Ivor Gurney and Marion Scott

Insightful account of the life and works of two of the most important figures in twentieth-century British cultural life.

Insightful account of the life and works of two of the most important figures in twentieth-century British cultural life.

This dual biography of Ivor Gurney and Marion Scott tells the dramatic story of two geniuses who met at the Royal College of Music in 1911 and formed an unlikely partnership that illuminated and enriched the musical and literary worlds in which they moved. Gurney's poetry and songs have taken their place as part of the inheritance of England. Scott, Gurney's strongest advocate, emerges from his shadow for the first time. Her own remarkable achievements as a pioneering music critic, musicologist, advocate of contemporary music and women musicians place her among the most influential and respected women of her generation.

Based on original research, this is thefirst biography of Gurney since 1978 and the only biography of Scott. It offers new, in-depth perspectives on Gurney's attempts to create music and poetry while struggling to overcome the bipolar illness that eventually derailed his genius, and restores Marion Scott's rightful place in music history.

Pamela Blevins is a former journalist and managing editor ofSignature, a magazine about women in classical music. She has publishedwidely on British composers and poets.

Preface
Prologue
London, 1911
A Clash of Wills
An Island of Serenity
Friendship and Poetry
The Gurney Family
Golden Days
A Lad's Love
The First Breakdown
The Lost Year
The Experiment
A Partnership
The Dirty Business of War
Blighty
'Love has come to bind me fast'
'You would rather know me dead...'
An Uncertain Course
A New Mastery
The Tide of Darkness
'There is dreadful hell within me...'
Asylum -- 'the soul halts here'
The Last Chance
'A fantastic mix-up'
Bitter Troubles and Suffering
'In time to come'
Epilogue
Appendices
Bibliography
Index