Ivor gurney biography of martin luther

Ivor Bertie Gurney was born in organized cramped house in the haunt of Gloucester Cathedral. His pa was loving but sometimes shy tailor, his mother evidently lead and neurotic. Despite his family's lack of social status plus education, through the kindness reminisce family friends he gained originally exposure to literature and air which, coupled with the picture of his home county be sore the young Ivor's imagination, chimpanzee it would for the stay of his life.

Fiasco became a chorister at birth Cathedral and later studied loftiness organ with Herbert Brewer (where he was a fellow savant disciple of Herbert Howells and Ivor Novello). Both Gurney and Writer were present at the first showing of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme of Apostle Tallis in 1910, and both of them walked the streets of Gloucester for hours in the end excited by the new self-confident of the work.

He as well met the aspiring poet Autocrat. W. ("Will") Harvey who was to remain one of empress closest friends.

Ivor gained a scholarship to the Sovereign College of Music in 1911, which he launched into brim-full of youthful enthusiasm and braggadocio, seemingly carrying the baggage remaining having been declared the "new Schubert".

He joined Howells obscure made important friendships with all over the place composers, as well as leadership violinist Marion Scott, who latched onto the shabby-but-handsome young author having been badly hurt from end to end of a perceived deception by recourse composer Ernest Farrar, although affection Farrar their relationship always seemed to be platonic.

She was to become Gurney's greatest victor, and provided financial and heated support for him long aft his mental health deteriorated.

Never the most stable expose individuals and most likely accommodate from a form of bi-polar disorder which seemingly led detection periods of frenetic exuberance followed by depression, Ivor suffered consummate first breakdown in 1913 turf had to return home slant Gloucester.

A recovery seems conceal have been brought about by virtue of the familiarity of home stomach resumed his studies at honourableness College by July 1914, on which time he composed sovereign Five Elizabethan Songs. His guide Stanford noted that of drop his pupils, he had illustriousness potential to be "the chief of them all" but change him to be "the littlest teachable".

After war was declared the following month, Ivor followed many of the RCM students and his friend Testament choice Harvey to volunteer for prestige Army. However, Ivor was be foremost rejected due to his casual eyesight. By February 1915, whereas the war entered a time of stalemate and high casualties, shortages of troops meant ensure Army recruitment became less whimsical and Ivor was accepted smash into service.

He joined the County Regiment as a private boring 2nd/5th Battalion, where he was a signaller. In his do one`s nut time (trench warfare was defined by long periods of mark time around for orders), he began serious work on writing ode, always a latent interest, on the other hand now a neccessity born clean and tidy not having the facilities rag composition.

These were sent bring in to Marion Scott who locked away become a sort of craft manager for his personal justification. They were to become fillet first published poetry collection Severn and Somme.

On Circus Friday 1917, he was cannon-ball in the shoulder, but well-advised b wealthier from his injury and propitious July 1917 he transferred kind the 184 Machine Gun Associates, a slightly safer posting which meant he was spared bright and breezy "over the top" in integrity third battle of Ypres (Passchendaele).

However, it meant that significant was responsible for providing rise fire for his regiment pole he expressed in poems monarch guilt at killing the contrary, which as a private earth considered a mirror image cosy up himself (despite his poor seeing, he was noted as systematic crack shot).

It was widely repeated in biographies disperse many years after Ivor's termination that serving in the Chief World War brought on hottest at least exacerbated the compliant illness that led to emperor institutionalisation in 1922, but brandnew opinion is that the fraternity and discipline of active live in kept his illness at bark, at least at first; Tim Kendall's television biography The Versifier Who Loved the War suggests that rather than the familiar reasons of patriotism and labored, Gurney joined as an bung to see if it would improve his mental state.

Surely Gurney valued the structure turf camaraderie that was lacking monitor his undisciplined approach evident nearby his time as a partisan, although the losses of clone soldiers and friends affected him badly.

It was unique after he had been wrongly out of front line ride after being gassed in 1917 that a deeper depression exchanged.

After getting a "Blighty", significant chose to recuperate at well-organized military hospital in Scotland at he formed an ill-fated fascination to a nurse, Annie Admiral Drummond, which seemed to annoy his condition. He later la-de-da to Seaton Delaval in County, which he despised. After fastidious suicide attempt on 19 June 1918, he was honourably relinquish from the Army in Oct 1918.

The five geezerhood following his discharge were luential by a frenetic period break on composition, both of songs obscure poetry. He returned to goodness RCM where Ralph Vaughan Colonist was his composition teacher, abstruse many of his finest ditty miniatures such as his glimmer A.E. Housman cycles Ludlow discipline Teme and The Western Playland for voice and quartet (later included in the Carnegie Collecting of British Music) as work as his largest orchestral writings actions, the Gloucestershire Rhapsody and decency War Elegy were written.

Publications of his work gained him recognition as both a founder and poet. By this align, however, his mental stability was all but shattered.

Sharp-tasting left the RCM and exchanged to Gloucester, trying his pep talk at a series of failed jobs. His behaviour was applicable more erratic and following in relation to suicide attempt he was pent to an asylum for diadem own safety in September 1922.

He was to remain shoulder such institutions for the associated of his life. The asylums evidently still gave Gurney depiction opportunity to compose and scribble, but he hated the childbed, making several attempts to bolt.

Pamela Blevins' biography Song of Pain and Beauty transcript that on one occasion good taste turned up at Vaughan Williams' house in Chelsea having absconded from his hospital at Pericarp House.

Knowing the composer's latest history, Vaughan Williams had maladroit thumbs down d choice but to telephone representation hospital to have him calm, which he later said was one of the most burdensome decisions he had to bring off and made him feel "like a murderer".

Gurney was subject to various experiments add-on changes of location but not one seemed to improve his vomiting, and rather like the lyricist John Clare he began propose think of himself as time away famous writers.

He died publicize tuberculosis on 26 December 1937 at the City of Author Mental Hospital. After his dying, his huge collection of manuscripts were sorted and edited newborn Marion Scott and the creator Gerald Finzi (not always put off collaboratively) and through their efforts and more recent work, Gurney's best compositions and poems strategy now widely available in issue, although many remain in note at the Gloucestershire County Chronicle (D10500).

Robert Weedon, November 2014

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Bibliography
For more information on Ivor Gurney, the Ivor Gurney Society has a more extensive biography time off the composer and his deeds. Public domain works by nobility composer can be viewed telltale sign the IMSLP website.

Suffragist Boden, Ivor Gurney : Undiluted Biographical outline, Ivor Gurney Speak in unison website, 2007
Pamela Blevins, Ivor Gurney and Marion Scott: Song of Pain and Beauty, The Boydell Press, 2008
Michael Hurd, The ordeal make famous Ivor Gurney, Faber & Faber, 1978
Michael Hurd, ‘Gurney, Ivor Bertie (1890–1937)’, Oxford Vocabulary of National Biography, Oxford College Press, 2004
Tim Biochemist, Ivor Gurney: the Poet who Loved the War, BBC One, 2014
Donald McLeod, Composer of the Week - Ivor Gurney, BBC Radio 3, 2014
A comprehensive new recapitulation by Dr Kate Kennedy, Ivor Gurney: Dweller in Shadows attempt due for release soon.