An indispensable biography for anyone interested in Constant Lambert, ballet and British musical life in the first part of the twentieth century. To the economist and ballet enthusiast John Maynard Keynes he was potentially the most brilliant man he'd ever met; to Dame Ninette de Valois he was the greatest ballet conductor and advisor this country has ever had; to the composer Denis ApIvor he was the greatest, most lovable, and most entertaining personality of the musical world; whilst to the dance critic Clement Crisp he was quite simply a musician of genius. Yet sixty years after his tragic earlydeath Constant Lambert is little known today. As a composer he is remembered for his jazz-inspired The Rio Grande but little more, and for a man who selflessly devoted the greater part of his life to the establishment of English ballet his work is largely unrecognized today. This book amply demonstrates why he deserves to be held in greater renown. With numerous music examples, extensive appendices and a unique iconography, every aspect of thecareer and life of this extraordinary, multi-talented man is examined. It looks not only at his music but at his journalism, his talks for the BBC, his championing of jazz (in particular Duke Ellington), and - more privately - his long-standing affair with Margot Fonteyn. This is an indispensable biography for anyone interested in Constant Lambert, ballet and British musical life in the first part of the twentieth century. STEPHEN LLOYD is a writer on British music and author of William Walton: Muse of Fire (Boydell, 2001).

This is the first study of the life and music of Balfour Gardiner (1877-1950), a composer of some distinction and a generous patron of British music. But it is necessarily more than the story of just one man: it is an account of many friendships (chiefly musical) during that exciting period of British music's struggle out of mediocrity to prominence. It was Balfour Gardiner who, before the First World War, launched in Queen's Hall a remarkable series of concerts that did much to establish the reputations of several young composers. It was he, too, who made possible in a war-torn England the first performance of Holst's The Planets, and who gave considerable assistance to his close friend Delius, the plight of whose last years forms a tragic undercurrent to this book. Stephen Lloyd brings to light for the first time the full story of this once greatly respected musician and benefactor. He has traced Gardiner's student days in Germany, his early struggles as a composer, his involvement first in the folk-song movement and later with the ill-fated Musical League, his extensive patronage of music, his dabbling in architecture, and his eventual forsaking of composition for afforestation, which proved an equally remarkable undertaking.

This acclaimed biography draws on first-hand accounts, including new material on Walton's circle of the 20s and 30s; the composer's work in film a particular focus. When in June 1923 a bewildered audience in London's Aeolian Hall heard Edith Sitwell declaim her Facade poems through a megaphone, the 21-year-old William Walton - conducting behind a painted backcloth - stood on the threshold of fame. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s he was regarded as the white hope of British music, and a succession of works including the Viola Concerto, Belshazzar's Feast and the First Symphony more than fulfilled that early promise; he was also one of the first serious composers to be involved in films. Using first-hand accounts, this book explodes the myth of Facade's riotous reception, examines Walton's work in both films and radio and, through contemporary correspondence, articles and interviews - wherever possible in his own words - explores Walton's life and troubled times. It brings to the fore his complex personality - "remote, removed, distant" in Laurence Olivier's words, in dynamic contrast with music of such vitality and drama. Composition for him was an arduous, often painful, process riddled with difficulties, uncertainties and self-doubts, and further complicated by severallove affairs (one being with Italy) that inspired his finest works. STEPHEN LLOYD's previous books include a biography of H. Balfour Gardiner and a collection of Eric Fenby's writings on Delius, which he edited. In addition to record sleeve notes, programme notes, reviews and articles, he has contributed to the Percy Grainger Companion, the Studies in Music Grainger Centennial Volume, An Elgar Companion, and volumes on Delius, Waltonand Bliss.

This book reveals the wealth of British and European miniatures preserved in Scottish private collections, most of which are not normally on show to the public. Some of these intimate and private works are new discoveries, published here for the first time. These works are drawn from some of the notable private collections in Scotland, led by the most famous of all, that of the Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry. The protagonists of the Stuart cause are well represented in portraits of Prince James and his sons Prince Charles Edward and Prince Henry Benedict, taken from the collection of one of the most significant Jacobite families, that of the Dukes of Perth. The book illustrates some of the most personal portraits of the leading figures among the great families of Scotland from the early seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century. Twenty of the key works are illustrated in colour, with extended captions, and a complete catalogue of the collection is also included.

This comprehensive index volume (volume 10 in 'The Complete Diary of a Cotswold Parson' series), is presented in two hardback parts. Part 1 extends to 682 pages and contains a detailed places index, a subjects index, and the first part of the Biographical Index comprising surnames A to G. Part 2 extends to 800 pages and contains the second part of the Biographical Index comprising surnames H to Z. The subjects index which takes up 192 pages of the index has been presented as a digest, assembled in six parts in a contextual style in chronological sequence. These six parts broadly cover all elements of the diarist's life: 1 The Domestic Environment, Home and Family 2 Art, Music, Pastimes and Theatre 3 Society, the Law, Local Governance, Education and Public Health 4 Agriculture, Commerce, Industry, Transport and Infrastructure 5 The Establishment, Politics, Religion, the Armed Forces and International Affairs 6 Abstract and Miscellaneous By far the largest element of this index is the Biographical Index listing approximately 3,400 people and their families. For each person mentioned a short biography is given with a summary of their career and family. This is followed by the dates that the person is mentioned in the diary in chronological sequence. 'The Complete Diary of a Cotswold Parson' contains all of the surviving journals and notebooks written by Revd Francis Edward Witts (1783-1854) from 1795 to 1854 and amount to almost 2.5 million words. To anyone tempted to dip into random entries of the diaries, it quickly becomes apparent that much of what Francis Witts wrote was mundane; however, this monotony is interspersed with gems of information and occasional moments of ire, sarcasm, wit, and levity. Taken as a corpus, and especially when added to the 900,000 words of the diaries of his mother, these diaries create a fascinating picture of society and mobility during the times of the Napoleonic Wars through to the early years of the reign of Queen Victoria. Francis Witts records minutiae that cannot be found elsewhere. His method appears to have been to maintain a 'rough' book, and some portions of one survive in one of the diaries. From this he transcribed in fair copy later. However, it does seem that in his settled time late in his life he went straight to final copy. There are obvious occasions, picture exhibitions being a clear example, where he undoubtedly used the exhibition catalogue as his source to write in his own hand in his journal. Witts also met an extraordinarily large number of prominent people inhabiting the second layer of society. The top layer was extremely small, the royal family and the nobility, while this second layer was essentially made up of the people who managed and ran the country: the landed gentry, the baronetage, the politicians, the clergy, military officers, officials, magistrates and the upper professional classes. In 1801 the first census indicated the population of Great Britain to be around 10.5 million. If we consider this second layer to have consisted of about 100,000 souls, we can deduce that it effectively amounted to 1 per cent of the population. It was in this 1 per cent that Francis Witts felt at home. Witts mentions approximately 3,400 people in his diaries, and out of these, about 78 per cent, roughly 2,500 people, are of this second layer of society; it is but a small fraction of the population of the nation, but importantly, it represents about 2.5 per cent of this influential second layer that has been referred to. Through this representative sample, we obtain a tableau of Great Britain during the period in which it was approaching its pinnacle of influence on the globe.

Portrait Miniatures from the Merchistion Collection is the fifth in a series of titles which examines the portrait miniature. This collection, which has never been on public display, was assembled on the London art market during the 1970s and 1980s. Scottish miniaturists from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are particularly well represented with fine works by Scouler, Bogle, and Skirving and Sir William Charles Ross. Of outstanding interest is Nicholas Hilliard's matching pair of tiny lockets of Queen Elizabeth and her admirer Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Stephen Lloyd's essay discusses the formation of the collection and the impact of the invention of photography on the art of miniature painting. It also explores the social history of the miniature. Twenty of the key works are illustrated in colour, with extended captions, and a complete list of the collection is also included.

An intimate and readable account, filled with interesting and amusing anecdotes, of a highly creative period in English musical history Hubert J. Foss (1899-1953) is best known for his work as founder and first music editor for Oxford University Press. Foss promoted composers in England between the World Wars, most notably Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton, Constant Lambert, and Peter Warlock. The first part of this book is based on the memoirs of his wife Dora, who was herself a professional singer. The book - through the presentation of memoirs and letters - recreates a vivid picture of the musical world during the inter-war period when there was a renaissance of English music. Foss's work for OUP saw the music department expand from publishing a limited number of sheet music items to a comprehensive inventory of operas, orchestral compositions, chamber and vocal works, and piano pieces. Foss also greatly expanded the press's publication of books on music, music analysis, and music appreciation. Leaving OUP's music department in1941, Foss pursued a number of freelance musical occupations, serving as critic, reviewer, journalist, author and frequent broadcaster. The book includes letters sent to and received from such luminaries as Hamilton Harty,Constant Lambert, Edith Sitwell, Donald Tovey, Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton, Henry J. Wood, Arthur Bliss, Benjamin Britten, Roger Quilter, Percy Scholes, Leopold Stokowski, Michael Tippett, Thomas Hardy, James Joyce andWalter de la Mare. Many of the letters presented here have never been published before. An authoritative introduction by Simon Wright (Head of Rights & Contracts, Music, OUP) provides a detailed overview of Hubert Foss and his place in music publishing. STEPHEN LLOYD is the author of William Walton: Muse of Fire and Constant Lambert: Beyond the Rio Grande (both published by Boydell). DIANA SPARKES is the daughter of Hubert and Dora Foss. BRIAN SPARKES is her husband and an Emeritus Professor of Classical Archaeology.

Catalogue exploring the five spectacular views of the Fortress of Koenigstein in Dresden by Venetian painter Bernardo Bellotto, nephew and pupil of Canaletto Bernardo Bellotto (1722-1780) ranks amongst the very greatest view painters of eighteenth-century Europe. Today, he is best known for his views of northern European cities: large-scale works characterised by panoramic compositions, a strongly contrasted use of light and shadow, and meticulous attention to architectural detail. This book provides an overview of Bellotto's life and career, as well as a record of the historic reuniting of his five spectacular views of the fortress of Koenigstein, displayed together for the first time in over 250 years, following the National Gallery's recent acquisition of The Fortress of Koenigstein from the North in 2017. Commissioned by August III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, these works depicting the fortress from different viewpoints are undoubtedly Bellotto's finest non-urban paintings. These remarkable pictures are imbued with a monumentality rarely seen at this time and the series dramatically illustrates the very different direction in which Bellotto took the tradition of European view painting. Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The National Gallery, London (July 22-October 31, 2021) Manchester Art Gallery (November 20, 2021-February 27, 2022)

Richard Cosway was one of the most significant multifaceted artistic personalities active in Regency Britain. He was arguably the pre-eminent pupil of William Shipley as well as a versatile oil portraitist and a sophisticated draftsman of subject compositions. He was undoubtedly the most important, influential, and fashionable portrait miniaturist active during the last two decades of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth; his delicate style and flattering portrayals have come to epitomize Regency society. Cosway's flamboyant personality, eccentric mysticism, and brilliant marriage to Maria Hadfield during the 1780s brought him celebrity and notoriety.

'The Silenced hits the ground running and never lets up . . . An electrifying supernatural chiller . . . A gripping page-turner' Guardian TWO STRANGERS. ONE ENEMY. A WORLD AT STAKE. The Silenced is a fast-paced thriller that will have you gripped and keep you reading throughout the night. Terrifying and electrifying in equal measure, Stephen Lloyd Jones's new novel is perfect for fans of Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Sarah Lotz. _______________________________________________________ Mallory Grace just killed a man. To survive the next hour, she'll have to kill again. To survive the night, she'll need a miracle. Obadiah Macintosh doesn't seem like a miracle. He is a recluse who works alone at an animal sanctuary, and he has a secret. When the dogs in his care alert him to intruders hidden by the darkness, he knows they are coming for him. Mallory and Obadiah were strangers, brought together for one purpose. To give new light to a terrifying world. But now they are on the run, and evil intends to find them. THE SILENCED is fast-paced, dark and electrifying - the war between good and evil is brewing . . . ______________________________________________________ 'Original, richly imagined and powerfully told' Guardian on The String Diaries 'Outstanding stuff . . . the pace grabs hold right from the very start and doesn't let go . . . A lean, taut thriller' James Brogden on The Silenced 'So gripping you'll want to read late into the night; so terrifying you shouldn't' Simon Mayo on The String Diaries 'Grim, gory and gripping . . . From urban thriller to rural manhunt, The Silenced is a well-paced page turner, both bloody and bloody good' geekchocolate.co.uk

Selected for the Radio 2 Book Club. He has a face you love. A voice you trust. To survive you must kill him. The rules of survival are handed from mother to daughter. Inherited, like the curse that has stalked Hannah and her family across centuries. He changes his appearance at will, speaks with a stolen voice and hides behind the face of a beloved, waiting to strike. Generation after generation, he has destroyed them. And all they could do was to run. Until now. Now, it is time for Hannah to turn and fight. THE NEW NOVEL BY STEPHEN LLOYD JONES IS AVAILABLE NOW - THE SILENCED: A DARK AND GRIPPING THRILLER

'Ferocious and masterful' Starburst magazine Stephen Lloyd Jones - acclaimed author of THE STRING DIARIES - returns with a richly imagined thrill ride for fans of Stephen King, Lauren Beukes and THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS. They are coming... On a storm-battered road at the edge of the Devil's Kitchen, a woman survives a fatal accident and gives birth to a girl who should never have lived. The child's protection lies in the hands of Edward Schwinn - a loner who must draw himself out of darkness to keep her safe - and her arrival will trigger a chain of terrifying events that no one can explain. She is a child like no other, being hunted by an evil beyond measure. For if the potential within her is realised, nothing will be the same. Not for Edward. Not for any who live to see it. THE NEW NOVEL BY STEPHEN LLOYD JONES IS AVAILABLE NOW - THE SILENCED: A DARK AND GRIPPING THRILLER

A family is hunted by a centuries-old monster: a man with a relentless obsession who can take on any identity.

The String Diaries opens with Hannah frantically driving through the night - her daughter asleep in the back, her husband bleeding out in the seat beside her. In the trunk of the car rests a cache of diaries dating back 200 years, tied and retied with strings through generations. The diaries carry the rules for survival that have been handed down from mother to daughter since the 19th century. But how can Hannah escape an enemy with the ability to look and sound like the people she loves?

Stephen Lloyd Jones's debut novel is a sweeping thriller that extends from the present day, to Oxford in the 1970s, to Hungary at the turn of the 19th century, all tracing back to a man from an ancient royal family with a consuming passion - a boy who can change his shape, insert himself into the intimate lives of his victims, and destroy them.

If Hannah fails to end the chase now, her daughter is next in line. Only Hannah can decide how much she is willing to sacrifice to finally put a centuries-old curse to rest.

WRITTEN IN THE BLOOD is the blistering follow-up to Stephen Lloyd Jones' acclaimed debut novel and Simon Mayo Radio 2 Book Club pick, THE STRING DIARIES. High in the mountains of the Swiss Alps Leah Wilde is about to gamble her life to bring a powerful man an offer. A promise. Leah has heard the dark stories about him and knows she is walking into the lion's den. But her options are running out. Her rare lineage, kept secret for years, is under terrible threat. That is, unless Leah and her mother Hannah are prepared to join up with their once deadly enemies. Should the prey ever trust the predator? Is hope for future generations ever enough to wash away the sins of the past? With a new and chilling danger stalking them all, and the survival of their society at stake, they may have little choice... THE NEW NOVEL BY STEPHEN LLOYD JONES IS AVAILABLE NOW - THE SILENCED: A DARK AND GRIPPING THRILLER