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Books, CDs, DVDs, Giftware
(Spring 2021) Available from
Banks Music Publications
www.banksmusicpublications.co.uk Tel: 01653 628545
info@banksmusicublications.co.uk
Pages 2 - 19: Biography and Reminiscence
Pages 20 – 22 Help, Guidance and Wellbeing Pages 23-24: Warm-Ups etc
Page 25: At School… Page 26 – 29: Giftware
Page 30 – 36 CDs and DVDs Page 36: Misc books
BIOGRAPHY AND REMINISCENCE
Alfred Hollins: A Blind Musician Looks Back
(**New re-print**) 9780331288094 496 pages, Paperback £17.99
The autobiography of the Yorkshire born composer & organist Alfred Hollins,
until recently out of print. Originally published in 1936 and has only become
available again via this reprint from Forgotten Books.
"No serious musician should pass up a chance to read the autobiographical
reminiscences of the legendary English composer, concert organist, organ
designer and teacher Dr Alfred Hollins FRCO.
His world-wide fame, enhanced by acclaimed recital tours abroad as well as the
many instruments designed by him, was warmly tolerated by the kirk authorities of
St George's West in Edinburgh where he was appointed Organist in 1897.
It is not generally known that Hollins began life as a concert pianist and it is said
that he turned to the organ owing to the locational difficulties of finding concert
halls in strange towns in his early career. Not to be missed. He was not the only
prominent blind recitalist and composer for the organ in the early part of the last
century - Lancashire born William Wolstenholme was another one such - but, by
any yardstick, Hollins is universally acclaimed as the most celebrated.
On his death in 1942, Hollins generously bequeathed his Edinburgh apartment to
the Edinburgh Society of Organists." DR. SIMON LINDLEY
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state -of-the-art technology to digitally
reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare
cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do,
however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to
preserve the state of such historical works.
(**NEW**) Nadia Boulanger: Thoughts on Music
Edited and translated by Jeanice Brooks and Kimberly Francis
9781580469678, 508 Pages, Hardback £84 (RRP £90)
The first collection ever of essays and reviews by the renowned pedagogue, composer, and
conductor, providing fresh perspectives on her musical influence and impact.
The impact of Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) on twentieth-
century music was vast: as composer, keyboard performer,
conductor, impresario, and pedagogue. Her extensive musical
networks included figures such as Fauré, Stravinsky, and
Poulenc, and her advocacy helped establish the compositions
of her sister Lili Boulanger.
Few today realize, though, that Boulanger wrote numerous
essays and reviews at various times in her career. These offer
unparalleled insight into her thinking and illuminate aspects of
musical culture in Europe and America from the rare point of
view of an internationally prominent female artist.
Nadia Boulanger: Thoughts on Music provides a translation
and critical edition of selected writings chosen for their quality
and interest. The previously published articles and essays
have never been reissued since their original appearance; the
remaining materials are presented here for the first t ime.
JEANICE BROOKS is Professor of Music at the University of
Southampton. KIMBERLY FRANCIS is Associate Professor of
Music at the University of Guelph .
2
Organ-building in Georgian and Victorian England
The Work of Gray & Davison, 1772-1890 by Nicholas Thistlethwaite
9781783274673, 577 pages, hardback, £60 (RRP £65)
The London firm of Gray (later Gray & Davison) was one of
Britain's leading organ-makers between the 1790s and the 1880s.
Established for the building of keyboard instruments, by the mid -1790s the
workshop of brothers Robert and William Gray had become one of the
leading organ-makers in London, with instruments in St Paul's, Covent
Garden and St Martin-in-the-Fields. Under William's son John Gray, the firm
built some of the largest English organs of the 1820s and 1830s, as well as
exporting major instruments to Boston and Charleston in the USA.
In the early 1840s, with the marriage of John Gray's daughter to Frederick
Davison, the firm became 'Gray & Davison'. Davison was a progressive
figure who reformed workshop practices, commissioned a purpose -built
organ factory in Euston Road and opened a branch workshop in Liverpool to
exploit the booming market for church organs in Lan cashire and the north-
west. Under Davison's management, the firm was responsible for significant
mechanical and musical innovations, especially in the design of concert
organs. Instruments such as those built in the 1850s for Glasgow City Hall,
the Crystal Palace and Leeds Town Hall were heavily influenced by contemporary French practice; they
were designed to perform a repertoire dominated by orchestral transcriptions. Many of the instruments made
by the firm have been lost or altered; but the surviving or gans in St Anne, Limehouse (1851), Usk Parish
Church (1861) and Clumber Chapel (1889) testify to the quality and importance of Gray & Davison's work.
NICHOLAS THISTLETHWAITE has written extensively on the history of the English organ and other aspects of English
church music, He has acted as consultant for the restoration and rebuilding of organs, most recently at St
Edmundsbury Cathedral.
“It is difficult to imagine better coverage of the topic than Dr Thistlethwaite's exposition .”
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
The Music of James MacMillan
Phillip A. Cooke
9781783273706, 317 pages, Hardback, £28 (RRP £30)
Known for his orchestral, operatic and choral works, James MacMillan (b. 1959) appeals
across the spectrum of contemporary music making.
James MacMillan appeals across the spectrum of contemporary music making
and is particularly celebrated for his orchestral, operatic and choral pieces. This
book, published in time to mark the composer's sixtieth birthday, is thefirst in -
depth look at his life, work and aesthetic. From his beginnings in rural Ayrshire
and his early work with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, through the international
breakthrough success of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie,the continuing
success of works such as the percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmaneul and his
choral pieces, to his current position as one of the most prominent British
composers of his generation, the book explores MacMillan's compositional
influences over time. It looks closely at his most significant works and s ets them
in a wider context defined by contemporary composition, culture and the arts in
general.
The book also considers MacMillan's strong Catholic faith and how this has
influenced his work, along with his politics and his on -going relationship with
Scottish nationalism. With the support of the composer and his publisher and
unprecedented access to interviews and previously unpublished materials, the
book not only provides an appraisal of MacMillan's work but also insights into what it means to be a
prominent composer and artist in the twenty-first century.
PHILLIP A. COOKE is a Composer and Senior Lecturer and Head of Music at the University of Aberdeen. He
has previously co-edited The Music of Herbert Howells for Boydell.
"Uncovers much of what it means to be a classical composer in the 21st century." CHOIR & ORGAN
3
Elgar The Music Maker
Diana McVeagh
9781843832959, 264 pages, Hardback, £17.99 (Delivery 7-10 days)
An expert and informative appraisal of all of Elgar's works - from his juvenilia to the
unfinished 3rd symphony - by the author of the acclaimed Gerald Finzi.
The new Diana McVeagh book on Elgar is first-rate, wrote Gerald Finzi of her
earlier study of the composer, published in 1955. In the completely new Elgar
the Music Maker she harvests five decades of thoughts about his music,
scrutinizing the biographical details that have sin ce been discovered and
using them to assess the ways in which they affect the compositions.
Diana McVeagh explores Elgar's complex personality and his compositional
methods, his style and his relationship to his contemporaries, yet it is the
music - still played, recorded, loved and discussed as much as ever - that
remains her prime focus.
Each of Elgar's works is discussed, balancing information and appraisal, from
his juvenilia to his unfinished Third Symphony. Diana McVeagh provides a
compelling and accessible companion to the music of one of England's
greatest composers. Musicians, scholars and CD collectors alike will find
much to enjoy in Elgar the Music Maker.
Diana McVeagh is the author of the highly acclaimed Gerald Finzi: His Life
and Music; of the entries on Elgar and Finzi for The New Grove Dictionary of
Music and Musicians.
“McVeagh is indeed an intelligent guide here: her writing is both informed and immaculate ."
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY NEWS
The Three Choirs Festival: A History
New and Revised Edition by Anthony Boden and Paul Hedley
9781783272099, 552 pages, Hardback, £23 (RRP £25)
Described in the Radio Times (27 July 2015) as 'A remarkable, unique
institution lying at the heart of British life', the Three Choirs Festival
celebrated its three-hundred-year anniversary in 2015. Rotating each
summer between the English cathedral cities of Hereford, Gloucester and
Worcester, the Festival is a week-long programme of choral and orchestral
concerts, cathedral services, solo and chamber music recitals, master
classes, talks, theatre and exhibitions. At the heart of the modern festival are
the daily services of Choral Evensong, representing the tradition of Anglican
music and liturgy, and the large-scale evening concerts featuring established
favourites of the British classical choral tradition with works drawn from a
broader, more international musical canvas.
Originally published in 1992, this revised edition brings the history of the
oldest surviving non-competitive music festival in Britain thoroughly up to
date. It traces the development of the Festival from its origins in the early
eighteenth century to its tercentenary in 2015, along the way touching on
many musical milestones - premieres by Parry, Elgar, Vaughan Williams,
Saint-Saëns, Holst, and Howells, among others - and luminaries - Sullivan,
Stanford, Dvorák, Delius, Bax, and Britten, to name but a few - associated with it.
ANTHONY BODEN is a writer with particular interests in music and literature. In 1989 he was appointed as
Administrator of the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival, a post he held until his retirement in 1999. In 199 5 he
became the founding Chairman of the Ivor Gurney Society, of which he was elected President in 2015. His other
books include Thomas Tomkins: The Last Elizabethan (2004) and The Parrys of the Golden Vale (1998).
PAUL HEDLEY is a partner in Exart Performances, an Associate Fellow at the Saïd Business School, University
of Oxford, has a PhD in theoretical linguistics, and spent five years as Chief Executive of the Three Choirs
Festival.
"One of the many joys of the book is the large number of contemporary reviews covering every aspect of
the Festivals...a treasure trove of detail...it must now be the 'really definitive' history of one of the
'Essentially English Institutions'." THE ORGAN
4
The New Percy Grainger Companion
Edited by Penelope Thwaites, 9781783271856, 356 pages Paperback £18 (RRP £19.99)
A new collection with contributions from performing musicians and Grainger scholars and a
detailed Catalogue of Works.
In the years since his Centenary in 1982 it has become even clearer that Percy
Grainger [1882-1961] - composer, pianist and revolutionary - was a man born
out of his time. Many of his ideas, both musical and social, sit far more easily in
our contemporary world. Those years have also seen a notable expansion of
interest in Grainger's music. Innumerable recordings have been made,
including the first complete Grainger recording survey by Chandos in i ts
monumental Grainger Edition.
The central theme of The New Percy Grainger Companion is to give information
and help from established musicians for performing and listening to this life -
celebrating repertoire. The Companion's fully detailed, up-to-date Catalogue of
Works - the most complete of any existing catalogue – gives invaluable
assistance. Authoritative contextual chapters in the Companion offer some
surprising new background information.
PENELOPE THWAITES is recognised internationally as a leadin g Grainger
exponent. Her research, performances and extensive Grainger discography
over four decades reflect a unique understanding of the man and his music.
"A highly readable and important volume. [It will] prove invaluable to both performers and
researchers in years to come." BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
Letters and Diaries of Kathleen Ferrier
Revised and enlarged edition - Edited by Christopher Fifield
9781843830917, 514 pages, Paperback, £14.99 (Delivery 7-10 days)
A revised and enlarged edition to mark the centenary of the much-loved singer's birth. (2011)
In 1953, at the age of 41, Kathleen Ferrier, England's greatest lyric
contralto, lost her courageous battle with breast cancer. Her huge
appeal to a wide audience - in concerts, on records, on the radio
and in the opera house - has ensured her name endures to this
day, despite a career which lasted barely ten years. In just half that
time, this former telephone exchange operator was singing on
stage at Covent Garden, before royalty at private parties, and at
New York's Carnegie Hall.
This collection of letters and twelve years of her personal diaries
was first published by Boydell Press in 2003. Here, an enlarged
paperback edition contains a new chapter revealing her growing
importance to the BBC, an additional 90 letters, together with much
revised material and a selection of moving tributes.
Published to mark the centenary of her birth in 1912, the book, of
more than 400 letters, provides a vivid picture of a life which
illuminated the war and post-war years of austerity and hardship.
Kathleen Ferrier was surely fun to know. Her personality was a mix
of extreme modesty and self-determined ambition, topped with a
mischievously blunt sense of earthy Lancastrian humour. She is
known for her glorious voice, but through the pages of these
fascinating letters and diaries we get to meet the real person.
DR CHRISTOPHER FIFIELD is a conductor, music historian, lecturer and broadcaster. He is the biographer
of Max Bruch and conductor Hans Richter, and the author of a history of the music agents Ibbs & Tillett.
"Fifty years on, a voice that still touches the heart." GRAMOPHONE
5
The Music of Frank Bridge Delius and his Music
Fabian Huss Martin Lee-Browne, Paul Guinery
259 pages 9781783270590 H/B £57 (RRP £60) and Sir Mark Elder
560 pages 9781843839590 H/B £30
A detailed and long-overdue study of Frank
Bridge's music and its socio-cultural and
(Delivery 7-10 days)
The first comprehensive study of the music
aesthetic contexts.
of Frederick Delius (1862-1934), from his
The English composer, violist, and conductor earliest pieces up to his final compositions,
Frank Bridge (1879-1941), was one of the first with background information & a complete
modernists in British music, developing the most list of works.
radical and lastingly modern musical language of
There are many biographies and articles about
his generation. Bridge was also one of the most
Frederick Delius's life (1862-1934), but there
accomplished British composers of chamber
has never been a comprehensive book about his
music in the twentieth century. After the lyrical
music until now. Everything he wrote, from his
romanticism of the early period, a notable
earliest compositions right up to his final works,
expansion of style can be observed as early as
is analysed here; the history and background of
1913. However, Bridge became frustrated that
each work and its critical reception are all
his later, more complex music was often ignored
examined, set against events in Delius's life and
in favour of his earlier 'Edwardian' works; this
the wider musical world. The book contains
neglect of his mature music contributed to the
numerous music examples and quotations from
growing obscurity into which his music and
many contemporary newspapers and journals. A
reputation fell in his last years and after his
complete list of all of Delius's works, with
death. Symptomatically, Bridge is still often
catalogue numbers, and a select bibliography
remembered primarily for privately tutoring
are also provided.
Benjamin Britten, who later championed his
teacher's music and paid homage to him in the
MARTIN LEE-BROWNE is the Chairman of The
'Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge' (1937).
Delius Society, a former Chairman of the
This book, the first detailed, and long-overdue,
Gloucester Three Choirs Festival, and author
study of Bridge's music encourages a more
of The Life & Times of Frederic Austin (1996).
thorough understanding of Bridge's style and
development and will appeal to readers with
PAUL GUINERY is a pianist and associate of
interests in British music.
the Royal College of Music, as well as a former
FABIAN HUSS is Visiting Fellow at the University broadcaster for BBC Radio 3 and co-author (with
of Bristol and has published widely on British Lyndon Jenkins) of Delius and Fenby, A
music (particularly EJ Moeran), with an emphasis Photographic Journey (The Delius Society,
on cultural history, and aesthetic & analytical 2004).
issues.
"A major landmark." "Indispensable for all lovers of Delius's music.
The Journal of The Royal Musical Association [Four stars]." BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
6
West End Broadway
The Golden Age of the American
Musical in London
Adrian Wright 9781843837916
376 pages, Hardback £25
(Delivery 7-10 days)
A history and re-evaluation of the American musical in
London between 1945 and 1972, a unique panoramic essay on
British theatre of the Golden Age.
West End Broadway is the first book to deal specifically with the
'Golden Age' of American musicals in London. Here is a history
and a re-evaluation not only of the British productions of
Broadway's most popular product but of the works themselves,
beginning with a brief account of the origins of the genre and of
the shows seen during World War II. The difficult conditions of
war-torn Britain prepared the ground for changes that would come
with peace. While Britain clung to tried formulas, a refreshing
breeze was blowing in from the Atlantic, altering the nature of
British theatre by sending New York's commercially successful
musicals to the West End. The wider relevance of this history is
underscored, as is the fact that these works effectively imported
American social history into the culture of a Britain coping with the aftermath of conflict. I n London, critical
reaction to Broadway musicals was often strikingly different from that awarded in New York, and Broadway
success could result in West End failure, while off -Broadway shows struggled to gain hold in Britain.
West End Broadway discusses every American musical seen in London between 1945 and 1972. As the final
works of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin made way for a new wave of writers and composers, the arrival of
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! was celebrated as a breakthrough, heralding a period that included
important works by Jule Styne, Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Robert Wright and
George Forrest, Harold Rome, Frank Loesser, Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, and the first stirrings of
the next generation in Stephen Sondheim.
Offering a unique panoramic essay on British theatre of the Golden Age, West End Broadway is an
authoritative, challenging and diverting contribution to an understanding of a forgotten aspect of the
Broadway musical.
ADRIAN WRIGHT is the author of Foreign Country: The Life of L.P. Hartley (1996), John Lehmann: A Pagan
Adventure (1998), The Innumerable Dance: The Life and Work of William Alwyn (2008) and the
novel Maroon (2010). His previous book, A Tanner's Worth of Tune (Boydell & Brewer, 2010), told the story
of the post-war British musical. He lives in Norfolk, where he runs MustClose Saturday Records, a company
dedicated to British musical theatre.
"It can be mighty difficult to find information on these titles, and here it is. 'West End Br oadway' is perfect
for browsing, packed as it is with things we never knew, and packed with photos as well. PLAYBILL.
Britten: Essays, Letters and Opera Guides
Hans Keller, Christopher Wintle and A M Garnham
232 pages 9780956600752 Paperback £15 (RRP £16.99)
Selection of Keller's writings on Britten including unseen correspondence &
reprints of long unknown writings.
It was hearing an early performance of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes that
turned the young emigré writer and musician Hans Keller from psychology to
music. Thereafter he became the composer's most fervent advocate . This
volume is a selection of the best of his writings, dealing with Peter Grimes
through to Death in Venice and the Third String Quartet. It also includes an
illustrated study by A. M. Garnham of the extensive correspondence between
Britten and Keller, and a reprint of the handbooks on The Rape of
Lucretia and Albert Herring. The book is illustrated with drawings from life by
Milein Cosman.
"The most important publishing event [of the Britten centenary year]" AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, November 2013
7
Imogen Holst: A Life in Music
Revised edition, edited by Christopher Grogan
9781843835998, 522 pages, Paperback, £19.99 (Delivery 7-10 days)
This paperback edition is updated to include new insights into Holst's life
and work resulting from the discovery of important unseen archival
materials.
Imogen Holst: A Life in Music uses a wealth of newly discovered material to
explore the complexities and contradictions of her life and career, drawing on her
own writings - ranging from heartfelt early poetry, through correspondence, to a
series of journals that maintain a colourful record of her travels and achieveme nts.
Most revealing of these is the daily journal that she kept at the start of her working
association with Britten, a document that provides a unique insight both into her
own thoughts, and into the professional and domestic life of a major composer.
Extensively revised with new material, the book also includes a study of Imogen
Holst's music and a chronological list of her works, revealing her as a composer of
tremendous talent, whose music deserves to be much more familiar.
CHRISTOPHER GROGAN is Director of Collections and Heritage at the Britten -Pears Foundation.
"An encounter with a true original...Grogan has put together an excellent critical biography." TLS
Bax: A Composer and his Times
Lewis Foreman – 9781843832096, 616 pages, Hardback, £45 (Delivery 7-10 days)
Completely revised and updated from recently discovered archive material, Lewis Foreman's
classic biography is the essential handbook to Bax and his contemporaries.
Lewis Foreman's biography of the composer Arnold Bax (1883 -1953) was first
published in 1983. Documenting the life & times of a remarkable figure whose life
touched a wide circle in England and Ireland, it was notable for having many of Bax's
friends and contemporaries as sources, most of whom have since died. It also
informed the revival of Bax's music which has taken place since publication.
Now completely revised in the light of much new material including the huge archive of
the pianist Harriet Cohen, Bax's mistress, which has only just become available for
research, it is a notable portrait of a unique musical milieu. Bax's extensive musica l
output is now comprehensively recorded and widely known and here all the music is
discussed from first hand acquaintance with all the revivals and recordings.
LEWIS FOREMAN is a freelance author and advisor to record companies.
“One of the great biographies of an English composer just got even better. May it snare still more
converts to this bewitching composer." CLASSICAL MUSIC
Lennox Berkeley and Friends
Writings, Letters and Interviews, edited by Peter Dickinson
9781843837855, 344 pages, Hardback, £23 (RRP £25)
This book is a major source of information about one of the most influential British
composers of the mid-twentieth century and the musicians he knew. It also provides
details of the musical relationship between Paris and London before, during and
after World War II. Berkeley had a ring-side seat when he lived in Paris, studied with
Nadia Boulanger and wrote reviews about musical life there from 1929 to 1934. His
little known letters to her reveal the mesmeric power of this extraordinary woman.
Berkeley was an elegant writer, and it is fascinating to read his first -hand memories of composers such as Ravel,
Poulenc, Stravinsky and Britten. The book also contains interviews with Berkeley's colleagues, friends and family.
These include performers such as Julian Bream and Norman Del Mar; composers Nicholas Maw and Malcolm
Williamson; the composer's eldest son Michael, the composer and broadcaster; and Lady Berkeley.
"This is a fascinating and always interesting read Strongly recommended." ELGAR SOCIETY JOURNAL
8
The Choral Revival in the Anglican Church 1839-1872
Bernarr Rainbow, 9780851158181, 390 pages, Hardback £37 (RRP £40)
Survey of an important period in the development of the choral tradition in the
Anglican church.
When Bernarr Rainbow was director of music at the College of St Mark and St
John, Chelsea, he came across the 1849 diary of service music of Thomas
Helmore. Astonished at its breadth of repertoire, he was inspired to investigate
the circumstances of the document. His findings are recorded in this book, which
sets Thomas Helmore's contribution in perspective against the background of
the Choral Revival as a whole.
In tracing the history of the remarkable revival of care for the music of the
liturgy, the author produced a socio-musical history of a period vital in the
evolution of the Anglican Church, and made clear, probably for the first time,
how music in the Anglican Church came to follow lines which are unique in
Christendom. His book was originally published at a time of important changes in
ecclesiastical thinking; his presentation of the decisions taken in the past which
led to the existing relationship between choirs and congregations, interesting in
itself, is also valuable in the continuing debate.
Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture
Edited Ruth Prigozy & Walter Raubicheck 9781580462617 228 pages Hardback £25
(Delivery 7-10 days)
Bing Crosby's innovations as singer, actor, businessman, and radio &
television performer. Multidisciplinary exploration, plus personal testimony
from family members and colleagues.
Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture is the first serious study of
the singer/actor's art and of his centrality to the history of twentieth -century
popular music, film, and the entertainment industry. The volume uses a wide
range of scholarly and cultural perspectives to explore Crosby's unique and
lasting achievements. It also includes tributes and reminiscences from Bing's
widow Kathryn, his grandson Steve, his record producer Ken Barnes, and one of
his most popular successors, Michael Feinstein. Other contributors include Gary
Giddins, the author of a widely acclaimed recent biography of the singer, and
Will Friedwald, the acknowledged expert on the development of the "great
American songbook."
Ruth Prigozy is Professor of English at Hofstra University. Walter Raubicheck is
Professor of English and Chair of the English Department at Pace University.
“. . . This wide-ranging collection makes it clear that Crosby's importance is not and should never be
forgotten”. CHOICE
French Organ Music from the Revolution
to Franck and Widor
Edited by Lawrence Archbold and William J Peterson
9781580460712, 337 pages, Paperback, £18 (RRP £19.99)
Essays by prominent scholars and organists examine the music of Franck
and other nineteenth-century French organist-composers.
Nineteenth-century French organ music attracts an ever-increasing number of
performers and devotees. The music of Cesar Franck and other distinguished
composers - Boëly, Guilmant, Widor - and the impact upon this repertoire of the
organ-building achievements of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, are here explored through
stylistic analysis, the study of the compositional process, and the exploration of how
ideas about organ technique and performance practice traditions d eveloped and
became codified. New consideration is also given to the political and cultural
contexts within which Franck and other French organist-composers worked.
"An enormous amount of scholarly investigation , a thoroughly admirable piece of work." MUSIC AND LETTERS
9
Roger Quilter: His Life and Music
Valerie Langfield, 9780851158716, 396 pages, Hardback, £70
(Delivery 7-10 days)
Draws upon unpublished sources and interviews with those who knew him to give a full
picture of Roger Quilter's artistic world and musical output.
The songs of Roger Quilter are a staple of the English art song repertoire, yet
little is known of his life, and his popularity suffered an eclipse in postwar years
largely through changing musical fashions. Championed by the great English
tenor Gervase Elwes, Quilter became famous for songs such as 'Now Sleeps the
Crimson Petal', 'Love's Philosophy' and 'Go, Lovely Rose'. The BBC included A
Children's Overture in their first broadcast concert, and the success of his
atmospheric music for the children's fairy play Where the Rainbow Ends ensured
his immense popularity. Access to numerous sources worldwide, many of them
unpublished, and extensive interviews with friends and family, have enabled
Valerie Langfield to write a sympathetic and authoritative account of Quilter, the
first full-length study. The first part focuses on Quilter's life: she examines his
relationships with his friends, particularly Grainger and the de Glehn family, and
how his wealth, ill-health, family and homosexuality affected him. Her researches
testify to Quilter's quiet philanthropy: his many practical actions included his
founder-membership of the Musicians Benevolent Fund, generous and discreet
assistance to young musicians, and help to Jewish friends fleeing Germany and
Austria before the second world war. The s econd part of the book discusses and contextualises all his
music: songs, chamber, orchestral and theatre music, and his light opera, Julia, performed at Covent
Garden in 1936.
“Engaging, well-researched, highly detailed biography... will delight devotee s, scholars and
performers of English song. CHOICE
Authoritative and superbly researched study of his life and music ”. SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
William Walton: Muse of Fire
Stephen Lloyd, 9780851158037, 352 pages, Hardback £25 (Delivery 7-10 days)
This acclaimed biography draws on first-hand accounts, including new material on Walton's
circle of the 20s and 30s; the composer's work in film a particular focus.
When in June 1923 a bewildered audience in London's Aeolian Hall heard Edith Sitwell declaim
her Façade poems through a megaphone, the 21-year-old William Walton - conducting behind a painted
backcloth - stood on the threshold of fame. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s he was regarded as the white
hope of British music, and a succession of works including the Viola Concerto, Belshazzar's Feast and the
First Symphony more than fulfilled that early promise; he was also one of the first serious composers to be
involved in films.
Using first-hand accounts, this book explodes the myth of Façade's riotous
reception, examines Walton's work in both films and radio and, through
contemporary correspondence, articles and interviews - wherever possible
in his own words - explores Walton's life and troubled times. It brings to the
fore his complex personality - "remote, removed, distant" in Laurence
Olivier's words, in dynamic contrast with music of such vitality and drama.
Composition for him was an arduous, often painful, process riddled with
difficulties, uncertainties and self-doubts, and further complicated by
several love affairs (one being with Italy) that inspired his finest works.
STEPHEN LLOYD's previous books include a biography of H. Balfour
Gardiner and a collection of Eric Fenby's writings on Delius, which he
edited. In addition to record sleeve notes, programme notes, reviews and
articles, he has contributed to the Percy Grainger Companion, the Studies
in Music Grainger Centennial Volume, An Elgar Companion , and volumes
on Delius, Walton and Bliss.
"Immensely detailed, rich, and often fascinating anecdotal biography..." CHOICE
10Britten and Auden in the Thirties: The Year 1936
Donald Mitchell & Alan Hollinghurst, 9780851157900, 190 pages, P/B, £19.99 (Delivery 7-10 days)
A crucial year in the Britten/Auden relationship, which reshaped artistic direction in the immediate
pre-war period.
Benjamin Britten and W.H. Auden were key figures of the 1930s, and here Donald
Mitchell traces their lives during one crucial year, 1936. They worked hard to establish
themselves, first through the GPO film unit, in a collaboration which flowered and spilled
over into the theatre, and then radio - a new medium that the liveliest creative minds of
the time were exploring and exploiting.
Britten and Auden also joined forces in works destined for the recital room and concert
hall, among them Our Hunting Fathers, the political symbolism of which Donald Mitchell
examines in depth, and On the Island, settings of early Auden that comprised Britten's
first important set of songs to English texts. Much use is made of Britten's private
diaries, which he kept on a daily basis, and a revealing portrait emerges of the two
men's relationship, of their work together in many different fields, and of the reflection
within that work of political ideas current at the time.
DONALD MITCHELL was Britten's close friend and publisher from 1964 until the end of the composer's life .
The Wordsmith’s Guide: Poetry, Music & Imagination
Vol I: The Songs of Roger Quilter
Nicola Harrison 9781909082083 190 pages P/B £15
Vol II: The Songs of Ivor Gurney
Nicola Harrison 97819090820557 190 pages P /B £15
The result of years of study, teaching and performance,
and informed throughout by the author's love of poetry,
Nicola Harrison invites the singer to think more
expansively about the way they approach and sing English
Song. The result of her work is unique, refreshing, and is
certain to change the way singers perform and experience
these classic songs.
In these volumes Nicola Harrison examines the poetry and lyrics of their songs, taking into account the
context in which the words were written - the symbolism, mythologies, religion, philosophy, and the many
other influences on the writer - digging deep into the text with fascinatin g results. Her exploration of English
Song is entertaining, witty and illuminating, exploring the magical relationship of words and music, and the
way each separate art is painted by the other. To this end, each song is offered as a mini narrative that
invites the singer into a new world, firing the imagination and guiding them to make their own interpretations.
Offering both the well-known and the lesser-known songs of these two composers, Nicola Harrison
encourages a deeper exploration of the repertoire. Here, the singer will find new songs to perform - and a
fresh and authentic way of performing them.
The Percy Whitlock Companion
Selected & Edited Malcolm Riley 97809555669 288 pages, P/B £15
Malcolm Riley, a great Whitlock champion who has performed his music on
disc, was responsible for Percy Whitlock – Organist and Composer published in
1998. It offered the first real opportunity to study Whitlock’s life and his work in
a comprehensive and cogent way. And for most people, even British Music
lovers, Whitlock’s name was just that. His sadly brief life may have been lived
mainly on the fringes in Bournemouth but as the appendices to this volume
show, he was an active broadcaster, recitalist and appeared at one Prom.
The volume covers correspondence to and from Whitlock, a series of articles
written by him for certain journals, those valuable BBC broadcast programmes
and his recitals for the Organ Music Society. There’s also a recently discovered
short story called Country Holiday and an even more recently discovered Song of Bournemouth. The volume
also contains an article on The South Eastern and Chatham Railway written by the fourteen year old
Whitlock in 1920!
“His now stilled written voice comes across intimately in this handsomely produced volume ” MusicWeb
11IVOR GURNEY AND MARION SCOTT
Song of Pain and Beauty
Pamela Blevins
ISBN: 9781843834212, 382 pages, Hardback, £28 (RRP £29.95)
Insightful account of the life and works of two of the most important figures in
twentieth-century British cultural life.
This dual biography of Ivor Gurney and Marion Scott tells the dramatic story of
two geniuses who met at the Royal College of Music in 1911 and formed an
unlikely partnership that illuminated and enriched the musical and literary worlds
in which they moved. Gurney's poetry and songs have taken their place as part
of the inheritance of England. Scott, Gurney's strongest advocate, emerges
from his shadow for the first time. Her own remarkable achievements as a
pioneering music critic, musicologist, advocate of contemporary music and
women musicians place her among the most influential and respected women
of her generation.
Based on original research, this is the first biography of Gurney since 1978 and
the only biography of Scott. It offers new, in-depth perspectives on Gurney's
attempts to create music and poetry while struggling to overcome the bipolar
illness that eventually derailed his genius & restores Scott's rightful place in
music history.
Pamela Blevins is a former journalist and managing editor of Signature, a magazine about women in classical
music. She has published widely on British composers and poets.
“A remarkable biography that fans of Ivor Gurney will appreciate” Suite 101
“Both Gurney and Scott are restored to their rightful place in musical history” BBC Music Magazine
Parry to Finzi: Twenty English Song-Composers
Trevor Hold ISBN: 9781843731747, 475 pages, Paperback, £18 (RRP £20.00)
Studies of the work of twenty composers from the golden age of English romantic song,
major figures - Parry, Stanford, Vaughan Williams, Quilter, Warlock and Finzi - studied
alongside the lesser-known.
Hold brings a composer's sensibility to his task, notably in his analytical discussion,
and fully understands the nature of the marriage effected, and the difficulties involved,
in the song-composer's art of blending poetry with music. He is a real companion on
his reader's journey of discovery... The text unfailingly readable and astute in
judgement. JOHN TALBOT, BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY NEWSLETTER.
The composers in this book represent the outstanding songwriters from what we can
now see as the golden age of English romantic song. As well as the major figures -
Parry, Stanford, Vaughan Williams, Quilter, Ireland, Gurney, Warlock and Finzi - there
are chapters on lesser-known composers, such as Denis Browne and Charles Orr.
Detailed consideration is given to three song-writers who have suffered unaccountable neglect, Arthur Somervell,
Armstrong Gibbs and Herbert Howells, and there are chapters on Elgar, Delius and Holst, whose reputations were
made in other fields but whose contribution to English song is nevertheless important. Also taking their rightful places
in the book are Frank Bridge, Arnold Bax,
George Butterworth and E.J. Moeran.
“First class… one of the best treatises on the subject yet written, highly recommended” The Singer
12Gerald Finzi: His Life and Music
Diana McVeagh ISBN: 9781843836025, 352 pages, Paperback, £16 (RRP £17.50)
Biography of one of England's best loved composers, with a full discussion and evaluation of his works.
Gerald Finzi is one of the best-known modern English composers. While he is
especially famous as a song-writer, for his sensitive settings of poets such as
Hardy and Wordsworth, he also wrote in other genres; notable works include the
exquisite cantata Dies Natalis, and his cello concerto. He also exerted a major
influence in the musical world as a whole, championing the neglected Ivor
Gurney and reviving eighteenth-century composers with the amateur orchestra
he founded.
In this lively and sensitive study of his life and works, Diana McVeagh, the
renowned Elgar and Finzi scholar, has made use of interviews with the main
figures in his life, correspondence with contemporaries such as Vaughan
Williams, Edmund Blunden, Arthur Bliss, Edmund Rubbra, Howard Ferguson
and Herbert Howells, and her access to previously unpublished material in the
form of his widow, Joy's, unpublished journal. The Finzi that emerges is a multi-
faceted and complex character. The author shows how he developed from a
solitary, introverted youth into a man with strong views and a myriad of interests:
everything from education, pacifism, vegetarianism, to the Arts and Crafts movement, the English pastoral tradition,
English apple varieties, and the significance of ancestry, friendship and marriage in an artist's life. She also discusses
every work within the narrative of Finzi's life and shows what makes his output so outstanding.
“One of the best-written books about a musician to appear for many years” BBC Music Magazine
MUSIC FOR A LONG WHILE
The Autobiography of
FRANCIS JACKSON
ISBN: 9780957672208, 428 pages, Hardback, £15 (RRP £17.75)
“A fascinating book about an amazing musician and a lovely man” Amazon review
In nearly four decades as Master of the Music at York Minster, Francis Jackson
became a leading figure in the world of church music and one of the foremost
organ recitalists of his generation. Born in the early years of radio broadcasting,
his 'long while' reaches into a tenth decade, having given his last organ recital in
2012 just after his 95th birthday. He recalls his chorister days in the Minster
under the imposing Doctor Bairstow, charts the early development of his musical
skills and tastes during the 1920s and '30s and as a young soldier on active
service during the second World War, and recounts the extraordinary sequence
of events that led to his appointment as successor to Bairstow. Jackson's rich
legacy of compositions continues to play a valued part in places of worship round
the world. In this book his thoughts on the process of composition and the
musical sensitivity needed in performance are revealed as the product of a
lifetime's experience; he has performed on probably more than 1000 organs, on
three continents. He relates the events that made Widor's Toccata, a popular
choice at weddings and sent a hymn tune on its way round the world. Finally, he
provides an illuminating insight into the stresses, politics and personalities
behind daily life in one of the great cathedrals.
13The Music of
HERBERT HOWELLS
Edited by Phillip A Cooke and David Maw, Foreword by John Rutter.
ISBN: 9781843838791, 360 pages, Hardback, £22.50 (RRP £25)
The first large-scale study of the music of Herbert Howells, prodigiously gifted musician and favourite
student of the notoriously hard-to-please Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.
Herbert Howells (1892-1983) was a prodigiously gifted musician and the favourite student of the notoriously hard-to-
please Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. Throughout his long life, he was one of the country's most prominent composers,
writing extensively in all genres except the symphony and opera. Yet today he is known mostly for his church music,
and there is as yet relatively little serious study of his work. This book is the first large-scale study of Howells's music,
affording both detailed consideration of individual works and a broad survey of general characteristics and issues.
Its coverage is wide-ranging, addressing all aspects of the composer's prolific output and probing many of the issues
that it raises. The essays are gathered in five sections: Howells the Stylist examines one of the most striking aspect of
the composer's music, its strongly characterised personal voice; Howells the Vocal Composer addresses both his
well-known contribution to church music and his less familiar, but also important, contribution to the genre of solo
song; Howells the Instrumental Composer shows that he was no less accomplished for his work in genres without
words, for which, in fact, he first made his name; Howells the Modern considers the composer's rather overlooked
contribution to the development of a modern voice for British music; and Howells in Mourning explores the important
impact of his son's death on his life and work.
The composer that emerges from these studies is a complex figure: technically fluent but prone to revision and self-
doubt; innovative but also conservative; a composer with an improvisational sense of flow who had a firm grasp of
musical form; an exponent of British musical style who owed as much to continental influence as to his national
heritage. This volume, comprising a collection of outstanding essays by established writers and emergent scholars,
opens up the range of Howells's achievement to a wider audience, both professional and amateur.
CONTRIBUTORS: Byron Adams, Paul Andrews, Graham Barber, Jonathan Clinch, Phillip A. Cooke, Jeremy Dibble,
Lewis Foreman, Fabian Huss, David Maw, Diane Nolan Cooke, Lionel Pike, Paul Spicer and Jonathan White.
PHILLIP COOKE is Lecturer in Composition at
the University of Aberdeen.
DAVID MAW is Tutor and Research Fellow in
Music at Oriel College, Oxford, holding
Lectureships also at Christ Church, The Queen's
and Trinity Colleges.
“Eye opening dimensions – fascinating”
Classical Music
“Superb and highly welcome addition to the
literature on Howells”
CHOMBEC News
14O Sing Unto The Lord: A History of English Church Music
Andrew Gant
ISBN: 9781781252482, 464 pages, Paperback, £11.50 (RRP £12.99)
Andrew Gant's compelling account traces English church music from Anglo-Saxon origins to the present. It is a
history of the music and of the people who made, sang and listened to it. It shows
the role church music has played in ordinary lives and how it reflects those lives
back to us. The author considers why church music remains so popular and
frequently tops the classical charts and why the BBC's Choral Evensong remains
the longest-running radio series ever. He shows how England's church music
follows the contours of its history and is the soundtrack of its changing politics and
culture, from the mysteries of the Mass to the elegant decorum of the Restoration
anthem, from stern Puritanism to Victorian bombast, and thence to the fractured
worlds of the twentieth century as heard in the music of Vaughan Williams and
Britten. This is a book for everyone interested in the history of English music,
culture and society.
“Excellent ... This authoritative and engaging history brings ... light and warmth
to the subject” (Sunday Times)
I Saw Eternity The Other Night
King’s College, Cambridge, and an English Singing Style by Timothy Day
ISBN: 978-0241352182, 416 pages, Paperback, £11.50 (RRP £12.99)
The sound of the choir of King's College, Cambridge - its voices perfectly blended, its emotions restrained, its impact
sublime - has become famous all over the world, and for many, the distillation of a particular kind of Englishness. This
is especially so at Christmas time, with the broadcast of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, whose centenary is
celebrated this year. How did this small band of men and boys in a famous
fenland town in England come to sing in the extraordinary way they did in the
twentieth and early twenty-first centuries?
It has been widely assumed that the King's style essentially continues an
English choral tradition inherited directly from the Middle Ages. In this original
and illuminating book, Timothy Day shows that this could hardly be further from
the truth. Until the 1930s, the singing at King's was full of high Victorian
emotionalism, like that at many other English choral foundations well into the
twentieth century.
The choir's modern sound was brought about by two intertwined revolutions,
one social and one musical. From 1928, singing with the trebles in place of the
old lay clerks, the choir was fully made up of choral scholars - college men,
reading for a degree. Under two exceptional directors of music - Boris Ord from
1929 and David Willcocks from 1958 - the style was transformed and the choir
broadcast and recorded until it became the epitome of English choral singing,
setting the benchmark for all other choral foundations either to imitate or to
react against. Its style has now been taken over and adapted by classical
performers who sing both sacred and secular music in secular settings all over
the world with a precision inspired by the King's tradition.
I Saw Eternity the Other Night investigates the timbres of voices, the enunciation of words, the use of vibrato. But the
singing of all human beings, in whatever style, always reflects in profound and subtle ways their preoccupations and
attitudes to life. These are the underlying themes explored by this book.
“The King's choir's glory years under Ord and Willcocks are at the heart of Day's massive, impeccably
researched book. Its scope, however, is far wider. ... The sound is a 20th-century British invention, which -
because it coincided with the rise of broadcasting and recording - went on to conquer the world.”
(Richard Morrison The Times)
15Blessed City
The Life and Works of Edward C Bairstow
Francis Jackson ISBN: 9781850721925, 338 pages, Paperback, £15 (RRP £17.75)
Edward C Bairstow, For 33 years, Organist and Choirmaster of York Minster
and for 17 years Professor of Music at Durham University, was one of the best
known musicians of his day. His achievements as exponent, composer,
conductor and above all, teacher, were acknowledged throug hout the English
speaking world. A formidable character, who dealt ruthlessly with mediocrity,
he nevertheless inspired intense loyalty, admiration and affection, and his
influence was far-reaching. This book, published 50 years after his death,
includes five chapters of his unfinished biography.
Francis Jackson was a choirmaster at York Minister under Bairstow and became his successor
at the age of 29, a nd is now famous as an organ recitalis t, broadcaster and composer
Sir George Dyson
His Life and Music by Paul Spicer
ISBN: 9781843839033, 480 pages, Hardback, £47.50 (RRP £50.00)
George Dyson (1883-1964) was a highly influential composer, educator and administrator, whose
work touched the lives of millions. Yet today, apart from his Canterbury Pilgrims and two sets of
canticles for Choral Evensong, his music is little known. In this comprehensive and detailed study,
based not only on Dyson's own writings but on unpublished papers, personal correspondence, and
interviews with his family and friends, Paul Spicer brings this remarkable man and his lyrical,
passionate and engaging music to life once more.
Born into a working class family in Halifax, West Yorkshire, he rose from humble beginnings to become the voice of public
school music in Britain and Director of the RCM. As a scholarship student, he met and studied with some of the leading
musicians of the day, including Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Hubert Parry. He went on to work in some of the
country's greatest schools, where he established his reputation as a composer, particularly of choral and orchestral works, of
which Quo Vadis was his most ambitious. A member of the BBC Brains Trust panel, Dyson was also the 'voice of music' on
the radio for a number of years and helped to educate the nation through his regular broadcasts.
PAUL SPICER was a composition student of Herbert Howells, whose biography he wrote in 1998. He is well-known
as a choral conductor especially of British Music of the twentieth century onwards, a writer, composer, teacher, and
producer.
“Compelling and valuable” Organist’s Review
Wednesdays at 5.55: Organ Recitals at The Royal Festival Hall
W Harry Hoyle 9781999685706 H/B £25
For many who thrill to the sound of the pipe organ, a cherished memory is the series of
Wednesday evening organ recitals held at London’s Royal Festival Hall between 1954
and 1989. Although much has been written about the Festival Hall organ itself, the
history of the ‘Wednesdays at 5.55’ recitals was undocumented until Harry Hoyle took
on the task as a labour of love.
Drawing on the Southbank Centre archive, private paper collections and the memories
of many performers, in this comprehensive and engaging book he tells the story of how
the series was planned, which organists performed, the repertoire they played and how
the recitals were received by the press and by the public. He also reviews the social
changes that led to the ending of ‘Wednesdays at 5.55’ and the search for the best way
to present the highlights of the organ repertoire on this unique instrument.
16Reminiscence and Recollection
Watkins Shaw (1911 – 1996)
With tributes from friends and colleagues
Edited by Richard Lyne
ISBN: 9780953036615, 68 pages, Paperback, £3.50
Watkins Shaw, forever linked to The Church Music Society and the RSCM, was also
famous for his editorship of The new Novello edition of Handel’s Messiah.
This volume includes words from the man himself and tributes from friends & colleagues.
Recollections of a St Albans Abbey Chorister
Trevor Jarvis, Ref: TJ001, 50 pages, Paperback, RRP: £7.99 (RRP £8.50)
Trevor Jarvis joined the St Albans Abbey Choir as a probationer under Peter Burton in 1956
and was one of the first batches of choristers to be made on the arrival of Peter Hurford in
1958. Now retired, Trevor continues to work for the RSCM in Salisbury.
"... So much of the book (is) about St Albans after a ‘new broom’ arrived
in the form of Peter Hurford, with descriptions of Hurford’s rehearsing,
conducting and playing – complete with biography and list of his
published choral works. It is fascinating to read of the impression made
on Trevor Jarvis, a chorister at St Albans, looking back 60 years later at
Hurford’s work there. Discipline was tightened, repertoire broadened and
standards raised. Jarvis remembers his initial encounter with ‘someone
in a hurry – like a whirlwind – with a surfeit of nervous energy’.
In addition we have a valuable reminiscence of Hurford’s predecessor,
Peter Burton, who died in post at the age of 41 in an accident while
swimming, and more generally a description of life as a cathedral or
abbey chorister in the late 1950s ranging from choir camps to royal
visits, along with documentation of the daily routine of the choir. One
does not need to be a present or former chorister to enjoy reading this
well-researched evocation of what is indeed a special world."
Julian Elloway, CMQ
WILLCOCKS - A LIFE IN MUSIC
Conversations with Sir David Willcocks and Friends
Edited by William Owen ISBN: 9780193360631, 304 pages, H/B, £22.95 (RRP £24.75)
• Fascinating life story of pre-eminent 20th-century choral musician
• Includes CD with many of Sir David's famous recordings
• Absorbing anecdotes of many famous composers, performances,
institutions, and musical events
• Tells the story of the genesis of the famous Carols for Choirs series
• Book weaves a central narrative with Sir David, with each chapter
followed by reflections from friends and colleagues
“Essential reading for anyone remotely interested in choral music”
Classical Music
17SOUNDS AND SWEET AIRS:
The Forgotten Women of Classical Music
Anna Beer ISBN: 9781786070678 384 pages P/B £8.50 (RRP £9.99)
A companion to the Classic FM series.
Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Marianna Martines,
Fanny Hensel, Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger, Elizabeth Maconchy.
Since the birth of classical music, women who dared compose have faced a
bitter struggle to be heard. In spite of this, female composers continued to
create, inspire and challenge. Yet even today so much of their work languishes
unheard.
Anna Beer reveals the highs and lows experienced by eight composers across
the centuries, from Renaissance Florence to twentieth-century London,
restoring to their rightful place exceptional women whom history has forgotten.
“Beer’s writing is lucid, engaging and exuberant, strongly evoking the
cultures and atmospheres that surrounded her subjects…the book in
general is terrifically enjoyable and accessible and leaves one hankering
for a second volume.” Sunday Times
THE GREATER LIGHT:
A COMPENDIUM OF THE LIFE AND WORKS OF MARTIN SHAW
Stephen Connock and Isobel Montgomery Campbell (Editors)
ISBN: 9780995628427, 442 pages, Hardback £28.50 (RRP £30)
Published in the sixtieth anniversary year of the death of the composer
Martin Shaw, this book provides fresh insights into the life of a remarkable
and intriguing man. Highly regarded during his lifetime, much of Shaw’s
work was pioneering in the theatre, music education, the church and what
is now known as community singing. Yet Martin Shaw is virtually unknown
today except for a few hymns such as All Things Bright and Beautiful, Hills
of the North rejoice and Morning Has Broken and his editorial work with
Ralph Vaughan Williams for Songs of Praise (1925) and The Oxford Book
of Carols (1928). Astonishingly, Martin Shaw edited almost 80 volumes of
music and still found time to compose around 200 songs and vocal works. To this remarkable output should
be added the operas and incidental music to plays including Brer Rabbit and Mr Fox (1914), Mr
Pepys (1926) and The Thorn of Avalon (1931) all of which are noteworthy and enjoyed considerable
popularity in their day.
This book brings back into circulation a number of important works by or about Martin Shaw that have long
been unavailable but which reveal much about his life, his work and those ideas which inspired him
throughout his long career in music. The central contribution here is Shaw’s autobiography Up to
Now (1929), a delightfully light-hearted and understated journey through the early years of his life. He
worked closely with Isadora Duncan and Edward Gordon Craig in the theatre, with Ralph Vaughan
Williams, Gustav Holst and John Ireland in the musical field and enjoyed close friendships with John
Masefield, Clifford Bax, Mabel Dearmer and Eleanor Farjeon among many other writers. This wide circle of
friends and remarkable breadth of interests is further demonstrated in 100 letters published, in this book, for
the first time.
“Connock’s rewarding anthology is hard to beat, enthusiasts will surely derive lasting pleasure
from it.” Gramophone
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