ABSTRACT
If artist promotion and personal management were not specifically on Ibbs and Tillett's agenda, then processing requests for performers – often pianists–were definitely from music clubs and societies. With an active network at their disposal, many English pianists in the middle years of the twentieth century could be busily occupied with playing primarily for music clubs. Denis Matthews' reputation as one of the foremost English pianists quickly gained him a solo recital in the main hall on 18 May 1951, a Festival of Britain event. If broadcasting allocations may be thought to interface with a pianist's career trajectory, they can be used to track rises, falls and trends. It is clear that broadcasting opportunities for the successful mid-twentieth-century pianist were plentiful and career-sustaining. Although a number of core repertoire concertos may be taken for granted, many pianists, when questioned on the subject, express a preference for one body of repertoire over another.
