Klarinet Archive - Posting 001008.txt from 1997/09

From: Robin Fairbairns <Robin.Fairbairns@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: B&H for sale, any takers here?
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 04:42:43 -0400

Sorry about the previous mistaken repost of Rafe's message -- my
arthritic old fingers do stupid things in the morning, sometimes...

What I meant to say was:

Rafe Tennenbaum writes (quoting me):

> >> There seems to be nationalist opposition to the sale in Britain, in
> >> part because Boosey and Hawkes's publishing division owns exclusive
> >> rights to many British standards,
> >
> >I'm not sure what you're saying here. Boosey are the publishers for
> >many significant composers, and there is of course concern that those
> >composers' works will continue to be published. Naturally, a good
> >proportion of those composers are British, but the reports I read
> >didn't imply that there was a nationalistic element in the concern
> >about the expected sale.
>
> I was simply paraphrasing the report, without comment. The lead
> (first sentence) of the story reads: "....nothing makes xenophobic
> Brits yowl more than the prospect that their beloved quasi-national
> anthem, 'Land of Hope and Glory,' may soon wind up in foreign hands."
> Rhetorical excess? Maybe, but...

I suspect a goodly number of british musicians would be quite happy
for "land of hopeless tories" to end up in foreign hands. Elgar
most probably would have been.

There is, however, real concern among serious musicians that several
lesser-know gems of the British (and other) repertoire could fall prey
to "modern publishing techniques".

Robin