Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Music Examples
- Preface
- Notes on Archival Sources and Citations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part 1 Ancestry, Childhood and Education
- Part 2 The First World War
- Part 3 Rise and Fall
- Part 4 Reconstruction
- Part 5 Maturity, Marriage and Last Years
- Appendix I The Moeran Mythology
- Appendix II List of Works
- Select Bibliography
- Index of Works
- General Index
18 - Masterpiece? (1947–1948)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 June 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Music Examples
- Preface
- Notes on Archival Sources and Citations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part 1 Ancestry, Childhood and Education
- Part 2 The First World War
- Part 3 Rise and Fall
- Part 4 Reconstruction
- Part 5 Maturity, Marriage and Last Years
- Appendix I The Moeran Mythology
- Appendix II List of Works
- Select Bibliography
- Index of Works
- General Index
Summary
Moeran spent Christmas with Coetmore in Ledbury, and he remained there over the New Year period after she returned to London. He began the year by writing to her, once again expressing regret for his alcohol-fuelled behaviour and suggesting possible avenues for the ‘cure’ that Coetmore evidently hoped would be possible. In this, and several later letters, he mentioned either visiting Coetmore in London, or travelling to wherever her recital schedule took her. He spent a few days at 55 Belsize Lane in early February, but the premiere of the still uncompleted cello sonata had been arranged to be given in Dublin in May, and pressure to complete it was mounting, most especially from Coetmore who needed time to learn the solo part. In a letter to Victor Hely-Hutchinson dated 10 February, Moeran mentioned that he was ‘now writing the finale of a new sonata for cello and piano’, which he hoped to have ‘finished soon – within the next month or so’. He returned to Ledbury at the end of February, having found it impossible to work in the flat. He wrote to Coetmore that he was expecting to have the final movement completed in a few days and that he would then travel back to London so they could ‘spend some time together working out it's [sic] interpretation’, but he would not let himself be ‘rushed and spoil the finale’ of the sonata.
Sonata for Violoncello and Piano
The manuscript of the cello sonata bears no completion date, but it may be assumed from Moeran's end of February letter that the work was finished during the first or second week of March. Having delivered the final solo part to Coetmore in London and worked through it with her for a few days, Moeran travelled to Cork via Fishguard and Rosslare on 22 March to stay for a few days with the Fleischmanns, before journeying on to Kenmare to work on the symphony. Coetmore followed him to Ireland at the beginning of May, and the first performance of the sonata – by Coetmore and Charles Lynch – was broadcast by Radio Eireann on 9 May. Moeran and Coetmore were then able to spend a few days together in Dublin before she had to return to London, where she gave the first English performance of the sonata on the BBC Third Programme on 5 June.
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- Ernest John MoeranHis Life and Music, pp. 277 - 293Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2021