In 1909 the great conductor Sir Landon Ronald (pictured) had just acquired an orchestra of his own. In fact it was the New Symphony Orchestra, which had for some time existed in the inconstant hands of Beecham (also pictured), Nikisch, and others, and had finally decided upon having a permanent conductor.

The first concert under this plan took place on 10th March, 1909, and it included a performance of the "Francoys Villon" of William Wallace.

Four concerts later--on the 9th of June--Stanford's "Ode to Discord" was given; in this piece the composer attempts to satirize what in those elementary days was regarded as ultra-modernism. Stanford's dislike of the music of Richard Strauss was expressed not only in articles but also in this work, which is a setting for chorus and orchestra of "A Chimerical Bombination in Four Bursts" by Charles Larcom Graves.

It has been suggested that "the very rebellion Stanford fought was in a certain sense the most obvious fruit of his methods," which makes one think does it not?

Q1) Who among the Members has heard the "Ode to Discord"?

Actually the problem with Strauss is not his harmonies per se, but his deficient sense of form; something rather different we venture to assert.

Two further works we should like to hear are:

Q2) Tovey's opera "The Bride of Dionysus" - who knows it? (He was born at Eton you know.)
Q3) and Parry's "Scenes from Prometheus Unbound"? Who can tell us about that?
Here he too is pictured:



We wonder whether any of these three pieces has ever been broadcast . . .

Sir Donald Tovey may have been born at Eton, but where was he educated?

If P.G.Wodehouse was the "Performing Flea of English lit." can I claim for myself the title of "Nugatory Earwig of recorder players"?

I have a reel-to-reel tape of the prelude to "The Bride of Dionysus" (which I cannot play as the machine has broken down). Tovey's Cello Concerto, also, which is a truly remarkable piece which deserves more outings (if one can use that word now!) than it gets. These were taken from radio broadcasts many years ago, in the days when Radio 3 was a proper public service, properly funded, and doing at least some exciting things. Tovey is usually associated with Edinburgh University. His books of analyses of classical works are highly regarded.