Michael Kennedy Remembered 1

The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society remembers its past President Michael Kennedy Andrew Green interviews Andrew Neill and Kathryn Rudge. Michael Kennedy CBE was born on 19 February 1926, so his centenary is almost upon us. He died on 31 December 2014 at the age of 87, so many of us remember him. He made his first appearance as a music critic for the Daily Telegraph in 1948, later becoming the paper's Chief Music Critic up to 2005. As well as music criticism, he wrote many books on music, championing English composers such as Elgar, Walton and Britten, as well as Mahler and Richard Strauss. He became a close friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams, of whom he wrote a definitive musical biography and catalogue. He was married to Eslyn Durdle from 1947 until her death in 1999. His second wife was Joyce Bourne, who survived him and died in 2021. In this video, Andrew Neill remembers Michael with two people who knew him well: Andrew Neill, a former Chairman of the Elgar Society, and the mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge. The music clips are from: Vaughan Williams - 'Loud Music' from Pan's Anniversary Britten Sinfonia conducted by William Vann 'Bright is the Ring of Words' from RVW's Songs of Travel Kathryn Rudge with Penelope Thwaites Love's Old Sweet Song (Molloy) Kathryn Rudge with Peter Moore