Role

:

Composer

Country

:

United Kingdom

Birth

:

August 28, 1890 in Gloucester, England

Death

:

December 26, 1937 in Dartford, Kent, England

Period

:

Modern

Genre

:

Vocal

 

Ivor Gurney was a British composer and poet who lived from 1890 to 1937. He was born in Gloucester, England, and showed an early interest in music, singing in the choir at his local church and playing the organ. He was also a talented writer, and won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London in 1911. At the Royal College of Music, Gurney studied composition with Charles Villiers Stanford and Ralph Vaughan Williams, two of the leading British composers of the time. He also studied poetry with the poet and critic Robert Bridges, and became friends with the composer Herbert Howells. Gurney's early compositions were heavily influenced by the music of Vaughan Williams and other British composers, as well as by the poetry of the First World War. He served in the war as a private in the Gloucestershire Regiment, and was wounded in the Battle of the Somme in 1917. After the war, he suffered from mental illness, and spent much of his life in psychiatric hospitals. Despite his struggles with mental illness, Gurney continued to compose music and write poetry throughout his life. His music is characterized by its lyrical melodies, rich harmonies, and evocative use of orchestration. His poetry is similarly lyrical and evocative, often drawing on his experiences of nature and the English countryside. Some of Gurney's most famous works include his song cycle "The Western Playland," which sets poems by A.E. Housman to music, and his "Severn Meadows," a setting of his own poem about the River Severn. He also wrote a number of chamber works, including a string quartet and a sonata for violin and piano. Despite his talent as a composer and poet, Gurney struggled to gain recognition during his lifetime. He was largely forgotten after his death in 1937, but has since been rediscovered and celebrated as one of the most important British composers of the early 20th century. His music and poetry continue to be performed and studied today, and his legacy as a composer and poet lives on.

More....