John Amis (1922-2013)

[ahinton]

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2013/08/genial-john-has-died-and-with-him-a-gentler-era.html

RIP.

[salymap]

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddi...ntler-era.html

RIP.

Thanks ahinton, another link with my early days gone. A great character indeed.

[amateur51]

A wonderful raconteur with a fund of good tales. Frequently entertaining, occasionally irritating, a long and well-rounded human life lived right to the end.

John Amis, Bravo!

[Mary Chambers]

Oh, how sad! Until recently he was still expressing his views online. He had met everybody in the music world, it seems, and had a great fund of stories about them, both funny and informative, often both at once.

[amateur51]

This is a response to the news of John Amis' death on Norman Lebrecht's website, as in the OP:

'Martin Anderson says:
August 2, 2013 at 2:22 pm

One of my favourite John stories involves the appearance of his memoirs, _Amiscellany_. He gave an inscribed copy to Felix Aprahamian, who had been instrumental in getting John one of his first jobs in music, with the LPO, in the 1940s. Of course, the first thing Felix does is look up ‘Aprahamian’ in the index — where he finds that John has written “Hello, Felix!” in the margin.'

That sums both men up rather sweetly I thought






'

[french frank]

A wonderful raconteur with a fund of good tales.

As evident in My Music alongside Frank Muir.

[amateur51]

As evident in My Music alongside Frank Muir.

My only chance (so far) to name-drop here - JA was a regular customer when I was in the record department at Liberty's

[Stanley Stewart]

Sad news, indeed, John Amis was a regular visitor at the Wigmore Hall some years ago and always a genial exchanger of pleasantries. I've just got my copy of his memoirs, Amiscellany (1985, Faber & Faber) off the shelves and it will be an ideal companion in the garden over the weekend. RIP.

[DavidP]

A wonderful raconteur with a fund of good tales. Frequently entertaining, occasionally irritating, a long and well-rounded human life lived right to the end.

John Amis, Bravo!

Sad news! I grew up hearing John Amis on My Music. I was an admirer, especially as he was friends with two of my musical hero's, Bernard Herrmann and Malcolm Arnold. In fact, the only time I met him was at the 2011 Malcolm Arnold festival in Northampton when all the Symphonies were played. Noting Malcolm's melodic gift and comparing him with Herrmann he said "Benny couldn't hold a tune to save his life - or his career with Hitchcock!" (Which is true!) Incidentally, he was adamant about not staying for Arnold's 9th Symphony as he felt that performing it did disservice to the reputation of the composer.

[amateur51]

An account of a talk that John Amis gave three months ago about Benjamin Britten.

http://www.thoroughlygood.me/2013/04/23/john-amis-talks-about-benjamin-britten-at-orpington-recorded-music-society/

How remarkable to be still working like this at age 91

[Mary Chambers]

His description of Britten as a young man always sticks in my mind: "He was a very attractive figure despite the blobby nose."

[secondfiddle]

A wonderful raconteur with a fund of good tales. Frequently entertaining, occasionally irritating, a long and well-rounded human life lived right to the end.

John Amis, Bravo!

Very sad indeed to hear of John Amis’s death. I shall cherish the copy he signed for me of Amiscellany which is a wonderful read, and I shall listen again with a saddened heart to numerous broadcasts of his that I have in which he talks about people he knew personally, like Noel Mewton-Wood, Michael Tippett and Donald Swann, even his one meeting with Percy Grainger. His quality talks represent something that is sadly missing on R3 these days. I must dig out too the several episodes I have of Music Ho! in which from time to time he distinguished himself as the ‘siffleur’ besides coming up with some wonderful stories. Perhaps Radio 4 Extra will replay Music Ho! He was a great conversationalist. How fortunate that Radio 3 honoured him last year with a late evening of his own devoted to chat and music of his own choice. I will miss his authority, his humour and his common sense – and his column in Musical Opinion. I shall remember him with deep gratitude.

[ahinton]

Very sad indeed to hear of John Amis’s death. I shall cherish the copy he signed for me of Amiscellany which is a wonderful read, and I shall listen again with a saddened heart to numerous broadcasts of his that I have in which he talks about people he knew personally, like Noel Mewton-Wood, Michael Tippett and Donald Swann, even his one meeting with Percy Grainger. His quality talks represent something that is sadly missing on R3 these days. I must dig out too the several episodes I have of Music Ho! in which from time to time he distinguished himself as the ‘siffleur’ besides coming up with some wonderful stories. Perhaps Radio 4 Extra will replay Music Ho! He was a great conversationalist. How fortunate that Radio 3 honoured him last year with a late evening of his own devoted to chat and music of his own choice. I will miss his authority, his humour and his common sense – and his column in Musical Opinion. I shall remember him with deep gratitude.

And you will most certainly not be alone in that...

[Stillhomewardbound]

Farewell then John Amis ...

I knew John Amis firstly through the radio panel game 'My Music' where he very ably held his own against the seasoned wittiness of Messrs Muir & Nordern.

In time I was able to discover that he was a wonderfully quixotic musicologist led by a boundless curiosity and a nose for the quirky and the unconventional. Indeed, with his deck-chair patterned suits combined with sneakers, that he appeared in a many a concert hall at it was quite clear here was a most independent member in the Parliament of Music.

Thank heavens that a couple of years someone at Radio 3 realised he was still alive and they were able to provide us with a very affable evening with the man himself in the company of Sarah Walker.

A beguiling siffleur, a charming renderer of long faded folk-songs and a master raconteur of spontaneity I consider it a pleasure to have been one of his listeners and I will take to my grave his story of John Pritchard arriving at Buckingham Palace to be presented with a gong!

[amateur51]

I will take to my grave his story of John Pritchard arriving at Buckingham Palace to be presented with a gong!

Before you do, could you please share it with us, shb?

And could this thread be merged with the other John Amis thread please?