Neville Cardus (1888–1975)

A dusty tome from the university library, published 1947. What a different tone of voice he has. I didn't understand half of his cultural references but liked the ride. He eventually made a name for himself writing a high-brow cricket column. But his best love was music criticism and he regarded his writing on that topic as superior. I liked reading about what a resolutely square peg he was. His relatives dead, he lived on his own from the age of twelve and read what he decided were the show more great works in order to self educate. Near the end of the biography he mentions that he gives himself six hours of solitude per day. Included is a description of the last music performance season in Salzburg in 1937 before annexation. show less

Neville Cardus was a cricket and music journalist, who joined the Guardian newspaper in 1916 and died on February 28 1975.

This book illustrates his mastery of prose. There are wonderful descriptions, magical turns of phrase, all covered with an elegance and mastery of language that shows up all modern commentators. Cardus was of the old school when mastery of language, phrase and syntax were valued qualities.

Read this book, even if you have no interest in music, for the quality of prose this show more book contains.

Sadly, the modern age has seen a serious decline in the quality of prose construction. Only read this book to have definite confirmation of this fact. show less

Gerald Moore's Am I Too Loud? is where I first encountered Kathleen Ferrier, an incredible woman who clearly touched a lot of lives, achieved incredible fame, whilst remaining humble and extremely down-to-earth. This portrait is only bolstered further here by contributors of varying professional/musical relationships to Ferrier. They helped reveal the person behind the artist, the amount of hard work that translated into effortlessness on the classical music stage, as well as her contrasting show more Lancastrian roots and charisma.

The depictions here of Ferrier's almost saintliness cannot be understated, and the glimpses offered here by this book not only helps elevate her even more but also manages to humanise her. Her clear musical ambitions match the sombre upper class reputation classical music tends to have, while her unfiltered emotions (enjoying a prank/joke or unleashing her fury) paradoxically makes her seem even more regal and composed. With her popularity, her background, her powerfully low voice, is Adele the modern day Ferrier? show less

"Tennis", says Cardus, "cannot possibly be a great game because women have been known to attain proficiency at it." A good deal of the interest of this book lies in his memories of the almost unimaginably long-gone time of his boyhood, from which he carried forward some attitudes surprisingly modern and a few which no-one would now care to admit. Towards the end oif the book he says "Only the very young should be new-fashioned; they can grow out of it. These are reminiscences of a long and show more varied life by one who wasn't ashamed of being at times old-fashioned. show less