Jack Moerani's career was plagued by his troubled relationship with alcohol, but he left behind a brilliant musical legacy.
By: Simon Heffer / The Daily Telegraph
Translation: Telegrafi.com
We are still a few weeks away from the 75th anniversary of EJ “Jack” Moeran’s death at the age of just 55, but it is time to commemorate his enduring achievements. It is almost a tautology to speak of “underrated” British composers, but Moeran is certainly one of them. At least four of his works stand worthy of being side by side with those of better-known names - Symphony in G Minor, Sinfonietta, Violin Concerto and he for violoncelloHe also wrote short orchestral works of rare beauty, much piano music and songs - in the 30 years before his death in 1950, especially during a period of intense activity just before and during World War II.
His heritage and influences were partly from East Anglia and partly from Ireland. His father was a clergyman of Anglo-Irish descent and was serving as vicar of Heston, Middlesex, when Jack - christened Ernest John - was born on 31 December 1894. His mother was from Norfolk; during Jack's childhood, his father became vicar of Salthouse, in the same county. His musical talent was so great that, after being educated at Uppingham, he went to the Royal College of Music - in its golden age under Hubert Parry, where he studied composition with Charles Villiers Stanford. The Great War interrupted his studies: he joined the Norfolk Regiment as a messenger, but was soon promoted to officer.
In 1917 he received a head wound on the Western Front. This fact remains a subject of debate among those who write about his later career. After the war, Moeran became a heavy drinker and later an alcoholic; his addiction to alcohol has been attributed (but, it seems, never by himself) to the consequences of his head wound. However, it seems more likely that he drank heavily for the same reason as many of his contemporaries: it was fashionable in the period after the Great War, especially among those who had experienced the horrors of the trenches and survived.
Moeran did not allow his musical interests to fade during the war. During his vacations in Norfolk, he began - as Vaughan Williams had done a decade earlier - to collect folk songs. After recovering from his wound, he was sent to Ireland at a time when the country was in a state of increasing unrest, and there he not only collected folk songs, but also researched and identified with his Irish heritage. This would have a profound influence on the rest of his career as a composer.
Supported by private income from his mother, Moerani spent the 20s composing - initially piano music and chamber works, and later orchestral works, notably his first two rhapsodies. During this period he also formed two important friendships: the most positive was with the Irish composer and conductor Hamilton Harty, who in the 30s commissioned Symphony in G Minor; and the other, perhaps less positive, with the composer Philip Heseltine - known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock. Moeran continued to collect folk songs in Norfolk, spending much time in pubs. He and Warlock rented a cottage in the Kent village of Eynsford in 1925, intending to concentrate on music, but in reality they spent more and more time getting drunk, inviting women along for the fun.
Moeran's creativity was severely damaged, and under the influence of his parents, he ended his relationship with Warlock in 1928. But his alcoholism continued to require medical treatment. Warlock committed suicide in 1930, an event that shocked Moeran even more. However, over the next decade, with the help of his family and although still struggling with alcohol, Moeran recovered and began to write his best works.
Harty ordered it. symphony in 1934, and it was ready for premiere in 1938 - much of it written in what we would today call an alcohol rehabilitation centre. The work has jazz influences, but the second movement reflects the peaceful Norfolk landscape, while the rhythms of the lively and dynamic first movement are thought to have been inspired by the sounds of steam locomotives pulling trains when Moeran travelled between London and Norfolk, which fascinated him. The symphony was rightly considered a work of national importance, and became the first to be recorded as part of a series under the auspices of the British Council, conducted by Leslie Heward who also gave the first performance.
After his rehabilitation, Moeran spent more and more time in Ireland, in the small and beautiful town of Kenmare in Kerry, which he loved and where the people adored him. It was there, and on the nearby island of Valentia, that he wrote perhaps his most magnificent work - Violin concerto, completed in 1941. This concerto combines Irish liveliness with a deep sadness that reflects the composer's suffering and isolation. During World War II he wrote several excellent works for small orchestra and by 1945 had completed a Cello concerto, with very reflective tones, written for the cellist who that year also became his wife, Peers Coetmore. She began to tour the world more and more, for professional reasons; left alone, Moerani returned to heavy drinking. The marriage failed.
He started a SIMPHONY second. On the morning of December 1, 1950, he went to the main drinking establishment in Kenmare and spent a heavy afternoon on alcohol. Just before dark, he walked down to the Kenmare River - wide and turbulent, only a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean - and stepped out onto a long stone pier. A strong wind was blowing, but despite his precarious walk, he did not fall into the water: he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died before he touched the water. Many years ago, an elderly local resident told me that he and the whole town attended the funeral, because Jack Moeran was so loved by the people. "He was a wonderful man," the old man said, "but he was very fond of drink." He was also an extraordinary composer and we must remember him. /Telegraph/
