Lord Berners

"Lord Berners (1883-1950) was one of the most idiosyncratic and fascinating personalities in England during the 1920s and 30s. The interviews in this book come from some of the leading figures of that period. These include writers Lord David Cecil, Sir Harold Acton and Daphne Fielding; choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton; friends such as Lady Mosley (one of the six Mitford sisters), Lady Betjeman, Lady Harrod, Edward James and Professor Derek Jackson. A later generation is represented by the Italian musicologist Professor Fiamma Nicolodi and composers Sir Richard Rodney Bennett and Gavin Bryars, who has also provided interviews. Berners' heir Robert Heber-Percy is included and there is a memoir by his granddaughter Sofka Ziovieff. Thirty-two of Berners' paintings are reproduced in colour, making this the largest collection of his work seen since 1936." "Peter Dickinson has transcribed and copiously annotated most of these interviews from material for his BBC Radio 3 documentary for Berners' centenary in 1983 and he has also provided substantial introductions about Berners' background and the response of critics to his work. There are many appendices including prose and poetry by Berners, some risque, and most of it published for the first time."--Jacket.