The John Ireland Companion

John Ireland (1879-1962) was one of the most distinctive of that generation of remarkable British composers that included Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Frank Bridge and Arnold Bax. They emerged in the decade before the First World War and in the inter-war years produced a remarkable body of music, in Ireland's case not only the most popular British Piano Concerto of its time, but a splendid repertoire of songs, piano music, chamber music and favourite orchestral scores. Yet the literature of books about Ireland is comparatively small, and here we have a Companion that will be essential for all admirers of the composer. Not only for the intending performer - pianist, singer, conductor - but for the wider musical public, record collectors and musical historians, academics and all interested in British music of the earlier twentieth century. The editor has drawn on his extensive researches into Ireland's life and letters over many years, and, working with the John Ireland Trust, has not only commissioned a wide range of chapters from leading performers and academics of today, but has brought together in one convenient format Ireland's own writings on music, the memories of his friends and students (which included Britten, Moeran and Arnell) and a selection of important earlier articles. The Companion also includes a complete list of works, and the most comprehensive discography of Ireland ever compiled. This volume is the essential guide and sourcebook on the life and music of John Ireland. Lewis Foreman is author of Bax: A Composer and His Time (Boydell, 2007) and London: a Musical Gazetteer (Yale 2005). Former Chief Librarian of the Foreign Office, he is occasional broadcaster on BBC Radio 3 and author of nearly 300 CD booklet notes.