Basil Raymond Lam (1914 - 4 March 1984) was an Englishearly music scholar andharpsichordist. He was educated atReading School and atSt John's College, Oxford, where he studied English Literature.^[1]

A producer for theThird Programme of theBBC from its inception in September 1946, Lam eventually became head of the classical musical division in the 1960s. His contemporaries at the BBC includedDeryck Cooke,William Glock,Hans Keller,Humphrey Searle,Robert Simpson and Leo Black.^[2][3] Simpson's String Quartet No. 4 is dedicated to Lam. He was best known for his contributions as a commentator on early and baroque music onBBC Radio 3, particularly the 28 episode series "Plainsong and the Rise of European Music" (1978–1979).^[4]

He also played harpsichord in several musical ensembles, including the Basil Lam Sonata Ensemble (1946-1954).^[5][6] Lam published many articles and books, specializing onBach,Handel andBeethoven, and edited various musical scores, including editions ofRameau, Handel'sMessiah and the lute music ofDowland.^[7]

• Beethoven String Quartets, BBC Music Guides, Vols 32–33 (1975)
• 'Beethoven Symphonies', in Robert Simpson (ed.):The Symphony: Haydn to Dvořák (Penguin, 1967), pp. 104-174
• The Collected lute Music of John Dowland, with lute tablature and keyboard notation (withDiana Poulton) (Faber, 1974, 1978 and 1981)
• Handel: A Symposium (Oxford University Press, 1954), chapters on church and orchestral music.
• Of German Music: A Symposium (Oswald Wolf, 1976), chapter on the Classical Symphony
• 'The Ascendancy of Plainsong',The Listener, 15 December 1977, pp. 20-22
• 'Authenticity and the St John Passion',Early Music, Vol. 5, 1977, pp. 45–49

• Basil Lam archive,Royal College of Music
• March That Goes Out With a Lam,Los Angeles Times
• Review of Lam's performing edition of Handel's Messiah,Gramophone
• Quadrille with a Raven, memoirs byHumphrey Searle

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