STAVANGEREN ATTENBLAD, AUGUST 1960

One must be surprised at what can be achieved, when listening to the Leicestershire County School of Music Orchestra. Here, young people

from 13 - 18 years old sit and give a performance which causes almost overwhelming enthusiasm. The Leicester school orchestra has been introduced in "Aftenbladet" and certainly the introduction raised expectations. We know that they are interested school pupils, who have practised and attained a standard of musical ability, under excellent tuition, and also with the necessary support and direction of the government. But, when one listens to such a performance, as at the concert in Sandnes yesterday, then it is necessary to bear in mind that there is something more to it - something connected with culture and tradition in its broadest context. This is more than a mere hobby for amateur players. The orchestra has reached an impressive standard and has above all a charm and a sustained tone which has long ago passed the stage of technical dilletantism.

Considering the features characteristic of amateurs, yesterday's performance was a complete realisation of our expectations as to the manner of playing. But what created the greatest enthusiasm was the musical substance of the orchestra's playing. The programme gave an excellent opportunity of ascertaining what the young musicians had in them, and the standard of their interpretation. The programme had a scope and standard of difficulty comparable with that of a difficult concert programme. From the large selection

in the tour programme we heard, first of all, the overture to "Oberon" by Weber. It was played in a sensational sustained and lively manner. Then followed the first movement of Grieg's piano concerto with a 15 year-old girl, a very able pianist, as soloist; then Beethoven's Romance in F major with a fine violin solo and then followed one work after another, each with some particularly striking quality. It seemed as if the more modern note was more suited to their disposition. The glorious Divertimento from Arnold and the "Suite for Wind" by Holst sounded quite marvellous, with a precision and phrasing that was gay and skillful. And then suddenly the scene changed and some members of the orchestra performed as a mixed choir and gave an exquisite programme. It was a pleasure to listen to the whole programme, and to observe the command of the music which was evident in everything performed, now and then with a rendering above what might be expected. The evening was an extraordinarily fine experience. Turnhallen (the Gymnastic Hall) was filled to capacity by an audience that was not afraid to show its enthusiasm.

STAVANGEREN, SEPTEMBER 1960

The Leicester Orchestra in the Cathedral

The Cathedral was so full yesterday that very many people had to be content with seats, from which they could not see much of the young English musicians, who together with their instruments filled the whole choir. Every seat was taken, the church was too small, and everybody was listening. It was really gratifying to hear young people who sang and played so well. As in Sandnes it was a versatile concert, the orchestra in full being followed by the strings, then the wind, and then a mixed choir with the piano as obligato accompaniment, and then a capella choir.

Where one missed the fullness of tone, and where one could disagree with some points of interpretation, the young people with their warm musicality and their versatility compensated for a lack of professional qualities. Also, because they were young people, it was fitting that some of yesterday's programme should be, for a church concert, unconventional, with surprising rhythms and yet with the beat of the Norwegian nature in the first movement of Grieg's piano concerto. But surely it is right that a work of God's creation should be performed in a church! To pick out any one thing as prominent is not easy, for it was so enjoyable to listen to both the singing and the playing. If anything it must be Bach's concerto for violin, oboe and strings, which was performed with true musical feeling, and let us also mention the charming composition, "Elizabethan Serenade for Orchestra". It was also a pleasure to observe among the audience lots of young people, with admiration written on their faces - it was easy to understand why. May a visit such as this be the stimulus which is needed in this town and in this country. It is possible for music to become something completely different from what it is at present, even with us. There is no lack of musicality and talent. These young Britons show the way.

LEICESTER MERCURY, OCTOBER 1960

George Weldon, associate conductor of the famous Halle orchestra, described last night’s performance by the County School of Music as "quite astonishing and quite an achievement". He had just left the rostrum in the De Montfort Hall after conducting the County Youth Orchestra and choirs of three local grammar

schools through a formidable programme of music and song. "It’s quite astonishing what they did," he told me. "They were not playing simple music and the choir and orchestra only came together for the first time last Saturday," he added. The orchestra played works of Weber, Mozart and Haydn but the item I liked most was Malcolm Arnold’s Divertimento. They certainly put everything they had into this piece, whereas Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor seemed to me to be a trifle above them. Guest oboist Evelyn Rothwell (who is the wife of Sir John Barbirolli) was excellent with her polished rendering of Haydn’s oboe concerto and equally good in her solo spot later in the evening. The combined choirs of Lutterworth, Hinckley and Coalville Grammar Schools entertained with a charming Irish choral ballad and a delightful suite of well known British songs. Chairman of the County Education Committee, Sir Robert Martin, addressed the large audience during the interval. He mentioned the way the orchestra had been inspired by and responded to its distinguished guests and described the visits it had made abroad to Germany three times, Norway twice and once each to Denmark and Holland. "Their visits have been a wonderful contribution to international goodwill," he added.

M. L.

LEICESTER MERCURY, MARCH 1961

A harp which was presented to Leicestershire County School of Music by Sir Robert Martin three years ago was featured for the first time in a concert at Birstall last night. It was used in the school's first concert in its new home, the Longslade Grammar School which overlooks the village.

Main reasons for the long delay have been the need to have it renovated and the difficulties in finding both a suitable player and teacher. Last night it was played for the first time by Hinckley Grammar School girl Anne Collis.

The deputy chairman of Leicestershire Education Committee Mr. Alan Hilton and several of the committee attended. A large audience welcomed guest conductor Mr. Douglas Cameron, the cellist and conductor. He is a professor of the Royal Academy of Music, a member of the London String Quartet and an original staff member of the National Youth Orchestra.

A varied programme was beautifully executed with special mention of the string quartet, John Stein, Marion Turner, David Banton and Nigel Pinkett. Marion Turner also had a big ovation for her violin solo and Mr. Eric Pinkett, county music adviser, forecast a great future for her.

Longslade School is now the home of the senior section of the School of Music, who meet from all over the county every Saturday during term to practise under Mr. Pinkett. They are spending part of the Easter break at Buxton where they are giving 2 concerts in the Pavilion.

LEICESTER MERCURY, MAY 1961

So moved with emotion were many among the audience packing the De Montfort Hall for last night's final presentation of Leicestershire schools' festival of music, pageantry and mime that moments after the show had ended with 500 voices raised in a paean of praise, they remained rooted to their seats.

The tremendous ovation that followed for the more than 1,000 young performers and the scores of county teachers who had made this mammoth production possible was climaxed by cheers led by Sir Robert Martin. So ended a show which, equally in its scope as in the flawlessness of its presentation, was at once unforgettable, enriching and rejuvenating.

A string of superlatives would scarcely suffice to convey the beauty of the music, costumes or colour of the organisational achievement of welding together the individual contributions of schools from far-off parts of the county into a harmonious whole. Superlatives would convey nothing at all of the youthful spontaneity of the spirit of ecstasy that threaded through the two-hours production. The artistry of the County School of Music, under the baton of their director, Mr. E. Pinkett, would in itself have sustained the evening's enjoyment but their playing merely afforded the background to a series of dramatic or musical sequences contributed by a score of schools in a programme that had contrasts as its theme - contrasts between the bobbing toes of a Scottish reel and sombre gyrations to the Danse Macabre, the abandon of an Irish folk dance and the more staid rejoicing of a Chinese celebration.

Highlighting a programme which ran with the smoothness of a professional show from the first curtain were, perhaps, Rolleston Junior School's interpretation of a circus, Lutterworth Grammar School's mock wedding and the chorus of massed voices which provided a memorable production with a beatific finale.

LEICESTER MERCURY, JUNE 1961

Continuing its series of summer concerts, the County School of Music orchestra played to a delighted gathering at the Garendon School, Loughborough, on Saturday in a programme that demonstrated the competence of each section in turn, the orchestra again showed the astonishing musical heights it has attained under its director, Mr. Eric Pinkett (County Music Adviser).

Indicating that the are pre-eminently music makers, as distinct from merely instrumentalists, the young performers twice during the evening formed themselves into a choir - a feat of versatility, surely, which not even the Halle itself could hope to equal!

Miss Marion Turner, as soloist in the first movement of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, revealed a gifted mastery of the fingerboard but the highlight was probably the wind instruments' showing in Tschaikovsky's Capriccio Italien. It was the turn of the strings to demonstrate their skill and regard for exactness in A Simple Symphony by Benjamin Britten. The concert, which realised about £18, was sponsored by the Limehurst Natural History Society and was the County School of Music's way of helping to raise funds for the society's new bird island headquarters.

LEICESTER MERCURY, JANUARY 1962

It was a gracious idea that 85 young instrumentalists of Leicestershire County School of Music and a choir of 240 boys and girls from county grammar schools should give a concert to honour the memory of Sir Robert Martin, who, until a year before his death last June, was chairman of the County Council and of the County Education Committee for 36 successive years. But fine intentions do not succeed without good organisation, devotion, hard work, enthusiasm and a certain amount of luck. At Leicester De Montfort Hall last night all combined to present to a full audience a performance of music which was in every way worthy of the occasion, and of the man who, in the final phrase of an aptly chosen choral item, was "a very perfect, gentle knight."

The greatest piece of good fortune that overtook the organisers of the concert, I'm sure, was the decision of Sir Adrian Boult to accept an invitation to conduct. The very news of his acceptance must have been a boost to the morale of instrumentalists and singers. Under his careful and wise guidance the music they produced last night must have been of their very best. It was clear that his prime requirement from his impressive ensemble of young musicians was refinement of tone. Numerical strength was converted into acceptable tone over a dynamic range from a nicely balanced, whispered pianissimo to a full round forte. Noise had no place in his malleable tonal palette. Precision of attack came high on Sir Adrian's priority list and the performance of all items was well blessed by clear and positive entries and by admirable unanimity of thought and feeling in phrasing and on points of stress. Note values were well heeded and there was always evidence that the performers kept an attentive ear for what was happening in other musical departments.

This was particularly true of the orchestra, whose members achieved a remarkably high standard both in their accompaniments to the choral works and in their ambitious instrumental programme. They were strong where most orchestras of the kind are weak - in the brass and woodwind departments. Clarinets, bassoons, oboes, flutes all proved they were competent to stand up to exposure and of the principals, the blonde oboe player (one of the predominant company of girl instrumentalists) was an outstanding contributor to a reed band that had something like professional poise about their work.

The brass, which included seven trombones, packed a punch and thrived on Sibelius (Karelia Suite) and Beethoven’s last movement (5th Symphony) but euphony was their watchword and their tone was solid but pure. Trumpets triple-tongued articulately and horns were commendably smooth. The strings were well intoned and played intelligently and were the basis of some well contrived crescendos in which discipline and restraint were in evidence. Altogether a collection of young musicians whose coherence is all the more surprising in view of the fact that, geographically, they are distributed over the length and breadth of the county - poles apart. Details of the concert programme would not be complete without mention of Benjamin Britten's setting of the National Anthem. It amounts to an unorthodox re-harmonisation of the traditional tune for choir and orchestra. Quite new, very effective and one up to the County Music Department for being the first to have it performed in Leicester. R.A.P.

LEICESTER MERCURY, JANUARY 1963

"That was good, very good," boomed composer-conductor Malcolm Arnold. And nearly one hundred young county musicians relaxed for a minute as Mr. Arnold explained what he wanted for the next passage. He was taking a rehearsal for a concert performed by the senior orchestra of the County School of Music, which he is to conduct at De Montfort Hall on January 29. Included in the programme are two items of his own composition - Tam O'Shanter Overture and the Second Suite of English Dances. This concert is the third of its kind and the second in successive years. In 1960 the orchestra was conducted by George Weldon, associate conductor of the Halle Orchestra with Evelyn Rothwell (Lady Barbirolli) as the guest artist. Last year the baton was in the hands of Sir Adrian Boult for the Sir Robert Martin Memorial Concert. Such was the success of these two performances that Mr. Eric Pinkett, the county adviser for music, now hopes that similar concerts will become an annual event. Rehearsals took place last week at the Longslade Grammar School, Birstall, during a special holiday course. Mr. Pinkett was in charge of practice on Wednesday and Thursday morning until Mr. Arnold took over on Thursday afternoon and Friday.

Mr. Arnold will not see the orchestra again until the day of the concert.

Mr. Arnold was loud and generous in his praise of the county's young schoolboy and schoolgirl musicians. He was very surprised, he said to find that an orchestra of young people, still at school could play "to such a high standard."

"There must be a tremendous amount of musical talent in this part of the country to produce an orchestra like this," he added. The rehearsals had also been successful. "They are doing marvellously," he enthused. Mr. Arnold went on to say that the kind of training pupils at the school were receiving was much more beneficial than concert-going. The programme for the concert, besides the two compositions of Mr. Arnold, includes Benjamin Britten's "A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra," the Grieg piano concerto, "Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks" by Richard Strauss and Et Incarnatus from Mozart's C minor Mass.

Soloist for the Grieg concerto is Dennis Matthews, while ex-pupil of the school Jean Hammond takes the same role in Et Incarnatus.

The programme was chosen jointly by Mr. Pinkett and Mr. Arnold. This is the first time that Northampton-born Mr. Arnold has conducted the Leicester County School of Music orchestra. Better known perhaps as a composer he will be remembered for his film music, particularly "The Bridge on the River Kwai". "I am looking forward, however," he said, "to conducting two of my own compositions."

Mr. Pinkett then told me a little about the school he virtually founded in 1948.

Children meet at a central point every Saturday morning for instrumental instruction and practice. Between them they make up a symphony orchestra of about 85, a military band and choir, individual lessons, group practices and chamber music rehearsals taking place the whole of the morning and children are extracted from the full orchestra to take part in whichever section requires them. Thereby acquiring varied experience much more rapidly.

The school is split into three orchestras divided roughly into age groups, their exact composition decided mainly by ability. In the junior orchestra, therefore, there is always a small group of players on the "fringe" of the senior orchestra. Some of these have been brought in to add to the senior orchestra for the coming concert. Pupils are drawn from all the secondary schools in the county and are taught during the week out of school hours in area schools of music by Mr. Pinkett, his deputy, six full-time instrumental teachers who are specialists in their field and individual staff from schools who are qualified teachers. Entrance to the school therefore is based solely on playing ability. Further experience is gained each Easter when the senior orchestra goes to a holiday resort for a week’s practice and concerts. A similar course is held for the junior orchestra during the summer holiday. This Easter the orchestra goes to Scotland and later in the year pays a reciprocal visit to Germany. Mr. Pinkett stressed the hard work that is necessary for the children to reach the required standards. "It is particularly heartening to see these youngsters doing so much good, when all one seems to hear of their generation nowadays is detrimental". The aim of the school is to stimulate music-making throughout the country to raise the standard of orchestral playing in the schools and to exemplify to the schools what can be achieved in the sphere of music by young people if they are given the incentive and opportunity". By the sound of Mr. Arnold's remarks, they have certainly succeeded. - Pat Cursley

LEICESTER MERCURY, JANUARY 1963

Leicester De Montfort Hall was filled last night for the Sir Robert Martin symphony concert given by 100 instrumentalists from the County School of Music and conducted by Malcolm Arnold, two of whose compositions were included in the programme. Judging from the quite remarkable standard of playing achieved by these talented school-age musicians there seems no doubt at all that this memorial concert is firmly set in the local music calendar.

The inaugural concert was given last year under Sir Adrian Boult shortly after the death of Sir Robert Martin who was chairman of the County Council for many years. School leaving has forced inevitable changes in the composition of the orchestra in the meantime but such is the upsurge of talent invoked by the enthusiastic County Music organisation that Mr. Arnold had the services of excellent principals and in Marion Turner an outstanding young leader. Mr. Arnold the conductor visibly reflects Arnold the composer and his platform style turns readily to choreography when the rhythm is infectious. The children loved him and responded with alacrity in Britten’s Young Person’s Guide, gave an excellent showing in Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel and romped through the conductor’s second set of English Dances with professional aplomb. Wonderful!

They gave intelligent and well poised support to Denis Matthews who was the soloist in the Grieg piano concerto. Jean Hammond, a former member of the County School and now a soloist of growing reputation sang the Et Incarnatus Est from Mozart’s Mass in C minor with great warmth of feeling and fine phrasing. Her singing was graced by string playing of rich quality and by the notable performance of the wind trio, Joan Clamp(oboe), Lesley Brundell(flute) and John Price(bassoon). The concert opened with Arnold’s overture Tam O’Shanter. R. A. P.

LEICESTER MERCURY, APRIL 1963

The visual side of orchestral playing is rigidly excluded, it is said, from the musical purist's approach to the art. But how much pleasure would have been lost at Wigston, last night, without the actual spectacle of young people making music. The occasion was a civic concert in aid of Wigston's Freedom from Hunger appeal given in the hall of Bushloe High School by the Symphony Orchestra of the Leicestershire County School of Music.

From a ringside seat one could both see and sense the power of concentration and the seriousness of purpose from the tiniest violinist, little more than a bow's length high, to the manful application of a mature young cellist chewing quietly and continuously and whose strong fingering and resolute bowing bore the unmistakable sign of competence and assurance. Somehow, too, one shared in the weight of responsibility that goes with the heroic task of producing a cymbal crash at a precise moment in time and in the breathless tension that filled the silence before a sforzando tutti. The real pleasure contained in this feeling of sharing in performance was heightened by the quality of the playing which did musicianly service to the Brahms variations on a Haydn theme, which brought commendable clarity and alacrity to Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel and which was riotous in the wittily and richly scored four English dances by Malcolm Arnold. Rolf Wilson played the solo violin in the Rondo Capriccioso by Saint-Saens, which was interpreted with a delightful touch of virtuoso aplomb. The overture to Glinka's Russlan and Ludmilla opened the programme which included the attractively played Divertimento No. 11 by the wind septet. The conducting was shared by Mr. E. Pinkett (County Adviser), and Mr. D. R. Petit. R.A.P.

LEICESTER MERCURY, APRIL 1963

Four young Leicestershire musicians and one from Rutland will be playing in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain when it gives a concert in the presence of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on April 25. They are Nigel Pinkett (18), of Barrow-on-Soar, cellist, Sylvia Walker (18), of Leicester and Rolf Wilson (16), of Birstall, both violinists, James Wortley (16) of Loughborough, trombonist, and David Takeno (16) of Oakham, who plays the violin.

The Queen Mother, patron of the orchestra for the past 10 years, last heard it play in 1961. Sir Malcolm Sargent, president of this world-famous orchestra for exceptionally talented young British musicians, will conduct it in a programme which includes works by Elgar, Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov and Dvorak. A week before the Royal Festival Hall concert the orchestra will assemble at a Tunbridge Wells school for their Easter term. Here they will work under the guidance of some of the world's leading musicians and teachers.

LEICESTER MERCURY, MAY 1963

Months of preparation and hours of patience and hard work were rewarded last night by the tremendous success of Leicestershire Schools' Music Festival, a sparkling cavalcade of music and mime by youngsters from 130 schools in the county. "For'ard 1963" portrays cleverly the character of the Engishman in the different periods if his life. It is a dynamic pageant by hundreds of talented youngsters. For more than two hours, the De Montfort Hall stage was transformed into a kaleidoscope of blazing colour as the children swung through their paces with the ease and confidence of real professionals.

During the past six months scores of staff and pupils have worked like Trojans in preparation for just two nights of glory -last night and tonight. Supported by the massed choirs of a hundred junior schools and expertly accompanied by the senior orchestra of the County School of Music, under Mr. Eric Pinkett - the man largely responsible for the organisation and arrangements of the whole show - the Youngsters tripped gaily through more than two hours or ambitious song and dance routines. Of the eight Portraits of the Englishman, I was particularly impressed by the thought and ingenuity that went into "The Englishman in Spring" (by Brockington School, Enderby) and "The Englishman at Christmas" (Mountfields Junior School, Loughborough). If anything, the show was just a little too drawn out. It tended to fade slightly towards the close and lacked a punchy conclusion. But the producers did extremely well to cast more than a thousand children, aged between nine and 18, into such a mammoth Pageant. M.L.

LEICESTER MERCURY, MAY 1964

The fine assured playing of the Max Bruch G minor violin concerto by Rolf Wilson was the highlight of an excellent concert given at the De Montfort Hall last night by the Leicestershire County Youth Orchestra and Choir conducted by Rudolph Schwarz. This was the third in the series of Sir Robert Martin symphony concerts and the link with his name was visibly strengthened by the presentation of a £ 400 set of three pedal timpani which were bought by the Friends of the County Youth Orchestra as a tribute to his memory.

Rolf Wilson is the leader of the orchestra and a capacity audience gave him a wonderful ovation for his warm and penetrative performance of the Max Bruch.

This is not surprising for this young player possesses not only a sure technique but the much rarer quality of communication. This he had when I first heard him over a year ago. He has made much progress since then and it was good to hear last night that the refining process of improvement as at no way been at the expense of his innate feeling for music or his instinct for transmitting the heart and the spirit of a score to an audience. To him, quite obviously, music is about something and this was amply demonstrated in the last movement which, though exacting, was never made to sound like a technical exercise. His attack was confident and vigorous and throughout he maintained a good sense of style and shape. His playing of the slow movement was eloquent and quite moving – rich in colour and in warmth and intensity of expression. His future seems bright, he has the knack of making people want to listen and I am sure that as he develops more and more people will want to listen to him. Rudolph Schwarz enhanced Rolf Wilson’s assured interpretation with sensitive and co-operative handling of the orchestra, whose members gave excellent support.

The concert opened with Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture which, with the conductor’s well judged tempi, built up excitingly in its sparkling climax and left the audience clearly amazed at the high level of performance attained by this young and exceedingly well rehearsed orchestra.

Alan Ridout’s Three Pictures of Picasso (commissioned by the National Youth Orchestra) were a great success. Just the stuff, this, for youthful players – modern in the nicest sense, evocative, rhythmically exhilarating in the outer movements and overall exhibiting a highly developed sense of orchestral colour. The harsh pulsating first picture depicts Picasso’s revengeful Guernica and the beautifully scored second represents Child with a Dove. In the final picture The Tumblers the composer keeps the listener playfully on the wrong foot with alternating 7/8 and 8/8 time signatures before crystallising his thoughts in an ingenious interlude for percussion instruments. There after the excitement quickens and suddenly and with great verve, the show is over. The County Youth Orchestra handled the work’s complex rhythms and counts with aplomb and, by their eager response to Rudolph Schwarz’s direction, earned an ovation in which composer Alan Ridout was obviously pleased to share.

The pleasing textures of Butterworth’s rhapsody A Shropshire Lad were well realised in a nicely balanced performance and the strings of the orchestra made a noble effort in Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro whose interpretive demands are high. Orchestra and choir joined forces for a delightful rendering of Vaughan Williams’s In Windsor Forest – the choir comprising singers from Ashby Boys and Ashby Girls Grammar Schools who combined also in Benjamin Britten’s Psalm 150 conducted this time by Miss E. C. Bungard (Ashby Girls music mistress). The work has a lightly scored accompaniment and is typical of the composer’s potency of style and economy of means. It was well done. So, too, Pergolesi’s Fac ut Ardeat (from the Stabat Mater) excellently sung by the Ashby Grammar School Girls Choir and efficiently directed once again by Miss Bungard.

R. A. P.

LEICESTER MERCURY, SEPTEMBER 1964

Leicester County Youth Orchestra, who leave for a 14-day Northern Ireland tour today and tomorrow, have been chosen to represent England at the 25th anniversary of "Jeunesse Musicale" in Brussels in January. This was revealed yesterday by the County Music Adviser, Mr. Eric Pinkett, on the eve of the departure of the first half of the orchestra for Northern Ireland. "We are giving a chamber concert on Tuesday in Belfast, so the chamber orchestra, who are a section of the full orchestra, are leaving a day early.

"We are giving 25 concerts in Ireland, including one in St. Anne's Cathedral, Belfast on Sunday. On Monday week we are to play in the Ulster Hall and the chairman of the County Council, Alderman P. H. Lloyd, is flying over to hear us." Mr. Pinkett said that the 82-strong orchestra had intended to visit Northern Ireland next year but had asked their hosts to bring the tour forward because of the Brussels event in January. "It is a great honour for us to be chosen to represent England at Brussels," he said. "The Organisation who are running it, 'Musical Youth' are very strong on the Continent."

LEICESTER MERCURY, OCTOBER 1964

The signs are that next year's Leicestershire schools music festival is going to give the County School of Music its biggest prestige boost ever. First performances of a new symphony and a festival prologue and epilogue - all specially written for the occasion - will contribute to an event of nationwide importance and a competition open to student composer throughout Britain will further enhance Leicestershire's growing musical significance and provide yet another new work for first performance during festival week. The festival will occupy six hectic and exciting days from May 9 to 14 and will revolve around the name and personality of the famous British composer Michael Tippett whose enthusiasm for the Leicestershire enterprise is boundless. He has agreed to compose a prologue and epilogue and, as the festival's conductor-in-chief, he will direct the first performance of a symphony written specially for the County Youth Orchestra by his distinguished ex-pupil Alan Ridout, who is well- known for his series of BBC music talks.

Mr. Ridout heard the orchestra earlier this year at their De Montfort Hall concert when his "Three Pictures of Picasso" formed part of a programme conducted by Rudolf Schwarz. He was so impressed with their playing that he had no hesitation in agreeing to write a symphony specially for them.

Exciting, too, is the prospect of a festival production of Mr. Ridout's recently written opera. Its title is "The Rescue" and its setting in a Paddington coffee bar bears testimony to its contemporary theme. The Leicester presentation will, in fact, be its fourth performance.

The idea of the 1965 festival is both courageous and imaginative and of particular value at a time when the need for the encouragement of active participation in music is considered to be of prime importance.

The festival supplants the memorable Pageants which, in past years crowned the county's school music and drama activities from time to time. As good as they were, the need was for something different. This was the view of Mr. Eric Pinkett, county music adviser and the main inspiration behind the venture.

By the very magnitude of the festival’s programme it seems he has proved himself right in deciding it was time for new ideas for a bigger conception and a broader horizon. But he admits that luck has been running with him and that his first stroke of good fortune was Tippett's instant enthusiasm for the festival enterprise and his ready acceptance of the principal role. It so happens that the festival will gain still more in significance from the fact that it will take place in the year of Tippett's 60th birthday (he was born on January 2, 1905) and at a time when anniversary programmes will give particular emphasis to his name and to his music. His double concerto for orchestra will be included among the works he will conduct during the festival. So, too, his delightful oratorio

"A Child of our Time" which will be performed by a full complement of

young Leicestershire musicians including vocal soloists, instrumentalists

and a choir of 500.

R.A.P.