Introduction

This book brings together an extensive and varied collection of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's written and spoken-word items for the first time. Spanning the composer’s entire career, this compendium offers a balanced selection of Davies’s articles and essays, speeches and lectures, interviews, radio broadcasts, programme notes, tributes and letters to newspapers.

A number of items are published for the first time, including a new article from Davies himself (commissioned specially for this book), and several BBC radio broadcast interviews and talks from the 1960s.

Structure

The structure of the book is chronological and divided into three parts, allowing readers to trace the development of Davies’s thought and work over time, and to place each item in its biographical and historical context.

Notes and Context

The introduction and notes by Nicholas Jones place the writings in context, making this volume invaluable for those interested in the music and wider culture of post-war Britain.