The contents of the 2025 edition of the BMS Journal have now been published online and are available for members to access.
Journal editor Ian Maxwell highlights some of the interesting content in this edition which leads with Guy Turner’s article marking the double anniversaries of both the birth and death of the astonishingly prolific composer Eric Thiman (1900-1975).
Also getting a special mention is David Chandler’s fascinating examination of the British pop cantata phenomenon. This is a very timely piece of research from the perspective of the BMS as much of the wealth generated by the pop cantatas Jonah-Man Jazz, Rooster Rag, and others formed the Michael Hurd bequest which has enabled the BMS to record much of Hurd’s music and other items of neglected British repertoire over the past two decades.
There is also an in-depth presentation of the Gardineriana Rhpasody, by pianist Christopher Guild celebrating the tenth anniversary of Stevenson’s death with a forensic examination of a fascinating piano work that is an amalgamation of ideas from Balfour Gardiner, Percy Grainger, and Stevenson himself.
Ian Maxwell’s own article is a personal calendar for 2025 celebrating fifteen composers that have been important influences on his own life as a musician. BMS German representative Jürgen Schaarwächter presents a fascinating investigation into the symbolism evident in Joseph Holbrooke’s ‘Dramatic Poem’ The Bells— the setting of a text by Edgar Allan Poe.
The 14th International Biennial Conference on Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain was held at the end of July 2025. This conference is the subject of a report by Suzanne Robinson.
Finally, a book review by Stephen Banfield who take a fresh look at Arnold Whittall’s British Music After Britten. Professor Banfield dissects Whittall’s observations with his customary informed expertise.
BMS Members will need to sign into the website to access read articles online as well as to explore many of the other Journals produced over the past decades since the early days of the Society.