Gerald Moore is widely regarded as the finest recital accompanist of the 20th century. Known for his great sensitivity in adapting to and drawing the best from his various musical partners, he was in constant demand for decades, and his discography amply represents his talents. Born on July 30, 1899, in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, Moore began taking lessons with Wallis Bandey at the local Watford School of Music. He had perfect pitch. Moore was a reluctant student who had to be dragged to the piano by his parents. He stated that he did not feel truly immersed in music until his middle twenties. The family moved to Canada in 1913, and Moore studied with Michael Hambourg. For a time, he worked as a movie theater accompanist. His family did not envision this as a musical career, however, and sent him back to England. There, he studied with Michael Hambourg's son Mark and began to make solo appearances. In 1921, Moore signed with EMI, accompanying violinist Renée Chemet on a recording, and he remained on that label for his entire six-decade recording career. Landon Ronald of the Guildhall School of Music noticed Moore's talent as an accompanist and urged him to focus on that field. In 1925, tenor John Coates recruited Moore as his permanent accompanist, and Moore accepted, working with Coates for five years. Moore mostly declined permanent arrangements of this sort but pointed to his work with Coates as a major influence. Other singers noted Moore's gifts, and soon he was in demand as an accompanist. By the late '30s, he was well known and was able to give lectures at Britain's National Gallery on the art of accompaniment, notable in that the accompanist had always previously been considered a secondary figure. He continued to lecture after World War II, and in this capacity, he became a draw even internationally. In 1943, he published a book, The Unashamed Accompanist, which gained popularity despite its arcane subject with its variously instructive and anecdotal style, and he went on to write seven more books, including an accompanist's edition of Schubert's song cycles. In 1986, Moore's various memoir writings were collected into a single volume entitled Am I Too Loud? Moore often worked with singers Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Victoria de los Angeles, and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and he was a major influence in propelling the popularity on recordings of tenor Aksel Schiøtz. Most of his work was with singers, but he also accompanied cellist Pablo Casals and other major instrumentalists. He cultivated a distinctive style marked by exceptional legato and a variety of tonal shades generated by subtle but significant use of pedals. He spoke disdainfully of those who considered it the accompanist's job to recede into the background. Moore, however, was a supremely empathetic artist who meshed deeply with musical personalities of his partners. The song recital was Moore's specialty, and he knew the repertory of German lieder deeply. He induced his recital partners to explore lesser-known songs of Schubert, Hugo Wolf, and Richard Strauss, and there are few works by those composers not included somewhere in his large discography. Moore also taught master classes in song interpretation. In 1967, Moore retired from the concert stage, bowing out with a recital at Royal Festival Hall in London that concluded with him playing the piano solo, but he remained active in recordings until 1975. He is widely credited with having raised the status of the accompanist to that of a true partner in the vocal recital. Moore died at his home in Penn, Buckinghamshire, England, on March 13, 1987. Some 450 CD reissues exist that capture some aspect of his work, but a full survey of his importance and influence is lacking. ~ James Manheim, Rovi

Gerald Moore

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