Stephen Walsh (born 6 June 1942) is a British journalist, broadcaster,

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

, and classical music biographer. He is the author of biographies of

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

, Mussorgsky, and

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

, as well as books on

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

, Bartók, and the music of Stravinsky. As of 2021, he is an emeritus professor of

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

Biography

Walsh was born in

Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cotswolds in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 201 ...

, Oxfordshire in 1942. He was educated at

Kingston Grammar School Kingston Grammar School is a private co-educational day school in Kingston upon Thames, England. The school was founded by royal charter in 1561 but can trace its roots back to at least the 13th century.

, St. Paul's School, London, and

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

where he read English. He worked as a music critic for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', and the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'', and as a frequent broadcaster for the BBC on classical music topics. From 1966 to 1985, he was deputy music critic of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', overlapping with a senior lectureship at

from 1976. He later held a chair at the university. He retired from Cardiff in 2013, since when he has continued his career as a freelance author and biographer. Walsh is best known for his two-volume biography of

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

(2000 and 2006). The first volume, ''Stravinsky: A Creative Spring'', won the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for best music book of 2000. The second volume, ''Stravinsky: The Second Exile'', was named by the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' as one of the ten best books of 2006. The biography involved Walsh in a controversy with the composer's former assistant,

Robert Craft Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books. ...

, in the journal, '' Areté'', which published a seventy-five-page interview with Craft consisting largely of an attack on the biography and its author, accusing him, among other things, of plagiarism. Walsh responded by pointing out a large number of errors in Craft's own work and categorically refuting the accusation of plagiarism. Walsh's ''Mussorgsky and his Circle'' (2013) was shortlisted for the 2014

Pushkin House Book Award The Pushkin House Book Prize is an annual book prize, awarded to the best non-fiction writing on Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by ...

. His ''Debussy: a Painter in Sound'' was published in 2018. Walsh is also the translator of

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

’s ''Relevés d'apprenti'' (as ''Stocktakings from an Apprenticeship'').

References

External links

Cardiff University page on emeritus professor Stephen Walsh

The Guardian profile page on Stephen Walsh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Stephen 1942 births Living people People from Chipping Norton People educated at Kingston Grammar School People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge English writers about music English music journalists English biographers English musicologists Stravinsky scholars Debussy scholars Rachmaninoff scholars