Ivor Gurney

Born in Gloucester in 1890, Ivor Gurney grew up to become an unusual double talent: a gifted composer and a memorable poet. He studied music and went on to serve in the First World War, an experience that strongly shaped his writing.

His poems are especially admired for their love of the English countryside, their ear for speech and song, and their honest treatment of memory, friendship, and war. Alongside his poetry, he wrote songs and other music that helped secure his place in English literary and musical history.

Gurney’s later life was marked by severe mental illness, and he spent many of his final years in psychiatric care before his death in 1937. Even so, his reputation has continued to grow, and he is now remembered as one of the most distinctive creative voices of his generation.