Lewis Foreman

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Lewis Foreman (born 1941) is a musicologist and author of books, articles, programme notes and CD sleeve notes on classical music, specialising in British music. He has been particularly associated with the Dutton Epoch and Lyrita record labels and with the British Music Society. [1] His biography of Arnold Bax, now (2024) in its third edition, was first published in 1983. [2] He writes obituaries of composers and music record executives for The Independent. [3] He is also a contributor to Grove Music Online. [4]

Foreman qualified as a librarian in 1964, and after a period developing the music library holdings at Ealing Central Library [5] he became a government librarian – head of bibliographic services with HMSO – until 1982. [6] He continued as a civil servant, including time at the Department of Trade and Industry, until 1997, when he retired to devote his energies to musical activities full time. In 2005 he completed a PhD at Cardiff University with the musicologist John Tyrrell. The same year Trinity College of Music awarded him an honorary fellowship. [7]

Foreman has been the discoverer and performance facilitator of many previously forgotten or lost scores by British composers, including the reconstruction of performance materials, and he has worked with conductors, professional (and sometimes amateur) ensembles, music trusts, publishers, broadcasters and record labels to promote and secure recordings, often world premiere recordings. [5] He has written over 30 books, including several with his wife Susan Foreman, who died in 2023. He lives in Rickmansworth, from where he ran the Triad Press and the Sir Arnold Bax Trust for many decades. [8] [9]

Selected publications

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References

  1. ↑ 'Book records neglected British repertoire', British Music Society, 25 April 2024
  2. ↑ Graham Parlett. Review of Bax: A Composer and his Times
  3. ↑ Obituaries by Lewis Foreman, The Independent
  4. ↑ Including entries on Arnold Bax, Benjamin Dale, George Dyson, George Lloyd and Ruth Gipps.
  5. 1 2 Review of Recording British Music, in MusicWeb International, 30 May, 2024
  6. ↑ The Bookseller, 30 May, 1982, p. 26
  7. ↑ Author biography, Recording British Music (2024)
  8. ↑ British Music Yearbook (1990 edition), p. 528
  9. ↑ Foreman, Lewis. From Parry to Britten (1987), Appendix B, p. 285
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