National Gramophonic Society

The National Gramophonic Society (NGS) was an English record society established in 1923 by the novelist and Gramophone magazine founder Compton Mackenzie. Its purpose was to record and publish classical music that commercial record companies were unlikely to undertake, particularly complete and uncut performances of chamber works and other repertoire considered commercially marginal. The society operated through subscriptions, with members helping to sustain a programme of recordings and being invited to vote on proposals for future seasons. The NGS emerged shortly after Mackenzie launched the monthly magazine The Gramophone, now known as Gramophone. The magazine served as the society's principal promotional outlet: its pages announced NGS activities, discussed forthcoming releases and helped build a community of listeners interested in historically important or neglected music. The society's programming was shaped by an advisory committee that included the chamber-music advocate Walter Willson Cobbett, string-quartet leader Edwin Spencer Dyke, Gramophone contributors W. R. Anderson, Alec Robertson and Peter Latham, Mackenzie, and editor Christopher Stone, who also served as NGS secretary. Most NGS releases were recording premieres. The catalogue appeared on 10-inch and 12-inch 78 rpm or 80 rpm discs, identifiable by their yellow labels. Its repertoire was centered on chamber music but also included works for small orchestra and a limited number of vocal pieces. The society recorded music by canonical composers, including Schubert, Brahms, Purcell, Vivaldi and Mozart, while also documenting music by living or comparatively modern composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Arnold Bax, Peter Warlock, Eugene Goossens, Arnold Schoenberg and Edward Elgar. Among its notable projects were early recordings of Schubert's C major String Quintet, Brahms's Clarinet Quintet, Warlock's The Curlew and the original sextet version of Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht. The NGS relied on a broad network of performers. Its most prolific ensembles were the Spencer Dyke String Quartet, André Mangeot's Music Society String Quartet and the International String Quartet. Other participating musicians included cellist and conductor John Barbirolli, clarinettists Charles Draper and Frederick Thurston, oboist Leon Goossens, violinist Adila Fachiri, pianists Donald Francis Tovey, Harold Craxton and Kathleen Long, and the piano duo Bartlett and Robertson. Walter Willson Cobbett's own quartet also made two productions, financed by Cobbett himself. Members lived in Britain and elsewhere, especially across the British Empire and in the United States. This international subscription base allowed the society to commission and distribute recordings beyond the immediate British market. NGS production ended in 1931, principally amid financial difficulties affecting Gramophone (Publications) Ltd. and partly because commercial companies, particularly EMI through its own record societies and Walter Legge's activities, increasingly recorded repertoire similar to that championed by the NGS. The society's records nevertheless remained available for years afterward, with some titles reportedly sold into the 1950s. The NGS gained renewed attention in the twenty-first century. In 2006, Gramophone editor James Jolly approached restoration engineer Andrew Rose of Pristine Audio about transferring and remastering the surviving NGS collection held by Gramophone. Transcription began that year, and a rolling digital remastering programme started through Pristine Classical in March 2008. Scholarly and collector interest also grew through articles by Frank Andrews, Jolly and Nick Morgan. Morgan's doctoral research at the University of Sheffield, completed in 2013, examined the society's administration, recording programme, production, marketing, distribution, publications, membership and reception, and included a complete discography. The research was published in book form in 2016.

The National Gramophonic Society was founded in England in 1923 by Compton Mackenzie, the novelist who had recently established the magazine The Gramophone. The society was designed as a subscription organization for classical music recording and publication. Its founding premise was that important music, especially complete chamber works and repertoire outside the priorities of commercial record companies, needed an alternative means of production and distribution. The society's programme was developed by an advisory committee associated with Gramophone. Members included Walter Willson Cobbett, Edwin Spencer Dyke, W. R. Anderson, Alec Robertson, Peter Latham, Compton Mackenzie and Christopher Stone. Stone also acted as secretary. Subscribers were invited to vote on the recording programme for each season, giving the NGS a participatory model unusual in a commercial recording industry increasingly shaped by mass-market demand. NGS issues were generally recording premieres and were released on 10-inch and 12-inch 78 rpm or 80 rpm discs with yellow labels. Chamber music formed the core of the catalogue, although the society also recorded music for small orchestra and a small number of vocal works. The repertoire combined established works with music that was then unfamiliar or insufficiently represented on disc. Early recordings associated with the society included Schubert's C major String Quintet and Brahms's Clarinet Quintet, as well as works by Purcell, Vivaldi and Mozart. The NGS also recorded music by living composers, including Ralph Vaughan Williams, Arnold Bax, Peter Warlock, Eugene Goossens, Arnold Schoenberg and Edward Elgar. Several ensembles and performers became particularly important to the catalogue. The Spencer Dyke String Quartet, André Mangeot's Music Society String Quartet and the International String Quartet were among the most prolific recording groups. The wider roster included John Barbirolli, Charles Draper, Frederick Thurston, Leon Goossens, Adila Fachiri, Donald Francis Tovey, Harold Craxton, Kathleen Long, and Bartlett and Robertson. Cobbett's own quartet made two productions, which Cobbett personally financed, although his broader practical involvement with the society was limited. The NGS developed an international membership, with subscribers in Britain, the British Empire and the United States. Its activities and releases were promoted through Gramophone magazine, linking the recording society to a growing specialist audience of collectors and classical-music enthusiasts. The society's model allowed it to preserve and circulate repertoire that might otherwise have remained unrecorded, but it also left the organization financially dependent on a relatively specialized subscription market. New production ended in 1931. Financial problems at Gramophone (Publications) Ltd. were a principal factor, while the growth of commercial society labels—particularly EMI projects associated with Walter Legge—made the NGS's original role less distinctive. Existing records continued to be sold after production stopped, with some titles remaining available into the 1950s. Interest in the NGS revived through preservation and scholarship. In 2006, James Jolly of Gramophone contacted Andrew Rose of Pristine Audio to arrange the transfer and restoration of surviving NGS discs held in Gramophone's collection. Digital remastering releases began through Pristine Classical in March 2008. The project coincided with renewed writing about the society by Frank Andrews, Jolly and Nick Morgan. Morgan's University of Sheffield doctoral thesis, awarded in 2013, provided an extensive institutional history and discography and was published as a book in 2016.

• 2016

  Morgan's history published

  [1]National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Morgan's research appeared in book form through Classical Recordings Quarterly Editions of Sheffield.

• 2013

  Nick Morgan awarded PhD on the NGS

  [1]National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The University of Sheffield awarded Nick Morgan a doctorate based on a comprehensive study and discography of the society.

• 2008

  Digital remastering programme launches

  [1]National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Remastered NGS recordings began to be issued as downloads through Pristine Classical.

• 2006

  Archive restoration project begins

  [1]National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Gramophone and Pristine Audio began arranging the transfer and restoration of surviving NGS 78 rpm discs.

• 1931

  New production ends

  [1]National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The NGS stopped producing new recordings because of financial difficulties at Gramophone (Publications) Ltd. and the expanding role of commercial record societies.

• 1923

  National Gramophonic Society founded

  [1]National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Compton Mackenzie established the society in England to record and publish classical music neglected by commercial record companies.

A specialist, subscription-based classical recording society focused on complete performances, recording premieres and repertoire neglected by mainstream commercial labels.

• Classical music records · 1923

  NGS 78 rpm discs

  The society's principal physical product was a series of 10-inch and 12-inch 78 rpm or 80 rpm records, commonly identified by distinctive yellow labels. Releases concentrated on chamber music and recording premieres, while also covering selected small-orchestral and vocal repertoire. The subscription model supported projects that commercial labels considered insufficiently profitable.

• Digital historical recordings · 2008

  Pristine Classical NGS remasters

  Beginning in 2008, surviving NGS discs were transferred and restored by Andrew Rose of Pristine Audio in cooperation with Gramophone. The resulting digital editions made historically significant performances and recording premieres available to modern listeners without relying on the fragile original shellac discs.

• 2006National Gramophonic Society archive restoration project

  International digital music market

  Gramophone editor James Jolly proposed a project with Pristine Audio to transfer and remaster the surviving NGS collection held by Gramophone. The initiative treated the historic catalogue as an archival resource rather than merely a discontinued label output.

  Outcome. The discs were transcribed in 2006, and remastered releases began appearing through Pristine Classical in March 2008.

  Source

• 2008

  Release digitally restored NGS recordingsProduct launch

  Background

  Surviving shellac discs required transfer and audio restoration if they were to reach contemporary listeners in usable form.

  Action taken

  Pristine Classical began issuing digitally remastered NGS recordings following transfers made by Andrew Rose.

  Aftermath

  The project renewed access to the society's historically important performances and stimulated further collector and scholarly interest.

  Source

• 1931

  End new recording productionStrategy

  Background

  Gramophone (Publications) Ltd. faced financial difficulties, while commercial companies—especially EMI—had begun recording similar repertoire through their own society issues.

  Action taken

  The NGS ceased production of new recordings, although existing records continued to be sold for years afterward.

  Aftermath

  The society became a historical catalogue rather than an active producer, with some records remaining available into the 1950s.

  • EMI — EMI expanded its own society recording activities and helped make the NGS's original specialist role less necessary.

  Source

• 1923

  Adopt a subscription model for neglected classical repertoireStrategy

  Background

  Commercial record companies often avoided complete chamber works and other specialized classical material because of limited expected demand.

  Action taken

  The NGS invited subscribers to support its programme and vote on proposed seasonal recordings, while an advisory committee selected and reviewed projects.

  Aftermath

  The model enabled numerous recording premieres and created an international membership base, but left the society vulnerable to financial pressures in a specialized market.

  Source

• 2016

  A full history and discography is published[1]National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Classical Recordings Quarterly Editions of Sheffield published Morgan's study in its Studies in the History of Recording series.

• 2013

  Nick Morgan completes doctoral study of the society[1]National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The University of Sheffield awarded Nick Morgan a PhD for a detailed study of the NGS, including its history, administration, activities, production, distribution, membership and complete discography.

• 2008

  Pristine Classical begins rolling NGS remastering releases[1]National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch · Product generation

  Following the 2006 transfers, remastered NGS recordings began appearing as digital downloads through the Pristine Classical website.

• 2006

  Surviving NGS collection transferred for restoration[1]National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Gramophone editor James Jolly proposed that restoration engineer Andrew Rose of Pristine Audio transfer and remaster the surviving NGS 78 rpm collection held by Gramophone.

• 1931

  National Gramophonic Society ceases production[1]National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Bankruptcy

  The society ended new recording production amid financial difficulties affecting Gramophone (Publications) Ltd. and increased competition from commercial record companies recording comparable classical repertoire.

1. 1National Gramophonic Societyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The National Gramophonic Societysheffield.ac.uk