Conference Agenda

The Britten Pears Arts (formally, Britten-Pears Foundation) in Aldeburgh, UK holds one of the most comprehensive collections dedicated to a twentieth-century composer, offering an unparalleled view of Benjamin Britten (1913-76)’s creative world. Its manuscripts, annotated scores, correspondence, diaries, rehearsal notes, and performance ephemera provide a detailed record of Britten’s activity during the 1950s—a decade marked by artistic expansion, international touring, and a deepening collaboration with Peter Pears. This presentation introduces the richness of these Aldeburgh holdings and considers how they reshape musicological understanding of Britten’s mid-century output.

Focusing on Winter Words (1953) as a case study, the session examines what these archival sources reveal about Britten’s compositional decisions and interpretive relationships. Drafts and annotations highlight his responses to Hardy’s poetry and the shaping of vocal and pianistic nuance. Letters and rehearsal notes trace the collaborative dialogue between Britten and Pears, while programmes, itineraries, and early press responses situate Winter Words within the cultural and performance networks that supported its early circulation. Collectively, these materials show how the cycle reflects broader artistic concerns evident across Britten’s 1950s work.

The presentation concludes by emphasising the interpretive power of the Aldeburgh archives: their ability to document creative process, preserve ephemeral traces of performance, and illuminate the social and artistic infrastructures surrounding Britten’s music. Highlighting the archive as a site of ongoing discovery, the session demonstrates how direct engagement with primary sources can prompt new perspectives on Britten’s 1950s output.

In October 2025 the Wigmore Hall, one of the UK’s most eminent concert establishments, celebrated the centenary of Rebecca Clarke’s sold-out concert of her own works. This ‘Rebecca Clarke Day’ featured a noteworthy array of lecture-recitals and performances of familiar and previously unheard works. Yet, little was discussed about Clarke’s colleagues, supporting the 1925 recital through their exceptional performances, namely, pianist Myra Hess, violinist Adila Fachiri, singer John Goss, and cellist May Mukle. These musicians were celebrated in their own right – Hess receiving a damehood in 1941 for her musical contributions during wartime, whilst Mukle was regarded as the “greatest lady ’cellist of the world” (‘Ynyshir’, The Rhondda Leader, 1906). Despite their prestige during their lifetime, the legacies of some of these musicians have fallen into obscurity. Notably, May Mukle (1880-1963), whose contributions to musical life in Britain were evidently considerable, has been largely overlooked within British concert history scholarship.

This paper will consider Mukle’s career through the lens of ephemeral research, asking: “what can concert ephemera tell us about this musician’s obscured career, her concertising activities and collaborations?”. By tracing her activities within the Wigmore Hall concert archives, the paper aims to unearth Mukle’s output and versatility as a performer. Furthermore, it reveals that Mukle’s musical identity extended from the role of performer to that of arranger and even composer, further showcasing her resourcefulness as a musician. Finally, the paper will examine Mukle’s collaborators, outlining frequent partnerships, and notes the significance of such networks in her musical career.

The Beatles Monthly Book (1963-1969) is an extremely valuable historical resource. The magazine followed the Beatles’ story, as it was unfolding, from the early days of moptop haircuts to the sombre days of the group’s separation. These 77 issues provide an excellent tool for Beatles scholars, and fans, to understand how the Beatles became such a cultural phenomenon. The magazine provided a direct line not only between the Beatles and their fans, but also within the fan community itself. Through the magazine, fan club secretaries across the globe collaborated to develop a sense of community for Beatles fans.

Beatles Monthly played a significant role in establishing and maintaining the Beatles’ image and fostering the group’s devoted fan community. The magazine, however, is majorly under-represented across Beatles scholarship and within 21st-century fandom discussions. At present, besides a collection of scans accessed via the Internet Archive, there is no resource nor archive specifically dedicated to exploring this invaluable magazine.

As such, this paper aims to highlight the importance of this magazine and argues for its significance within contemporary studies of the Beatles’ cultural impact. Using corpus analysis methods, this project seeks to uncover and catalogue the various untold authorial voices that contributed to the magazine. The paper will also consider potential ways in which the magazine could become more widely accessible for Beatles scholars and fans alike, for instance through an interactive online archive or exhibitions.