Ivan March (5 April 1928 – 1 November 2018) was a musician, editor of '' The Stereo Record Guide'' and a series of '' Penguin Guides'' to recorded classical music.

Life and career

Ivan March was born on 5 April 1928 in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

, but was raised in

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The thre ...

, south London. "Ivan March, classical music enthusiast who in the 1950s pioneered a postal record lending library – obituary"
''The Daily Telegraph'', 2 January 2019 His father, John, was a policeman; his mother Mabel (née Adams) had been a

milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...

before her marriage. He was educated at

Colfe's School Colfe's School, previously Colfe's Grammar School is a co-educational independent day school in Lee in the London Borough of Lewisham, in southeast London, England, and one of the oldest schools in London. The school is a member of the Headmast ...

, where one of his teachers awakened a love for music, particularly – then and always – that of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most pop ...

. At the time, gramophone records were expensive and March conceived the idea that later became his Long Playing Record Library, enabling people to borrow rather than buy records. While doing his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the late 1940s March joined the Central Band of the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

as a horn player, and enrolled at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music educatio ...

, after which he was a member of the orchestras of the D'Oyly Carte and

Carl Rosa Carl August Nicholas Rosa (22 March 184230 April 1889) was a German-born musical impresario best remembered for founding an English opera company known as the Carl Rosa Opera Company. He started his company in 1869 together with his wife, Euphr ...

Opera Companies, before joining the

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional ra ...

. In the 1950s he moved to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

on the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

coast, where he set up his mail-order record library, also becoming known for his talks to record clubs and gramophone societies. He was an early devotee of

stereophonic Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

recording, and wrote enthusiastically about it in ''

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

'' and other publications. His ''Gramophone'' colleague Martin Cullingford recalled: During the 1960s many local authorities in Britain set up lending libraries of LPs, and March was called in to advise many of them. His wide knowledge of the range and varying quality of the available recorded repertoire led him to found '' The Stereo Record Guide'', co-written with

Edward Greenfield Edward Harry Greenfield OBE (3 July 1928 – 1 July 2015) was an English music critic and broadcaster. Early life Edward Greenfield was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. His father, Percy Greenfield, was a manager in a labour exchange, while his ...

and

Denis Stevens Denis William Stevens CBE (2 March 1922 – 1 April 2004) was a British musicologist specialising in early music, conductor, professor of music and radio producer. Early years He was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and attended the Royal ...

. He later came to an agreement with

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year."Ivan March – Penguin Guide"
WorldCat. Retrieved 10 June 2020

Personal life

In 1953 March married Kathleen Forsyth, an opera singer ten years his senior. They had a son and a daughter. They separated in the 1980s, but he continued to care for her until her death in 2016. From the 1980s his partner was Barbara Menard, an American linguist, who survived him. March died aged 90 on 1 November 2018. Cullingford recalled him:

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:March, Ivan 1928 births 2018 deaths Classical music critics English music critics