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INTRODUCTION

The Three Musketeers
Left: Len Rawle; Centre: Keith Beckingham; Left: Graeme Wright

Keith Beckingham and Len Rawle are two of Britain’s most eminent theatre organists and have been entertaining audiences for over 60 years.  Until his passing in 2017, Graeme Wright was also a member of this impressive group. These three organists knew each other since their early days when they first began to play the Theatre Organ.  Since they first appeared in public together on the stage of the Ritz Cinema Tunbridge Wells, before an audience of their peers, they enjoyed a long and friendly relationship.  Each performed successfully that day in 1958 and were soon being referred to as and The Three Musketeers.

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The Ritz Cinema Tunbridge Wells
Top Left:  the Cinema soon after its opening in 1934
Top Middle: Ritz Cinema Memories by Richard Storkey;
Top Right: sign once present on the rear wall of the Cinema
Bottom Left: the Cinema soon after closure in 2000
Bottom Right: following demolition in 2014

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The Compton Theatre Organ (3 manual 6 ranks) with Illuminated Console
once present at The Ritz Cinema Tunbridge Wells
The photograph appears by permission of The Burtey Fen Collection

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In November 1958, the magazine, Musical Opinion, reported on a meeting of the Theatre Organ Club (TOC), which was held on the morning of Sunday, 14^th September 1958 at the Essoldo Cinema (formerly the Ritz) Tunbridge Wells.   The report mentioned that amongst the players, the younger generation was represented by Len Rawle, Graeme Wright and Keith Beckingham.  This report is significant in that it documents the first time that these future virtuosos appeared on the same bill.

And with this, The Three Musketeers took centre stage and began the process of making their presence felt and heard …….  En garde!

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At the time of this meeting, there were two clubs open to Theatre Organ enthusiasts where they were able to attend concerts in cinemas and halls where the Theatre Organ remained installed.  Generally, these concerts were held on a Sunday morning once a month or occasionally on Sunday afternoons with the proviso that they ended promptly since the venues had to made ready for the screening of films.  Concerts were organised in such a way that club presentations did not clash.

These organisations were The Theatre Organ Club (TOC) and The Cinema Organ Society (COS).  The TOC was founded in 1938 as The Robinson Cleaver (1906-1987) Radio Club although, despite its name, was never restricted to just Mr. Cleaver’s music, but served in general to promote the Theatre Organ and its players.  This eventually led to a change in its name to The Theatre Organ Club in 1956.  Meanwhile the COS was founded in 1952 by Hubert Selby and Tony Moss.

Robinson Cleaver

The TOC consisted of a Northern and Southern Branch with Mr. Ralph Bartlett as organiser and secretary of the Southern Branch and Mr. Frank Hare in charge of the Northern Branch.  The COS was divided into several districts: for example, London, Midlands, North etc with each district secretary having the responsibility for arranging meetings and concerts.  The secretary of the London district in the late 1950s was Doug Badham.

At these concerts, a well-known organist was invited to play without payment for members.  However, prior to this, enthusiastic young organists were selected from the many hopefuls in attendance and given the opportunity to play the instrument for fifteen-minute periods.

Three young organists, Len Rawle, Graeme Wright and Keith Beckingham accompanied by their parents regularly attended the concerts held in the Greater London area during the 1950s.  They came not only to see and hear the invited organist, but also held the hope of being invited to play the Theatre Organ before their peers.

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The three young organists had been introduced to each other by Mr. Ralph Bartlett who was the secretary of The Southern Branch of the TOC at this time, and on the 14^th September 1958 saw their dream fulfilled.  Mr. Bartlett, perhaps wanting to see fair play in his selection of performers, chose all three of the young hopefuls that day to play the three-manual/six-rank Compton Theatre Organ that was complete with an illuminated console and which had spectacularly risen-up on a lift from beneath the stage.  One can only imagine the joy that each must have felt at receiving this opportunity.