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ANNOUNCEMENTS CLASSICAL NEWS Yahoo services have a distinct US bias Classical Music News Films and Film Music (If the Yahoo buttons do not re-appear DO NOT REFRESH, Minimise and re-expand the page) Get the latest Classical news from Ananova MusicWeb reviewer Em Marshall has accepted Chairmanship of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society ENGLISH MUSIC FESTIVAL LONDON REGIONAL EVENT - Thursday 2 Apri12009, 6.30pm St Giles-in-the-Field A concert to increase awareness of, and financial support for, The Third English Music Festival Free entry (suggested donation £10) Please join us for a glass of wine after the performance VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Lord, Thou hast been our refuge STANFORD Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in G FINZI Lo, the full, final sacrifice BRITTEN Rejoice in the Lamb HOWELLS Magnificat and Nunc dimittis (Collegium Regale) The Syred Consort Ben Palmer conductor Jonathan Bunney guest organist and celebrated guest soloist Liz Kenny lutenist Thursday 2 Apri12009, 6.30pm St Giles-in-the-Field 60 St Giles High Street London WC2H 8LG (Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road)   YORKSHIRE FESTIVAL DAY - Saturday March 21st 2009, 10.00am - 5.30pm Clothworkers' Centenary Concert Hall, Leeds University A day of recitals and talks to increase awareness of, and financial support for, the English Music Festival in and around Yorkshire This event is designed to provide in one day a taste of the English Music Festival. The date coincides with an evening performance of Delius's Mass of Life on Saturday March 21st 2009, with the BBC Philharmonic, in Leeds Town Hall. Internationally acclaimed pianist David Owen Norris will be giving an illustrated lecture on 'Elgar at the Piano', and Em Marshall, the founder and artistic director of the EMF (and the new Chairman of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society) will be present to speak about the festival. Local artists will be performing a varied selection of English music, and there will be opportunities for everyone to mix informally. The content of the day is as follows. Please note that some programme details are still subject to confirmation, and updated information will be circulated when available. All the artists are giving their services for the benefit of the EMF. 10.00am Arrival and refreshments 10.30am Em Marshall (Managing and Artistic Director, The English Music Festival) Welcome and introduction to the English Music Festival 11.15am Josephine Peach (piano) Repertoire to be selected from some of the following composers: Bax, Bowen, Britten, Gibbs, Ireland, Mayerl, Mellers, Quilter, Sherlaw Johnson, and Vaughan Williams1 1.45am Break 12.00pm Serious Doll" (Elgar) and selections from Four Pieces for Flute and Piano (Bax) "Let us Garlands Bring" (Finzi) and songs by Ireland and Browne - Jessica Wilkes (flute) and Josephine Peach (piano) David Heathcote (baritone) and Gary Midgley (piano) 1pm Lunch 2pm David Owen Norris Lecture recital "Elgar at the Piano" 3pm Break 3.30pm Programme to include songs by Purcell and Quilter - Amanda Crawley (soprano) and Josephine Peach (piano) Rebecca Else (violin) and Sarah Paynes (piano) Music by Elgar, Howells, and Handel 4.15pm Break 4.30pm Renaissance motets and madrigals by Byrd and Wilbye; romantic part-songs by Pearsall, Sullivan, Finzi and Quilter; popular song arrangements from folk-songs to The Beatles - Quintessential (vocal quintet) 5.15pm Closing remarks - Em Marshall Tickets for the full day are £23, £18 (adult concessions) and £10 (students and young people - under 18s). Morning tickets (10.00am to 1.00pm) are £10, £8, and £5. Afternoon tickets (2.00pm to 5.30pm) are £17, £13, and £7. All proceeds will go directly to The English Music Festival. Tickets can be obtained from emfyorkshire@parker1.plus.com, or by phoning Kevin Paynes on 01423 872651. http://www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk I am secretary to the Eildon Singers in the Scottish Borders. We are, thanks to a grant from Scottish Borders Council, able to resurrect some of Hamish MacCunn's works to include in a concert for the year of Homecoming. These works include Bonny Kilmeny with choir and orchestra Hail Caledonia from the Lay of the Last Minstrel and the orchestral piece The Dowie Dens o' yarrow. The concert is on Sunday May 10th in Melrose Parish Church at 7.30pm My email address is tomar9x@btinternet.com Hope you may find this information of interest Margaret Lawson(Secretary)   NEW BOOK ON YMA SUMAC PUBLISHED In April, 2008, Yma Sumac - The Art Behind the Legend by Nicholas E. Limansky was published by YBK Publishers in New York City. Available internationally, the book is considered to be the reference on Yma Sumac. Profusely illustrated, it includes a complete career overview, as well as an indepth discussion of Yma Sumac's voice and music. In addition to the book, there is also a CD-Rom which is purchased separately, which reproduces all the photographs in the book as well as many that did not appear within the book and numerous, unpublished, color photographs. In addition, the CD-Rom also has over 150 pages of additional text - including a detailed analysis of all of Yma Sumac's recordings, a complete, international discography, range sheets for 50 of her songs, a discussion of the history of Peru, an analysis of the Exotica movement in the United States, an indepth discussion of the acuto sfogato (unlimited) soprano from Mozart's time to our day and the text for her 1955 Souvenir booklet. The book is available internationally from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and Borders as well as many other online sites. article link: http://www.musicweb.uk.net/classRev/2007/Aug07/Sumac.htm THE HYMN TUNE INDEX: A PLEA FOR VOLUNTEERS from Nicholas Temperley A plan is being formed to extend the online Hymn Tune Index (HTI). The present index was published in four volumes in 1998, and an online version has existed since 2001 (please see http://hymntune.music.uiuc.edu). At present it covers over 2,000 printed sources from the Reformation to the year 1820, and lists over 18,000 tunes in some 160,000 printings. The ultimate target is to reach 1900, while still covering all printed psalm or hymn tunes associated with English-language texts. But the quantities become so vast as the 19th century wears on that 1900 is a very distant goal at this point. As well as the hundreds of 'mainline' hymnals of the various denominations within Britain, there are many books of the 'West Gallery' type for country choirs, and others for domestic use. There are huge numbers of American hymnals, covering whole new categories such as folk hymns, shapenote music, Mormon hymns, gospel hymns, and negro spirituals; and there are a growing number of books printed in British colonies and missions abroad. Of course, many tunes crossed national and denominational boundaries, or came from secular sources. It seems that the only way we can hope to make progress is by a collaborative effort. Sally Drage has agreed to help me co-ordinate work on English sources. We are looking for volunteers from different parts of the English-speaking world. Meanwhile, we are devising a web interface that will allow people to index books directly from any library or from their personal collections, with the help of explicit guidelines that we will supply. Ideally, we would go methodically through the years in chronological order, starting in 1821. But we know that many people are interested in particular types or groups of sources, and we wouldn't want to discourage them from indexing these books as soon as they can, rather than waiting until we reach a particular year. We will then have to find ways of filling in the 'gaps' not covered by any such offers. For North America, an organizing committee is being formed. It will meet in 2007 at the University of Illinois, which will continue to be the headquarters of the HTI. Perhaps a similar committee could be brought together next summer for the UK. It is also possible, though not certain, that we will be able to raise some modest funds to cover travel or photocopying expenses for those who are helping. So I am now asking for volunteers who would like to take part in this project over the next few years. Please reply directly to Sally and me jointly (sally@drage.me.uk, ntemp@uiuc.edu) giving your name and contact details, and stating what types of source you would be willing to cover - e.g. ''parochial tunebooks in Sussex', 'hymn books in Birmingham public library', 'Methodist hymnals', 'books in my own possession', etc. Or, if you have no special preference, please tell us if you would be willing to index a list of books that we will provide. If you don't use e-mail please write to Sally Drage, 2 Grasmere Avenue, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 4LZ. Nicholas Temperley, Professor of Music Emeritus, The University of Illinois

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