Peter J. Pirie (1916 – 1997) was an English

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 critic prominent in music journalism of the mid-twentieth century. Having left school with no formal qualifications, Pirie was self-taught in music until he won a composition scholarship to the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...

, where he studied piano, composition and conducting. During the Second World War, he was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

, and went to prison as a result. Once released, he was permitted to serve with the Light Rescue Service. After the war, Pirie and his family moved to

Whitstable Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent, England, at the convergence of the The Swale, Swale and the Greater Thames Estuary, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay, Kent, Herne Bay. The town, formerly known as Whitstable-on-Se ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, where he helped to run a music and book shop, "Pirie and Cavender", which was in business until 2007. Later on, he moved to

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, near to the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the ...

, which he loved deeply. His wife Mildred (1911–1996) was a member of the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

(Quakers) and active as a peace campaigner. His writing about music mainly consisted of magazine articles, reviews of recordings and concerts, and record sleeve notes. He was a supporter of 20th-century English music, especially that of

Arnold Bax Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral music ...

and

Frank Bridge Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Life Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845–1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a ...

. The Stratford & East London Music Festival awards a "Peter J. Pirie Memorial Prize" and a "Mildred Pirie Memorial Cup".

Books

*''Frank Bridge'', Triad Press (1971) *''The English Musical Renaissance: Twentieth Century British Composers & Their Works'', St. Martin's Press (1980) *''Furtwängler and the Art of Conducting'', Duckworth (1981) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirie, Peter J. 1916 births 1997 deaths English writers about music English music critics English male non-fiction writers English musicologists 20th-century English male writers

See also

Books