Beskrivelse
Alan Blackwood’s book (236 pages) gives an authoritative account of a man of extraordinarily catholic tastes, ‘a pioneer of the new, the unfamiliar, and sometimes the downright odd.’ The catalogue of his programmes is fascinating: his first concert in London included works by Gretry and Cyril Scott. He befriended Richard Strauss then described as ‘the stormy petrel of modern music’ whose operas he introduced to a slightly bewildered British public. Now chiefly remembered for his championing of Delius, for the founding of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and for being rude to people, he sustained musical life here almost single-handedly during the 1914-18 war. His influence lives on.
