Down Among the Dead Men

Bernard van Dieren (1887 - 1936) was a Dutch composerwhose life was spent mostly in England. A respected butcontroversial composer (his admirers included the Sitwellbrothers, Peter Warlock, Cecil Gray, Constant Lambertand Kaikhosru Sorabji) his music was little performed inhis lifetime and after his death soon fell into obscurity.He was a man of many intellectual gifts and an accomplishedwriter.This book, Down Among the Dead Men, consists of fivelong essays: an explanatory introduction; two on composerswho were neglected at the time of the book's firstpublication in 1933 - Busoni ("the best thing on Busoni inthe English language" according to the composer RonaldStevenson), and Meyerbeer; Music and Wit; and SineNomine, a plea for a reform of the ways in which music iswritten, written about, and programmed.In his preface to the book van Dieren writes that "Thereader may often wonder where he will be dragged next.One moment he will feel that he is being held up intolerablylong in obscure corners, the next that he is beingrushed past an imposing edifice which he would wish toexplore... I hope no more than that on the circuit I may beable to show some unfamiliar mews, alleys, and subways... Ido not pretend to take the reader straight from the stationto the hotel; I have tried to be a companion, not a guide. Ibelieve I have shown him some queer customers in the busand the Underground, and loafing at odd corners. Principalbuildings and monuments are always in the same placesand may be inspected at any time."