List members who live in Australia may not have heard of the death last
Saturday of Martin Hibble, a long-time presenter on ABC Classic FM and
lately, reviewer in International Record Review.

Martin had an extremely wide range of musical sympathies and was equally
adept at, for example, comparing versions of the Well-Tempered Clavier,
enthusing over some rarely-recorded Gershwin, or setting the scene for
playing some long-deleted record of a symphony by a barely-known Czech
composer of the Soviet era.  Apart from an encyclopaedic knowledge of
recorded classical music - his favourite composer was Prokofiev - he also
presented film reviews and regular programs on film music.  His presenting
style was conversational and gave the impression of being off-the-cuff,
but it was clear that he was always well-prepared.  I have even heard him
present a program on the singing bowls of Tibet and almost convince me
of their musical worth.  He was, in short, my idea of the archetypal
presenter.

He introduced me to an enormous amount of music and over the years taught
me a great deal not only about unfamiliar music, but how to listen to music
generally.  His death is an enormous loss to quality broadcasting in this
country.

Richard Pennycuick
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