Michael Kennedy Remembered 2

The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society remembers its past President Michael Kennedy Andrew Green interviews Eleanor Roberts and Jessica Smith 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. 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 second and final video, our first interviewee is Eleanor Roberts, the Individual Giving and legacy Manager for the Hallé Concerts Society. She and Andrew Green recall Michael Kennedy’s close relationship with the Hallé orchestra and its championship (particularly with Sir John Barbirolli and Sir Mark Elder) of Elgar, Vaughan Williams and other British composers. To conclude, Andrew meets Jessica Smith, Creative Arts Archivist at John Rylands Library, a public library though part of Manchester University, located on Deansgate, Manchester. Jessica discusses Michael Kennedy’s papers which are located there.