Desmond Christopher Shawe-Taylor, (29 May 1907 – 1 November 1995), was a British writer, co-writer of ''
The Record Guide
''The Record Guide'' was an English reference work that listed, described, and evaluated gramophone recordings of classical music in the 1950s. It was a precursor to modern guides such as '' The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music''.
Publ ...
'', music critic of the ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...
'', ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' and ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' and a regular and long-standing contributor to ''
The Gramophone
''Gramophone'' is a magazine published monthly in London, devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie who continued to edit the magazine until 1961. It was ...
''.
Biography
![Church of St Mary the Virgin, Long Crichel - Churchyard - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Church_of_St_Mary_the_Virgin%2C_Long_Crichel_-_Churchyard_-_geograph.org.uk_-_426424.jpg)
Shawe-Taylor was born in Dublin, the elder of two sons of
Francis Manley Shawe-Taylor (1869–1920), magistrate and high sheriff for the county of
Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...
, and his wife, Agnes Mary Eleanor ''née'' Ussher (1874–1939).
[Warrack, John]
"Taylor, Desmond Christopher Shawe- (1907–1995)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edition, May 2009, retrieved 30 May 2010 (requires subscription) His parents were members of the Anglo-Irish ruling classes; he was related to the playwright and co-founder of the
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...
,
Lady Gregory
Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (''née'' Persse; 15 March 1852 – 22 May 1932) was an Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, ...
and a cousin of
Sir Hugh Lane
Sir Hugh Percy Lane (9 November 1875 – 7 May 1915) was an Irish art dealer, collector and gallery director. He is best known for establishing Dublin's Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (the first known public gallery of modern art in the ...
who founded Dublin's
gallery of modern art.
["Desmond Shawe-Taylor – Obituary", '']The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', 3 November 1995 His childhood was brutally interrupted by his father's murder. He was sent to be educated in England, at
Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury.
Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...
and
Oriel College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1930 with a first class degree in English.
[ He then spent time in Germany and Austria before his first job, with the Royal Geographical Society in London.][ From 1933 he began to contribute musical, literary, and film reviews to various London journals, including the '']New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...
''.[
During ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
Shawe-Taylor served in the Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
. After the war he returned to ''The New Statesman'', taking on the post of music critic. In 1958 he was invited to succeed Ernest Newman
Ernest Newman (30 November 1868 – 7 July 1959) was an English music critic and musicologist. ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' describes him as "the most celebrated British music critic in the first half of the 20th century." His ...
as chief music critic of ''The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
''. This, as ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' observed, was not an easy task. Newman, who retired just before his 90th birthday, had been the paper's music critic since 1920, and was a legendary figure.[ Shawe-Taylor was a success as Newman's replacement, and he remained at ''The Sunday Times'' until his own semi-retirement in 1983. His years on the paper were broken only by a season as guest critic of '']The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' from 1973 to 1974.[
In 1948 Shawe-Taylor wrote a short historical work ''Covent Garden'' about opera audiences and changing operatic styles.][ It was the only book for which he was solely responsible, but in 1951 he collaborated with ]Edward Sackville-West
Edward Charles Sackville-West, 5th Baron Sackville (13 November 1901 – 4 July 1965) was a British music critic, novelist and, in his last years, a member of the House of Lords. Musically gifted as a boy, he was attracted as a young man to a lit ...
to research and write ''The Record Guide
''The Record Guide'' was an English reference work that listed, described, and evaluated gramophone recordings of classical music in the 1950s. It was a precursor to modern guides such as '' The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music''.
Publ ...
'', a pioneering reference work discussing and grading currently available classical records.[''The Gramophone'']
obituary notice January 1996, p. 14 This was followed by a series of updates and an enlarged new edition between 1952 and 1956.
The long-established music magazine ''The Gramophone
''Gramophone'' is a magazine published monthly in London, devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie who continued to edit the magazine until 1961. It was ...
'' wrote of him, "His writing combined acute perception with an easy erudition that stemmed from wide cultural interests. Although a man of catholic musical tastes, he was a particular authority on singing."[ '']The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' said, "He became the most perceptive critic of singing among his colleagues, delighting in voices from an age preserved on his oldest records but quick to welcome new artists, and was also a friend to singers including Emma Eames
Emma Eames (August 13, 1865 – June 13, 1952) was an American first dramatic soprano, later lyric soprano renowned for the beauty of her voice. She sang major lyric and lyric-dramatic roles in opera and had an important career in New York ...
, Lotte Lehmann
Charlotte "Lotte" Lehmann (February 27, 1888 – August 26, 1976) was a German soprano who was especially associated with German repertory. She gave memorable performances in the operas of Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Ludwig van Beethoven, ...
, Elisabeth Schumann
Elisabeth Schumann (13 June 1888 – 23 April 1952) was a German soprano who sang in opera, operetta, oratorio, and lieder. She left a substantial legacy of recordings.
Career
Born in Merseburg, Schumann trained for a singing career in B ...
." Between 1951 and 1973 Shawe-Taylor wrote a quarterly retrospect for ''The Gramophone'', under the title of "The gramophone and the voice", and also contributed to other musical publications.[ He was also an influential presence on the advisory committee of '']Historic Masters
Historic Masters was a historical reissue record label, based in Takeley, Essex, England, dedicated to making available quality pressings on vinyl of rare 78 rpm recordings of opera singers. Historic Masters Ltd claimed to be, to its knowledge, " ...
'', a vinyl record label set up to produce quality 78 rpm
A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...
reissues of historic recordings by famous opera singers. He was known for his championship of modern composers. His colleague David Cairns wrote of him, "The familiar repertoire came freshly alive in his hands; and when he wrote about an unfamiliar piece whether by Berio or Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
, Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...
, Ligeti or Tippett he did so in a way that made you long to hear it for yourself."
Together with his partner Edward Sackville-West and another close friend, the painter, collector and art dealer Eardley Knollys
(Edward) Eardley Knollys (1902–1991) was a member of the Bloomsbury Group of artists - variously an art critic, art dealer and collector, active from the 1920s to 1950s. He only himself began to paint in 1949, and had his first solo exhibi ...
, Shawe-Taylor set up home at Long Crichel House in Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
, in 1945. Later they were joined by the literary critic Raymond Mortimer
Charles Raymond Bell Mortimer CBE (25 April 1895 – 9 January 1980), who wrote under the name Raymond Mortimer, was a British writer on art and literature, known mostly as a critic and literary editor, who also wrote a classic history of th ...
, another ''New Statesman'' colleague.[ They hosted salons there, entertaining some of the notable cultural figures of the period including ]E.M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly '' A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stor ...
, Nancy Mitford
Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973), known as Nancy Mitford, was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the London ...
, Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
, Vanessa Bell
Vanessa Bell (née Stephen; 30 May 1879 – 7 April 1961) was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury Group and the sister of Virginia Woolf (née Stephen).
Early life and education
Vanessa Stephen was the eld ...
and Duncan Grant
Duncan James Corrowr Grant (21 January 1885 – 8 May 1978) was a British painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group.
His father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major i ...
.News. InSight No. XVI
in ''Piano Nobile'', 1 June 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020 After the death of Sackville-West, Shawe-Taylor remained at Long Crichel until his death; from 1966 he was joined there by the ophthalmic surgeon and gay rights activist Patrick Trevor-Roper
Patrick Dacre Trevor-Roper (7 June 1916 – 22 April 2004) was a British eye surgeon, author and pioneer gay rights activist, who played a leading role in the campaign to decriminalise homosexuality in the UK.
Life and career
He was born in No ...
.[
Shawe-Taylor died suddenly at Long Crichel House on 1 November 1995, aged 88, after a country walk.][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shawe-Taylor, Desmond
1907 births
1995 deaths
Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
British Army personnel of World War II
English music critics
LGBT people from England
People educated at Shrewsbury School
Royal Artillery officers
Desmond
20th-century LGBT people