After a couple of months of online and a few in-person interviews, I’m at the stage now where I’m going through all my recorded interviews and transcriptions, reminding myself of highlights and key details.
This one just leapt out at me:-
‘The one thing I do remember is all the crowd standing up, after I had sung – and cheering and clapping and stuff, and that was the beginning of it, you know.’
Isn’t that glorious? I’m sure the Sir John Leng Trust will be delighted to read such heartwarming witness to Sir John’s inspired endowment. (I’ll keep the rest of that particular interview for later – I want to leave plenty of material for what I shall be writing in due course. I have a lot of data to draw upon.)
I aim to bring the interviewing to an end by the end of June; after that, I have some annual leave booked, and then I need to start writing! An article or two, a book chapter – and maybe organise a wee event or two.
This has turned out to be absolutely the most enjoyable, affirming piece of research. I’ve decided I love oral history, and conducting interviews is nowhere near as scary as I thought it might be!
(Incidentally – although my interviewing will mostly finish by the end of June, if anyone was literally bursting to share their own Leng Medal memories with me after that, then do get in touch. Even if an interview wasn’t feasible, I still might be able to draw upon memories shared by email.)
Karen McAulay, Musicologist 