Music on Active Service

Full of entertaining anecdotes, startling impressions of foreign countries and their people, and honest musical critique (especially regarding his own compositions), Gustav Holst’s witty series of correspondence paints a picture not only of his own attitudes and experiences, but of those of 20th century English society as a whole. Writing during the disruptive period of…

Philosophy, astrology and… Christmas lists?

Nobody panic- despite the title, this is not an (exceptionally early) festive post! I had no idea that it was possible to observe, understand, and come to know, so many sides of one person through only one medium, until now. This is exactly what I have encountered in my first couple of weeks as the…

Audience etiquette

I have recently finished cataloguing the scripts of lectures and broadcasts which Imogen delivered throughout her life, and they have turned out to be sources of real insight into her ideas, interests and personality. Imogen’s early love of dancing and her conducting experience made her at ease in front of an audience; she also had…