Imogen Holst (1907–1984)

At a mere 95 pages, it is tempting to pass over this biography in favour of a more meaty offering. Thank goodness that I did not! This is a wonderful invocation of Benjamin Britten.

Imogen Holst, the author, worked with Britten for many years and, whilst this is a very lean telling of the great man's story, it is one laced with affection and understanding. Anyone who has followed my reviews - and by some miracle retained their sanity - will know that the most important criteria that I set to show more the biography of a creative talent is whether the biographer makes me want to revisit the subject's work. I may cut this piece short as I need to rifle my CD collection for every work of Britten's that I possess.

It is amazing to realise just how much Ms Holst has managed to squeeze in to a book of so few pages and so many illustrations because, not only have I been treated to Britten's life story, I have also been given an understanding of why he produced many of his greatest works. Naturally, a composer's work should stand unaided, but comprehension of the mindset and circumstances which lead to the birth of a piece of music adds an extra dimension and this little work has done that for me.

If you read nothing else about Benjamin Britten, I strongly advise you to devour a copy of this excellent book. If you are a Britten fan, it will add to the pleasure and if you are not, it just might convert you. show less

I'm currently using this little book as my go-to reference for terminology. One of the frustrating aspects of learning a new discipline, and music is no different, is the use of many different terms for the same thing, or one term used differently in different contexts. Imogen Holst is a helpful guide through what would otherwise be, for me, a regularly opaque subject. Although she focuses primarily on older music styles and history, she lays a solid foundation for further learning. I like show more her explanations of the origin of symbols and how written music developed. A wonderful book. show less

Two of the greatest composers of the Elizabethan age, Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, were court musicians, apparently Catholics but protected and supported by the queen.

The series of Pavans and Galliards by Byrd "may be likened to the 96 pieces in Bach's 'Well-tempered Clavier' or the 102 movements of Beethoven's piano sonatas". So writes Davitt Moroney, Byrd scholar, one of the foremost harpsichordists of his generation.

The performers whom Byrd affects he affects extremely. Famously, Glenn show more Gould got excited about a single note in the ninth and final variation of the Elizabethan master's Sellinger's Round. The B-flat was "the only note of its persuasion to grace this 182-bar opus". But he could think of no more telling comment upon "that transition between linguistic methods with which all music of the late renaissance was occupied". Not until the advent of Richard Wagner 300 years later were chromatic notes employed again with such force. show less

3/23/22