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Ernest John Moeran: His Life and Music
- Author: Maxwell, Ian
This is a very human story of a man who produced a small but treasured body of work which transcends the time and manner of its creation... Dr. Maxwell has added a major contribution both to...
Ernest John Moeran: His Life and Music
- Author: Maxwell, Ian
Purchase product
This is a very human story of a man who produced a small but treasured body of work which transcends the time and manner of its creation... Dr. Maxwell has added a major contribution both to...
About
This long-awaited study of the life and music of Anglo-Irish composer Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950) finally provides a full biography of the last senior figure in early twentieth-century British Music to have been without one.
Although Moeran's work was widely performed during his lifetime, he suffered neglect in the years following his death. It was not until a re-awakening of appreciation for the music of the folksong-inspired English pastoralism in the latter part of the twentieth century that Moeran's tuneful, well-crafted and approachable music began to attract a new audience. However, widely accepted misconceptions about his life and character have obscured a clear understanding of both man and composer.
Written with the benefit of access to previously unknown or unresearched archives, Ernest John Moeran: His Life and Music strips away a hitherto unchallenged mythological framework, and replaces it by a thorough-going examination and analysis of the life and work of a musician that may reasonably be asserted as having been unique in British music history.
IAN MAXWELL is Affiliated Researcher, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge.
Contents
- Introduction
- Part 1 : Ancestry, Childhood and Education
- Chapter 1 : Irish and Victorian Origins
- Chapter 2 (1894-1908): Childhood and Early Education
- Chapter 3 (1908-1912): Uppingham School
- Chapter 4 (1912-1914): The Music Student
- Part 2 : The First World War
- Chapter 5 (1914-1917): In the Army
- Chapter 6 (1917): A Composer Goes to War
- Chapter 7 (1918): Ireland, and Recovery
- Part 3 : Rise and Fall
- Chapter 8 (1919-1920): The Establishment of a Composer
- Chapter 9 (1921-1922): London
- Chapter 10 (1923-1924): Meteoric Rise
- Chapter 11 (1925-1927): The Composer Ruined
- Part 4 : Reconstruction
- Chapter 12 (1928-1931): Starting Again
- Chapter 13 (1932-1935): Rebuilding a Reputation
- Chapter 14 (1936-1942): Return to Ireland
- Part 5 : Maturity, Marriage and Last YearsChapter 15 (1943-1944): 'Wonderful Things Together'
- Chapter 16 (1944-1945): Muse
- Chapter 17 (1945-1946): 'My Word as a Gentleman'
- Chapter 18 (1947-1948): Masterpiece?
- Chapter 19 (1949-1950): 'No More Partings'
- Chapter 20 : Last Days and Death
- Appendix I: The Moeran Mythology
- Appendix II: List of Works Select
- Bibliography
- Index
Awards and reviews
This is a very human story of a man who produced a small but treasured body of work which transcends the time and manner of its creation... Dr. Maxwell has added a major contribution both to our understanding of Moeran as well as the musical society in which he moved. His writing style is objective and clear. With the precision of a surgeon and the authority of a lawyer he presents facts with supporting evidence, offers a considered interpretation of those facts but ultimately leaves it to the reader to interpret as they see fit.... As compelling a biography as I have read in several years. -- Nick Barnard
