Novello and the PRS

In his evidence to the Copyright Commission, Henry Littleton stressed that Novello's policy was to ensure that performing rights were assigned to the firm in all contracts signed with composers and Elgar was no exception to this. Novello did not, however, exercise these assigned performing rights, and its reasons for not joining the PRS, when it was formed in 1914, were articulated in a background briefing by an unnamed director and published in the Daily Telegraph, 16 July 1914. There were two separate but related points made in this briefing. First: ‘We were quite prepared to join the Society, provided they kept to the line of dealing with bodies who were using music for the purpose of making money.’ Second:

The two points are interesting as they were consistent with the firm's previous decision to secure performing fees for Elgar on Symphony No. 1, the Violin Concerto, Symphony No. 2 and Falstaff. All of these works were likely to be performed at concerts held for the purpose of making money, and none of them involved the use of amateur choral societies.