Ivor Gurney

Ivor Gurney
Portrait photograph of Gurney in his Gloucestershire Regimental uniform c. 1915
Born
Ivor Bertie Gurney

(1890-08-28)28 August 1890
Gloucester, United Kingdom
Died26 December 1937(1937-12-26) (aged 47)
Resting placeSt Matthew's Church, Twigworth
Monuments
NationalityEnglish
EducationThe King's School, Gloucester
Alma materRoyal College of Music
Occupation(s)Composer, poet, organist, soldier

Ivor Bertie Gurney (28 August 1890 – 26 December 1937) was an English poet and composer, particularly of songs. He was born and raised in Gloucester. He suffered from bipolar disorder through much of his life and spent his last 15 years in psychiatric hospitals. Critical evaluation of Gurney has been complicated by this, and also by the need to assess both his poetry and his music.[1] Gurney himself thought of music as his true vocation: "The brighter visions brought music; the fainter verse".[2]

  1. ^ Banfield, Stephen. Review of The Ordeal of Ivor Gurney by Michael Hurd, in Music and Letters Vol 60, No 3, pp. 339-341
  2. ^ Gurney, Ivor. 'The Springs of Music', in Musical Quarterly Vol 8 No 3, July 1922, pp. 319-322