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
- 1 With Peter Dickinson, 1973
- 2 With C. B. Cox, Alan Young and Michael Schmidt, 1974
- 3 With Peter Dickinson, 1978
- 4 With Michael Oliver, 1978
- Part V Extracts from Berkeley's Diaries, 1966–82
- Part VI Interviews with Performers, Composers, Family and Friends, 1990–91
- Part VII Memorial Address by Sir John Manduell
- Catalogue of Works
- Bibliography
- Index of Works by Berkeley
- General Index
2 - With C. B. Cox, Alan Young and Michael Schmidt, 1974
from Part IV - Interviews with Berkeley, 1973–8
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
- 1 With Peter Dickinson, 1973
- 2 With C. B. Cox, Alan Young and Michael Schmidt, 1974
- 3 With Peter Dickinson, 1978
- 4 With Michael Oliver, 1978
- Part V Extracts from Berkeley's Diaries, 1966–82
- Part VI Interviews with Performers, Composers, Family and Friends, 1990–91
- Part VII Memorial Address by Sir John Manduell
- Catalogue of Works
- Bibliography
- Index of Works by Berkeley
- General Index
Summary
An interview published as ‘Talking with Lennox Berkeley’ in Poetry Nation no. 2 (1974), reprinted by courtesy of Carcarnet Press Ltd. C. B. Cox was an academic, writer and editor, finally John Edward Taylor Professor of English Literature at Manchester University; Alan Young was Head of the Department of Arts Education at Didsbury School of Education, Manchester University; and Michael Schmidt is the poet, novelist, critic and Professor of English in the University of Glasgow; he founded and directs Carcanet Press, based in Manchester. The three interviewers, whose contributions are not differentiated, began by asking questions about Berkeley's early musical experiences.
lb I didn't go to concerts very much when I was a child. It was only when I went to Oxford as an undergraduate that I began to take an interest in live music. It was at Oxford that I began to compose, without knowing quite what I was doing, or how to set about it. I did write music there, especially songs, but even then I hadn't learnt anything about how to write music; that came later.
q Do you remember any of those early works?
lb I set one or two French poems, and I remember that one of the first English poems which I set was by Auden whom I knew well at Oxford. He was a bit younger than me, and I think my last year there was his first. The song was performed at a sort of private concert by Cecil Day Lewis who had a very nice light baritone voice. That was another lifelong friendship that started at Oxford.
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- Information
- Lennox Berkeley and FriendsWritings, Letters and Interviews, pp. 163 - 171Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2012