This section gives a brief history of the society with pen portraits of its early musical directors.

 

History

The society was founded at an inaugural meeting in 1937. Its first musical directors were Carl Dolmetsch and Edgar Hunt, joined later by Walter Bergmann and Freda Dinn. In its first year it gained about 200 members, and had its headquarters in London. After the war it introduced local branches – initially in Birminham, Bristol, Leicester, Manchester and Oxford. Since then the number of branches and the membership have grown.

SRP Membership 1937-2011

For more information, see the chronology of the society.

Special Events

  • 2012 was the Society’s 75th anniversary year. This section gives details of the special events that took place throughout the year.
  • Each Branch was able to claim an award of £150 for a Playing Day in calendar year 2012 or 2013. The award was intended to be used to cover any reasonable expense associated with the Playing Day. Branches were encouraged to run at least part of their Playing Day with a NYRO Taster Day. A Taster Day is an opportunity for young players to get a feel for what it is like to play in a recorder orchestra and to encourage them to apply for one of regular NYRO courses at Easter or in the summer. Further information can be obtained from the NYRO Administrator (Dianne Charles at ).
  • A special summer 2012 issue of The Recorder Magazine included a specially commissioned piece of music, some reflections on the SRP’s past and a collection of photographs from the past.
  • At Festival 2012, in Effingham near Guildford, there was an exhibition of documents and photos relating to the Society’s 75th anniversary.
  • There was a special reception after the SRP/Moeck Competition recital in November 2012.

The SRP 2012 Report

In April 2012 the SRP committee received a report from a working group set up to consider how the Society should serve its members and the wider community and support the continuation and development of recorder playing in the UK up to 2020. You can read the report here and branch secretaries all have paper copies.

Have your say

The committee encouraged the views of SRP members and the wider recorder community on the proposals in this report.

If you wish to comment privately, you can send an email comment to the SRP Secretary.

 

Last updated 30 August 2022