Gerald Moore

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau , Stephen Kovacevich , Gerald Moore, Elly Ameling & Bernard Haitink (1970)

Gerald Moore , CBE (born July 30, 1899 in Watford , † March 13, 1987 in Penn , Buckinghamshire ) was an English pianist and the accompanist of many famous singers of the 20th century.

Life

Moore received his education in Toronto . He accompanied some important instrumentalists such as Pablo Casals , but was best known for his work with singers. He was the piano partner of Janet Baker , Kathleen Ferrier , Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau , Hans Hotter , Alexander Kipnis , Victoria de los Angeles , Christa Ludwig and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, among others . It is his merit to have raised the status of the companion from the purely subordinate role to that of an equal artistic partner. He impressed the singers above all with his ability to transpose songs seemingly effortlessly from the original key up or down as required (in adaptation to the form of the day and the pitch of some singers)

Moore also lectured and wrote about music, as in his memoir, Am I Too Loud? (Am I Too Loud?) . He continued this literary activity after his farewell concert in 1967, where he publicly accompanied Fischer-Dieskau, de los Angeles and Schwarzkopf for the last time. 1970–72, already seriously ill, he and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau dared to undertake the immense undertaking of a complete recording of all Schubert songs.

In 1954 Gerald Moore was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire .

Fonts

• Frank confessions of a companion. Heimeran, Munich 1961.
• Am i too loud Memories of a companion. Wunderlich, Tübingen 1963. ISBN 3-7618-1212-4
• Schubert's song cycles. Thoughts on their performance. Wunderlich, Tübingen 1975. ISBN 3-8052-0248-2
• Farewell concert. More memories. Wunderlich, Tübingen 1978. ISBN 3-8052-0303-9
• Poetry love. The songs and song cycles of Robert Schumann. Wunderlich, Tübingen 1981. ISBN 3-8052-0335-7

Web links

• Works by and about Gerald Moore in the catalog of the German National Library