Jerrold Northrop Moore RIP

[gradus]

JNM died on 18 May, his Elgar:A Creative Life is, I think, the best book on Elgar that I have read. I know little about him but his lifetime devotion to Elgar was extraordinary and I hope R3 pays its respects to that unusual, seemingly unique phenomenon, an American devotee of Elgar.
RIP.

[Pulcinella]

Times obituary (31 May 2024):

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/3f59fd79-740c-48ac-a7b2-19082ae52805?shareToken=f15a60401eda20743cccc8446802b6f3

[Roger Webb]

I had no idea Jerry had died. He was friend and mentor to the student who worked for me in one of my CD shops, and long before that I treasured his contribution to the Elgar literature - his Edward Elgar: A creative life, his Spirit of England, his Elgar on Record and his Elgar: A life in pictures stare out from my music room shelves as I write this.

He had a forthright manner.....I remember his electrifying opening comments when he did the BaL on Elgar's Cello Concerto when he dismissed Jacqueline du Pré's version with Barbirolli, saying he didn't care for her 'oily' tone! In conversation he was very rude about several well respected artists...mainly when they played Elgar!

RIP Jerry.

[Ein Heldenleben]

JNM died on 18 May, his Elgar:A Creative Life is, I think, the best book on Elgar that I have read. I know little about him but his lifetime devotion to Elgar was extraordinary and I hope R3 pays its respects to that unusual, seemingly unique phenomenon, an American devotee of Elgar.
RIP.

Indeed . I would go further and suggest that his Elgar biography is up there with the very best - Newman on Wagner, Solomon on Beethoven and Robbins Landon On Haydn and Mozart.

[Barbirollians]

I had no idea Jerry had died. He was friend and mentor to the student who worked for me in one of my CD shops, and long before that I treasured his contribution to the Elgar literature - his Edward Elgar: A creative life, his Spirit of England, his Elgar on Record and his Elgar: A life in pictures stare out from my music room shelves as I write this.

He had a forthright manner.....I remember his electrifying opening comments when he did the BaL on Elgar's Cello Concerto when he dismissed Jacqueline du Pré's version with Barbirolli, saying he didn't care for her 'oily' tone! In conversation he was very rude about several well respected artists...mainly when they played Elgar!

RIP Jerry.

Glad I didn't hear that one - but he was clearly a very committed Elgarian as much as I would prefer to read and listen to the late Michael Kennedy on the subject.

[Roger Webb]

Glad I didn't hear that one - but he was clearly a very committed Elgarian as much as I would prefer to read and listen to the late Michael Kennedy on the subject.

I agree about Kennedy, and of course his 'Portrait of Elgar' is essential reading too. Kennedy had a much broader range, composer wise...I think his Master Musician Mahler was the first monograph I bought on the subject and Kennedy's 'The Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams' is the definitive volume still.

[smittims]

I think I first came across him in Radio 3 talks about Elgar. As a lover of old recordings I was grateful for his indefatigable work in rediscovering some rarities of the Elgar discography and getting them transferred to CD.

JNM was also well-informed about Vaughan Williams and unmasked some of the mystery surrounding VW's first marriage and the influence it had on his music . I remember Michael Kennedy saying that when he had reached a conclusion on this subject he had a call from JNM saying 'you've rumbled Adeline!'. This seems to me characteristic of his approach to musical biography,that the life and the works are intertwined inextricably.

[Roger Webb]

I think I first came across him in Radio 3 talks about Elgar. As a lover of old recordings I was grateful for his indefatigable work in rediscovering some rarities of the Elgar discography and getting them transferred to CD.
.

And before the CD transfers he had a hand in the release of the two LP EMI boxes of Elgar's electrical recordings transferred by Anthony Griffith. RLS 713 which contained smaller works and the RAH Gerontius excepts, and came with JNM's 'Elgar on Record'. RLS 708 contained larger works incl. 'Enigma', Concertos and Syms, with comprehensive booklet by JNM and a copy of 'Elgar: A Life in Photographs'.

[CallMePaul]

How does OUP justify the high price (£168.95) for a paperback version of a book first published 40 years ago? I read it back in the 80s but from the library in Stockport where I was then living. https://www.prestomusic.com/books/pr...-creative-life
Kennedy's book is not listed by Presto so I assume that it is out of print.

[Historian]

How does OUP justify the high price (£168.95) for a paperback version of a book first published 40 years ago? I read it back in the 80s but from the library in Stockport where I was then living. https://www.prestomusic.com/books/pr...-creative-life
Kennedy's book is not listed by Presto so I assume that it is out of print.

I suppose it comes under the heading of 'academic' texts which are often extremely expensive. There are lots of second-hand copies available e.g. on Abebooks from around £10.00.