WELSH ORCHESTRA

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 73, 15 January 1947, Page 5

WELSH ORCHESTRA

8.8. C. ENTERPRISE ENTHUSIASM IN WALES A post-war development in British music is the formation by the British Broadcasting Corporation of a new 8.8. C. Welsh Orchestra, consisting of thirty-one players. The pre-war orchestra of twenty was disbanded on the outbreak of the war. The conductor will be Mansel Thomas and the leader Philip Whiteway, who used to lead the 8.8. C. Northern Ireland Orchestra in prewar days. A high percentage of the players are Welsh or with Welsh associations. Like the 8.8.C.’s other regional orchestras, the 8.8. C. Welsh Orchestra will contribute its quota to the general 8.8. C. programmes, including, of course, the overseas services, so that overseas listeners to the 8.8. C. will hear the new orchestra from time to time. Its repertoire will be determined by the size of the orchestra and will consist mainly of light and light classical music, but it has a special responsibility to encourage the work of Welsh composers. A series of monthly programmes of Welsh orchestra music has already been planned. Several works by modern composers await a hearing. Contemporary Welsh composers are being invited to submit manu-

scripts of new works and it is expected that the result will have a " stimulating effect on Welsh composers and Welsh music generally. There is at present tremendous enthusiasm in Wales for orchestral music and the broadcasting of choral performances, for which the Welsh are famous, has hitherto suffered owing to the lack of a permanent professional orchestra in Wales.