Jean Cras (1879-1932) was a remarkable man by anyone's measure. Twice a decorated hero of the Great War, this Rear-Admiral of the French navy, scientist, inventor and moral philosopher, was also a highly esteemed composer during his lifetime, enjoying the same stature and celebrity as Faure, Debussy and Ravel. Since his death, however, both Cras and his music have been almost completely overlooked. In this, the first critical biography of Cras, Paul-Andre Bempechat situates Henri Duparc's protege as a missing link between the French post-Romantic generation of composers and the Impressionists. The book explores, both historically and analytically, the methodology by which Cras evolved his eclectic brand of Impressionism, striking the delicate balance between Celtic folk idioms and exoticisms inspired by his travels. Cras' creative legacy extends beyond the world of music to the world of science. His five patented inventions include the navigational gyrocompass, which bears his name, still in use to this day by the French navy, coast guard and boating afficionados. Bempechat draws special attention to the humanist Jean Cras and his distinguished military career - he is credited with saving the Serbian army from extinction - drawing on primary source material such as family correspondence and wartime diaries to reaffirm this composer as a true Renaissance man of the twentieth century.

Jean Cras (1879-1932) was a remarkable man by anyone's measure. Twice a decorated hero of the Great War, this Rear-Admiral of the French navy, scientist, inventor and moral philosopher, was also a highly esteemed composer during his lifetime, enjoying the same stature and celebrity as Faure, Debussy and Ravel. Since his death, however, both Cras and his music have been almost completely overlooked. In this, the first critical biography of Cras, Paul-Andre Bempechat situates Henri Duparc's protege as a missing link between the French post-Romantic generation of composers and the Impressionists. The book explores, both historically and analytically, the methodology by which Cras evolved his eclectic brand of Impressionism, striking the delicate balance between Celtic folk idioms and exoticisms inspired by his travels. Cras' creative legacy extends beyond the world of music to the world of science. His five patented inventions include the navigational gyrocompass, which bears his name, still in use to this day by the French navy, coast guard and boating afficionados. Bempechat draws special attention to the humanist Jean Cras and his distinguished military career - he is credited with saving the Serbian army from extinction - drawing on primary source material such as family correspondence and wartime diaries to reaffirm this composer as a true Renaissance man of the twentieth century.

This volume includes "Milesians and Alans in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula and the Mythical Invasion of Ireland," by Manuel Alberro; "The Breton Compositions of Jean Cras," by Paul Andre Bempechat; "The 'Gallic Disaster': Did Dionysius I of Syracuse Order It?," by Timothy Bridgman; "Dangerous Liaisons," by Marion Deane; "Cernunnos: Looking a Different Way," by David Fickett-Wilbar; "Epic or Exegesis? The Form and Genesis of the Tain Bo Cualnge," by John J. Fisher; "Introducing King Nuadha: Mythology and Politics in the Belfast Murals," by Alexandra Hartnett; "'Gaelic Political Scripture': Ui Mhaoil Chonaire Scribes and the Book of Mac Murchadha Caomhanach," by Benjamin James Hazard; "Voice, Power, and Narrative Structure in Orgain Denna Rig," by Bettina Kimpton; "Cu Chulainn: God, Man, or Animal?," by Erik Larsen; "The Celtic Seasonal Festivals in the Light of Recent Approaches to the Indo-European Ritual Year," by Emily Lyle; "The Date and Provenance of Vita Prima Sanctae Brigitae," by Laurance Maney; "Spirit and Flesh in Twentieth-Century Welsh Poetry: A Comparison of the Works of D. Gwenalt Jones (1899-1968) and Pennar Davies (1911-1996)," by D. Densil Morgan; "Joseph Cooper Walker's Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards (1786): Significance and Impact," by Lesa Ni Mhunghaile; "Old Irish *desgabal and the Concept of Ascension in Irish Religious Texts," by Brian O Broin; "Oenach Aimsire na mBan: Early Irish Seasonal Celebrations, Gender Roles, and Mythological Cycles," by Sharon Paice MacLeod; "Literature Reviews in An Claidheamh Soluis: A Journalistic Insight to Irish Literary Reviews in the Revival Period 1899-1932," by Regina Ui Chollatain; and "Celtic Ornament, Irish Gospel Book Decoration, and the Illustrated Prose Lancelot of Yale 229," by Elizabeth Moore Willingham.

This revised, enhanced edition of the life and works of composer and Admiral Jean Cras traces, through new research, the remarkable career of this celebrated composer, decorated war hero, scientist and inventor. As Henri Duparc's only protege, his "spiritual son" enjoyed the same level of esteem during the 1920s as his friends Ravel and Roussel. This edition sustains the renaissance of Jean Cras and includes a new chapter devoted to the composer's early songs, to be released concurrently. " Le Canadien Paul-Andre Bempechat, est parfaitement francophone mais c'est en anglais qu'il redige cette somme dediee a Jean Cras ... Tout y est, ... sa carriere marine, ... l'inventeur brilliant, l'esthete petri d'humanisme, le musicien dans son oeuvre. ... Le portrait est vivant, Jean Cras se tient devant vous et tous les secrets de son art subtil sont demontres. " - Diapason "There is no doubt that, in subsequent studies of Jean Cras's life and works, this book will be the first source to which the researcher turns. Bempechat's deft and skilful blending of a beautifully written and engaging biography with lucid and erudite musical analysis, interspersed with tales of military history and scientific discovery, has resulted in a book that is absolutely engaging on its own, as it tells the life story of a most extraordinary man." - Nineteenth-Century Music Review