bee n written during the last 20 years . The award will be offered to the Society which submits a work which the Joint Allocation Committee consider mos t suitable in character and quality for performance by other choral societie s in the N.F.M.S. and for introduction into the general choral repertoire , provided that the proposed performance fulfils the conditions here specified : if no suitable application is received, the Committee will withhold the award . As the purpose of the award is to enlarge the repertoire, it follows that onl y a new or unfamiliar work will qualify for consideration . `The Joint Allocation Committee must be satisfied that the concert a t which the work is to be performed will receive adequate rehearsal an d first-class presentation : it is envisaged that the concert will be presente d during the second half of the 1957/58 season . In order to bring the per- formance to the notice of other societies and to enable them to hear a com - position which they may themselves wish to perform on a later occasion, a condition of the award will be that a proportion of the seats in the place where the concert is held shall be made available for the use of members o f such societies. Publicity on a national scale will be given to the award an d to the performance, so that the society concerned may expect to gai n valuable recognition and prestige.' A special Panel was appointed by the Committee to advise on applica- tions for this award ; that considerable interest was aroused in Societies affiliated to the Federation is evidenced by the fact that thirty applications 50 were submitted for performances in the season 1957/58 . From the twenty- two different works (nineteen of which are by British composers) submitte d by choral societies, the Committee have unanimously selected John Gardner's Cantiones Sacrae, for soprano solo, chorus and orchestra, an d have offered the award-in the form of a grant of £250-to the Nottingham Harmonic Society for their projected performance of this work on Marc h 29th, 1958 . Both the Institute of Contemporary Arts (Music Section) and the Society Contemporary for the Promotion of New Music continue to develop their activities . The Music Institute of Contemporary Arts have included in their series of concerts at the Wigmore Hall performances of a number of works from the mos t avant garde composers, as well as masterpieces of the 20th century . This body also presented a special Stravinsky concert at St . Martin-in-the- Fields in November, 1956, in the presence of the composer . The programme included his latest major work, Canticum Sacrum ad honorem Sancti Marc i nominis conducted by Robert Craft. In addition to their monthly studi o concerts, the Society for the Promotion of New Music held two experi- mental rehearsals of orchestral works by young composers in the Royal Festival Hall. The new year began with a Festival of Music and Musicians from Sout h Visit of Africa under the direction of Dr . Erik Chisholm. Students and staff of th e South African Capetown University Music Department presented a number of concert s Musicians and opera performances which served to introduce young South Africa n artists and composers as well as a number of important and well-know n works by European figures such as Janacek, Bart6k and Schoenberg . The Council assisted the scheme by making the Wigmore Hall availabl e without charge for the concert performances . . The Wigmore Hall continues to be in great demand by recitalists, an d Wigmore enquiries for booking the Hall exceed the number of dates available . In Hall view of the very heavy use of the piano installed in the Hall, the Arts Council has replaced the existing instrument (a Steinway concert grand re - conditioned in 1950) by a new Steinway concert grand . The cost of running and maintaining the Hall continues to rise, and in view of the very heavy cost of the new piano the Arts Council has decided with regret that a hirin g fee for the piano must be charged in addition to the normal letting fee fo r the Hall as from the beginning of the Autumn season,, 1957 .

51

fi

OPERA AND BALLET

Audiences for Considerable increases in public attendances were reported last year fo r Opera & all companies. Higher admission charges have again been made during the Ballet year and although the box office takings have in nearly every case bee n increased, there are signs that saturation point for all performances, othe r than special attractions, has been reached . A number of factors affecting the theatre generally such as the Suez crisis and petrol rationing, televisio n and the general rise in the cost-of-living may have been contributory factors. It is at least satisfactory to report a situation which indicate s consolidation rather than retrogression of interest from the opera an d ballet-going public. Costs, however, continue to rise-perhaps a shade les s markedly than in the previous year-but the perennial problem of bridgin g the gap between income and expenditure with the amount of subsidy available continues to bedevil all ideas of long-term planning, enterpris e in the repertories, and development of activities outside London . English Lennox Berkeley's new opera Ruth was given its first performance Opera during the company's autumn season at the Scala Theatre, London . The Group libretto of this opera, which was commissioned by the Group, was by Eric Crozier, and the scenery and costumes were designed by Ceri Richards. Two further performances were given at the Aldeburgh Festival, 1957 . Other revivals in the London season were Venus and Adonis by John Blow and Holst's Savitri together with Britten's Turn of the Screw . This work was also presented by the Group at the Festival of Paris in May, and will be given at the Stratford (Ontario) and Berlin Festivals during th e autumn. In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the English Opera Group and the Aldeburgh Festival, a gala performance of Albert Herring was given a t the 1957 Festival, the cast including several of the artists who sang at the first performance in 1947. Visit of the After several years of frustrated anticipation among lovers of the ballet, Bolshoi the famous Bolshoi Company from Moscow headed by the almost legend - Ballet ary ballerina, Ulanova, arrived in London and presented a three-wee k season at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The repertory con- 52 sisted of four major productions-Le Lac des Cygnes and Giselle from the classical tradition with Prokoviev's Romeo and Juliet and The Fountain of Bakchiserai by Asafiev, as examples of the more contemporary work of the company. The impact of the visit on our own artists and ballet-public wa s enormous, and so great was the demand for seats that extra performance s had to be arranged'at the vast Davis Theatre, Croydon, where capacity audiences were able to see a varied and mixed programme of short ex- cerpts, pas-de-deux and other turns demonstrating the virtuosity of th e Russian dancers. COVENT GARDEN OPER A New Productions Jenufa. December 10th, 1957 Die Meistersinger. January 28th, Music: Janacek 1957 ' Producer : Christopher West Music : Wagner Scenery and costumes : Producer : Erich Witte Jan Brazda Scenery andcostumes : Wakhevitch Conductor : Rafael Kubelik Conductor : Rafael Kubelik

THE ROYAL BALLET Birthday Offering. May 5th, 195 6 The Miraculous Mandarin . Music : Glazounov August 27th, 1957 (Edinburgh Choreography : Frederick Ashto n Festival) September 4th, 1957 Scenery and costumes : (Royal Opera House) Andr6 Levasseur . Music : Bart6k Choreography : Alfred Rodrigue s Scenery and costumes : Wakhevitch Prince of the Pagodas. Solitaire. June 7th, 1956 January 1st, 1957 Music : Malcolm Arnol d Music : Benjamin Britten Choreography : Kenneth Mac- Choreography : John Cranko Millan Scenery : John Piper Scenery and costumes : Costumes : Desmond Heeley Desmond Heeley Giselle. August 21st, 1956 Somnambulism . May 29th, 1956 1 st performance : Santander, Spain Music : Stan Kenton and Joh n Music : Adam Lanchbery Choreography : Coralli Choreography : Kenneth Mac- Scenery and costumes : Peter Rice Millan 53

SADLER 'S WELLS OPER A Fidelio. November 14th, 1956 Martha. September 13th, 1956 Music : Beethoven Music : Flotow Producer : Douglas Seal e Producer and Designer : Powell Scenery and costumes : Lloyd Malcolm Prid e Scenery and costumes : Powell Conductor : Rudolf Schwarz Lloyd Conductor : Leo Quayle

Suor Angelica. January 30th, 195 7 Music : Puccini Producer : Clive Carey Scenery and costumes : Peter Rice Conductor : Marcus Dods

CARL ROSA OPERA Benvenuto Cellini. April 5th, 1956 (Essoldo Theatre, Brighton) Music : Berlioz Scenery and costumes : Hamish Wilson Conductor : Arthur Hammond

Ballet Many provincial theatres were visited by the Ballet Rambert during Rambert the year as well as small Scottish towns and villages during another three- week tour arranged by the Council's Scottish Office . A new ballet Mirror was introduced into the repertory with music by Lars Erik-Larssen , choreography by Ronald Yerrell-a young dancer with the Company- and decor by Disley Jones . A production of Coppelia was noteworthy for the incorporation of designs for scenery and costumes by Douboujinsky , one of the original Diaghilev group . A month's tour in Spain won accla- mation for the Company wherever they played . At the seaside resort o f Vigo, 10,000 people watched the artists dance to the accompaniment o f The Valencia Symphony Orchestra in a natural amphitheatre in one of th e Gardens in the town. The Company also participated in the First Festiva l of Dance held in Brussels and Wiesbaden where they were televised during their performances in the Opera Houses in those Cities . The usual London summer season at Sadler's Wells took place during August, when Conte Fantastique by Andree Howard was also introduced to London . 54

The Company gave just over one hundred performances covering most Intimate parts of the British Isles, including Northern Ireland and Scotland during Opera the year. In addition to The Cooper (Arne, arranged by Joseph Horovitz) the following operas were also performed during the season:- The Bachelor's Bond Offenbach The Cookery Opera Bellini The Dumb Wife Horovitz Jacques and Jacqueline Offenbach The Music Master Pergolesi The Telephone Menotti Thomas and Sally Arne Three's Company Hopkins The Grenadier Dibdin Ten o'clock Call Hopkins If the Cap Fits Geoffrey Bush The Opera For All Group completed its eighth season with a total of 92 Opera for All performances in a tour of 21 weeks. The six-hundredth performance was given at Elland on February 15th, 1957 . Mr. Douglas Craig and Mr. Bryan Balkwill were again responsible fo r the artistic direction of the Group which was managed by Mr . Richard Day, one of Glyndebourne's Assistant Producers . The demand for Puccini's Il Tabarro fell short of expectation ; but 1 6 performances were received with great enthusiasm and certainly made the experiment well worth while . It will be seen again during the 1957/58 season. Other operas in the repertory will be The Marriage of Figaro, Don Pasquale and, as a new production, La Traviata. Interest in amateur opera continues to grow apace, among both per- Amateur formers and audiences . Opera A total of £1,470 was disbursed among amateur societies, who applied for assistance towards the cost of engaging professionals in order to im- prove the standard of their public performances . Fourteen societies in England mounted 17 productions (of which one was a double-bill an d another a triple-bill), comprising in all 69 performances, mostly in town s and cities outside London . Enterprising choices included Honegger's Joan of Arc at the Stake at Cambridge, Smetana's The Secret at Oxford, Ingli s Gundry's The Logan Rock performed at the Porthcurno Open Air Theatre by the Cornish Opera Group, and works by Menotti at Leeds and Liver - pool. At the St. Pancras Town Hall in London, where an annual Arts 55

Festival has been established, two amateur opera societies participated, the Handel Opera Society in Alcina, and the Impresario Society in La Finta Giardiniera. Help was also given to a production of Rossini's William Tell at Ilford Town Hall and to Dvorak's The Devil and Kate at University College, London.

7

POETRY

Festivals Poetry continues to be presented at festivals of its own or to find a special niche for itself at festivals of the arts . The Trustees and Guardians of Shakespeare's Birthplace presented a third Festival of Poetry at Hall's Croft . John Carroll was the Director . Stephen Spender, the `Poet of the Year', gave a special reading of some o f his poems, and he also chose a selection of contemporary poetry for one o f the programmes . Readers included several members of the Company play- ing at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre ; and the final reading in the series of nine was given by Dame Sybil Thorndike and Sir Lewis Casson . There were overflow attendances at every performance . A special feature of the 1957 Festival, which is also being directed by John Carroll, is a smal l exhibition of books and manuscripts relating to poetry of the period 1920 - 1945. The English Festival of Spoken Poetry was held at Bedford College , University of London (July 23rd-26th) . Since it was started more than a quarter of a century ago, this Festival has done much to establish standard s in speaking poetry and help teachers and students in their study of it. The Directors are now planning developments which may ultimately lead to an English Festival of Poetry . Two innovations in 1956 were the inauguratio n of a series of annual lectures by eminent poets and an experiment i n seminar-discussions. One of the Festival's four evenings was devoted to a stimulating lecture on modern poetry by Dame Edith Sitwell, and anothe r to a recital of poetry by distinguished professional speakers . The 8th Annual Cheltenham Festival of Contemporary Literatur e (October 1-5) included two sessions of special interest to lovers of poetry . John Moore, the Honorary Director of the Festival, gave a talk on Jame s 56 Elroy Flecker and his play, Hassan, and John Betjeman gave a reading from his poems. Four younger writers, including Elizabeth Jennings whose second book of poems A Way of Looking had recently been recommende d by the Poetry Book Society, were invited to Cheltenham as guests of th e Festival. For 1957 the Festival is going to be extended to cover a fortnigh t instead of a week ; and the Art and Literary Festivals are being combine d under the title of the Cheltenham Festival of Art and Literature. A special feature will be a Poetry Competition with prizes provided by Messrs .. Arthur Guinness, Son and Company . The fifth Little Festival of Poetry, Cley-next-the-Sea (May 30th - June 3rd), included a talk with readings by Patric Dickinson and a specia l pilgrimage into Suffolk in connection with the poets Edward Fitzgerald , Thomas Lydgate and Robert Bloomfield . In addition to the poetry readings referred to in Notes of the Year, men- Readings tion should be made of the recitals sponsored by the Apollo Society. The regular series presented in.the Recital Room of the Royal Festival Hall in- cluded a special programme of American verse and music . The poems were selected by W. S. Merwin, whose new book Green with Beasts was a Poetry Book Society choice ; and the music included a first performance in this country of a work by Charles Ives . A recital at the Royal Court Theatr e consisted of a programme specially chosen and introduced . by Stephen Spender, containing poems by poets that had influenced him, poems b y himself and poems written by younger poets whom he particularl y admired. The three experimental readings that were given to invited audiences at 4, St. James's Square in the spring of 1956 aroused so much interest tha t the Council has agreed to promote a regular series of `New Readings' i n 1957. One such reading will be given during each of the three academic terms, and the names of the readers will be submitted by the Drama, Fea- tures and Talks Departments of the B .B.C., the Apollo Society, the Central School of Speech and Drama, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, the Poetry Society, the Rose Bruford Training College, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and the Society of Barrow Poets . The progress of the Poetry Book Society is referred to in Notes of the Printed Year. The Arts Council has agreed to extend its help to printed poetry by Poetry offering small subsidies to two magazines concerned solely with the print- ing and reviewing of contemporary poetry-`Outposts' and `Listen.' Until now the Council has resolutely set its face against subsidising magazines o f any description ; but after careful consideration it came to the conclusio n 57

that an exception might legitimately be made in the case of certain ap- proved magazines devoted entirely to poetry, since apart from public readings of his work the living poet has only two ways in which he ca n reach his public-through magazine publication and book publication . There are, of course, numerous literary magazines and periodicals that occasionally include poetry among their varied contents ; but the Arts Council's help is intended for the magazine that specialises in poetry, an d in no case is it likely to continue for more than three consecutive years .

8

SCOTLAND

The Scottish Committee's work during the year 1956/57 followed i n general the pattern of previous years . In this year the allocation of th e Treasury Grant was £78,050, almost £2,000 more than in the previous year. How this was spent is set out in the accounts (see Appendix B), bu t figures in cold print, though invaluable, do not in themselves give a ful l picture of the Committee's work . Membership The Committee records with the greatest regret the death of Sir Ceci l of Graves after a long illness ; he had served both the Council and the Scottis h Committee Committee faithfully for a number of years . The only new member of Committee is the Honourable Mrs . Lyle of Dunkeld. Drama Of the four resident repertory theatres working in association with th e Repertory Scottish Committee, those at Edinburgh and Perth continued to draw Theatres good audiences . The Edinburgh Gateway Company's season opened unde r the aegis of the Edinburgh Festival with an impressive production o f James Bridie's The Anatomist which was sold out for every performance . The season's programme included no less than six premieres of plays by Scottish authors viz., Robert Kemp's Man Among The Roses, R. J. B. Sellar's Weir of Hermiston, Alexander Reid's The Wax Doll, Moray McLaren's Muckle Ado, Ian Hamilton's The Tinkers of the World and Albert D. Mackie's Machattie's Hotel. At Perth the attendance figures again showed an increase on the pre- vious year. Amongst several notable productions at this theatre were A Midsummer Night's Dream, Miles Malleson's adaptation of Moliere's The 58 School For Wives, and N. C. Hunter's A Picture of Autumn . This last play was the occasion of the presentation, before a distinguished audience, o f the Scottish Committee's Award for Achievement in the Theatre, give n this year to the Perth Repertory Company in recognition of 21 years ' service to the Scottish Theatre . In the spring this company again visited the Orkney and Shetland Isles as well as making summer tours of the Highlands and the Borders. These were as usual highly successful. On the other hand audiences at Kirkcaldy continued to decline to such an extent that the Perth management hav e reluctantly decided to modify the arrangements for their interchange o f companies with Kirkcaldy. In Glasgow the Citizens' Theatre opened their newly decorated theatre with a moderately successful production of Bridie's Mr. Gillie. Some weeks later a splendidly mounted Richard II drew large and appreciative audience s to the theatre. Unfortunately, their only other pre-Christmas play to hav e any success was an Irish comedy by Joseph Tomelty called Is The Priest At Home? For their Christmas play they chose Alice in Wonderland and, giving their resident producer and company a well-earned holiday, im- ported a ready-made production from England. This presentation proved in the event to be considerably below the Citizens' own high standard an d the expected Christmas profit turned out to be a great deal smaller tha n usual. The Citizens' followed up their Christmas season with a Festival o f Scottish plays, mainly by contemporary authors (the exception wa s Barrie's Mary Rose). Unfortunately, this excellent venture attracted very little response from the Glasgow public which seems to prefer Iris h comedies and Shakespeare ! The Dundee Repertory Theatre, while maintaining a high artistic stan- dard, has not achieved the hoped-for revival of its finances . There has been a slight improvement in the box-office takings over the previous two years , but not enough to affect the Theatre's depleted reserves. The Directors therefore have given a great deal of thought to financial and other con- siderations and it now appears likely that, though these are grave, a way will be found to enable the Dundee Repertory Theatre to carry on its wor k on a basis similar to that of the past . Mention was made in last year's Report of the joining together of these Federation four theatres in a Federation of Scottish Repertory Theatres . During the of Scottish Repertory year under review the Federation met four times. An interesting outcome of Theatres these meetings ig a proposal that the four theatres should interchange 59

productions in a Repertory Festival in the autumn of 1957 . The plan, which is still under discussion, is for each company of players to show it s paces, so to speak, for one week in each of the other three theatres . The plays will be chosen in consultation and it is hoped that there will be a t least one new play by a Scottish author as well as one by Shakespeare . Pitlochry Pitlochry Festival Society held its 6th annual Festival of six plays in tru e Drama repertory. Nearly 50,000 people paid for admission during the season-an Festival increase of 10,000 over any previous year . Of the six plays presented, the popular comedies The Open and See How They Run, drew the largest audiences, the thriller Ebb Tide came third, with Misalliance, Bird in Hand and She Stoops to Conquer, very close behind . The Pitlochry Festival is now quite clearly an established part of the Scottish scene . Drama In drama, as in music, a considerable increase in audience figures can b e Directly reported ; five theatre tours were sent out : The New Scottish Tourin g Provided Theatre in She Stoops To Conquer, the Edinburgh Gateway Company i n The Other Dear Charmer, two tours by the Children's Theatre and one tou r of short dramatic sketches entitled Brief Chronicles. These played to a total audience of just on 30,000, an increase of 10,000 over last year . In response to the greatly increased demand, She Stoops To Conquer played one-nigh t stands for four consecutive weeks, opening in Stornoway and ending i n Wigtownshire. This tour was an outstanding success, some places reporting `standing room only' . Equally crowded houses welcomed The Other Dear Charmer when it toured the Border Counties in February. Ballet After a gap of a year, the Ballet Rambert received a warm welcom e Directly when it visited Scotland for a three-week tour in the Autumn of 1956. As Provided there are comparatively few places which can accommodate the full Com- pany of 26 dancers, the experiment was tried, in the second week of th e tour, of dividing it into two smaller Companies, and sending one round th e North and the other round the South of the country, thus enabling man y smaller places to enjoy Ballet of the standard maintained by Madam e Rambert. This experiment proved an unqualified success, despite th e administrative problems involved, and a further development on the sam e lines is contemplated in 1957/58 . The Company played to a total audience of over 8,700. Marionettes Marionettes and Puppets continue to be popular in Scotland, and th e Recitals, etc., Lee Puppet Theatre and the Lanchester Marionette Theatre played to a Directly total audience of over 7,600. After the Lee Puppet Theatre played at Kyl e Provided of Lochalsh a report was received of `a hall filled to overflowing wit h children from all over south-west Ross, many travelling 20 to 30 miles 60 each way to see the performance' : this is typical of many of these show s which are performing an invaluable function in introducing young people to the joys of a live performance at a time when so much is mechanised . The demand for recitals of poetry and drama, and of music and balle t remains steady if not spectacular . About eight performances of each type were given. During the year two poetry readings were given in the Scottish Commit- Poetry tee's Gallery at 11 Rothesay Terrace . In June, 1956, a reading was given Readings from Edwin Muir's newly published volume of poems One Foot In Eden ; in the following January a programme of Contemporary Poems in Scots was chosen and introduced by Norman MacCaig and read by To m Fleming and Ian Gilmour. Both these recitals were highly successful, th e latter attracting more people than it was possible to accommodate in th e Gallery. The Scottish Committee's Poetry prize for 1955/56 was awarded t o Poetry Prize Robert MacLellan for his unpublished poem Sweet Largie Bay . The poem was broadcast in the B .B.C.'s Scottish Home Service on August 2nd , 1956. The policy of working increasingly closely with the existing Art bodies Visual Arts in Scotland has been further developed and has enabled the Committee , and it is hoped the other organisations, to sponsor and arrange exhibition s which would otherwise not have been possible . Among the most notable results of this policy was the important Rae - burn exhibition which attracted 71,126 visitors to the National Gallery o f Scotland during the summer months, and the stimulating Nicolas de Stae l exhibition sponsored by the Society of Scottish Artists . Also in Edinburgh the showing of the Grandma Moses exhibition was very appropriatel y arranged in conjunction with the Scottish Society of Women Artists . This collaboration was not confined to the official Art bodies in Scot - land but was extended to the smaller centres and resulted in special exhi- bitions being arranged in association with the Galashiels Arts Club, th e Helensburgh and District Art Club and, for the second year in succession , with the Moray Arts Club . Mention is made elsewhere of the Braque exhibition arranged durin g the Edinburgh Festival and the Scottish Committee was fortunate in ob- taining a group of distinguished paintings from the collection of Mr. J. W. Blyth for exhibition during the Festival period in their own gallery. An important memorial exhibition of the work of the late James Cowi e opened in Glasgow and, is being extensively toured . 61

The Committee has this year reduced its expenditure on purchases of paintings and commissioned a tapestry for the permanent decoration of it s gallery, to be designed by John Maxwell and woven by the Edinburgh Tapestry Company. Ten exhibitions from Arts Council Headquarters have been shown in Scotland, and in all 29 exhibitions have been given 58 showings in 3 5 different centres . The showings of films on art and lectures and demonstration lectures particularly in the smaller centres show an increase on previous years . A list of exhibitions is given in Appendix D. Music If some means of assessment were possible, it would be interesting to Directly know how far the increased audiences this season have been due to a ne w Provided upsurge of enthusiasm and how far they indicate a permanent interest i n music which hitherto has been thwarted by severe weather conditions . Be that as it may, it is encouraging to note a considerable increase in tota l audiences, particularly in the case of the touring ensembles (mainly oper a and chamber music) and a corresponding improvement in the averag e audiences which these Companies have drawn as compared with earlier years . Opera audiences (`Opera for All' and the `Intimate Opera Com- pany') drew a total audience of over 5,600-about 1,500 up on last year , while the Saltire Singers were heard by almost 3,000 people in the course of their two tours. The tour of `Opera for All', with average audiences about 100 up o n those drawn by this Company five years ago, made a splendid start to the season, many places having the largest music audiences so far achieved . This was happily balanced by the tour of the Brain-Pougnet-Parry Trio a t the end of the season (a time when the weather and, in consequence, th e audiences, are usually at their worst) which was heard by well over 2,30 0 people and most warmly appreciated . The other Chamber Music tour, `Musics da Camera', which visited Orkney and Shetland as well as severa l places on the mainland, also drew average audiences considerably greater than it had during the last two seasons . Over 70 Mixed Concerts (drawing mainly on artists resident in Scotland) were given, in addition to the touring ensembles, and six of these were pre- sented in places which had never before taken advantage of the service s provided by the Scottish Committee ; a further two were held in places where a resurgence of interest has occurred after a gap of four years . Audiences at the Mixed Concerts fluctuated somewhat but the average was slightly better than last season . 62 An interesting feature at the very end of the season was the presentatio n of four concerts of songs selected and arranged by Erik Chisholm from th e MacDonald Collection (1750) of Gaelic folk music . The Orchestra, now in its seventh year, has continued to improve in Scottish quality and has been accepted and appreciated by the Scottish people. National In the year under review audiences have maintained themselves. The Orchestra Industrial Concerts in the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow have continued to bring to music, people who have never before heard and seen a sym- phony orchestra. The innovation of a week's season of Promenade Concerts in Glasgo w in June, 1956, proved to be an outstanding success . Special celebrations rightly marked the occasion of the Tenth Edinburg h Edinburgh International Festival . Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by H .R.H. Festival The Duke of Edinburgh and The Princess Margaret, honoured the Societ y by her presence at the Opening Service, the Opening Concert and the first night of the season given by the Hamburg State Opera . Despite capacity attendances at almost all performances, the continued general rise in cost s is causing the Society some anxiety, and it has been necessary to reduce the Festival Fund by a substantial amount in order to meet the deficit on th e 1956 Festival. There is little doubt, however, that the Festival was, both from the standpoint of the public and from that of the journalists an d critics attending it, among the most successful of the whole series . The prestige of the Festival has,never been higher and it continues to attract a truly international public. In 1955 the Arts Council was invited by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Housing the to institute an enquiry into the provision of cultural buildings throughou t Arts Great Britain, and the Council has set up for this purpose separate Com- mittees of Enquiry for England, Scotland and Wales . The following mem- bers of the Scottish Committee were appointed to the `Housing the Arts ' Committee for Scotland :- Mr. Robert Kemp (Chairman), Mr . David Baxandall, Mr. Ernest Boden and Mr. John Playfair ; in addition, Mr. Esm6 Gordon, A .R.I.B.A., was invited to serve. The Committee has begun its enquiry by inviting the view s of Local Authorities on the present provision of concert halls, theatres an d art galleries in the areas they administer . In addition, evidence, both written and oral, has been received from a number of specialists in music, drama and the visual arts . The results so far have been most stimulating, and the Committee is deeply impressed by the great interest which is being shown in the enquiry . It seems clear from evidence received up to now 63

that there are a great many excellent schemes for building or reconstruct- ing halls which are merely being held up by the credit squeeze . 9

WALE S

Finance In 1956/57 the Welsh Committee received a grant of £35,250 from th e Arts Council, the distribution of which is shown in the Committee' s accounts in Appendix C. A comparison between the Committee's ex- penditure on the Arts in 1955/56 and 1956/57 shows an increase in 1956/5 7 of approximately £5,000. This is a small amount when related to the steeply rising costs of providing the Arts, especially when we bear in mind that all organisations small and large have been fully provided for durin g the year, and that provision has been made for one or two new projects . The reasons why so much has been accomplished on so moderate an in - crease of expenditure will be found in the statistical returns and reports received by the Welsh Committee from all organisations in receipt of financial assistance. For one thing, no rescue operation has had to be undertaken. All organisations have balanced their budgets, and this despit e a general belief that their activities would be financially hazardous, or in - deed disastrous, because of the increased competition of television , followed by petrol rationing in December. However, enterprise and re - source brought their proper reward : audiences were maintained at the level of those of previous years, and financial results were in some cases better than had been estimated. The Welsh Wales is a country notably dependent on voluntary effort for the pro - National vision of the Arts . As yet it possesses neither a National Theatre nor a Opera National Orchestra but can boast of a National Museum and a Nationa l Company Library (both of which celebrated their Jubilee year in the period under review), and a National Opera Company at present existing precariously without a home of its own and, like many other organisations practisin g and sponsoring the Arts, administered entirely by voluntary effort, with th e financial support of the Welsh Committee, the Glamorgan and Monmouth County Councils, and the Cardiff and Swansea Corporations . If all other County Government Authorities followed the example of Glamorgan an d Monmouthshire, as they easily might from the resources at their disposal , 64 their contribution would go a long way towards enabling the Company t o become fully professional, and thereby allow them to present Grand Opera of quality in more centres in Wales than they are at present able to visit , since the chorus is not available for more than a five or six weeks' seaso n each year. The chorus is undoubtedly the `Prima Donna' of the Company ; it is professional in its standards, but not in the sense that it earns its living by its work. Were it to become a professional body in every sense, it would enable the Company to be mobile and active for the greater part of the year. It would be an immeasurable gain to the artistic and cultural life of A Welsh Arts Wales if the County Government Authorities would contemplate establish- Trust ing a Trust which could administer on their behalf some of the income the y enjoy from the Welsh Church Funds, and so supply the needs of such National Institutions as the National Eisteddfod, the Opera Company, a National Theatre, National Orchestra, and the like. An act of faith an d imagination leading to generous collective action by the Welsh County Government Authorities could bring about a revolutionary change in th e artistic life of our country, for these are the only bodies in Wales suffi - ciently well endowed to sustain the Arts as they deserve . When we consider the provision made for the Arts all over the country The Voluntary in the course of a year, Wales has good reason to be grateful to the volun- Effort tary organisations for making so much possible, for commercial enterpris e provides very little of it indeed . The commercially run theatre in Cardiff which has presented live plays for many years past has just closed its door s -leaving only one theatre in our Capital City to provide live entertainmen t all the year round (ranging from variety shows to Opera), and one large cinema which intersperses its film shows with visits from Covent Garde n Opera and the Royal Ballet Company, etc . Swansea is similarly afliicted : one of its two live theatres has closed down ; the other, which was the hom e of a Repertory Company until recently, struggles on, and appears to b e one of the last two commercially run houses providing live shows . Despite this dismal record of commercial enterprise the Arts live and thrive, and do so almost entirely by virtue of the voluntary effort made t o sustain them, assisted at all points by the Welsh Committee, and at som e by Local Government Authorities . The Welsh Committee pays tribute to all these voluntary organisations and congratulates them on the excellen t results of their work, results achieved despite the serious difficulties wit h which they were beset throughout the year. The following paragraphs give an account of the many activities of th e 65 E Welsh Committee in 1956/57 . In some circumstances the Welsh Com- mittee directly provides the Arts (notably the visual arts and the Welsh an d English Drama Tours) ; in others the Committee gives financial assistanc e to enable voluntary organisations to do so . Festivals In an attempt to revive the declining interest in choral singing, and to stimulate the recruitment of younger choristers, the Western Region Choirs affiliated to the National Federation of Music Societies combine d to form a Festival Choir, and opened the Spring and Summer Festiva l Season with a performance of Haydn's Creation in Newport in May with the B.B.C. Welsh Orchestra and George Weldon as conductor. This pro- ject undoubtedly provided a sense of `occasion' which all the participatin g choirs and audience alike enjoyed. There followed in the same month the Montgomery County Music Festival, providing concerts in the afternoo n and evening with Sir John Barbirolli and The Halle Orchestra. The fears of the small village choirs who combine to provide this festival-that they might prove unable to tackle unknown and difficult works-have been dissipated by the warm and sympathetic approach made by Sir John Barbirolli to their problems. He has provided them with just the inspira- tion they needed, and since his association with this Festival, the choir s have at his request studied and performed Verdi's Requiem and Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony, while last year they restudied The Messiah and gave a memorable performance at the evening concert under his conduc- torship. The Dee and Clwyd Festival presented their first concert a t Corwen also in May, with North Wales choirs taking part and the Bir- mingham Symphony Orchestra with John Morgan Nicholas conducting . These three combined choir Festivals may appear to contradict, or a t least mitigate, the notion that there is a decline of interest in choral singing , particularly when we note that approximately 1,500 choristers were in- volved in preparation for these Festivals alone . Yet the fact remains tha t the average age of choristers up and down the country is too high to augu r well for the future ; and if more interest is not shown by young Welsh men and women in this form of music-making than is apparent today, the great traditions of Welsh Choral singing will inevitably be lost, and lost soon , to the cultural life of the nation . The brilliantly colourful International Eisteddfod at Llangollen opene d in July, 1956, with a performance by the Ballet Rambert with Alicia Markova, followed by contests of all kinds for dance and song groups o f many nations, gaily dressed in their national costumes . The final concert was given by the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Rudolph Schwar z 66 conducting. The sun always shines benignly on this Festival and enhance s the gaiety of the scene . It is worth recording that this is the only Festival in Wales which is entirely self-supporting-and this because every person in Llangollen and the surrounding district contributes something in kind i f not money to make it so . During August the tercentenary of the death of Thomas Tomkins wa s marked by a Festival of his music at St . David's Cathedral, Pembroke- shire. The programme also included Dorothy Sayers' play The Zeal of Thy House, produced by Islwyn Gwaunfa Thomas . The Royal National Eisteddfod held in the first week of August at Aberdare included in a varied programme of events a performance of th e Bach St. Matthew Passion by the Eisteddfod Choir with The London Symphony Orchestra conducted by A . Meredith Davies, and a first per- formance of David Wynne's Symphony No . 2 by the same Orchestra con- ducted by Dr . Hermann Scherchen . The Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts in October provided six concerts, three by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, two of which were conducted by Karel Ancerl and the third by Karel Sejna, and three by th e Halle Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. The Music and Arts Clubs contributed as much as ever to the com- Music munities which they serve all over the Principality . They provided between them 134 concerts under Guarantee from the Welsh Committee, included in which were 16 String Quartet Concerts given by the Hirsch, Martin and Wang Quartets . The Welsh Committee provided 12 concerts in localities where no Music Clubs exist as yet, and the Arts Council `Opera for All' group gave 1 6 performances to audiences totalling 4,265 in their 9th visit to Wales . Choral Societies affiliated to the National Federation of Music Societies , which receives a grant from the Welsh Committee to assist Welsh Societies , gave 27 concerts in the period under review . The Welsh Committee commissioned a Concertino for Viola and Music Orchestra, a String Quartet and a work for Choir and Orchestra from Commissions Alun Hoddinott, Daniel Jones and David Wynne respectively. The Welsh National Opera Company played in Swansea, London and Opera Cardiff. During their second visit to Sadler's Wells, in July, 1956, they pre- sented a week's season of Verdi operas, one new in their repertoire and unknown to contemporary London, i .e., I Lombardi, produced by George Foa with sets designed by Louis Kahn . The others were Nabucco, The Sicilian Vespers and Il Trovatore, The Company received such a warm 67

welcome on their second visit that they were exhilarated and showed n o signs of fatigue at the end of their season, despite the heavy demands mad e on them by the nature of their programme . Theatre The Royal Covent Garden Opera Company visited Cardiff for tw o Companies weeks in March, playing six Operas . The only performance given o f in association Jenufa during this visit received a tremendous ovation, equal to that give n with the Art s Council to the Company's fine performance of Othello. The Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet gave a week's season at the Gaumon t Ballet Theatre, Cardiff, in September. Symphony Visits, independent of Festival occasions, by English Orchestras, i n Orchestras association with the Arts Council, were few in the period under review , but a major contribution was made by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra which gave a series of four Promenade Concerts in Cardiff i n June with the support of the City Council . Two concerts sponsored by the Swansea Corporation were given in th e Brangwyn Hall by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dresden State Orchestra. Drama An exciting departure from the normal run of events was undertake n with the assistance of the Welsh Committee by the Royal National Eistedd- fod, Aberdare. Two of the Committee's Welsh Companies appeared there and performed Gymerwch chi Sigaret? by Saunders Lewis and Ibsen's Hedda Gabler in a Welsh translation by Thomas Parry and R . H. Hughes. In addition, Saunders Lewis's play Siwan was performed by the same cast as that which appeared in Gymerwch chi Sigaret?, so that for the first time in the history of the National Eisteddfod two first-class Welsh plays wer e performed in repertory by a most accomplished company . Both were pro- duced by Herbert Davies, with sets and costumes designed by Davi d Tinker. Hedda Gabler was produced by Edwin Williams with sets designe d by Dewi Prys Thomas . This play subsequently was sent on a short tour o f Wales and played to 2,125 people . The Garthewin Welsh Drama Festival in July included in their pro - gramme a new play Corn Becca by Gwynne D . Evans, produced by Morri s Jones, and Fel y tybiwch y Mae (Cos! e ; se vi pare) by Pirandello, produce d by John Gwilym Jones in a Welsh translation by Gwynfor Griffiths .

At the third Welsh Drama Festival held at Llangefni, Anglesey, in October, Mrs . Mary Lewis's Cardiganshire Company performed Anouilh's Antigone, produced and translated into Welsh by her. The other two plays presented were Porth Ewyn, written and produced by John Ellis Williams , 68 and Heloise by David Monger, translated by D . Llwyd Jones and produced by Avril Hughes. In addition to advising on and financially assisting the activities men- tioned in the preceding paragraphs, the Welsh Committee toured the Art s Council's English Theatre Company in Peter Ustinov's play The Empty Chair in the Autumn of 1956, produced by Frank Dunlop and with Richard Lake as designer ; while by arrangement with the West of England Theatre Company, the Committee toured in March, 1957, Joyce Worsley' s production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, designed by Richard Negri . The Empty Chair on a five week tour played to an audience totalling 10,553 people ; and As You Like It, touring for a similar period, played to a total of 12,839 people. In the Poetry Competition arranged by the Welsh Committee Brenda Poetry Chamberlain was awarded the prize of £100 for the best unpublished collection of English poems, and Bobi Jones won a similar award for hi s unpublished collection of Welsh poems . A second prize of £75 was awarded to Euros Bowen for his collection of Welsh poems . The two winning collections will be published shortly. A young Welsh actress, Sian Phillips, won the Meggie Albanesi Scholar- Bursaries ship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and for the merit of her work in Welsh Theatre she was awarded a bursary by the Welsh Committee . She appeared in one of the Committee's Welsh Companies at the Aberdar e National Eisteddfod and also played the leading r6le in Saunders Lewis' s play Siwan, referred to in a previous paragraph. Subsequently she won the Academy's highest award-the Bancroft Gold Medal-during the cours e of her studies there. The Welsh Committee, as always concerned with the need to seek out Art new creative talent, organised two Exhibitions of Contemporary Welsh Painting and Sculpture during the year. Both were shown at the National Museum of Wales, the first of which was opened by Sir John Rothenstei n in June, 1956, and the second by Sir William Emrys Williams in February , 1957. In addition to organising these Exhibitions, the Committee purchase d eight pictures and one piece of sculpture from the first Exhibition and nin e pictures from the second, in which was included a work by Ronald Carlso n who was a student at the Newport College of Art and now continues hi s studies in London at the Royal College. He was adjudged the mos t promising of the younger exhibitors in the February Exhibition and wa s commissioned at a fee of £100 to paint another picture for the Committee' s 69

Welsh collection. The commissioned work will be chosen from among those he executes between the time of receiving the commission and the en d of his 1957 summer vacation . In addition to the purchases made from the two Exhibitions mentione d above, the Committee expended £400 on the acquisition of 10 contem- porary works from other sources. Other exhibitions organised by the Welsh Committee were Folk Art from the Netherlands comprising some 100 works from the Dr . Hendrik Wiegersma collection of exquisite small carvings in wood and ivory, whic h was shown at the St. Fagan's Folk Museum during August and September ; an Exhibition of Some of the Works from the Welsh Committee's Collection ; and Recent Purchases by the Contemporary Art Society for Wales . The sixth Exhibition of Pictures for Welsh Schools was organised by The Society for Education Through Art, with the collaboration of th e Welsh Committee . From this Exhibition 35 works were purchased b y Education Authorities, and one by the National Museum of Wales . The total amount expended on works purchased from this Exhibition was £675 5s. Monmouthshire, Glamorganshire and Merthyr Tydfil were the heaviest buyers, followed by Flintshire and Montgomeryshire. The Welsh Committee also gave financial assistance to enable th e following Exhibitions to be arranged-Some Modern French Paintings by the Glynn Vivian Gallery, Swansea, The Annual Exhibition of the Nort h Wales Group, The Thomas Rathmell Exhibition, and an Exhibition entitled Members Choice, arranged by the Contemporary Art Society fo r Wales. Arrangements were made for a two-week tour of Wales by the Art s Council's Projection Unit in October, when a selection of Art Films were shown at various centres. These proved to be as popular as ever as a medium of Art Education . Lastly, and of major importance, was the contribution made by the Art s Council in collaboration with the Welsh Committee in providing seven- teen Exhibitions of various kinds which were shown in a variety of centre s with the collaboration of Art Galleries, Municipal Authorities, Ar t Societies and Colleges in Wales. Centres where concerts were given with the support of the Welsh Com- mittee ; centres visited by the Committee's touring Drama Companies ; a list of Exhibitions and centres where shown will be found in the appendices. Tribute The Welsh Committee pays tribute to the memory of Mr . D. H. I. Powell, who died on April 8th . His wide knowledge, experience, and love 70 of the Arts made him a most valued member of the Committee, to which he had been re-appointed for a further period of service on January 1st , 1957. The Committee expresses its appreciation and warm thanks to Dr . Wyn Welsh Griffith under whose leadership as Chairman for eight years so much was Committee accomplished for the Arts in Wales . Dr. Wyn Griffith, The Marquess of Anglesey, and the Very Rev . C. Witton-Davies, were due to retire from the Committee on December 31st, 1956 . Mr. Saunders Lewis resigned on September 19th, 1956, after five years' service. Professor Gwyn Jones was appointed Chairman of the Committee on January 1st, 1957, and the Marquess of Anglesey was reappointed for a further period . New members appointed were Miss Frances Rees and Mr . Robert E. Presswood, with Sir Ben Bowen Thomas serving as assessor for the Ministry of Education . Mr. Philip C. Jones was appointed to the post of Art Assistant made Welsh Office vacant by the resignation of Mr . John Petts, and took up his duties in th e Welsh Office on November 26th, 1956 .

71 CENTRES VISITED BY THE WELSH AND ENGLISH DRAMA TOURS, 1956/57. Aberaeron Ebbw Vale Pembroke Aberdare Haverfordwest Penygroes Abergavenny Holyhead Porthcawl Aberystwyth Holywell Portmadoc Bangor Lampeter Port Talbot Betws-y-coed Llandyssul Rhyl Blaenau Ffestiniog Llanelly Ruthin Caernarvon Machynlleth Swansea Cardigan Maesteg Talybont Carmarthen Mold Trealaw Chirk Neath Wrexham Denbigh Newport Ystradgynlais Dolgelley Newtown

CENTRES WHERE CONCERTS WERE GIVEN WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE WELSH COMMITTEE IN 1956/57. Aberdare Cwmaman Newtown Abergavenny Caerphilly Newbridge Aberdovey Dolgelley Pembroke Aberystwyth Fishguard Porthcawl Ammanford Haverfordwest Pontypool Bangor Knighton Port Talbot Barry Llanidloes Prestatyn Barmouth Llandudno Ruthin Bridgend Maesycwmmer Rhyl Blaenau Ffestiniog Merthyr Tydfil Risca Broughton Maesteg Swansea Builth Wells Milford Haven Trealaw Brynmawr Monmouth Towyn Caernarvon Narberth Tenby Carmarthen Neath Welshpool Cardiff Neyland Wrexham Chepstow Newport Ynyshir Criccieth

72 APPENDICES

73 v

THE ARTS COUNCI L APPENDIX A

REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUN T

1955/56

£614,670 GENERAL EXPENDITURE ON THE ARTS (See Schedule 1) £686,171 19 4 97,827 GENERAL OPERATING COSTS (See Schedule 2) 90,392 7 0 2,063 TRANSFER TO CAPITAL ACCOUNT REPRESENTING CAPITA L EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 4,943 18 8 7,500 RESERVE FOR LOANS TO ASSOCIATED ORGANISATIONS 490 0 0 76,270 GRANT TO SCOTTISH COMMITTEE 78,050 0 0 6,000 TRANSFER FROM HEADQUARTERS OF LOAN outstanding to the - - Citizens' Theatre Limited, Glasgo w 33,650 GRANT TO WELSH COMMITTEE 35,250 0 0 165 TRANSFER FROM HEADQUARTERS OF LOAN - - - outstanding to Milford Haven Arts Club 4,069 LOSS ON SALE OF ASSETS 2,841 8 1 1

£842,214 £898,139 13 11

12,059 BALANCE brought down 10,156 13 6 21,386 BALANCE carried forward 11,229 11 7

X3 .3"KI £21,386 5 1

74

OF GREAT BRITAI N

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 195 7

1955/56 £820,000 GRANT IN AID : H.M. Treasury £885,000 0 0 517 LOAN REPAYMENTS 788 6 8 6,165 CANCELLATION OF RESERVE FOR LOANS - - - 1,540 CANCELLATION OF GRANTS and provision for expenses in previous year not required 893 4 5 SUNDRY RECEIPTS Interest : Bank and Investment £943 13 2 Miscellaneous 357 16 2 1,933 1,301 9 4 12,059 BALANCE carried down 10,156 13 6

£842,214 zaya,isy 1 .3 i i

33,445 BALANCE as at 1st April, 1956 21,386 5 1

£33,445 £21,386 5 1

75

THE ARTS COUNCI L BALANCE SHEET A S LIABILITIES 1955/56 CAPITAL ACCOUNT Balance as at 31st March, 195 6 £74,991 10 4 Add Capital Expenditure during year transferred fro m Revenue and Expenditure Accoun t 4,943 18 8 Add Appreciation on Revaluatio n 4,209 11 3 84,145 0 3 Less value of Capital Asset transferred to Scottish Committe e 550 0 0 74,992 £83,595 0 3 10,429 GRANTS AND GUARANTEES OUTSTANDING 17,050 17 6 30,009 SUNDRY CREDITOR S 13,457 2 0 24,336 SPECIAL FUNDS (See Schedule 5 ) 24,557 14 4 REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUN T 21,386 Balance as at 31st March, 195 7 11,229 11 7

NoTE : No provision has been made for depreciation . Payments from the grant in aid do not include any such provision, but only the cost of renewals .

£161,152 Carriedforward £149,890 5 8

76

OF GREAT BRITAI N AT 31st MARCH, 195 7 ASSETS 1955/56 OFFICE EQUIPMENT At valuation as at 31st March, 1956 £13,972 16 1 0 Additions less items sold during year 568 19 5 £13,973 £14,541 16 3 MOTOR VANS AND CARS At valuation as at 1st April, 1949, and additions at cost to 31s t March, 1956 14,348 9 8 Additions less items sold during year 676 8 8 15,024 18 4 Less transferred to Scottish Committee 550 0 0 14,349 14,474 18 4 PIANO ACCOUNT At valuation as at 31st March, 1956 1,535 0 0 Less items sold during year 755 0. 0 1,535 780 0 0 THEATRE AND CONCERT HALL EQUIPMEN T At valuation as at 31st March, 1956 12,489 4 1 Additions during year 34 3 10 12,489 12,523 7 1 1 ART EXHIBITION EQUIPMEN T At valuation as at 31st March, 1956 9,270 0 2 Additions less items sold during year 1,294 0 8 9,270 10,564 0 1 0 LITHOGRAPHS At cost as at 31st March, 1956 574 17 8 Less items sold during year 1 2 1 1 575 573 14 9 PICTURES AND SCULPTURE S At cost as at 31st March, 1956 22,801 1 1 1 Additions less items sold during year at cost 2,599 15 7 22,801 25,400 17 6 REPRODUCTIONS - At valuation as at 31st March, 1957 4,736 4 8 WIGMORE HALL CANTEEN STOCK 256 As at 31st March, 1957 339 5 4 LOANS TO ASSOCIATED AND OTHER ORGANISATION S (See Schedule 4) Secured by Mortgage 31625 0 0 Unsecured and only conditionally recoverable 12,303 6 8 15,928 6 8 Less Reserve 12,303 6 8 3,750 3,625 0 0 SPECIAL FUND INVESTMENTS (See Schedule 6 ) At cost or as at date of transfer 16,343 (Market value £13,465 10s. 2d.) 16,343 3 7 £95,341 Carried forward £103,902 9 2 77

THE ARTS COUNCI L BALANCE SHEET A S LIABILITIES

£161,152 Broughtjorward £149,890 5 8

£161,152 £149,890 5 8

I have examined the foregoing Account and Balance Sheet . I have obtained all the information this Account and Balance Sheet are properly drawn up so as to exhibit a true and fair view of th e

18

OF GREAT BRITAI N AT 3 1 st MARCH, 195 7 ASSETS

£95,341 Brought forward £103,902 9 2 INVESTMENTS 3 per cent . Savings Bonds 1960/7 0 (Market value £4,027 7s . 8d.) 5,000 0 0 4 per cent . Defence Bonds (Market value at Par) 630 0 0 5,630 5,630 0 0 29,733 SUNDRY DEBTORS, PAYMENTS IN ADVANCE • 24,624 8 2 CASH On Deposit Account 2,000 0 0 On Current Account 12,869 0 10 Imprests 242 2 6 In Hand 622 5 0 30,448 15,733 8 4

£161,152 £149,890 5 8

Chairman : KENNETH CLARK . Secretary-General: W. E. WILLIAMS.

and explanations that I have required, and I certify as the result of my audit that in my opinio n transactions of the Arts Council of Great Britain and of the state of their affairs . (Signed) F. N. TRIBE , Comptroller and Auditor-General. Exchequer and Audit Department, 31st July, 1957. 79 THE ARTS COUNCI L

SCHEDULE 1-GENERAL

MUSIC Opera and Ballet Grants and Guarantees (See Schedule 3 ) Directly Provided Concerts Other Activities Grants and Guarantees (See Schedule 3 ) Directly Provided Concerts Wigmore Concert Hall (including costs of Repairs and Alterations to Building ) Net Income of Wigmore Hall Caterin g

Net Total Expenditure DRAMA Grants and Guarantees (See Schedule 3 ) Companies specially engaged for Arts Council Tours Midland Theatre Company

Net Total Expenditure ART Grants and Guarantees (See Schedule 3 ) Exhibition s Art Films Lithograph Sales

Net Total Expenditure POETR Y Grants and Guarantees (See Schedule 3 )

FESTIVALS Grants and Guarantees (See Schedule 3 )

ARTS CENTRES AND ARTS CLUBS Grants and Guarantees (See Schedule 3 )

GENERAL ART ACTIVITIES Miscellaneous (See Schedule 3 )

Net Expenditure transferred to Revenue and Expenditure Accoun t

80

OF GREAT BRITAI N

EXPENDITURE ON THE ARTS Gross Gross Net Net Revenue Expenditure Revenue Expenditure

£473,200 0 0 £473,200 0 0 £6,936 15 11 8,099 2 10 1,162 6 11 94,125 19 0 94,125 19 0 652 15 3 2,265 17 4 1,613 2 1 - 9,424 12 10 13,463 1 1 4,038 8 3 123 12 4 123 12 4 574,139 16 3 123 12 4 £574,016 3 11

62,591 4 8 62,591 4 8 2,820 10 8 3,785 10 11 965 0 3 18,196 2 4 26,187 19 9 7,991 17 5 71,548 2 4 71,548 2 4

6,113 18 8 6,113 18 8 21,041 12 0 39,954 4 11 18,912 12 1 1 1,184 8 9 4,046 3 4 2,861 14 7 4 18 10 2 13 3 2 5 7 2 5 7 27,888 6 2 2 5 7 27,886 0 7

1,858 15 2 1,858 15 2 1,858 15 2

3,644 2 0 3,644 2 0 3,644 2 0

5,168 15 4 5,168 15 4 5,168 15 4

2,050 0 0 2,050 0 0 2.050 0 0

8 1 F

THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAI N SCHEDULE 2 GENERAL OPERATING COSTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 195 7 HEADQUARTER S Salaries and Superannuation : Music £9,667 17 2 Drama 4,867 19 4 Art 16,281 17 5 Finance 8,042 0 9 Secretarial and General 20,051 4 6 £58,910 19 2 Rent, Rates and Maintenance Expenses 13,135 2 9 Office, Travelling, Entertainment and Sundry Expenses 14,124 11 1 1 Printing and Publicity 2,204 11 2 £88,375 5 0 REGIONAL OFFICES Salaries and Superannuatio n 1,389 4 9 Office, Travelling and Entertainment Allowances and Sundr y Expenses 627 17 3 2,017 2 0

Transferred to Revenue and Expenditure Account £90,392 7 0

NOTE : (1) Endowment benefits due to members of the Pension Fund are assured by Policies held by the Council. (2) Certain Regional Expenses continued for a time beyond 31st March, 1956 . This is the final item which will appear under this head . 82

THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAI N SCHEDULE 3 GRANTS AND GUARANTEES MUSIC Opera and Balle t Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Limited £270,000 0 0 Sadler's Wells Trust Limited 125,000 0 0 *The Royal Ballet School 15,000 0 0 Intimate Opera Society Limited 1,300 0 0 English Opera Group Limited 4,900 0 0 Carl Rosa Trust Limited 51,000 0 0 Mercury Theatre Trust Limited (Ballet Rambert) 5,000 0 0 The Welsh National Opera Company Limited (London Season) 1,000 0 0 £473,200 0 0 *Grant for Capital Expenditure

Other Activities London Philharmonic Orchestra Limited 14,500 0 0 Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society Limited 12,000 0 0 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra 12,000 0 0 Hall6 Concerts Society 8,333 6 8 Western Orchestral Society Limited (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra) 12,000 0 0 London Symphony Orchestra Limited 2,000 0 0 Payments to Music Societies and, Clubs affiliated to the National Fed- eration of Music Societies in respect of guarantees (including Federatio n Administration) 18,258 9 9 Jacques Orchestra Limited 500 0 0 Boyd Neel Concert Society Limited 2,000 0 0 Rural Music Schools Association 2,000 0 0 Institute of Contemporary Arts (Music Section) 900 0 0 Society for the Promotion of New Music 800 0 0 Brighton Philharmonic Society Limited 1,300 0 0 The Royal Philharmonic Society Limited 1,000 0 0 Central Music Library Limited 500 0 0 Direct Grants and Guarantees to Musical Organisations for specia l Concert Activities 6,034 2 7 94,125 19 0

DRAMA Royal Victoria Hall Foundation 10,000 0 0 Old Vic Trust Limited-Waterloo Road 10,000 0 0 Old Vic Trust Limited-Bristol 2,000 0 0 Derby Little Theatre Club Limited 250 0 0 The Birmingham Repertory Theatre Limited 5,000 0 0 English Stage Company Limited 7,000 0 0 Chesterfield Civic Theatre Limited 1,500 0 0 Ipswich Arts Theatre Trust 300 0 0 Meadow Players Limited (Oxford Playhouse Company) 1,500 0 0 Nottingham Theatre Trust Limited 4,500 0 0 Carried forward £42,050 0 0 £567,325 19 0 83 F•

SCHEDULE 3-continued Brought forward £42,050 0 0 £567,325 19 0 DRAMA (continued) Margate Theatre Trust Limited 500 0 0 Salisbury Arts Theatre Limited 1,200 0 0 Mermaid Theatre Trust 100 0 0 The British Centre of the International Theatre Institute 250 0 0 The West of England Theatre Company Limited 2,000 0 0 Mobile Theatre Limited (Caryl Jenner Company) 4,000 0 0 Leatherhead Repertory Company Limited 500 0 0 Colchester Repertory Company Limited 1,000 0 0 The Cambridge Arts Theatre Trust 750 0 0 Guildford Theatre Club Limited 500 0 0 Council of Repertory Theatres 350 0 0 Advance Players Association Limited (Donald Wolfit Company) 500 0 0 Lincoln Theatre Association Limited 549 2 6 Northampton Repertory Players Limited 581 10 0 Pioneer Theatres Limited (Theatre Workshop Company) 500 0 0 The Century Theatre Limited 300 0 0 The Hornchurch Theatre Trust Limited 500 0 0 Canterbury Theatre Trust Limited 1,200 0 0 Studio Theatre Limited (Theatre in the Round) 250 0 0 Promotion of New Drama-Commissioning Fees and Awards 2,562 13 2 Theatre Grid Scheme 2,151 5 10 Travel Grants for Producers 296 13 2 62,591 4 8

ART Royal College of Art-Coventry Cathedral Glass Commission 1,000 0 0 Institute of Contemporary Arts 1,700 0 0 Red House Museum and Art Gallery-Christchurch 60 0 0 Petersfield Arts and Crafts Society 25 0 0 Bournemouth Arts Club 100 0 0 Bromley Art Society 20 0 0 Cirencester Arts Club 60 0 0 The Penwith Society of Arts in Cornwall 200 0 0 Midland Group of Artists 449 0 0 Society for Education through Art 15 15 8 University Architecture Exhibition 500 0 0 Colchester Art Society 50 0 0 The Newlyn Society of Artists 150 0 0 The Finsbury Art Group 40 0 0 Trustees of the Whitechapel Art Gallery 225 0 0 The Red Rose Guild of Craftsmen 25 0 0 Young Contemporaries 1955 15 0 0 Young Contemporaries 1955--(Prize) 50 0 0 The London Group 377 10 0 Architectural Design Exhibition (Whitechapel Art Gallery) 150 0 0 Catalogue of the Seligman Collection 901 13 0 6,113 18 Carried forward £636,031 2 84

SCHEDULE 3-continued Brought forward £636,031 2 4 POETRY The Apollo Society £300 0 0 The English Festival of Spoken Poetry 300 0 0 The Poetry Book Society Limited 250 0 0 The Trustees and Guardians of Shakespeare's Birthplace (Hall's Crof t Festival of Poetry) 174 3 9 Leicester Poetry Society 15 0 0 Cley Women's Institute (Little Festival of Poetry, Cley-next-the-Sea) 4 2 5 Poetry Magazines : "Outposts" 34 0 0 "Listen" 40 0 0 Help for Spoken Poetry (Poetry Readings, etc.) 741 9 0 1,858 15 2

FESTIVAL S Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts 750 0 0 Cheltenham Arts Festivals Limited : Cheltenham Festival of British Contemporary Music 1,250 0 0 Cheltenham Festival of Contemporary Literature 250 0 0 The Dolmetsch Foundation (Haslemere Festival) 150 0 0 The St. George's Guildhall Limited (King's Lynn Festival) 244 2 0 The Taw and Torridge Festival Society Limited (Devon's Festival o f the Arts) 250 0 0 Three Choirs Festival Association Limited (Three Choirs Festival , Gloucester) 750 0 0 3,644 2 0

ARTS CENTRES AND ARTS CLUB S St. George's Guildhall Limited, King's Lynn 489 19 2 The Basingstoke Theatre Association Limited 100 0 0 Arts Clubs 985 0 0 South-Western Arts Association : Arts Centres and Clubs 2,250 0 0 Administration 1,250 0 0 Purchase of Car 93 16 2 5,168 15 4

GENERAL ART ACTIVITIES Miscellaneou s The British Institute of Recorded Sound 1,700 0 0 Langley Moore Museum of Costume 350 0 0 2,050 0 0 £648,752 14 1 0 NoTE : Maximum commitments are given, not necessarily the amounts paid . 85

THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAI N SCHEDULE 4 LOANS TO ASSOCIATED AND OTHER ORGANISATION S Loans secured by mortgage £3,750 0 0 Less repaid during year 125 0 0 £3,625 0 0

Loans unsecured and only conditionally recoverable 12,601 13 4 Add new loans made during year 490 0 0

Less repayments during year of loans previously reserved 488 6 8 Less loan converted into grant 300 0 0 788 6 8 This sum is fully covered by reserve as shown in the Balance Sheet £12,303 6 8 SCHEDULE 5-SPECIAL FUND S PILGRIM TRUST SPECIAL FUND As at 31st March, 1956 0,045 12 0 Add Interest Account 66 10 0

Less Payments during year 714 8 0 £2,397 14 0 H. A. THEW FUND Capital Account 9,094 10 9 Income Account Balance at 31st March, 195 6 £1,48810 2 Add Income during year 304 12 1 0 1,793 3 0 Less Payments during yea r 456 6 0 1,336 17 0 10,431 7 9 MRS. THORNTON FUND Capital Accoun t 5,408 9 1 Income Account Balance at 31st March, 195 6 316 6 3 Add Income during yea r 173 15 6 Add Conversion Premium 1 10 0 491 11 9 5,900 0 1 0 ARTS COUNCIL : THEATRE ROYAL BRISTOL RESERVE FUND As at 31st March, 1956 4,982 9 6 Add Income during year 1,770 2 2 6,752 11 8 Less Payments and commitments during year 923 19 11 5,828 11 9 Total Special Funds as per Balance Sheet £24,557 14 4

86

THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAI N

SCHEDULE 6-SPECIAL FUND INVESTMENT S

Market Value Nominal Book at 31st Value Value March, 1957 PILGRIM TRUST SPECIAL FUN D 31 per cent. Defence Bonds (Conversion Issue) £1,900 0 0 £1,895 13 0 £1,900 0 0

H. A. THEW FUN D 3 per cent. British Transport Stock, 1978/8 8 6,876 16 11 6,326 13 11 4,848 7 5 31 per cent. Conversion Stock 2,809 19 10 2,767 16 10 2,037 4 11

MRS. THORNTON FUN D 21 per cent. Consolidated Stoc k 665 1 9 488 16 10 355 16 5 3 per cent. Funding Stock, 1959/69 2,097 2 1 2,099 15 0 1,709 2 10 3 per cent. Funding Stock, 1959/69 (P .O. Issue) 250 0 0 249 7 6 203 15 0 4 per cent. Conversion Stock, 1957/58 (P .O. Issue) 200 0 0 203 7 6 200 6 10 3 per cent. Defence Bonds (Conversion Issue) 30 0 0 30 0 9 30 0 0 31 per cent. City of Birmingham Stock 100 0 0 102 0 0 91 0 0 3 per cent. British Transport Stock, 1978/8 8 355 5 10 337 10 6 250 5 8 31 per cent. Defence Bonds (Conversion Issue) 740 0 0 739 5 6 740 0 0 31 per cent. Defence Bonds 1,000 0 0 1,000 0 0 1,000 0 0 41 per cent. Conversion Stock, 1962 100 0 0 102 16 3 99 11 1

Total Special Fund Investments as per Balance Sheet £17,124 6 5 £16,343 3 7 £13,465 10 2

87

THE COUNCIL' S APPENDIX B

REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUN T

1955/56 £65,334 GENERAL EXPENDITURE ON THE ARTS (See Schedule 1) £62,382 13 6 9,662 GENERAL OPERATING COSTS (See Schedule 2) 12,636 10 3 TRANSFER TO CAPITAL ACCOUNT REPRESENTING CAPITA L 494 EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 962 4 1 1 ALTERATIONS TO PROPERT Y 2,000 11 Rothesay Terrace, Edinburgh 300 0 0 11,000 RESERVE FOR LOAN - 4,4401 BALANCE carried down 4,754 13 8 deduct]

£84,050 £81,036 2 4

7,428 BALANCE carried forward 12,182 9 4

£/,418 £12,182 9 4

8 8

COMMITTEE IN SCOTLAN D

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 195 7

1955/56 £76,270 GRANT FROM THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN £78,050 0 0 TRANSFER FROM HEADQUARTERS OF LOAN OUTSTANDIN G 6,000 TO THE CITIZENS' THEATRE, GLASGOW - 400 REPAYMENT OF LOAN 400 0 0 CANCELLATION OF GRANTS AND GUARANTEES in previous yea r 1,104 not required 2,296 19 8 SUNDRY RECEIPTS Interest on Deposit Account £289 2 8 Rent of Basement - 276 289 2 8

k;254,V :)U z61,V.30 L +

11,868 BALANCE as at 1st April, 1956 7,427 15 8

f 4,4401 BALANCE brought down 4,754 13 8 deduct ]

0,428 £12,182 9 4

8 9

BALANCE SHEET A S

LIABILITIES 1955/56 CAPITAL ACCOUNT Balance as at 31st March, 1956 £17,871 3 1 0 Add Capital Expenditure during year transferred fro m Revenue and Expenditure Account 962 4 1 1 Add Value of Capital Assets transferred from Headquarter s 550 0 0 £17,871 £19,383 8 9 6,094 GRANTS AND GUARANTEES OUTSTANDING 5,932 0 0 6,014 SUNDRY CREDITORS 4,117 6 1 REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUN T 7,428 BALANCE as at 31st March, 1957 12,182 9 4

tJ /,4U / £41,615 4 2

I have examined the foregoing Account and Balance Sheet . I have obtained all the informatio n this Account and Balance Sheet are properly drawn up so as to exhibit a true and fair view of th e

90

AT 31st MARCH, 1957

ASSETS 1955/56 PROPERTY £8,307 11 Rothesay Terrace, Edinburgh £81307 4 2 OFFICE EQUIPMENT At valuation as at 31st March, 1955, and additions at cost t o 31st March, 1956 £2,306 5 1 1 Additions during year at cost 359 9 1 1 2,306 2,665 15 10 MOTOR CAR S At cost as at 31st March, 1956 1,362 8 3 Transferred from Headquarters at cost 550 0 0 1,363 1,912 8 3 PIANO ACCOUNT 200 At valuation as at 31st March, 1955 200 0 0 THEATRE AND CONCERT HALL EQUIPMENT 103 At cost as at 31st March, 1956 103 2 6 PICTURES, SCULPTURES, ETC. At cost as at 31st March, 1956 4,920 13 0 Additions during year at cost 602 15 0 5,592 5,523 8 0 REPRODUCTION S At cost as at 31st March, 1956 671 10 0 LOANS Unsecured and only conditionally recoverable 12,600 0 0 Less Repayment during year 400 0 0 12,200 0 0 - Less Reserve 12,200 0 0 - 1,902 SUNDRY DEBTORS 1,645 0 1 1 CASH On Deposit Account 15,000 0 0 On Current Account 5,521 14 6 In Hand 65 0 0 17,634 20,586 14 6

£37,407 £41,615 4 2

Chairman of the Scottish Committee : G. T. MCGLASHAN. Secretary-General.- W. E. WILLIAMS. and explanations that I have required, and I certify as the result of my audit that in my opinion transactions of the Arts Council's Committee in Scotland and of the state of their affairs . (Signed) F. N. TRIBE , Comptroller and Auditor-General. Exchequer and Audit Department, 31st July, 1957.

9 1

THE COUNCIL'S COMMITTEE IN SCOTLAND SCHEDULE I GENERAL EXPENDITURE ON THE ARTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 195 7 MUSIC Grants and Guarantees : Scottish National Orchestra £19,000 0 0 Music Societies 3,521 2 11 £22,521 2 1 1 Directly Provided Concert s 9,054 16 0 Less Receipt s 2,893 15 0 6,161 1 0 £28,682 3 1 1 DRAMA Grants and Guarantee s 16,975 14 5 Tours 5,802 1 8 Less Receipts 3,112 3 8 2,689 18 0 19,665 12 5 BALLET Tours 3,425 4 4 Less Receipts 1,863 6 2 1,561 18 2 ART Grants 270 7 6 Exhibition Expenses 4,716 17 5 Less Fees and Catalogue Sales 1,353 19 7 3,362 17 10 3,633 5 4 FESTIVAL S Edinburgh Festival Society 7,500 0 0

ARTS CENTRES AND CLUBS Grants 1,339 13 8 Net Expenditure transferred to Revenue and Expenditure Account £62,382 13 6

SCHEDULE 2 GENERAL OPERATING COSTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1957 Salaries and Wages £7,979 10 1 1 Travelling and Subsistence 1,692 14 1 0 Rates, Insurance, Heating, Lighting and Maintenance Expenses 1,226 3 2 Publicity and Entertainment 769 14 7 Telephone, Postage, Stationery and General Expenses 968 6 9 Transferred to Revenue and Expenditure Account £12,636 10 3

92

THE COUNCIL'S COMMITTEE IN SCOTLAND SCHEDULE 3 GRANTS AND GUARANTEES FOR 1956/57 MUSIC Scottish National Orchestra £19,000 0 0 National Federation of Music Societies 2,060 0 0 Glasgow Grand Opera Society 500 0 0 Dunedin Society 280 0 0 Edinburgh Lunch Hour Concerts 200 0 0 College of Piping 150 0 0 Banff Choral Society 100 0 0 Direct Grants and Guarantees to Music Clubs for concerts (£50 and i under) 231 2 11 £22,521 2 1 1

DRAMA Perth Repertory Theatre (Two Companies) 6,000 0 0 Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow £3,000 0 0 Special, Supplementary Grant 726 15 2 3,726 15 2 Dundee Repertory Theatre 3,350 0 0 Special Supplementary Grant 300 0 0 3,650 0 0 Edinburgh Gateway Theatre 2,500 0 0 Pitlochry Festival Theatre 500 0 0 Rutherglen Repertory Theatre 500 0 0 Theatre Award 88 19 3 Franco-Scottish Society 10 0 0 16,975 14 5

ART Society of Scottish Artists 150 0 0 Moray Art Club 50 0 0 Direct Grants of £25 and under 70 7 6 270 7 6

FESTIVALS Edinburgh Festival Society 7,500 0 0

ARTS CENTRES AND CLUBS Selkirk Association of Clubs and Societies 700 0 0 Galashiels Arts Club 225 0 0 Greenock Arts Guild 150 0 0 Troon Arts Guild 150 0 0 Inverness Arts Centre 111 10 8 Direct Grants of £10 and under 3 3 0 1,339 13 8 £48,606 18 6

NoTE : Maximum commitments are given, not necessarily the amounts paid. 93 G

THE COUNCIL' S APPENDIX C

REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUN T

1955/5 6 £21,690 GENERAL EXPENDITURE ON THE ARTS (See Schedule 1) £26,321 0 1 1 8,108 GENERAL OPERATING COSTS (See Schedule 2) 8,781 3 6 165 RESERVE FOR LOAN - TRANSFER TO CAPITAL ACCOUNT REPRESENTING CAPITA L 1,253 EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 967 0 0

£31,216 £36,069 4 5

3,157 BALANCE brought down 495 9 1 1 Cdeduct] 9,474 BALANCE carried forward 8,979 7 1

£6,317 £9,474 17 0

94

COMMITTEE IN WALE S

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 195 7

1955/56 £33,650 GRANT FROM THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN £35,250 0 0 165 TRANSFER FROM HEADQUARTERS OF LOAN - CANCELLATION OF GUARANTEES AND PROVISIONS FOR FEE S 267 AND EXPENSES IN PREVIOUS YEAR NOT REQUIRED 12 7 0 SUNDRY RECEIPTS Interest on Deposit Account £311 7 6 Profit from Sale of Assets - 291 311 7 6 3,157 BALANCE carried down 495 9 11 ~deduct]

£31,216 £36,069 4 5

6,317 BALANCE as at 1st April, 1956 9,474 17 0

£6,317 £9,47417 0

95

THE COUNCIL' S BALANCE SHEET A S LIABILITIES 1955/56 CAPITAL ACCOUNT Balance as at 31st March, 1956 £4,649 6 1 Add Capital Expenditure during year transferred fro m Revenue and Expenditure Account 967 0 0 £4,649 £5,616 6 1 295 GRANTS AND GUARANTEES OUTSTANDIN G 227 8 1 1 1,097 SUNDRY CREDITORS 911 10 1 1 REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUN T 9,474 Balance as at 31st March, 1957 8,979 7 1

£15,515

I have examined the foregoing Account and Balance Sheet . I have obtained all the that in my opinion this Account and Balance Sheet are properly drawn up so as to exhibit the state of their affairs.

96

COMMITTEE IN WALE S AT 31st MARCH, 1957 ASSETS 1955/56 OFFICE EQUIPMENT £551 At cost as at 31st March, 1956 £550 10 2 MOTOR CARS 2,205 At cost as at 31st March, 1956 2,205 8 3 PICTURES AND SCULPTURE S At cost as at 31st March, 1956 £1,727 17 0 Additions less items sold at cost during year 967 0 0 1,893 2,694 17 0 REPRODUCTIONS At cost as at 31st March, 1956 165 10 8

LOANS TO ASSOCIATED AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS 165 0 0

Less Reserve 165 0 0

148 SUNDRY DEBTORS 744 9 11

CASH On Deposit Account 8,466 3 9 On Current Account 898 0 11 . In Hand 9 12 4 10,718 9,373 17 0 £15,515 £15,734 13 0

Chairman of the Welsh Committee: GWYN JONES . Secretary-General: W. E. WILLIAMS.

information and explanations that I have required, and I certify as the result of my audi t a true and fair view of the transactions of the Arts Council's Committee in Wales and o f (Signed) F. N. TRIBE , Comptroller and Auditor-General. Exchequer and Audit Department , 31st July, 1957. 97

THE COUNCIL'S COMMITTEE IN WALE S SCHEDULE 1 GENERAL EXPENDITURE ON THE ARTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 195 7

MUSIC Grants and Guarantees : (See Schedule 3 ) Opera £12,115 0 0 Festivals 2,249 17 1 1 Music and Arts Clubs 1,747 2 0 Societie s 600 0 0 Commissions 365 10 0 17,077 9 1 1 Directly Provided Concerts £1,798 19 4 Less Receipts 984 3 6 814 15 10 £17,892 5 9 DRAMA Grants and Guarantees (See Schedule 3 ) 789 17 8 English Tours 7,620 15 4 Less Receipt s 4,031 5 6 3,589 9 10 Welsh Tours 2,015 18 4 Less Receipts 358 11 5 1,657 6 11

Awards 425 0 0 6,461 14 5 ART Grants and Guarantees (See Schedule 3 ) 534 2 9 Exhibition Expenses 2,194 12 9 Less Exhibition Fees and Catalogue Sales 780 3 0 1,414 9 9 Art Films l7J J J Less Art Film Fees and Catalogue Sales 190 1 0 3 2 3 Guide Lecturers' Fees and Expenses 21 6 0 Less Fees 6 0 0 15 6 0 1,967 0 9 Net Expenditure transferred to Revenue and Expenditure Account £26,321 0 1 1

98

THE COUNCIL'S COMMITTEE IN WALES SCHEDULE 2 GENERAL OPERATING COSTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 195 7

Salaries and Superannuation £5,804 19 5 Travelling and Subsistence 1,486 5 4 Rent, Rates, Insurance, Heating and Lighting 504 13 9 Publicity and Entertainment 121 14 6 Telephone, Postages, Stationery and Office Maintenance 863 10 6 Transferred to Revenue and Expenditure Account £8,781 3 6

SCHEDULE 3 GRANTS AND GUARANTEES FOR 1956/5 7

MUSIC Welsh National Opera Company Limited £12,115 0 0 Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts £865 0 4 Montgomery County Music Festival 284 17 7 Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales, Aberdare 900 0 0 Thomas Tomkins Tercentenary Festival, St. Davids 200 0 0 2,249 17 1 1 National Federation of Music Societies 600 0 0 Direct Grants and Guarantees to Music and Arts Clubs for Concerts 1,747 2 0 Promotion of New Music-Commission Fees 365 10 0 17,077 9 1 1 DRAMA Drama Council for Wales 100 0 0 Swansea Welsh Drama Society 100 0 0 Garthewin Welsh Drama Festival 89 17 8 Anglesey Welsh Drama Festival 400 0 0 Llangefni Dramatic Society 100 0 0 789 17 8

ART Society for Education through Art £250 0 0 Less Refund 1955 Exhibition 85 17 3 164 2 9 Contemporary Art Society for Wales 250 0 0 North Wales Group 50 0 0 Powys Fine Arts Association 60 0 0 Anglesey County Art Committee 10 0 0 534 2 9 £18,401 10 4

NOTE : Maximum commitments are given, not necessarily the amounts paid . 99 APPENDIX D ARTS COUNCIL EXHIBITIONS HELD IN GREAT BRITAI N DURING THE PERIOD APRIL 1956-MARCH 1957 ENGLAND Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture w Arts Council Collection, Part I w Drawings by Jean Francois Millet W Arts Council Collection, Part II s New Trends in Paintin g W Arts Council Collection, Drawings Samuel Palmer and his Circl e W Arts Council Collection, Recent Pur- Christian Rohlfs chases A Selection of Paintings and Drawing s Art in British Advertisin g from the Rutherston Collectio n Autour du Cubisme Some Contemporary British Sculptors Robert Bevan (1865-1925 ) Six Young Painters G. Braque Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Children Painted by Dutch Artists, 1550 - Theatre Design in Paris 1820 s Some Twentieth Century English Water- Designs for Opera and Ballet at Coven t colours (second selection ) Garden s Some Twentieth Century Spanish Paint- Drawings from the De Pass Collection ings Gaudier-Brzesk a Keith Vaughan Spencer Frederick Gore, 1878-191 4 w Twenty-six Watercolours from the Arts w Indian Painting from Rajasthan (Collec- Council Collectio n tion of Sri G. K. Kanoria, Calcutta) s Wyndham Lewis and Vorticism Modem Italian Art from the Estoric k sw Modem Yugoslav Painting Collection w Paintings from the Mus6e National D'Art , John Marin Modeme, Paris

Graphic Arts, Books, Design, etc. British Book Design, 195 6 Contemporary Norwegian Prints Contemporary Embroidery s Contemporary Stained Glass w Contemporary British Lithographs w Etchings from the Arts Council Collec- (second series) tion Contemporary Foreign Lithographs Picasso : Fifty Years of Graphic Art W Contemporary Prints from the Arts Splendid Occasions (small version) Council Collection Victorian Music Covers

Reproductions and Photograph s Cezanne Picasso Himself Two Thousand Years of Chinese Paint- Reproductions of Portrait s ing, UNESCO Prints Photographs of the Royal Tombs at West - Christian Art, Part I minster Abbey The Art of Drawing, Part I s The Art of the Sculptor The Art of Drawing, Part I1 sw A Dutch Master of Coloured Etchings ; The Art of Drawing, Part III Hercules Seghers (1589/90-c . 1640) The Art of Landscape s Ten Years of British Architecture, '45255 w Matisse Toulouse-Lautrec w Fifty Years of Picasso w Vincent van Gogh 58 exhibitions were held in 151 different buildings in 126 centres. (280 showings, including the Tate Gallery and the Diploma Gallery of the Royal Academy of Arts.) 100 SCOTLAN D Paintings from the Galleries of Scotlan d Pictures from Private Collections in th e Portrait Drawings by David Foggie Counties of Moray, Nairn and Banff McKnight Kauffer Exhibitio n Four Glasgow Painters Modem Danish Paintings and Sculpture J. D. Fergusson Contemporary Scottish Embroidery Nicolas de Stael Pictures from Private Collections in Th e Grandma Moses Border Counties Design in Advertising Scottish Groups and Conversation Pieces Picasso Aquatints (Illustrations to Buffon' s Raeburn Bi-Centenary Exhibitio n Book on Natural History) Paintings from the Collection of J . W. James Cowie Memorial Exhibition Blyth, Esq. Contemporary Scottish Painting Ganymed Reproductions 29 exhibitions (including 10 exhibitions from England) were given 58 showings in 35 centres .

WALES Paintings from the Arts Council, Welsh Folk Art of the Netherlands (100 Works Collection from the Wiegersma Collection) Contemporary Welsh Painting and Sculp- Recent Purchases by the Contemporary ture, 195 6 Art Society for Wales Contemporary Welsh Painting and Sculp- ture, 195 7 21 exhibitions (including 16 exhibitions from England) were given 29 showings in 18 centres .

NoTE: s Also exhibited in Scotlan d w Also exhibited in Wales

101

APPENDIX E

SUBSIDIES FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHO- RITIES TO ORGANISATIONS IN RECEIPT OF GRANTS OR GUARANTEE S FROM THE ARTS COUNCI L In Schedules 3 of Appendices A, B and C, are listed the Council's grants and guarantees for 1956/57 under such heads as Music, Drama, Art, Festivals, and Arts Centres and Arts Clubs . As under the Local Govern- ment Act of 1948 local authorities can contribute towards the provision of entertainment, or the main- tenance of an orchestra, or purposes incidental to the giving of entertainment, it is clear that most of the organisations subsidised by the Arts Council are eligible for help from the various local authorities whose areas they serve. In addition, local education authorities are empowered to help any of these organisation s in so far as they promote cultural training and recreative activities . It accordingly seemed useful to compile a list of some of the subsidies from local authorities and loca l education authorities during 1956/57 to organisations that had been grant-aided by the Arts Council i n that year. It should be added that some of these organisations, particularly the orchestras, receive pay- ments (not here listed) from their local education authorities for performances for school children . Subsidies to the numerous societies and clubs affiliated to the National Federation of Music Societie s have not been included. ENGLAN D MUSIC Opera and Ballet Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Ltd . Nil Sadler's Wells Trust Ltd. Nil The Royal Ballet School Nil Intimate Opera Society Ltd. Nil English Opera Group Nil Carl Rosa Trust Ltd . Nil Mercury Theatre Trust Ltd . (Ballet Rambert) Nil Other Activities London Philharmonic Orchestra £4,500 from the L .C.C. and a rent rebate on the us e of the Royal Festival Hall £1,305 from Metropolitan Borough s £3,375 from Local Authorities outside London Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society (i) Liverpool Corporation : (a) Annuity in perpetuity in payment for Hall f4,000 (b) Grant for net deficit £13,88 5 (c) Free use of hall and offices, estimated £10,00 0 (ii) Joint Local Authorities' Scheme' £9,233 .5.0 (iii) Other Local Authorities £2,000 Total Local Authority Grants £39,118.5.0 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra £25,000 Other Local Authorities £2,091 Halle Concerts Society Joint Local Authorities' Scheme* £9,233 .5.0 Other Local Authorities £1,850 London Symphony Orchestra Rent Rebate from the L .C.C. 'N.B.-The total contributions of local authorities participating in the above scheme in the year ended 31st March, 1957, was £18,466.10.0. For details see next page. 102

Jacques Orchestra Nil Boyd Neel Concert Society Nil Rural Music Schools Association Nil Institute of Contemporary Arts (music section) Nil Society for the Promotion of New Music Use of Royal Festival Hall at nominal rent fo r orchestral rehearsals Western Orchestral Society Ltd . (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra) £12,500 from the Bournemouth Corporatio n Other Local Authorities £78 8 Brighton Philharmonic Society Ltd . £500 from the Brighton Corporatio n Royal Philharmonic Society Ltd . Rent rebate from the L .C.C.

Lancashire and Cheshire Local Authorities' Scheme of Financial Assistance to Symphony Orchestras County Boroughs : Bowdon £20 Blackburn £379 Clayton-le-Moors £10 Bolton £949 Fulwood £44 Chester £195 Haydock £54 Liverpool £6,726 Huyton-with-Roby £317 Manchester £5,991 Kirkham £24 Preston £407 Leyland £49 St. Helens f.400 Neston £25 Warrington £367 Orrell £10.10.0 Royton £26.5.0 Boroughs : Standish-with-Langtree £31 Accrington £138 Thornton-Cleveleys £53 Bebington £272 Tottington £9 Chorley £111 Turton £5 Clitheroe £41 Urmston £100 Crosby £332 Whitworth £34 Ellesmere Port £100 Wirral £50 Heywood £143 Lancaster £176 Rural Districts : Leigh £277 Blackburn £10.10.0 Prestwich £100 Chester £86 Disley £16 Urban Districts : Lancaster £25 Adlington £5.5.0 Preston £136 Atherton £117 Warrington £105 Total Income, 1956-57 £18,466 .10.0

DRAMA Birmingham Repertory Theatre Ltd . £3,000 from the Birmingham Corporation Bristol Old Vic Company £250 from the Bristol Corporation Cambridge Arts Theatre Nil Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury Guarantee of operating loss from the Canterbury Corporation up to £4,000 plus loan charges Century Theatre £2,120 guarantees, not all of which have been calle d up, from the Corporations of Accrington, Bolton , Burnley, Bury, Nelson, Preston, Rawtenstall, Roch- dale, Stafford, Stalybridge, Stockport, Stoke-on- Trent, Warrington, Widnes, and the U .D.C.s of Ley- land and Stone, and the R .D.C. of Stone. 103 Chesterfield, Civic Theatre £2,400 p.a. for five years from the Chesterfield Cor- poration, plus a special grant of £3,50 0 Colchester Repertory Theatre £400 from the Colchester Corporation Derby Playhouse £450 from the Derby Corporation and £100 fro m the Shardlow R.D.C. Royal Court Theatre (English Stage Co .) Nil Guildford Theatre Club Ltd. £500 grant plus a guarantee of £500 from the Guild - ford Corporation Queen's Players, Homchurch Nil Ipswich Repertory Theatre Nil Leatherhead Repertory Co. Ltd. £250 from the Leatherhead U.D.C. Lincoln Theatre Association Ltd. £1,900 loan at 5 % (first mortgage) from the Lincol n Corporation Margate Theatre Royal £750 from the Margate Corporation The Meadow Players, Oxford Nil Mobile Theatre £60 from Boston Corporation (N.B. The subsidies from Local Authori- £60 from Louth Corporatio n ties here listed do not include any directed £60 from Scunthorpe Corporation to the English Children's Theatre, which £20 from Stamford Corporatio n section of the Mobile Theatre is not £120 from Worksop Corporation assisted by the Arts Council.) £30 from Barton-on-Humber U .D.C. £60 from Bourne U .D.C. £60 from Brigg U.D.C. £60 from Crook & Willingdon U.D.C. £60 from Sleaford U.D.C. £60 from Spalding U .D.C. £20 from Warminster & Westbury U .D.C. £40 from Woodhall Spa U .D.C. £60 from Camelford R.D.C. £60 from E. Elloe R.D.C. £20 from Haltwhistle R.D.C. £60 from Weardale R.D.C. £60 from Stainforth Parish Council £150 grant from Thorne Parish Counci l (A total of £1,120, all in guarantees, with th e exception of the grant from Thorne Parish Council . Not all these guarantees have been called up in full) Northampton Repertory Players Ltd . Nil Nottingham Theatre Trust Ltd . £5,000 mortgage from the Nottingham Corporatio n The Nottingham City and County Education Com- mittees take 20 special matinees a year at a rate o f £80 per performance Theatre Workshop, Pioneer Theatre s A total of £700 from the Metropolitan Boroughs o f Bethnal Green, Hackney, Poplar and Shoreditch , and from the Corporations of West Ham, Leyton, Barking and Walthamstow Salisbury Arts Theatre £200 guarantee from the Salisbury Corporation Theatre in the Round (Studio) The Scarborough Corporation makes a substantia l reduction in rent, etc. West of England Theatre Company Nil ART Institute of Contemporary Art s Nil Red House Museum and Art Gallery, Christ- Hampshire County Council gives grant towards pro - church vision of educational services (£400 in 1955/56 ) Petersfield Arts & Crafts Society Nil Bournemouth Arts Club Local Education Authority allows use of College of Art rent free for one exhibition a year 104

Bromley Art Society Local Education Authority allows use of College o f Art rent free for meetings Cirencester Arts Club The Cirencester U .D.C. allows free use of Corn Hall for exhibitions Penwith Society of Arts in Cornwal l Nil Midland Group of Artists, Nottingham The Corporation subscribes to their Picture Hire scheme and buys pictures from their gallery and fro m exhibitions specially organised at their request Society for Education through Art Purchases of pictures by Local Education Authoritie s are made at their annual exhibition of Pictures fo r Schools Colchester Art Society Free use of Castle Museum given for exhibitions The Newlyn Society of Artists Nil Finsbury Art Group The Finsbury Metropolitan Borough pays certai n accounts and gives free accommodation to a total value estimated at £134 Trustees of the Whitechapel Art Gallery The L.C.C. gives £1,250 grant ; and grants are forth - coming from the following Metropolitan Boroughs : Stepney £1,000 ; Shoreditch £500 ; Bethnal Green £250; Hackney £50 0 The Red Rose Guild of Craftsmen Nil Young Contemporaries, 195 5 Nil The London Group Nil

FESTIVALS Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Art s £25 from the Aldeburgh Corporatio n Cheltenham Arts Festivals Limited : Cheltenham Festival of British Contemporary Music £750 from the Cheltenham Corporatio n Cheltenham Festival of Contemporary Literature £100 from the Cheltenham Corporatio n The Dolmetsch Foundation (Haslemere Festival) £50 from the Haslemere U.D.C. The St. George's Guildhall Limited (King's Lyn n Festival) £200 from the King's Lynn Corporatio n The Taw and Torridge Festival Society Limite d The Barnstaple Corporation provides the services of (Devon's Festival of the Arts) the Festival Manager and offices at a nominal charg e Three Choirs Festival Association Limited (Three Choirs Festival, Gloucester) £250 from the Gloucester Corporatio n *Amersham Music Festiva l £37 from Bucks County Council *Nantwich Festival £100 from Nantwich U .D.C. *Warwick Festival £90 guaranteed jointly by the Warwick Corporatio n and the Warwickshire Education Committee ARTS CENTRES Basingstoke Theatre Association Ltd . £300 guarantee from the Basingstoke Corporation King's Lynn, The Guildhall of St . George £100 from the Local Education Authority for Lunch - Time Concerts tSt. Austell Society of Arts Guarantee of £125 against loss on concerts-from th e St. Austell U.D.C. tBridgwater Arts Centre £50 grant from the Bridgwater Corporation and £25 t grant from the Bridgwater R .D.C. ' tRoyal Cornwall Polytechnic Arts Committee , Falmouth Nil * Arts Council subsidies to these Festivals are included in "Direct Grants and Guarantees to Musica l Organisations for special Concert Activities" in the Music section of Appendix A Schedule 3 . tMembers of the South-Western Arts Association 105 'Plymouth Arts Centre £50 grant from Local Education Committee 'Shaftesbury and District Arts Club Nil Swindon Arts Centre Arts Centre started and wholly financed by the Swin- don Corporation. In addition to the capital expendi- ture involved in acquiring, adapting and decoratin g the Arts Centre premises, the Corporation has spen t approx. £3,000 during the past financial year o n maintaining the Centre (salaries, rents, rates, in- surance, lighting, heating, furnishing, etc .) Weymouth and South Dorset Arts Centre The Centre rents its premises from the Corporatio n at a nominal rental ARTS CLUB S Alfreton and District Arts Associatio n £25 received from the Alfreton U.D.C. Billingham Association of the Arts £50 from Billingham U .D.C. Cowes and District Arts Association Nil Crewe and District Music and Arts Society £18.4.7 from the Crewe Corporation for a perform- ance of "Opera for All" . Deficit on art exhibition shared equally by Cheshire County Council Educa- tion Dept., the Library Committee, the Crewe Town Council, and the Music and Arts Society amountin g to £3.13.2. each The Cromer Society Nil Eston and Ormesby Guild of Arts Nil Frodsham Music and Arts Club Nil Hartlepools Arts Associatio n £20.1 .0. from the West Hartlepool Corporation for a performance of the Arts Council play tour of "Th e Empty Chair" ; £26.3.6. for a lecture-recital by Gerald Moore; and £30.9.4. for a performance by the Arts Council Opera Group. £3.9.6. from the West Hartlepool Education Committee for the showing o f art films . (N.B.-All these were payments made under guarantees). Haverhill and District Society for Music and the Arts Nil Huntingdonshire Music and Arts Society Local Education Authority contributed towards three children's concerts. £90.6.0. Kettering and District Three Arts Club 10 guineas from the Kettering Corporation Lancaster Music and Arts Club Nil Leek and District Arts Clu b Nil Lincoln Society of Arts Nil Marple People's Arts Group Nil Maryport Music and Arts Society Nil Newbury and District Arts Society Nil Newmarket and District Arts League fA0 guarantee from the Newmarket U .D.C. and £40 guarantee from the Newmarket R.D.C. Newton-le-Willows Arts Associatio n Nil Northampton Arts Association Nil Ryde and District Arts Associatio n Nil Tamworth Arts Club £25 grant from the Tamworth Corporation Wednesbury Society of Arts £1,284 spent by the Wednesbury Corporation on up - keep of premises etc ., placed at the disposal of the Society of Arts West Wight Arts Association Nil Whitby Three Arts Club Nil Wolverhampton Civic Hall Arts Societ y Free use of Wulfrun Hall and certain facilitie s Worcester S .A.M.A. Nil Worsley Art and Music Societ y Nil 'Members of the South-Western Arts Association 106

*Blandford Arts Clu b Nil *Chippenham Society of Art s Guarantee of £65 against loss on the Society's acti- vities from the Chippenham Corporation *Isle of Purbeck Arts Club Nil *Kingsbridge Music Club . Nil *Liskeard Arts Counci l Nil *Newquay Society of Arts £25 grant from U .D.C. and reduced rent for use of Council building. *Newton Abbot and District Society of Arts £25 grant from the Newton Abbot U .D.C. and £15 grant from the Newton Abbot R .D.C. *Street Society of Arts Nil *Taunton Deane Arts Club Nil *Truro Three Arts Society Nil *Warminster Arts Club Nil *Weston-super-Mare Society of Arts Nil *Members of the South-Western Arts Association

SCOTLAN D MUSIC Scottish National Orchestra Society, Ltd . (For detailed list of grants totalling £38,051 .15.0 see below) Edinburgh Festival Society, Ltd . £15,000 from the Edinburgh Corporation Glasgow Grand Opera Society £100 from the Glasgow Corporation DRAMA Glasgow Citizens' Theatre £2,500 from the Glasgow Corporatio n Dundee Repertory Theatre £250 from the Dundee Corporatio n ARTS CENTR E Inverness Arts Centre Local Education Authority have given indirec t assistance amounting to £250. As tenants of the Arts Centre the Education Authority guarantee the economic rent of £300 to the owners of thl ; building, i.e., Inverness Town Council . As sub-tenants the Arts Centre Committee pay a restricted rent of £5 0 to the Education Authority. This arrangement has operated unchanged since 1951 . ARTS SOCIETY Grangemouth Arts Society £50 from Grangemouth Burgh

Scottish National Orchestra Society, Ltd. Aberdeen Corporation £3,060 Castle Douglas Burgh £5.5.0 Airdrie Burgh £10.10.0 Clackmannan County Council £10.10.0 Alloa Burgh £2.2.0 Clydebank Burgh £50 Angus County Council £10.10.0 Coatbridge Burgh £100 Arbroath Burgh £20 Cowdenbeath Burgh £2.2.0 Ardrossan Burgh £2.2.0 Cumnock Burgh £2.2.0 Ayr County Council £50 Dalkeith Burgh £5.5.0 Ayr Burgh £150 Denny and Dunipace Burgh £2.2.0 Barrhead Burgh £25 Doune Burgh £1.1 .0 Bathgate Burgh £5.5.0 Dumbarton Burgh £24.10.0 Bo'ness Burgh £2.2.0 Dumbarton County Council £100 Buckie Burgh £5.5.0 Dumfries Burgh £25 Burntisland Burgh £2.2.0 Dundee Corporation £3,060 Caithness County Council £5 Dunfermline Burgh £100 Carnoustie Burgh £3.3.0 Dunoon Burgh £10.10.0 107 Scottish National Orchestra Society, Ltd. (continued) East Lothian County Council £10 Lossiemouth Burgh £2.2.0 Edinburgh Corporation £8,750 Markinch Burgh £1 .1 .0 Elgin Burgh £5.5.0 Midlothian County Council £250 Falkirk Burgh £25 Miingavie Burg h £7.7.0 Fife County Council £50 Montrose Burg h £2.2.0 Fraserburgh Burgh £5 Motherwell Burgh £25 Galashiels Burgh £5 Musselburgh Burgh £5.5.0 Glasgow Corporation £20,130 Nairn Burgh £2.2.0 Grangemouth Burgh £20 Newton Stewart Burg h £5.5.0 Greenock Burgh £250 Paisley Burgh £100 Hamilton Burgh £5 Perth Burgh £100 Hawick Burgh £15 Perth and Kinross County Helensburgh Burgh £50 Council £20 Hutly Burgh £5.5.0 Prestwick Burgh £20 Inveraray Burgh £5 Renfrew Burgh £25 Irvine Burgh £7.10.0 Renfrew County Council £50 Johnstone Burgh £5.5.0 Rutherglen Burgh £10.10.0 Kilmarnock Burgh £10 Saltcoats Burgh £2.2.0 Kinross Burgh £2 Sanquhar Burgh £1.1.0 Kirkcaldy Burgh £50 St. Andrews Burgh £35 Kirkcudbright County Council £10.10.0 Stirling Burg h £25 Kirkintilloch Burgh £10.10.0 Stirling County Counci l £26.5.0 Kirkwall Burgh £2.2.0 Sutherland County Council £5 Lanark Burgh Council £5 Tillicoultry Burgh £2.2.0 Lanark County Council £1,000 Turriff Burgh £2.2.0 Leven Burgh £5 West Lothian County Council £25 Lochgelly Burgh £2.2.0 Wigtown County Council £10.10.0 WALE S MUSI C Welsh National Opera Co ., Ltd. Glamorgan County Council £3,000 (Welsh Church Fund) ' Cardiff Corporatio n £1,000 Swansea Corporation £1,000 Monmouthshire County Council £1,000 (Welsh Church Fund) Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts Swansea Corporation £1,230 Montgomery County Music Festival Montgomeryshire County Council £250 (Welsh Church Fund) Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales, Aberdare Glamorgan County Counci l £1,000 Aberdare Urban District Council £300 Neath Rural District Council £100 Breconshire County Council £100 Mountain Ash Urban District Council £50 DRAMA Llangefni Dramatic Society Anglesey County Council £145 (Welsh Church Fund) ART Contemporary Art Society for Wales Anglesey County Council £20 Breconshire County Council £25 Glamorgan County Council £100 Pembrokeshire County Council £1 5 •When the Llangefni Dramatic Society's target of £465 is reached, the County Authority will double the figure.

108

ART PANEL

Professor Sir William Coldstream, C .B .E . (Chairman) Edward Ardizzone, A.R.W.S . Professor Lawrence Gowing, Benedict Nicolson, M .V .O. Sir Anthony Blunt, K.C.V .O ., C.B .E. Roland Penrose F .B .A . Basil Gray, C .B .E . John Piper Professor A . Clutton-Brock Professor Sir J . Leslie Martin, Hugh Scrutto n The Lord Cottesloe, C.B ., D .L., J .P. Ph.D ., F .R .I .B.A . Mrs. Somerville Trenchard Cox, C .B .E., F.M.A. H . D . Molesworth Keith Vaughan Clifford Ellis W. T. Monnington, R .A . Dr. Mary Woodall, F .M.A . James Fitton, R.A . Henry Moore, C.H ., D.Lit ., A.R .I .B.A .

DRAMA PANEL

Berm W. Levy, M .B .E . (Chairman) Michael Barry, O.B .E. Professor Bonamy Dobr6e , Derek Salberg Wynyard Brown e O .B .E . Glen Byam Shaw, C .B .E . John Clements, C.B .E . Richard Findlater Stephen Thomas Professor Nevill Coghil l Alec Guinness, C .B .E. Peter Ustinov The Lord Cohen of Birkenhead , Sir Barry Jackson, LL .D ., D .Litt. John Whitin g M .D ., LL .D ., F .R .C .P. Miss Celia Johnso n Hugh Willatt George Devine, C.B .E. General Sir William Platt , Miss Irene Wort h G.B.E., K.C .B ., D .S .O.

MUSIC PANEL

Professor Anthony Lewis (Chairman) Dr . Thomas Armstrong R. J . F. Howgill, C.B .E . Professor Humphrey Procter- Dr . Eric Blom, C.B .E. Dr . Donald J . Hughes Gregg Clive Carey, C.B .E . Miss Kathleen Long, C .B.E . The Baroness Ravensdale B . Winton Dean Sir William McKie, M .V .O., Humphrey Searl e Miss Astra Desmond, C.B .E . D .Mus . Miss Seymour Whinyates, O.B .E . Trevor Harvey Manoug Parikian Leslie Woodgate Dr . Herbert Howells, C .B .E.

POETRY PANEL

Joseph Compton, C.B .E . (Chairmn) Patric Dickinson Christopher Fry Louis MacNeice Professor Bonamy Dobr6e, O .B .E . Roy Fuller Miss Janet Adam Smith G. S . Fraser J. C . Hall Terence Tiller

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A short history of the origin and developmen t of the Arts Council of Great Britain and An explanation of its objects and policie s

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