Ivor Gurney (1890鈥�1937) wrote some of the most anthologized poems of the First World War and composed some of the greatest works in the English song repertoire, such as 鈥淪leep.鈥� Yet his life was shadowed by the trauma of the war and mental illness, and he spent his last fifteen years confined to a mental asylum. In Dweller in Shadows, Kate Kennedy presents the first comprehensive biography of this extraordinary and misunderstood artist.
A promising student at the Royal College of Music, Gurney enlisted as a private with the Gloucestershire regiment in 1915 and spent two years in the trenches of the Western Front. Wounded in the arm and subsequently gassed during the Battle of Passchendaele, Gurney was recovering in hospital when his first collection of poems, Severn and Somme, was published. Despite episodes of depression, he resumed his music studies after the war until he was committed to an asylum in 1922. At times believing he was Shakespeare and that the 鈥渕achines under the floor鈥� were torturing him, he nevertheless continued to write and compose, leaving behind a vast body of unpublished work when he died of tuberculosis. Drawing on extensive archival research and spanning literary criticism, history, psychiatry and musicology, this compelling narrative sets Gurney鈥檚 life and work against the backdrop of the war and his institutionalisation, probing the links between madness, suffering and creativity.
Facing death in the trenches, Gurney hoped that history might not 鈥渇orget me quite.鈥� This definitive account of his life and work helps ensure that he will indeed be remembered.
Awards and Recognition
- Shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards
"The most comprehensive [biography] to date. . . . Dweller in Shadows has many virtues. . . . The deepest impress of [the] book, however, is that it grows into the portrait of a hero."鈥擜nthony Lane, New Yorker
"Kate Kennedy finally does justice to the neglected poet, whose musician鈥檚 ear for the sounds of the war captures the reality of trench life like no other . . . . Enthralling, meticulously researched and deeply sympathetic."鈥擜ndrew Motion, The Spectator
"[A] poignant biography of Gurney. . . . [Kennedy] captures not only her subject鈥檚 melancholy and angst but also his unique artistic accomplishments. For this Ms. Kennedy is particularly well-suited. . . . Her longtime interest in the intersection of words and music is evident in her sensitive analysis of Gurney鈥檚 songs and her careful, probing readings of his verse."鈥擠avid Yezzi, Wall Street Journal
"This substantial and, for the most part, unusually readable biography gives us a rich picture of the world and terrible existence of an astonishing, multitalented artist whose true time is long overdue."鈥擫achlan Mackinnon, Times Literary Supplement
"Compelling and extraordinary."鈥擲ean Rafferty, BBC Radio 3 鈥業n Tune鈥�
"[A] fine, well-researched and intelligent biography. . . . This painstaking biography will do much to enhance [Gurney's] reputation."鈥擲imon Heffer, Literary Review 鈥嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧��
"[An] admirably detailed and perceptive biography. . . . [Kennedy] examines in some detail the extraordinary depth and talent of Gurney鈥檚 creative genius鈥攕he is particularly illuminating in talking about his poetry鈥攚hile being candid about his erratic behaviour and impractical approach to adult life."鈥擠aniel Jaff茅, BBC Music Magazine 鈥嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧��
"A particularly rich and detailed account. . . . This will certainly prove to be a valuable reference tool."鈥擩eremy Dibble, Gramophone
"This is an impeccably and thoroughly researched biography, carefully analytical and elegantly presented. Kate Kennedy has left no stone unturned in her endeavours. It certainly makes for rewarding reading. Although Gurney has long dwelt on the shadowy periphery of musical life, this outstanding biography does much to redress the balance. It has to be one of the most heart-rending books I鈥檝e ever read."鈥擲tephen Greenbank, MusicWeb International
"Written with enormous empathy, Kennedy鈥檚 account is heart-wrenching in places. A compelling work"鈥擡lizabeth Fitzherbert, The Lady
"Gurney deserved much better treatment. He deserved a much better society. His work began to give expression to his incipient sense of the need for social change. It鈥檚 to be hoped this thorough, sympathetic book will bring him the attention he was denied while he lived, and perhaps also prevent today鈥檚 or tomorrow鈥檚 Gurney suffering a similar fate."鈥擜lan Dent, Penniless Press
"This is a wonderful book that is an affectionate tribute to a truly great man."鈥擟andia McKormack, Cotswold Life
"The book deftly sheds light on how Gurney produced his much respected work.
"鈥�Library Journal
"Kate Kennedy鈥檚 comprehensive biography of the early-20th-century British poet and composer Ivor Gurney, Dweller in Shadows, is an enormous feat of meticulously detailed scholarship. No stone has been left unturned and no aspect of his life has been left untouched (or at least not speculated upon) by Kennedy.. . . . In Dweller in Shadows Kennedy has created a fully realized portrayal of a complex historical figure鈥檚 life and reclaimed it for the good of historians and laypeople alike."鈥擶alter Holland, Rain Taxi Review of Books
"A stunning contribution to the fields of psychiatric historiography, musicology, literary studies, psychoanalytical scholarship, and many more disciplines, I learned a great deal from this beautifully constructed text, and I hope that Dr. Kennedy will continue to produce other such gripping biographies in years to come."鈥擝rett Kahr, Confer
"Authoritative and exhaustively researched"鈥擱oger Ebbatson, Journal of the Friends of the Dymock Poets
鈥淜ate Kennedy has written a wonderful book, the first comprehensive account of one of Britain鈥檚 most misunderstood poets and composers. A keen-eyed critic and literary commentator, she also proves herself a consummate storyteller, piecing out and pulling together the episodes of Gurney鈥檚 remarkable life and work in flowing, compelling chapters, producing a biography worthy of the thoughtful recognition and generous appraisal that Gurney had hoped for.鈥濃�擲imon Armitage, UK Poet Laureate
鈥淭his inspiring biography of the poet and composer Ivor Gurney treads carefully and sensitively over a vast terrain of archives and original, unseen work. Reading Dweller in Shadows, I was drawn into the intimate relationship between music and poetry in Gurney鈥檚 literary and musical imagination. Kate Kennedy allows Gurney to speak for himself鈥攖hrough his poems, letters, and music鈥攁nd so we hear him speaking directly to us, in the midst of creation.鈥濃�擲ally Bayley, author of Girl with Dove: A Life Built by Books
鈥淎 vividly told, impeccably researched, groundbreaking, and transformative account of the complex, painful life of an exceptional English poet and composer.鈥濃�擧ermione Lee, University of Oxford
鈥淭his engaging biography is without doubt the most comprehensive book on the life and work of Ivor Gurney to date. It is a remarkable achievement. Dweller in Shadows will be indispensable for those interested in early twentieth-century music and literature.鈥濃�擨an Venables, composer and Chairman of the Ivor Gurney Society
鈥淚vor Gurney has been too little regarded both as poet and composer. Perhaps the darkness of his mood and consequent instability have left him overshadowed by others who also endured the Great War. But this 鈥楲over and maker of beauty,鈥� composer of chamber music and songs especially, now takes centre stage in Kate Kennedy鈥檚 wonderful biography.鈥濃�擳homas Allen, opera and concert singer and Chancellor of Durham University
鈥淏uilding on meticulous research, Kate Kennedy writes with deep sympathy and understanding of the complex, talented, and often tormented Ivor Gurney. Her book will deservedly become the standard biography.鈥濃�擬argaret MacMillan, University of Oxford
