Austin Harvey Gomme ''known as'' Andor Gomme (7 May 1930 – 19 September 2008) was a British

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and

architectural history The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...

. He was a frequent reviewer for the ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to '' The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', an author of books on both

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. ...

and architectural history, and Chair of the

Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (SAHGB) is a United Kingdom learned society for people interested in the history of architecture. Purpose The Society exists to encourage interest in the history of architecture, to en ...

, whose journal, ''

Architectural History The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...

'', he edited for many years.

Life and career

Andor was the son of

Arnold Wycombe Gomme Arnold Wycombe Gomme (16 November 1886 – 17 January 1959) was a British classical scholar, lecturer in ancient Greek and Greek history (1911–1945), professor of ancient Greek, University of Glasgow (1946–1957), Fellow of the British Academy ...

, a British

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and Professor of Ancient History at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and Phyllis Kate Harvey. The first name Andor was originally a nickname, and began as a family joke for the unborn baby (or babies) of unknown sex. He studied at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

, where he was taught by F.R. Leavis and attained a

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

degree in Moral Sciences. He was appointed to a three-year fellowship at

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

in 1956. In 1960, he married fellow scholar Susan Koechlin, with whom he had one son and three daughters. The couple settled in

Church Lawton Church Lawton is a village and located in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. Its location is such that its eastern boundary forms part of the county boundary between Cheshire and Staffordshi ...

, Cheshire, after Andor obtained a permanent position at

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

in 1963; he had previously worked in the Extra-Mural Department at the University of Glasgow, and at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...

. At Keele, he was promoted from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer and

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

, achieving the title of Professor of English Literature and Architectural History in 1984 - a chair created to reflect his unique range of interests. In 1995 he was appointed to the position of

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. He was a regular front-page and anonymous reviewer for the ''

'', and wrote several books on

and

. His first book, ''Attitudes to criticism'', has been described as "a critical celebration of the very similar sensibilities and minds of Leavis and the American Yvor Winters", while his last book, ''Design and plan in the country house'' (with co-author Alison Maguire), has been praised by Professor Tim Mowl as a "remarkable scholarly resource" despite its "ambitious range". For many years, Gomme was editor of ''

'', the flagship journal of the

of which he was Chair from 1988 to 1991. He died in Church Lawton on 19 September 2008. The author of his

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

, Emeritus Professor of

Cultural Studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices re ...

Fred Inglis Frederick Charles Inglis (born 17 May 1937) is Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Sheffield in the UK. Previously Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Warwick, he has been a member of the School of Social Sci ...

, described Gomme as "one of the best British architectural historians since

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

". Gomme had a long-standing interest in choral music, and he edited a 1997 reconstruction of

J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

's '' St Mark Passion'' which was published by Bärenreiter. The recitatives and turba choruses are drawn from

Reinhard Keiser Reinhard Keiser (9 January 1674 – 12 September 1739) was a German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas. Johann Adolf Scheibe (writing in 1745) considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg ...

's (1674–1739) ''St Mark Passion'', which Bach himself had adapted for use in Weimar in 1713 (and which influenced Bach's own '' St Matthew Passion''.) Gomme was the first to utilise Keiser's recitatives, and he paved the way for fuller reconstructions by other scholars. Gomme's reconstruction was recorded in 1998 for ASV Records by the Choir of

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

and the Cambridge Baroque Camerata, directed by Geoffrey Webber.

Publications

* ''Attitudes to criticism'' (1966), Southern Illinois University Press. * ''Architecture of Glasgow'' (1968, with David Walker), Lund Humphries. * ''Dickens'' (1971), Evans. * ''D.H. Lawrence : a critical study of the major novels and other writings'' (1979), Harper and Row. * ''Bristol: an architectural history'' (1979, with Michael Jenner and Bryan Little), Lund Humphries. * ''Smith of Warwick: Francis Smith, architect and master-builder'' (2000), Shaun Tyas. * ''Design and plan in the country house'' (2008, with Alison Maguire), Yale University Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomme, Andor 1930 births 2008 deaths British literary critics British editors British architectural historians Academics of Keele University