“Denis Stevens was one of the most respected musicologists who did more than anyone to revive the importance of Monteverdi. His intelligence and skills as a linguist enabled him not only to translate Monteverdi's letters and texts of the madrigals, but also to study manuscripts which gave him an advantage over others in his field, not least when ill informed pseudo-musicologists made groundless claims for the instrumentation needed to perform such works as the Vespers. As a producer in the BBC he introduced listeners for the first time to the world of composers such as Dufay, Fayrfax and Tallis, using performers like Alfred Deller and the Ambrosian Singers, directed by himself. Refreshingly, being an expert in the field of early music did not preclude Denis from knowing and loving many other kinds of music and he was, for example, a devotee of Delius. Being a linguist and musicologist with a fund of knowledge on any amount of topics made Denis the most charming, stimulating, and generous companion, and I feel greatly privileged to have known him.”
Sir Nicholas Jackson.

As the name “Fragmenta” suggests, this Autobiographica recounts episodes from Denis Stevens' life and career, clearly selected on the twin criteria of historical importance and humour. Yet this is by no means one person's story, for Denis knew so many significant musicians of his time, about whom he writes briefly yet with insight. A look at the Contents reveals the book's breadth of coverage. It is informative, revealing, historically significant, yet always entertaining.

 

CONTENTS 3     Introduction by Daphne Stevens-Pascucci 4     Foreword by Sir Nicholas Jackson 5     Early Years 9     Calcutta 1942: Was this War, I wondered 11    Postwar Oxford and the BBC Third Programme 13    Wilhelm Furtwängler 14    Kirsten Flagstad 15    Beecham and Klemperer 16    The Launching of Musica Britannica 17    Manfred Bukofzer 19    Of Books Collected and Dispersed 21    The Move to Cornell 25    Thomas Tomkins and the first stereo recording 27    Penn State 29    Ambrosian Singers and the Accademia Monteverdiana 32    Herbert von Karajan 34    A Promenade Concert and Salzburg Festival 37    Music in Europe, Unrest at Columbia University 38   A Private Romance 42    Yehudi Menuhin 44    Leopold Stokowski 45    John Mosely and the first stereo recordings 46    Edgar Fleet 47    John Frost 48    CBE at Buckingham Palace 50   A Tribute by Anthony Pryer 51   Monteverdi's Vespers, Westminster Abbey, 1962 54   Concert in St. Mark's Basilica, Venice 1972 55    'A Marriage of Music and Art' - Sheila Stevens 58    'Denis in Santa Barbara' - Lilian Kwasny-Stevens 68    Retirement at Sir Christopher Wren's Morden College 69    Bibliography 71    Musical Editions and Discography

10" by 8" (250x200mm) 78 pp full colour cover, numerous b/w illustrations.
Price £12.50 post paid anywhere (USA small packet post, elsewhere by airmail).

Click to purchase - payment may be made by all major credit cards.

Your credit card will be billed by ART & SOUND.

Accademia Monteverdiana
founded by Denis Stevens, and now continued by his daughter Daphne Stevens-Pascucci.
History, informtion, events, CDs etc., links to recordings and literature.

Denis Stevens
A brief internet biography.

Several recordings produced by Denis Stevens
are available through the internet from
The Baroque Music Club