All jolly nice, green and pleasant, any other cliché you care to pluck. EMF appends a list (press release below) of all the decent chaps they are dusting off for public reconsideration. All are English as teacakes and, in many cases, twice as insipid. Not a dissonance, or a foreign accent, among them.

Where, you wonder, is the variety, the receptivity, the generosity of the English spirit? With the exception of Gustav Holst, who was of part-Swedish parentage, all the composers on the label are mutton-chops bulldog breed, representing an Olde England that no longer exists and maybe never did. There were always minorities in the land, boosted by invigorating waves of refugees. 

None of that infusion is discernible here. None of the gifted and influential Hitler refugees – Goldschmidt, Reizenstein, Wellesz, Gal – nor any of the Stalin fugitives who made their lives in this country and enhanced ours – Panufnik, Seiber, Serly and more. All erased by EMF.

The selection is not so much anachronistic as borderline offensive. If this label were a political party, it would be isolated and banned. EMF needs to rewrite its credentials, fast.

NEWS RELEASE

  

New record
label revives overlooked works by British composers

 

This spring sees the launch of a
new record label devoted exclusively to English music – EM Records – whose
debut album includes
two major world-première recordings.

 

The
Violin Sonatas by
Arthur Bliss and
Henry Walford Davies have languished in manuscript form for over 100 years.
They were both given their première concert performances by Rupert Luck and
Matthew Rickard at the 2010 English Music Festival in Oxfordshire, and were
given a rapturous reception by an enthralled Festival audience.  EM Records presents these two passionate and
heartfelt Sonatas alongside the opulent and darkly turbulent Violin Sonata by York
Bowen.

 

The new record company has been set
up in association with the English Music Festival (www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk).

 

The company’s Managing Director, Em
Marshall (also founder of the English Music Festival), describes the mission of
EM Records as “fulfilling the EMF’s goal of celebrating and preserving
neglected works by British composers, especially those from the early years of
the twentieth century – the ‘golden renaissance’ of English music.”

 

She says the company “will release
a mixture of live recordings from the Festival together with studio recordings,
giving listeners the chance to experience the fullest possible range of the EMF’s
work. In keeping with the unique spirit of the Festival each disc released by
EM Records will contain at least one world première recording. We want to ensure that no English works worthy of
hearing are ever again left unavailable to listeners.”

 

EM Records is a ground-breaking enterprise, presenting
repertoire that, though previously unrecorded, is vital, vivid and powerful;
and, through its commitment to this endeavour, complements the pioneering work
of a leading and internationally-acclaimed Festival.

 

Plans
are already underway for future releases. These include the World Première
recording of

Gustav Holst’s The Coming of Christ (which received its first contemporary performance in
the

2010
EMF) performed by the City of London Choir under Hilary Davan Wetton; and a
recording of

Roger Quilter’s piano music, performed by David Owen Norris. Also
forthcoming is a live recording, to be made at the 2011 Festival, of part-songs
by Rawsthorne, Haydn Wood, Robin Milford, Finzi and Holst, performed by the Syred Consort
under their conductor, Ben Palmer.

 

Contact Em Marshall, Director, EM
Records, for more information or interview. em.marshall@btinternet.com 

www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk/emrecords.html   

 

-ENDS-

All jolly nice, green and pleasant, any other cliché you care to pluck. EMF appends a list (press release below) of all the decent chaps they are dusting off for public reconsideration. All are English as teacakes and, in many cases, twice as insipid. Not a dissonance, or a foreign accent, among them.

Where, you wonder, is the variety, the receptivity, the generosity of the English spirit? With the exception of Gustav Holst, who was of part-Swedish parentage, all the composers on the label are mutton-chops bulldog breed, representing an Olde England that no longer exists and maybe never did. There were always minorities in the land, boosted by invigorating waves of refugees. 

None of that infusion is discernible here. None of the gifted and influential Hitler refugees – Goldschmidt, Reizenstein, Wellesz, Gal – nor any of the Stalin fugitives who made their lives in this country and enhanced ours – Panufnik, Seiber, Serly and more. All erased by EMF.

The selection is not so much anachronistic as borderline offensive. If this label were a political party, it would be isolated and banned. EMF needs to rewrite its credentials, fast.

NEWS RELEASE

  

New record
label revives overlooked works by British composers

 

This spring sees the launch of a
new record label devoted exclusively to English music – EM Records – whose
debut album includes
two major world-première recordings.

 

The
Violin Sonatas by
Arthur Bliss and
Henry Walford Davies have languished in manuscript form for over 100 years.
They were both given their première concert performances by Rupert Luck and
Matthew Rickard at the 2010 English Music Festival in Oxfordshire, and were
given a rapturous reception by an enthralled Festival audience.  EM Records presents these two passionate and
heartfelt Sonatas alongside the opulent and darkly turbulent Violin Sonata by York
Bowen.

 

The new record company has been set
up in association with the English Music Festival (www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk).

 

The company’s Managing Director, Em
Marshall (also founder of the English Music Festival), describes the mission of
EM Records as “fulfilling the EMF’s goal of celebrating and preserving
neglected works by British composers, especially those from the early years of
the twentieth century – the ‘golden renaissance’ of English music.”

 

She says the company “will release
a mixture of live recordings from the Festival together with studio recordings,
giving listeners the chance to experience the fullest possible range of the EMF’s
work. In keeping with the unique spirit of the Festival each disc released by
EM Records will contain at least one world première recording. We want to ensure that no English works worthy of
hearing are ever again left unavailable to listeners.”

 

EM Records is a ground-breaking enterprise, presenting
repertoire that, though previously unrecorded, is vital, vivid and powerful;
and, through its commitment to this endeavour, complements the pioneering work
of a leading and internationally-acclaimed Festival.

 

Plans
are already underway for future releases. These include the World Première
recording of

Gustav Holst’s The Coming of Christ (which received its first contemporary performance in
the

2010
EMF) performed by the City of London Choir under Hilary Davan Wetton; and a
recording of

Roger Quilter’s piano music, performed by David Owen Norris. Also
forthcoming is a live recording, to be made at the 2011 Festival, of part-songs
by Rawsthorne, Haydn Wood, Robin Milford, Finzi and Holst, performed by the Syred Consort
under their conductor, Ben Palmer.

 

Contact Em Marshall, Director, EM
Records, for more information or interview. em.marshall@btinternet.com 

www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk/emrecords.html   

 

-ENDS-

That means passers-by and pleasure seekers can watch musicians work together without hearing a single note. The effect is both edifying and (literally) disconcerting. 

It allows crowds of school children to watch the process without disrupting it. On the other hand, to see music in the making without hearing it is an unsettling form of sensory deprivation. You keep having to give yourself a reality check.

If felt the same as checking my mails in Starbucks on one of the window seats while, beyond the pane, another coffee consumer was smoking obsessively. He was within a finger’s length of me, yet I could not (thank goodness) smell a thing.

The same principle is applied in the Sage’s teaching rooms in the ground floor, but for different reasons. Anyone walking past can see the pupil-teacher interaction. That knowledge allows parents to be assured that kids are safe in a one-on-one teaching situation, an essential pre-condition in these troubled times.

What I did hear was the first part of a Northern Sinfonia string ensemble concert led by Bradley Creswick, an aptly introspective account of Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night with breathless pianissimi that showcased the hall’s immaculate acoustic sensitivity.

They make great music in Gateshead. Here are some pics of the hall, outside and in.

That means passers-by and pleasure seekers can watch musicians work together without hearing a single note. The effect is both edifying and (literally) disconcerting. 

It allows crowds of school children to watch the process without disrupting it. On the other hand, to see music in the making without hearing it is an unsettling form of sensory deprivation. You keep having to give yourself a reality check.

If felt the same as checking my mails in Starbucks on one of the window seats while, beyond the pane, another coffee consumer was smoking obsessively. He was within a finger’s length of me, yet I could not (thank goodness) smell a thing.

The same principle is applied in the Sage’s teaching rooms in the ground floor, but for different reasons. Anyone walking past can see the pupil-teacher interaction. That knowledge allows parents to be assured that kids are safe in a one-on-one teaching situation, an essential pre-condition in these troubled times.

What I did hear was the first part of a Northern Sinfonia string ensemble concert led by Bradley Creswick, an aptly introspective account of Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night with breathless pianissimi that showcased the hall’s immaculate acoustic sensitivity.

They make great music in Gateshead. Here are some pics of the hall, outside and in.

–  it’s possible – and necessary – to have more than one loyalty in life.

To be a proud Jew, a committed Zionist and a loyal British citizen.

And to realise there is no contradiction between them.

– A Jewish friend asked me the other day will it be safe for my children and grandchildren to live here?

You can find the full speech here. Only here. Unusually, it has not been carried on any Government or Conservative Party website. Now why is that? 

–  it’s possible – and necessary – to have more than one loyalty in life.

To be a proud Jew, a committed Zionist and a loyal British citizen.

And to realise there is no contradiction between them.

– A Jewish friend asked me the other day will it be safe for my children and grandchildren to live here?

You can find the full speech here. Only here. Unusually, it has not been carried on any Government or Conservative Party website. Now why is that? 

Dior is scrubbing references to Galliano off its website. The man is in rehab, his lawyers are on the case and the fashion world is doing its level best to return to frippery as normal. In the London Evening Standard, which has treated the scandal as little more than a celebrity tiff, a second columnist argued yesterday that it’s now up to Kate Moss to save the designer from his demons by getting him to do her wedding dress. Where do these people live? In another article, slightly weightier, Brian Sewell defended Galliano as a latter-day Richard Wagner: the art is greater than the man. Come off it.

In yesterday’s Guardian, Jonathan Freedland argued persuasively that anti-semitism is always with us. It has been dormant awhile. Now it has reawakened.

I take a different view. In a front-page JC commentary today I suggest that Galliano’s alleged offence is a symptom of a dangerous new form of anti-semitism, licensed by Islamist propaganda and leftwing fellow-travellers, which maintains that the Jews have got it coming. 

The Jews deserved their fate in the past. And, as middle-class demonstrators chanted outside the synagogue in Tunis, the Prophet will inflict it again quite soon. Their rallying cry is “Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad saya’ud,” which means “Jews, remember Khyabar, the army of Mohammed is returning.” 

Nothing about the Galliano outrage can be taken lightly.

Dior is scrubbing references to Galliano off its website. The man is in rehab, his lawyers are on the case and the fashion world is doing its level best to return to frippery as normal. In the London Evening Standard, which has treated the scandal as little more than a celebrity tiff, a second columnist argued yesterday that it’s now up to Kate Moss to save the designer from his demons by getting him to do her wedding dress. Where do these people live? In another article, slightly weightier, Brian Sewell defended Galliano as a latter-day Richard Wagner: the art is greater than the man. Come off it.

In yesterday’s Guardian, Jonathan Freedland argued persuasively that anti-semitism is always with us. It has been dormant awhile. Now it has reawakened.

I take a different view. In a front-page JC commentary today I suggest that Galliano’s alleged offence is a symptom of a dangerous new form of anti-semitism, licensed by Islamist propaganda and leftwing fellow-travellers, which maintains that the Jews have got it coming. 

The Jews deserved their fate in the past. And, as middle-class demonstrators chanted outside the synagogue in Tunis, the Prophet will inflict it again quite soon. Their rallying cry is “Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad saya’ud,” which means “Jews, remember Khyabar, the army of Mohammed is returning.” 

Nothing about the Galliano outrage can be taken lightly.

Just as he did at the Met for 25 years, Levine carefully avoided letting any potential rivals onto his roster. The present season is shared with such no-run veterans as Maazel, Masur, Dohnanyi, Fruhbeck de Burgos, Colin Davis and Dutoit. Only the last mentioned would fancy himself for the job.

The remaining conductors this season are David Robertson, Christian Zacharias, Sakari Oramo, Susanna Malkki and Mark Elder. Apart from Oramo, none is a possible contender.

The plan laid by Ronald Wilford, Levine’s manager, was for Riccardo Chailly to present his credentials in 2012 and be accepted by acclamation. Chailly might be persuaded to take an earlier date, but that is by no means certain. He has his hands full at Leipzig this season.

Who then?

The desperate Boston boss Mark Volpe, whose relations with Wilford and Levine have deteriorated in recent days, may look to Haitink or Dutoit to hold the fort for a season until Chailly is available. Leonard Slatkin, strikebound in Detroit is another outside option.

Alternately, Volpe might make a swoop for Vladimir Jurowski (who turned down Philadelphia), Daniele Gatti (who is struggling in Paris) or Christian Thielemann, who may be ready to announce his second coming in the US after much nastiness last time. But the orchestra will have to work with them first, and that’s not arranged overnight.

The situation is complicated by doubts over Volpe’s future. Levine’s people say he was unhelpful in the disengagement process. Volpe might counter that Big Jim was indecisive (so what’s new?). The Boaston board will have to make a few tough calls and might well consider Volpe’s position too shaky to be sustained.

So it’s all to play for and substitutes lining up to come onto the field. Right now, Boston’s in the mire.

Just as he did at the Met for 25 years, Levine carefully avoided letting any potential rivals onto his roster. The present season is shared with such no-run veterans as Maazel, Masur, Dohnanyi, Fruhbeck de Burgos, Colin Davis and Dutoit. Only the last mentioned would fancy himself for the job.

The remaining conductors this season are David Robertson, Christian Zacharias, Sakari Oramo, Susanna Malkki and Mark Elder. Apart from Oramo, none is a possible contender.

The plan laid by Ronald Wilford, Levine’s manager, was for Riccardo Chailly to present his credentials in 2012 and be accepted by acclamation. Chailly might be persuaded to take an earlier date, but that is by no means certain. He has his hands full at Leipzig this season.

Who then?

The desperate Boston boss Mark Volpe, whose relations with Wilford and Levine have deteriorated in recent days, may look to Haitink or Dutoit to hold the fort for a season until Chailly is available. Leonard Slatkin, strikebound in Detroit is another outside option.

Alternately, Volpe might make a swoop for Vladimir Jurowski (who turned down Philadelphia), Daniele Gatti (who is struggling in Paris) or Christian Thielemann, who may be ready to announce his second coming in the US after much nastiness last time. But the orchestra will have to work with them first, and that’s not arranged overnight.

The situation is complicated by doubts over Volpe’s future. Levine’s people say he was unhelpful in the disengagement process. Volpe might counter that Big Jim was indecisive (so what’s new?). The Boaston board will have to make a few tough calls and might well consider Volpe’s position too shaky to be sustained.

So it’s all to play for and substitutes lining up to come onto the field. Right now, Boston’s in the mire.

The announcement, a face-saving device, was chanelled by his agent through the supine medium of the New York Times, rather than a more critical and combative Boston press. Here’s Boston’s later version of the story, without access to Levine.

After two years of prevarication, no-one emerges from the episode with much credit.

Levine said: “This has been brewing in my mind for a long time,” he said in a telephone interview. “Each time that I had to cancel because of illness or each time that I arrived and wasn’t my best, I kept thinking we can’t keep this up. This isn’t right for the orchestra or the audience or me.”

The announcement, a face-saving device, was chanelled by his agent through the supine medium of the New York Times, rather than a more critical and combative Boston press. Here’s Boston’s later version of the story, without access to Levine.

After two years of prevarication, no-one emerges from the episode with much credit.

Levine said: “This has been brewing in my mind for a long time,” he said in a telephone interview. “Each time that I had to cancel because of illness or each time that I arrived and wasn’t my best, I kept thinking we can’t keep this up. This isn’t right for the orchestra or the audience or me.”