
Composer Imogen Holst's Aldeburgh home given listed status
Holst became Benjamin Britten's musical assistant - who was also from Suffolk - and in 1952 she was invited to help him as he worked on the opera Gloriana marking the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.She later became the artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival.
Her Church Walk home was created by Jim and Betty Cadbury-Brown - designers for the 1951 Festival of Britain's Southbank site.Her rent consisted of just a crate of wine for the couple at Christmas and a supply of Aldeburgh Festival tickets.
When thanking the Cadbury-Brown's for the house, she wrote: "My immense and perpetual gratitude for the loveliest house in the world."The property included some of her personal items such as her writing desk as well as her father's oak music cupboard where she stored his manuscripts. The house is owned by Britten Pears Arts and is available as a holiday rental. It is also open to the public every year for Heritage Open Days.
Sir Chris Bryant, heritage minister, said the "significance" of the home "extends far beyond its status as an unassuming yet notable example of Jim Cadbury-Brown's architecture".Historic England's chief executive, Duncan Wilson, added that the home told of Holst's "contribution to British music and her connection to the Aldeburgh Festival, which continues to enrich our cultural landscape".Andrew Comben, chief executive of Britten Pears Arts, said: "The Grade II listing of her house will help us to continue to tell her story on a national and international scale."
Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Leeds library seeks performers to revive Victorian ballads
A museum is seeking musicians to revive Victorian ballads from the golden age of music halls, some of which have not been played in more than 100 collection of vintage sheet music includes late 19th and early 20th-Century songs that have comic, satirical or political themes and "raucous" melodies, said Leeds Central Library.A selection of sheet music is on display outside the music library, with staff hoping to find local pianists and singers who can perform the pieces at a series of events planned to celebrate Heritage Open Days in librarian Lee Noon said the music hall ballads were "very much the pop songs of their day". "Music hall tunes like these were once a hugely popular part of leisure and entertainment in cities like Leeds, and would have been enjoyed by people of all classes and backgrounds," he said."Many of these songs won't have been performed or heard by an audience for more than a century now, and we'd love to give people in Leeds the chance to experience them again and for our local musicians to try and recapture a bit of what was really the golden age of music halls."Each of these pieces of music represents a little bit of the city's musical history and it would be a really special moment to help bring them back to life again." The collection includes a combination of well-known musical classics and forgotten songs penned by local includes music for Ride a Cock Horse, billed as a "drawing room comic song" performed by Harry Liston, and George Leybourne's "great comic song" The Organ Man, which he wrote and and Mrs Baggs, described as "a most thrilling narrative giving an account of the frightful apparition, the appearance of which so affected Mrs B's nerves that she was laid up for seven weeks after", is also in the front cover of the sheet music shows a pyjama-clad Mr Baggs brandishing a blunderbuss at a terrified cat as his wife looks Central Library hosts one of the biggest collections of sheet music in the UK. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.


Glasgow Times
15-07-2025
- Glasgow Times
Tim Davie says he can ‘lead' the BBC in ‘right way' in wake of scandals
The BBC has been criticised for a number of failings in recent months which include breaching its own accuracy editorial guidelines, livestreaming the controversial Bob Vylan Glastonbury set, and recent misconduct allegations surrounding the former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace. The corporation's annual report showed that Mr Davie, who has been in the role since 2020, has had a 3.8% pay rise with his salary going up £20,000 from £527,000 last year to £547,000. Director-general of the BBC Tim Davie (Peter Byrne/PA) Mr Davie was asked during the release of the corporation's 2024/2025 annual report on Tuesday whether he would resign. He said: 'I simply think I'm in a place where I can work to improve dramatically the BBC and lead it in the right way. 'We will make mistakes, but I think as a leadership and myself, I've been very clear, and I think we have been decisive. 'There's enormous, massive noise and different opinions about what we should do, but I think we have been clear. We are making the right decisions. We're being transparent on what we do, and I think that's what counts. I would also say that under my tenure, I've set a very clear stall out in terms of impartiality. 'I think we're setting a global standard in terms of public service broadcasting and media. 'Under my leadership, and the team I've assembled, I think we feel very passionately about that. 'One of the things that I focus on, as a leader, is there has never been a more important time for public service broadcasting. 'Gaza has been the most challenging editorial issue I've had to deal with, but the importance of fair, balanced reporting, the need for high quality, homegrown programming in the face of massive pressure, I think, has never, ever been greater. 'I believe my leadership and the team I've assembled can really help the leadership thrive in that environment.' Dr Samir Shah, BBC chair. (Department for Culture, Media and Sport/PA) This comes after a review conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews – which is independent of BBC News, and published on Monday, found its documentary, Gaza: Surviving a Warzone, breached BBC editorial guidelines on accuracy for failing to disclose details of the narrator's father. The report did not find any other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality and also found no evidence that 'outside interests' 'inappropriately impacted on the programme'. Since the report was published, broadcasting regulator Ofcom announced it would investigate the documentary under its own broadcasting code, which states that factual programmes 'must not materially mislead the audience'. Dr Samir Shah, BBC chair, added: 'I want to be absolutely clear that I and the board support Tim Davie's leadership fully. 'He has shown very confident and decisive leadership in a very, very challenging environment, right from the start 'The number of issues of vision from people behaving badly to News in some cases, when it's appropriate, decisively and shouldn't do it all, in other cases, 'We are the BBC, and we will do this properly. We do it fairly, we do it correctly, and we will then take action. That's where we are at the moment. 'Tim Davie and his team, and Tim in particular, has shown very strong leadership throughout all this period, and he has my full support.'

South Wales Argus
15-07-2025
- South Wales Argus
Tim Davie says he can ‘lead' the BBC in ‘right way' in wake of scandals
The BBC has been criticised for a number of failings in recent months which include breaching its own accuracy editorial guidelines, livestreaming the controversial Bob Vylan Glastonbury set, and recent misconduct allegations surrounding the former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace. The corporation's annual report showed that Mr Davie, who has been in the role since 2020, has had a 3.8% pay rise with his salary going up £20,000 from £527,000 last year to £547,000. Director-general of the BBC Tim Davie (Peter Byrne/PA) Mr Davie was asked during the release of the corporation's 2024/2025 annual report on Tuesday whether he would resign. He said: 'I simply think I'm in a place where I can work to improve dramatically the BBC and lead it in the right way. 'We will make mistakes, but I think as a leadership and myself, I've been very clear, and I think we have been decisive. 'There's enormous, massive noise and different opinions about what we should do, but I think we have been clear. We are making the right decisions. We're being transparent on what we do, and I think that's what counts. I would also say that under my tenure, I've set a very clear stall out in terms of impartiality. 'I think we're setting a global standard in terms of public service broadcasting and media. 'Under my leadership, and the team I've assembled, I think we feel very passionately about that. 'One of the things that I focus on, as a leader, is there has never been a more important time for public service broadcasting. 'Gaza has been the most challenging editorial issue I've had to deal with, but the importance of fair, balanced reporting, the need for high quality, homegrown programming in the face of massive pressure, I think, has never, ever been greater. 'I believe my leadership and the team I've assembled can really help the leadership thrive in that environment.' Dr Samir Shah, BBC chair. (Department for Culture, Media and Sport/PA) This comes after a review conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews – which is independent of BBC News, and published on Monday, found its documentary, Gaza: Surviving a Warzone, breached BBC editorial guidelines on accuracy for failing to disclose details of the narrator's father. The report did not find any other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality and also found no evidence that 'outside interests' 'inappropriately impacted on the programme'. Since the report was published, broadcasting regulator Ofcom announced it would investigate the documentary under its own broadcasting code, which states that factual programmes 'must not materially mislead the audience'. Dr Samir Shah, BBC chair, added: 'I want to be absolutely clear that I and the board support Tim Davie's leadership fully. 'He has shown very confident and decisive leadership in a very, very challenging environment, right from the start 'The number of issues of vision from people behaving badly to News in some cases, when it's appropriate, decisively and shouldn't do it all, in other cases, 'We are the BBC, and we will do this properly. We do it fairly, we do it correctly, and we will then take action. That's where we are at the moment. 'Tim Davie and his team, and Tim in particular, has shown very strong leadership throughout all this period, and he has my full support.'