Rutland Boughton and the Glastonbury Festivals

The English composer Rutland Boughton (1878-1960) is remembered as the composer of The Immortal Hour, the opera which enjoyed the greatest number of consecutive performances the world has ever known. But his contribution to modern music goes beyond this famous piece. In 1914 he established his own Beyreuth at Glastonbury where, against all odds, he ran a series of increasingly ambitious festivals until, in 1927, he allowed his socialist principles to undermine everything he had...
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The English composer Rutland Boughton (1878-1960) is remembered as the composer of The Immortal Hour, the opera which enjoyed the greatest number of consecutive performances the world has ever known. But his contribution to modern music goes beyond this famous piece. In 1914 he established his own Beyreuth at Glastonbury where, against all odds, he ran a series of increasingly ambitious festivals until, in 1927, he allowed his socialist principles to undermine everything he had achieved. His unconventional views on life and marriage earned him notoriety in his lifetime and made him one of England's most colorful and courageous composers. Michael Hurd has radically revised and significantly expanded his 1962 biography of Boughton. With the help of his friends and colleagues, including a hilarious series from George Bernard Shaw, he charts the career of the most significant and innovative British opera composer of his day. Catalogues of Boughton's compositions and literary works, together with complete cast lists of the Glastonbury Festivals, 62 music examples, and numerous photographs, complete this definitive account of an extraordinary man and his music.