Victor Gollancz (1893–1967)

It should be stated clearly that this is not so much a book about music as a series of autobiographical fragments involving music in the author's life. Gollancz, who might be the epitome of the term "champagne socialism", is a man of strong views where music, and particularly opera, is concerned - I'm sure many people will dissent from his description of a certain well-loved soprano as "as dull as Melba", but even though he clearly believes in an absolute standard of values in classical show more music, I find he is able to make these judgements without causing offence. There are also some interesting insights into his political life, such as the story of how his wife, when they were visiting Austria in the 1930s, stayed awake at night to guard him against the risk she felt he ran (as a prominent antinazi) of being kidnapped from their hotel. His views on Wagner and fascism are also of great interest.I think most people interested in classical music will find this worth reading at least once, if not more. show less

Not my cup of tea as it draws on a devotional style and a theological position that "does not speak to my condition" But I keep it because it is a link to woman who although she was 95 and as different to me theological as you can be in Quakers she spoke and acted love in ways that I can only aspire to.

An excellent selection of quotations and extracts brought together by Gollanz under a chronological heading, chronological in the sense that he takes the beginnings of Biblical thought and works his way through to the end, covering most Biblical/Christian topics on the way. There are Jewish stories here, and some quotes from non-Christian religions. A book to ponder over

Approximately 450 prayers constitute this combining of two personal collections of prayers from many sources and many different religions. The only qualification for inclusion was that one or the other of the collectors found them appealing at the time they discovered them. They were written "from the thirteenth century B.C. to 1962: and the authors from Queen Elizabeth I to an Arab chieftain, from Nebuchadnezzar to Lady Jane Grey, from the Vedas to John Wesley, from a Bedouin camel-driver show more to a Chinese student, and from Cynewulf to Edith Sitwell. Many of the prayers are virtually unknown, and several have never been printed before." show less