THE GRAMOPHONE

Incorporating VOX, THE RADIO CRITIC and BROADCAST REVIEW

London Offiu: lOA,. Soho Square,

London, W.l.

EDITED BY

COMPTON MACKENZIE

TBLlI:PHONB: Gerrard 6098, 609G.

TBLlI:o~s: Pe.rme.xto, Re.tb, London.

Vol. IX.

AUGUST 1931

No. 99

EDITORIAL

IHAVE received during the last twenty years not far short of 20,000 letters from kind readers of my variouS' scribblings, but I have received few which have given me as much gratification as this letter from "A Working Lad," and believing it. will give equal pleasure to many readers of THE GRAMOPHONE I print i t in full.

"A t imely note of conwatuJations on the eve of centnry of publication of something which se€l med eight yeRrs ago a mad act, ,but as they sa.y there'.s methoo in marl n ess. There's been method in the madness in so faa' that i t has stood the test of eight years by interesting readintg the resul ts of critic.is.ms, and other matter which a.ppears frorm t ime to t ime not only to the reader hut to the v.arious gramnphone and recording coonpanies a.nd as a medium between customers and ma.nwfacturer.s, a publioation for Gramophonists, the best that oan be bought, and I my~elf have bought several pu;bJications of gramophones a.nd records matter, out i t's the dearest and chea.pest. And yet there is plenty of scope yet for you to improve and in keeping tQ the forefront,a.t least I think so. For one thing I will speaJ{ Qf my own experience which will put a feather in your ca.p. I had a good machine (instrument I prefer to ca.)l my graroDlphone) ,but I rea.!ized the \%st difference of electricaJ recordings, so I decided to have a new one and consulted you, as there were so many g~ ones in i l ie market, at variou<spriees. Yet I did not want to pay, as they say, through the nose, and ~t was impossible for me to hear aU makes side by side, so on your advice I purchased i l ie machine reconunended, to which -all my friends acclaim is the hest they have heard and se \'eral of my records are bought on the strength of the critic's report. I feel proud of my records and gramophone I ('an tell yo·u, und as interested to~ay and as enthusiastic as when I got my first g.aan. twelve years ago. nut now things ·are different and money i s scarce to working cla.sses who 'buy anost record s, and I am one so affected, a good gram. and a· nUinber uf good record s, but from where and when new record ~ a.re CO'llling to pr~se'l've myoId ones I woult! ),j·ke to know. I could do with being a relative of somebody who l ikes good music so that when they a.re t ired of them they can give them over te. me. I would ta.ke caTe of them and cherish them, as I do of a l i t t le inciri~nt that once ha.ppenerl to me on the occasion of J. McCormack's visit to M-ancheste.l'. NotbeiD!g a,hle to book, I stood my cbaJll<!e in the queue without any hopes of getting in, when ·a man, a. stranger, came a long and asked if there wa.s anyone alone, to which I answered I was, and he took me lin a. 51>. IbO(xked season t icket of his friend's who co.uld llot come. I can tell you this, I don't think he could have fomld anyibody \\'ho enjoyed i t more tha.n I did that night. I t will always remarin in my mind as a. memorial night to J. MeCorma.dc

There has been a lot in the papers as regards the cheapeT class of records. Perso na.lIy , I have one or two of the cheaper ma.kes, but I hope tha.t before long the principaJ makers will reduce their prices along with the t imes , as I do not l ike them and all their plea.dings will not induce me to buy. I shall save until I can buy the best made. I often sigh at close o·f the year when the scythe ·is struok in the catalogues of the companies <lind I see i,his th~.t and. ~he .other record is going out and wonder whether thIS artist will do i t ,again or whether ~t will be done again or ~.s good as the scrav.ped ones. They ought to allow dealers a J\lIlllhle sale, of course reduce according so that the dealer is in no way out of pocket. I think myself i t's h!gh t ime they were ~educed and considerably, and trust to seIlIng anore bnngmg I I I moce profit for them.

Als') I would l ike to know how best to .ma.ke money out of my gra.mophone if theJ'e be such a way. As rega.rds concerts i t's all right if i t's free, but put a charge and you get no one, as everybody seems to have one, id' not as good. To give you an instance , where I live there are ten houses and there a.re elight gramophones, not a single wireless, and when I purchased 11111}' second ~nstrument there wen~ only .three., .

I ha.ve been wondering whether you could g1Ve a. few stones of f.am()us men and their wQ,rks such as the trying t imes and jQJly t imes of their lives aHd the synopsis of symphonies. and such. To me for insta.nee as I play through the Unfimshed Symphony I seem to see Schubert's l ife story as portra.yed. in Lilac Time, tlWo be-a.u.t.iful pieces. And I am ~ure you could guve a l ist of the firms every mouth who pUibhsh the songs a.nd they in retu.rn through you supply the words 0.1' some working agreement ibetween the recording a.nd pU'blishing OO'Dlpanies to. enable l isteners to enjoy more the vooal recQTds and other records which as I say have stories to them . I t would be mOI'e enjoya.ble to l isten to. To buy the copy of music besides makes i t too deat!". Some of 'lIly 'best vor"als I cannot <latch the words R.nd wo.uld much appreciate to have them to foJlow on ~y records . They are ·a,<; follows: Death and Farewell. Of Barts, Cha.liapine, H.M.V. Oc ean th01L Mighty Monst er, F. Austral. Leqenrl of Kleinsltck, Tudor navies. Room for tli e Factotum, P. · fuwson. Hear 11e Israel amI From Mighty K ing s, F. Au stral. 1l Bacio fl.nd Doll Song, Isabel Baillie. The recording companies ought to. pu;blish the wo.rds with every song record. They wouJd sell more. As i t is, a lot l ike the music a.nd voice and lose interest because t11ey cannot oa.tch the words, or they could publish a l i t t le booklet with 'all the words on .

So now, Mr. Editor , I will dr3.w to a. close, hoping and trusting that better t imes are nea.r at hand when we ..a rdent gl'aanophonists and gr9lmo;m.aniacs can help you more in your reque6t to! buy the best reCorded music, an-d you do many t imes ask us to, but still out of reaoh, l.ike the reader of Hull says i t's expensive to often, unless we're milliQuaires, but not me only a lover of music and an ignOl'a.nt person as music g<>es but sHU I can apprecia.te good lIllusic if I am

A WORKING LAD.

Sir, I hope you will forgive my mista.kes and correct them if you puilllish thlis letter, but I felt lil{e giving vent to my feelings , ,a.ndas I am not a writer i t's very difficult to. write to someone l ike you .