Welcome

Plumbago Books and Arts is a new enterprise launched in London in 2000 to publish and promote specialized writings and events in the arts, and particularly those that might otherwise have no outlet. It is named after the bush that grows in the wild in Europe but in Britain needs to be nurtured. Its logo has been designed especially by Mary Fedden RA, OBE and represents the characteristic blue flower of the plumbago capensis. Plumbago is based in Dulwich in South London and its technical support and printers in Oxford and Chippenham (see Personnel).

The publications build bridges between the academic and commercial worlds, but are carefully refereed. The first publication was launched in October 2001. This was The Jerusalem Diary. Music, Society and Politics, 1977 and 1979 by Hans Keller with drawings by Milein Cosman (see excerpts). Recently launched was Hans Keller's Music and Psychology: From Vienna to London, 1939-52. Later publications will include further books, congress reports and (in due course) yearbooks with an emphasis on music and the visual arts. Plumbago will also act as a British agent for similar enterprises from overseas.

The events include concerts of unusual music, new music, or music (new or old) arranged around a special topic; and there are talks and discussions under the umbrella of a new seminar on musical poetics organized by the Director and held in the University of London and in the Conservatories.

Announcements

Hans Keller's Music and Psychology is now available for purchase (see introduction, details, and excerpts). The book is the subject of the leading article of the Autumn 2003 issue of the Musical Times and is reviewed in the January 2004 issue of Tempo.

The Jerusalem Diary was named Royal Philharmonic Society Book of the Year Prize, 2001 at the society's annual dinner at the Dorchester Hotel on 8 May 2002.

Recent events have included a Master Class and Concert on Beethoven and the British String Quartet, given by Hugh Wood and the Dante String Quartet and a talk by Graham Hair, Professor of Music at Glasgow University, on his music and his work on Matyas Seiber.

In October 2001, Plumbago Books and Arts received a Millennium Award from The National Lottery in support of its ongoing work for the Hans Keller Archive. The award was presented through the Jewish Music Institute based at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. This adds to previous awards received for the Archive from: the Hans Keller Trust; the Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge; the Britten-Pears School, Aldeburgh; and the Institute of Advanced Musical Studies, King’s College London.