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Ernest John Moeran: His Life and Music
This long-awaited study of the life and music of Anglo-Irish composer Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950) finally provides a full biography of the last senior figure in early twentieth-century British Music to have been without one.
This long-awaited study of the life and music of Anglo-Irish composer Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950) finally provides a full biography of the last senior figure in early twentieth-century British Music to have been without one.
Although Moeran's work was widely performed during his lifetime, he suffered neglect in the years following his death. It was not until a re-awakening of appreciation for the music of the folksong-inspired English pastoralism in the latter part of the twentieth century that Moeran's tuneful, well-crafted and approachable music began to attract a new audience. However, widely accepted misconceptions about his life and character have obscured a clearunderstanding of both man and composer.
Written with the benefit of access to previously unknown or unresearched archives, Ernest John His Life and Music strips away a hitherto unchallenged mythological framework, and replaces it by a thorough-going examination and analysis of the life and work of a musician that may reasonably be asserted as having been unique in British music history.
This long-awaited study of the life and music of Anglo-Irish composer Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950) finally provides a full biography of the last senior figure in early twentieth-century British Music to have been without one.
Although Moeran's work was widely performed during his lifetime, he suffered neglect in the years following his death. It was not until a re-awakening of appreciation for the music of the folksong-inspired English pastoralism in the latter part of the twentieth century that Moeran's tuneful, well-crafted and approachable music began to attract a new audience. However, widely accepted misconceptions about his life and character have obscured a clearunderstanding of both man and composer.
Written with the benefit of access to previously unknown or unresearched archives, Ernest John His Life and Music strips away a hitherto unchallenged mythological framework, and replaces it by a thorough-going examination and analysis of the life and work of a musician that may reasonably be asserted as having been unique in British music history.
375 pages, Hardcover
Published June 18, 2021
About the author
Ian Maxwell
19 booksThis is the disambiguation page for otherwise unseparated authors publishing as Ian Maxwell
See also:
Ian Maxwell author of thriller novels
Ian Maxwell social historian and author of genealogical guides
Ian Maxwell author of Phat Beats, Dope Rhymes
Ian Maxwell author of Manhunter: The Art of Tracking
Ian E. Maxwell author of Managing Sustainable Innovation: The Driver for Global Growth
Ian Ramsay Maxwell author of French Farce & John Heywood
Ian Maxwell author of Macgee and Macgill and Me
I.S. Maxwell author of The Domesday Geography of Northern England
See also:
Ian Maxwell author of thriller novels
Ian Maxwell social historian and author of genealogical guides
Ian Maxwell author of Phat Beats, Dope Rhymes
Ian Maxwell author of Manhunter: The Art of Tracking
Ian E. Maxwell author of Managing Sustainable Innovation: The Driver for Global Growth
Ian Ramsay Maxwell author of French Farce & John Heywood
Ian Maxwell author of Macgee and Macgill and Me
I.S. Maxwell author of The Domesday Geography of Northern England
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 12, 2025
Ian Maxwell's biography is both scholarly and readable with plenty of musical examples, 62 in all. He particularly tackles 'The Moeran Mythology' not only within the main text but also in the identically titled appendix. Maxwell aims to 'present(ed) evidence that must cast doubt on...the tendency - derived from his supposed experiences during the First World War and reinforced by such testimony...to regard Moeran sympathetically and as a victim.' Maxwell's approach is far more nuanced re-examining his past and carefully weighing letters to his wife Peers Coetmore and friends as well as testimony from friends and colleagues.
I particularly enjoyed the search for information around his final months and the fate of various manuscripts/scores particularly that of his Second Symphony - though neither the disappearance of a suitcase full of manuscripts or the cleaner throwing out all his manuscripts because they were in such an terrible state are mentioned. These two matters can be explored in the earlier radio documentary "Lonely Waters" by Lyndon Jenkins (1994 - SEE YouTube) particularly useful for its many illustrations, and Martin Yates who completed the Second Symphony from fragments, in discussion with Stephen Johnson in The BBC's 'Discovering Music' series (1 June, 2012) and available on BBC Sounds.
The textual apparatus is excellent as one has come to expect from The Boydell Press comprising Notes on archival sources, a list of works, select bibliography, index of works and a general index. Ian Maxwell's study must now stand as the go to study for the life and work of Jack Moeran.
I particularly enjoyed the search for information around his final months and the fate of various manuscripts/scores particularly that of his Second Symphony - though neither the disappearance of a suitcase full of manuscripts or the cleaner throwing out all his manuscripts because they were in such an terrible state are mentioned. These two matters can be explored in the earlier radio documentary "Lonely Waters" by Lyndon Jenkins (1994 - SEE YouTube) particularly useful for its many illustrations, and Martin Yates who completed the Second Symphony from fragments, in discussion with Stephen Johnson in The BBC's 'Discovering Music' series (1 June, 2012) and available on BBC Sounds.
The textual apparatus is excellent as one has come to expect from The Boydell Press comprising Notes on archival sources, a list of works, select bibliography, index of works and a general index. Ian Maxwell's study must now stand as the go to study for the life and work of Jack Moeran.
Displaying 1 of 1 review