TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND RECORDS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 51, 14 June 1940, Page 8

TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND RECORDS

Everything From A Symphony To A Massacre

after shelf and through album ‘after album in the library of 2YA Wellington. In fact, twentynine thousand records, as varied as the colours in Joseph’s coat. They form the domain of Dorothy Tighe, the station’s librarian, whom a representative of The Listener interviewed the other afternoon. ste records, records, marching over shelf No need to stress just what an important job hers is. Records, of course, occupy a very large percentage of broadcasting time. That is why the rule in the 2YA ‘library is "Nothing without system." Each disc is carefully catalogued under different classifica-tions-title first, then, if. it is vocal, under type of singer, and so on. With each overseas ship bringing fresh recordings, the library has emulated Topsy, who just grew and grew. In the Early Days No one has watched more closely this growth than Miss Tighe, for she joined the broadcasting world before there was a National. Service, when individual companies held control. Thus she remembers the days ("It seems almost like yesterday") when recordings were played on an ordinary cabinet gramophone with the microphone in position above the turntable. Sometimes, indeed, an absent-minded Operator forgot to wind the gramophone up, and then. ... In those days, radio was almost as unknown a field as Tibet is still, and the work had a strong savour of adventure about it; Miss Tighe used to do every conceivable type of work-from cataloguing discs to actually broadcasting recitals. "Yes, I think we have all the greatest worksthere are nearly three hundred albums in the library -all the symphonies, chamber music, and complete and abridged operas," said Miss Tighe, in reply to a question. "Then, in recent years, have come recorded serials and dramatic features- there are a good number of those, and they’re all kept in a

‘separate library and Tequisitioned as _ required." Requests From Listeners Once, says ~Miss Tighe, the station was inundated with requests from listeners for their favourite recordings. In fact, these requests have now, officially, at any rate, to be refused. Station 2YD’s "Listeners’ Own" session handles most request items. But she remembers there was very often a touch of. humour about. listeners’ de-mands-such as the day a fan wrote in asking for "that song about the vulgar boatman."

For Sunday programmes there is a special separate library of hymns and: sacred music; the Children’s Hour similarly has its own library of suitable records. An interesting section now in process of being built up is the Historical Library where voices of celebrities past and present are captured forever in wax. Special Effects Not least interesting is the library of records of "effects’- what an earlier generation of playlovers knew as "noises-off." In the modern counterpart is to be found every conceivable type of noise -from train crashes to lapping waters or a massacre. Then there’s a peculiar, nondescript category of records-such as Gandhi speaking on his philosophy,

Kingsford-Smith’s arrival after a record-breaking flight, Chichester’s England-Australia flight, Ramsay McDonald on Robert Burns, a speech by the Duke of Windsor when he was Prince of Wales, Nellie Melba’s farewell speech, Admiral Jellicoe speaking at a remembrance festival, and a message to the Islam world by His Highness the Aga Khan; and many more. Dorothy Tighe will be leaving the NBS shortly to get married. Although her work looking after this record record library has not always been easy, she has found the task in many ways a fascinating one-and she is not sure whether she’s sorry or glad to be going.