An Unforgettable Woman by Lewis Stevens
Rosa Newmarch (1857-1940) was an extraordinary woman. Nowadays, she is best known as the programme writer for the Promenade Concerts from 1908 to 1926. But, equally important, she was instrumental in introducing to the English concert-going public, music by many Russian composers, Sibelius and Czech composers, particularly Janacek. Janacek's music was hardly known in Britain until Rosa Newmarch organised his visit to Britain in 1926. A talented and intelligent individual, she was brought up bilingual, and by 1911 she had mastered so many languages that she became a member of the Polyglot Club. From the time she was about twenty until her death at the age of 82, she published 23 books and numerous articles. Rosa had a very wide circle of acquaintances and friends in the musical world, including Balakirev, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov, Sibelius, Greig, Elgar, Bantock, Busoni, Lamond, Shalyapin, and Sir Henry Wood. She married Henry Newmarch in 1883. In 1934, when she was 76, she began writing her autobiography, but failed to complete it before she died in 1940. Her daughter made strenuous attempts to complete it after her death but found it difficult, partly because of painful aspects of family life when Rosa's marriage nearly broke up. Her daughter's work was never published. This account is based on Rosa's autobiography together with her daughter's additions and further research by the author who is particularly indebted to much encouragement and help from Rosa's sole surviving grand-daughter.
It is a most readable account of part of an important period in music history at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century; for it we are greatly in the debt of Lewis Stevens-- Graham Melville-Mason
Lewis is a prolific academic author, having published 4 books relating to his professional field, of biochemistry. Now retired, he has had a number of successful teaching roles including Lecturer at Marischal College Aberdeen, at Kings College London and Senior Lecturer at Stirling University. He has had an interest in music from an early age and has been the Newsletter Editor for the Dvorak Society for Czech and Slovak Music since 2007.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781848766709 |
| ISBN 10 | 184876670X |
| Title | An Unforgettable Woman |
| Author | Lewis Stevens |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Troubador Publishing |
| Year published | 2011-07-01 |
| Number of pages | 368 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |