Join Thos as he investigates the original British Theatre Renaissance Man, Ivor Novello, with world Novello expert, Dr Michael Williams, and chats to Gosford Park writer and Julian Fellowes in the first of an exclusive two part MusicalTalk interview.

Ivor Novello seems to be one of Britain's best kept secrets because he is "locked" in the past though we have a music award and a major London theatre named after him. That said, I bet everyone's grandparents will have heard of him.

I was first introduced to Ivor by watching the famous British cabaret drag act, Hinge and Bracket, singing some of his songs on their occasional television "masterclasses" in the 1980s. I bought into their implied interpretation of his being too sentimental by half until the last few years when I discovered looked into his catalogue and found lots of gems (though, quite a few over sentimental ballads too).

Just for anecdotal evidence, I'm keen to know whether listeners had ever heard of him before this episode of MusicalTalk and what his name conjured up for them.

Thos

Gathering lilacs in the spring again and walking together down an English lane is mainly what it conjured up. And oddly I think I know the song from somewhere random - Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge. Old ladies were singing it!

Andrew