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Constant Lambert
An indispensable biography for anyone interested in Constant Lambert,
ballet and British musical life in the first part of the twentieth century.Association for
Recorded Sound Collections Award of Excellence - Certificate of Merit in Historical Recorded
Sound Research in Classical MusicTo the economist and ballet enthusiast John Maynard Keynes
he was potentially the most brilliant man he'd ever met; to Dame Ninette de Valois he was
the greatest ballet conductor and advisor this country has ever had; to the composer Denis
ApIvor he was the greatest, most lovable, and most entertaining personality of the musical
world; whilst to the dance critic Clement Crisp he was quite simply a musician of genius.
Yet sixty years after his tragic earlydeath Constant Lambert is little known today. As a
composer he is remembered for his jazz-inspired The Rio Grande but little more, and for a
man who selflessly devoted the greater part of his life to the establishment of English
ballet his work is largely unrecognized today. This book amply demonstrates why he deserves
to be held in greater renown. With numerous music examples, extensive appendices and a
unique iconography, every aspect of thecareer and life of this extraordinary, multi-talented
man is examined. It looks not only at his music but at his journalism, his talks for the
BBC, his championing of jazz (in particular Duke Ellington), and - more privately - his
long-standing affair with Margot Fonteyn. This is an indispensable biography for anyone
interested in Constant Lambert, ballet and British musical life in the first part of the
twentieth century. STEPHEN LLOYD is a writer on British music and author of William
Muse of Fire (Boydell, 2001).
ballet and British musical life in the first part of the twentieth century.Association for
Recorded Sound Collections Award of Excellence - Certificate of Merit in Historical Recorded
Sound Research in Classical MusicTo the economist and ballet enthusiast John Maynard Keynes
he was potentially the most brilliant man he'd ever met; to Dame Ninette de Valois he was
the greatest ballet conductor and advisor this country has ever had; to the composer Denis
ApIvor he was the greatest, most lovable, and most entertaining personality of the musical
world; whilst to the dance critic Clement Crisp he was quite simply a musician of genius.
Yet sixty years after his tragic earlydeath Constant Lambert is little known today. As a
composer he is remembered for his jazz-inspired The Rio Grande but little more, and for a
man who selflessly devoted the greater part of his life to the establishment of English
ballet his work is largely unrecognized today. This book amply demonstrates why he deserves
to be held in greater renown. With numerous music examples, extensive appendices and a
unique iconography, every aspect of thecareer and life of this extraordinary, multi-talented
man is examined. It looks not only at his music but at his journalism, his talks for the
BBC, his championing of jazz (in particular Duke Ellington), and - more privately - his
long-standing affair with Margot Fonteyn. This is an indispensable biography for anyone
interested in Constant Lambert, ballet and British musical life in the first part of the
twentieth century. STEPHEN LLOYD is a writer on British music and author of William
Muse of Fire (Boydell, 2001).
608 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 20, 2014
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