Moeran, Ernest John

Ernest John Moeran – Rhapsody in F sharp for Piano & Orchestra

(b. Heston, Middx, 31 December 1894 – d. Kenmare, Co. Kerry, Ireland, 1 December 1950)
Rhapsody in F sharp for Piano & Orchestra

Preface
Ernest John Smeed Moeran, better known as E. J. Moeran, and to his friends as ‘Jack’, came from an Irish-born father and a Norfolk-born mother. Although his father, Rev. J. W. W. Moeran, was of Dutch descent and barely lived in Ireland more than a year after his birth, his son was drawn to the land, both for recreation and inspiration. Likewise, his mother’s native Norfolk nurtured his love of the countryside and its music.

After attending Uppingham School where the music master was Robert Stearndale Bennett (grandson of Mendelssohn’s friend William), who was very influential, Moeran gained a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. He entered it in 1913 but his studies were interrupted by war in which he served in the 6th (Cyclist) Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment as a motor-cycle dispatch rider. On 3 May 1917 at Bullecourt he was badly injured by shrapnel in the head, some of which could never be removed. For the rest of his life he had a metal plate in his skull, and suffered pain and mood swings, often deep depression, and a descent into alcoholism. …

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