On Carey Blyton’s 43rd birthday, 14th March 1975, a Barming Music Evening took place in his honour and dedicated to his music, where – in addition to talking about his work – not only were some recordings played, but several live première performances were given. The live performances were given by Caroline Moore, soprano and Laurence Gerrish, piano.
Part 1:Part 2:The event was broadcast by BBC Radio Medway and is reproduced here in its entirety. Because it’s such a very long programme, however, for practicality it has been split into two halves, which may be played using the controls to the right. For anyone who would prefer to have the programme in its unbroken entirety, the full version is also provided as a separate (large, 96MB) download.
The complete programme of music included in the broadcast is as follows (the horizontal divider indicates the halfway split of the recording); note that the live performances of Caroline Moore and Laurence Gerrish have been extracted into separate files and may be played by using the playback controls embedded in the programme listing:
| Library music, 1974 | Valse Musette | |
|---|---|---|
| Opus 15b, 1952/9 | Symphony in Yellow Live performance |
|
| Opus 7a, 1951 | Six Epigrams for Piano Live FIRST PERFORMANCE |
1 Idyll
2 March 3 Blues 4 Scherzo 5 Homage to Czerny 6 Echoes |
| Film music, 1973 | Capital City (extract) | Part 2: Commuters hurrying into London |
| Film music, 1973 | Flying Birds (extracts) | 1. Theme
2. Variation 3: The Arctic Tern 3. Variation 8: Knot, Widgeon and Waders – Variation 9: Oystercatchers and Sanderling (Finale) |
| Library music, 1974 | Girl Friday | |
| Opus 48, 1964/5 | Prayers from the Ark Live FIRST BROADCAST PERFORMANCE |
1 The Prayer of the Cock
2 The Prayer of the Goldfish 3 The Prayer of the Cat 4 The Prayer of the Tortoise 5 The Prayer of the Mouse 6 The Prayer of the Ox 7 The Prayer of the Lark |
| Opus 31a, 1960 | Patterns for Piano Live FIRST PERFORMANCE |
1 Waltz (Passacaglia)
2 Pastoral (Chaconne) 3 The Organ-grinder (Ostinato) |
| Opus 42, 1954–63/4 | Three Impressions for Piano | 1 Denmark, in the Deer Park (Dyrehaven)
2 France (Brittany Beach) [1954] 3 Hungary, on the Puszta (Peasant Dance) |
| Film music, 1970 | Footprints in the Jungle (extract) | |
| Film music, 1969 | Before the Party (extract) | |
| Film music, 1971 | The Pigeon-Fancier (extract) | Closing Title Music |
| Opus 35a, 1963 | Three Food Songs Live FIRST BROADCAST PERFORMANCE |
1 Early Bacon
2 Sink Song 3 Bacon and Eggs |
| Opus 40a, 1963 | Three Insect Songs Live FIRST BROADCAST PERFORMANCE |
1 Taking the Veil
2 Poor Fly 3 Swat a Life! |
| Opus 038a, 1963 | Three Bird Songs Live FIRST BROADCAST PERFORMANCE |
1 The Cormorant
2 The Stork 3 The Elephant |
| TV music, 1969 | Doctor Who and the Silurians (extracts) |
1 Silurians
2 The monster |
| 1972 | Bananas in Pyjamas Live performance |
1 Bananas in Pyjamas
2 The Luxurious Shoe-horn |
Carey Blyton—A 25-Year Retrospective of His Life & Career
Duration: 1 hour and 50 minutes
A Barming Music Evening
Introduced by Harold Rogers
with Caroline Moore, soprano
and Laurence Gerrish, piano
Original broadcast:
Friday, 14th March 1975
BBC Radio Medway
30 High Street, Chatham, Kent ME4 4EZ
broadcast from Barming Place, Tonbridge Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 9DT