Research paper on Ivor Gurney
Ivor Gurney
‘Strange Hells’ (1917)
‘The Silent One’ (1919)
‘An Asylum poem’ (1919)
Rogers 2
Part 2: Biography of Ivor Gurney (1890-1937)
Taken from Anthony Boden, Ivor Gurney: A Biographical Outline http://ivorgurney.org.uk/biography.htm Bolden illustrates throughout Gurney’s entire life writing and composing were his outlets, or passion if you will. Bolden gives a chronological synopsis of Gurney’s life. He makes clear that Gurney was a man who loved life finding joy in everything, yet a tortured man battling mental illness that dramatically took hold of him after his traumatic experiences at war. His godfather identifying his artistic abilities really sent him to the right outlets, igniting his artistic career at a young age. Ivor Bertie Gurney was among the few most famous English composers and war poets. He was born at 3 Queen Street, Gloucester, as the second out of the four surviving children of a tailor, David Gurney, and Florence, a seamstress. His musical ability shown very early in his life. From 1900 to 1906, he was singing as a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral, where he became an articled pupil of Dr Herbert Brewer. There, he met another composer Herbert Howells who came to be a lifelong friend. He started composing music at a very early age of 14, which led him to win a scholarship at the Royal College of Music in 1911 where he studied music under Sir Charles Stanford. His studies were interrupted by the erupting of the World War I, during which he attempted to enlist but was rejected because of his poor eyesight (he used glasses almost his entire life). However, in 1915, he joined the war
Rogers 3 as a private soldier in the Gloucestershire Regiment. He started writing poetry seriously, at the Front, sending his efforts to Marion Scott, a musicologist-critic and his friend, who worked with Gurney as business manager and editor. In April 1917, he was injured while the midst of writing
‘Strange Hells’ (1917)
‘The Silent One’ (1919)
‘An Asylum poem’ (1919)
Rogers 2
Part 2: Biography of Ivor Gurney (1890-1937)
Taken from Anthony Boden, Ivor Gurney: A Biographical Outline http://ivorgurney.org.uk/biography.htm Bolden illustrates throughout Gurney’s entire life writing and composing were his outlets, or passion if you will. Bolden gives a chronological synopsis of Gurney’s life. He makes clear that Gurney was a man who loved life finding joy in everything, yet a tortured man battling mental illness that dramatically took hold of him after his traumatic experiences at war. His godfather identifying his artistic abilities really sent him to the right outlets, igniting his artistic career at a young age. Ivor Bertie Gurney was among the few most famous English composers and war poets. He was born at 3 Queen Street, Gloucester, as the second out of the four surviving children of a tailor, David Gurney, and Florence, a seamstress. His musical ability shown very early in his life. From 1900 to 1906, he was singing as a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral, where he became an articled pupil of Dr Herbert Brewer. There, he met another composer Herbert Howells who came to be a lifelong friend. He started composing music at a very early age of 14, which led him to win a scholarship at the Royal College of Music in 1911 where he studied music under Sir Charles Stanford. His studies were interrupted by the erupting of the World War I, during which he attempted to enlist but was rejected because of his poor eyesight (he used glasses almost his entire life). However, in 1915, he joined the war
Rogers 3 as a private soldier in the Gloucestershire Regiment. He started writing poetry seriously, at the Front, sending his efforts to Marion Scott, a musicologist-critic and his friend, who worked with Gurney as business manager and editor. In April 1917, he was injured while the midst of writing
Bibliography: The First World War Poetry Digital Archive, http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/gurney The website presents important information on the poet (biography). It also provides access to his collection and individual poems, as well as other related works. Photos from Bings website photo gallery http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ivor+gurney+photos&id=4B3584A8DC9D953DE94907991266A1745B71C1D7&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=4B3584A8DC9D953DE94907991266A1745B71C1D7&selectedIndex=0