Rae Jenkins

Presenter0:00

This download is the only extract the B B C has of this edition of Desert Island Discs. The presenter was Roy Plumley. I think it's a fairly open secret that you're a Welshman.

Presenter0:11

Yes, uh

Rae Jenkins0:11

Yeah.

Presenter0:12

Yeah.

Rae Jenkins0:12

As soon as I speak,

Rae Jenkins0:14

Everybody says he's Welsh.

Presenter0:16

Whereabouts in Wales were you born?

Rae Jenkins0:17

I was born in a little town called Ammonford in Carmarthenshire, where really all the great men come from, two of us, Jim Griffiths and myself. Did you speak Welsh before you spoke English? Well, really I hardly spoke English at all.

Rae Jenkins0:33

'Cause we spoke Welsh in the house, everything was Welsh.

Presenter0:37

Were your parents especially musical?

Rae Jenkins0:39

Yes, they they were musical. My sister May has a lovely soprano voice and I as a little boy of course I was in the choir, in the chapel. Mhm. And I learnt all my choral music there.

Presenter0:51

Yes?

Rae Jenkins0:52

And when did you begin to

Presenter0:53

Learn the violin.

Rae Jenkins0:54

Uh

Presenter0:54

Four years old.

Rae Jenkins0:55

Uh

Presenter0:55

My grandfather bought me a a little fiddle. What was your very first appearance in public? Do you remember?

Rae Jenkins1:00

Yeah.

Rae Jenkins1:02

I've got a photograph in at home of a little boy

Rae Jenkins1:06

Oh, it must have been four and a half, five.

Rae Jenkins1:08

Plain

Rae Jenkins1:10

In the chapel.

Presenter1:11

Mm-hmm.

Rae Jenkins1:11

As a schoolboy you were playing in the Pitt Orchestra.

Presenter1:11

Yeah.

Rae Jenkins1:19

You know for the silent films. Yes. Was there any prospect?

Presenter1:23

Uh

Rae Jenkins1:23

As a book.

Presenter1:24

But of your studying to be a professional musician.

Rae Jenkins1:26

Not really, because we never heard any music, there were no gramophone records, no radio.

Presenter1:30

No.

Rae Jenkins1:32

It was very difficult for with the environment.

Rae Jenkins1:35

To get away from there you have to make a tremendous effort to get

Presenter1:38

What was your first job when you left school?

Rae Jenkins1:39

Uh

Rae Jenkins1:40

First job when I left school I went in the mines.

Presenter1:43

How long did you stay?

Rae Jenkins1:45

Two or three years. Then

Rae Jenkins1:47

It was too hard.

Rae Jenkins1:49

And what happened?

Rae Jenkins1:51

Well, I I simply left it and

Rae Jenkins1:53

Went to London and uh some fellows that I'd helped but didn't help.

Rae Jenkins1:58

They used to come back from the war and I used to play at the concerts for them.

Rae Jenkins2:01

tremendous lot of concert. The First World War, yeah. So they said when they all came home

Rae Jenkins2:07

They said, Fine, we'll send right to the Academy.

Presenter2:10

Mm-hmm.

Rae Jenkins2:10

And I came to the academy, got in for a shot,

Presenter2:13

Good.

Rae Jenkins2:14

What was your first appearance as a professional musician?

Rae Jenkins2:17

I think it was in a dance band in one of the town halls in London somewhere, a tennis dance or something like that.

Presenter2:25

Uh

Rae Jenkins2:25

Oh just if they'd knew that I'd been playing in dancehalls.

Presenter2:25

Oh yeah.

Rae Jenkins2:29

They wouldn't have given me the half-fire I am, you know.

Presenter2:31

Uh

Rae Jenkins2:31

You also

Presenter2:32

Yeah.

Rae Jenkins2:32

Queen's Hall Orchestra while you're in the middle of the after I finished the concert at Queen's Hall I used to go and do a cabaret show, the Tracadero.

Presenter2:33

Yes, and also I

Presenter2:38

You were a very busy student. Very busy. Now, Ray, it's the nineteen twenties. You're in London as a professional musician. Was there a lot of work about?

Presenter2:46

Tremendous.

Presenter2:48

Uh

Rae Jenkins2:48

And I've do you know, I've been fifty years in the profession.

Rae Jenkins2:51

done a tremendous lot of it with

Rae Jenkins2:54

I was a freelance and I haven't been a day out of work. Well, that's good enough. What were you doing?

Rae Jenkins2:59

Films?

Rae Jenkins3:01

Uh radio?

Rae Jenkins3:03

Um

Presenter3:04

When did you first broadcast?

Rae Jenkins3:06

Broadcast nineteen thirty one A show with Reginald King.

Presenter3:09

And you were much in demand after that, I believe.

Rae Jenkins3:11

Everywhere.

Presenter3:11

All sorts of orchestras.

Rae Jenkins3:12

Yes, I played with the LSO, I played to the London Philharmonic, I was playing the viola solos in

Rae Jenkins3:19

Uh the Ballerusti Monte Carlo at the old Alhambra.

Presenter3:22

Uh

Rae Jenkins3:23

And of course very busy with films in those days.

Presenter3:25

Yeah.

Rae Jenkins3:25

Uh

Presenter3:25

There's a story of you playing at a prom one evening and then going on to play wi immediately with Giraldo afterwards. Oh, that's quite true. Yes. Absolutely true. I played with Giraldo, played with Jack Payne.

Presenter3:36

I enjoyed it. Going over to Tangent, you've always had a a great interest in gypsy music, Ray. How did that start?

Rae Jenkins3:42

Well, my wife and I travelled

Rae Jenkins3:44

all over Europe.

Rae Jenkins3:46

And we live with gipsies.

Rae Jenkins3:48

We knew the gipsies. I knew all the great gipsy players, Denique.

Rae Jenkins3:52

Madhyari

Rae Jenkins3:54

And we're at Balleton.

Rae Jenkins3:56

Yugoslavia

Presenter3:58

How did you first get interested?

Rae Jenkins3:58

How did you first get

Rae Jenkins4:00

Uh I think the music attracted me because

Rae Jenkins4:03

It's near Welshmute.

Rae Jenkins4:05

The idiom. There's a lot of it. And some of the Welsh tunes, if they had gipsy harmonies, they'd be gipsy tunes.

Presenter4:12

I'd never realized that.

Rae Jenkins4:13

They're all in the minor key mostly.

Presenter4:15

Yeah.

Rae Jenkins4:15

So

Rae Jenkins4:17

I like gypsy music.

Rae Jenkins4:19

It was part of me at that time. I've collected about two or three thousand pieces of gypsy music.

Presenter4:24

Now we got to talking about gypsies and we were sidetracked from your career, which was our main conversation. This really was the pattern for twenty years right up to the war, the busy freelance.

Rae Jenkins4:33

Yes.

Presenter4:34

And what happened in 1939 when war broke out?

Rae Jenkins4:37

The B B C organised

Rae Jenkins4:40

An orchestra

Rae Jenkins4:41

and invited I think it was sixteen members.

Rae Jenkins4:44

In the beginning.

Rae Jenkins4:45

To be known as the Salon Orchestra.

Rae Jenkins4:48

and we were supposed to broadcast

Rae Jenkins4:51

In the event of bombing.

Rae Jenkins4:53

And all that, you know.

Rae Jenkins4:54

From any place at any time.

Rae Jenkins4:58

And these musicians were picked

Rae Jenkins5:00

Unfortunately I was amongst these musicians and we went to Evesham.

Rae Jenkins5:05

And of course it was tremendous.

Rae Jenkins5:08

There was Lee Gusens and Arthur Glagon, probably one of the finest flautists in the world, Reginald Kell,

Presenter5:15

Yes.

Rae Jenkins5:15

Antony Pini.

Rae Jenkins5:18

Douglas Cameron.

Presenter5:20

This was an all-star outfit. It was a real all-

Rae Jenkins5:22

Poster out.

Rae Jenkins5:24

And you were playing all sorts of music. All sorts of music. Phil Green was in it. Yes. And he had a a real jazz affair called Rhythm on Reeds.

Rae Jenkins5:32

Do you remember that? Yes, I do. And then I had the caravan players, gypsy music.

Presenter5:37

Mm-hmm.

Rae Jenkins5:38

David Weiss are the Boulevard players. It was all. And from that I went to the Midland Light Orchestra.

Presenter5:47

As conducted.

Rae Jenkins5:48

as conductor, and in the three years odd I was there, about a thousand trobles.

Presenter5:53

That's nearly one a day.

Rae Jenkins5:54

Yes, but it was a tremendous experience.

Presenter5:58

Yeah.

Rae Jenkins5:58

And then you took over the BBC Variety Orchestra, didn't you? Then I came back to London.

Presenter6:01

Then I came.

Rae Jenkins6:03

And

Rae Jenkins6:05

When

Rae Jenkins6:05

with a variety orchestra and of course started up with Tommy Hanley.

Presenter6:10

Yes, you were the straight man to rule the comics.

Rae Jenkins6:12

Yes, uh

Rae Jenkins6:13

When Kavanagh wrote his book about Handley, he said that Ray Jenkins was his greatest foil. Well, it wasn't my fault, actually, because see, when they gave me the script I never read it.

Rae Jenkins6:23

Until the performance, when you know, going away from music and then on to a script, everything was topsy turvy and everybody laughed at me.

Rae Jenkins6:32

I couldn't make out why, you know. And even though Tommy, I got his he used to dry up, you know. But it was a great social affair. I met everybody. It was great.

Presenter6:43

How long did you stay in charge of the radio?

Rae Jenkins6:45

Uh I think it was four years.

Presenter6:48

Then

Rae Jenkins6:48

Then I went to Cardiff.

Presenter6:50

Yes.

Rae Jenkins6:50

Back again to serious music. And your homeland. And my homeland, yes. It was a a great experience there. All the Haydn symphonies, the old symphonies, making my own programmes. Oh, it was.

Rae Jenkins7:02

Great.

Presenter7:03

Great joy. Ray, you've resigned from the Welsh Orchestra now. After what? About 15 years ago.

Rae Jenkins7:07

Fifteen years, yes.

Presenter7:09

So you're a freelance? Take it.

Rae Jenkins7:10

Yes, but I'm busier now than I've ever been. With what? It's wonderful. Concerts, festivals, choirs, a steadfast.

Rae Jenkins7:18

Coral societies.

Rae Jenkins7:20

The lot. Have you any big musical ambition, Ray? No, never had ambitions because I think ambition clashes.

Rae Jenkins7:29

With my music.

Rae Jenkins7:30

All I want is the music.