Palmer family

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 1249 MS 1140
Held at	: Royal College of Music   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.rcm.ac.uk/library/contactus/archivesandrecords/ ›
Full title	: Palmer family
Date(s)	: 1919-1939
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 1 volume
Name of creator(s)	: Palmer | family | Barons Palmer of Reading

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Samuel Ernest Palmer, 1st Baron Palmer of Reading (1858-1948) was a Vice-President and Member of the Council of the Royal College of Music; and elected its first Fellow in 1921. He was raised to the peerage in 1933 for his services to music. In 1903 he endowed the Royal College of Music Patron's Fund with £20,000 for `the encouragement of native composers by the performance of their works'The first use of the funds was to give public concerts of new chamber and orchestral works. A selection committee chose some eight works from a range of 42, for the first performance at St James' Hall on 20 May 1904. Works by Gustav Holst and Arnold Bax featured in the first two concerts. In 1925, he supplemented his Patron's Fund with a Fund for Opera Study, as well as contributions to the fabric of the building. The Fund also gave assistance to young musicians studying abroad and for the publication of compositions. Following World War One, the evening concerts were replaced by daytime concerts in the RCM hall (effectively open rehearsals), the first being performed on 13 Nov 1919. By 1928 there had been 75 such performances, receiving good public attendance and press coverage.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Personal notebook of member of the Palmer family, listing details (artists, conductors and composers) of musical works performed under the auspices of the Royal College of Music Patron's Fund, 1919-1939.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English.

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Usual conditions of the Library of the Royal College of Music apply. See the RCM website or contact the RCM Library for details.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Photocopying is permitted at the discretion of the Archivist for research purposes only.

Finding aids:

Not known

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Given to the RCM by Col the Hon Gordon Palmer in 1987.

Allied Materials

Related material:

The RCM holds other material relating to the Palmer Fund for Opera Study in the records of the Council (Ref: Council), Director (Ref: Director) and Bursar (Ref: Bursar).

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Robert Baxter as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project. Source: The Royal College of Music: a centenary record by H C Coles and John Cruft (Prince Consort Foundation, London, 1982).

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Mar 2001