David Cairns (writer)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people with the same name, see David Cairns (disambiguation).

David Adam Cairns

CBE (born 8 June 1926, Loughton, Essex) is a British journalist, non-fiction writer and musician. He is a leading authority on the life of Berlioz.[1]

Biography

He is the son of the distinguished neurosurgeon,

Sir Hugh Cairns
.

He co-founded the

Phonogram), when Davis released his ground-breaking cycle of Berlioz recordings for the label (with sleeve notes by Cairns).[3]

His translation of Berlioz's autobiography (Mémoires) was first published by Gollancz in the United Kingdom in 1969.[5]

His work in journalism has spanned a number of high-profile newspapers and magazines. He was

Sunday Times from 1983 to 1992, having earlier been music critic and arts editor of The Spectator. Other publications for which he has been a music critic include the Evening Standard, Financial Times and New Statesman.[1] Before becoming a music journalist, he worked in the House of Commons Library
.

His two-volume biography of

Whitbread Book Awards
.

In 1983, he founded the

St. John's, Smith Square
.

In his book Mozart and his Operas, published in 2006 by University of California Press, Cairns stated part of the appeal of Mozart's music was its simultaneous embodiment of both "the perfection our souls long for and the sensation of our longing".

In 2019, a substantial collection of his essays on the composer was published under the title Discovering Berlioz - Essays, Reviews, Talks.[3]

Honours

In 1991, the French government named him an

Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his work in promoting Hector Berlioz as a key French composer. In 2013, he was elevated to the position of Commandeur. In the UK, he was appointed CBE in the 1997 New Year Honours
.

References

  1. ^ a b c Grove, Cairns, David (Adam)
  2. ^ a b "Chelsea Opera Group: About COG". www.chelseaoperagroup.org.uk. 2001. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Quinn J (June 2020). "Discovering Berlioz - Essays, Reviews, Talks By David Cairns". www.musicweb-international.com. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021.
  4. ^ "The Hector Berlioz Website - Champions: David Cairns". www.hberlioz.com. 22 October 2014. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021.
  5. ISBN 9780198167389
    .
  6. ^ Allen Lane - The Penguin Press, London, 1989 / 1999
  7. ^ Kennedy, M. Berlioz's literary memorial - Michael Kennedy on the Cairns biography. Opera, January 2000, Vol 51 No 1, p45-47.

Sources

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