Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (23 November 1872 – 15 January 1945) was an author and

sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...

. He was a member of the Byng baronets family, landowners in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

.Obituary, ''The Times'', 22 January 1945, p. 6 His father was Lt. Col. Alfred Molyneaux Cranmer-Byng and his mother was Caroline Mary Tufnell. His brother Hugh Edward Cranmer-Byng (1873–1949) was also an author and playwright. Both brothers were brought up at

Quendon Hall Quendon Hall is a historic manor house located in the village of Quendon, Essex, England. The name "Quendon" derives from the Old English words *cwena* (queen or woman) and *denu* (valley), meaning "valley owned by a queen or woman." This m ...

Newport, Essex Newport is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district in Essex, near Saffron Walden. The village has a population of over 2,000, measured at 2,352 at the 2011 census. Located approximately north of London, the village is situate ...

.'Death of Capt. L. A. Cranmer-Byng', ''Chelmsford Chronicle'', 19 January 1945, p. 2 Launcelot was educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: New Zealand * Wellington College, Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington College of Education, now the Faculty of Education of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington Girls' College, Wellington, N ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. From around 1912, the two brothers were associated with the ' Warwick Circle' at

Easton Lodge Easton Lodge was a Gothic Revival architecture, Victorian Gothic style stately home in Little Easton and north-west of Great Dunmow, Essex, England. Once famous for its weekend society gatherings frequented by the Prince of Wales (later Edward V ...

, whose other members included

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

and the folk song collector

Cecil Sharp Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was a key figure in the folk-song revival in England dur ...

. Cranmer-Byng served in World War I as a captain. He is best known for his translations of Chinese poetry into English, such as ''The Never Ending Wrong'' (1902), ''The Odes of Confucius'' (1908) and ''Lute of Jade: Selections from the Classical Poets of China'' (1909). ''Salma'' (1923), was a play in three acts with a Persian setting, produced in Birmingham. ''A Feast of Lanterns'' (1936), published as part of John Murray's long-running ''Wisdom of the East'' series, of which he was a founder and editor, is a later anthology of ancient Chinese poetry, introduced and translated by Cranmer-Byng. His first wife died in 1913 and he married Daisy Elaine Beach in 1916. There was one son, John Launcelot Cranmer-Byng (1919–1999). They lived at

Horham Hall Horham Hall may refer to the timber-framed late mediaeval hall in Thaxted, England, or to the brick hall built in its place by Sir John Cutte (died 1520) in the early 16th century. The original hall was a timber-framed moated manor house circa 14 ...

and at Foley Mill,

Thaxted Thaxted is a town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of north-west Essex, England. The town is in the valley of the River Chelmer, not far from its source in the nearby village of Debden, and is 97 metres (318 feet) above sea level (w ...

in Essex. In his later life Cranmer-Byng served as a long-term county

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

and Justice of the peace. He died at Great Easton, near Dunmow, at the age of 72.

Musical settings

His translations were set to music by composers including

Granville Bantock Sir Granville Ransome Bantock (7 August 186816 October 1946) was a British composer of classical music. Biography Granville Ransome Bantock was born in London. His father was an eminent Scottish surgeon.Hadden, J. Cuthbert, 1913, ''Modern Music ...

(''

Songs from the Chinese Poets ''Songs from the Chinese Poets'' are series of settings in six parts by Granville Bantock. The English song texts were mainly supplied by Captain L. A. Cranmer Byng (1872-1945), who had also supplied the text for ''Choral Suite from the Chinese'' ...

''), Rebecca Clarke,

Bernard van Dieren Bernard Hélène Joseph van Dieren (27 December 188724 April 1936) was a Dutch composer, critic, author, and writer on music, much of whose working life was spent in England. Biography Van Dieren was the last of five children of a Dutch Rotterda ...

Harry Farjeon Harry Farjeon (6 May 1878 – 29 December 1948) was a British composer and an influential teacher of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music for more than 45 years. Early life and studies Harry Farjeon was born in Hohokus Township, ...

(''The Lute of Jade'' song cycle, 1917),

Charles Tomlinson Griffes Charles Tomlinson Griffes ( ; September 17, 1884 – April 8, 1920) was an American composer for piano, chamber ensembles and voice. His initial works are influenced by German Romanticism, but after he relinquished the German style, his late ...

(''Five Poems of Ancient China and Japan'', 1917) and

Peter Warlock Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 189417 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine's interest in occult practices, was used for all his published ...

('Along the Stream' from ''Saudades'', 1923).'Texts by L. Cranmer-Byng set in Art Songs and Choral Works'
at ''Lieder,net''

References

External links

*
Peter Warlock, ''Along the Stream'', sung by Peter Pears
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cranmer-Byng, Launcelot Alfred 1872 births 1945 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English poets 20th-century British translators British sinologists Chinese–English translators Literary translators Scholars of ancient Chinese philosophy