Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction by Peter Dickinson
- Part I Reports from Paris, 1929–34
- Part II Letters to Nadia Boulanger, 1929–74
- Part III Selections from Berkeley's Later Writings and Talks, 1943–82
- Part IV Interviews with Berkeley, 1973–8
- Part V Extracts from Berkeley's Diaries, 1966–82
- Part VI Interviews with Performers, Composers, Family and Friends, 1990–91
- 1 Performers: Julian Bream, Norman Del Mar, Colin Horsley
- 2 Composers: John Manduell, Nicholas Maw, Malcolm Williamson
- 3 Family: Freda Berkeley, Michael Berkeley
- 4 Friends: Basil Douglas, Desmond Shawe-Taylor
- Part VII Memorial Address by Sir John Manduell
- Catalogue of Works
- Bibliography
- Index of Works by Berkeley
- General Index
4 - Friends: Basil Douglas, Desmond Shawe-Taylor
from Part VI - Interviews with Performers, Composers, Family and Friends, 1990–91
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction by Peter Dickinson
- Part I Reports from Paris, 1929–34
- Part II Letters to Nadia Boulanger, 1929–74
- Part III Selections from Berkeley's Later Writings and Talks, 1943–82
- Part IV Interviews with Berkeley, 1973–8
- Part V Extracts from Berkeley's Diaries, 1966–82
- Part VI Interviews with Performers, Composers, Family and Friends, 1990–91
- 1 Performers: Julian Bream, Norman Del Mar, Colin Horsley
- 2 Composers: John Manduell, Nicholas Maw, Malcolm Williamson
- 3 Family: Freda Berkeley, Michael Berkeley
- 4 Friends: Basil Douglas, Desmond Shawe-Taylor
- Part VII Memorial Address by Sir John Manduell
- Catalogue of Works
- Bibliography
- Index of Works by Berkeley
- General Index
Summary
At 8 St George's Terrace, London NW1, 28 November 1990
Basil Douglas (1914–92) was born in Edinburgh. He read classics at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was President of the Music Society, and then studied singing at the Royal College of Music. His health made a performing career impossible, so he worked for the BBC until 1950, when he left to run Britten's English Opera Group for seven formative years. Finally he ran his own concert agency, Basil Douglas Ltd.
bd I first met Lennox before the war and remember him as being a very charming and rather insecure person. His oratorio Jonah was rather different from the music he had been writing before and nobody was very happy about it. It was an important moment for him but I don't think it got a good press. I was in the BBC Music Department and heard the premiere in a broadcast. It was a pity that the performers didn't like it, and I'm not sure it was the best performance it could have been.
pd What did people think was wrong with Jonah?
bd One had always associated Lennox's music with a warm, rather sensitive approach to words. This seemed to be a deliberate attempt to alienate himself from that kind of reputation. Whether this was the influence of Nadia Boulanger, you would know better than I.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Lennox Berkeley and FriendsWritings, Letters and Interviews, pp. 271 - 280Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2012