A Message from John McCabe CBE, President, British Music Society

When you come to think of it, 100 newsletters in 25 years of existence means that the volunteers who run the BMS have managed to keep up an absolutely reliable output of a detailed, information-packed newsletter averaging four issues per year. That, it seems to me, sums up what is best about the Society and the commitment of the people who run it and produce the various publications. The latter, which include both the newsletter and the journal, must by now run to many thousands of pages – a repository of information often obscure, even esoteric, but always fascinating.

The byways of music may not be as earth-shattering as what is perceived, at any given time, as the mainstream, the compositional earthquakes which alter the course of music (think of Beethoven, Berlioz, Le Sacre du Printemps), but they are in their own way as interesting, and the BMS’s policy, carried out faithfully through their publications, has always been to draw attention to the neglected composers whose names form such an important part of the backcloth against which the stars disport themselves – and in some cases, the backcloth eventually comes to be seen as more important than people thought, and the stars sometimes less important. Without the BMS, both through its publications and such things as competitions and recordings, our knowledge would be infinitely poorer.

Where else, for example, would one find not merely a report but a detailed examination of the performance of a work like Benjamin Dale’s The Flowing Tide (BMS News 95), an article about 'Elgar’s baritone' Charles Mott (News 96), or a piece about the symphonies of Michael Garrett (News 98), alongside all sorts of news reports, record and book reviews, and features covering any remotely relevant activities, along with many personal recollections of composers as can be garnered together. A couple of years ago I was reading a biography of Dan Godfrey, who did such wonderful work with the Bournemouth orchestra – the index lists a huge number of composers (including a good many women) whose names were completely unfamiliar to me but who were promoted under Godfrey’s auspices – I bet, somewhere in those 100 newsletters, there is something about most of them. Mistakes occur (they are bound to), but they occur in Grove, too, and many of the names we read about in the newsletter are unlikely to feature there.

And so it is with the Society, the same commitment and enthusiasm. Energy, too – it takes an energetic committee and officers to keep this invaluable Society running with such apparently undimmed eagerness to promote the cause it supports. There is a real sense of community about the thing, a feeling of all being united (whatever personal preferences for this composer or that) in the propagation of British music, and a remarkable ability to rethink policies. For instance, the highly successful reissue of historic performances by Mewton-Wood (including his classic Bliss Piano Concerto) means a shift of emphasis, an enlargement of vision, on the part of our record label which augurs well for the future – I can think of all sorts of records I’d like to see come out under the Historic banner. The competitions, too, have a long and honourable history of being imaginative, from solo instruments and voice to British operas, or the vastly complex but again very successful choral music competition – these result in some rare gems (not always gems, but you can’t win them all) getting what are, in some cases, greatly overdue revival. I am sure that, with a continuation of the zeal and dedication so clearly evidenced so far, the BMS will go on from strength to strength, and can look forward to another highly productive 25 years and 100 newsletters. My only regret is that I wasn’t a member from the very start – I cannot think how I managed to miss it.

John McCabe

A Message from Raphael Terroni, Chairman, British Music Society

This year sees the 25th anniversary of the British Music Society. With it comes the 25th journal and this the 100th issue of the newsletter.

Only when we looking back to 1978 do we realise how far we have travelled. It all began with a handful of enthusiasts gathered in a South Kensington front room. In fact I was not at that first meeting … although by some stroke of chance my BMS membership number is 001. These were the Society's small beginnings with membership numbered in the tens until the 1980s and then accelerating to the current levels which dance just below 600 worldwide.

During our quarter century we have seen four prime ministers in office, the death of the LP, the rise of the CD and the growth of the internet. British music from 1875 has certainly enjoyed a resurgence of interest. In the concert hall there is, I think, a modest increase in the performance of works that form the centre of gravity for the Society. The representation of British music in the recording catalogue has however been transformed from its belittled and impoverished state in 1978. There is still very much to do but long-standing lacunae in the shape of, for example, the works of Hadley, Rootham, Bax, Moeran and Foulds have been filled ... sometimes several times over.

The very diversity of the territory covered by the Society makes our work something of a poisoned chalice. The Berkeley fan may well want little to do with Moeran. The Bax enthusiast is not necessarily going to be a Searle supporter. For the BMS to succeed considerable give and take is called for. We do not have the convenient unitary focus of single composer societies. When we record one composer will we upset those who would rather we had recorded another? In practice while some may have parted company from us in disappointment many have stayed the course and have shown broad-minded support even for ventures they would not personally have chosen.

Another challenge for us is that we still come across people who think of the BMS as if it was a privately funded foundation with a permanent staff and offices. It is not. Its audacious successes have been as a result of time and expertise given freely, of a passion for the music and of hard-won funding, the occasional legacy and sales income, all hard won by those who make and sell the product.

Our competitions have introduced new generations of performers to British music they would not otherwise have tackled. Our publications including the Directory of Composers, Lost and Sometimes Found and the monograph series are a permanent research source. Our cassettes and CDs bring the music to places and times we could never otherwise reach. Our joint projects from the early 1980s with Pearl (Foulds String Quartets LP) and Hyperion (Bax and Howells Choral Music LP, which I hope one day will be reissued) continue to win new friends for British music.

I thought about a sincere litany of names and well merited thank-yous, but the list would be too long and despite best endeavours would inadvertently leave someone out. However I must make one exception. I would like to pay a special tribute to our founding chairman, Peter Middleton who saw the Society through its early trials and triumphs. We owe much to him - his energy, his directed enthusiasm and, critical to the success of a chairman, his kindly diplomacy.

What will the next 25 years hold? Will we see the fall of the CD or the collapse of the Internet? I hope and plan that the Society continues to expand, that we will keep in touch with our members and reflect their energies and enthusiasms. If I have a message at all it is to encourage you to contribute your ideas, skills and drive so that British music continues to surprise, challenge and delight both our membership and music-lovers much further afield.